Digital Commons Network^™

Leaf Optical And Indirect Lai Measurements In Wheat And Alfalfa At Maciv: Agmet Progress Report 89-4, E. A. Walter-Shea, B. L. Blad

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Meat, The Future: The Role Of Regulators In The Lab-Grown Revolution, Joseph B. Davault, Michael S. Sinha

All Faculty Scholarship

The United States is one of the largest consumers of meat globally. The production of meat contributes substantially to climate change due to the levels of greenhouse gasses emitted and the amount of land, water, feed, and other natural resources required to raise animals used for meat. Traditional meat production is another major source for the emergence of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Nevertheless, Americans consume more meat now than at any time in the nation’s history.

Advocates for policy change aimed at addressing the risks associated with meat production have typically focused on reducing meat consumption, alternatives to meat, …

Transcription Factor Expression Landscape In Drosophila Embryonic Cell Lines, Robert A. Drewell, Daniel Klonaros, Jacqueline Dresch

Biology

Background: Transcription factor (TF) proteins are a key component of the gene regulatory networks that control cellular fates and function. TFs bind DNA regulatory elements in a sequence-specific manner and modulate target gene expression through combinatorial interactions with each other, cofactors, and chromatin-modifying proteins. Large-scale studies over the last two decades have helped shed light on the complex network of TFs that regulate development in Drosophila melanogaster. Results: Here, we present a detailed characterization of expression of all known and predicted Drosophila TFs in two well-established embryonic cell lines, Kc167 and S2 cells. Using deep coverage RNA sequencing approaches we …

Environmental Dna Identifies Coastal Plant Community Shift 1,000 Years Ago In Torrens Island, South Australia, Nicole R. Foster, Alice R. Jones, Oscar Serrano, Anna Lafratta, Paul S. Lavery, Kor-Jent Van Dijk, Ed Biffin, Bronwyn M. Gillanders, Jennifer Young, Pere Masque, Patricia S. Gadd, Geraldine E. Jacobsen, Atun Zawadzki, Andria Greene, Michelle Waycott

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Anthropogenic activities are causing detrimental changes to coastal plants– namely seagrass, mangrove, and tidal marshes. Looking beyond recent times to past vegetation dynamics is critical to assess the response and resilience of an environment to change. Here, we develop a high-resolution multi-proxy approach, providing a new evidence base to decipher long-term change in coastal plant communities. Combining targeted environmental DNA analysis with chemical analysis of soils, we reconstructed 4,000 years of change at a temperate wetland on Torrens Island South Australia and identified an ecosystem shift that occurred ~ 1000 years ago. What was once a subtidal seagrass system shifted …

Effects Of Roadways On Seasonal Movement Strategies And Mate Location Success In An Imperiled Pit Viper (Crotalus Horridus), Elizabeth J. Noble

Graduate Research Showcase

A detailed understanding of animal movement behavior is fundamental to effective conservation and management. Within populations, a diversity of movement strategies can be displayed in search of critical resources, and these strategies are influenced by multiple interacting factors related to individuals and the environment. Mating partners are one critical resource that often serves as a prominent selective force shaping movement during mating seasons. For many large-bodied snakes, such as pit vipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae), male mate- searching movements are the primary determinant of mate location success. During this time, males incur significant risks associated with elevated movement. In an increasingly human- …

The Reveal: A Technical Study And Conservation Treatment Of An Overpaint Portrait, Camille Ferrer

Art Conservation Master's Projects

A severely damaged 19th-century oil painting depicting a portrait of a woman was treated at Patricia H. and E. Garman Art Conservation Department. A typed letter provided by the owner mentioned that it has been previously restored yet returned with unsatisfactory results. After further examination, the painting appeared to have been previously treated multiple times by different people. There was overpaint distinctly present on the face and later discovered to be present overall. The full state of condition of the painting was initially unknown due to the sum of the surface being overpainted. However, there were evidence of paint loss …

The Value Of Support: Stem Intervention Programs Impact Student Persistence And Belonging., Erin E. Shortlidge, Mackenzie J. Gray, Suzanne Estes, Emma C. Goodwin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In response to unwaveringly high attrition from STEM pathways, STEM Intervention Programs (SIPs) support STEM students in effort to increase retention. Using mixed methods (survey and focus groups), we studied students at one university who were either supported or unsupported by SIPs to understand how students may differ in experiences believed to contribute to STEM persistence. We evaluated: sense of belonging, scientific self-efficacy, scientific community values, scientific identity, and STEM involvement. The enrollment status of students two and a half years postsurvey was also tracked. SIP students reported significantly higher science identity and sense of belonging and were more involved …

On-Site Sensory Experience Boosts Acceptance Of Cultivated Chicken, Mark Chong, Angela K. Y. Leung, Tricia Marjorie Fernandez

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study set out to assess if presenting cultivated chicken in the context of a familiar meal, in a familiar dining setting, would motivate repeat consumption and recommendation. A survey of 107 diners was conducted at Huber's Butchery and Bistro in Singapore – the world's first butchery to serve cultivated meat – from April to June 2023. The findings showed that eating cultivated chicken significantly boosted post-consumption acceptance levels. In addition, cultivated chicken's tastiness may be a more important factor than its integration into a familiar meal or dish in fostering repeat consumption. Implications for the cultivated meat industry, limitations, …

Oil Identification Of Harp Seal And Other Select Marine Mammals, Meghan Pinedo, Deborah A. Duffield, Dalin N. D’Alessandro, Erin R. Price, Edgard O. Espinoza

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Because of the rich omega-3 fatty acids content, harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) oil is a popular supplement that is packaged as pills in Canada and sold for medicinal purposes, although this practice is banned in the United States. Due to US regulations, it is important to be able to distinguish between fish oil and seal oil, but the taxonomic determination of oils provenance has been a difficult problem to solve. In this study, Direct Analysis in Real Time time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DART TOFMS) was used to analyze the chemotypes of blubber samples collected from seven species of …

Development Of A Food Composition Database For The Estimation Of Dietary S-Methyl Cysteine Sulfoxide From Vegetables, Caroline R. Hill, Emma L. Connolly, Armaghan Shafaei, Lois Balmer, Liezhou Zhong, Taulant Muka, Antonietta Hayhoe, Shikha Saha, Richard J. Woodman, Joshua R. Lewis, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

A food composition database estimating S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide (SMCSO) was created following a systematic literature search. SMCSO data (705 entries) from 19 vegetables were summarised: brassicas (n = 10) and alliums (n = 9). The highest SMCSO in brassicas was reported in Brussels sprouts (median [range]: 318 [68−420] mg/100 g fresh weight (FW)) whilst the lowest was in radish (19 [4–45] mg/100 g FW). Brussels sprouts were almost twice as concentrated in SMCSO as cauliflower, followed by cabbage, kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, swede, Chinese cabbage, and turnips. The alliums highest in SMCSO were Chinese chives (271 [185−413] mg/100 g FW) followed …

Aerobic Exercise Improves Depressive Symptoms In The Unilateral 6-Ohda-Lesioned Rat Model Of Parkinson's Disease, Hannah Loughlin, Jacob Jackson, Chloe Looman, Alayna Starll, Jeremy Goldman, Zhiying Shan, Chunxiu Yu

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Aerobic exercise has been shown to have established benefits on motor function in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the impact of exercise on depressive symptoms in PD remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of regular exercise, specifically using a forced running wheel, on both motor performance and the prevalence of depression in a unilateral 6-OHDA-lesioned rat model of PD. The behavioral outcomes of exercise were assessed through the rotarod test (RT), forelimb adjusting step test (FAST), sucrose consumption test (SCT), and novelty sucrose splash test (NSST). Our data revealed evident depressive symptoms in the PD animals, characterized by …

Environmental Magnesium Ion Affects Global Gene Expression, Motility, Biofilm Formation And Virulence Of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, Xue Li, Xiaobai Zhang, Miaomiao Zhang, Xi Luo, Tingting Zhang, Xianjin Liu, Renfei Lu, Yiquan Zhang

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Designing Sustainable Systems Using Nature’S Toolbox, Matthew J. Hasenjager

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Supporting the Earth’s human population without destabilizing planetary processes is the central challenge of sustainability science. Key to achieving this goal is designing systems that are robust and resilient to dynamic and unpredictable conditions. Bioinspiration leverages naturally evolved solutions to address such challenges, yet a solution derived from one-to-one correspondence between a natural and artificial challenge can be limited in its broader application. Here we advocate for an approach to nature-inspired design that forgoes mimicking specific solutions in favor of identifying general design features that enable natural systems to function. These features are not specific to any naturally evolved solution …

Ideas For Estate And Transition Planning: Gift Leaseback, Jessica Groskopf

Center for Agricultural Profitability

Simply gifting assets helps reduce estate value and potential taxes for the owners and increase the wealth of the heirs. However, some families are hesitant to engage in gifting strategies because the farm or the ranch needs access to those assets to remain viable. This article expands on gifting strategies by combining gifts with a lease agreement.

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Welcoming Pollinators, Kaitlin Cambell, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

All Current Publications

This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It focuses on welcoming pollinators to the garden by providing a safe and effective habitat, and lists recommended plantings and resources.

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center Helps Producers Manage Risks, Christine Lockert, Sheila Aikanathan Johnson, Bradley D. Lubben

Cornhusker Economics

Established in 2001, the North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center (NCERMEC) has a long history of supporting risk management education programs serving producers in the region. Located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Agricultural Economics Department, the Center is one of four regional Extension Risk Management Education (ERME) Centers located throughout the country. ERME is funded through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and was authorized by the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000. The fundamental purpose of the ERME program is to educate producers to manage risk and position their farm or ranch for future growth and …

Autism Risk Gene Cul3 Alters Neuronal Morphology Via Caspase-3 Activity In Mouse Hippocampal Neurons, Qiang-Qiang Xia, Anju Singh, Jing Wang, Zhong Xin Xuan, Jeffrey D. Singer, Craig M. Powell

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in which children display differences in social interaction/communication and repetitive stereotyped behaviors along with variable associated features. Cul3, a gene linked to ASD, encodes CUL3 (CULLIN-3), a protein that serves as a key component of a ubiquitin ligase complex with unclear function in neurons. Cul3 homozygous deletion in mice is embryonic lethal; thus, we examine the role of Cul3 deletion in early synapse development and neuronal morphology in hippocampal primary neuronal cultures. Homozygous deletion of Cul3 significantly decreased dendritic complexity and dendritic length, as well as axon formation. Synaptic spine density significantly …

Fireflies At Rpa Natural Area Final Report, Olivia H. Bush, Sydney M. Shea, Sofia J. Gordon, Nick S. Wiebke

Final Reports in ENST 411: Environmental Community Projects

Our group worked alongside community partners Shaunna Barnhart and Jim Dunn during the Spring 2024 semester to assist with their annual event Fireflies at RPA Natural Area. RPA Natural Area is a local park in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania that was recently acquired by Southside Recreational Authority. Since taking over the park, the organization has begun hosting an event each July to educate the general public about firefly biology and conservation by showing a film and guiding attendees through a firefly tour through the park. Our goals for this project included creating physical educational materials to be used at the park …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Raised Bed Gardening, Rita Hagevik, Kathy Cabe Trundle

All Current Publications

This fact sheet is part of a series about creating sustainable school and home gardens. It provides information and resources on raised bed gardening, which can help gardeners maximize space and increase food or flower production, all with fewer weeds.

Eviction-Driven Infanticide And Sexually Selected Adoption And Infanticide In A Neotropical Parrot, Steven R. Beissinger, Karl S. Berg

School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Significance

The Effect Of Yamanaka Factors On The Metastatic Potential Of Breast Cancer Cells, Riley Mendonca

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The mortality associated with cancer is most commonly a result of it spreading to other tissues and organs in a process known as metastasis. For carcinomas to do this they must first break through the basement membrane containing them to interact with the stroma. This is known as an epithelial-mesenchymal transition and occurs when carcinomas suppress their original epithelial qualities in order to adopt more mesenchymal ones. This involves cancers dedifferentiating from their original cell type to lose the specialized features that distinguished them and where they came from. As cancers become more invasive, this dedifferentiation becomes more pronounced. Recent …

Heavy Metals In Afforested Mangrove Sediment From The World's Largest Delta: Distributional Mapping, Contamination Status, Risk Assessment And Source Tracing, Md Saifur Rahman, Moshiur Rahman, Yeasmin N Jolly, Md Kamal Hossain, Sanjida Afrin Semme, Bilal Ahamad Paray, Takaomi Arai, Jimmy Yu, M Belal Hossain

Journal Articles

This study aims to assess seasonal and spatial variations, contamination status, ecological risks, and metal sources (Ni, Pb, Cr, Cu, Mn, and Zn) in human-afforested mangrove sediments in a deltaic region. Five sampling locations were sampled during dry and wet seasons. Heavy metal concentrations followed the order: Mn > Zn > Ni > Cr > Cu > Pb. Metal loads, except Cu and Pb, were higher during the dry season, aligning with national and international recommendations. Sediment quality guidelines, contamination factor, geoaccumulation index, enrichment factors, and pollution load index indicated uncontaminated sediment in both seasons. Potential ecological risk assessment showed low risk conditions in all …

50 Common Questions About Field Crops, Matt Yost, Burdette Barker, Cody Zesiger, Jody Gale, Justin Wyatt Clawson, Mark Nelson, Matthew Palmer, Michael Pace, Cheyenne Reid, Steven Price, Earl Creech, Corey Ransom, Grant Cardon, Clara Anderson, Madelyn Kunzler

All Current Publications

Utah State University Extension strives to provide research-based information and knowledge to help agricultural producers. Producers often have questions about several aspects of field crop production. This article is not comprehensive of all questions about field crops but represents some of the common questions that USU faculty have received from the public, producers, and crop advisors.

Quemando Leña En Guatemala: Salud, Sostenibilidad Y Costumbres, Sydney Underhill

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

In the Central American country of Guatemala, firewood is an important fuel source. Eighty-eight percent of households in rural areas use wood stoves and open fires to cook and heat their homes. This tradition has fundamental roots in the culture and customs of Guatemala. Unfortunately, these methods contribute to air pollution. Consequently, it also results in smoke inhalation, which causes health problems. Additionally, the massive agriculture of other crops decreases the amount of firewood available to these households, affecting the sustainability of the resource. Some communities resist changing their use of firewood due to the profound nature that firewood holds …

Genetic Variants For Head Size Share Genes And Pathways With Cancer, Maria J Knol, Raymond A Poot, Tavia E Evans, Claudia L Satizabal, Aniket Mishra, Muralidharan Sargurupremraj, Sandra Van Der Auwera, Marie-Gabrielle Duperron, Xueqiu Jian, Isabel C Hostettler, Dianne H K Van Dam-Nolen, Sander Lamballais, Mikolaj A Pawlak, Cora E Lewis, Amaia Carrion-Castillo, Theo G M Van Erp, Céline S Reinbold, Jean Shin, Markus Scholz, Asta K Håberg, Anders Kämpe, Gloria H Y Li, Reut Avinun, Joshua R Atkins, Fang-Chi Hsu, Alyssa R Amod, Max Lam, Ami Tsuchida, Mariël W A Teunissen, Nil Aygün, Yash Patel, Dan Liang, Alexa S Beiser, Frauke Beyer, Joshua C Bis, Daniel Bos, R Nick Bryan, Robin Bülow, Svenja Caspers, Gwenaëlle Catheline, Charlotte A M Cecil, Shareefa Dalvie, Jean-François Dartigues, Charles Decarli, Maria Enlund-Cerullo, Judith M Ford, Barbara Franke, Barry I Freedman, Nele Friedrich, Melissa J Green, Simon Haworth, Catherine Helmer, Per Hoffmann, Georg Homuth, M Kamran Ikram, Clifford R Jack, Neda Jahanshad, Christiane Jockwitz, Yoichiro Kamatani, Annchen R Knodt, Shuo Li, Keane Lim, W T Longstreth, Fabio Macciardi, Outi Mäkitie, Bernard Mazoyer, Sarah E Medland, Susumu Miyamoto, Susanne Moebus, Thomas H Mosley, Ryan Muetzel, Thomas W Mühleisen, Manabu Nagata, Soichiro Nakahara, Nicholette D Palmer, Zdenka Pausova, Adrian Preda, Yann Quidé, William R Reay, Gennady V Roshchupkin, Reinhold Schmidt, Pamela J Schreiner, Kazuya Setoh, Chin Yang Shapland, Stephen Sidney, Beate St Pourcain, Jason L Stein, Yasuharu Tabara, Alexander Teumer, Anne Uhlmann, Aad Van Der Lugt, Meike W Vernooij, David J Werring, B Gwen Windham, A Veronica Witte, Katharina Wittfeld, Qiong Yang, Kazumichi Yoshida, Han G Brunner, Quentin Le Grand, Kang Sim, Dan J Stein, Donald W Bowden, Murray J Cairns, Ahmad R Hariri, Ching-Lung Cheung, Sture Andersson, Arno Villringer, Tomas Paus, Sven Cichon, Vince D Calhoun, Fabrice Crivello, Lenore J Launer, Tonya White, Peter J Koudstaal, Henry Houlden, Myriam Fornage, Fumihiko Matsuda, Hans J Grabe, M Arfan Ikram, Stéphanie Debette, Paul M Thompson, Sudha Seshadri, Hieab H H Adams

Journal Articles

The size of the human head is highly heritable, but genetic drivers of its variation within the general population remain unmapped. We perform a genome-wide association study on head size (N = 80,890) and identify 67 genetic loci, of which 50 are novel. Neuroimaging studies show that 17 variants affect specific brain areas, but most have widespread effects. Gene set enrichment is observed for various cancers and the p53, Wnt, and ErbB signaling pathways. Genes harboring lead variants are enriched for macrocephaly syndrome genes (37-fold) and high-fidelity cancer genes (9-fold), which is not seen for human height variants. Head size …

Common Use Herbicides Increase Wetland Greenhouse Gas Flux Rates, Christopher Walsh '25

Biology Student Scholarship

Herbicides have been found to affect greenhouse gas emissions from aquatic systems, attributed to changes in vegetation or microbial metabolic processes. Two of the most commonly used herbicides worldwide are glyphosate and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Due to both the increased use of mixed herbicides and global intensification of agriculture, wetlands are receiving increasing amounts of glyphosate and 2,4-D. Both glyphosate and 2,4-D are primarily degraded by 46 microorganisms, where certain species use them for nutrients and other species are inhibited by their toxicity. Even minor herbicide-induced shifts in wetland microbial communities can potentially alter ecosystem function and GHG emissions. This …

The Effect Of Temperature On The Invasive Asian Needle Ant, Kaylee Mulligan '25

Biology Student Scholarship

The Asian Needle Ant (Brachyponera chinensis) is an invasive species currently spreading on the Eastern Coast of the United States. They were first reported around the 1930s in Florida and have since migrated to Massachusetts. As an invasive species, this pest originating from Asia has a negative impact on environment ecosystems and other species of ants. Asian Needle Ants displace resident ant colonies, taking over nesting sites by consuming food sources and decreasing the amount of space other ant colonies can use. They are also known to have a sting that contains venom more likely to result in …

Sea Surface Temperature Influence On Tropical Storms And Hurricanes, Elise Leroux '26

Biology Student Scholarship

Hurricanes are both dangerous and difficult to predict because of the various factors that influence the size and intensity of storms, where sea surface temperature (SST) is one of the most relevant variables. As temperatures are increasingly rising due to climate change, the effect on storm size, intensity, and frequency is going to be greater. There have been many studies how individual storms are affected, but less so on the overall frequency of hurricanes. This study assesses the number of hurricanes each year in comparison to the SST and the average wind speed of each hurricane. I predict that years …

Gdp Effects On Bottlenose Dolphins Within The Gulf Of Mexico, Kathleen Kelly '24

Biology Student Scholarship

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are highly sensitive to environmental changes and anthropogenic stressors. Making them important indicators of marine ecosystem health. The Gulf of Mexico sustains diverse marine ecosystems and coastal communities. However, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and coastal development have altered marine habitats and increased anthropogenic pressures on marine wildlife. While various factors contribute to these strandings, the potential influence of socio-economic factors, particularly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) disparities among Gulf Coast counties, remains underexplored. This number (GDP) is influenced by human activities such as fisheries, shipping, and tourism, all of which directly or indirectly could affect marine …