Global ETD Search
Search theses and dissertations gathered from participating repositories worldwide. Every result links back to the library that holds it. No account is needed.
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Showing 1 to 20 of 33 for “"570 Life sciences; biology"”.
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Virus in sewage, polluted water and molluscan shellfish: a critical assessment of coliphage as a possible indicator organism
This thesis begins with a comprehensive review of bacterial indicator systems and. by drawing on published material related to the transmission of enteric viral disease in the marine environment shows that bacterial indicators are inadequate for assessing risks from viruses. Literature in respect …
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Characterization of lactic acid bacteria from Nono, a Nigerian naturally fermented milk product
The aim of this research was to enumerate, isolate, identify and characterize lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Nono, a Nigerian naturally fermented cow milk product for the selection of multifunctional starter cultures to develop a controlled fermentation process for Nono production. This study …
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Genetic and functional investigation of sequence variation associated with the related phenotypes: birth weight, obesity, and type 2 diabetes (T2D)
… methods (Sequenom iPLEX and Life Technologies TaqMan) were used to genotype specific polymorphisms in the genes HHEX-IDE, ADCY5 and FTO, while molecular cloning and computer modelling techniques were used to investigate the variants in LEPR. Results: Significant associations …
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Biochemical and physiological analysis of microvesicle subtypes
The research presented in this thesis encompasses a detailed biophysical and biochemical analysis of extracellular vesicles: in particular microvesicles (MVs). The characterisation utilised novel applications of existing protocols, demonstrated for the first time within this thesis, resulting in an …
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Biosemiotics as systems theory: an investigation into biosemiotics as the grounding for a new form of cultural analysis
This thesis examines the relation of systems theory to biosemiotics. To this end, it considers the claim that biosemiotics is an uneven development of systems theory. To do this, this thesis explores theories of 'modelling' and 'information' in biosemiotics from the enhanced point of view of …
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Climate change, trade unions and the promise of climate solidarity in the UK, 1997-2010
Contemporary climate change politics, dominated by neoliberal and ecological modernisation framings, has reached an impasse. This thesis investigates whether a Marxist critique focused on trade unions might offer an alternative approach. It critically analyses the social science literature on …
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Probiotic characterization of Bifidobacterium spp. isolated from commercial fermented milk in the UK
… from the UK market throughout their shelf- life and carry out in vitro studies on some of the probiotic criteria and potential functional properties of the isolates including resistance to stomach-intestine conditions, antimicrobial activities, antibiotic resistance/susceptibility, …
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Studies of peat swamps in Sarawak with particular reference to soil-forest relationships and development of dome-shaped structures
The main objectives of the study are to investigate the soil-forest relationships and to examine the development of the dome-shaped morphology of the peat swamps in Sarawak. Physical constraints confined sampling to only 11 transects with 58 cases. Besides pedological and vegetation investigations, …
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Erythrocytes derived microvesicles : their characterisation and potential role as delivery vectors
Extracellular vesicles (EV) are heterogeneous populations of small vesicles released by virtually all cells and are classified depending on their biogenesis and size. Microvesicles (MV) are a subtype of EV and are released under optimal cell conditions and/or upon stimuli. In this study, the …
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Elucidating the role of Mitoferrin (Mfrn), Iron Regulatory Proteins (IRP1 and IRP2) and Hephaestin (Heph) in Iron Metabolism by tagSNP and Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) analysis
Precisely how Hephaestin (Heph) facilitate iron release from cells is poorly understood. The work in this thesis tried to establish the role of different iron metabolic proteins, Mitoferrin (Mfrn), IRPs and Heph in iron homeostasis. Analysis of 18 tagSNPs in the Mfrn gene was carried out in an …
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An investigation into the structure and functional aspects of the cell wall of Desulfovibrio
Satisfactory preparations of cell walls from Desulfovibrio vulgaris cells grown in iron rich (C+Fe) and iron poor (C-Fe) media were obtained by partial detergent solubilisation of the cell envelopes. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) has shown the presence in the outer membrane (OM) of …
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Resistance to protein synthesis inhibitors in Coprinus cinereus
Cycloheximide, a potent eukaryotic protein synthesis inhibitor (Sisler and Siegel, 1967) was used in a biochemical and genetical investigation of the beisidiomycete fungus, Coprinus cinereus. An optimised polyuridylic acid dependant cell-free polyphenylalanine synthesising system was developed for …
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Studies of 3-hydroxypyrid-4-ones and related ligands
It has been established that the previous synthetic route to 3-benzyloxy-l, 2-dimethylpyrid-4-one and l,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxypyrid-4-one, under the reported conditions, does not lead to their free bases but to their protonated forms. The structures of those pyridones in both free base and protonated …
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An analysis of the outer membrane of desulfovibrio vulgaris (Woolwich)
D.vulgaris (Woolwich) OMs can be extracted successfully and reproducibly from the cell envelopes by the selective solubilisation of cell membranes by sarkosyl. Three Omps (Omps 1, 2 & 3) occur consistently in the OMs of C-Fe, NC & C+Fe cells. NC C+Fe OMs have, in addition, minor proteins absent …
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Aspects of modelling variability of single cell lag time for Cronobacter spp. after exposure to sublethal heat treatment in normal and stressful environments
The growth profiles of five strains of Cronobacter spp. at low temperature (4 oC to 8 oC) and their thermal resistance to mild heat treatment (48 oC to 50 oC) were investigated with a view to developing a model to predict lag times of individual cells, using a strain with a relatively high …
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Effects of environmental and physiological stress on the functionality of probiotic microorganisms
The aim of this project was to examine whether exposure to environmental and physiological stress conditions could affect some functional properties for the selection of probiotic microorganisms. The study was focused on two commercial strains of Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis and two …
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Development of blocking antibodies to the voltage-gated calcium channel cav3.2
T-type voltage-dependent calcium channel Cav3.2 is a four-domain channel participating in various physiological and pathological processes principally in the nervous system but also in non-excitable cells. Upregulation of Cav3.2 or mutations in this channel are found in pain syndromes, certain …
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Investigation and validation of mammalian telomeres as biomarkers for health and disease
Telomeres play a crucial role in safeguarding chromosomal integrity and have emerged as promising biomarkers of aging, oxidative stress, and disease. However, accurately quantifying telomere length (TL) remains technically challenging, particularly in murine models whose telomeres are substantially …
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Anti-cancerous and anti-metastatic effects of Corchorus Olitorius on breast cancer cell lines
… tested to evaluate their potential anti-proliferative, anti-adhesive, anti-migratory and anti-invasive effects in vitro. The findings suggest that MDA-MB-468 cells were the most affected in proliferation, adhesion and migration assays, with the hexane and methanol extracts being more potent …
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Zinc adequacy in the UK population
Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element with wide range of biochemical and physiological functions. Human Zn requirements are estimated by a consideration of the physiologic Zn requirement, coupled with an estimate of the proportion of Zn absorbed from the usual diet. An accurate assessment of Zn …
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