Digital Commons Network^™

Conventional Vs. Slow-Growing Broilers: Developmental Pathways Associated With Differential Muscle And Adipose Growth., Lindsey Eppinger

Masters Theses

Genetic selection of conventional broiler chickens has created a modern-day broiler that is characterized by rapid growth and high feed efficiency. This rapid growth has allowed chicken to be the most readily available and most consumed meat in the United States. However, the selection for rapid growth has led to an increase in unintended consequences that diminish meat quality and decrease welfare status. The rise of these consequences has put pressure on the broiler industry to create production practices and genetic lines that support slow growth. These slow-growing lines provide the opportunity to study lines that are differentially selected growth …

Growing Southern Appalachian Forests For Both Timber And Carbon Storage Value: Is There A Trade-Off?, Jareth B. Beeler

Masters Theses

The emerging voluntary forest carbon storage market poses implications for landowners and stakeholders interested in utilizing land for both timber harvest revenue and carbon storage payments. Forest carbon credit agreements are often (deferred or limited harvest) scenarios where payment for carbon storage is accrued in the forest over an interval and harvest restrictions are removed after the interval. Over this interval however, the change in value of timber is a concern; the volatility and complex biological relationships of the forest ecosystem as well as economic uncertainty provide the possibility that the timber included in the deferred harvest might devalue over …

Assessment Of Enzyme Stability In Subsurface Sediments By Computational Methods, Kambiz Kalhor

Masters Theses

The microorganisms found in marine subseafloor sediment play a vital role in global carbon and nitrogen cycles, with an estimated 2.9×10²⁹ cells, accounting for about 0.6% of Earth’s total living biomass. These microbes grow at a very slow rate, with carbon turnover occurring over the course of years to thousands of years, about six orders of magnitude slower than sulfate reducing bacteria in pure culture. These slow metabolic rates suggest that the enzymes they produce must also have extended lifespans in order to be effective over such long periods of time. As a result, these enzymes are likely to …

Assessment Of Genetic Diversity Of The Invasive Callery Pear, Pyrus Calleryana Decne. Using Mitochondrial Microsatellites And Its Molecular Detection Using Lamp, Alina Pokhrel

Masters Theses

Pyrus calleryana Decne. (Callery pear; [PC]) is a popular ornamental tree in the urbanized areas of the United States of America (US), owing to its aesthetical value, with showy white blossoms in early spring and vibrant fall foliage. The tree native to Asia is now becoming one of the most problematic invasive tree species in the eastern US. From its introduction in the early 20^th century, PC has been commercially used as rootstocks for propagating fruiting pears, alongside other closely related pear species. Several states are restricting the sale of rootstocks to limit the ongoing spread of PC. As …

Determining The Effects Of Fatigue On Anterior Knee Laxity, Taliah Jo Carlson

Masters Theses

There is a high incidence rate of ACL injuries in the United States, and it has been previously found that increasing anterior knee laxity (AKL) is a risk factor for ACL injuries. Therefore, this study aimed to examine if there is a relationship between muscular fatigue and AKL as the relationship is not currently well understood. The primary purpose was to examine how muscular fatigue influences AKL in the preferred kicking leg from baseline to post-warm-up and throughout a fatigue protocol that simulates game or practice situations. Additionally, the secondary purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of …

Interconnecting Feed Efficiency With Molecular Mechanisms Of Muscle Growth, Sophia Maria Ascolese

Masters Theses

In beef cattle production, the skeletal muscle is the primary product. Animals with greater efficiency use fewer resources to produce muscle. However, there are very few studies about the relationship between the molecular pathways in muscle and animal efficiency. The objective of the study was to determine relationships between animal efficiency at the molecular level and how those genes regulate growth in the skeletal muscle of beef cattle. Our hypothesis was there are increased number of genes involved in muscle growth in association with greater ADG or increased feed efficiency. One-hundred Angus steers were enrolled in 70d feed efficiency trials …

Identifying The Microbial Community And Uncovering Seasonal Trends Of Tellico Reservoir, A Reservoir In East Tennessee, Usa, David J. Niknejad

Masters Theses

Tellico reservoir is one of many manmade reservoirs in the Tennessee Valley Region. Rainfall upwards of 130 cm per year resulted in the flooding of cities in the Tennessee valley. To prevent flooding, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created several reservoirs that can hold the precipitation. Although the TVA does monitor the reservoirs for some ecological factors (including chlorophyll), the microbial status of the reservoir is widely unknown. In collaboration with a citizen group, Tellico Reservoir was sampled every three weeks from April until November 2023 for a total of 10 times. Six stations were selected and grouped into land …

The Development Of A Web-Based Tool To Facilitate Epidemiological Research In Toxoplasma Gondii, Gabrielle N. Russell

Masters Theses

The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a global zoonotic pathogen that endangers animals and humans alike. In the past two decades, genetic tools have been used to identify thousands of T. gondii samples from a variety of hosts, providing a grand view of its population structure. However, the detailed genotyping data are scattered in literature, making it difficult to grasp the full picture. From polymorphic virulence factors to still poorly understood host pathogen relationships, there are many things to be gained from knowing the genotype distribution of T. gondii. There are many static maps presenting …

Naturify 2300, Yarina Yiwei Dai

Masters Theses

In my art practice, I explore the interplay between human desires to manipulate and anthropomorphize nature, as seen in the technological augmentation of plants and living entities. This investigation delves into how this intersection, alongside empathy towards these creations, contributes to fears of uncontrollability and the risks of addiction and excessive dependence on technology.

Bioengineering and genetic modification have cultivated unprecedented developments, allowing humans to manipulate the fundamental building blocks of life. My research speculates on this technology further, modifying the genetic code of organisms and creating bioengineered wearable entities with enhanced traits or entirely new functionalities. The primary objective …

Sircling The Cquare, Latika Balachander

Masters Theses

As we journey into an increasingly virtual and intangible reality, is there an opportunity for our tactile fabrics to journey with, and even reorient us? Can they exist in our future worlds to remind us of the value of current traditional, low-tech practices that we may soon forget?

Referencing the fundamental fabric languages of knitted and woven structures, this collection of garments, that I term “Earthsuits,” embody the stages of metamorphosis as we adjust to a new phase of our perceptive reality. With an emphasis on circling, we loop through virtual squares like screens and pixels, to the circles of …

Dietary Probiotic Supplement Attenuates Methamphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference In Female Sprague-Dawley Rats, Kristen Powell

Masters Theses

Substance use disorders (SUD) represent a global public health crisis with limited effective treatment options. Recent findings implicate the gut microbiome and gut/brain axis in the pathophysiology of SUDs. Several preclinical studies have established that psychostimulants alter gut microbiome composition, but no published studies have assessed behavioral effects of dietary probiotic supplements on drug-induced behavioral changes. This study utilized rodent conditioned place preference (CPP) as a behavioral index of conditioned drug reward to determine if a dietary probiotic supplement alters the behavioral effects of (+)-methamphetamine (METH). Fifty-four adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive either a standard rodent …

Two Essays On The Economics Of Global Food Demand, Savant Nzayiramya

Masters Theses

This study provides an understanding of global consumption patterns across major spending and food categories using data from the 2017 International Comparison Program (ICP). The first chapter examines the demand for food and non-food items across 162 countries using the Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) to estimate demand for nine spending categories: food, clothing, furnishings, transport, housing, health, recreation, education, and miscellaneous. We calculated expenditure, own-price, cross-price elasticities, and marginal shares across these spending categories and performed a welfare analysis to determine the compensation required to maintain the same utility following inflationary periods. The findings indicate that food is …

Aquatic Transitions And Interspecific Relationships In Fissidens Mosses, Julia R. Butler

Masters Theses

Embryophytes have undergone numerous re-invasions to aquatic habitats, impacting their morphological evolution. Despite the prominence of these transitions, their phylogenetic implications and morphological adaptations are just beginning to be investigated, especially as molecular methodologies become more accessible. We investigate these phenomena using the genus Fissidens, a diverse group of mosses encompassing both terrestrial and aquatic species. Our study integrates phylogenetic methods with morphological analyses to elucidate the evolutionary patterns within Fissidens and explore correlations between habitat transitions and morphological traits. Through extensive taxon sampling from herbarium specimens, DNA extraction, and sequencing, we construct robust phylogenetic trees using concatenated and …

Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation Of Hemp (Cannabis Sativa L.)., Carthel Tyler Newton

Masters Theses

Agrobacterium­-mediated transformation has long been utilized as a method of producing stable, transgenic plants. This project describes an attempt to develop a system of producing stably transformed hemp (C. sativa (L.)) plants. Because of its recalcitrance to in vitro tissue culture and regeneration, transformation studies of hemp have been severely limited. In this study, I combined media components that have been shown to improve tissue culture health and regeneration. Additionally, I used hemp cultivars and explant sources that have been reported to function well in in vitro systems. The results showed that the improved media components did not …

Identification, Creation, And Characterization Of Bio-Based Antifreeze Agents, Joshua Samuel Saad

Masters Theses

Ice recrystallization is a key problem leading to quality deterioration of frozen foods and biomedical materials. Molecules possessing ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activity can control ice crystal size after freezing, reducing the degree of freezing-induced damage. While these IRI active molecules have shown promise in maintaining the quality of frozen foods, their slow discovery, limited creation strategies, and lack of mechanistic understanding limit their hypothesis-driven design. In this work, we address these above-stated needs required for the streamlined implementation of these materials into frozen systems by the creation of a machine-learning-based IRI screening method, the development of a new IRI …

Designing A Serious Game To Simulate Ecological Processes On A Post-Eruption Mount St. Helens Landscape, Parker Maynard

Masters Theses

Developing strategies to successfully manage landscapes to meet ecological, economic, and social goals is an increasing concern in a world experiencing anthropogenic global changes. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state provided a major learning opportunity in managing resource effectively after a major disturbance. This information is explored through Resilience: After The Eruption: a serious game developed as part of this thesis that synthesizes research about ecological recovery and resource management following the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The digital game allows players to take on the role of four different stakeholders performing landscape-based operations while …

Enhanced Efficiency Nitrogen Fertilizer As Tool To Control Nitrogen Loss In Row Crop Production, Samuel Kudzo Okai

Masters Theses

The efficiency of urea-based fertilizers is substantially reduced through nitrogen (N) losses via ammonia volatilization. Soil pH, clay content, soil organic matter (SOM), and field capacity can affect ammonia loss. Incubation experiments were conducted on eight soils using a controlled environment system to study the effects of soil properties on ammonia volatilization from urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) applied at 134.5 kg N/ha. Each experiment was set up as a randomized complete block design with four replicates. Ammonia loss was measured on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 16 DAF (days after N application). …

Current Perceptions, Use, And Field Implementation Of Precision Poultry Farming Technologies, Tanner Alan Thornton

Masters Theses

The agricultural sector is experiencing a profound shift driven by technological advancements and the imperative for sustainable food production. Within this context, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) has emerged as a transformative approach to animal management (Berckmans, 2017), leveraging data-driven decision-making, automation, and monitoring systems to enhance livestock production efficiency while minimizing resource usage and environmental impact. This thesis delves into a comprehensive examination of PLF as applied to broiler farming, particularly focusing on current usage perceptions, needs, and its potential to revolutionize the poultry industry.

Research in Precision Livestock Farming has steadily increased since 2000, with a growing percentage of …

Winter Roost Selection Of Eastern Red Bats And Impacts Of Non-Growing Season Prescribed Fire On Foraging Activity Of Forest Roosting Bats In Tennessee, Ashley D. Epstein

Masters Theses

With an increase in wind energy development and continued deforestation and habitat degradation, eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis; LABO) and other migratory foliage roosting bats (hoary bat [Lasiurus cinereus; LACI], silver-haired bat [Lasionycteris noctivagans; LANO]) are at risk of severe population declines, potentially leading to the need for protection under the Endangered Species Act. While studies have been done examining the ecology of these species, there is still a lack of research on winter roosting and foraging behaviors. This research aims to fill some of those knowledge gaps by 1) Examining roost use (i.e., trees vs. litter) …

Evaluation Of Regression Methods And Competition Indices In Characterizing Height-Diameter Relationships For Temperate And Pantropical Tree Species, Sakar Jha

Masters Theses

Height-diameter relationship models, denoted as H-D models, have important applications in sustainable forest management which include studying the vertical structure of a forest stand, understanding the habitat heterogeneity for wildlife niches, analyzing the growth rate pattern for making decisions regarding silvicultural treatments. Compared to monocultures, characterizing allometric relationships for uneven-aged, mixed-species forests, especially tropical forests, is more challenging and has historically received less attention. Modelling how the competitive interactions between trees of varying sizes and multiple species affects these relationships adds a high degree of complexity. In this study, five regression methods and five distance-independent competition indices were evaluated for …

The Role Of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 Alpha (Hif-1⍺) In Human Coronavirus Oc43 Infection, Olivia Faith Riffey

Masters Theses

The importance of altering host cell metabolism for promoting infection and propagation of coronaviruses highlights the intricate play between viruses and the cells they infect (1). Upregulation of the glycolytic pathway in host cells infected with coronaviruses was observed in single-cell RNAseq, although the mechanism(s) that mediate this effect are still being investigated(2). Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1⍺) is a transcription factor that regulates many glycolytic enzymes. Recent studies have identified SARS-CoV-2 upregulation of HIF-1⍺, which suggests it may have an important role in virus production (3, 4). However, the exact role and physiological relevance of HIF-1⍺ during viral infection is …

Pollen-Specific Expression Of Ecori Restriction Endonuclease For Bioconfinement In Panicum Virgatum L., Jessica Nicole Stockdale

Masters Theses

The dispersal of pollen from genetically engineered (GE) crops can lead to unintended transgene flow, especially in wind-pollinated and obligate-outcrossing species such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). Various bioconfinement approaches have been studied for their potential to eliminate transgene flow from GE crops including selective male sterility, which aims to inhibit the germination of transgenic pollen grains. In this study, pollen-specific promoters controlling the expression of the EcoRI endonuclease, interrupted by a catalase intron, was evaluated for its efficacy to produce sterile pollen. The TaPSG719, PvPS1, Osg6B, OsRTS, and Zm13 promoters were assessed for pollen-specific expression patterns, none …

Defining A Haplotype Encompassing The Lcorl-Ncapg Locus Associated With Increased Lean Growth In Beef Cattle, Leif E. Majeres

Masters Theses

Numerous studies have shown genetic variation at the LCORL-NCAPG locus is strongly associated with growth traits in beef cattle. However, a causative molecular variant has yet to be identified. To define all possible candidate variants, 34 Charolais-sired calves were whole genome sequenced including 17 homozygous for a long-range haplotype associated with increased growth (QQ), and 17 homozygous for potential ancestral haplotypes for this region (qq). The Q haplotype was refined to an 814-kb region between chr6:37,199,897-38,014,080 and contained 218 variants not found in qq individuals. These variants include an insertion in an intron of NCAPG, …

Maize Production In Ghana: A Case Study Of Asante Akim North Municipality, Vincent Osei

Masters Theses

In spite of the numerous benefits of maize production in Ghana, its production is faced with a lot of challenges leading to production losses. Asante Akim North Municipality is one of the largest maize-producing areas in Ghana. However, studies on maize and its production in this municipality are under-researched, hence the need for this study. The main objective of the study is to analyze a 10-year (2013-2022) production trend of maize in Asante Akim North Municipality to identify factors affecting maize production in the municipality, so as to seek pragmatic measures to help improve maize yields in the municipality and …

The Correlates Of Neurobiology And Lived Experiences Of Music-Induced Bonding, Empathy, And Shared Flow, Ashley Marie Sherwood

Masters Theses

An alarming decline in mental health and increase in addiction and substance use disorders over the last few decades have generated increased interest in exploring how improved social health in the community could be a protective factor against mental health crises. Interventions which increase perceived emotional synchrony and shared flow may positively impact the social fabric of society. This paper examines the relationship between self-reported perceptions of emotional synchrony and shared flow and changes in measures of cortisol, dopamine, oxytocin, and vasopressin in blood samples following musical improvisation, with a review of relevant literature also presented. Vasopressin was found to …

A Global Synthesis Of The Relative Impacts Of Habitat Amount, Fragmentation, And Matrix Quality On Forest Biodiversity, Antoinette Esposito

Masters Theses

Aim To assess the relative impact of different landscape variables on species richness and to determine whether species richness declines more rapidly below an extinction threshold of remaining habitat. The results of this study will help to better inform future conservation strategies. Location Global Time period 1997 – 2013 Major taxa studied Amphibians, birds, invertebrates, mammals, and reptiles Methods Data from 71 studies published in the global BioFrag database were used to determine species richness across multiple landscapes and biomes. The Hansen dataset was used to collect data on habitat amount (forest area), fragmentation (patch density), and matrix quality (mean …

A Comparative Study Of Biocrusts On Gypsum And Non-Gypsum Soils In The Northern Chihuahuan And Eastern Mojave Deserts, Usa: Biocrust Mosses Respond To Soil, Environmental, And Climatic Conditions, Katelyn Gobbie

Masters Theses

Biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) growing on gypsum soils have been well- documented for their prolific appearance and rich diversity of lichens and bryophytes. However, studies characterizing gypsum biocrusts have primarily occurred outside of the U.S., most of which lack comparisons to other soil types. We conducted intensive field surveys to evaluate the cover and frequency of biocrust functional groups and moss species on gypsum and non-gypsum soils in the U.S. regions with the most extensive gypsum outcrops, the northern Chihuahuan and eastern Mojave Deserts. We employed canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) to relate the observed differences in biocrust abundance and …

Differential Tail Autotomy Between Two Genetic Clades Of A Woodland Salamander, Plethodon Cinereus, Ryan Mayer

Masters Theses

Following the retreat of glaciers in North America, a wide diversity of organisms rapidly migrated into previously uninhabited regions, including animals with limited dispersal abilities such as amphibians. I wanted to better understand the strategies that salamanders use to aid in their dispersal abilities and to understand if patterns of post-glacial range expansion affect phenotypic traits such as anti-predator strategies. In this study, I used existing phylogeographic evidence of clade membership as a framework to examine whether red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) differed in tail autotomy behavior at the range edge versus the range core, and across the geographic range of …

Use Of Thermal Microhabitats By Herpetofauna In A Fragmented Rainforest Landscape In Colombia, Catalina Valderrama

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Multivariate Analysis Of Phytoplankton Assemblages And Environmental Variables In Chautauqua Lake, New York, Emily Palmer

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.