Life Sciences Commons^™

Color Vision In The Bovine, B. John Gilbert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Eight heifers were trained using operant conditioning to press a plate to receive a feed reward. Different wavelengths of light were presented as correct and incorrect stimuli. Positive and negative responses to the stimuli were registered electronically. Daily sessions of 17 minutes were conducted in a chamber with external light being excluded.

The duration of the stimulus was fixed at 17 seconds after which stimuli were randomly presented. Only presses on the plate when the correct stimulus was presented were reinforced with feed. A 75% correct choice was the criterion used as acceptable discrimination.

Ratios of correct to incorrect responses …

Dietary Sodium Bicarbonate And Magnesium Oxide For Early Postpartum Lactating Dairy Cows: Effects Upon Milk Coagulation Parameters, Shu-Chuan Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Forty-eight Holstein cows at Utah State Dairy Farm were blocked statistically according to date of calving, previous milk production, and numbers of lactation at parturition. The cattle were assigned randomly to one of four treatments within blocks. The four treatments included a base ration (control, treatment #1), base ration plus .8% of sodium bicarbonate (treatment #2), base ration plus .4% of magnesium oxide (treatment #3), and base ration plus both .8% of sodium bicarbonate and .4% of magnesium oxide (treatment #4). The research was conducted from February 1983 to November 1984. A formagraph was used to measure milk coagulation parameters …

Anthropometry, Metabolic Control And Dietary Intake Of Youth With Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, Rochelle A. Follaco Clark

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to describe a sample of insulin-dependent diabetic youth in terms of selected anthropometric measurements, level of metabolic control and dietary intake. The 22 subjects (10 males and 12 females) were between the ages of seven to 16 years and, except for one female, regularly attended a multidisciplinary outpatient diabetes clinic.

The study involved cross-sectional observation of height, weight, triceps and subscapular skinfold measurements, mid-arm muscle circumference and weight:height ratios, and comparison of these measurements to national norms derived from non-diabetic controls. Levels of metabolic control were observed using glycosylated hemoglobin values, and examined for …

Coprecipitation Of Phosphorus With Calcium Carbonate In Bear Lake, Utah - Idaho, Paul W. Birdsey Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Monitoring of Bear Lake was conducted in 1981 and 1982 to describe the current limnology and trophic state of the lake. The nutrient loadings of various parameters were measured from April, 1981 through June, 1982. The rate of coprecipitation of phosphorus was determined for different initial phosphorus concentrations by use of non-algal assays. Algal bioassays with Selenastrum capricornutum were used to determine the reduction in potential algal biomass as a result of the coprecipitation of phosphorus.

The lake exhibited chemical characteristics indicative of mesotrophy or eutrophy. Total phosphorus values averaged 11μg/1 for 1981 and 20 μg/1 for 1982. A hypolimnetic …

Factors Affecting Feeding Injury To Grasses By Adult Billbugs (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Dale C. Nielson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Factors associated with feeding injury to grass plants by two species of adult billbugs, Sphenophorus gentilis and S. parvulus, were evaluated. Early season tests utilized adult bluegrass billbugs while later studies involved wildrye billbugs. Types of feeding injury were determined and preferred feeding locations on host plants were identified for each billbug species. Greenhouse and field studies compared different species of grasses, individual plants within a species, and plants from different locations, for billbug susceptibility. The effect of grass plant age and stem size were also tested using bluegrass billbugs.

Using analysis of variance and multiple comparison tests, significant …

Predicting Digestibilities Of Alfalfa Hays With Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy, David H. Clark

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Forty-four alfalfa hays from different cuttings, maturities, and locations were fed to sheep in a digestion study. Subsamples of the hays along with corresponding fecal samples were ground and analyzed for dry matter, (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and permanganate lignin. In vivo digestibility (IVDMD) were also determined fro each hay.

The hay and fecal samples were scanned with a near infrared reflectance spectrophotometer. Chemical and digestible data for each hay and fecal sample were entered into the computer and separate multiple regression equations developed.

Fifteen other alfalfa hays with …

Effect Of Overall Indispensible Amino Acid Levels On Performance Of Broiler Chicks, Jack D. Kelly

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An attempt was made to determine the effect of overall indispensible amino acids (IAAs) level on growth rate and efficiency of broiler chicks. There were two overall levels: the low (8.33% IAA, 17.6% CP containing all IAAs at the minimum requirement found in preliminary studies), and the high (10.77% IAA, 21.5% CP with IAAs increased by 28%). Both diets contained 13.7 Megajoules ME (3277 Kcal) per kilogram.

These two diets along with other variations of the two diets were fed to Hubbard chicks. Growth rate, with the low IAA diet was as good as with the high, but feed efficiency …

Behavioral Response Of Desert Bighorn Sheep To Human Harassment: A Comparison Of Disturbed And Undisturbed Populations, Michael M. King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) response to human disturbance was evaluated in southeastern Utah from 1981-1983. Bighorn response was compared between the Red Canyon area, an area with relatively high levels of human disturbance, and the White Canyon area, an area with relatively low levels of human disturbance. Bighorn were deliberately harassed by vehicles and hikers and immediate response and distance fled were recorded. When bighorn remained in the presence of the harassing stimuli, actual time spent in and proportion of animals engaged in various behaviors were recorded to determine group wariness and activity budgets under harassed …

The Acarau Valley In Northeast Brazil: Vegetation, Soils And Land Use., Joao Stacishin De Queiroz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to describe and characterize the principal kinds of land in the mid-portion of the Acarau Valley, Ceara State, Northeast Brazil. The specific aims were: (1) to develop a specific-purpose soil classification; (2) to investigate vegetation-environment relationships; (3) to develop hypotheses about short-term vegetation dynamics; and (4) to evaluate the usefulness of computer processed multispectral-scanner (MSS) data for mapping rangeland resources in Northeast Brazil.

Fifty-one soil profiles were described and ocular estimates of vegetation cover by species were made at each subjectively selected site. Two Landsat scenes were used to assess the usefulness of MSS …

Effects Of Bulk Starter Media And Proteolytic Lactic Streptococci On Protein Loss In Cheddar Curd Manufacture, Steven A. Winkel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of whey-based and milk-based starter media, and low concentrations (0.02% each) of citrate, phosphate and calcium upon various milk coagulation properties were measured. Samples inoculated with milk-based starter medium had shorter coagulation times, faster rate of curd formation, and greater final curd firmness than those inoculated with externally neutralized whey-based starter. Starter medium treatment was statistically interacted with calcium for coagulation time and rate of curd formation. Citrate addition caused longer coagulation times, slower rates of curd formation, and weaker final coagula. Citrate interacted with calcium and phosphate for several of the parameters measured. Addition of phosphate did …

Effects Of Antiepileptic Drugs On Immune Function In Human Subjects And Mice, Nadine C. Margaretten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A number of immune abnormalities have been found in epileptic patients treated with antiepileptic drugs (AED). The alterations seen range from mild suppression of immunoglobulins to severly impaired humoral and cellular immunities. There is evidence for both drug effects and genetic or acquired factors as contributors to these abnormalities. In order to examine the basis for immune abnormalities in patients with epilepsy, a number of experimental designs were employed: clinical studies, in vitro studies, and use of an animal model.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from epileptic patients currently receiving AED were found to have a reduced OKT4+/0KT8+ ratio. …

Cellular Immunity In Children With Down Syndrome (Trisomy-21), Roger Lee Noble

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Individuals with Down syndrome (US) suffer from increased incidence of respiratory infections and lymphoblastic leukemia, and a death rate that is particularly high in the first 5 years of life. Relatively few studies have probed immune parameters in young US children. Primary immune defects in DS may be masked by a degree of immune maturity in adults, and hygienic factors may have an effect on immune capability throughout the years. A study of young children can give clearer evidence of the actual primary immune defects in DS.

Blood samples were drawn from 20 DS children under 6 years old and …

Energetics Of The American Kestrel (Falco Sparverius) During Three Seasons In Northern Utah, Lucinda Haggas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Behavioral activities and predatory behavior of 18 American Kestrels (Falco sparverius, 9 males and 9 females) were observed for 350+ hours during 3 seasons (nonbreeding = Jan-Feb , breeding = mid-Mar-Apr, and postbreeding = late-Aug-Sept) in northern Utah. Daily energy expenditure (DEE) of male and female kestrels was estimated with a model that incorporated flight activity data from free-living birds and laboratory measurements on daytime and nighttime metabolic rates and energy costs of tissue production derived from captive kestrels. Production costs were included in the DEE for breeding and postbreeding kestrels.

The energy cost of gonadal growth for males (0.02 …

An Autecological Study Of Dyers Woad (Isatis Tinctoria L.) On Utah Rangeland, Ann T. Fuller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Northern Utah rangelands have become infested with dyers woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) and control is needed. Mechanical and chemical control on rangelands produce undesirable effects. A possible alternative is biological control, but information is not available on plant response to this control method. This autecological study and simulation of control methods examined dyers woad phenology, seed endurance and response to simulated grazing, hand rogueing and plowing. The phenology study documented dyers woad growth patterns from May 1982 to November 1983. During the first year, 65 percent of the seedlings died while the remaining 35 percent grew rosette leaves. During …

Growth And Water Relations Of Mountain Big Sagebrush On Reclaimed Mine Soils In Southwestern Wyoming, Alan T. Carpenter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mined-land reclamation practices in shrub-steppe ecosystems can be augmented by planting seedlings of locally dominant shrubs, e.g., mountain big sagebrush. Dispersion pattern could affect sagebrush performance by influencing amounts of windborne snow, soil and litter which accumulate around shrubs and by influencing water withdrawal by roots. Mountain big sagebrush seedlings were planted in plots on a reclaimed coal strip mine in two dispersion patterns: singly and in clumps of four at the same overall density.

Performance of mountain big sagebrush was monitored during two growing seasons. Measures included plant survival, end-of-growing season aboveground biomass, leaf water potential components, soil water …

Temporal And Spatial Partitioning Of The Soil Water Resource Between Two Agropyron Bunchgrasses And Artemisia Tridentata, Halldor Thorgeirsson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Dynamics of soil water use by two cool-season Agropyron bunchgrasses during the warm season depletion of soil water reserves were monitored for two years in experimental plots in the field. Agropyron desertorum, an introduced, competitive species from Eurasia, extracted more water from the deeper ( > 50 cm) soil layers than the native, less competitive Agropyron spicatum. Agropyron desertorum both extracts this water earlier and to lower soil water potentials than Agropyron spicatum. From the water extraction dynamics of the grasses in monocultures and in their two-way (50:50) mixtures with a shrub they commonly co-occur with, Artemisia tridentata …

Phosphorus Dynamics In Dingle Marsh, Idaho, Rex C. Herron

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Phosphorus mass-balance studies of Dingle Marsh, Idaho indicated that the marsh was an annual net sink for total suspended sol ids and all forms of phosphorus under consideration: total phosphorus, particulate phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus, dissolved organic phosphorus, and orthophosphate phosphorus. During some months, however, more phosphorus was exported from the marsh than entered.

Phosphorus mass-balance dynamics were compared between night and day. Total suspended solids and particulate phosphorus dynamics were controlled by sedimentation of particulate material, a physical process, and were unaffected by light conditions. Dissolved organic and ortho-phosphorus were affected by light conditions indicating, at least indirectly, that …

Seasonal Feeding Behavior And Forage Selection By Goats In Cleared And Thinned Deciduous Woodlands In Northeast Brazil, Roberto Cesar Magalhaes Mesquita

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The seasonal feeding behavior, forage preferences and body weight responses of goats were studied under three densities of woodland (called caatinga), and under three stocking rates. The experiment was located in the semi-arid tropics of northeastern Brazil at 3 42' South latitude, and 40 21' West longitude at an elevation of 75 meters. Mean annual precipitation of the area is 832 mm.

Removing the shrubs and trees increased yields of herbaceous only on partially-cleared sites. Goats gained body weight (kg BW/ha) during the wet season, with the cleared treatment showing the best body weight response per unit of land. However …

Production Of Monoclonal Antibodies Specific For The Microgametocytes Of Eimeria Tenella, Marc A. Laxer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to produce a monoclonal antibody specific for the microgametocytes of Eimeria tenella, examine the site and stage specificity of the antibody, and investigate the immunopotency of the antibody. BALB/c mice were immunized with antigen containing Eimeria tenella microgametocytes isolated from in vitro systems. After three intraperitoneal immunizations with the antigen and one booster immunization administered by tail vein injection, the mice were sacrificed and their spleen cells fused with SP2/0 mouse myeloma cells using polyethylene glycol as a fusing agent. Resultant hybridomas were screened by immunoelectrophoresis, indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay, and immunoelectron microscopy …

Modifying Lamb/Mutton Flavors In Processed Meat Products By Smoking, Curing, Spicing, Starter Cultures And Fat Modifications. Investigating The Use Of The Technicon Infraalyzer 400r As A Rapid Method For Proximate Analysis, Chima I. Osuala

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mutton meat was tested in different products in order to obtain prototype products in which mutton can effectively be used without the objectionable mutton off flavor. Mutton flavor reduction was achieved in the processed meat products by: (a) lowering mutton fat to a level of 10% or less, (b) using spices, smoking and/or curing, (c) substituting fat from beef or pork for mutton fat, and (d) the action of microbial starter cultures. Four taste panel sessions were set up to rate these products against an all beef or all pork control for consumer acceptability. Taste panel results indicate that flavor …

Factors Which Influence The Development Of Bloom (Redness) In Dark Colored Muscle, William Russell Egbert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of acidification, low temperature, high oxygen concentration, and rotenone on the color of dark colored beef muscle were determined by use of the Hunter color difference meter. Pre-rigor and dark cutting muscle homogenates bloomed (turned bright red) in the presence of low pH or rotenone. Dark cutting homogenates also bloomed at low temperature. Pre-rigor and dark cutting muscle slices turned bright red at low temperature in an oxygen atmosphere. In dark cutting beef muscle however, low temperature was sufficient to cause the development of bloom. Factors which inhibit mitochondrial respiration influence the development of bloom in dark colored …

Effect Of Iron On Residual Nitrite Level In Ground Pork And Model Systems, Changmin Kim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of iron, temperature, and presence of botulinal spores or sodium ascorbate on depletion of nitrite level were determined in meat and model systems. Higher temperature and presence of botulinal spores definitely increased nitrite depletion in a meat system. Added hemoglobin also significantly increased nitrite depletion, while ferrous iron and ferric iron did not significantly decrease nitrite level in a meat system. High temperature and presence of sodium ascorbate increased nitrite depletion in a model system. Only ferrous iron significantly decreased nitrite level in the absence of ascorbate, while ferric iron, heme iron, and ferritin iron did not decrease …

Effect Of Proteolytic Activity Of Streptococcus Cremoris On Cottage Cheese Yield, Gary W. Stoddard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Using proteinase negative variants of Streptococcus cremoris UC310 or UC320 to manufacture cottage cheese, theoretical yields were increased 1.97% and 1.56% respectively when compared to the theoretical yields of the proteinase positive parents. Yield differences were strain dependent and differences between positive and negative variants were not manifest with strains of UC73 and UC97. It was necessary to produce bulk culture using pH control and to add sufficient nitrogenous stimulant to provide carry-over stimulant into the cheese milk. All cultures examined developed normally even when the bulk medium contained a blend of 5% yeast extract and casein hydrolysate. It was …

Iron Requirement Of Clostridium Botulinum Type A And Characterization Of Iron-Sulfur Proteins In Nitrite Treated And Untreated Botulinal Cells, Divya Shree A. Reddy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effect of added iron on the growth of Clostridium botulinum type A in a chemically defined medium was studied. Growth of C. botulinum was supported by an iron level of 0.05 ug/ml with maximum growth observed at a level of 3 ug iron/ml.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies were conducted to detect the presence of iron-sulfur centers and iron-nitric oxide complexes in untreated and nitrite treated cell-free extracts of C. botulinum type A. Untreated extracts of C. botulinum exhibited EPR signals in the oxidized and reduced states characteristic of a "HiPiP-type" iron-sulfur center (g=2.02) in the oxidized state and …

Reduction Of Sodium Nitrite And Sodium Chloride In A Cured Meat Product By Using Acid Development To Inhibit Botulinal Toxin Formation, Angsana Assamongkorn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pediococcus acidilactici as a lactic acid producer, and sucrose were added to breakfast strip products in order to reduce added levels of sodium nitrite and sodium chloride and yet limit the growth of Clostridium botulinum and inhibit toxin production. Sucrose at 0.4 or 0.9% with P. acidilactici at 1.0 x 10⁸ cells/g were added during preparation of breakfast strip products prepared with combinations of 40 or 80 ppm sodium nitrite and 1.0 or 2.0% sodium chloride. Other ingredients were added at levels normally used in cured meat products. C. botulinum types A and B at 1,000 spores/g were inoculated …