Life Sciences Commons^™

Metagenomic Analysis Of Dental Calculus In Ancient Egyptian Baboons, Claudio Ottoni, Meriam Guellil, Andrew T. Ozga, Anne C. Stone, Oliver Kersten, Barbara Bramanti, Stephanie Porcier, Wim Van Neer

Biology Faculty Articles

Dental calculus, or mineralized plaque, represents a record of ancient biomolecules and food residues. Recently, ancient metagenomics made it possible to unlock the wealth of microbial and dietary information of dental calculus to reconstruct oral microbiomes and lifestyle of humans from the past. Although most studies have so far focused on ancient humans, dental calculus is known to form in a wide range of animals, potentially informing on how human-animal interactions changed the animals’ oral ecology. Here, we characterise the oral microbiome of six ancient Egyptian baboons held in captivity during the late Pharaonic era (9^th–6^th centuries …

Diel Temperature And Ph Variability Scale With Depth Across Diverse Coral Reef Habitats, Tyler Cyronak, Yuichiro Takeshita, Travis A. Courtney, Eric H. Decarlo, Bradley D. Eyre, David I. Kline, Todd R. Martz, Heather Page, Nichole Price, Jennifer Smith, Laura Stoltenberg, Martin Tresguerres, Andreas J. Andersson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral reefs are facing intensifying stressors, largely due to global increases in seawater temperature and decreases in pH. However, there is extensive environmental variability within coral reef ecosystems, which can impact how organisms respond to global trends. We deployed spatial arrays of autonomous sensors across distinct shallow coral reef habitats to determine patterns of spatiotemporal variability in seawater physicochemical parameters. Temperature and pH were positively correlated over the course of a day due to solar heating and light‐driven metabolism. The mean temporal and spatial ranges of temperature and pH were positively correlated across all sites, with different regimes of variability …

Sixteen Years Of Social And Ecological Dynamics Reveal Challenges And Opportunities For Adaptive Management In Sustaining The Commons, Josh Eli Cinner, J. D. Lau, Andrew G. Bauman, David A. Feary, Fraser A. Januchowski-Hartley, C. A. Rojas, M. L. Barnes, B. J. Bergseth, E. Shum, R. Lahari, J. Ben, N. A. J. Graham

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Efforts to confront the challenges of environmental change and uncertainty include attempts to adaptively manage social–ecological systems. However, critical questions remain about whether adaptive management can lead to sustainable outcomes for both ecosystems and society. Here, we make a contribution to these efforts by presenting a 16-y analysis of ecological outcomes and perceived livelihood impacts from adaptive coral reef management in Papua New Guinea. The adaptive management system we studied was a customary rotational fisheries closure system (akin to fallow agriculture), which helped to increase the biomass of reef fish and make fish less wary (more catchable) relative to openly …

The 14-3-3 (Ywha) Proteins In Signalling And Development Of The Fruit Fly, Drosophila Melanogaster, Santanu De

Biology Faculty Articles

The 14-3-3 (YWHA or Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase/Tryptophan 5-Monooxygenase Activation proteins) are a family of highly conserved, homologous proteins critical to diverse cellular events including cell cycle, signal transduction and embryonic development. Various species-specific isoforms of 14-3-3 exist, encoded by separate genes. They are expressed in a wide variety of organisms ranging from plants to animals, including the fruit fly or Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila is one of the most universally accepted model systems to study complex cellular mechanisms of signalling and development. However, regulation of these processes in fruit flies by the 14-3-3 proteins have not been entirely understood. This mini …

A Risk Analysis Of Microplastic Consumption In Filter Feeders, Sheri Rahman

HCNSO Student Capstones

Microplastics (plastic particles < 5 mm) pose a serious threat to marine organisms, as researchers have documented such particles in the gut contents of numerous species. In particular, filter feeders are at risk of consuming microplastics because they may accidentally consume the particulates when feeding or they may prey on species that have already consumed them. The goals of this research were to evaluate the risks that different filter feeders face in regards to microplastic consumption through the analysis of the calculated Microplastic Consumption Rates for numerous species of filter feeders. Factors that could potentially affect this risk were also considered, including ocean basin, environment type, salinity, life stage, IUCN status, and filtration technique. Initial analysis showed that body size greatly impacted a species’ risk of microplastic consumption and further tests were completed to evaluate overall microplastic contamination for each species. Microplastic consumption and microplastic contamination values were evaluated and analyzed to determine which filter feeding species were most at risk of experiencing ecological effects from microplastic pollution. From a resource management perspective, this research highlights the filter feeding species most at risk, contributing to the development of more effective plastic waste management policies.

Arctic Thaw: Environmental Exploitation For Economic Profit, Stephen F. Moulton

HCNSO Student Capstones

“Arctic Thaw: Environmental Exploitation for Economic Profit,” is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary assessment of Arctic climate change (CC) impacts. Arctic CC alters the regions’ temperature, annual ice cover, and sea levels. This alteration influences the global economy through enriched international trade and fossil hydrocarbon extraction developments. This capstone examines the Arctic’s response to CC through economic statistical analysis, tracking relative sea-level (RSL) trends, as well as performing hydrographic and modeling reviews. The Northern Rim Countries (NRCs) economic analysis assesses potential CC and GSLR impacts by applying statistical techniques to calculate its effect on each country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The tidal …

Spatial And Temporal Trends Of Southeastern Florida's Octocoral Comunity, Alexandra Hiley

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

In the Caribbean, local and global stressors have driven significant declines in scleractinian coral cover up to 80% in only three decades. Following these declines, phase shifts in benthic community composition have been reported. Shifts towards macroalgal dominance has been the most widely observed case, however, shifts towards octocoral and sponge dominance have also been reported. In Florida, USA, the Florida Reef Tract is an extensive barrier reef system that contains diverse assemblages of corals, sponges, fish, and other taxa. The Southeast Florida Reef Tract (SEFRT) within the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Conservation Area is the northern portion of this …

Sargassum Infauna Community Structure In The Florida Straits And Gulf Stream, Dayna S. Hunn

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Community structure of Sargassum-associated organisms was examined from 11 sampling locations in the Florida Straits and Gulf Stream from May—September 2018 using a combination of modified shrimp trawls and dip nets. A total of 5413 organisms were collected from Sargassumhabitat representing 14 species from 10 families. A core group of organisms (Platynereis dumerilii, Litiopa melanostoma, Portunus sayi, Portunus spinimanus, Leander tenuicornis, and Latreutes fucorum) were found throughout the entirety of the geographic range surveyed. This core community was not found to vary significantly with increasing distance to shore (P=0.217) and latitude …

Characterization Of Bacterial Communities In Biscayne Bay Through Genomic Analysis, Eric Fortman

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Biscayne Bay is a shallow oligotrophic estuary in Southeast Florida. Channelization of rivers, and dredging of canals has greatly altered the historical flow of fresh water into the bay. This, coupled with the rise of a sprawling urban & suburban development, has greatly increased the nutrient load in the bay. This study examined the bacterial community at 14 stations throughout Biscayne Bay —6 stations were located at the mouths of canals; 1 upstream-canal station; 6 stations in the center of the bay; and one ocean influenced station, located near the entrance to the bay. One liter, surface water samples were …

Ywha (14-3-3) Protein Isoforms And Their Interactions With Cdc25b Phosphatase In Mouse Oogenesis And Oocyte Maturation, Alaa A. Eisa, Santanu De, Ariana Detwiler, Eva Gilker, Alexander C. Ignatious, Srinivasan Vijayaraghavan, Douglas Kline

Biology Faculty Articles

Background

Immature mammalian oocytes are held arrested at prophase I of meiosis by an inhibitory phosphorylation of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1). Release from this meiotic arrest and germinal vesicle breakdown is dependent on dephosphorylation of CDK1 by the protein, cell cycle division 25B (CDC25B). Evidence suggests that phosphorylated CDC25B is bound to YWHA (14-3-3) proteins in the cytoplasm of immature oocytes and is thus maintained in an inactive form. The importance of YWHA in meiosis demands additional studies.

Results

Messenger RNA for multiple isoforms of the YWHA protein family was detected in mouse oocytes and eggs. All seven mammalian YWHA …

Otopathogenic Staphylococcus Aureus Invades Human Middle Ear Epithelial Cells Primarily Through Cholesterol Dependent Pathway, Rahul Mittal, Luca H. Debs, Amit P. Patel, Desiree Nguyen, Patricia Blackwelder, Denise Yan, Paulo H. Weckwerth, Xue Zhong Liu

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is one of the most common infectious diseases of the middle ear especially affecting children, leading to delay in language development and communication. Although Staphylococcus aureus is the most common pathogen associated with CSOM, its interaction with middle ear epithelial cells is not well known. In the present study, we observed that otopathogenic S. aureus has the ability to invade human middle ear epithelial cells (HMEECs) in a dose and time dependent manner. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated time dependent increase in the number of S. aureus on the surface of HMEECs. We observed that otopathogenic …

An Investigation Into The Relationships Between Bullying, Discrimination, Burnout And Patient Safety In Nurses And Midwives: Is Burnout A Mediator?, Judith Johnson, Lorraine Cameron, Lucy Mitchinson, Mayur Parmar, Gail Opio-Te, Gemma Louch, Angela Grange

HPD Articles

BACKGROUND: Bullying and discrimination may be indirectly associated with patient safety via their contribution to burnout, but research has yet to establish this. AIMS: The aims of this study were to investigate the relationships between workplace bullying, perceived discrimination, levels of burnout and patient safety perceptions in nurses and midwives and to assess whether bullying and discrimination were more frequently experienced by Black, Asian and minority ethnic than White nurses and midwives. METHODS: In total, 528 nurses and midwives were recruited from four hospitals in the United Kingdom to complete a cross-sectional survey between February and March 2017. The survey …

Oral Microbiome Diversity In Chimpanzees From Gombe National Park, Andrew T. Ozga, Ian C. Gilby, Rebecca Nockerts, Michael L. Wilson, Anne Pusey, Anne C. Stone

Biology Faculty Articles

Historic calcified dental plaque (dental calculus) can provide a unique perspective into the health status of past human populations but currently no studies have focused on the oral microbial ecosystem of other primates, including our closest relatives, within the hominids. Here we use ancient DNA extraction methods, shotgun library preparation, and next generation Illumina sequencing to examine oral microbiota from 19 dental calculus samples recovered from wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) who died in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. The resulting sequences were trimmed for quality, analyzed using MALT, MEGAN, and alignment scripts, and integrated with previously published dental …

The Opioid Crisis Examined, Anatolly Zekhtser

BIO4960: Practicum in Biology I

The Opioid Crisis is a national crisis affecting public, social, and economic healthcare. Nearly 50,000 deaths were caused by opioid overdoses in 2017. Current treatments of opioid addictions include the use of methadone and buprenorphine. These medications have been known to reduce opioid dependency, lower tolerances, increase the opioid overdose threshold, and lower overdose mortality. An analysis was conducted on prominent research studies investigating the effectiveness, safety, side effects, and influence of Methadone and Buprenorphine. The meta-analysis confirmed that both drugs are effective opioid agonists that contribute to decreased opioid dependence and increased opioid abstinence. Due to a series of …

Inferred Function And Dynamics Of Microbial Communities From The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Deepesh Tourani

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Microbial communities, or microbiomes, are the major drivers of global biogeochemical cycles, acting as primary producers and decomposers across the water column in the oceans. Thus, they reflect changes in physicochemical properties and nutrient composition of the ocean. However, this correlation between ecological changes and the function of marine microbiomes is poorly understood. Large-scale oceanic events such as the bottom-water oxygen-depleted zone (i.e., “dead zone”) and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) render the ecosystem fragile. These events decrease survival rates of pelagic and coastal macrofauna and affect the biodiversity of the region. As part …

Comparative Chromosome Mapping Of Musk Ox And The X Chromosome Among Some Bovidae Species, Anastasiya A. Proskuryakova, Anastasia I. Kulemzina, Polina L. Perelman, Dmitry V. Yudkin, Natalya A. Lemskaya, Innokentii M. Okhlopkov, Egor V. Kirillin, Marta Farré, Denis M. Larkin, M. Roelke-Parker, Stephen James O'Brien, Mitchell Bush, Alexander S. Graphodatsky

Biology Faculty Articles

Bovidae, the largest family in Pecora infraorder, are characterized by a striking variability in diploid number of chromosomes between species and among individuals within a species. The bovid X chromosome is also remarkably variable, with several morphological types in the family. Here we built a detailed chromosome map of musk ox (Ovibos moschatus), a relic species originating from Pleistocene megafauna, with dromedary and human probes using chromosome painting. We trace chromosomal rearrangements during Bovidae evolution by comparing species already studied by chromosome painting. The musk ox karyotype differs from the ancestral pecoran karyotype by six fusions, one fission, …

Clear Vision Optometry Clinic Internship, Howard Ho

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Biology Practicum Course, Jose Garcia

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Love & Angels Care Internship, Kristin Addison

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Summer Intern Program, Nicolas Vitari

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Clear Vision Optometry Clinic Internship, Taylor Veneza

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Md Anderson University Outreach Summer Program, Melanie Fraidenburg

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Medical University Of Graz, Austria Internship, Vanessa Cruise

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

University Of Miami Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (Surf), Elizabeth Feldman

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Atlantis Fellowship - Spain / Italy Summer Internship, Cassidy Campanella

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Antibiotics Overuse And Bacterial Resistance, Mir Saleem, Brett Deters, Adam De La Bastide, Martha Korzen

Biology Faculty Articles

Antibiotic usage has become very widespread, as they are used to treat so many infectious diseases today. Antimicrobial agents exert their actions via different mechanisms including blockage of cell wall synthesis, interference of protein and/or nucleic acid synthesis, interruption of cell membrane structure, and inhibition of a metabolic pathway. The treatment of bacterial infections with antimicrobial agents has become more difficult due to the capability of bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics. Erroneous diagnosing, misconceptions, and improper physician-patient dynamics have led to overuse of antibiotics and the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Bacterial colonies have been shown to confer advantageous genetic …

Technology In University Physical Activity Courses: A Mini-Ethnographic Case Study, Dannon G. Cox, Jennifer M. Krause, Mark A. Smith

The Qualitative Report

As younger generations become increasingly reliant on technology, higher educational institutions must continually attempt to stay with or ahead of the curve to foster 21st century teaching and learning. College and university physical activity courses (PACs) are encouraged to incorporate technology for effective pedagogical practices. No qualitative research has specifically examined the culture of PACs instructors’ attitudes and experiences with technology as a pedagogical tool. A mini-ethnographic case study explored the use of technology among seven graduate teaching assistants who shared their pedagogical experiences, teaching practices, and perceptions of technology within PACs. Using an interpretive phenomenological analysis, composite narrative accounts …

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of An Atlantic Ocean Shortfin Mako Shark, Isurus Oxyrinchus, Jonathan Gorman, Nicholas J. Marra, Mahmood S. Shivji, Bryce J. Stanhope

Biology Faculty Articles

We report the first complete mitochondrial genome of a shortfin mako shark from the Atlantic Ocean. The genome had 16,700 base pairs and contained 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a non-coding D-loop. There were 81 individual differences compared to the published mitochondrial genome of a shortfin mako from the Pacific Ocean, with most variability found in protein coding genes, especially ND5, ND3, and ND1. These highly variable genes may be useful population markers in future studies, and availability of a second mitogenome will assist with future, genome-scale studies of this IUCN Endangered species.

Gut Microbiome Diversity Is Associated With Sleep Physiology In Humans, Robert Smith, Cole Easson, Sarah M. Lyle, Ritishka Kapoor, Chase P. Donnelly, Eileen Davidson, Esha Parikh, Jose Lopez, Jaime L. Tartar

Biology Faculty Articles

The human gut microbiome can influence health through the brain-gut-microbiome axis. Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome can influence sleep quality. Previous studies that have examined sleep deprivation and the human gut microbiome have yielded conflicting results. A recent study found that sleep deprivation leads to changes in gut microbiome composition while a different study found that sleep deprivation does not lead to changes in gut microbiome. Accordingly, the relationship between sleep physiology and the gut microbiome remains unclear. To address this uncertainty, we used actigraphy to quantify sleep measures coupled with gut microbiome sampling to determine how the …

Measuring Light Scattering And Absorption In Corals With Inverse Spectroscopic Optical Coherence Tomography (Isoct): A New Tool For Non-Invasive Monitoring, G. L. C. Spicer, A. Eid, D. Wangpraseurt, Timothy D. Swain, J. A. Winkelmann, J. Yi, M. Kuhl, L. A. Marcelino, V. Backman

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The success of reef-building corals for >200 million years has been dependent on the mutualistic interaction between the coral host and its photosynthetic endosymbiont dinoflagellates (family Symbiodiniaceae) that supply the coral host with nutrients and energy for growth and calcification. While multiple light scattering in coral tissue and skeleton significantly enhance the light microenvironment for Symbiodiniaceae, the mechanisms of light propagation in tissue and skeleton remain largely unknown due to a lack of technologies to measure the intrinsic optical properties of both compartments in live corals. Here we introduce ISOCT (inverse spectroscopic optical coherence tomography), a non-invasive approach to measure …