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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Contribution Of Missouri River Reservoir Side-Channel And Floodplain Habitats To Mainstem Fish Populations: The Effects Of Losing Connectivity Between Hipple Lake And Lake Sharpe, William Joseph Radigan Jan 2016

The Contribution Of Missouri River Reservoir Side-Channel And Floodplain Habitats To Mainstem Fish Populations: The Effects Of Losing Connectivity Between Hipple Lake And Lake Sharpe, William Joseph Radigan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catastrophic flooding of the Missouri River in 2011 has had lasting effects on floodplain habitats (i.e. floodplain lakes) and side-channel habitats (e.g. canals, side-channel embayments, stilling basins, and tributaries) in Lake Sharpe, SD. Floodplain and side-channel habitats are rare habitat in Lake Sharpe, a mainstem Missouri River reservoir, and are thought to be crucial habitat for prey and sport fish. Hipple Lake, the only warm-water floodplain embayment in Lake Sharpe, is in danger of losing connectivity to the reservoir because of sedimentation resulting from the 2011 flood. To evaluate Hipple Lake’s natal and adult contribution to Lake Sharpe’s fishery, otolith …


Evaluation Of Essential Oils (Stay Strong) For Dairy Calves, Kelly Ann Froehlich Jan 2016

Evaluation Of Essential Oils (Stay Strong) For Dairy Calves, Kelly Ann Froehlich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stay Strong (SS, Ralco Inc., Marshall, MN) is a blend of essential oils (EO) and prebiotic fiber technologies designed to promote immunity and stimulate appetite, helping to diminish health challenges and stresses experienced by newborn calves. Current feeding inclusion rates are unknown to achieve optimal performance in the first 8 weeks of life. The study objectives were to determine the optimal feeding inclusion rate of SS when added to milk replacer (MR) to achieve optimal performance when compared to a yeast cell wall (YCW). One hundred Holstein calves were blocked by birth date and randomly assigned to 1 of 5 …


Raptors In Temperate Grasslands: Ecology Of Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, And Northern Harrier In The Northern Great Plains, Shubham Datta Jan 2016

Raptors In Temperate Grasslands: Ecology Of Ferruginous Hawk, Golden Eagle, And Northern Harrier In The Northern Great Plains, Shubham Datta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis) are a grassland and shrubland obligate nesting raptor and prefer lightly grazed pasture or idle areas for nesting. Their population reportedly declines in number if more than 30% of an area is cultivated and they rarely nest in areas dominated by croplands. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are long-lived raptors with high nest-site fidelity and relatively low reproductive success. Population trends of golden eagles in western United States are unclear although long-term monitoring of populations shows declines in occupancy and breeding performance. Northern harriers (Circus cyaneus) prefer relatively open grasslands and …


Inactivation Of Thermodynamic Sporeformers And Spores In Skim Milk By Continuous Ultrasonication And Hydrodynamic Cavitation In Combination With Thermal Treatments, Dikshi Bawa Jan 2016

Inactivation Of Thermodynamic Sporeformers And Spores In Skim Milk By Continuous Ultrasonication And Hydrodynamic Cavitation In Combination With Thermal Treatments, Dikshi Bawa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies were conducted to determine the effectiveness of ultrasonication and hydrodynamic cavitation, in a continuous mode, alone and in combination with thermal treatments, on heat resistant aerobic sporeformers and spores in skim milk, and skim milk concentrate. The first study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of a continuous ultrasonication process to reduce thermoduric Bacillus coagulans cells in skim milk. A 25% reduction was obtained by lab pasteurization alone, whereas ultrasonication alone resulted in an inactivation of 92% after 12 passes (80 sec exposure time per pass). Ultrasonication when combined with pasteurization resulted in further increased inactivation to 99.98%. It …


Impact Of New Processing Technologies On The Physical And Functional Properties Of Skim Milk And Skim Milk Concentrate, Harsh Dahiya Jan 2016

Impact Of New Processing Technologies On The Physical And Functional Properties Of Skim Milk And Skim Milk Concentrate, Harsh Dahiya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

United States is one of the largest producer of cow’s milk in the world and a substantial portion of this milk is converted into dried milk products, a category that is becoming increasingly important to the dairy industry. The processing treatments on skim milk and skim milk concentrate affect the functionality of resultant powders made from them, therefore processing treatments are crucial to modify physical and functional properties of skim milk, skim milk concentrates and the powders made from them. The objective of this research was to explore impact of new processing technologies hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and carbon dioxide (CO2) …


An Evaluation Of Feeding A Blend Of Essential Oils And Cobalt Lactate To Lactating Dairy Cows, Olivia Jayne Kuester Jan 2016

An Evaluation Of Feeding A Blend Of Essential Oils And Cobalt Lactate To Lactating Dairy Cows, Olivia Jayne Kuester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine if the inclusion of a blend of essential oils and cobalt lactate (EOC) in the diet of lactating dairy cows could result in improved nutrient utilization and lactational performance in addition to assessing the application of EOC to control feed mycotoxins and spoilage. The trial was conducted in two experimental periods (Phase 1 (P1) and Phase 2 (P2)) on a commercial dairy in southwest Minnesota equipped with two robotic milking units. Phases 1 and 2 were cross over design trials with two pens. Cows were housed in two freestall pens (57 ± …


An Evaluation Of Rumen Modifiers For Lactational Performance And Nutrient Digestibility By Cows, Prakash Poudel Jan 2016

An Evaluation Of Rumen Modifiers For Lactational Performance And Nutrient Digestibility By Cows, Prakash Poudel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three studies were conducted to evaluate a commercial blend of essential oils, active dried yeast product and cobalt lactate on production performance, rumen fermentation and nutrient digestibility by cows by using in vivo and in vitro methods. The first study evaluated the lactational performance and nutrient digestibility of lactating Holstein dairy cows fed two commercial supplements: 1) a propriety blend of essential oils and Cobalt lactate (EOC) (Stay Strong, Ralco, Inc., Marshall, MN) and 2) active dried yeast (ADY) (Omnigen AF, Prince Agri Products, Inc., Quincy, IL). The 12-week experiment demonstrated no differences in milk production, milk composition, and feed …


Impacts Of Wetland Characteristics On Duck Use In The Prairie Pothole Region (Ppr) 1987-2013, Fred Thomas Oslund Jan 2016

Impacts Of Wetland Characteristics On Duck Use In The Prairie Pothole Region (Ppr) 1987-2013, Fred Thomas Oslund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since 1987 the Waterfowl Breeding Populations and Production Estimates, also called the Four Square Mile Survey, has been conducted annually in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region. The survey was designed to assess the influence of the Small Wetlands Acquisition Program on contributions to continental waterfowl populations (Cowardin et al. 1995). Each year cooperators visit sample wetlands during two survey periods, collecting data on observed waterfowl and pond conditions. Along with ground counts, aerial photography of sample areas is collected annually, capturing habitat conditions. My objective was to assess the influence of local and landscape factors on duck pair densities. Local …


Effect Of Oil And Natural Gas Development On Survival And Health Of White-Tailed Deer In The Western Dakotas, Katherine L. Moratz Jan 2016

Effect Of Oil And Natural Gas Development On Survival And Health Of White-Tailed Deer In The Western Dakotas, Katherine L. Moratz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oil and gas development in North Dakota has resulted in the need for information regarding how increased activity has affected white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations. We evaluated white-tailed deer ecology in response to energy development and hypothesized that oil and gas development would negatively affect adult and neonate white-tailed deer due to increased vehicle traffic and human-related effects. We captured and radio-collared adult female and neonate white-tailed deer across three study areas: Dunn County, North Dakota, an area influenced by energy development, and Grant County, North Dakota, and Perkins County, South Dakota, areas not impacted by energy development at this …


Role Of Exopolymeric Substances In Biofilm Formation On Dairy Separation Membranes, Nuria Garcia-Fernandez Jan 2016

Role Of Exopolymeric Substances In Biofilm Formation On Dairy Separation Membranes, Nuria Garcia-Fernandez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the concentration of cheese whey by membrane filtration processes, fouling is a major limiting factor that leads to flux decline and affects product quality. The growth of biofilms on membranes contributes to biofouling. Biofilms are very difficult to eliminate, and will serve as the seed for additional biofilm development and product contamination. The biofilm matrix is composed mainly of microbial exopolymeric substances (EPS), and therefore EPS is thought to help bacteria to adhere and form biofilms by acting as a cementing agent. The first research project under this study was conducted with the aim of elucidating the role of …


Fish Ladders Designed For Drop Culverts And Central Stoneroller Ecology Across A Latitudinal Gradient, John Arthur Lorenzen Jan 2016

Fish Ladders Designed For Drop Culverts And Central Stoneroller Ecology Across A Latitudinal Gradient, John Arthur Lorenzen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stream connectivity is essential for the persistence of fish populations and maintenance of fish assemblage structure. Stream-road crossings can become barriers resulting in a loss of connectivity. Creating innovative tools for fisheries managers to allow fish passage through barrier stream-road crossings is important worldwide as climate change may force range shifts to stay within thermal requirements. Understanding how populations and metapopulations respond to climate is important as fisheries managers can use this information to make informed management decisions in regards to climate change and possible range shifts. Thus, we developed and tested a fish ladder to retrofit barrier stream-road crossings …


Characterization Of Small Non-Coding Rnas In The Seminal Plasma Of Beef Bulls With Predicted High And Low Fertility, Stephanie Perkins Jan 2016

Characterization Of Small Non-Coding Rnas In The Seminal Plasma Of Beef Bulls With Predicted High And Low Fertility, Stephanie Perkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small non-coding RNAs (sRNA) that play a key role in regulating gene expression by binding to their complementary mRNA and altering translation. It has been reported that this down-regulation of specific areas of the genome plays a role in male fertility. Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are another class of germline-specific non-coding RNAs that form silencing complexes to maintain germline genome integrity. In bovine seminal plasma, piRNAs have not previously been characterized. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate a potential relationship between expression of these sRNAs and fertility in beef bulls and to …


The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns Jan 2016

The Nutritional Value Of Fecal Sacs: Testing The Parental Nutrition Hypothesis, Amanda W. Burns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nest sanitation is an important aspect of parental investment in birds with altricial nestlings. Passerine nestlings produce fecal matter that is encased in a mucous membrane for easy disposal. These fecal sacs are either removed from the nest and transported a distance away or they are ingested by the adult. A decline in fecal sac ingestion rates as nestlings age has been observed in several species. The parental nutrition hypothesis posits that this pattern can be attributed to increasing digestive efficiency as nestlings age. The parental nutrition hypothesis makes three predictions: fecal sac consumption rates should decrease as nestlings age, …


The Behavioral, Biochemical And Genetic Effects Of Sleep Deprivation In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Jade Catherine Boykin Jan 2016

The Behavioral, Biochemical And Genetic Effects Of Sleep Deprivation In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Jade Catherine Boykin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vertebrate sleep is a universal phenomenon and encompasses an array of conserved behavioral and physiological characteristics. Studies of sleep in humans have shown that sleep deprivation leads to adverse effects to human health and additional stress. Teleosts have emerged as a useful model species to study the vertebrate stress response, given its stress axis has high levels of homology with the mammals, including humans. For this study, the behavior of zebrafish (Danio rerio) subjected to acute (24 hours) and chronic (20 days) extended light exposure was monitored and whole-body cortisol was analyzed as an indication of activation of …