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Articles 1 - 21 of 21
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The Effect Of Probiotic Supplementation On Serum Metabolite Concentrations In Young Holstein Heifers, Emily G. Meissner
The Effect Of Probiotic Supplementation On Serum Metabolite Concentrations In Young Holstein Heifers, Emily G. Meissner
Master's Theses
The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effect of a multi-strain probiotic on serum concentrations of selected metabolites in young calves. Holstein heifers (n = 112) from a commercial dairy were enrolled within 48 h of birth and placed into individual hutches. Calves were weaned at 60 d of age and remained in their hutches until 90 d of age, when they were moved to group housing. Calves were placed into 2 treatment groups: 1) control and 2) B. subtilis, B. lichenformis, L. animalis, and P. freudenreichii probiotic (Bovamine Dairy Plus, Chr. Hansen, Milwaukee, WI). Control calves received …
Implementation And Efficiency Of Electric Motors In Lygus Bug Vacuums For Strawberries, Adam J. Rantz
Implementation And Efficiency Of Electric Motors In Lygus Bug Vacuums For Strawberries, Adam J. Rantz
Master's Theses
Further automation of the agricultural industry and an increase in organic fruit production are needed to address labor shortage and increased demand. The move to an autonomous bug vacuum is easier if the equipment is electric, and not powered by a tractor’s PTO (power take-off) shaft. The main objective of this project was to design a set of lygus bug vacuums to go on a robot that meets industry standards while using electric power instead of hydraulic. The frame of the vacuum was designed using the industry standard. While hydraulic systems have been a very effective power source for vacuums …
Effect Of Sex On The Accumulation Of Hepatic Mercury In Mallards Wintering In Louisiana, Latorya E. Mason
Effect Of Sex On The Accumulation Of Hepatic Mercury In Mallards Wintering In Louisiana, Latorya E. Mason
Master's Theses
The increase in mercury production through anthropogenic activities has led to a global crisis of mercury pollution that poses a significant threat to the health of both humans and wildlife. Aquatic ecosystems are especially at risk due to the creation of methylmercury, a toxic form of mercury, by sulfate-reducing bacteria in anoxic sediments and soils. Methylmercury enters the food chain where it bioaccumulates in individual organisms and then biomagnified with increasing trophic level. Aquatic birds are useful bioindicators of many pollutants, including mercury, due to their abundance and position in the food chain. Previous studies have primarily focused on mercury …
An Evaluation Of Sonderegger Pine Morphology, Kelsey Denise Shoemaker
An Evaluation Of Sonderegger Pine Morphology, Kelsey Denise Shoemaker
Master's Theses
Sonderegger pine (Pinus x sondereggeri H.H. Chapm.), the naturally occurring hybrid of longleaf (Pinus palustris Mill.) and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), is considered a producer of poor-quality wood due to observations of stem forking and a high number of large-diameter branches at maturity. Because landowners generally decline planting Sonderegger pine seedlings, nursery workers cull putative hybrids from longleaf pine seedling stock during lifting and processing. However, over the past 100 years, very few studies have quantified stem quality of Sonderegger pine. To gain a better understanding of the early growth and development of Sonderegger pine, evaluations of height, diameter …
Reports Of Autosomal Recessive Disease And Consanguineous Mating Within The Human Population, Johnathon L. Schluter
Reports Of Autosomal Recessive Disease And Consanguineous Mating Within The Human Population, Johnathon L. Schluter
Master's Theses
It is anecdotally evident when investigating published reports of autosomal recessive disease that a substantial number of cases are the result of related (consanguineous) mating. This research seeks to quantify the percent of manuscripts describing autosomal recessive diseases published between 2000 and 2020 in which consanguineous mating is indicated. We analyzed 602 peer-reviewed manuscripts to identify the percentage of cases presented in which consanguineous mating was indicated, the underlying genes (novel gene or new mutation) and geographical region. These papers were accessed through a specific set of parameters on the free access PubMed Central (PMC) database. A total of 552 …
Impact Of Temperature On Children’S Nutrition: A Comparative Study Of Three Ecological Regions Of Nepal, Prakriti Shakya
Impact Of Temperature On Children’S Nutrition: A Comparative Study Of Three Ecological Regions Of Nepal, Prakriti Shakya
Master's Theses
Nutrition obtained during the growth period of childhood significantly influences long-term well-being and overall productivity, ultimately contributing to the economy of a society. However, weather shocks can wreak havoc by damaging crops, changing yields of important crops and disrupting market access, which directly impacts the food intake of both adults and children. When these adverse events occur during childhood, short term and long term inadequacy in nutrition as well as disease incidence can cause malnutrition leading to stunted growth and cognitive impairment that may persist into adulthood, affecting the labor market and increasing health expenditure. To address this issue, we …
The Impact Of Index Based Livestock Insurance (Ibli) On Child Nutrition In Marsabit County, Kenya, Jackson Kadyampakeni
The Impact Of Index Based Livestock Insurance (Ibli) On Child Nutrition In Marsabit County, Kenya, Jackson Kadyampakeni
Master's Theses
The study uses six rounds of Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) panel surveys (2009 – 2015) for Northern Kenya’s Marsabit county to investigate the impact of IBLI on child nutrition and household food security. We employ Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variable (IV) regressions to account for potential endogeneity in IBLI uptake. The results indicate that while IBLI uptake significantly improves the intake of key nutrients such as Vitamin A, protein, iron, and fruits and vegetables, it does not translate into significant improvements in child nutrition status, as measured by Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) z-scores. Significant negative effects of age …
Patterns And Potential Mechanisms Of Phenotypic Changes In Urban Small Mammals, Leslie Lopez
Patterns And Potential Mechanisms Of Phenotypic Changes In Urban Small Mammals, Leslie Lopez
Master's Theses
Urbanization is an example of human induced rapid environmental change that can have wide-reaching ecological effects, including habitat destruction, fragmentation, and alteration of local climates. Effects of urbanization have been shown to impact wildlife, as disturbances resulting from urbanization can create novel environments and selective pressures that could lead to changes in morphology, physiology, or both. Small mammals such as rodents are an ecologically important set of wildlife species because they are a key prey item for several predators, hold strong influence over plants as a primary consumer, and some species carry and transmit major human and animal diseases. Previous …
Clonal Plants' Traits And Responses Following Fire Disturbance In Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems In The Colorado Front Range, Raymond Erskine
Clonal Plants' Traits And Responses Following Fire Disturbance In Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems In The Colorado Front Range, Raymond Erskine
Master's Theses
Mountain ecosystems are currently experiencing increasing impacts of disturbances (e.g., wildfire) due to global changes in climate and land use, leading to significant changes in vegetation composition and landscape dynamics. Clonal plants, characterized by their vegetative reproduction strategies, offer a range of ecologically important traits to cope with disturbances. However, clonality is often excluded in studies of post-fire vegetation dynamics in mountain ecosystems, and our knowledge of the ability of clonal plants to respond to differing disturbance regimes is limited. Therefore, I examined the response of understory vegetation following fire disturbance in burned and unburned ponderosa pine stands of the …
Role Of Atp-Binding Cassette (Abc) Transporters As A Protector Of Testis Stem Cell Niche From Chemotherapy Drugs In Drosophila Melanogaster, Swagata Maity
Master's Theses
In chemotherapy treatments most tumor cells are destroyed by drugs, but some tumor cells are drug resistant, and these are known as cancer stem cells (CSCs). Normal adult stem cells are also chemo resistant. Therefore, investigation of normal stem cells can be useful to provide further knowledge of CSCs. One of the primary ways that CSCs achieve drug resistance is by drug efflux through transmembrane pumps called ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Many studies on ABC transporters have been performed in vitro using cultured cell lines, but very few studies have been performed on normal stem cell populations in vivo. Drosophila …
The Role Of B Cell Activation State And Sex In Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Mediated Induction Of Chemokine Receptor 9 And Alpha4beta7 Expression In Vitro, Logan Bauerle
Master's Theses
Defense of mucosal tissues from microbial infection and allergy is reliant on continual production of antibodies. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is known to regulate B cell development and is associated with suppression of systemic humoral immunity. Recent attention has been paid to the role of the AhR in altering expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs). B cells express CAMs and chemokine receptors to migrate around the body for localized secretion of antibodies. AhR agonists promote B cell migration to the small intestine through upregulation of chemokine receptor 9 (CCR9) and integrin α4β7. Both the AhR …
Clonal Growth And Trait Variation In The Colorado Front Range: The Influence Of Elevation And Ecosystem, Jordan Conley
Clonal Growth And Trait Variation In The Colorado Front Range: The Influence Of Elevation And Ecosystem, Jordan Conley
Master's Theses
Amid global climate change, exploring adaptive strategies among alpine flora, particularly through clonal growth, becomes critical for biodiversity conservation. This study aims to explore the patterns of dominance and distributions among clonal species across environmental gradients in the Colorado Front Range, employing a trait-based comparative analysis to understand the adaptive strategies of alpine flora and their implications for conservation amid rapid climate change. We focused on two species, studying traits like lateral spread, bud count, and bulbil numbers. Advanced statistical methods such as Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance (PerMANOVA) and Multi-Response Permutation Procedures (MRPP) were used to evaluate community compositions …
Molecular Characterization Of Stress Response In Western Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera), Faizan Tahir
Molecular Characterization Of Stress Response In Western Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera), Faizan Tahir
Master's Theses
Honey bees are incredibly important for the reproduction of flowering plants and the sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. However, they face various stressors such as pesticides, pathogens, habitat loss, and climate change. Extensive research has been conducted to understand how bees respond to these stressors. Scientists have discovered that honey bees exhibit complex physiological and behavioral responses to stress at individual and colony levels. Stress can have a significant impact on their immune function, foraging behavior, and reproductive success (Decourtye et al., 2010). Understanding bee responses to stress is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, honey bees are vital for the pollination …
The Assessment Of Autonomic Function In Young Adults With An Elevated Risk Of Metabolic Syndrome, Ta'quoris Newsome
The Assessment Of Autonomic Function In Young Adults With An Elevated Risk Of Metabolic Syndrome, Ta'quoris Newsome
Master's Theses
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a complex medical condition defined by the co-occurrence of multiple cardiometabolic risk factors. Despite the well-defined profile of autonomic function in individuals with MetS, autonomic function in those with an elevated risk of developing MetS remains unclear. Our study aimed to shed light on the progression of cardiometabolic disease and its impact on autonomic function. To investigate, twenty participants, ten of whom were classified as having an elevated risk of developing MetS based on identification of risk factors using NCEP ATP III criteria, completed a two-visit study protocol. In the second visit, spontaneous cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity …
Salinity Tolerance Of Flowering Rush, Butomus Umbellatus, Andrew Coomes
Salinity Tolerance Of Flowering Rush, Butomus Umbellatus, Andrew Coomes
Master's Theses
Flowering rush is an invasive aquatic plant in North America that causes deleterious effects to native ecosystems. There are two cytotypes, a triploid and diploid, and multiple genotypes contained within the diploid cytotype currently established in the U.S. Despite its presence in river drainages connected to estuarine areas, documentation on the salinity tolerance of flowering rush is scarce. Currently, information is limited to anecdotal reports suggesting intolerance to saline conditions. A better understanding of the osmotic tolerance of this species is essential to providing insight into its’ invasive range and better inform management efforts. These studies investigated vegetative propagule germination …
Role Of Toll-Like Receptor 2 In Macrophage Recognition And Response To Borrelia Burgdorferi, Yukiye A. Koide
Role Of Toll-Like Receptor 2 In Macrophage Recognition And Response To Borrelia Burgdorferi, Yukiye A. Koide
Master's Theses
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US and will experience an uptick as the insect host, the ixodid tick, gains habitat with climate change. The causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is recognized by Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), which initiates the innate immune response. Here, I used ELISA and SEAP detection assays to determine that knocking out TLR2 in THP-1 macrophages reduces the amount of NFkB activation, as well as IL-10 and IL-1β secretion. Then, I used fluorescence microscopy and Incucyte assays to quantify the amount of phagocytosis performed by wild-type and knock-out THP-1 cells. …
Species Delimitation Of Slimy Salamanders, Plethodon Kisatchie And Plethodon Mississippi, Across The Lower Mississippi River, Brock Hunter Stevenson
Species Delimitation Of Slimy Salamanders, Plethodon Kisatchie And Plethodon Mississippi, Across The Lower Mississippi River, Brock Hunter Stevenson
Master's Theses
Species are fundamental units of biodiversity yet delimiting species can be challenging. Slimy Salamanders of the Plethodon glutinosus species complex are a classic example of cryptic species for which species boundaries and relationships have proved difficult to determine. Once thought to be a single species ranging across the eastern United States, protein analysis revealed high genetic divergences among geographically distinct groups of populations, leading to 16 species being recognized within the group. Two of these species, the Louisiana Slimy Salamander (Plethodon kisatchie) and the Mississippi Slimy Salamander (Plethodon mississippi), are closely related but occur on opposite sides of the Mississippi …
Effects Of Anthropogenic Noise On The Provisioning Behavior Of Western Bluebirds And Artificial Light At Night On Nestling Development, Kerstin H. Ozkan
Effects Of Anthropogenic Noise On The Provisioning Behavior Of Western Bluebirds And Artificial Light At Night On Nestling Development, Kerstin H. Ozkan
Master's Theses
Sensory environments are rapidly changing due to increased human activity in urban and non-urban areas alike. For instance, background sounds can interfere with parent-offspring communication and mask cues reflective of predation risk, resulting in elevated vigilance at the cost of provisioning. In chapter 1, we studied nestling provisioning behavior among Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) in response to short-term (1 hr) and long-term (continuous exposure throughout nesting period) noise exposure. Provisioning rates were lower at nests exposed to short-term experimental traffic noise compared to exposure to ambient background sounds. Trial order strongly influenced provisioning behavior, with the decline in …
Coralai: Emergent Ecosystems Of Neural Cellular Automata, Aidan A. Barbieux, Aidan A. Barbieux
Coralai: Emergent Ecosystems Of Neural Cellular Automata, Aidan A. Barbieux, Aidan A. Barbieux
Master's Theses
Artificial intelligence has traditionally been approached through centralized architectures and optimization of specific metrics on large datasets. However, the frontiers of fields spanning cognitive science, biology, physics, and computer science suggest that intelligence is better understood as a multi-scale, decentralized, emergent phenomenon. As such, scaling up approaches that mirror the natural world may be one of the next big advances in AI. This thesis presents Coralai, a framework for efficiently simulating the emergence of diverse artificial life ecosystems integrated with modular physics. The key innovations of Coralai include: 1) Hosting diverse Neural Cellular Automata organisms in the same simulation that …
Automated Tree Mortality Detection Using Ubiquitously Available Public Data, Michael T. Huggins
Automated Tree Mortality Detection Using Ubiquitously Available Public Data, Michael T. Huggins
Master's Theses
Understanding the dynamic interplay between fire severity, topography, and tree mortality, is crucial for predicting future forest dynamics and enhancing resilience against climate change-induced wildfire regimes. This thesis develops a multi-sensor approach for automated estimation of tree mortality, then applies it to examine trends in tree mortality over a six-year period across a fire affected study site in the Trinity River basin in Northern California. The Random Forest model uses publicly available USGS 3D Elevation Program Lidar (3DEP) and NAIP imagery as inputs and is likely to be easily adaptable to other landscapes. The model had a Receiver Operating Characteristic …
Descriptive Study Of Adult Male Acheta Domesticus Phonotaxis, Dana Husana
Descriptive Study Of Adult Male Acheta Domesticus Phonotaxis, Dana Husana
Master's Theses
The phonotactic behavior of male Acheta domesticus has not been described at length. The present study evaluates the phonotactic responses of male A. domesticus in relation to age. Male crickets of different ages (young and old) were exposed to calls with attractive and non-attractive syllable periods for this species. Both age groups exhibited phonotaxis but did not show a preference towards the attractive call over the non-attractive ones. No significant relationship was found between age and phonotactic response. Additionally, no significant differences were observed between age and preferred syllable period. Acoustic responses were also observed in some of the older …