Suspensory apparatus breakdown and hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal (fetlock) joints is a common condition in the llama and has been observed in llamas of all ages. Llama breeders refer to the condition as "down in the pasterns" or "down in the fetlocks." The condition can result in debilitating...
Pulmonic stenosis (PS) is one of the most commonly encountered congenital cardiac defects in canine patients. English bulldogs have an increased risk of PS as compared to other dog breeds and have a higher reported prevalence of type II/type B/dysplastic pulmonic valve morphology. It has been shown that the dysplastic...
Mycoplasma haemolamae is associated with mild to marked anemia in stressed, immune-suppressed, and debilitated animals, and may be found in low numbers in healthy animals. The continued presence of the organism, detectable by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay, may be associated with an underlying problem, such as stress or immune-suppression...
Llamas (Lama glama) appear to have predisposing anatomical features for developing
otitis media such as a long and narrow external acoustic meatus and a trabecular
tympanic bulla. However, there is limited information available about the morphology of
the ear in this species. The aim of this study was to evaluate...
Recent developments in the field of clinical echocardiography allow the ultrasonographer to objectively quantify both regional and global myocardial function. Regional deformation (Strain) and deformation rate (Strain Rate) are novel indices of ventricular function that can be estimated non-invasively by ultrasonographic interrogation of the heart. Deformation Imaging (DI)represents a family...
Wind energy plays an important and growing role in the US energy profile. While other countries have expanded their wind industries into offshore development, large investment costs have hindered progress in the US offshore market despite the larger and more consistent resource available offshore. In this research, I explore the...
This research presents a methodology to analyze customer needs and direct the gathering of customer needs that both span the need space and are independent. An ontological categorization, the fundamental research contribution of this work, is created to support both aims of the overall methodology. Providing designers with a customer...
With the need to integrate renewable energy sources into the current energy portfolio and the proximity of many population centers to an ocean coastline, it is pressing that marine energy systems, specifically wave energy converters (WECs), are evaluated as potential solutions for meeting energy needs. In order to best understand...
A study of malolactic bacteria of the Leuconostoc
genus, especially L. oenos, and their bacteriophages was
conducted. A search for the presence of infectious
bacteriophages in grapes, musts, and juices employed in
malo-lactic fermentation (MLF) was conducted; no
evidence, either physical or biological, was found for
the existence of these...
Described herein is the synthesis of an uncharged stereoregular oligonucleotide
analog consisting of cytosine bases linked at specific intervals to a polyamide backbone
derived from (L)-glutamic acid. Preparation of this analog entailed borane reduction of
(L)- pyroglutamic acid to give optically pure lactam alcohol 9. Tosylation and alkylation
with cytosine...
Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) has been determined to be a risk factor for various forms of human cancer. PAH DNA adducts have been shown to cause mutations, but carcinogenesis is also accompanied by alterations in gene expression. Inhibiting individual cytochrome P450s could clarify the interaction...
Fresh ripe, cantaloupes were processed into juice and
juice concentrate. Processing trials were conducted on
fresh and frozen fruits with and without rind. The effects
of maceration enzymes and fining agents on yield and quality
were investigated. Compositional measurement included
°Brix, pH, titratable acidity, formol values, ascorbic acid
content, total...
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of glucose on plasma pyridoxal 5'- phosphate (PLP) concentration. The objective was to determine whether there was a negative relationship between glucose ingestion and plasma PLP concentration and to evaluate the possible mechanism of decreased PLP after acute glucose ingestion. Seven healthy...
North American cultivation of Ribes L. may expand as small fruit growers seek species to diversify horticultural crops. The Ribes industry was suppressed for decades out of fear that cultivated black currants and gooseberries would intensify the fungal disease white pine blister rust (WPBR) on five-needle pine (Pinus L. section...
DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is an evolutionarily conserved process used by cells to decrease mutation rates, thereby increasing genetic stability and reducing cancer risk. Germline mutations in the MMR gene MLH1 have been identified in Lynch Syndrome patients, and in many cases are suspected but not confirmed as causative for...
Wildfire impacts have intensified in many ecosystems across the western United States due to the combined impact of fire exclusion, climate change, and land management practices. However, on many of these landscapes, fire is a fundamental ecological process that has shaped vegetation structural and compositional diversity, ecosystem function, landscape pattern,...
When observers monitor for infrequent signals for extended durations, they generally experience a decline in detections over time. This decline is termed the vigilance decrement. Current theories of vigilance attribute the decrement to three potential mechanisms: conservative shifts in response bias, losses of sensitivity, and an increased rate of attentional...
Public housing (PH) provides a substantial portion of the housing in both developed and less developed countries, and the demand for it is increasing. The PH projects, however, are facing many challenges that are affecting their performance and cause their failures. The United States has demolished large portions of their...
Automated decision aids can improve human decision-making but the benefits are often compromised by inefficient use. The current experiment examined whether metacognition—the ability to assess self-performance—and numeracy—the ability to understand and work with numbers—predict the efficiency of automation use in a signal detection task. Two-hundred twenty-one participants classified random dot...
Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is a forming process in which a fully clamped sheet is formed by a hemispherical ended tool that moves along a predefined 3D toolpath. The sheet is formed in a series of local deformations to reach its desired shape. Double Sided Incremental Forming (DSIF) includes...
Realizing the vast amount of energy available in ocean waves, an industry has emerged that is progressing towards the deployment of grid–connected wave energy converters. Likely to be deployed in arrays, a challenge to the wave energy industry is maximizing the energy production of such arrays. We have been developing...
Analysis of alternative concepts has a significant impact on design project outcomes, and yet many design teams fail to consider a significantly broad range of conceptual solutions. Within the realm of conceptual design exists a technique called design by analogy (DBA) -- the practice of reapplying old solutions to new...
Butane-grown Pseudomonas butanovora oxidized butane by a soluble butane monooxygenase through the terminal pathway yielding 1 -butanol as the predominant product. Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs) involved in butane oxidation in P. butanovora were purified and characterized at the biochemical, genetic and physiological levels. Butane-grown P. butanovora expressed a type I soluble...
Like other species interactions in ecological systems, host-pathogen interactions are influenced by environmental factors, landscape characteristics and the broader community context. My thesis explores the potential influences of food-web interactions (Chapter 2), climate change (Chapter 3), landscape structure and host movement patterns (Chapter 4), and the combined influences of local...