Browsing FAS Theses and Dissertations by Title
Now showing items 2056-2075 of 6136
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Evolution and Fantasy in the Stalinist Scientific Imaginary
(2023-11-21)This dissertation argues that official narratives about human evolution contributed to the disappearance of science fiction (fantastika) during the Stalinist period and continued to constrain the genre following Stalin’s ... -
Evolution and Models of Sequence Covariation for Protein Design
(2023-05-08)Enzymes, as genetically encoded biocatalysts, possess immense potential for various applications in medicine and industry due to their ability to facilitate diverse chemical reactions. However, designing task-specific ... -
Evolution of Bivalvia: Multi-level phylogenetic and phylogenomic reconstructions within Bivalvia (Mollusca) with emphasis on resolving familial relationships within Archiheterodonta (Bivalvia: Heterodonta).
(2013-10-15)With an estimated 8,000-20,000 species, bivalves represent the second largest living class of molluscs (Bieler et al. 2013). Revived interest in molluscan phylogeny has resulted in a torrent of molecular sequence data from ... -
Evolution of Deep-Sea Mussels (Bathymodiolinae) and Their Chemosynthetic Endosymbionts
(2013-02-20)Symbiosis is one of the most widespread evolutionary strategies on Earth. In the deep-sea, symbioses between chemosynthetic bacteria and invertebrates are abundant at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. These mutualisms, ... -
Evolution of Diversely Functionalized Nucleic Acid Polymers
(2018-04-19)Darwinian evolution gave rise to biopolymers with a myriad of folded structures and functions, as well as all the diverse life forms on earth that are supported by those molecules. Amazingly, the essence of molecular ... -
The Evolution of Drug Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
(2012-10-29)Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) poses a global health catastrophe that has been compounded by the emergence of highly drug resistant Mtb strains. We used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to directly compare the accumulation ... -
Evolution of Morphology: Modifications to Size and Pattern
(2014-06-06)A remarkable property of developing organisms is the consistency and robustness within the formation of the body plan. In many animals, morphological pattern formation is orchestrated by conserved signaling pathways, through ... -
Evolution of Parasitism in the Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera)
(2015-10-01)Of the four most diverse insect orders, the Lepidoptera contain remarkably few predatory and/or parasitic taxa, and while species with carnivorous life histories have evolved independently numerous times in moths and ... -
The Evolution of Rotation and Magnetism in Small Stars Near the Sun
(2016-05-19)Despite the prevalence of M dwarfs, the smallest and most common type of main sequence star, their sizes, compositions, and ages are not well-constrained. Empirical determination of these properties is important for gaining ... -
Evolution of Silica Biomineralizing Plankton
(2013-09-18)The post-Paleozoic history of the silica cycle involves just two groups of marine plankton, radiolarians and diatoms. I apply paleobiological methods to better understand the Cenozoic evolution of both groups. The Cenozoic ... -
Evolution of sweet taste perception in hummingbirds
(2015-05-17)Mammals have three members of the small taste receptor gene family responsible for the perception of sweet and savory tastes: two genes (T1R2 and T1R3) comprise the canonical sweet receptor, and a third gene, T1R1, acts ... -
Evolution of the Amphibian Head and Neck: Fate and Patterning of Cranial Mesoderm in the Axolotl (Ambystoma Mexicanum)
(2016-02-19)The vertebrate head is a complex structure derived from all three embryonic germ layers. Cranial mesoderm forms most of the neurocranium, cardiovascular tissues and voluntary muscles required for intake of food and oxygenated ... -
Evolution of the Tetrapod Forelimb and Functional Morphology of the Humerus across Water-Land Transitions
(2020-11-23)In transitioning from water to land, tetrapods faced a plethora of changing environmental challenges, such as preventing desiccation, breathing in air, and locomoting on land. Throughout evolutionary history, the shift ... -
The Evolution of Third Molar Agenesis and Impaction
(2016-05-19)Up to 70% of modern humans experience problems with their third molars, whether it is failure of proper eruption (impaction) or not erupting at all (agenesis). Thus, it is a commonly used example for explaining why humans ... -
Evolution, Genetics and Ecology of Burrowing Behavior in Deer Mice (Genus Peromyscus)
(2013-02-08)Behavioral differences among closely related species can result from adaptation via natural selection, and this is especially true of innately expressed behavior that shows evidence of complex design or function. A major ... -
Evolutionarily Conserved Function of Huntingtin in Cellular Dynamics Related to Cell Adhesion and the Cytoskeleton
(2013-03-15)Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare, dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive chorea, emotional and behavioral disturbances, and cognitive decline. The single, causative mutation is an ... -
Evolutionary Adaptation and Antimalarial Resistance in Plasmodium falciparum
(2013-10-14)The malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, has a demonstrated history of adaptation to antimalarials and host immune pressure. This ability unraveled global eradication programs fifty years ago and seriously threatens ... -
The Evolutionary and Cognitive Basis of the Perception and Production of Dance
(2013-03-08)Dance is a universal and ancient human behavior; however, our understanding of the basis of this behavior is surprisingly weak. In this dissertation, I explore the cognitive and evolutionary foundations of human dance, ... -
Evolutionary and functional genomics of the origin of species in Phlox
(2023-05-09)Speciation is the fundamental process by which biodiversity on earth is created and maintained. This process occurs through the evolution of reproductive trait differences between diverging populations until they become ... -
Evolutionary Dynamics of a Multiple-Ploidy System in Arabidopsis Arenosa
(2015-05-18)Whole-genome duplication (WGD), which leads to polyploidy, has been implicated in speciation and biological novelty. In plants, many species have experienced historical bouts of WGD or exhibit extant ploidy variation, which ...