Life Sciences Commons^™

Morpholino Gene Knockdown In Adult Fundulus Heteroclitus: Role Of Sgk1 In Seawater Acclimation, Emily G. Notch, Joseph R. Shaw, Bonita A. Coutermarsh, Marisa Dzioba, Bruce A. Stanton

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) is an environmental sentinel organism used extensively for studies on environmental toxicants and salt (NaCl) homeostasis. Previous research in our laboratory has shown that rapid acclimation of killifish to seawater is mediated by trafficking of CFTR chloride channels from intracellular vesicles to the plasma membrane in the opercular membrane within the first hour in seawater, which enhances chloride secretion into seawater, thereby contributing to salt homeostasis. Acute transition to seawater is also marked by an increase in both mRNA and protein levels of serum glucocorticoid kinase 1 (SGK1) within 15 minutes of transfer. …

Laboratory Studies In Animal Diversity, Lee Kats, Cleveland Hickman, Susan Keen

Lee Kats

Laboratory Studies in Animal Diversity offers students hands-on experience in learning about the diversity of life. It provides students the opportunity to become acquainted with the principal groups of animals and to recognize the unique anatomical features that characterize each group as well as the patterns that link animal groups to each other.

Hands-On Labs (Hol): Using Technology And Web-Based Resources To Transform A Traditional Lab-Based Biology Course Into A Distance Learning (Dl) Hybrid Course, Across Schools At Pace University., Erica Kipp

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Population Status, Habitat Dependence, And Reproductive Ecology Of Bahama Orioles: A Critically Endangered Synanthropic Species, Melissa R. Price, Valerie A. Lee, William K. Hayes

Faculty Works

Recent elevation of critically endangered Bahama Orioles (Icterus northropi) to species status prompted us to evaluate their population status, habitat use, and breeding ecology. From surveys, we estimated that at least 141 to 254 individuals remain globally, with 90 to 162, 24 to 44, and 27 to 48 individuals remaining on North Andros Island, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros Island, The Bahamas, respectively. Orioles were observed nesting exclusively in anthropogenic habitat (residential and agricultural land), but home ranges also included nearby pine forest and coppice (dry broadleaf forest). Most nests (40 of 46, or 87%) were in nonnative coconut palm …

Gauging Gender: A Metaphysics, Stephen Asma

Stephen T Asma

In this article the author discusses sex and gender in human beings and examines how the study of science, particularly biology, has influenced the study of these subjects in higher education. It traces the evolution of sex and gender studies in academe, comments on the failure of many humanities scholars to dismiss biology in studying human behavior, and explores ways in which psychoanalysis, social constructionism, and metaphysics have informed the debate over the differences between sex and gender. Other topics include research conducted by Anne Fausto-Sterling regarding intersexed people, scientific tests focusing on sexual preference in rats, and thoughts by …

Lifelines Fall 2011, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Fall 2011 issue of Lifelines features articles on biology student research, the pre-professional campout, and new professors Dr. Timothy Trott and Dr. Lucinda Hill.

Lytopylus Förster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) Species From Costa Rica, With An Emphasis On Specimens Reared From Caterpillars In Area De Conservación Guanacaste, Michael J. Sharkey, Stephanie Clutts, Erika M. Tucker, Daniel Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs, Tanya Dapkey, M. Alex Smith

Entomology Faculty Publications

Twelve species of Costa Rican Lytopylus are treated; these include all species reared from Lepidoptera caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, over 32 years of caterpillar inventory, as well as two species recorded in the literature as occurring in Costa Rica. Ten new species are described, i.e., Lytopylus bradzlotnicki, Lytopylus colleenhitchcockae, Lytopylus gregburtoni, Lytopylus jessicadimauroae, Lytopylus jessiehillae, Lytopylus mingfangi, Lytopylus rebeccashapleyae, Lytopylus robpringlei, Lytopylus sandraberriosae, Lytopylus vaughntani. The following species are transferred to Lytopylus: Metriosoma flavicalcar Enderlein 1920 to Lytopylus flavicalcarcomb. n.; Bassus macadamiae Briceño and Sharkey 2000 to Lytopylus macadamiaecomb. n.; Metriosoma bicarinatum Enderlein 1920 to Lytopylus …

Histone Modifications Influence Mediator Interactions With Chromatin, Xuefeng Zhu, Yongqiang Zhang, Gudrun Bjornsdottir, Zhongle Liu, Amy Quan, Michael Costanzo, Marcela Davila Lopez, Jakub Orzechowski Westholm, Hans Ronne, Charles Boone, Claes M. Gustafsson, Lawrence C. Myers

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Mediator complex transmits activation signals from DNA bound transcription factors to the core transcription machinery. Genome wide localization studies have demonstrated that Mediator occupancy not only correlates with high levels of transcription, but that the complex also is present at transcriptionally silenced locations. We provide evidence that Mediator localization is guided by an interaction with histone tails, and that this interaction is regulated by their post-translational modifications. A quantitative, high-density genetic interaction map revealed links between Mediator components and factors affecting chromatin structure, especially histone deacetylases. Peptide binding assays demonstrated that pure wild-type Mediator forms stable complexes with the …

Mathematical Modeling And Dynamical Analysis Of The Operation Of The Hypothalamus - Pituitary - Thyroid (Hpt) Axis In Autoimmune (Hashimoto's) Thyroiditis, Balamurugan Pandiyan

Dissertations (1934 -)

This thesis is a mathematical modeling study of the operation of the negative feedback control through the hypothalamus-pituitary- thyroid (HPT) axis in autoimmune (Hashimoto's) thyroiditis. Negative feedback control through the HPT axis is a mechanism in which the high levels of thyroid hormone; free thyroxine (FT4) in the blood inhibits the secretion of the pituitary hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) into the blood. Similarly, the low levels of free thyroxine (FT4) sensed by the pituitary gland and then it secretes thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) into the blood. Autoimmune (Hashimoto's) thyroiditis is a disease in which the immune system turns against …

Yeast Bax Inhibitor, Bxi1p, Is An Er-Localized Protein That Links The Unfolded Protein Response And Programmed Cell Death In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Nicanor Austriaco, James Cebulski, Joshua Malouin, Nathan Pinches, Vincent Cascio

Biology Faculty Publications

Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) is an anti-apoptotic gene whose expression is upregulated in a wide range of human cancers. Studies in both mammalian and plant cells suggest that the BI-1 protein resides in the endoplasmic reticulum and is involved in the unfolded protein response (UPR) that is triggered by ER stress. It is thought to act via a mechanism involving altered calcium dynamics. In this paper, we provide evidence that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein encoded by the open reading frame, YNL305C, is a bona fide homolog for BI-1. First, we confirm that yeast cells from two different strain backgrounds lacking YNL305C, …

Investigating The Role Of P53 In The Germ Cell Apoptotic Pathway, Jamie Lamkin

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Investigation of the role of p53 in germ cell apoptosis pathways.

Eugenics And Modern Biology: Critiques Of Eugenics, 1910-1945, Garland E. Allen

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Eugenics in most western countries in the first four decades of the twentieth century was based on the idea that genes control most human phenotypic traits, everything from physical features such as polydactyly and eye color to physiological conditions such as the A-B-O blood groups to mental and personality traits such as “feeblemindedness”, alcoholism and pauperism. It assessing the development of the eugenics movement – its rise and decline between 1900 and 1950 – it is important to recognize that its naïve assumptions and often flawed methodologies were openly criticized at the time by scientists and non-scientists alike. This paper …

Curricular Reform And Inquiry Teaching In Biology: Where Are Our Efforts Most Fruitfully Invested, Briana Timmerman, Denise Strickland, Susan Carstensen

Briana Eileen Timmerman

No abstract provided.

The Interplay Of Host Morphology And Symbiont Microhabitat In Coral Aggregations, B. Helmuth, Briana Timmerman, K. Sebens

Briana Eileen Timmerman

No abstract provided.

Peer Review In An Undergraduate Biology Curriculum: Effects On Students’ Scientific Reasoning, Writing And Attitudes, Briana Timmerman

Briana Eileen Timmerman

Scientific reasoning and writing skills are ubiquitous processes in science and therefore common goals of science curricula, particularly in higher education. Providing the individualized feedback necessary for the development of these skills is often costly in terms of faculty time, particularly in large science courses common at research universities. Past educational research literature suggests that the use of peer review may accelerate students’ scientific reasoning skills without a concurrent demand on faculty time per student. Peer review contains many elements of effective pedagogy such as peer-peer collaboration, repeated practice at evaluation and critical thinking, formative feedback, multiple contrasting examples, and …

Total Cadmium, Copper And Zinc In Two Dreissenid Mussels, Dreissena Polymorpha And Dreissena Bugensis, At The Outflow Of Lake Ontario, Carolyn Johns, Briana Timmerman

Briana Eileen Timmerman

No abstract provided.

Ufd2a Isoforms With Vsp/P97 And Its Ibmpfd Mutants, Amanda St. Germain

Honors Projects

Using the Yeast2Hybrid system, the binding affinities between Ufd2a variants and VCP/p97 mutants were analyzed. Several VCP/p97 mutants are associated with Inclusion body myositis in association of Paget's disease of the bone and fronto temperal dementia (IMBPFD). It was found that Ufd2a bound strongest to the VCP disease causing mutant A232E. It was also determined that the muscle specific isoform of Ufd2a, Ufd2a III, did not interact with VCP/p97.

Comparative Analysis Of Hepatic And Pulmonary Immune Mediators During Postnatal Development, Michelle Mack

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Mind Perception: Real But Not Artificial Faces Sustain Neural Activity Beyond The N170/Vpp, Thalia Wheatley, Anna Weinberg, Christine Looser, Tim Moran, Greg Hajcak

Dartmouth Scholarship

Faces are visual objects that hold special significance as the icons of other minds. Previous researchers using event-related potentials (ERPs) have found that faces are uniquely associated with an increased N170/vertex positive potential (VPP) and a more sustained frontal positivity. Here, we examined the processing of faces as objects vs. faces as cues to minds by contrasting images of faces possessing minds (human faces), faces lacking minds (doll faces), and non-face objects (i.e., clocks). Although both doll and human faces were associated with an increased N170/VPP from 175–200 ms following stimulus onset, only human faces were associated with a sustained …

Library Impact Statement For Bps 555 Protein Molecular Modeling, Michael Vocino

Library Impact Statements

Library Impact Statement for BPS 555 Protein Molecular Modeling. No new resources were required to support this course.

Trace Metals (Cu, Zn, Cd And Pb) In Juvenile Fish From Estuarine Nurseries Along The Portugese Coast, Rita P. Vasconcelos, Patrick Reis-Santos, Anabela Maia, Miguel Ruano, Maria J. Costa Universidade De Lisboa

Faculty Publications

Organic and inorganic pollution can impact organisms directly and affect condition, growth and survival of juvenile fish which use estuaries as nurseries, and thereby affect marine adult populations quantitatively and qualitatively. Trace element contamination (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) in juveniles of commercial fish Solea solea, Solea senegalensis, Platichthys flesus, Diplodus vulgaris and Dicentrarchus labrax collected in putative nurseries of the main Portuguese estuaries (with diverse intensities and sources of anthropogenic pressures) was determined via atomic absorption spectrometry. Contamination was significantly different among species. Similar levels of contamination were found among estuaries, except for D. vulgaris. Cu and Zn concentrations …

A Synthesis Of Plant Invasion Effects On Biodiversity Across Spatial Scales, Kristin I. Powell, Jonathan M. Chase, Tiffany M. Knight

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

PREMISE OF THE STUDY:

Invasive plant species are typically thought to pose a large threat to native biodiversity, and local-scale studies typically confirm this view. However, plant invaders rarely cause regional extirpations or global extinctions, causing some to suggest that invasive species' influence on native biodiversity may not be so dire. We aim to synthesize the seemingly conflicting literature in plant invasion biology by evaluating the effects of invasive plant species across spatial scales.

METHODS:

We first conducted a meta-analysis on the effects of invasive plants on the species richness of invaded communities across a range of spatial extents. We …

Determining The Origin Of Changing Β-Catenin Concentrations In Zebrafish Oocytes During Maturation, Nathan Pincus

Summer Research

During maturation, oocytes (immature eggs) progress from prophase I to metaphase II of meiosis, and a multitude of other cellular changes occur. β-catenin is a unique protein as it is involved in cell-cell adhesion when it is bound in plasma membrane complexes, and acts as a transcription factor when freed into the cytoplasm and allowed to move into the nucleus. β-catenin has been found to take part in signaling pathways such as the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, which inhibits β-catenin degradation, and subsequently regulates gene transcription. β-catenin has also been found to exist in distinct molecular forms depending on its role, which …

Passing Pains: Revenge, Retaliation, And Redirected Aggression In A New Light, Lixing Sun

Biology Faculty Scholarship

A review of David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton, Payback: Why We Retaliate, Redirect Aggression, and Take Revenge, Oxford University Press: New York, 2011, 209 pp., US$24.95, ISBN 019539514X (hardcover).

Locomotor Loading Mechanics In The Hindlimbs Of Tegu Lizards (Tupinambis Merianae): Comparative And Evolutionary Implications, K. Megan Sheffield, Michael T. Butcher, S. Katharine Shugart, Jennifer C. Gander, Richard W. Blob

Academic Services Faculty and Staff Publications

Skeletal elements are usually able to withstand several times their usual load before they yield, and this ratio is known as the bone’s safety factor. Limited studies on amphibians and non-avian reptiles have shown that they have much higher limb bone safety factors than birds and mammals. It has been hypothesized that this difference is related to the difference in posture between upright birds and mammals and sprawling ectotherms; however, limb bone loading data from a wider range of sprawling species are needed in order to determine whether the higher safety factors seen in amphibians and non-avian reptiles are ancestral …

Loading Mechanics Of The Femur In Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma Tigrinum) During Terrestrial Locomotion, K. Megan Sheffield, Richard W. Blob

Academic Services Faculty and Staff Publications

Salamanders are often used as representatives of the basal tetrapod body plan in functional studies, but little is known about the loads experienced by their limb bones during locomotion. Although salamanders’ slow walking speeds might lead to low locomotor forces and limb bone stresses similar to those of non-avian reptiles, their highly sprawled posture combined with relatively small limb bones could produce elevated limb bone stresses closer to those of avian and mammalian species. This study evaluates the loads on the femur of the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) during terrestrial locomotion using three- dimensional measurements of the ground reaction force …

Full Issue: Volume 5, Number 1, Fall 2011

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Volume 4, Number 2

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

Hands-On Labs (Hol): Using Technology And Web-Based Resources To Transform A Traditional Lab-Based Biology Course Into A Distance Learning (Dl) Hybrid Course, Across Schools At Pace University., Erica Kipp

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Review Of Palearctic And Australian Species Of Bootanomyia Girault 1915 (Hymenoptera: Torymidae: Megastigminae), With Descriptions Of New Species, Mi̇kdat Doğanlar

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The world species of Bootanomyia Girault (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea, Torymidae) are reviewed. Nine species are transferred from Megastigmus to Bootanomyia as new combinations: B. almusiensis (Doğanlar, 1989), B. dorsalis (Fabricius 1789), B. dumicola (Boucek 1982), B. habui (Kamijo, 1962), B. maculipennis (Yasumatsu and Kamijo, 1979), B. nipponicus (Yasumatsu and Kamijo, 1979), B. stigmatizans (Fabricious 1789), B. synophri (Mayr 1874), and B. zhaoi (Xu & He, 2003). Megastigmus bohemanii Ratzeburg, 1848 is reinstated as a species from synonymy under M. dorsalis Fabricius and transferred to Bootanomyia as B. bohemanii (Ratzeburg, 1848) (comb. and status n.). Seven species are described as new species: …