Other Animal Sciences Commons^™

Pharmacokinetics Of Cbd Supplementation In Horses: Single Dose Vs. Long-Term Feeding, Madilyn Adamchik

Honors College Theses

Research about supplemental feeding of cannabidiol (CBD) to horses is still in its early stages, but many horse owners are feeding CBD supplements for supposed benefits, including behavior and pain management. Cannabinoids work through the endocannabinoid system to modulate nervous and hormonal actions in the body, working to maintain a healthy homeostatic balance. Safety and efficacy have been tested for dosages of up to 500 mg of CBD per day for horses, but further research about the pharmacokinetics based on dosage amount and form of CBD are still needed. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of …

Methylene Blue Inhibits Cromakalim-Activated K+ Currents In Follicle-Enclosed Oocytes, Dmytro Isaev, Keun-Hang Susan Yang, Georg Petroianu, Dietrich Ernst Lorke, Murat Oz

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The effects of methylene blue (MB) on cromakalim-induced K⁺ currents were investigated in follicle-enclosed Xenopus oocytes. In concentrations ranging from 3–300 μM, MB inhibited K⁺ currents (IC₅₀: 22.4 μM) activated by cromakalim, which activates K_ATP channels. MB inhibited cromakalim-activated K⁺ currents in a noncompetitive and voltage-independent manner. The respective EC₅₀ and slope values for cromakalim-activation of K⁺ currents were 194 ± 21 µM and 0.91 for controls, and 206 ± 24 µM and 0.87 in the presence of 30 μM MB. The inhibition of cromakalim-induced K⁺ currents by MB was not …

Seroprevalence And Titer Concentration Testing For Leptospirosis In Equine, Ashley Himmelsbaugh

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The most common best management practice used to combat diseases in horses is vaccination, which can decrease the incidence or severity of illness. However, the duration of immunity will vary for each vaccination and must be considered for revaccination purposes. Titer concentration, which evaluates antibodies in the blood, may be a helpful way of determining how long an animal has immunity to a disease. Leptospirosis, a zoonotic, bacterial disease, can result in uveitis, potentially leading to blindness, and abortion in mares. One serovar, Leptospirosis pomona (L. pomona), is associated with most cases of clinical disease in horses in North America. …

Pharmacokinetics Of Cbd Supplementation In Horses: Single Dose Vs. Long-Term Feeding, Madilyn Adamchik

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Research about supplemental feeding of cannabidiol (CBD) to horses is still in its early stages, but owners are feeding CBD to relieve pain and calm behavioral issues. Cannabinoids work through the endocannabinoid system to modulate nervous and hormonal actions in the body. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of single dose versus long-term feeding of a pelleted CBD supplement. In Project 1, eighteen Quarter Horse geldings were given a single dose of 50 mg (n=6), 100 mg (n=6), or 250 mg (n=6) of pelleted CBD. Blood samples were collected before treatment (0 hrs), and at 0.5, …

Seroprevalence And Titer Concentration Testing For Leptospirosis In Equine, Ashley Himmelsbaugh

Honors College Theses

The most common best management practice used to combat diseases in horses is vaccination, which can decrease the incidence or severity of illness. However, the duration of immunity will vary for each vaccination and must be considered for revaccination purposes. Titer concentration, which evaluates antibodies in the blood, may be a helpful way of determining how long an animal has immunity to a disease. Leptospirosis, a zoonotic, bacterial disease, can result in uveitis, potentially leading to blindness, and abortion in mares. One serovar, Leptospirosis pomona (L. pomona), is associated with most cases of clinical disease in horses in North America. …

Pilot Testing A Survey To Evaluate Horse Owner And Trainer Perceptions Of The Importance And Ideality Of Equine Hoof Balance, Katherine Gilmore

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Balance plays an integral role in the healthy equine hoof, yet there is a significant deficiency of research investigating horse owner and trainer knowledge of hoof balance. This study aimed to pilot test an online survey instrument evaluating horse owner and trainer perceptions of proper hoof care and balance. The survey instrument sought to collect demographic information of horse owners and trainers, determine horse owners’ and trainers’ abilities to identify ideally balanced equine forehooves, and assess horse owner and trainer knowledge of best hoof trimming and shoeing practices. Ninety-one horse owners and trainers with facilities that were within a 150-mile …

Understanding Movement, Habitat Use, And Habitat Selection By Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Nigricans X Salmoides) And Alabama Bass (Micropterus Henshalli) On Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, Deon Kerr

All Theses

Alabama Bass (Micropterus henshalli) were illegally introduced into the upper Savannah River Basin 15-20 years ago and have since become abundant as well as problematic ecologically. Acoustic telemetry was used to quantify diel movement, habitat use, and habitat selection of Alabama Bass and Largemouth Bass in Lake Hartwell, SC across seasons (June 2021-July 2022) with the goal of informing ongoing habitat enhancement efforts. Across all seasons, Alabama Bass conducted diel horizontal migrations from deeper offshore habitats during the day to nearshore, shallow habitats at night. Daytime Alabama Bass movement rates in offshore waters were higher than nighttime movement rates. Largemouth …

Internal Vertebral Morphology Of Bony Fishes Matches The Mechanical Demands Of Different Environments, Dana Baxter, Karly E. Cohen, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Eric D. Tytell

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Fishes have repeatedly evolved characteristic body shapes depending on how close they live to the substrate. Pelagic fishes live in open water and typically have narrow, streamlined body shapes; benthic and demersal fishes live close to the substrate; and demersal fishes often have deeper bodies. These shape differences are often associated with behavioral differences: pelagic fishes swim nearly constantly, demersal fishes tend to maneuver near the substrate, and benthic fishes often lie in wait on the substrate. We hypothesized that these morphological and behavioral differences would be reflected in the mechanical properties of the body, and specifically in vertebral column …

Chinese Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Animal Welfare: Behaviors, Beliefs, And Responses To Messaging, Jo Anderson

General - Animal Protection

Despite being comparatively neglected until recently, the suffering of animals in Asia is starting to command more attention from global animal advocacy activists. In particular, as the largest country in the world by both human and farmed animal population, and among the largest when measured by economy and land mass, China plays a central role here. However, the key question of how best to improve outcomes for farmed animals in China remains difficult to answer, due to the recency of the movement and a comparative lack of research on the topic.

Although China’s per capita meat consumption is lower than …

Comparison Of The Humoral Immune Response Following Both Bacterial Challenge And Rnai Of Major Factors On Proliferation Of Bartonella Quintana In The Human Louse, Jake Zina

Masters Theses

Human body lice, Pediculus humanus humanus, and head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, have been hematophagous ectoparasites of humans for thousands of years. Despite being ecotypes, only body lice are known to transmit bacterial diseases to humans, and it appears that lower humoral and cellular immune responses allow body lice to possess a higher vector competence. We previously observed that the transcription level of the defensin 1 gene was up-regulated only in head lice following oral challenge of Bartonella quintana, a causative agent of trench fever, and also that body lice excreted more viable B. quintana in their …

Visualizing Muscle Assembly And Function In C. Elegans, Michael B. Russell

Theses and Dissertations

Myofibrils produce the forces that shorten muscles during contraction and are composed of proteins arranged in repeating contractile units (sarcomeres). These are composed of various proteins that self-organize into precise, alternating groups. The process of myofibril assembly is robust, flexible, and medically relevant. Various protein isoforms have evolved to modify the assembly process and generate a variety of muscle types with distinct physiologies and dynamics. To study myofibril assembly, I used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) which is an ideal model organism for this because it is transparent and has a variety of different muscle types that are responsible …

Weaving An Interdisciplinary Microbiome Career Using Threads From Different Ecosystems, Sarah Hosler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Animals have trillions of microorganisms living in or on many body sites, these communities of microorganisms are called microbiomes. Microbiomes are typically host-specific, and a lot of information about the host can be determined from investigating them. Microbiome research has many real-world applications, and this thesis utilizes the One Health perspective, which acknowledges the connection of humans, animals, and environments, and emphasizes the need for collaborative, interdisciplinary research. The first interdisciplinary project is an investigation into the bacteria in wild and cultured Atlantic deep-sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus larvae. Adults in hatcheries can be induced to spawn, but the last two …

Location And Conformation Of Titin In Caenorhabditis Elegans Muscle, Gaberielle S. Prince

Theses and Dissertations

Striated muscles consist of contractile myofibrils that generate force. The repeating units (sarcomeres) of striated myofibrils contain thin & thick filaments composed of actin and myosin. In vertebrates, titin connects thin & thick filaments during myofibril assembly and produces passive tension. Invertebrate homologs of vertebrate titin are similar in structure molecularly. However, invertebrate titin homologs are smaller than vertebrate titin, and likely function differently within invertebrate muscles. Here, I used Ce-TTN-1, a titin homolog in the invertebrate roundworm C elegans. To visualize Ce-TTN-1 in C. elegans, I used Nested CRISPR gene editing to generate translational fusions of a red fluorescent …

Genetic Protocols For Dna Extraction From White-Tailed Deer Cast Antlers To Confirm Individuality, Zach Carter, Brian C. Peterson, Casey W. Schoenebeck, Kimberly A. Carlson

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are the most sought-after deer species in America. The antlers of mammals, such as deer, are one of the fastest regenerative tissues in the world and are grown and naturally cast every year. Research on cast antlers have been used for a variety of purposes including population comparisons and impacts of deer health due to climatic stressors. When investigating cast antlers, it is important to confirm individuality of match sets in addition to antlers of the same individual between years. Therefore, individuality must be confirmed genetically, and protocols must be developed and established to …

Utah Brand Inspections For Horses, Karl Hoopes, Jacob Hadfield, Jessie Hadfield

All Current Publications

Brand inspection laws and proof of ownership laws are often misunderstood by horse owners in Utah. Outlined in this paper are the current laws regarding requirements for proof of ownership while traveling and brand inspection requirements during the transfer of ownership.

Validation Of Pilot Protocol: Damage Scoring Of Puget Sound Mollusk Shells, Lauren Doffing

Environmental Science Undergraduate Theses

The Marine Sediment Monitoring Team at the Washington State Department of Ecology observed damage to mollusk shells while studying the benthic communities of Puget Sound. A pilot protocol was written to allow researchers to quantify the damage. Two researchers independently followed the protocol, including reference photos, for a set of samples collected in 2019 from an urban bay, East Possession Sound. Two scores were given to each specimen: highest-level damage and extent of highest-level damage. An additional score was given to bivalve species: rust/stain. The sets of scores were compared to determine if the protocol yielded similar values between the …

Can Financialization Save Nature? The Case Of Endangered Species, Diane-Laure Arjalies, Delphine Gibassier

Business Publications

The current biodiversity loss is dramatic. Over the past 50 years, more than 68% of the mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish on earth have disappeared, putting the planet's survival and its inhabitants – including human beings – at risk (WWF, 2020). Financialization, or the transformation of nature into financial assets, is increasingly proposed as a solution to the biodiversity crisis. Proponents of financialization believe that assigning a monetary value to nature will incentivize human beings to protect habitats and their species. This article offers a four-mechanism model of nature’s financialization, explaining why it is virtually impossible to financialize nature. …

Climate-Related Declines In Reproductive Output In A High-Elevation Population Of Ground Squirrels, Kayleigh Little

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Beginning in the 1900s, changes in climate have resulted in an increase in global temperatures. This warming has driven behavioral and demographic changes within a multitude of species worldwide. Historically, small mammal populations have responded to changes in temperature by adjusting their geographic ranges. As temperatures rise, high-elevation populations may no longer be able to adjust as they have before. In this study, we evaluated possible effects of climate change on a high-elevation population of Belding’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi) at Tioga Pass in Northern California. We used local climate data and long-term population data from 1994 to …

The Spatial Ecology And Habitat Selection Of A Spotted Turtle (Clemmys Guttata) Population In Southwest Michigan, Michela Coury

Masters Theses

Turtles are arguably the most threatened group of vertebrates on the planet. Anthropogenic influences such as habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, subsidized predators, climate change, and illegal collection have contributed to their global decline. Understanding which isolated populations of turtles are viable despite these synergistic threats is crucial for making conservation and management decisions. In Michigan, the spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is a threatened species subjected to many negative anthropogenic influences that accelerate its rapid population decline. In order to properly sustain their populations, the goal of my research was to investigate relevant factors that help us …

Evaluating Threats To The Water Quality Of Little Buffalo Creek And Sarver Run Through Water Quality Analysis And Backpack Electrofishing Surveys, Riley Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently, 64.8% and 52.2% of Little Buffalo Creek and Sarver Run stream kilometers are impaired, respectively. Impairment sources to Little Buffalo Creek include agriculture, riparian deforestation, on-site wastewater, and urban runoff. Impairment sources to Sarver Run are unknown. Our goal was to understand sources of impairment through water quality analysis and fish surveys. Water samples were collected monthly and analyzed for cation and anion concentrations. Mass ratio analysis comparing Br/SO₄ and Mg/Li, Ca/Mg and Ca/Sr, Mg/Na and SO₄/Cl, and SO_4/Cl and Mg/Li suggests that mine drainage and conventional oil and gas may be impacting water …