Life Sciences Commons^™

Epidemiological Aspects Of Equid Herpesvirus-Associated Myeloencephalopathy (Ehm) Outbreaks, Eva Klouth, Yury Zablotski, Jessica L. Petersen, Marco De Bruijin, Gittan Gröndahl, Susanne Müller, Lutz S. Goehring

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

: Equid Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) is a multifactorial disease following an EHV-1 infection in Equidae. We investigated a total of 589 horses on 13 premises in Europe in search of risk factors for the development of EHM. We found that fever (p < 0.001), increasing age (p = 0.032), and female sex (p = 0.042) were risk factors for EHM in a logistic mixed model. Some breeds had a decreased risk to develop EHM compared to others (Shetland and Welsh ponies; p = 0.017; p = 0.031), and fewer EHV-1-vaccinated horses were affected by EHM compared to unvaccinated horses (p = …

Infant Age Moderates Associations Between Infant Temperament And Maternal Technology Use During Infant Feeding And Care, Maya I. Davis, Camille M. Delfosse, Alison K. Ventura

Kinesiology and Public Health

Previous research illustrated that infants’ temperamental traits shape parents’ behaviors, but parents’ behaviors can also elicit or intensify infants’ behaviors in ways that shape temperament. One understudied aspect of parenting that may exhibit bidirectional influences with temperament is parent technology use (e.g., use of mobile devices) within family contexts. To date, few studies have examined whether maternal technology use is associated with infant temperament and whether age-related differences in these associations exist. The present study was a secondary analysis of pooled data from three infant feeding studies. Mothers (n = 374) of young infants (age 16.2 ± 6.2 weeks) …

Blue Zones: Unlocking Key Themes In The Centenarian's Life, Grace Beer, Grace O. Beer

Honors College Theses

Longevity has been sought after in certain areas of the world, and there are specific regions where this has been achieved. There is an American average life expectancy of 72 years old, but individuals in “Blue Zones” here in America and other areas of the world are expected to and have proven to live well beyond 100. The areas of Okinawa, Sardinia, Nicoya, Ikaria, and Loma Linda are classified as Blue Zones, and there could be more of an understanding of how these people live the way they do to have such healthy physical outcomes. To deeply understand the strategy …

Sex And Age Differences In Approach Behavior Toward A Port That Delivers Nicotine Vapor, Veronika Evangelina Espinoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The goal of our laboratory is to study the mechanisms that promote nicotine use, particularly in vulnerable populations such as adolescents and females. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to characterize age and sex differences in the motivational/rewarding effects of nicotine (Aim 1) and withdrawal behavior (Aim 2). To more closely model human use patterns, the present study employed nicotine vapor methods involving passive exposure for 14 days in adolescent and adult female and male rats. Age and sex differences in approach behavior (nosepokes) were assessed in a port that delivered nicotine plumes on Day 1 and 14. Controls …

The Influence Of Thc, Opioids, And Age On The Plasticity Of Excitatory Inputs To Ventral Tegmental Area Gaba Neurons, Isaac Brent Ostlund

Theses and Dissertations

Adults exhibit significant differences in drug vulnerability, learning ability, and emotive processing than adolescents. Long-lasting synaptic changes, including long-term depression (LTD), can endure many hours and are believed to be key to encoding memories and persistent cognitive changes such as addiction. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is the primary source of midbrain dopamine (DA) and is regulated by local inhibitory GABA neurons. GABA regulation can decrease, resulting in dis-inhibition of DA neurons and increased feelings of reward, learning, or salience attachment to memories. Endocannabinoids (eCBs) are signaling molecules that often result in synaptic plasticity changes, and the eCB system has …

Outcome Of Peripheral Blood Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation As A Treatment Option In Patients With Severe Aplastic Anemia Between 40 And 50 Years, Hosein Kamranzadeh Fumani, Mahdi Jalili, Soroush Rad, Davood Babakhani, Nasrollah Maleki, Seyed Asadollah Mousavi, Ardeshir Ghavamzadeh

Hematology/Oncology and Stem Cell Therapy

The frontline treatment for patients younger than 40 years with severe aplastic anemia (AA) is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from a human leukocyte antigen-identical sibling donor. However, in patients with severe AA who are older than 40 years, allogeneic HSCT has been found to be associated with increased treatment related mortality and toxicity, even when matched sibling donors are used. We report our institutional experience with allogeneic HSCT in patients with severe AA between 40 and 50 years. A total of 19 patients with severe AA were included in the study. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) …

Applying Artificial Neural-Network Model To Predict Psychiatric Symptoms, Elaheh Allahyari, Narges Roustaei

BioMedicine

Introduction: Mental disorders result in mental disabilities and discomfort in the affected person as they affect both thinking and behavior. Therefore, more vulnerable people must first be identified to improve the psychological level of society.

Aim: This study aims to determine the importance of gender, employment, education, place of residence, and age in predicting mental disorders using artificial neural network modeling.

Methods: The pattern held between variables in this study will be identified using multilayer feed-forward back-propagation neural networks with five inputs and 10 outputs. To determine the neural network with the least sum of square errors, we evaluated the …

Territory Holders Are More Aggressive Towards Older, More Dangerous Floaters, Walter H. Piper, Katherine R. Lee, Brian Hoover

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Animals that show aggression often risk injury and incur steep energetic costs. Thus, aggression should occur at such times and towards such opponents as to maximize fitness. We tested hypotheses predicting adaptive territorial aggression in the common loon, a species in which ease of observation of territory owners and floaters (prebreeders) seeking to evict them provide a rare window onto owner-floater competition. As predicted, older, more competitive floaters (4-year-olds and upwards) tended to intrude into territories that had produced chicks the previous year (and, hence, were of high quality). Older floaters also showed predicted increases in aggression and territorial yodeling, …

Food Neophobia Across The Life Course: Pooling Data From Five National Cross-Sectional Surveys In Ireland, Daniel Hazley, Mairead Stack, Janette Walton, Breige A. Mcnulty, John Kearney

Articles

Food neophobia describes a reluctance to eat novel foods. Levels of food neophobia vary throughout life and are thought to peak in childhood. However, the trajectory of food neophobia across the life course is not fully clear. Using data from five national cross-sectional surveys in Ireland we explored levels of food neophobia in males and females aged 1–87 years. In addition, we assessed the influence of sociodemographic factors, breastfeeding and parental food neophobia on food neophobia. Food neophobia was measured using the Food Neophobia Scale in adults and adolescents and with the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire in preschool and school …

The Effects Of Biological And Health Characteristics Of Dogs On Intraindividual Variabilityof Blood Parameters, Sandra Nikolic, Branislava Belic, Marko Cincovic, Nikolina Novakov, Nada Plavsa, Sara Savic

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Considering the great diversity among dogs and their different biological and health characteristics, as well as different treatment protocols, it has become important to assess the effects of these factors on intraindividual variability of blood parameters in dogs, which is the aim of this study. Blood samples were collected from one hundred client-owned dogs. The dogs were of different age, breed, sex, body condition, reproductive, and health status and were presented to the veterinary clinic for preventive or diagnostic procedures. The effect of age on intraindividual variation was significant for various blood parameters and it was essential to establish new …

Activity Patterns Among Head-Started Juvenile Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys Temminckii), Parker R. Golliglee

MSU Graduate Theses

In contrast to many species of aquatic turtle, Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) are putatively nocturnal. Data supporting this assertion are chiefly anecdotal, however, and two recent studies cast doubt on this generalization. Differences in activity patterns may be related to variability in temperature and photoperiod across the species’ range and may be influenced by ontogenetic changes, as well. To assess this, I equipped juvenile Alligator Snapping Turtles spanning a range of different ages with activity data loggers. I used 4-year-old turtles were to measure latitudinal differences in activity which were reared in hatchery ponds spanning the species’ …