Life Sciences Commons^™

Human Motion Detection Evaluated Through An Evoked Cortical Potential Frequency Spectrum, Howard E. Painter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electrical potentials were recorded from scalp of normal male subjects while they were viewing continuously moving sinusoidal gratings. Responses from the occipital cortex were amplified, digitized, stored and then transformed from the time domain to the frequency domain using a microcomputer based Fast Fourier Transform algorithm. High frequency components (Beta Activity) of the resulting power spectrum were analyzed for evidence on neural generators (electrical sources) in the striate cortex driven presumably by transient-cells (Y-cells or Magnocellular) responding to the continuously moving grating. Several stimulus parameters were examined: angular velocity, spatial frequency, direction (orientation), color, and intensity. A16 Hz component of …

Violence Against Healthcare Workers, Nichole Osgood

Honors Theses

Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at work (US Department of Labor, 2023). There are a handful of different types of workplace violence that include but are not limited to physical violence, verbal abuse and threats, sexual harassment, and psychological trauma (US Department of Labor, 2023). Workplace violence, a multifaceted phenomenon, is not a new concern, but its pervasiveness and intensity in healthcare settings have reached alarming proportions in recent years. In a meta-analysis, it was noted that workplace violence against healthcare workers of any kind was …

Evaluating Habitat Use By Nekton In Widgeon Grass (Ruppia Maritima), Shoal Grass (Halodule Wrightii), And Unvegetated Bottom Habitats In The Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Jessica Woodall

Master's Theses

Seagrass beds support high biodiversity and animal abundance, serve as feeding grounds for a variety of animals, offer shelter from predation, and act as a nursery habitat for juveniles. The species composition of seagrass beds can impact their use as habitat by animals. Two common species of seagrass in the Gulf of Mexico are Ruppia maritima (widgeon grass) and Halodule wrightii (shoal grass). The shallow coastal waters of the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) support both species, but the use of each seagrass as habitat by nekton is poorly understood, which can limit management decision-making. Nekton communities were …

Pick Your Poison: How Aspartame Causes Anxiety, Abby J. Kersey, Baylee R. Kram, Blessing O. Okosun, Diane C. Darland

Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Showcase

BLUF: Limit your aspartame consumption!

Studies have shown that consecutive aspartame consumption at as little as 7% of the FDA recommended daily intake can cause anxiety symptoms in ~8 days. Not only that, but after 12 weeks of consumption, it was proven that the anxiety symptoms are passed to the offspring two generations later. That means if you have roughly one to two 32 oz Diet Cokes per day, your children and grandchildren will show symptoms of anxiety even if they never consume aspartame themselves. It is important to note that aspartame is in many foods and products labeled as …

We Are The Reason We Stand Still In The Face Of Climate Change., Sydney Hemp

Honors Theses

Many different factors can impact the way any information is received but it is especially important to see how scientific information is received because it is often backed up by a great deal of evidence, especially in the case of global climate change. Many of these factors have nothing to do with science and everything to do with social influences, political parties, and other demographic measures. Discussion of these relationships is important when discussing communication in a broad sense, but it can be even more important when bringing up things like global climate change, which has become a political topic …

The Unexpected Significance Of Myosin A In Organization Of M-Line Protein Unc-89/Obscurin Within Striated Muscle Cells Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Kar Men Lee

Honors Theses

This research investigates the unexpected significance of Myosin A in the organization of M-line protein UNC-89/obscurin within striated muscle cells of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). The study employs immunofluorescence techniques to examine the spatial and temporal dynamics of UNC-89/obscurin and Myosin A during embryonic development. The sarcomere, a fundamental unit in muscle cells, is governed by the 'sliding filament model,' where the M-line serves as a crucial anchor for Myosin A. This research seeks to understand the relationship between muscle function in humans and C. elegans, utilizing the latter's simple anatomy and genetic tractability. The …

Zea Mays Genotype Influences Microbial And Viral Rhizobiome Community Structure, Pooja Yadav, Amanda Quattrone, Yuguo Yang, Jacob Owens, Rebecca Kiat, Thirumurugen Kuppusamy, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Plant genotype is recognized to contribute to variations in microbial community structure in the rhizosphere, soil adherent to roots. However, the extent to which the viral community varies has remained poorly understood and has the potential to contribute to variation in soil microbial communities. Here we cultivated replicates of two Zea mays genotypes, parviglumis and B73, in a greenhouse and harvested the rhizobiome (rhizoplane and rhizosphere) to identify the abundance of cells and viruses as well as rhizobiome microbial and viral community using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and genome resolved metagenomics. Our results demonstrated that viruses exceeded microbial abundance …

Testing The Cavefish Model: An Organism-Focused Theory Of Biological Design, Michael J. Boyle, Scott Arledge, Brian Thomas, Jeffrey P. Tomkins, Randy J. Guliuzza

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Poster Abstract

The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is experimentally testing an engineering-based model of rapid biological adaptation: Continuous Environmental Tracking (CET). This model infers that organisms actively track conditions within specific environments to self-adjust through internal mechanisms and initiate adaptive functionality. The animal under investigation is Astyanax mexicanus (Mexican tetra), a freshwater fish with well-differentiated, interfertile morphotypes: eyed surface-dwelling fish (surface fish) with distinct pigmentation patterns, and eyeless cave-dwelling fish (cavefish) with minimal pigmentation. Aquaria within our newly established laboratory contain breeding pairs of cavefish exposed to either (A) cyclical light/dark patterns of full-spectrum high-intensity light, (B) minimal light …

Hybridization And Genetic Distances Suggest One Large Monobaramin In The Gourd Family (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae), Timothy R. Brophy, Jack R. Gregory, Brigitte Townsend

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The gourds form a primarily tropical and subtropical family (Cucurbitales: Cucurbitaceae) of herbaceous climbers and woody lianas composed of approximately 960 species in 95 genera and 15 tribes. Many of these are globally important food crops and ornamentals including cucumbers, gourds, squashes, melons, pumpkins, and luffas. Utilizing published literature, there is evidence of interspecific hybridization (natural, experimental cross-pollination, and embryo/ovule culture) in five of the 15 tribes. These consist of successful crosses between 131 unique species pairs, including two intergeneric and one intertribal cross, forming eight monobaramins. In addition, species that do not hybridize directly, but hybridize with the same …

Paleo-Ontogenetic Growth Curves: Evidence For Extreme Past Animal Longevity?, Leo Hebert Iii

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

One of the Bible's most ridiculed claims is its assertion that pre-Flood and immediate post-Flood humans experienced lifespans of hundreds of years. Hence, the ability to partially corroborate the Bible's claim in this regard should be of great interest to creation researchers. Paleontologists have within the last two decades become increasingly interested in using growth rings recorded in fossil forms to make inferences about past growth rates, sizes, and lifespans. Examination of these growth rings suggest that some creatures in the pre-Flood world matured quite slowly compared to similar extant forms. Also, multiple studies have shown that slower development and …

Elucidating The Relationships Between Spider Size, Joint Stiffness, And The Mechanical Frequency Response Of The Body, Reese L. Gartly

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Spiders use vibrations to sense their surroundings. It has been suggested that the vibration perception in spiders may be altered by the mechanics of the body. I studied the biomechanics of spiders, at the level of leg joints and the whole body. To study joints, I quantified the allometry of leg joint stiffness in spiders. I found that the stiffness of spider joints increased nearly isometrically with increasing body mass, partly by having shorter and thicker leg segments and also by other unknown means. Using these data, I developed empirically validated biomechanical models which predicted the effects of mechanics on …

A Novel Software For Organelle Genome-Based Baraminology Studies, Matthew Cserhati

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Background

There are 24,165 organelle DNA sequences at the Organelle Genome webpage at the NCBI website, as of June 19, 2022. Of these, 14,799 are mitochondrial genomes and 8,050 are chloroplast genomes. Since organelle genomes are very small and very abundant within the cell, they are easy to isolate and sequence. This means that there is a very large number of organelle genome data available for baraminologists to explore and analyze. Using organelle genomes is a quick way to map a large number of species to their respective baramins in preliminary baraminology studies.

The first mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies in …

New Analyses Suggest That All Horses (Perissodactyla: Equidae) Belong To A Single Holobaramin, Timothy R. Brophy, Jack R. Gregory

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The horse family (Perissodactyla: Equidae) is composed of approximately 35 genera, primarily extinct forms from Cenozoic sediments, that include the modern genus Equus. The equids, along with some other extinct perissodactyls (e.g., palaeotheriids) form the superfamily (or clade) Equoidea. Our previous research confirmed the conclusions of several other baraminological analyses that all members of the horse family belong to the same monobaramin. No baraminological studies, however, have detected consistent discontinuity between the horses and any outgroup taxa. The goal of this study is to investigate potential discontinuity and holobaraminic status of horses and other similar taxa using new datasets …

Messages In The Genetic Code: The Dram Form, John M. Demassa

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Does the Genetic code contain non-structural information or even intelligible messages? The present work offers a mathematical investigation of the genetic code using a novel numeric procedure applied to both nucleobases and amino acids found in standard code tables. The numeric two step procedure amounts to an atom count of all the atoms in standard genetic code tables and shall be called Compound Numeric Triangulation. The first step called Compound Numeric Indexing (CNI) converts the DNA codon table (purines and pyrimidines),the RNA codon table (purines and pyrimidines) and the 20 standard amino acids into representative index numbers. In this step, …

Molecular And Morphological Analyses Confirm That All Loons (Aves: Gaviiformes) Form A Single Holobaramin, Timothy R. Brophy, Mary-Clark A. Matthews, Mckayla M. Guillory, Alexis M. Ramerth

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Loons or divers (Aves: Gaviiformes), a group of waterbirds found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, are comprised of several extinct taxa as well as an extant family (Gaviidae) with one genus (Gavia) and five species. Recent phylogenetic studies suggest that the Sphenisciformes (penguins) and Procellariiformes (petrels, albatrosses, and shearwaters) form a sister group to the loons. Our previous research, based on hybridization, morphological, and vocalization data, found that all extant loons form a single holobaramin (i.e., created kind). This previous study, however, was inconclusive as to the membership of fossil taxa within the kind. The goal of the …

The Exquisite Design Of Somatic Hypermutation To Enhance Antibody Diversity, Binding Affinity And Self-Tolerance, Frank Maas

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Somatic hypermutation (SHM) of antibody genes is commonly cited as preeminent evidence of the Darwinian “survival of the fittest” in nature. Just as SHM generates antibodies with the strongest binding affinity through a process of random mutation and selection in somatic cells of an individual, the same process occurring in germ cells on a population level can result in macroevolution according to proponents of the latter theory. Although SHM appears to produce point mutations randomly, such mutations are actually generated by a well-designed intricate mechanism contributing to species preservation. Non-random characteristics of SHM are summarized as well as recent findings …

Microplastics, Macro-Problems: Abundance Of Man-Made Materials In The Waters And Sediments Of Florida State Parks, Luciana M. Banquero, Kate Mclendon, Andres Alatorre, Mackenzie Daniels, Savanna Freeman, Cassidy Starke, Katherine Harris, Sidney J. Busch

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Man-made materials (MMM) are pollutants introduced to the environment by human activity. Microplastics (MP) are a type of MMM that threaten living organisms through bioaccumulation. The term MMM also encompasses pollutants produced from natural materials, such as rayon and microfibrillated cellulose, which are used in food packaging. This study aims to determine the extent of MMM pollution within estuaries in two of Florida’s state parks, as well as the effectiveness of using restored vegetation on shorelines to reduce MMM pollution. Tomoka State Park and Gamble Rogers State Park were selected at the request of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. …

Determining The Extent Of Pioneer Mangrove Acidification On Intertidal Oyster Reefs, Cindy Whitten, Andres Alatorre, Nicole Campbell, Savanna Freeman, Sydney Henderson, Kate Mclendon, Connor Wright, June Davison, Madison Ganci, Katherine Harris

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) stretches 251 kilometers along Florida’s east coast and is one of the most biodiverse estuaries in North America. Mosquito Lagoon, the northernmost portion of the IRL, is home to mangroves and intertidal oyster reefs that provide numerous ecosystem services. These two habitats are overlapping as climate change drives mangroves poleward. Scientists have documented mangrove expansion and the transition of oyster reef habitat to mangrove islands. Past studies have shown large, adult mangrove stands drive soil acidification. The goal of this study was to understand if stand-alone, or pioneer, Rhizophora mangle (red mangroves) and Avicennia germinans …

Hypothesis And Theory: Do Trees "Release The Tension" In Rainwater? Surface Tension Reduction In Throughfall And Stemflow From Urban Trees, Benjamin J. Noren, Nicholas R. Lewis, Kelly Cristina Tonello, Anna Ilek, John T. Van Stan Ii

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Knowledge of the processes and impacts associated with the canopy's partitioning of rainfall into stemflow (water that drains to the base of tree stems) and throughfall (water that drips through gaps and from canopy surfaces) has expanded in recent years. However, the effect of canopy interactions on the fundamental physical properties of rainwater as it travels through the canopy to the soil, particularly surface tension, remains understudied. To discuss specific hypotheses within this context and their relevance to ecohydrological theory, the surface tension of rainwater samples was examined directly. Over a period of 9 months, open rainwater, throughfall and stemflow …

Psammocora Stellata Distribution At Devil's Crown, Floreana Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, María José Guarderas Sevilla

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

In the Galápagos Archipelago, the free-living nodular coral Psammocora stellata is a common species that does not form reef structures. However, it is a key component of the ecosystem by increasing habitat complexity and, consequently, species diversity. This species experienced a drastic decline in Devil’s Crown channel, Floreana Island, where it disappeared after the 1982-83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation, presumably by displacement of unattached colonies by strong surface waves and currents. This assemblage has now recovered to pre-impact levels. A combination of underwater photoquadrats from 2007 and 2009 and recent (2023) orthomosaics were used to determine changes in coral densities and …

Modeling A Parkinson’S Disease Like State In Zebrafish Larvae Utilizing 6-Hydroxydopamine, Adrian Romero

Biology Theses

Parkinson's’ disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neurons that currently has no cure. It is primarily characterized in patients by motor symptoms that include but are not limited to: tremor at rest, rigidity, akinesia, and postural instability affecting the quality of life for over 8.5 million people worldwide. The neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) has been used to induce a Parkinson’s disease-like state in several animal models; however, assessment of 6-OHDA use in zebrafish demonstrated a lack of consensus on method and utility. We determined an optimized protocol utilizing 6-OHDA to produce a PD-like …

Molecular Baraminology Of Marine And Freshwater Fish, Matthew Cserhati

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Background

How did freshwater and saltwater fish survive the Flood? Is it even possible for fish to adapt rapidly between saltwater and freshwater? What kind of biological mechanism make this process possible? What is the distribution of freshwater and saltwater fish species in different fish baramins?

Erosion and volcanic activity would have made the post-Flood waters saltier than the pre-Flood waters. Species richness in freshwater is currently estimated to be 14 times greater than in saltwater (Carrete Vega and Wiens, 2012), and the approximate number of freshwater and saltwater fish is about the same: around 15,000 (Seehausen and Wagner, 2014). …

Hominin Baraminology Reconsidered With Postcranial Characters, Todd Charles Wood, P. S. Brummel

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Statistical baraminology studies of the fossil hominins began in 2010 with a provocative paper that identified a tentative holobaramin of humans that included such surprising taxa as Homo habilis and Australopithecus sediba. Subsequent research on Homo naledi reinforced the membership of this holobaramin, and recent studies with an expanded dataset and additional clustering methods also confirmed the original results. Nevertheless, the last decade of research has focused almost entirely on craniodental characteristics, which fall short of the holistic ideal of baraminology research. Past work with postcranial characters suffered from a small sample size, a small number of characters, and …

A Review Of Crs Ekinds Predictive Success And Known Genetic Mechanisms Affecting The Prevalence Of Alleles In A Population: Meiotic Drive As A Competing Explanation For Patterns Attributed To Natural Selection, Jean K. Lightner

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

I propose a full paper the begins by introducing the Creation Research Society’s eKINDS (examination of kinds in natural diversification and speciation) project. Then, I will narrow the focus to one key topic of this initiative: finding the mechanisms that underly the rapid diversification and speciation evident in various created kinds of creatures as they reproduced and filled the earth. This can be divided into two categories: (1) the origin of alleles and (2) factors affecting the frequencies of those alleles, especially in the context of adaptation. In the standard neo-Darwinian paradigm, random mutation is claimed to account for the …

A Preliminary Evaluation Of Ape Baramins, P. S. Brummel, Todd Charles Wood

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Creationists sometimes casually refer to “the ape baramin” as a distinction from human beings, but careful examinations of primate and ape baramins have been rare. Walker places 279 species of primates into 77 genera and 15 families, ranging from the large Cercopithecidae family with 21 genera and 96 species to the tiny lemuroid Daubentoniidae with just two species. Previous creationist analysis has proposed eight families as holobaramins: Galagonidae, Picrodontidae, Plesiadapidae, Lemuridae, Lepilemuridae, Carpolestidae, Omomyidae, and Cebidae. Based on hybridization, we can recognize Cercopithecidae as a monobaramin. None of those proposed baramins are great apes. Within the Hominoidea, analyses have offered …

Allometric And Metabolic Scaling: Arguments For Design... And Clues To Explaining Pre-Flood Longevity?, Leo Hebert Iii

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Within the creationist community, there has been recent interest in applying engineering principles to the study of living things. Engineers routinely attempt to maximize certain qualities, such as efficiency and durability, while minimizing others, such as cost of construction, within certain design limits or constraints. Biologists have long suspected that living things are in some sense “optimized” and there is a long history of attempting to understand biological systems in terms of this optimization. This is strong prima facie evidence of intelligent design, yet evolutionists attribute this optimization to evolution and natural selection.

Biological optimization is closely related to allometry, …

Testing The Cavefish Model: An Organism-Focused Theory Of Biological Design, Michael J. Boyle, Brian Thomas, Jeffery P. Tomkins, Randy J. Guliuzza

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

The significance of this research is multifaceted. At the 8^th ICC, Guliuzza and Gaskill (2018) introduced a novel paradigm: Continuous Environmental Tracking (CET). This theory infers that organisms actively and continuously track conditions within their specific environments to self-adjust through internal mechanisms that integrate molecular, biochemical, physiological and behavioral functionality of the whole organism. These mechanisms are predicted to operate by the same integrative principles that govern human-engineered control systems, suggesting that fish and other animals make highly-regulated responses in order to compensate for changes in external conditions that may exceed their routine efforts to maintain homeostasis. Moreover, the …

A Creation Model Of Design: Application Of An Interface Systems Model In Key Global Symbiotic Relationships, Tom Hennigan, Randy Guliuzza, Matthew E. Ingle, Grace Lansdell

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

Philosophical naturalists explain the origins of symbiotic relationships through initial random natural processes of evolution as these relationships evolved, and co-evolved through struggle and competition in simple organisms. This led to greater complexity and cooperation through system self-organization. We propose a new young-age creation model for the origin of symbioses using human engineered interface systems as analogues for understanding and describing globally important symbiotic mutual, commensal, and parasitic relationships. The relationships we will investigate in detail include, but are not limited to, mycorrhizae, nitrogen fixation, lichens, key parasites, and commensals (though commensal relationships are not fully understood). An interface model …

Genealogical Vs Phylogenetic Mutation Rates: Answering A Challenge, Robert Carter

Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism

There is a discrepancy between the mutation rate we can measure today and the rate at which evolution is supposed to have proceeded. The former is sometimes called the genealogical mutation rate, for it is obtained by comparing individuals whom we know to be related. The latter is sometimes called the phylogenetic mutation rate. It is calculated by counting the fixed differences between two species and dividing by the estimated time since their common ancestor. Genealogical mutation rates are generally several orders of magnitude faster than phylogenetic estimates. This causes problems for the evolutionary model. For example, using the genealogical …

Mesenchymal Stem Cells In The Treatment Of Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Erica Lang, Julie A. Semon

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a Disease Caused by Mutations in Different Genes Resulting in Mild, Severe, or Lethal Forms. with No Cure, Researchers Have Investigated the Use of Cell Therapy to Correct the Underlying Molecular Defects of OI. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) Are of Particular Interest Because of their Differentiation Capacity, Immunomodulatory Effects, and their Ability to Migrate to Sites of Damage. MSCs Can Be Isolated from Different Sources, Expanded in Culture, and Have Been Shown to Be Safe in Numerous Clinical Applications. This Review Summarizes the Preclinical and Clinical Studies of MSCs in the Treatment of OI. Altogether, the …