Browsing PhD Dissertations - DO NOT EDIT by Title
Now showing items 102-121 of 132
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Saponins As Agents Preventing Infection Caused By Waterborne Pathogens
(Biology, 2013-10-23)Waterborne diseases are the leading cause of deaths globally, estimated to result in more than 3.4 million deaths and approximately 4 billion cases of diarrhea annually according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The ... -
Seasonal And Habitat-based Prey Diversity Of Bobcats, Lynx Rufus, In Big Bend National Park, Texas
(Biology, 2014-07-14)The bobcat (Lynx rufus) population in Big Bend National Park (BIBE) provides an excellent opportunity for study due to the varied arid habitat in which they exist, the dynamic nature of their environment, and the paucity ... -
Signatures of Genome Evolution in Two Divergent Lizard Species from Texas
(2022-08-31)The continual reduction of the cost of high-throughput sequencing is now making it feasible to sequence large genomic and transcriptomic datasets for non-model organisms. Many of these under study non-model organisms have ... -
The Spatial Ecology Of The Comanche Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex comanche (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Because of the diverse roles ants play, it has been suggested that ants may be ecosystem engineers and so, may be useful in monitoring ecosystem function and health. Because ant activities are localized around their nests, ... -
Species Limits And Phylogenetic Systematic Of The Diurnal Geckos Of The Genus Gonatodes (Squamata: Sphaerodactylidae)
(Biology, 2008-09-17)The genus Gonatodes (family Sphaerodactylidae) is a diverse of group of about 20 species currently recognized of mostly diurnal geckos that are collectively distributed from southern Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, and also ... -
A Sticky Situation: Functional Responses Of Mast Cells To Acidic pH
(Biology, 2008-04-22)Precise regulation of extracellular pH is critical for proper function of many cellular activities. Minor fluctuations in pH can have profound effects on ion transport, receptor function, and cellular secretions. This work ... -
Stream Biodiversity and Co-occurrence Network Topology along Sub-continental to Global Nutrient and Land Use Gradients
(2020-07-21)Freshwaters are some of the most vulnerable ecosystems to global change forces, such as land use and eutrophication, implicated in the loss of biodiversity and biotic homogenization (increased similarity) of species ... -
Stress Response Pathways and the Origins of Novelty: How Snakes Regenerate Organs and Regulate Venom
(2023-05-11)Snakes have captured evolutionary biologists’ attention for decades as extreme examples of adaptive evolution models for studying how novel and extreme traits evolve in nature, but research has long overlooked or been ... -
STRESS RESPONSES OF CORALS AND THEIR SYMBIOTIC PARTNERS
(2019-08-06)Disease and temperature are primary threats to coral persistence, and these stresses can work synergistically to accelerate coral declines. In the face of climate change, understanding the effects of these stresses is key ... -
Synthesis And Phylogenetic Comparative Analyses Of The Causes And Consequences Of Karyotype Evolution In Arthropods
Cytogenetic data in the form of karyotypes are complex, highly-variable traits that offer opportunities to detect changes in genome organization, uncover phylogenetic history, and distinguish cryptic species. However, the ... -
TAXONOMY, SYSTEMATICS, BIOGEOGRAPHY, AND CONSERVATION OF TOADS (ANURA: BUFONIDAE) IN THE SUNDA SHELF OF INDONESIA
(2020-09-04)After Van Kampen’s 1905–1911 visit to Indonesia culminating in his Amphibians of the Indo-Australian Archipelago (1923), there has been no extensive herpetological exploration and compendium for Indonesia, particularly for ... -
The Cellular and Genetic Mechanisms of Stress Response Pathways in Caribbean Coral
(2021-12-08)Reef-building corals are in decline around the globe due to both the effects of increased ocean temperatures and the emergence of marine diseases which affect corals. These emerging issues threaten the continued persistence ... -
The evolution of complexity: tests of the ecological drivers of eye size evolution in nature
(2019-04-29)Organisms exhibit extensive variation in eye size and structure across the animal kingdom. The long standing hypothesis is that divergent ecological selective pressures drive and maintain this variation. While multiple ... -
THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE HISTORIES AND PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY ACROSS ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS IN DAPHNIA SP.
(2020-08-11)Understanding how environmentally-induced variation ultimately leads to speciation is a main component of evolutionary ecology. This dissertation uses Daphnia in experimental and comparative studies to address several ... -
THE EVOLUTION OF NEUROSENSORY STRUCTURES: EVALUATING ECOLOGICAL DRIVERS OF BRAIN AND EYE SIZE VARIATION
(2022-05-18)Neurosensory structures (i.e., brain and eye size) vary extensively across taxa. The evolution of large neurosensory structures has long been an area of interest for scientists, but focus has largely been placed on ... -
The Genetic Architecture Of Variation In Humans And Dogs
Genetic architecture is broadly defined as the structure of how genes come together to produce phenotypes. Primary aspects of genetic architecture include how many and which genes contribute to phenotypic variation. The ... -
The Genetics Of Hybrid Incompatibility Early In The 'speciation Continuum'
Species are discrete groups of organisms that are reproductively isolated from other related groups of organisms. Variation in the strength of reproductive isolation between closely related taxa falls along a `speciation ... -
THE MECHANISM OF ENZYME STABILITY AND SPECIFICITY IN CASPASE-3
(2021-04-20)The caspase family has been found as regulated proteins that play an important role in apoptosis and inflammation. Incorrect caspase regulation may cause serious diseases such as cancer. Knowing the mechanisms and evolution ... -
The Role of the Serine/Threonine Phosphatase PstP in the Mycobacterial Cell Wall Regulation
(2021-12-21)Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the causative agent of the deadly infection Tuberculosis (TB). The current standard antibiotic regimen for TB treatment combines fours drugs to be taken for at least six months. Mtb shows ... -
Theoretical And Practical Utility Of Gene Sequences in Phylogenetic and Phylogeographic Analysis
(Biology, 2010-03-03)Phylogenetics, or the study of evolutionary relationships among organisms, is a rapidly changing field due primarily to the dramatic increase in available molecular characters and increasingly sophisticated theoretical and ...