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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Impacts Of Beef Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations On Environmental Sustainability In The United States And Practices For Improvement, Laura Clark
VCU Phi Kappa Phi Award Winners
The geographic concentration of beef concentrated animal feeding operations [CAFOs] has changed the landscape of environmental sustainability for agriculture in the United States. As land availability has decreased, operations have struggled to maintain feasible practices to minimize environmental detriment. The United States Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] imposed rules to be followed as a means of mitigation, but the fast-paced rate of change minimizes effectiveness. The overall environmental sustainability of beef CAFOs has shifted from historical rates, leading to a need for reassessment. Part of this reassessment will include stronger environmental practices to be considered for implementation. I explored the role …
Application Of Optical Trapping To Obtain Single-Source Str Profiles From Forensically Relevant Body Fluid Mixtures With Modified Dna Analysis Workflow, Benjamin J. O'Brien
Application Of Optical Trapping To Obtain Single-Source Str Profiles From Forensically Relevant Body Fluid Mixtures With Modified Dna Analysis Workflow, Benjamin J. O'Brien
Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects
Current methods of mixture separation in forensic DNA laboratories typically deconvolute the mixture after analysis using statistical analysis or probabilistic genotyping. To save time and effort of labs already backlogged, a method to separate mixtures on a cellular level before analysis needs to be developed. Optical trapping is a method that uses a focused 1064 nm laser to manipulate cells. Previous research has shown that approximately 50 spermatozoa or 15 leukocytes from a liquid sample are required to produce a full STR DNA profile. It was found that the number of spermatozoa required remains constant when the method of sample …