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Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

No description available.

<p>The Balkans has suffered from quite a few problems as a result of the countless ambitious endeavors for great states of the ethnic groups residing in the Peninsula. The most recent great state idea to have caused troubles in the region is the Serbs’ Great Serbia (i.e. Yugoslvia), which caused a cycle of wars, the latest one being the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s. This thesis attempts to evaluate the rumors of yet another great state in the making – or rather awakening again: the attempt at a Greater Albania, and whether the Albanians in the Balkans are still harboring the idea of any such state. Particular emphasis is placed upon the following questions:</p><p> </p><ul><li>Where does the idea of a Greater Albania stem from?</li><li>Is a Greater Albania today still on the Albanians’ agenda as a real political plan?</li><li>What speaks for and against a Greater Albania? Is the idea even feasible?</li></ul><p> </p><p>The findings indicate that none of the Albanian communities residing in the Balkan region wish for a Greater Albania, nor do their leaders. The Serbs nonetheless maintain that an Albanian threat exists and has done so ever since 1878 when the idea of a Greater Albania first arose. However, according to the results of this study, their claims lack credibility. Everything indicates that today, and with Albania striving for membership in the European Union, the idea of a Greater Albania has been left in the past.</p>

Apolipophorin-III is a hemolymph protein known for its role in lipid transport. Apolipophorin-III isolated from the hemolymph of last instar larvae of Galleria mellonella bound to the surface of the insect pathogenic Gram-negative bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophilus and to the lipid A moiety of its lipopolysaccharide. This binding reduced the toxicity of the lipopolysaccharide to hemocytes and decreased the inhibitory effect of the lipopolysaccharide on phenoloxidase. Apolipophorin-III also bound to the Gram-positive bacterium Micrococcus lysodeikticus; this enhanced the activity of hen egg lysozyme on the organism as well as the lytic activity of G. mellonella cell-free hemolymph. / The involvement of apolipophorin-III in the immune responses of G. mellonella larvae to lipoteichoic acids, surface components of Gram-positive bacteria, was examined. Lipoteichoic acids from Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus hirae and Streptococcus pyogenes caused a dose- and time-dependent drop in the total counts of circulating hemocytes and a partial or complete depletion of plasmatocytes depending on the species of lipoteichoic acid. All lipoteichoic acids tested activated phenoloxidase in vitro; however, in vivo, only B. subtilis lipoteichoic acid elevated the phenoloxidase activity while the other two suppressed it. Binding of apolipophorin-III to lipoteichoic acids was demonstrated. Apolipophorin-III prevented the complete depletion of plasmatocytes and depressed the activation of phenoloxidase by lipoteichoic acid from B. subtilis. The concentration of apolipophorin-III in hemolymph two hours post injections of lipopolysaccharides or lipoteichoic acids into larvae of G. mellonella did not change with respect to control insects that received phosphate-buffered saline. The concentration of apolipophorin-III in hemolymph at the end of the feeding larval stage was 8--12 mg/mL of hemolymph. Apolipophorin-III was present in significant amounts in the prepupal, pupal and adult stages. The protein was detected immunologically in hemocyte lysates, plasma and fat body. Non-denaturing polyacrylamide gels and immunoblots of fresh hemolymph suggested that apolipophorin-III is associated with a 77 kDa protein.

The following studies were done to identify factors that influence the virulence of Xenorhabdus nematophilus and the interactions of the bacterium with the nonself defence systems of nonimmune Galleria mellonella. Isolates of X. nematophilus that are qualitatively similar in biochemical properties differed significantly in virulence for G. mellonella larvae. The production of enzymes such as proteases could not account for differences in the virulence of the isolates. / Growth conditions, influenced the growth rate and the interactions of the bacterium with nonimmune G. mellonella larvae. In general, X. nematophilus cells grown under aerobic conditions were more susceptible to the nonself defences of G. mellonella larvae than those grown under less than ideal conditions, resulting in increased clearance of the bacteria from the hemolymph (blood) of the insects. Clearance of the bacteria from the hemolymph of the insect was positively correlated with culture condition, culture age, and attachment to insect hemocytes in vitro. / Isolates of X. nematophilus produced flagella and fimbriae when grown under microaerobic and aerobic conditions. The type of fimbriae produced was influenced by culture conditions. The injection of both flagella and fimbriae in picogram quantities into nonimmune G. mellonella caused an increase in total hemocyte counts within these insect larvae. The injection of fimbrial and flagellar antigens into G. mellonella larvae caused changes in the hemocyte types found in circulation in the insect's hemolymph. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The Balkans has suffered from quite a few problems as a result of the countless ambitious endeavors for great states of the ethnic groups residing in the Peninsula. The most recent great state idea to have caused troubles in the region is the Serbs’ Great Serbia (i.e. Yugoslvia), which caused a cycle of wars, the latest one being the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s. This thesis attempts to evaluate the rumors of yet another great state in the making – or rather awakening again: the attempt at a Greater Albania, and whether the Albanians in the Balkans are still harboring the idea of any such state. Particular emphasis is placed upon the following questions:   Where does the idea of a Greater Albania stem from? Is a Greater Albania today still on the Albanians’ agenda as a real political plan? What speaks for and against a Greater Albania? Is the idea even feasible?   The findings indicate that none of the Albanian communities residing in the Balkan region wish for a Greater Albania, nor do their leaders. The Serbs nonetheless maintain that an Albanian threat exists and has done so ever since 1878 when the idea of a Greater Albania first arose. However, according to the results of this study, their claims lack credibility. Everything indicates that today, and with Albania striving for membership in the European Union, the idea of a Greater Albania has been left in the past.

No description available.