Life Sciences Commons^™

Meral Spot Total Reflectance Signals Weapon Performance In The Mantis Shrimp Neogonodactylus Oerstedii (Stomatopoda), Amanda M. Franklin, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Casey R. Culligan, Eric D. Tytell

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

During animal contests over resources, opponents often signal their fighting ability in an attempt to avoid escalating to physical attack. A reliable signal is beneficial to receivers because it allows them to avoid injuries from engaging in contests they are unlikely to win. However, a signaler could benefit from deceiving an opponent by signaling greater fighting ability or greater aggressive intent than the signaler possesses. Therefore, the reliability of agonistic signals has long intrigued researchers. We investigated whether a colored patch, the meral spot, signals weapon performance in the stomatopod Neogonodactylus oerstedii. During fights over possession of refuges, stomatopods can …

A Two Compartment Pharmacokinetic Model Describes The Intra‐Articular Delivery And Retention Of Rhprg4 Following Acl Transection In The Yucatan Mini Pig, Mark Hurtig, Iman Zaghoul, Heather Sheardown, Tannin A. Schmidt, Lina Liu, Ling Zhang, Khaled A. Elsaid, Gregory D. Jay

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Treatment of the injured joint with rhPRG4 is based on recent observations that inflammation diminishes expression of native PRG4. Re‐establishing lubrication between pressurized and sliding cartilage surfaces during locomotion promotes the nascent expression of PRG4 and thus intra‐articular (IA) treatment strategies should be supported by pharmacokinetic evidence establishing the residence time of rhPRG4. A total of 21 Yucatan minipigs weighing ∼55 Kg each received 4 mg of 131I‐rhPRG4 delivered by IA injection 5 days following surgical ACL transection. Animals were sequentially euthanized following IA rhPRG4 at 10 mins (time zero), 24, 72 hrs, 6, 13 and 20 days later. The …

The Roles Of Primary Cilia In Cardiovascular Diseases, Rajasekharreddy Pala, Maha Jamal, Qamar Alshammari, Surya M. Nauli

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Primary cilia are microtubule-based organelles found in most mammalian cell types. Cilia act as sensory organelles that transmit extracellular clues into intracellular signals for molecular and cellular responses. Biochemical and molecular defects in primary cilia are associated with a wide range of diseases, termed ciliopathies, with phenotypes ranging from polycystic kidney disease, liver disorders, mental retardation, and obesity to cardiovascular diseases. Primary cilia in vascular endothelia protrude into the lumen of blood vessels and function as molecular switches for calcium (Ca2+) and nitric oxide (NO) signaling. As mechanosensory organelles, endothelial cilia are involved in blood flow sensing. Dysfunction in endothelial …

Hnrnpa2 Mediated Acetylation Reduces Telomere Length In Response To Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Manti Guha, Satish Srinivasan, F. Bradley Johnson, Gordon Ruthel, Kip Guja, Miguel Garcia-Diaz, Brett A. Kaufman, M. Rebecca Glineburg, Jikang Fang, Hiroshi Nakagawa, Jeelan Basha, Tapas Kundu, Narayan G. Avadhani

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Telomeres protect against chromosomal damage. Accelerated telomere loss has been associated with premature aging syndromes such as Werner’s syndrome and Dyskeratosis Congenita, while, progressive telomere loss activates a DNA damage response leading to chromosomal instability, typically observed in cancer cells and senescent cells. Therefore, identifying mechanisms of telomere length maintenance is critical for understanding human pathologies. In this paper we demonstrate that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a causal role in telomere shortening. Furthermore, hnRNPA2, a mitochondrial stress responsive lysine acetyltransferase (KAT) acetylates telomere histone H4at lysine 8 of (H4K8) and this acetylation is associated with telomere attrition. Cells containing dysfunctional mitochondria …

No Evidence For Kin Protection In The Expression Of Sickness Behaviors In House Mice, Patricia C. Lopes, Per Block, Alice Pontiggia, Anna K. Lindholm, Barbara König

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

When infected, animals change their behaviors in several ways, including by decreasing their activity, their food and water intake, and their interest in social interactions. These behavioral alterations are collectively called sickness behaviors and, for several decades, the main hypotheses put forward to explain this phenomenon were that engaging in sickness behaviors facilitated the fever response and improved the likelihood of host survival. However, a new hypothesis was recently proposed suggesting that engaging in sickness behaviors may serve to protect kin. We tested this kin protection hypothesis by combining a field and a laboratory experiment in house mice. In both …

Evaluation Of Spatial Generalization Characteristics Of A Robust Classifier As Applied To Coral Reef Habitats In Remote Islands Of The Pacific Ocean, Justin J. Gapper, Hesham El-Askary, Erik J. Linstead, Thomas Piechota

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

This study was an evaluation of the spectral signature generalization properties of coral across four remote Pacific Ocean reefs. The sites under consideration have not been the subject of previous studies for coral classification using remote sensing data. Previous research regarding using remote sensing to identify reefs has been limited to in-situ assessment, with some researchers also performing temporal analysis of a selected area of interest. This study expanded the previous in-situ analyses by evaluating the ability of a basic predictor, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), trained on Depth Invariant Indices calculated from the spectral signature of coral in one location …

Identification Of Shark Species In Commercial Products Using Dna Barcoding, Rosalee S. Hellberg, Rachel B. Isaacs, Eduardo L. Hernandez

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Sharks are harvested globally and sold in a variety of commercial products. However, they are particularly vulnerable to overfishing and many species are considered protected or endangered. The objective of this study was to identify species in various commercial shark products and to assess the effectiveness of three different DNA barcoding primer sets. Thirty-five products were collected for this study, including fillets, jerky, soup, and cartilage pills. DNA barcoding of these products was undertaken using two full-length primer sets and one mini-barcode primer set within the cytochrome c oxidase subunit (COI) gene. Successfully sequenced samples were then analyzed and identified …

Modified Cantilever Arrays Improve Sensitivity And Reproducibility Of Nanomechanical Sensing In Living Cells, Samadhan B. Patil, Rajai M. Al-Jehani, Hashem Etayash, Valerian Turbe, Keren Jiang, Joe Bailey, Walid Al-Akkad, Rania Soudy, Kamaljit Kaur, Rachel A. Mckendry, Thomas Thundat, Joseph W. Ndieyira

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Mechanical signaling involved in molecular interactions lies at the heart of materials science and biological systems, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Here we use nanomechanical sensors and intact human cells to provide unique insights into the signaling pathways of connectivity networks, which deliver the ability to probe cells to produce biologically relevant, quantifiable and reproducible signals. We quantify the mechanical signals from malignant cancer cells, with 10 cells per ml in 1000-fold excess of non-neoplastic human epithelial cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that a direct link between cells and molecules creates a continuous connectivity which acts like a percolating …

Modulation Of Hypoxia-Induced Chemoresistance To Polymeric Micellar Cisplatin: The Effect Of Ligand Modification Of Micellar Carrier Versus Inhibition Of The Mediators Of Drug Resistance, Hoda Soleymani Abyaneh, Amir Hassan Soleimani, Mohammad Reza Vakili, Rania Soudy, Kamaljit Kaur, Francesco Cuda, Ali Tavassoli, Afsaneh Lavasanifar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Hypoxia can induce chemoresistance, which is a significant clinical obstacle in cancer therapy. Here, we assessed development of hypoxia-induced chemoresistance (HICR) against free versus polymeric cisplatin micelles in a triple negative breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. We then explored two strategies for the modulation of HICR against cisplatin micelles: a) the development of actively targeted micelles; and b) combination therapy with modulators of HICR in MDA-MB-231 cells. Actively targeted cisplatin micelles were prepared through surface modification of acetal-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(-carboxyl-"-caprolactone) (acetal-PEO-PCCL) micelles with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting peptide, GE11 (YHWYGYTPQNVI). Our results showed that hypoxia induced resistance against free and …

Acidulant Effect On Greening, Reducing Capacity, And Tryptophan Fluorescence Of Sunflower Butter Cookie Dough During Refrigerated Storage, Joele Tsopkeng Atonfack, Zeynep Akyol Ataman, Lilian M. Were

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND: Sunflower seed derived butter can be a source of protein and phenolic antioxidants in refrigerated dough. Chlorogenic quinone-amino acid induced greening can however occur at alkaline pH, which could result in less bioavailable conjugated phenol-amino acids. Acidulants were tested as potential anti-greening ingredients in refrigerated chemically leavened cookie dough. Effect of refrigerated storage time, leavening agents and acidulants on tryptophan fluorescence (»ex=280nm, »em=300-500), color (hunter LAB), reducing capacity (DPPH and Folin-Ciocalteu reagent reducing capacity/FCRC), and hydroxycinnamic acids were measured.

RESULTS: The pH range of acidified doughs was 4.83–6.98 compared to 7.65- 9.18 in nonacidified leavened doughs after 24 days. …

In Vitro And Ex-Vivo Evaluation Of Topical Formulations Designed To Minimize Transdermal Absorption Of Vitamin K1, Ramina Nabiee, Barent Dubois, Laura Green, Ajay Sharma, Siu Fun Wong, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Topical application of Vitamin K1 has been demonstrated to effectively treat papulopustular skin rash, a serious and frequently encountered side effect of Epidermal Growth Factor Inhibitors (EGFRIs). Systemic absorption of vitamin K1 from skin and the resultant consequence of antagonizing EGFRIs anticancer effects jeopardizes the clinical acceptability of this rather effective treatment. The purpose of the present study was to rationally formulate and evaluate the release rate and transdermal absorption of a wide range of Vitamin K1 dermal preparations with a variety of physiochemical properties. A library of 33 formulations with were compounded and tested for Vitamin K1 permeation using …

What Can Computational Modeling Tell Us About The Diversity Of Odor-Capture Structures In The Pancrustacea?, Lindsay D. Waldrop, Yanyan He, Shilpa Khatri

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

A major transition in the history of the Pancrustacea was the invasion of several lineages of these animals onto land. We investigated the functional performance of odor-capture organs, antennae with olfactory sensilla arrays, through the use of a computational model of advection and diffusion of odorants to olfactory sensilla while varying three parameters thought to be important to odor capture (Reynolds number, gap-width-to-sensillum-diameter ratio, and angle of the sensilla array with respect to oncoming flow). We also performed a sensitivity analysis on these parameters using uncertainty quantification to analyze their relative contributions to odor-capture performance. The results of this analysis …

Foliar Water Uptake: Processes, Pathways, And Integration Into Plant Water Budgets, Z. Carter Berry, Nathan C. Emery, Sybil G. Gotsch, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Nearly all plant families, represented across most major biomes, absorb water directly through their leaves. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as foliar water uptake. Recent studies have suggested that foliar water uptake provides a significant water subsidy that can influence both plant water and carbon balance across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Despite this, our mechanistic understanding of when, where, how, and to what end water is absorbed through leaf surfaces remains limited. We first review the evidence for the biophysical conditions necessary for foliar water uptake to occur, focusing on the plant and atmospheric water potentials necessary to …

Concentration Of Listeria Monocytogenes In Skim Milk And Soft Cheese Through Microplate Immunocapture, Steven A. Rogers, Melissa Calicchia, Rosalee S. Hellberg

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Microplate immunocapture is an inexpensive method for the concentration of foodborne pathogens using an antibody-coated microplate. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of microplate immunocapture as an alternative to traditional enrichment for concentrating Listeria monocytogenes to levels detectable with selective plating or real-time PCR. L. monocytogenes isolates serologically characterized as Type 1 (1/2a) and Type 4 (untypeable) were grown overnight and diluted to 10⁰ to 10⁶ colony-forming units (CFU)/mL. The isolates were used to optimize microplate immunocapture in tryptic soy broth with 0.6% yeast extract (TSBYE), skim milk, and queso fresco samples. Following …

Brain Endothelial Erythrophagocytosis And Hemoglobin Transmigration Across Brain Endothelium: Implications For Pathogenesis Of Cerebral Microbleeds, Rudy Chang, Juan Castillo, Alexander C. Zambon, Tatiana B. Krasieva, Mark J. Fisher, Rachita K. Sumbria

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Peripheral endothelial cells are capable of erythrophagocytosis, but data on brain endothelial erythrophagocytosis are limited. We studied the relationship between brain endothelial erythrophagocytosis and cerebral microhemorrhage, the pathological substrate of MRI-demonstrable cerebral microbleeds. To demonstrate the erythrophagocytic capability of the brain endothelium, we studied the interactions between brain endothelial cells and red blood cells exposed to oxidative stress in vitro, and developed a new in vitro cerebral microbleeds model to study the subsequent passage of hemoglobin across the brain endothelial monolayer. Using multiple approaches, our results show marked brain endothelial erythrophagocytosis of red blood cells exposed to oxidative stress compared …

Effects Of Fruit Position In Standard Place Pack Cartons And Gamma 1 Irradiation On The Postharvest Quality Of ‘Barnfield’ Navel Oranges, Karina Cruz Rodriguez (Friscia), José De Jesús Ornelas-Paz, Vrani Ibarra-Junquera, Maria Criselda Toto, Akanksha Jain, Anuradha Prakash

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

The objective of this study was to determine if oranges in the top and bottom layers within a Standard Place Pack were impacted differently by irradiation after long-term storage. ‘Barnfield’ Navel oranges were packed in Standard Place Pack cartons and treated with 0, 0.15, or 1 kGy of gamma irradiation. The fruit were stored for 3 weeks at 5 °C and then for 1 week at 20 °C. After storage, the fruit from the top and bottom layers were separately evaluated for quality. The development of stem-end rind breakdown (SERB) was the main cause of quality loss and was greater …

Recombinant Human Proteoglycan-4 Reduces Phagocytosis Of Urate Crystals And Downstream Nuclear Factor Kappa B And Inflammasome Activation And Production Of Cytokines And Chemokines In Human And Murine Macrophages, Marwa Qadri, Gregory D. Jay, Ling X. Zhang, Wendy Wong, Anthony M. Reginato, Changqi Sun, Tannin A. Schmidt

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Microbial biofilms are organized communities of cells that are associated with a wide spectrum of resistant and chronic infections that lead to the treatment failure. Accordingly, there is an urgent demand to create novel effective therapeutic drugs that can inhibit biofilm formation with new mechanisms of action to surmount the current escalating resistance. In this study, in silico hybrid model was utilized to develop three novel short linear peptides (4, 5, and 6) with potential biofilm inhibiting activities (scores > 1.0). The peptides were composed of cationic and hydrophobic residues. They were synthesized using solid-phase strategy. Synthesized peptides were purified and …

Interactions Between Mushroom Powder, Sodium Chloride, And Bovine Proteins And Their Effects On Lipid Oxidation Products And Consumer Acceptability, Natalie Tom, Hatouf Ahmed Alnoumani, Lilian Were

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

The antioxidant capacity of dried Agaricus bisporus mushrooms (DAB) in beef has previously been assessed. However, interactions between lipid oxidation products, mushroom polyphenols, and bovine proteins present in beef to explain the mushroom's antioxidative effect, has not been determined. Oven-dried or lyophilized DAB with and without 15 g NaCl/kg beef (1.5%) or 20 g NaCl/kg beef (2%) were added to sarcoplasmic protein homogenates from top round beef. Malondialdehyde and volatile aldehyde binding to sarcoplasmic protein (SP) were monitored. Oven dried had 64% higher total phenolic compared to lyophilized DAB, leading to ∼50% lower malondialdehyde content in beef with oven …

Uplc-Ms/Ms Analysis Of Dextromethorphan-O-Demethylation Kinetics In Rat Brain Microsomes, Barent N. Dubois, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Formation of dextrorphan (DXT) from dextromethorphan (DXM) has been widely used to assess cytochrome P450 2D (CYP2D) activity. Additionally, the kinetics of CYP2D activity have been well characterized in the liver microsomes. However, studies in brain microsomes are limited due to the lower microsomal content and abundance of CYP2D in the brain relative to the liver. In the present study, we developed a micro-scale enzymatic incubation method, coupled with a sensitive UPLC-MS/MS assay for the quantitation of the rate of DXT formation from DXM in brain microsomes. Rat brain microsomes were incubated with different concentrations of DXM for various times. …

Cellular Mechanisms Of Slime Gland Refilling In Pacific Hagfish (Eptatretus Stoutii), Sarah Schorno, Todd E. Gillis, Douglas S. Fudge

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Hagfishes use their defensive slime to ward off gill-breathing predators. Slime gland refilling is a surprisingly slow process, and previous research has shown that the composition of the slime exudate changes significantly during refilling, which likely has consequences for the functionality of the slime. This study set out to expand our understanding of slime gland refilling by examining the cellular processes involved in refilling of the glands, as well as determining where in the gland the main slime cells – the gland thread cells and gland mucous cells – arise. Slime glands were electro-stimulated to exhaust their slime stores, left …

Astromimetics: The Dawn Of A New Era For (Bio)Materials Science?, Vuk Uskoković, Victoria M. Wu

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Composite, multifunctional fine particles are likely to be at the frontier of materials science in the foreseeable future. Here we present a submicron composite particle that mimics the stratified structure of the Earth by having a zero-valent iron core, a silicate/silicide mantle, and a thin carbonaceous crust resembling the biosphere and its biotic deposits. Particles were formulated in a stable colloidal form and made to interact with various types of healthy and cancer cells in vitro. A selective anticancer activity was observed, promising from the point of view of the intended use of the particles for tumor targeting across the …

Fars2 Mutations Presenting With Pure Spastic Paraplegia And Lesions Of The Dentate Nuclei, Supreet K. Sahai, Rebecca E. Steiner, Margaret G. Au, John M. Graham, Norikio Salamon, Michael Ibba, Tyler M. Pierson

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Mutations in FARS2, the gene encoding the mitochondrial phenylalanine‐tRNA synthetase (mtPheRS), have been linked to a range of phenotypes including epileptic encephalopathy, developmental delay, and motor dysfunction. We report a 9‐year‐old boy with novel compound heterozygous variants of FARS2, presenting with a pure spastic paraplegia syndrome associated with bilateral signal abnormalities in the dentate nuclei. Exome sequencing identified a paternal nonsense variant (Q216X) lacking the catalytic core and anticodon‐binding regions, and a maternal missense variant (P136H) possessing partial enzymatic activity. This case confirms and expands the phenotype related to FARS mutations with regards to clinical presentation and neuroimaging findings.

“Do We Know Jack” About Jak? A Closer Look At Jak/Stat Signaling Pathway, Emira Bousoik, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Janus tyrosine kinase (JAK) family of proteins have been identified as crucial proteins in signal transduction initiated by a wide range of membrane receptors. Among the proteins in this family JAK2 has been associated with important downstream proteins, including signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs), which in turn regulate the expression of a variety of proteins involved in induction or prevention of apoptosis. Therefore, the JAK/STAT signaling axis plays a major role in the proliferation and survival of different cancer cells, and may even be involved in resistance mechanisms against molecularly targeted drugs. Despite extensive research focused on the …

A V-To-F Substitution In Sk2 Channels Causes Ca2+ Hypersensitivity And Improves Locomotion In A C. Elegans Als Model, Young-Woo Nam, Sabia N. Baskoylu, Dimitris Gazgalis, Razan Orfali, Meng Cui, Anne C. Hart, Miao Zhang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (SK) channels mediate medium afterhyperpolarization in the neurons and play a key role in the regulation of neuronal excitability. SK channels are potential drug targets for ataxia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). SK channels are activated exclusively by the Ca2+-bound calmodulin. Previously, we identified an intrinsically disordered fragment that is essential for the mechanical coupling between Ca2+/calmodulin binding and channel opening. Here, we report that substitution of a valine to phenylalanine (V407F) in the intrinsically disordered fragment caused a ~6 fold increase in the Ca2+ sensitivity of SK2-a channels. This substitution resulted in a novel interaction between …

Prototype Of A Fish Inspired Swimming Silk Robot, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Sarah A. Bradner, Juanita Mathews, Erin Sanders, Casey R. Culligan, David Kaplan, Eric D. Tytell

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Elongate fishes have evolved hundreds of times throughout the tree of life. They occupy many aquatic environments, from streams and ponds to the deepest parts of the ocean. Due to their long body and numerous vertebrae, they are also highly flexible animals, which makes them useful as bioinspiration for designs in the field of soft robotics. We present a biodegradable soft robot prototype, inspired by elongate fishes. The robot's body is primarily composed of a silk hydrogel with embedded fibers to mimic the structure of natural fish skin. When actuated at the front, the flexible gel prototype mimics the undulatory …

Estimating Live Fuel Moisture In Southern California Using Remote Sensing Vegetation Water Content Proxies, Shenyue Jia, Seung Hee Kim, Son V. Nghiem, Wonhee Cho, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Wildfires are a major ecological disturbance in Southern California and often lead to great destruction along the Wildland-Urban Interface. Live fuel moisture has been used as an important indicator of wildfire risk in measurements of vegetation water content. However, the limited field measurements of live fuel moisture in both time and space have affected the accuracy of wildfire risk estimations. Traditional estimation of live fuel moisture using remote sensing data was based on vegetation indices, indirect proxies of vegetation water content and subject to influence from weather conditions. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of estimating live fuel moisture …

Design, Synthesis, And Evaluation Of Homochiral Peptides Containing Arginine And Histidine As Molecular Transporters, Naglaa Salem El-Sayed, Taryn Miyake, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, Shang Eun Park, Jimmy Clark, Stephani Buchholz, Keykavous Parang, Rakesh Tiwari

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Linear (HR)n and cyclic [HR]n peptides (n = 4,5) containing alternate arginine and histidine residues were synthesized. The peptides showed 0–15% cytotoxicity at 5–100 μM in human ovarian adenocarcinoma (SK-OV-3) cells while they exhibited 0–12% toxicity in human leukemia cancer cell line (CCRF-CEM). Among all peptides, cyclic [HR]4 peptide was able to improve the delivery of a cell impermeable fluorescence-labeled phosphopeptide by two-fold. Fatty acids of different alkyl chain length were attached at the N-terminal of the linear peptide (HR)4 to improve the molecular transporter property. Addition of fatty acyl chains was expected to help with the permeation of the …

Efficient Intracellular Delivery Of Cell-Impermeable Cargo Molecules By Peptides Containing Tryptophan And Histidine, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, Saghar Mozaffari, Rinzhin Tshering Sherpa, Rakesh Tiwari, Keykavous Parang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

We have previously evaluated and reported numerous classes of linear and cyclic peptides containing hydrophobic and hydrophilic segments for intracellular delivery of multiple molecular cargos. Herein, a combination of histidine and tryptophan amino acids were designed and evaluated for their efficiency in intracellular delivery of cell-impermeable phosphopeptides and the anti-HIV drug, emtricitabine. Two new decapeptides, with linear and cyclic natures, both containing alternate tryptophan and histidine residues, were synthesized using Fmoc/tBu solid-phase chemistry. The peptides were characterized and purified by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), respectively. These peptides did not show significant toxicity up …

Species Substitution And Country Of Origin Mislabeling Of Catfish Products On The U.S. Commercial Market, Shayna A. Bosko, Denise M. Foley, Rosalee S. Hellberg

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Catfish belong to the order Siluriformes and include both the Ictaluridae and Pangasiidae families. However, U.S. labeling laws require only species of the family Ictaluridae to be marketed as catfish. The lower production price of Pangasiidae, combined with changes in regulations over time, have resulted in high potential for species substitution and country of origin mislabeling among catfish products. The objective of this study was to conduct a market survey of catfish products sold at the U.S. retail level to examine species mislabeling and compliance with Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations. A total of 80 catfish samples were collected …

Common Loons Respond Adaptively To A Black Fly That Reduces Nesting Success, Walter H. Piper, Keren B. Tischler, Andrew Reinke

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Nesting birds must often cope with harassment from biting insects, but it is difficult to ascertain what effect such pests might have on breeding success and population dynamics. We tested the hypothesis that a black fly (Simulium annulus) that feeds on the blood of nesting Common Loons (Gavia immer) causes nest abandonment in this charismatic diving bird. In addition, we measured effects of fly-induced abandonment on a loon population, and examined potential predictors of fly abundance and nest abandonment. We also tested a second hypothesis, which holds that loon pairs that abandon a nest owing to …