http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8 The University Honors College requires a senior thesis for receipt of OSU’s most prestigious degree, the Honors Baccalaureate. Search the Channel search http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/dspace/simple-search http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8954 Title: Chemical screening of the secondary metabolites of Streptomyces cellulosae <br/> <br/>Abstract: The purpose of this project was to isolate gabosines and other compounds through chemical screening of secondary metabolites of Streptomyces cellulosae subsp. griseorubiginoses strain S1096. Two different media were used to cultivate S. cellulosae. The first contained soybean and mannitol. The other contained oatmeal and trace element solution. After cultivation the contents of each were centrifuged and lyophilized. Column chromatography was employed to fraction out the oatmeal based metabolites (OBM) and the soybean based metabolites (SBM). The OBM TLC indicated several potential compounds in the eluted fractions. 1H NMR analysis showed the first to be gabosine B. The second could not be found to match prior gabosines or other compounds in 1H NMR analysis. Further analysis using HSQC, HMBC, NOESY, and 1D nOe techniques revealed the structure of the molecule and its stereochemistry. The compound has the same structure as streptol and 1-epi-valienol, but the stereochemistry is different, establishing it as a new member of the gabosine family of natural products. For the secondary metabolites extracted from the SBM, TLC showed one large promising group of fractions. 1H NMR analysis indicated a mixture of three compounds, one of which was Gabosine B. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was attempted to separate the two unknown compounds, but after separation the purified compounds had low yields and only one could be identified as gabosine A. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8953 Title: Sustainability analysis of African Palm biodiesel in Ecuador : an environmental, socio-cultural, and artistic perspective <br/> <br/>Abstract: In the thrust to shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable options, Ecuador produces African palm-based biodiesel, which is currently imported by the Unites States. An analysis of this specific interaction was done via personal contact with the industry in Ecuador and extensive literature review of the topic. The results are categorized according to environmental sustainability, socio-cultural sustainability, and artistic representation. Environmentally, and energetically, the sustainability of this endeavor is questionable. Socially, it exacerbates existing social inequalities and further impedes on the lands and cultures of marginalized populations within Ecuador. This report presents a detailed description of the involved processes and parties, as available data allowed. This thesis ultimately generates a set of relevant questions vital for crucial further investigation. With additional quantitative research, the sustainability of this fuel could be determined definitively, contributing to the necessary establishment of sustainability regulations for renewable fuels. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8952 Title: Psychometric properties of an attitude scale <br/> <br/>Abstract: The scope of this particular research delves into the psychological measurement of alumni that graduated from the College of Business at Oregon State University. The goal for this research is to refine the pool of alumni survey items, and to improve the measurement properties for future use. This research proposes to test the construct validity of a set of items that have been developed in the study of alumni connections, based on the theory of Brand Community. The Brand Community items were analyzed according to their validity, their reliability as a set of items, as well as per their inter-item correlations. Based upon the analysis, three weak performing items were dropped from future versions of the questionnaire. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/8827 Title: A Novel Approach to the Biochemical Analysis of Variants in the Essential DNA Mismatch Repair Protein MLH1 <br/> <br/>Abstract: Genomic integrity is crucial for the viability and function of a cell. One key pathway that acts to maintain genomic integrity is DNA mismatch repair (MMR). MMR acts to correct base pair mismatches hat have escaped proofreading during DNA replication. The process of MMR is dependent on the protein heterodimer MutLα, composed of the proteins MLH1 and PMS2. Mutations in MLH1 are linked to a condition known as Lynch syndrome, which is characterized by a predisposition to early-onset colorectal cancer. Because MLH1 is a frequent target of mutations that disable MMR and therefore cause Lynch syndrome, research on mutations in MLH1 is of significant interest. Other laboratories have used an in vitro approach to study MMR, however these studies generally were not quantitative and too labor intensive for the analysis of multiple variants of MLH1. We present preliminary data detailing a novel approach to the biochemical analysis of DNA mismatch repair. In our assay, MutLα is prepared from MLH1 and PMS2-deficient cells transfected to express wild type PMS2 and wild type or mutant MLH1. This recombinant MutLα is then used to complement a cellular extract from cells deficient in MLH1 and PMS2, reconstituting a complete repair system. Our findings demonstrate that such an approach is capable of supporting mismatch repair in vitro with sufficient precision and reproducibility to support the comparative analysis of multiple mutants of MLH1 and PMS2.