The objectives of this thesis were to investigate 1) the use of behavior and activity monitoring for the identification of heifers at risk of disease, 2) the use of group level management practices to reduce the risk of disease, and 3) the identification of long-term impacts of bovine respiratory disease complex (BRD). For objective 1, lying posture, a decreased willingness to approach an observer and high lethargy scores were associated with diarrhea in calves under 2 weeks of age and a high lethargy score in 4-6 week old calves was associated with decreased average daily gain (ADG) in the first 8 weeks of life (n = 744). In weaned calves (n = 74) increased activity (increase in steps and decrease in lying), standing at the bunk not eating, and lying far from other calves in the first 3 days post-weaning were associated with decreased post-weaning weight gain. For objective 2, separating social mixing from movement to a novel environment, and administering prophylactic antibiotics to calves at high risk of disease, were investigated. Both mixing and movement to a novel environment increased activity levels in newly weaned dairy calves (n = 64). When calves were mixed prior to movement to a novel environment they had a smaller increase in activity compared to calves that were simultaneously mixed and moved. No differences in weight gain or calf starter intake were observed. Administration of a prophylactic antibiotic, tulathromycin, to 3 day old calves upon arrival at a heifer raising facility (n = 788) and 8 week old calves at first movement to group housing (n = 1,392 ) was found to reduce diarrhea and otitis media, and BRD, respectively. Objective 3 was addressed by monitoring calves that received tulathromycin at 8 weeks of age to determine the long-term impacts of BRD. Bovine Respiratory Disease complex was associated with decreased growth to 9 months of age, decreased survival to first calving, increased risk of dystocia and a greater age at first calving. / Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada & Pfizer Animal Health

A series of combilexin-like monoamidines has been synthesized by linking an intercalative unit with the DNA minor groove binder DB 818 via “Click chemistry.” DB 818 is a dicationic minor groove binder that has shown strong binding affinity to AT sequences. The aim was to synthesize novel classes of DNA minor groove binders that are combilexin-like – minor groove binder / intercalator hybrid – as potential unique DNA binding agents and therapeutics against African Sleeping Sickness. Additionally, a series of novel benzo[d]1,3,2-diazaboroles DAPI derivatives were also synthesized and investigated. These boron compounds have the potential to be strong DNA minor groove binders because of their lower pKa and act as potential chromophores for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy.

A series of combilexin-like monoamidines has been synthesized by linking an intercalative unit with the DNA minor groove binder DB 818 via “Click chemistry.” DB 818 is a dicationic minor groove binder that has shown strong binding affinity to AT sequences. The aim was to synthesize novel classes of DNA minor groove binders that are combilexin-like – minor groove binder / intercalator hybrid – as potential unique DNA binding agents and therapeutics against African Sleeping Sickness. Additionally, a series of novel benzo[d]1,3,2-diazaboroles DAPI derivatives were also synthesized and investigated. These boron compounds ave the potential to be strong DNA minor groove binders because of their lower pKa and act as potential chromophores for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2008. Dept of Biological Sciences. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-53).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [268]-281).

Thesis (MSc (Veterinary Science))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2007. Dept. of Biological Sciences. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-50).

Les romanciers des XIIe et XIIIe siècles dépeignent des protagonistes atteints par la maladie d’amour, une énigmatique pathologie qui figure également dans les traités de médecine. Par l’étude du motif narratif de la maladie d’amour nous nous interrogeons sur l’influence des textes médicaux sur la littérature romanesque médiévale. Dans les œuvres de notre corpus, deux types bien distincts de la maladie d’amour sont représentés : l’amour héroïque, potentiellement mortel, et la folie amoureuse, caractérisée par un comportement non civilisé. Curieuse ou spectaculaire, la pathologie implique une rupture avec les activités chevaleresques ou encore avec la courtoisie. La description analytique des causes, signes et cures de la maladie d’amour met en évidence les constituants invariants et les éléments facultatifs qui composent ce motif narratif. Présent dans les littératures antiques et étrangères, le motif soulève la question de la transmission des connaissances, tandis que l’intervention du personnage du médecin ou l’éducation des protagonistes conduisent à une réflexion sur la reconnaissance de la pathologie. Notre étude montre que les ouvrages médicaux ont exercé une influence limitée sur la représentation romanesque de la maladie d’amour, laquelle contribue à l’originalité de la littérature du Moyen Âge. / Novelists from the 12th and 13th centuries depict characters affected by lovesickness, an enigmatic illness that also appears in medical treatises. Our study of the narrative motif of lovesickness will lead us to wonder about the impact of medical texts on medieval fiction. Two different types of lovesickness are represented in the novels collected in our corpus : heroic love, which is potentially deadly, and love madness, charaterized by uncivilized behaviour. Whether strange or spectacular, the pathology implies breaking with chivalrous activities or even with courtliness. The analytic description of the causes, signs and treatments of lovesickness shows the recurring components and the optional elements that build this narrative motif. Used in ancient and foreign literatures, the motif raises the question of the handing down of knowledge, while the appearance of the character of the doctor and the protagonists’ education lead us to ponder on the recognition of this pathology. Our study shows that medical books have had a limited influence on the representation of lovesickness in fiction, which contributes to the originality of medieval literature.

Milk sickness, attributed to a native plant called white snakeroot, was transmitted predominantly from cattle to humans via milk in the nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, as well as in remote pockets of North Carolina. Milk sickness was responsible for many deaths throughout the region and is most commonly associated with the death of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of President Abraham Lincoln. Milk sickness was more than an illness; it profoundly reshaped the landscape of an entire region, spawned a lesser-known regional conflict, and highlighted the question of what responsibilities were delegated to public officials as citizens were faced with looming environmental conditions that affected their mortality and economy.

Esta tese tem como tema central o conceito de febre comportamental, que tem-se definido como o aumento da temperatura corporal pela efetivação da mudança nas temperaturas preferidas devido ao reconhecimento, por parte do corpo, de uma infecção ou patógeno. O trabalho está composto por três partes. Na Introdução Geral é discutida a febre comportamental em sete pontos fundamentais no entendimento desta resposta dentro da Ecofisiologia, começando pela definição, as pesquisas de laboratório e campo existente até o momento, até as limitações ecológicas dos indivíduos e as implicações do tema na conservação. No capítulo 1, com formato de texto científico, apresentamos a pesquisa na qual estudamos o comportamento e a preferência termal da espécie Proceratophrys boiei em condições experimentais com indivíduos injetados com lipopolisacáridos (LPS), para simular uma infecção, e indivíduos intactos (injetados com salina, grupo controle). Nessa pesquisa consideramos duas alternativas de respostas no comportamento, tal como discutido na introdução geral: a) febre comportamental, que é caracterizada por um aumento da temperatura corporal dos indivíduos pela mudança nas temperaturas preferidas dentro de uma paisagem termal; b) comportamento de doente, que no contexto do desenho experimental seria reconhecido pela diminuição da atividade dos indivíduos. Assim, registramos os seguintes tratamentos durante 24 horas com uma câmara termográfica: 1) indivíduos intactos no gradiente termal desligado, 2) indivíduos intactos no gradiente termal ligado, 3) indivíduos injetados com salina, no gradiente termal ligado 4) indivíduos injetados com LPS no gradiente termal ligado. Para cada um dos tratamentos foi registrada a distância de locomoção e as preferências termais, junto com outros detalhes do comportamento e as preferências termais. A partir de nossos resultados, concluímos que os indivíduos de P. boiei apresentam comportamento de doente como resposta dominante ao ser injetados com LPS, e que as preferências termais destes são consequência do comportamento de doente e não da termorregulação comportamental. Finalmente, a discussão geral explica como o capitulo 1 contribui na discussão de cada um dos sete pontos tratados na introdução geral tentando propor metodologias e estudos mais completos para manter o diálogo entre a fisiologia e a ecologia dos indivíduos no contexto de infecção e doenças / The central theme of this thesis is the concept of behavioral fever, which has been defined as the increase of body temperature by effecting the change in preferred temperatures due to the recognition by the body of an infection or pathogen. The thesis is composed of three parts. In the General Introduction, behavioral fever is presented around seven fundamental points to the understanding of this response within Ecophysiology, starting with the definition, the laboratory and field research until now, to the ecological limitations of individuals and the implications of this theme in conservation. In the first chapter, with scientific text format, we present the research in which we studied the behavior and thermal preference of Proceratophrys boiei species under experimental conditions in individuals injected with lipopolysaccharides (LPS), to simulate an infection, and in intact individuals (injected with Saline, a control group). In this research we considered two alternatives of behavioral responses, as discussed in the General Introduction: a) behavioral fever, which is characterized by an increase in the individuals body temperature by changing the preferred temperatures within a thermal landscape; B) patient behavior, which, in the context of experimental design, would be recognized by the decrease in the activity of individuals. Thus, we recorded the following treatments for 24 hours with a thermographic camera: 1) intact individuals in the thermal gradient switched off, 2) intact individuals in the connected thermal gradient, 3) individuals injected with saline, in the bound thermal gradient 4) individuals injected with LPS in the thermal gradient on. For each of the treatments it was recorded the locomotion distance and the thermal preferences, along with other details of the behavior and the thermal preferences. From our results, we conclude that the individuals of P. boiei present a patient\'s behavior as a dominant response when injected with LPS and their thermal preferences are a consequence of patient behavior and not behavioral thermoregulation. Finally, the general discussion explains how chapter 1 contributes to the discussion of each of the seven points highlighted in the general introduction attempting to propose a complete methodology and studies to maintain the dialogue between the physiology and the ecology of individuals in the context of infection and disease