Whole Genome Sequencing Of The Whipple Azalea Garden,
2024
Taylor University
Whole Genome Sequencing Of The Whipple Azalea Garden, Afia Asamoah, Elizabeth Toth, Amy Vasudevan, Sarah Justice, Elizabeth D. Hasenmyer
Lux et Fides: A Journal for Undergraduate Christian Scholars
Taylor University houses a large collection of North American azaleas. Deciduous azalea species, like those found on campus, are vastly understudied. This project aims to provide publicly available genomic data which will be used to study the genetic basis behind their physical characteristics and their relatedness to other species.
Investigating The Accuracy And Comparability Of Various Lime Prediction Methods For Irish Grassland Mineral Soils,
2024
Departments of Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Munster Technological University, Kerry, Ireland
Investigating The Accuracy And Comparability Of Various Lime Prediction Methods For Irish Grassland Mineral Soils, F. Mackessy, E. Mccarthy, E. Broderick, B. O'Donnell, Patrick Quille
Publications
Soil pH is a foundational element of agronomy, profoundly influencing biological, chemical and physical soil processes. Adjusting soil pH is a paramount factor for enhancing soil health and productivity with far-reaching environmental benefits. Over time soil naturally tends towards acidity, a process expedited by intensive agriculture practices. To determine the extent of necessary pH corrections, precise soil pH testing is imperative. Various methods including buffer systems, titrations, lime incubations and algorithms considering soil texture are used to assess a soil's lime requirement and each method carries distinct advantages and disadvantages. The Shoemaker–McLean–Pratt (SMP) buffer method is extensively used in Ireland …
Novel Microbiological Medium Developed For The Isolation Of Bacteria Associated With Estuarine Anemones,
2024
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt
Novel Microbiological Medium Developed For The Isolation Of Bacteria Associated With Estuarine Anemones, Parker K. Lund, Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler
IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt
Out of the nearly one trillion species of microbiota estimated to inhabit Earth only ten thousand have been cultured in the laboratory. Culturing continues to play a vital role in determining the physiology and ecologic function of individual bacteria in microbial communities and for microbes associated with host organisms one of the major challenges is developing microbiological media that mimics the bacteria’s natural environment enough to promote growth. Here, we target bacteria associated with the estuary anemones Diadumene lineata and Metridium senile by developing a novel medium that uses anemone tissue as the sole source of nutrients. We further measured …
Analysis Of Botulinum Toxin A And Interacting Proteins In Skeletal Muscle Cells: An Investigation Into The Mechanisms Of Botulinum Toxin A As A Treatment For Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome,
2024
Olivet Nazarene University
Analysis Of Botulinum Toxin A And Interacting Proteins In Skeletal Muscle Cells: An Investigation Into The Mechanisms Of Botulinum Toxin A As A Treatment For Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome, Lauren R. Kee
ELAIA
Background Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) is a condition in which muscle tissue expands against the surrounding fascia during activity and is compressed along with the nerves and blood vessels within the muscle compartment, leading to abnormally high intracompartmental pressure (ICP) and debilitating pain. Treatment typically includes fasciotomy, which results in significant levels of CECS recurrence; however, botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) injection has recently been seen to decrease both ICP and pain through an unknown mechanism with little to no recurrence. Methods In this study, PyRosetta was used to model the probability of docking interaction between BoNT-A light or heavy …
How To Identify Various Sparrow Species,
2024
Providence College
How To Identify Various Sparrow Species, Aidan Castricone '24, Alexis Larsen '24, Emma Barry '25
Biology Student Scholarship
A helpful infographic on how to differentiate between four little brown birds: the house sparrow, the song sparrow, the white-throated sparrow, and the swamp sparrow. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project
Mallards And Their Interesting Facts,
2024
Providence College
Mallards And Their Interesting Facts, Caitlin Mchugh '24, Jessica Slaton '24
Biology Student Scholarship
A guide on how to differentiate between male and female mallards, where to find these ducks, and their common behaviors. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project
Identifying The American Goldfinch,
2024
Providence College
Identifying The American Goldfinch, Margaret Low '24, Laura Mooney '24
Biology Student Scholarship
An infographic with tips on how to identify a common backyard visitor, the American goldfinch. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project
Blue Jays,
2024
Providence College
Blue Jays, Meriam Salo '25, Gabriela Guzman Reyes '24
Biology Student Scholarship
A guide to identifying blue jays, and understanding their common behaviors. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project
Seven Behaviors Exhibited In The Blue Jay,
2024
Providence College
Seven Behaviors Exhibited In The Blue Jay, Gillian Chapleau '24, Jide Owoeye '23
Biology Student Scholarship
A quick guide to understanding common behaviors exhibited by blue jays. Animal behavior (BIO 350/350L) final project
Drought Legacy Interacts With Wildfire To Alter Soil Microbial Communities In A Mediterranean Climate-Type Forest,
2024
Edith Cowan University
Drought Legacy Interacts With Wildfire To Alter Soil Microbial Communities In A Mediterranean Climate-Type Forest, Anna J. M. Hopkins, Aaron J. Brace, Jess L. Bruce, J. Hyde, J. B. Fontaine, L. Walden, W. Veber, K. X. Ruthrof
Research outputs 2022 to 2026
Mediterranean forest ecosystems will be increasingly affected by hotter drought and more frequent and severe wildfire events in the future. However, little is known about the longer-term responses of these forests to multiple disturbances and the forests' capacity to maintain ecosystem function. This is particularly so for below-ground organisms, which have received less attention than those above-ground, despite their essential contributions to forest function. We investigated rhizosphere microbial communities in a resprouting Eucalyptus marginata forest, southwestern Australia, that had experienced a severe wildfire four years previously, and a hotter drought eight years previously. Our aim was to understand how microbial …
Optimal Growth And Development: Are Teenagers Getting Enough Micronutrients From Their Diet?,
2024
School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Republic of Ireland; Department of Biological Sciences, Munster Technological University, Cork, Republic of Ireland
Optimal Growth And Development: Are Teenagers Getting Enough Micronutrients From Their Diet?, Niamh M. Walsh, Albert Flynn, Janette Walton, Laura Kehoe
Department of Biological Sciences Publications
The teenage years represent a crucial period of physical and cognitive growth and development with sufficient micronutrient intakes necessary to meet high nutritional requirements. This review examines current micronutrient intakes in teenagers in the Western world in the context of public health implications including the prevalence of inadequate intakes and risk of excessive intakes. Intakes of vitamins A, D, E and C, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc and potassium in teenagers are low when compared to generally accepted recommendations, while there is little risk of excessive micronutrient intakes based on current dietary patterns. Therefore, strategies should focus on increasing micronutrient …
Variations In Student Approaches To Problem Solving In Undergraduate Biology Education,
2024
Chapman University
Variations In Student Approaches To Problem Solving In Undergraduate Biology Education, Jeremy L. Hsu, Rou-Jia Sung, Su L. Swarat, Alexandra J. Gore, Stephanie Kim, Stanley M. Lo
Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research
Existing research has investigated student problem-solving strategies across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; however, there is limited work in undergraduate biology education on how various aspects that influence learning combine to generate holistic approaches to problem solving. Through the lens of situated cognition, we consider problem solving as a learning phenomenon that involves the interactions between internal cognition of the learner and the external learning environment. Using phenomenography as a methodology, we investigated undergraduate student approaches to problem solving in biology through interviews. We identified five aspects of problem solving (including knowledge, strategy, intention, metacognition, and mindset) that define three …
Effects Of Anthropogenic Noise On The Provisioning Behavior Of Western Bluebirds And Artificial Light At Night On Nestling Development,
2024
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Effects Of Anthropogenic Noise On The Provisioning Behavior Of Western Bluebirds And Artificial Light At Night On Nestling Development, Kerstin H. Ozkan
Master's Theses
Sensory environments are rapidly changing due to increased human activity in urban and non-urban areas alike. For instance, background sounds can interfere with parent-offspring communication and mask cues reflective of predation risk, resulting in elevated vigilance at the cost of provisioning. In chapter 1, we studied nestling provisioning behavior among Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) in response to short-term (1 hr) and long-term (continuous exposure throughout nesting period) noise exposure. Provisioning rates were lower at nests exposed to short-term experimental traffic noise compared to exposure to ambient background sounds. Trial order strongly influenced provisioning behavior, with the decline in …
A Dietary Variety: Analyzing The Impacts Of Diverse Vs Worm-Exclusive Diets On The Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii),
2024
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A Dietary Variety: Analyzing The Impacts Of Diverse Vs Worm-Exclusive Diets On The Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii), Caitlin F. Copenhaver
Honors Theses
The endangered Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) is a species with a generally diverse diet in their freshwater wetland habitats; they consume prey such as crayfish and snails. In captivity, these options often become more limited due to logistical reasons. As ex situ conservation efforts such as captive rearing and head-starting are becoming more popular for this species, it will be important to gain more insight on how these more limited diets might affect these turtles. This study describes a comparison between diets in six captive Blanding’s turtles from September to November of 2023, with three turtles receiving only …
Comstock Point, Lubec, Maine - A Natural And Photographic History,
2024
The University of Maine
Comstock Point, Lubec, Maine - A Natural And Photographic History, Willaim H. Schlesinger, Lisa M. Dellwo
Documents from Environmental Organizations
A natural and photographic history of our lands compiled by Lisa Dellwo and Bill Schlesinger, with the help of many friends and neighbors.
Coralai: Emergent Ecosystems Of Neural Cellular Automata,
2024
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Coralai: Emergent Ecosystems Of Neural Cellular Automata, Aidan A. Barbieux, Aidan A. Barbieux
Master's Theses
Artificial intelligence has traditionally been approached through centralized architectures and optimization of specific metrics on large datasets. However, the frontiers of fields spanning cognitive science, biology, physics, and computer science suggest that intelligence is better understood as a multi-scale, decentralized, emergent phenomenon. As such, scaling up approaches that mirror the natural world may be one of the next big advances in AI. This thesis presents Coralai, a framework for efficiently simulating the emergence of diverse artificial life ecosystems integrated with modular physics. The key innovations of Coralai include: 1) Hosting diverse Neural Cellular Automata organisms in the same simulation that …
Rhizobia-Legume Symbiosis Mediates Direct And Indirect Interactions Between Plants, Herbivores And Their Parasitoids,
2024
University of Neuchˆ atel, Neuchˆ atel, Switzerland
Rhizobia-Legume Symbiosis Mediates Direct And Indirect Interactions Between Plants, Herbivores And Their Parasitoids, Carlos Bustos-Segura, Adrienne L. Godschalx, Lucas Malacari, Sergio Rasmann, Fanny Deiss, Daniel Ballhorn, Betty Benrey
Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Microorganisms associated with plant roots significantly impact the quality and quantity of plant defences. However, the bottom-up effects of soil microbes on the aboveground multitrophic interactions remain largely under studied. To address this gap, we investigated the chemically- mediated effects of nitrogen-fixing rhizobia on legume-herbivore-parasitoid multitrophic interactions. To address this, we initially examined the cascading effects of the rhizobia bean association on herbivore caterpillars, their parasitoids, and subsequently investigated how rhizobia influence on plant volatiles and extrafloral nectar. Our goal was to understand how these plant- mediated effects can affect parasitoids. Lima bean plants (Phaseoulus lunatus) inoculated with rhizobia exhibited …
Genome Editing Using Crispr-Cas9 In Annual Killifish Species,
2024
Portland State University
Genome Editing Using Crispr-Cas9 In Annual Killifish Species, Keria Moritsugu-Vandehey
University Honors Theses
CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing has been used successfully to knock out genes in model organisms such as zebrafish, turquoise killifish, and cichlid fish. CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing has not been verified in the annual killifish, Austrofundulus limnaeus. We hypothesize that targeted editing of the tyrosinase gene in embryos of A. limnaeus will lead to fish without the ability to produce black pigment. Embryos at the 1-cell stage were injected with a Cas9 cocktail containing a mix of guide RNA molecules that target the genomic sequence of the tyrosinase gene and either an mRNA coding for the Cas9 protein or Cas9 protein. …
Foraminifera As A Model Of Eukaryotic Genome Dynamism,
2024
Smith College
Foraminifera As A Model Of Eukaryotic Genome Dynamism, Caitlin Timmons, Kristine Le, H. B. Rappaport, Elinor G. Sterner, Xyrus X. Maurer-Alcaláh, Susan T. Goldstein, Laura A. Katz
Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
In contrast to the canonical view that genomes cycle only between haploid and diploid states, many eukaryotes have dynamic genomes that change content throughout an individual’s life cycle. However, the few detailed studies of microeukaryotic life cycles render our understanding of eukaryotic genome dynamism incomplete. Foraminifera (Rhizaria) are an ecologically important, yet understudied, clade of microbial eukaryotes with complex life cycles that include changes in ploidy and genome organization. Here, we apply fluorescence microscopy and image analysis techniques to over 2,800 nuclei in 110 cells to characterize the life cycle of Allogromia laticollaris strain Cold Spring Harbor (CSH), one of …
Herptile Gut Microbiomes: A Natural System To Study Multi-Kingdom Interactions Between Filamentous Fungi And Bacteria,
2024
Oregon State University
Herptile Gut Microbiomes: A Natural System To Study Multi-Kingdom Interactions Between Filamentous Fungi And Bacteria, Lluvia Vargas-Gastélum, Alexander S. Romer, Marjan Ghotbi, Jason W. Dallas, Reed. N. Alexander, Kylie C. Moe, Kerry L. Mcphail, George F. Neuhaus, Leila Shadmani, Joseph W. Spatafora, Jason E. Stajich, Javier F. Tabima, Donald M. Walker
Biology
Reptiles and amphibians (herptiles) are some of the most endangered and threatened species on the planet and numerous conservation strategies are being implemented with the goal of ensuring species recovery. Little is known, however, about the gut microbiome of wild herptiles and how it relates to the health of these populations. Here, we report results from the gut microbiome characterization of both a broad survey of herptiles, and the correlation between the fungus Basidiobolus, and the bacterial community supported by a deeper, more intensive sampling of Plethodon glutinosus, known as slimy salamanders. We demonstrate that bacterial communities sampled from frogs, …
