Life Sciences Commons^™

Efficient Air Desulfurization Catalysts Derived From Pig Manure Liquefaction Char, Rajiv Wallace, Sundaramurthy Suresh, Elham H. Fini, Teresa Bandosz

Publications and Research

Biochar from the liquefaction of pig manure was used as a precursor of H2S desulfurization adsorbents. In its inorganic matter, it contains marked quantities of calcium, magnesium and iron, which are known as hydrogen sulfide oxidation catalysts. The char was used either as-received or mixed with 10% nanographite. The latter was added to increase both the content of the carbon phase and conductivity. ZnCl2 in two different ratios of char to an activation agent (1:1 and 1:2) was used to create the porosity in the carbon phase. The content of the later was between 18–45%. The activated samples adsorbed 144 …

Glutamylation Regulates Transport, Specializes Function, And Sculpts The Structure Of Cilia, Robert O'Hagan, Malan Silva, Ken Cq Nguyen, Winnie Zhang, Sebastian Bellotti, Yasmin Ramadan, David Hall, Maureen M. Barr

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Ciliary microtubules (MTs) are extensively decorated with post-translational modifications (PTMs), such as glutamylation of tubulin tails. PTMs and tubulin isotype diversity act as a “Tubulin Code” that regulates cytoskeletal stability and the activity of MT-associated proteins such as kinesins. We previously showed that, in C. elegans cilia, the deglutamylase CCPP-1 affects ciliary ultrastructure, localization of the TRP channel PKD-2 and the kinesin-3 KLP-6, and velocity of kinesin-2 OSM-3/KIF17, while a cell-specific α-tubulin isotype regulates ciliary ultrastructure, intraflagellar transport, and ciliary functions of extracellular vesicle (EV)-releasing neurons. Here, we examine the role of PTMs and the Tubulin Code in the cililary …

Stability Of Equilibria In Quantitative Genetic Models Based On Modified-Gradient Systems, Benjamin J. Ridenhour, Jerry R. Ridenhour

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Motivated by questions in biology, we investigate the stability of equilibria of the dynamical system x′ = P(t)∇f(x) which arise as critical points of f, under the assumption that P(t) is positive semi-definite. It is shown that the condition ∫^∞λ₁(P(t)) dt = ∞, where λ₁(P(t)) is the smallest eigenvalue of P(t), plays a key role in guaranteeing uniform asymptotic stability and in providing information on the basis of attraction of those equilibria.

"The Effects Of Ocean Warming And Sedimentation On The Survival And Growth Of Acropora Cervicornis" And "Differential Prevalence Of Chimerism During Embryogenesis In Corals", Hayley De Marchis

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Part I:

Coral reefs are essential to coastal economies, protecting coastlines from storms, and harboring high biodiversity. However, reefs are declining due to local anthropogenic stressors and ocean warming. Sedimentation, a local stressor, aggravates the impacts of warming on corals and hinders their survival and growth. Therefore, it is important to investigate whether sedimentation and temperature have a synergistic effect on vulnerable coral species, especially during earlier stages of development. To quantify these effects, survival and growth of newly settled Acropora cervicornis corals were measured at two temperatures (29 and 31°C, representing current and predicted for 2050 Summer temperatures) and …

Alcohol And Cancer Stem Cells, Mei Xu, Jia Luo

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Heavy alcohol consumption has been associated with increased risk of several cancers, including cancer of the colon, rectum, female breast, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, liver, and esophagus. It appears that alcohol exposure not only promotes carcinogenesis but also enhances the progression and aggressiveness of existing cancers. The molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol tumor promotion, however, remain unclear. Cancer stem cells (CSC), a subpopulation of cancer cells with self-renewal and differentiation capacity, play an important role in tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, recurrence, and therapy resistance. The recent research evidence suggests that alcohol increases the CSC population in cancers, which may underlie alcohol-induced …

Evaluation Of Striped Bass Stocks In Virginia: Monitoring And Tagging Studies, 2015-2019 Progress Report 1 September 2016 - 31 November 2017, Philip W. Sadler, Lydia M. Goins, John M. Hoenig, Savannah Michaelsen, Maya L. Groner, Robert E. Harris

Reports

This report presents the results of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) tagging and monitoring activities in Virginia during the period 1 September 2016 through 31 August 2017. It includes an assessment of the biological characteristics of striped bass taken from the 2017 spring spawning run and estimates of annual survival and fishing mortality based on annual spring tagging. Also included is an investigation on the potential use of close-kin analyses to determine the size of the spawning stock in the Rappahannock River and an evaluation of mortality rates associated with the bacterial dermal disease mycobacteriosis in relation to water …

Novel Calcium-Related Targets Of Insulin In Hippocampal Neurons, Shaniya Maimaiti, Hilaree N. Frazier, Katie L. Anderson, Adam O. Ghoweri, Lawrence D. Brewer, Nada M. Porter, Olivier Thibault

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Both insulin signaling disruption and Ca²⁺ dysregulation are closely related to memory loss during aging and increase the vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease (AD). In hippocampal neurons, aging-related changes in calcium regulatory pathways have been shown to lead to higher intracellular calcium levels and an increase in the Ca²⁺-dependent afterhyperpolarization (AHP), which is associated with cognitive decline. Recent studies suggest that insulin reduces the Ca²⁺-dependent AHP. Given the sensitivity of neurons to insulin and evidence that brain insulin signaling is reduced with age, insulin-mediated alterations in calcium homeostasis may underlie the beneficial actions of insulin in …

Borrego Studies African Wildlife And Its Future, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

“Biology blends the best of both worlds for me. My father was a veterinarian, so I grew up with animals and rehabilitating wildlife. My mother was a flight attendant, so she traveled a lot. Biology gave me this wonderful opportunity to study science and ask questions about how nature works, but also to travel to these wonderful foreign locations like Africa, where I’ve done my work on the behavior of lions.”

That is how Dr. Natalia Borrego explains how she got into biology. A native of Lubbock, Texas, she went on to obtain a bachelor’s in wildlife ecology and conservation …

Preservation Of Milks With Addition Of Antibacterial And Aromatic Supplements Produced In Japan, Khusniati Tatik

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The good antibacterial and aromatic supplements produced in Japan for preservation of milks at storage was investigated. Nineteen sweet and herb materials were made juices as supplements to preserve the milks. Bacterial counts, pH, protease activities and lipase activities of supplemented milks, and antibacterial activities of supplements were detected by total plate counts, glass electrode pH meter, azocasein, modified Dole extraction and turbidity methods. Eleven of nineteen milks added 10% of honey, garlic, ginger, horseradish, “sansho”, “yuzu”, green perilla, “nira”, green tea, bamboo leaf and “yomogi” were selected as good supplemented milks based on pH of these milks closed to …

Aromatic Plants From Vietnam, Sources Of Phenylpropanoid Products For Industry, Hoi Tran Minh

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Aromatic plants produce by vapour distillation or other processes essential oils which are products with high commercial value used in the natural product industries such flavour and fragrance, perfumes and cosmetics industries as well as pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this study was to characterise some aromatic plants from Vietnam through the chemical composition of their essential oils. We got interested in essential oils which contained a main component with high to ultra high content, susceptible to find an industrial use. For this study, a dozen of plants have been selected. The composition of their essential oils will be compared …

Causes Of Tractor Breakdowns And Requisite Solutions A Case Study Of Small Tractor Use In Riau Province, Indonesia, Paman Ujang, Uchida S., Inaba S., Kojima T.

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

A survey has been undertaken to look into the causes of tractor breakdowns on field operations and the main constraints associated with repair and maintenance, and to recommend a solution to the problems in Riau Province. The owners of sixty-two small tractors were interviewed, from three regencies chosen of the Province in 2003. As a result, the working capacity of the tractors was relatively high and the average annual use was relatively low compared to the national average. Most tractor operators did not have sufficient skill to operate tractors. The tractor breakdowns resulted from operators’ mistakes, fuel and oil defilement, …

Gasification Study Of Sarawak Coals, Othman Nor Fadzilah, Bosrooh Mohd Hariffin

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Thermogravimetry (TG) has been applied in a preliminary investigation, to the gasification of two low rank Sarawak coals. The coal samples, about 10 mg were investigated within the temperature range 30–900°C at different heating rate of 10, 20 and 30°C min-1, under a synthetic air atmosphere for the gasification study. The kinetic parameters were determined using Arrhenius type reaction model assuming a first-order reaction. The reactivity, RT values are fitted with Arrhenius equation at r2 = 0.83 - 0.98 for MP coal, while the RT values for MB coal are fitted with the Arrhenius equation at r2 = 0.99. The …

Ant Intelligence Routing, Gan Chye Ong, Wong K. Daniel, Woon Wei-Le

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

We introduce AIR, a new ant-based routing protocol for ad hoc wireless networks. AIR incorporates recent technology advances in ad hoc routing protocols, such as ring-based searching and third-party reply, while retaining the characteristics and benefits of ant-based routing protocols, including probabilistic routing tables and pheromone evaporation. In addition, we combine the best features of previous ant-based routing protocols with new features like update ants and two-way route establishment, to further improve performance. We compare the performance of AIR against AODV and DSR using appropriately chosen simulations, the results of which are presented and discussed. We find that AIR is …

Studies On Chitosan - Benzaldehyde Interaction In A Homogeneous System And Its Adsorption Behavior Of Metal Ions In Aqueous Solution, Thien Do Truong, Tuyen Nguyen Van, Nhi Tran Thi Y

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

In this work, N-benzylidene chitosan was synthesized by chitosan –benzaldehyde interaction in a homogeneous system. The modified polymers were characterized by means of infrared (IR) spectra, X-Ray diffraction and thermal analysis. Their adsorption behavior was investigated by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The experimental results showed that N-benzylidene chitosan had better adsorption properties and higher chemical resistance than that of chitosan.

Performance Of A Low-Cost, Solar-Powered Pop-Up Satellite Archival Tag For Assessing Post-Release Mortality Of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus Thynnus) Caught In The Us East Coast Light-Tackle Recreational Fishery, William M. Goldsmith, Andrew M. Scheld, John Graves

VIMS Articles

Pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) are a valuable tool for estimating mortality of pelagic fishes released from commercial and recreational fishing gears. However, the high cost of PSATs limits sample sizes, resulting in low-precision post-release mortality estimates with little management applicability. We evaluate the performance of a lower-cost PSAT designed to enable large-scale post-release mortality studies. The tag uses solar rather than battery power, does not include a depth sensor, and transmits daily summaries of light and temperature data rather than high-resolution habitat profiles, contributing to a substantially lower per-unit price. We assessed the tag’s ability to detect mortality while …

Influence Of Silica Colloid On Rheology Of Cement Paste With Superplasticizer, Chuong T.H., Nga P.V.

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Information of rheological behavior of binder paste is important for proportioning high slump concrete mixture at low water to cement ratios. This paper presents experimental data on the rheological property of silica colloid incorporated binder paste using naphthalene based and polycarboxylate based superplasticizer, compared to that of silica fume incorporated binder paste. Experimental data showed that silica colloid incorporated binder is compatible to tested superplasticizers in the all investigated range of silica colloid content, whereas the pastes incorporated with high silica fume content (over 10%) indicated incompatibility, especially to naphthalene based superplasticizer. There was also found out saturated content of …

Synthesis Of Ferrite Nanoparticles With Protein Molecules Immobillized On Their Surfaces, Hai Tran Hoang, Phuc Le Hong, Dung Doan Thi Kim, Huyen Nguyen Thi Le, Long Bui Duc, Thang Nguyen Tien, Do Vu Van, Quynh Nguyen Nguyen, Abe Masanori

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The ferrite (a Fe3O4 – gFe2O3 mixed solution) fine particles, ~8 nm in size were synthesized from an aqueous solution. Trypsin, a proteolytic enzyme or a protein, was immobilized onto the surfaces of those particles during the synthesis process. The process was performed in the open air at a temperature as low as 4°C and on near-neutral condition of pH = 9, which is compatible with most of the bioactive molecules as well as trypsin. Therefore this technique is advantageous for preparing magnetite particles having biomolecules immobilized on their surfaces, which will be used for biomedical applications utilizing magnetic separation …

A New Investigation Of Vietnam’S Beryl, Binh Nguyen Van, Hong Nguyen Thi

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The paper presents briefly new investigation of Vietnam beryl group, especially some characteristics of regional geology of Song Chay granite massif and new find of big crystals of beryl in them. The green beryl is found in quartz - mica - tourmaline, mica - feldspar – quartz pegmatite bodies in the south part of Song Chay granite - gneiss massif near Na Chi and Tan Nam villages, Quang Binh district, Ha Giang province.

Artificial Intelligent System For Measurement Of Harmonic Powers, Jerome Jovitha, Vinoth P.

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The importance of the electric power quality (PQ) demands new methodologies and measurement tools in the power industry for the analysis and measurement of the basic electric magnitudes necessary. This paper presents a new measurement procedure based on neural networks for the estimation of harmonic amplitudes of current/voltage and respective harmonic powers. The measurement scheme is built with two neural network modules. The first module is an adaptive linear neuron (ADALINE) that is the kernel part of estimation of complex harmonic coefficients of the current/voltage. The second module is feedforward neural network that obtains the harmonic active/reactive powers. In order …

A New Qos Guarantee Sla Based-Scheme For Handoff Calls In Wireless Networks, Phuong Nguyen Cao, Quan Tran Hong, Lee Sang-Ho, Moon Jung-Mo

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The most important thing is guarantee QoS over wireless infrastructures. The efficient of service level agreement (SLA) is becoming increasingly important to both service providers and customers. This paper presents some traffic control schemes for improving QoS, trafficmodel and performance evaluation are described. We are defining a new scheme for improving handoff call performances in wireless networks, a finite queuing scheme for the handoff calls. SLA measurement calculates the packet delay parameter (PD) of handoff calls. The handoff calls will be accepted into queue if their PD will be smaller than the average waiting time of the queue. Important performance …

The Effect Of Inner Diaphragms And Non-Continuous Sill Section On The Stiffness Of Automotive B-Pillar, Tan C.F., Shamsuddin S.A., Shafie M.H.

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The paper discusses the knowledge on the behaviour of T-frame under specific loading will be obtained by experimental methods in order to investigate the deflection of the vehicle B-pillar or T-frame. In addition, a series of T-frame were designed with inner diaphragm at various location in the sill member in order to investigate the effect of inner diaphragm and noncontinuous closed hat section in the sill member. Lastly, the results from the experimental tests were compared with the finite element analysis results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the inner diaphragm in the automotive B-pillar.

Study On Structure And Crystallization Of Polypropylene Grafted Maleic Anhydride/Nanoclay Composite, Chuong Bui, Hung Dang Viet

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Nanocomposite from polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) and nanoclay were prepared by melt proccessing in Brabender extruder. XRD analysis shows the formation of nanostructure (intercalated and exfoliated) of nanocomposite with interlayer space (d-space) increasing from 26.3Å to 30.9Å. These structures, however, do not affect the microcrystalline structure of polymer part of nanocomposite in whole. The study on nonisothermal crystallization shows the development in 3-dimentional direction of crystallites, that means spherulite form of crystalline structure.

Studies Of Monomer Impregnation And Polymerized “In-Situ” In Wood Using Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analyzer (Dmta), Hamdan S., Liew Y.L., Talib Z.A.

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Some tropical hardwoods (acacia mangium, madhuca utilis, dacrydium spp., dipterocarpus spp.,dyera costulata, shorea spp., shorea gibbosa, shorea macrophylla, endospermum diadenum, cratoxylum arborescens) are selected and impregnated with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymerized “in-situ” by using catalyst-heat technique. Treatability of the wood as determinedfrom the fractional volumetric retentions of monomer i.e. fraction of voids filled by the impregnant showed that the mean retention range from 15.03% (acacia mangium) to 56.59% (cratoxylum arborescens). The penetration of monomer evaluated using ultrasonic wave showed that the treated wood had higher velocities which indicate significant increase in density. This paper deals with the viscoelastic relaxation …

Arsenic And Copper Uptake By Cabbages Grown On Polluted Soils, Phuong Nguyen Thi Kim, Dung Nguyen Thi

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Cabbages (Brassica Juncea (L.) Czern) were grown in pot experiments on typical unpolluted and polluted soils with concentration changing from 20.50 - 50.00 mg As/kg and 156.00 - 413.00 mg Cu/kg dry soil. The results demonstrate the elevation of As and Cu in soil may lead to increased uptake by these cabbages subsequent entry into human food chain. It was found 11.84- 32.12 mg As/kg and 46.86 - 94.47 mg Cu/kg dry leaves. It has tendency increase uptake and accumulation of Cu in cabbage tissue with increasing cultivated time, whereas, it was found accumulation of As in cabbages tissue decreased …

Goats Display Audience-Dependent Human-Directed Gazing Behaviour In A Problem-Solving Task, Christian Nawroth, Jemma M. Brett, Alan G. Mcelligott

Alan G. McElligott, Ph.D.

Domestication is an important factor driving changes in animal cognition and behaviour. In particular, the capacity of dogs to communicate in a referential and intentional way with humans is considered a key outcome of how domestication as a companion animal shaped the canid brain. However, the lack of comparison with other domestic animals makes general conclusions about how domestication has affected these important cognitive features difficult. We investigated human-directed behaviour in an ‘unsolvable problem’ task in a domestic, but non-companion species: goats. During the test, goats experienced a forward-facing or an away-facing person. They gazed towards the forward-facing person earlier …

Vocal Individuality And Species Divergence In The Contact Calls Of Banded Penguins, Livio Favaro, Claudia Gili, Cristiano Da Rugna, Guido Gnone, Chiara Fissore, Daniel Sanchez, Alan G. Mcelligott, Marco Gamba, Daniela Pessani

Alan G. McElligott, PhD

Penguins produce contact calls to maintain social relationships and group cohesion. Such vocalisations have recently been demonstrated to encode individual identity information in the African penguin. Using a source-filter theory approach, we investigated whether acoustic cues of individuality can also be found in other Spheniscus penguins and the acoustic features of contact calls have diverged within this genus. We recorded vocalisations from two ex-situ colonies of Humboldt penguin and Magellanic penguin (sympatric and potentially interbreeding in the wild) and one ex-situ group of African penguins (allopatric although capable of interbreeding with the other two species in captivity). We measured 14 …

Benchmarking Gc Adoption By The Global Pharma Industry-Acs Sust Chem And Eng-11-28-2017.Pdf, Vesela R. Veleva, Berkeley Cue, Svetlana Todorova

Vesela Veleva

Oculomotor Executive Dysfunction During The Early And Later Stages Of Sport-Related Concussion Recovery, Brandon Webb

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Executive dysfunction represents a persistent concussion deficit; however, it is largely unclear whether the deficit persists in an athlete after they have been deemed safe to return to play. In the present work, athletes with a sport-related concussion, and their age- and sex-matched controls, completed prosaccades and executive-related antisaccades: (1) 2-6 days post-concussion (i.e., initial assessment), and (2) 14-20 days after initial assessment and only when an athlete was medically cleared for safe return to play (i.e., follow-up assessment). Initial assessment antisaccades for the concussed group produced longer reaction times (RT) and more directional errors than the control group. The …

Age-Structured And Vaccination Models Of Devil Facial Tumor Disease, Christopher D. Bruno, Timothy Comar, Megan O. Powell, Adjo Tameklo

Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics

Tasmanian devil populations have been devastated by devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) since its first appearance in 1996. The average lifespan of a devil has decreased from six years to three years. We present an age-structured model to represent how the disease has affected the age and breeding structures of the population. We show that with the recent increase in the breeding of juvenile devils, the overall devil population will increase but not nearly to pre-DFTD levels. The basic reproductive number may be increased with the influx of young breeding devils. In addition, our model shows that the release of …

Morphological, Thermal And Oxygen Barrier Properties Plasticized Film Polylactic Acid, Kurniawan Yuniarto, Bruce A. Welt, Foliatini -, Hanafi -, Candra Irawan

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Introducing plasticizer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG400) was applied into poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to produce film matrix packaging by direct casting. Non mechanical properties were carried out plasticized PLA including morphology, crystallinity structure and degree, thermal properties and oxygen barrier properties. Plasticized PLA revealed improving surface structure of PLA film matrix form fractures and homogenous film were achieved at 5% PEG 400. Chromatogram PLA and plasticized PLA were categorized crystal structure an α-form crystal. Intercalated and exfoliated structure did not occur significantly due to dispersion PEG 400 in the matrix but indicated dispersion structure. Thermal properties did not improve plasticized PLA significantly …