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Mate Guarding Against Strong Men Displaying Affiliative And Aggressive Humor, Jacob Pauley

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mate retention behaviors serve to discourage partner defection from a current pairbond. Such behaviors are oftentimes more prevalent toward intrasexual rivals exhibiting physical and behavioral cues implicating that rival as an optimal mate. Among these features in men are their upper body strength, a feature diagnostic of heritable fitness, and men's ability to produce humor, a cue to their social competence. This study considered the intersection of these desirable features in shaping men's mate retention behavior toward an intrasexual rival. After learning of a hypothetical interloper exhibiting high or low upper body strength while similarly using humor in an affiliative …

Establishing An Objective, Quantifiable Method For Detecting Erosive Tooth Wear, Camille Kita

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study aims to monitor and evaluate erosive tooth wear (ETW) by measurement of enamel surface thickness and texture in a clinical setting. The objective approach is fundamentally different from the standard subjective visual assessment that professionals in the dental field using the Basic Erosive Wear Evaluation (BEWE) method.

Twenty-nine hyposalivation and three control subjects were used in this longitudinal study, for a total of 597 samples (only 577 teeth were eligible for surface texture analysis) evaluated in a longitudinal study including both baseline and 12 month follow up surfaces. Each participant’s buccal surface of the tooth was first analyzed …

Towards Understanding The Function Of An Ets-Like Gene In Nematostella Vectensis: Generation Of A Knockout Mutant Line And A Transgenic Reporter Line, Emily Bullock

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Due to their unique phylogenic position as sister to Bilateria, Cnidaria are often credited with the utility of allowing for reconstruction of ancestral biology based on characteristics shared with bilaterians and other animals. This factor makes investigation into the nervous systems of cnidarians critical in understanding early neural evolution. Wamides, a class of neuropeptides, have been shown to play a regulatory role in life cycle transitions across many different species. The cnidarian specific Wamide neuropeptide, GLWamide, has previously been identified to play an accelerator role in the metamorphic timing of a specific species of sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis. However, …

Effect Of Progesterone On Cognition Among College Aged Women, Katelyn Helberg

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women who have a reoccurring menstrual cycle and do not take hormonal birth control naturally experience changes in the amount of sex hormones that their body produces. These sex hormones help promote sexual development, fertility, and mood regulation, but can be hard to study due to their conflicting effects on each other. One such hormone, progesterone, is produced in different concentrations throughout the menstrual cycle to prepare the uterus for a potential pregnancy. However, it also may have secondhand effects on how well women can complete everyday tasks involving memory, attention, processing speed, and more which is what we measured …

The Effect Of Hormonal Contraceptive Use On Dominance And Prestige Tactics, Carson Chappell

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between hormonal contraceptives and prestige and dominance status-seeking tactics. Existing literature has examined how the hormones estrogen and progesterone, especially in relation to the fertile window of the menstrual cycle, are associated with prestige and dominance but has yet to look in depth at how hormonal contraceptives might alter this impact. The current study asked participants to complete a 22- item questionnaire assessing dominance and prestige. I hypothesized that women on hormonal contraceptives would have lower scores for prestige and dominance compared to women who are naturally cycling. The results did not …

Survival Of Methanogens Desiccated On Mars Soil Simulants: Implications For Life On Mars, Lanee Knight

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Because of Mars’s chemical features, it can be studied in the search for life and is a significant figure in the study of astrobiology (McKay, 2010). Dr. Kral’s laboratory studies methanogens, microorganisms in the domain Archaea, as possible life forms on Mars. Since some methanogens can withstand harsh environmental conditions and emit methane as a waste product, the growth of these microorganisms can be used as an indicator of potential life in the Mars subsurface (Kral et al., 1998). In this research, four methanogens, Methanothermobacter wolfeii, Methanobacterium formicicum, Methanosarcina barkeri, and Methanococcus maripaludi were desiccated in the …

Characterization Of Mitochondrial Morphology In Drosophila: Early Embryogenesis Description Via Confocal Microscopy, Kendall Miller

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mitochondria are not static organelles, but instead are dynamic networks that undergo rapid changes in subcellular distribution, organization, and activity in response to external stimuli. Notably, mitochondria can undergo fission and fusion, collectively known as mitochondrial dynamics. Mitochondrial fusion creates assembled networks of mitochondria that are maximally efficient at generating ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. Conversely, mitochondrial fission leads to network fragmentation and a shift towards glycolysis, which is the dominant mode of ATP generation in oxygen-limiting and stressed conditions. While mitochondrial dynamics have been intensively studied in isolated cells under stressful conditions, much less is known about how mitochondria behave …

Do Heat Waves Drive Natural Selection In Damselflies?, Adam Baranyk

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Climate change has led to changes in both mean temperatures and temperature extremes over the recent years. These changes have had differential effects on animals throughout the world. Ectotherms depend on their external environment for thermal regulation, making them especially susceptible to temperature extremes. It is not yet clear whether there is a relationship between physical traits in ectotherms, and survivorship throughout a heat wave. That is, whether or not temperature extremes driven survival selection. In this study, a heat wave was simulated artificially using thermally regulated mesocosms at different temperatures (18°C, 22° C, 26° C, 30° C) with a …

A Meta-Analysis For Laboratory Diagnostics For Coccidioidomycosis, Mary C. Cowen

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Coccidioidomycosis, commonly referred to as Valley Fever, is a fungal infection found in arid regions of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Infection occurs through inhalation of airborne spores from Coccidioides species, Coccidioides immitis and/or Coccidioides posadasii, and proceeds in both pulmonary and disseminated fashions. Approximately 60% of patients with coccidioidomycosis remain asymptomatic, while 40% will experience symptoms. Within the literature, there are no papers that summarize sensitivity and specificity values between different tests; therefore, this paper presents sensitivity and specificity results across different tests and companies (Meridian, IMMY, and MiraVista).

Clinical Assessment Of Erosive Tooth Wear Objective Outcome Measures, Elizabeth Wewers

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether enamel surface texture can be used as objective and quantitative measurements to detect and monitor erosive tooth wear (ETW) as an adjunct to the subjective Basic Erosive Wear Evaluation (BEWE) that is commonly used today. This longitudinal observational clinical study enrolled 32 subjects with a sample of n = 584 teeth. Conventional dental microwear surface texture parameters (surface complexity, roughness, and anisotropy - Asfc, Sa, Str, respectively) (were generated using white-light scanning confocal profilometry) from the buccal surfaces of each tooth accepted to the study. I personally scanned and analyzed n …

Growth Of Methanogens On Kaolinite, A Clay That Has Been Identified On Mars, Hailey Littrell

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Methanogens have been studied as a model for life on Mars for 28 years now in the Kral lab. The discovery of methane in the Martian atmosphere by ground-based and orbital observations as well as Curiosity Rover (Formisano, V. et al., Krasnopolsky, V.A. et al., Mumma, M.J. et al.) has added relevance to these types of studies. Methanogens were chosen due to their ability to live in harsh environments, very similar to the Martian terrain. In addition to methane in the atmosphere, phyllosilicate clays have also been identified. One of those clays is kaolinite. Kaolinite has been found to not …

Exploring Genomic Convergence For Adaptations To Freezing Environments In Polar Fish, Ethan Talley

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Convergent evolution provides valuable insights into how natural selection shapes species traits. Genomic analysis of lineages that display convergent traits has the potential to identify candidate genes for environmental adaptations across the scope of entire genomes. One remarkable example of convergent evolution is the independent development of antifreeze proteins (AFPs) in phylogenetically distant polar fish lineages. While AFPs themselves are relatively well studied, the full genomic context of adaptation to freezing conditions in these fish lineages remains largely unexplored. Leveraging the whole genome sequences previously assembled in our lab, along with other high-quality genomes available in GenBank, I examined the …