Life Sciences Commons^™

A Method For Rearing Large Quantities Of The Damselfly, Ischnura Ramburii (Odonata: Coenagrionidae), In The Laboratory, Jason L. Locklin, Joshua S. Huckabee, Eben Gering

Eben Gering

Laboratory based experimental designs typically require large sample sizes of genetically related organisms at the same developmental stage. Several described methods for rearing damselflies have been published, but these methods require laborious techniques when rearing large quantities of damselflies simultaneously. We have developed a relatively easy and inexpensive method for rearing large quantities of a coenagrionid damselfly that streamlines previously published methods and employs new techniques that increase efficiency and yield. Culturing large numbers of damselflies in the laboratory is manageable and opens diverse research avenues.

Geographic Variability Of Octopus Insularis Diet: From Oceanic Island To Continental Populations, Tatiana S. Leite, Allan T. Batista, Françoise D. Lima, Jaciana C. Barbosa, Jennifer A. Mather

Jennifer Mather, PhD

A predator’s choice of prey can be affected by many factors. We evaluated various influences on population dietary composition, individual specialization and size of prey in Octopus insularis populations from 2 continental and 4 insular locations. We expected that habitat diversity would lead to diet heterogeneity. Furthermore, in keeping with MacArthur & Wilson’s (1967) theory of island biogeography, we expected that diet diversity would be lower around islands than on the coast of the mainland. Both predictions were confirmed when prey remains from octopus middens were examined. The 2 continental areas exhibited a richer habitat diversity and a wider variety …

Baylisascaris Procyonis Impacts Raccoon (Procyon Lotor) Diets, Matthew E. Ingle, Stephen G. Dunbar, Jaynee L. Bartsch, Kyle J. Culbertson, Taylor A. Fulton, Katherine R. Guffey, Aubrey J. Juris, Ashlie N. Nolan, Dan P. Nordquist, Carrie E. Rowlands, Joshua A. Sitler

Stephen Dunbar, PhD

Raccoons (Procyon lotor) are the definitive host for raccoon roundworms (Baylisascaris procyonis). Raccoon roundworm is responsible for a dangerous neurological disease known as larva migrans encephalopathy. Raccoons are omnivorous animals and rely on various food items. Dietary analyses help determine how a raccoon changes its diet in response to environmental features. Raccoons eat whatever food resource is most convenient and abundant. Parasite infections can potentially affect host eating habits in order to keep the host alive and active longer. In this study, we analyzed the diets of necropsied raccoons from ten townships of Clark and Greene Counties by examining their …

2017_Murphy Et Al._Food Habits Of A Small Fl Bear Population In Endangered Ecosystem.Pdf, Sean M. Murphy, Wade A. Ulrey, Joseph M. Guthrie, David S. Maehr, Warren G. Abrahamson Ii, Sutton C. Maehr, John J. Cox

Warren G. Abrahamson, II

Vegetarianism And Virtue: Does Consequentialism Demand Too Little?, Nathan Nobis

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

The article discusses the moral aspects of vegetarianism. This will make vegetarians more compassionate and caring for animals and will result in better health and less finances. The virtue theory or the vegetarian justifying principle connotes that one should not support even symbolically bad practices to animals when good alternatives are readily available. Becoming a vegetarian is a way of attesting to the depth and sincerity of one's belief in the wrongness of how we treat animals and its consequence to humans. Consequentialism does not demand too little because it requires that one conforms his behavior to the vegetarian justifying …

Seminatrix Pygaea. Diet., Mark Mills, Travis Ryan, Sean Poppy, Anthony Mills, Michael Dorcas

Travis J. Ryan

Diet of black swamp snake.

Health Professionals’ Roles In Animal Agriculture, Climate Change, And Human Health, Aysha Z. Akhtar, Michael Greger, Hope Ferdowsian, Erica Frank

Michael Greger, MD, FACLM

What we eat is rapidly becoming an issue of global concern. With food shortages, the rise in chronic disease, and global warming, the impact of our dietary choices seems more relevant today than ever. Globally, a transition is taking place toward greater consumption of foods of animal origin, in lieu of plantbased diets. With this transition comes intensification of animal agriculture that in turn is associated with the emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases, environmental degradation, and the epidemics of chronic disease and obesity. Health professionals should be aware of these trends and consider them as they promote healthier and more …

Predictors Of Serum Dioxin Levels Among Adolescent Boys In Chapaevsk, Russia: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study, Russ Hauser, Paige L. Williams, Larisa Altshul, Susan Korrick, Lynne Peeples, Donald G. Patterson Jr., Wayman E. Turner, Mary M. Lee, Boris Revich, Oleg Sergeyev

Mary M. Lee

BACKGROUND: Toxicological studies and limited human studies have demonstrated associations between exposure to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and adverse developmental and reproductive health effects. Given that children may be particularly susceptible to reproductive and developmental effects of organochlorines, and the paucity of information available regarding childhood exposures to dioxins in particular, we undertook a pilot study to describe the distribution of, and identify potential predictors of exposure to, dioxin-like compounds and dioxins among adolescent boys in Chapaevsk, Russia. The pilot study was also designed to guide the development of a large prospective cohort study …

العودة للمدارس مع السلياك, Suad Fahad Alfuraih

Dr. Suad Fahad AlFuraih

Back to school with a celiac kid is a big issue for parents, especially in Arabic region where gluten free food and awareness about the disease is so rare

The Effect Of A Calorie Controlled Diet Containing Walnuts On Substrate Oxidation During 8-Hours In A Room Calorimeter, Linda C. Tapsell, Marijka Batterham, Sze Yen Tan, Eva M. Warensjo

Dr Marijka Batterham

Objective Dietary macronutrient proportions affect substrate utilization, but in practice people consume foods. We hypothesized that in overweight adults, a calorie controlled diet based on core foods and including walnuts may be advantageous in promoting greater use of fat stores. Methods This crossover study tested the effects of diet-related energy expenditure and fat oxidation in 16 overweight individuals over an 8-hour period. The 2 diets included breakfast and lunch meals during the measurement period and an evening meal the night before. They comprised core foods of bread/cereals, fruit, vegetables, milk/yogurt, and meat, and either walnuts (walnut diet) or olive oil …

Relative Bias In Diet History Measurements: A Quality Control Technique For Dietary Intervention Trials, Gina S. Martin, Linda C. Tapsell, Marijka Batterham, Kenneth G. Russell

Dr Marijka Batterham

Objective: Investigation of relative bias in diet history measurement during dietary intervention trials. Design: Retrospective analysis of human dietary data from two randomised controlled trials examining modified fat diets in the prevention and treatment of type II diabetes mellitus. Setting: Wollongong, Australia. Subjects: Thirty-five overweight, otherwise healthy subjects in trial 1 and 56 subjects with diabetes in trial 2. Interventions: Diet history interviews and three-day weighed food records administered at one-month intervals in trial 1 and three-month intervals in trial 2. Results: In a cross-sectional bias analysis, graphs of the association between bias and mean dietary intake showed that bias …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating The Effects Of A Low-Glycemic Index Diet On Pregnancy Outcomes In Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Jennie Brand-Miller, Jimmy Chun Yu Louie, Peter Petocz, Tania Markovic, Nimalie Perera, Deborah Foote, Glynis Ross

Jimmy Chun Yu Louie

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is rising. There is little evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of one dietary therapy over another. We aimed to investigate the effect of a low-glycemic index (LGI) versus a conventional high-fiber diet on pregnancy outcomes, neonatal anthropometry, and maternal metabolic profile in GDM.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Ninety-nine women (age 26-42 years; mean ± SD prepregnancy BMI 24 ± 5 kg/m²) diagnosed with GDM at 20-32 weeks' gestation were randomized to follow either an LGI (n = 50; target glycemic index [GI] ~50) or a high-fiber moderate-GI diet (HF) (n = 49; target …

The Diet Quality Of Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Jimmy Chun Yu Louie, T Markovic, D Foote, G Ross, Jennie Brand-Miller

Jimmy Chun Yu Louie

No abstract provided.

Maternal Consumption Of Canola Oil Suppressed Mammary Gland Tumorigenesis In C3(1) Tag Mice Offspring, Gabriela Ion, Juliana A. Akinsete, W. Elaine Hardman

Gabriela Ion

Background: Maternal consumption of a diet high in omega 6 polyunsaturated fats (n-6 PUFA) has been shown to increase risk whereas a diet high in omega 3 polyunsaturated fats (n-3 PUFA) from fish oil has been shown to decrease risk for mammary gland cancer in female offspring of rats. The aim of this study was to determine whether increasing n-3 PUFA and reducing n-6 PUFA by using canola oil instead of corn oil in the maternal diet might reduce the risk for breast cancer in female offspring. Methods: Female SV 129 mice were divided into two groups and placed on …

Consumption Of High Ω-3 Fatty Acid Diet Suppressed Prostate Tumorigenesis In C3(1) Tag Mice, Juliana Akinsete, Gabriela Ion, Theodore Witte, W. Hardman

Gabriela Ion

Prostate cancer incidence and mortality are high in the Western world and high ω-6/ω-3 PUFA in the Western diet may be a contributing factor. We investigated whether changing from a diet that approximates ω-6 fat content of the Western diet to a high ω-3 fat diet at adulthood might reduce prostate cancer risk. Female SV 129 mice that had consumed a high ω-6 diet containing corn oil for 2 weeks were bred with homozygous C3(1)Tag transgenic male mice. All male offspring were weaned to the corn oil diet (CO) until postpuberty when half of the male offspring were transferred to …

Ventromedial Hypothalamic Npy Y2 Receptor In The Maintenance Of Body Weight In Diet-Induced Obesity In Mice, Yulin Li, Xu-Feng Huang, Chao Deng, Qing Wang, Timothy South, Yinghua Yu

Xu-Feng Huang

This study examined changes in neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y2 receptor binding in the brains of C57BL/6 mice in response to different levels of high-fat diets via three dietary intervention methods: high-fat diet, switching from high- to low-fat diet and finally, energy restricted high-fat diet. Forty-five C57Bl/6 male mice were fed a high-fat diet for 8 weeks and then classified as diet-induced obese (DIO) or diet-resistant (DR) mice according to the highest and lowest body weight gainers, respectively. The DIO and DR mice were then randomly divided into three groups each and either continued on their high-fat diet ad libitum (DIO-H …

Obese Reversal By A Chronic Energy Restricted Diet Leaves An Increased Arc Npy/Agrp, But No Alteration In Pomc/Cart, Mrna Expression In Diet-Induced Obese Mice, Xu-Feng Huang, Chao Deng, Yinghua Yu

Xu-Feng Huang

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Diets High In Whey, Soy, Red Meat And Milk Protein On Body Weight Maintenance In Diet-Induced Obesity In Mice, Xu-Feng Huang, Y Liu, Gita Rahardjo, Peter Mclennan, Linda Tapsell, William Buttemer

Xu-Feng Huang

This study examined the effects of different food sources of protein on energy intake, body weight maintenance, and on the responses of plasma leptin, insulin and adiponectin in chronic high-fat diet-induced obese mice. Obesity was induced in 47 mice with a high-fat diet for 20 weeks. They were divided into five diet groups to test the effects of a higher protein proportion (30% energy), achieved at the expense of carbohydrate. For the next eight weeks, four of the groups were fed diets of chow formulated with whey, soy, red meat or milk while the control group continued on their high-fat …

Temporal And Site-Specific Brain Alterations In Cb1 Receptor Binding In High Fat Diet-Induced Obesity In C57bl/6 Mice, Xu-Feng Huang, Timothy South

Xu-Feng Huang

The cannabinoid CB1 receptor has been implicated in the regulation of appetite and the consumption of palatable foods. This experiment aimed to explore the involvement of the CB1 receptor in the early and late stages of high fat diet-induced obesity in C57BL/6 mice. The C57Bl/6 mice were placed on a high fat (HF) or low fat/high carbohydrate (LF) diet for 3 or 20 weeks. Quantitative autoradiography revealed that binding of [3H] CP-55,940 (CB1 receptor ligand) was elevated following 3 weeks of HF feeding in areas including the medial/ventral anterior olfactory nucleus (22.1%), agranular insular cortex (24.0%) and the hypothalamus (31.5%) …

Differential Expression Of Dopamine D2 And D4 Receptor And Tyrosine Hydroxylase Mrna In Mice Prone, Or Resistant, To Chronic High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity, Xu-Feng Huang, Yinghua Yu, Katerina Zavitsanou, Mei Han, Leonard Storlien

Xu-Feng Huang

The present study examined brain dopamine D2 and D4 receptor and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA expression in chronic high-fat diet-induced obese (cDIO) and obese-resistant (cDR) mice. Twenty-eight mice were fed a high-fat diet (HF: 40% of calories from fat) for 6 weeks and then classified as cDIO (n = 8) or cDR (n = 8) mice according to the highest and lowest body weight gainers, respectively. Seven mice were fed a low-fat diet (LF: 10% of calories from fat) and used as controls. After 20 weeks of feeding, visceral fat per gram of initial body weight was significantly higher in …

Diets High In Oat-Derived Beta-Glucan Promote Negative Energy Regulatory Pathway Of Hypothalamic Npy System In Chronic Diet-Induced Obesity In Mice, Xu-Feng Huang, Timothy South, Eleanor Beck, Marijka Batterham, K. Grinter, Linda Tapsell

Xu-Feng Huang

No abstract provided.

Dopamine Transporter And D2 Receptor Densities In Mice Prone Or Resistant To Chronic High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity, Xu-Feng Huang, F Chen, A Lawrence, Katerina Zavitsanou, Chao Deng, Hong-Qin Wang, Yinghua Yu

Xu-Feng Huang

No abstract provided.

High-Fat Diet Exposure Increases Dopamine D2 Receptor And Decreases Dopamine Transporter Receptor Binding Density In The Nucleus Accumbens And Caudate Putamen Of Mice, Xu-Feng Huang, Timothy South

Xu-Feng Huang

No abstract provided.

A High N-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Diet Reduces Muscarinic M2/M4 Receptor Binding In The Rat Brain, Xu-Feng Huang, Chao Deng, Warren Bell, Teresa Du Bois

Xu-Feng Huang

No abstract provided.

Energy-Restricted Pair-Feeding Normalizes Low Levels Of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/Tyrosine Kinase B Mrna Expression In The Hippocampus, But Not Ventromedial Hypothalamic Nucleus, In Diet-Induced Obese Mice, Xu-Feng Huang, Qing Wang, Yinghua Yu

Xu-Feng Huang

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) are closely associated with the regulation of energy homeostasis, but their roles in diet-induced obesity have not been explored. Using dietary interventions, this study examined regional changes of BDNF and TrkB mRNA expression in different brain regions of diet-induced obese (DIO) and resistant (DR) mice in response to high-fat (HF), energy-restricted pair-feeding and low fat (LF) diets. Using in situ hybridization, DIO mice had significantly decreased levels of BDNF mRNA expression (¿32% to ¿37%) and TrkB (¿21% to ¿23%) in the hippocampus compared to DR mice on an HF …

Decreased Plasma Peptide Yy Accompanied By Elevated Peptide Yy And Y2 Receptor Binding Densities In The Medulla Oblongata Of Diet-Induced Obese Mice, Xu-Feng Huang, Chao Deng, Yean Tan, Gita Rahardjo

Xu-Feng Huang

It is well known that the peripheral peptide YY (PYY)-central neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y2 receptor axis plays an important role in promoting negative energy balance regulation. Both the hypothalamus and medulla oblongata express a high level of Y2 receptors; however, the functional role of this receptor in chronic high-fat diet-induced obesity has not been fully examined. Using quantitative autoradiography, this study measured binding densities of total [125I]PYY and Y2 receptors in the hypothalamus and medulla of chronic high-fat diet-induced obese (DIO), obese-resistant, and low-fat-fed mice. Plasma PYY was also measured using RIA after 22 wk of dietary intervention. The results …

Dietary Shiitake Mushroom (Lentinus Edodes) Prevents Fat Deposition And Lowers Triglyceride In Rats Fed A High-Fat Diet, D Handayani, J-Z Chen, Barbara Meyer, Xu-Feng Huang

Xu-Feng Huang

High-fat diet (HFD) induces obesity. This study examined the effects of Shiitake mushroom on the prevention of alterations of plasma lipid profiles, fat deposition, energy efficiency, and body fat index induced by HFD. Rats were given a low, medium, and high (7, 20, 60 g/kg = LD-M, MD-M, HD-M) Shiitake mushroom powder in their high-fat (50% in kcal) diets for 6 weeks. The results showed that the rats on the HD-M diet had the lowest body weight gain compared to MD-M and LD-M groups (P < 0.05). The total fat deposition was significantly lower (-35%, P < 0.05) in rats fed an …

Diet Composition And Insulin Action In Animal Models, Leonard H. Storlien, J Higgins, T C. Thomas, Marc A. Brown, Hong-Qin Wang, Xu-Feng Huang, Paul Else

Xu-Feng Huang

No abstract provided.

Adaptation To Hard-Object Feeding In Sea Otters And Hominins, Paul Constantino, James Lee, Dylan Morris, Peter Lucas, Adam Hartstone-Rose, Wah-Keat Lee, Nathaniel Dominy, Andrew Cunningham, Mark Wagner, Brian Lawn

Paul J. Constantino

The large, bunodont postcanine teeth in living sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have been likened to those of certain fossil hominins, particularly the ’robust’ australopiths (genus Paranthropus). We examine this evolutionary convergence by conducting fracture experiments on extracted molar teeth of sea otters and modern humans (Homo sapiens) to determine how load-bearing capacity relates to tooth morphology and enamel material properties. In situ optical microscopy and x-ray imaging during simulated occlusal loading reveal the nature of the fracture patterns. Explicit fracture relations are used to analyze the data and to extrapolate the results from humans to earlier hominins. It is shown …

Microwear, Mechanics And The Feeding Adaptations Of Australopithecus Africanus, Paul Constantino, Craig Byron, Paul Dechow, Ian Gross, Peter Lucas, Brian Richmond, Callum Ross, Dennis Slice, Mark Spencer, Dennis Strait, Qian Wang, Gerhard Weber, Bernard Wood, Barth Wright

Paul J. Constantino

Recent studies of dental microwear and craniofacial mechanics have yielded contradictory interpretations regarding the feeding ecology and adaptations of Australopithecus africanus. As part of this debate, the methods used in the mechanical studies have been criticized. In particular, it has been claimed that finite element analysis has been poorly applied to this research question. This paper responds to some of these mechanical criticisms, highlights limitations of dental microwear analysis, and identifies avenues of future research.