Life Sciences Commons^™

Breaks In Longitudinal Elastic Fibers Of Human Femoropopliteal Arteries, Elham Zamani

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Breaks in Longitudinal Elastic Fibers of Human Femoropopliteal Arteries

Elham Zamani1, Majid Jadidi1

1 Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska Omaha, Omaha, NE

Introduction: Elastin is a major protein in the body with half-life >50 years. It is thought that elastic fibers are formed before the postnatal period. In the femoropopliteal artery (FPA), the main artery in the leg, longitudinal elastic fibers are present in External Elastic Lamina (EEL). Our team has studied more than 1000 cadaveric human FPA and has noticed that there are big breaks in their longitudinal elastic fibers in some subjects. Our goal in this work …

The Effects Of Trichloroethylene On The Germination And Early Development Of Radish, Butternut Squash, Corn, And Soybean, Sarah Jaksich

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a small molecule used as a metal degreaser and as an extraction solvent for lipids. Historically, TCE has been used to clean missiles and rockets after testing at military sites. However, TCE has decreased in use due to its potential health hazards. TCE is particularly dangerous because it is soluble in water and easily seeps into ground water. As a result, TCE has contaminated groundwater in Mead, Nebraska. The town is near the formal Nebraska Ordnance Plant, a military factory specializing in bomb assembly, ammonium nitrate production, and explosives burning. Soil sampling in Mead indicated TCE levels …

Influence Of Cattle Grazing On Milkweed And Other Native Forbs, Karen Klug

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

One of the most identifiable plants of the Great Plains are milkweed species (Asclepias spp.), which are also the only food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars (Danaus plexippus). Conservation of the milkweed population has taken renewed importance as the population of eastern migratory monarchs has dropped by over 80% from 1996 to 2017, largely because of a loss of over 1.3 billion stems of milkweed. As a result of this monarch population decline, it has been petitioned to protect the monarch butterfly population under the US Endangered Species Act. To increase the population size of the …

Taxonomic Classification Of Diplazium Molokaiense, A Fern Endemic To Hawaii, Using Molecular And Morphological Characters, Sarah Jaksich

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Diplazium molokaiense is an endangered fern species endemic to Hawaii. There are only an estimated 61 individuals left in the wild. Taxonomic classification of this species is an important element to its conservation. Using the following morphological characters: sori size and shape, scale size and shape, and frond shape, D. molokaiense was preliminarily placed into the Diplazium genus. Six regions (rbcL, matK, atpA, atpB, trnLF, and rps4-trnS) of the chloroplast genome were amplified and sequenced using Sanger-sequencing. Sequences for outgroup taxa and 20 Diplazium species were downloaded from GenBank and used to infer a phylogeny. Our data provide …

Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Biogenesis In Response To Exercise And Cold Exposure, Camille Larson

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

BACKGROUND: Aerobic exercise triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, the generation of new mitochondria, by ATP depletion and subsequent activation of the AMPK signaling pathway. This leads to enhanced expression of PGC-1α, a positive regulator of respiration, mitochondrial biogenesis, and adaptive thermogenesis. Previous research from our lab has shown that exercise followed by cold recovery enhances the transcription of genes associated with mitochondrial growth and division, however the recovery period was necessary for this response. Perhaps exercising in a colder external environment would induce a greater thermoregulatory response and gradient between ambient skin and core temperature that may lead to altered mitochondrial …

Impacts Of Exercise And Environmental Temperature On Mitochondrial Quantity And Quality, Halee Keller

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Halee Keller, Robert Shute, Dustin Slivka

University of Nebraska at Omaha, School of Health and Kinesiology, Omaha, NE

BACKGROUND: Mitochondria are highly concentrated in skeletal muscle tissue, and undergo damage from ROS during metabolic processes. This damage is often left unrepaired and leads to mitochondrial dysfunction, which has been linked to many common diseases. Exercise training increases mitochondrial development within skeletal muscle tissue and thus may be protective. Environmental temperature, when paired with exercise may provide an even greater effect than exercise alone. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of three weeks of exercise …

Functional Genetics Of Mind-Meld In Drosophila Melanogaster, Candi R. Senior-Remsa

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a useful research tool used to localize specific antigens in tissue sections with labeled antibodies based on antigen-antibody interactions. To obtain a clearer understanding of the cellular and subcellular localization of the Mind-Meld (MMD) protein during the developing Drosophila melanogaster embryo double indirect immunofluorescence was used to colocalize MMD with other proteins found in the fruit fly. An affinity-purified antibody raised in rabbit identifying all MMD isoforms was used with the fluorophore-labeled secondary antibody Alexa Fluor 594 specific to rabbit IgG. Well-characterized murine monoclonal antibodies with known subcellular localization and function in Drosophila: Fascicilin II (FASII), Short …

Species Diversity And Relative Abundance Of Reptiles And Amphibians At Glacier Creek Preserve, Cori L. Borgheiinck

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Glacier Creek Preserve, located in Bennington, Nebraska, is dedicated to restoring land to native prairie. Restoration at Glacier Creek Preserve began in 1970. Over the years, the preserve has acquired more land, as well as acquiring more habitat diversity. This research is the first to look at the community dynamics of herpetofauna in the preserve. The sampling areas were determined by choosing seven random sites to represent the following habitats, (1) prairie, (2) non-prairie, (3) prairie burned in 2014, and (4) prairie burned in 2016.

Data sampling occurred from April 2016 to October 2016 and from February 2017 to March …