Thesiss

Protein folding involves the ordering of a complex set of conformations of a protein in the unfolded state into the unique, native state. A current view of how this is accomplished is by hierarchical assembly of smaller folding regions within proteins. By characterizing subdomai…

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are an insidious group of neurodegenerative diseases that can replicate exponentially, exhibit strain variability, mutate, cross species barriers, and adapt to new host species. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), is an emerging TSE of…

The dorsal vagal nucleus (DMNX) and nucleus ambiguus (NA) are two anatomically distinct regions of the medulla oblongata of the brainstem involved with the control of the heart on a beat to beat basis. The vagus nerve has parasympathetic cell bodies located in the DMNX and NA. T…

Assessments of the adaptive potential of natural populations are essential for understanding and predicting responses to environmental stressors like climate change and infectious disease. The range of stressors species face in a human-dominated landscape, often have contrasting…