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Three-Dimensional Microct Imaging Of Mouse Heart Development From Early Post-Implantation To Late Fetal Stages, Nanbing Li-Villarreal, Tara L Rasmussen, Audrey E Christiansen, Mary E Dickinson, Chih-Wei Hsu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Comprehensive detailed characterization of new mouse models can be challenging due to the individual focus involved in developing these models. Often models are engineered to test a specific hypothesis in a limited number of tissues, stages, and/or other contexts. Whether or not the model produces the desired phenotypes, phenotyping beyond the desired context can be extremely work intensive and these studies are often not undertaken. However, the general information resulting from broader phenotyping can be invaluable to the wider scientific community. The International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) and its subsidiaries, like the Knockout Mouse Project (KOMP), has made great strides …

Comprehensive Ecg Reference Intervals In C57bl/6n Substrains Provide A Generalizable Guide For Cardiac Electrophysiology Studies In Mice, Manuela A Oestereicher, Janine M Wotton, Shinya Ayabe, Ghina Bou About, Tsz Kwan Cheng, Jae-Hoon Choi, Dave Clary, Emily M Dew, Lahcen Elfertak, Alain Guimond, Hamed Haseli Mashhadi, Jason D Heaney, Lois Kelsey, Piia Keskivali-Bond, Federico Lopez Gomez, Susan Marschall, Michael Mcfarland, Hamid Meziane, Violeta Munoz Fuentes, Ki-Hoan Nam, Zuzana Nichtová, Dale Pimm, Lynette Bower, Jan Prochazka, Jan Rozman, Luis Santos, Michelle Stewart, Nobuhiko Tanaka, Christopher S Ward, Amelia M E Willett, Robert Wilson, Robert E Braun, Mary E Dickinson, Ann M Flenniken, Yann Herault, K C Kent Lloyd, Ann-Marie Mallon, Colin Mckerlie, Stephen A Murray, Lauryl M J Nutter, Radislav Sedlacek, Je Kyung Seong, Tania Sorg, Masaru Tamura, Sara Wells, Elida Schneltzer, Helmut Fuchs, Valerie Gailus-Durner, Martin Hrabe De Angelis, Jacqueline K White, Nadine Spielmann

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Reference ranges provide a powerful tool for diagnostic decision-making in clinical medicine and are enormously valuable for understanding normality in pre-clinical scientific research that uses in vivo models. As yet, there are no published reference ranges for electrocardiography (ECG) in the laboratory mouse. The first mouse-specific reference ranges for the assessment of electrical conduction are reported herein generated from an ECG dataset of unprecedented scale. International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium data from over 26,000 conscious or anesthetized C57BL/6N wildtype control mice were stratified by sex and age to develop robust ECG reference ranges. Interesting findings include that heart rate and key …

The Role Of Trees In Reducing The Urban Heat Island Effect On The New Jersey Institute Of Technology Campus, Newark, Nj, Dahlia Mansour

Theses

Every year, an estimated 12.3 million tons of glass are generated in the United States. Of all glass generated, only 3.1 million tons are recycled. Despite the near endless recyclability of glass waste, recycling rates in the United States remain low. This is primarily due to the lack of color separation and presence of non-recyclable materials associated with single-stream curbside collection used in many municipalities throughout the country. These factors make recycled glass unusable for many glass bottle manufacturers, causing the majority of glass placed in a recycling bin to eventually be landfilled. The purpose of this research is to …

The Evaluation Of Carbon Benefits Produced By Urban Street Trees, Hanyu Wang

Theses

Urban tree service and urban forestry are important fields that focus on the care and management of trees in urban areas. Urban trees provide numerous benefits around all aspect, including carbon storage, improving air and water qualities. Carbon storage refers to the process of removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing it in various reservoirs, and in this case, in trees and forests.

i-Tree is a suite of software tools developed by the United States Forest Service that provides a range of resources for assessing and managing forests. i-Tree Eco is one of the more used tools from …

Public Health Importance Of Preventive Measures For Salmonella Tennessee And Salmonella Typhimurium Strain Lt2 Biofilms, Simen Asefaw, Sadiye Aras, Md Niamul Kabir, Sabrina Wadood, Shahid Chowdhury, Aliyar Cyrus Fouladkhah

Biology Faculty Research

Various serovars of Salmonella had been the subject of research for over 150 years; nonetheless, the bacterium has remained an important pathogen of public health concern to date. The tremendous ability of Salmonella to form biofilms on biotic and abiotic surfaces is an important underlying reason for the prevalence of this opportunistic pathogen in healthcare, manufacturing, and the food chain. The current study illustrates that using very common industrial antimicrobial treatments at the highest concentrations suggested by the manufacturers is only efficacious against planktonic and one-day mature biofilms of the pathogen while exhibiting a lack of efficacy for complete removal …

Ethical Issues And Standards Of Responsible Research Conduct And Monitoring In An Adventist Institution Of Higher Learning - The Babcock Experience, Kayode O. Ogunwenmo, Godswill N. Anyasor, Grace O. Tayo

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Ethical issues and standards of responsible research conduct involving human participants are important considerations in any institution of higher learning and in particular Adventist institutions. Research conduct and ethics are reviewed and approved before they begin by the Babcock University Health Research Ethics Committee (BUHREC)

Effects Of Climate Change On Human Health, Sara El Houzaly, Richa Gupta

Publications and Research

The effects of climate change are evident worldwide as average global land and air temperatures have been rising, glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking with the concomitant rise in sea levels, extreme weather events have become more frequent, and oceans are warming and acidifying. Humanity is facing a big environmental challenge which not only impacts our habitat but will also have ramifications on our health. The present review describes a detailed examination of the scientific evidence proving the relationship between climate change and various fatal human diseases in different geographical regions. Our findings indicate that variations in the patterns of …

Identification And Initial Characterization Of Hfq-Associated Srnas In Histophilus Somni Strain 2336, Bindu Subhadra, Dianjun Cao, Roderick Jensen, Clayton Caswell, Thomas J. Inzana

Faculty Publications - Biological Sciences

Small RNAs (sRNA), in association with the global chaperone regulator Hfq, positively or negatively regulate gene expression in bacteria. For this study, Histophilus somni sRNAs that bind to Hfq were identified and then partially characterized. The Hfq-associated sRNAs in H. somni were isolated and identified by co-immunoprecipitation using anti-Hfq antibody, followed by sRNA sequencing. Sequence analysis of the sRNA samples identified 100 putative sRNAs, out of which 16 were present in pathogenic strain 2336, but not in non-pathogenic strain 129Pt. Bioinformatic analyses suggested that the sRNAs HS9, HS79, and HS97 could bind to many genes putatively involved in virulence/biofilm formation. …

Pathogenicity Of Multiple Providencia Species (Enterobacteriales: Morganellaceae) To The Mass-Reared Mexican Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae), Bacilio Salas, Hugh E. Conway, Don C. Vacek, Christopher Vitek, Erin Schuenzel

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens (Loew)) (Diptera: Tephritidae) represents a major threat to fruit production in the Western Hemisphere. Sterile insect technique is used to suppress and eradicate wild populations. Success of this control method necessitates weekly production of hundreds of millions of flies, their sterilization by irradiation, and their aerial release. Diet needed to produce large fly numbers are conducive to the spread of bacteria. Pathogenic bacteria were isolated from 3 rearing facilities and from multiple sources: eggs, larvae, pupae and spent diet, and were found to include some isolates identified to the genus Providencia (Enterobacteriales: Morganellaceae). We …

The Effects Of Urban Landscape, Soundscape, And Light Pollution On Avian Diversity And Nesting In South San Antonio, Texas, Alfredo Llamas

Masters Theses (Archived)

As critical habitat continues to dwindle due to the expansion of urbanization, alternative habitat in urban ecosystems becomes a necessary natural resource for the survival of birds. In the last decade, local San Antonio environmental authorities have focused their efforts on restoring the San Antonio Mission Reach. Ecological revitalization of the San Antonio Mission Reach could increase avian, and flora biodiversity with ongoing restoration, yet how birds use restored habitat has not been assessed. Additionally, south of the Reach, two more peri-urban sites have great potential to be high quality habitat for birds but have not been surveyed for nesting …

The Effects Of Anthropogenic Sensory Pollution On Arthropod Diversity And Pollinator Behavior, Sierra Dee Rodriguez, Jennifer N. Phillips Phd

Masters Theses (Archived)

Pollinators provide a key ecological function in terrestrial ecosystems, yet in recent years, they have encountered unprecedented declines, likely due to anthropogenic change. Light and noise pollution, which can interfere with the visual and auditory systems of animals that regulate daily behaviors, are important factors to consider when communities are encroached by human development. While many researchers have looked at how vertebrate species behaviorally react to human caused habitat degradation and sensory pollution, little is known about how invertebrates, including arthropod pollinators, are affected, and whether there is a negative cascading effect on the plants that they pollinate. This research …

Cover Crop Application On Dredged Sediments Increases Corn Yield Through Microorganism-Associated Enzyme-Driven Nutrient Mineralization, Ashley N. Julian, Louise M. Stevenson, Megan A. Rúa

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background & Aims

Common strategies to mitigate soil degradation of agricultural soils include cover crop application and soil amendment addition. Applying dredged sediments as a soil amendment is gaining popularity since they often provide benefits other amendments lack; however, their use with cover crops is largely unexplored. To understand how cover crop use changes the restorative properties of dredged sediments, we assessed soil physical and chemical properties, enzymatic activities, and corn yield for plots of dredged sediments with and without a cover crop.

Methods

We assessed soil texture, bulk density, water content, pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, calcium, magnesium, …

A Standard Protocol To Report Discrete Stage-Structured Demographic Information, Samuel J. L. Gascoigne, Simon Rolph, Daisy Sankey, Nagalakshmi Nidadavolu, Adrian S. Stell Pičman, Christina M. Hernández, Matthew E. R. Philpott, Aiyla Salam, Connor Bernard, Erola Fenollosa, Young Jun Lee, Jessica Mclean, Shathuki Hetti Achchige Perera, Oliver G. Spacey, Maja Kajin, Anna C. Vinton, C. Ruth Archer, Jean H. Burns, Danielle L. Buss, Hal Caswell, Judy P. Che-Castaldo, Dylan Z. Childs, Pol Capdevila, Aldo Compagnoni, Elizabeth Crone, Thomas H. G. Ezard, Dave Hodgson, Tiffany M. Knight, Owen R. Jones, Eelke Jongejans, Jenni Mcdonald, Brigitte Tenhumberg, Chelsea C. Thomas, Andrew J. Tyre, Satu Ramula, Iain Stott, Raymond L. Tremblay, Phil Wilson, James James Vaupel, Roberto Salguero-Gómez

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

1. Stage-based demographic methods, such as matrix population models (MPMs), are powerful tools used to address a broad range of fundamental questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation science. Accordingly, MPMs now exist for over 3000 species worldwide. These data are being digitised as an ongoing process and periodically released into two large open-access online repositories: the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. During the last decade, data archiving and curation of COMPADRE and COMADRE, and subsequent comparative research, have revealed pronounced variation in how MPMs are parameterized and reported.

2. Here, we summarise current issues related to …

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Ecological Boundaries And Constraints On Viable Eco-Evolutionary Pathways, Kyle E. Coblentz, John P. Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Evolutionary dynamics are subject to constraints ranging from limitations on what is physically possible to limitations on the pathways that evolution can take. One set of evolutionary constraints, known as ‘demographic constraints’, constrain what can occur evolutionarily due to the demographic or dynamical consequences of evolution leading to conditions that make populations susceptible to extinction. These demographic constraints can limit the strength of selection or the rates of environmental change populations can experience while remaining extant and the trait values a population can express. Here we further hypothesize that the population demographic and dynamic consequences of evolution also can constrain …

Investigating The Role Of Tgf-Beta Signaling In Acoel Regeneration & Fission, Franchesca A. Aziz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Whole-body regeneration and asexual reproduction are widespread in the Metazoa, yet little is known about the genetic systems that drive the regeneration process outside of a few model organisms. While many animals utilize fission followed by regeneration to accomplish asexual reproduction, Convolutriloba longifissura is unusual in performing a double fission, requiring significant anterior-posterior and medial-lateral regeneration that alters the orthogonal body axes in adult tissues. To better understand the process of axial re-specification during postembryonic development, we studied the genetic mechanisms used by C. longifissura to modify and respecify axial polarity during asexual reproduction and subsequent regeneration. Because conserved signaling …

Mapping Brain Development And Decoding Brain Activity With Diffuse Optical Tomography, Kalyan Tripathy

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Functional neuroimaging has been used to map brain function as well as decode information from brain activity. However, applications like studying early brain development or enabling augmentative communication in patients with severe motor disabilities have been constrained by extant imaging modalities, which can be challenging to use in young children and entail major tradeoffs between logistics and image quality. Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is an emerging method combining logistical advantages of optical imaging with enhanced image quality. Here, we developed one of the world’s largest DOT systems for high-performance optical brain imaging in children. From visual cortex activity in adults, …

Trpm5'S Role In Vascular Development, Megan Goeckel

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Blood vessels are composed of two main cell types, endothelial cells (ECs) and mural cells (MCs). Endothelial cells comprise of the inner-most layer of the vessel and sense changes in blood flow to recruit mural cells. The mechanism for how endothelial cells sense these hemodynamic changes is not well understood and deciphering this mechanism is the focus of this thesis. We hypothesize that transient receptor potential melastatin 5 (TRPM5), a transmembrane channel protein, is involved in this process. Here, using cultured human endothelial cells and the zebrafish model, we show that inhibition of TRPM5 decreases vessel formation and increases EC-MC …

Cancer Immunogenomics Approaches To Characterizing And Treating Malignant Brain Tumors, Maximilian Oswald Schaettler

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Fueled by a deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of anti-tumor immune responses, cancer immunotherapy has experienced a resurgence over the last decade with remarkable success in the treatment of certain malignancies. However, despite a multitude of treatment approaches ranging from immune checkpoint blockade to adoptive cellular therapy to neoantigen vaccines, certain cancer types have shown limited response to immunotherapy. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common primary malignancy of the central nervous system, represents a particularly challenging tumor where new treatment approaches are desperately needed. Despite multimodality treatment consisting of surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, patients with GBM face …

Influence Of Environmental Gradients On Genomic Variation In Pediatric Commensals And Pathogens, Sanjam Sawhney

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Microbes interact with humans in a myriad of ways. They come together in the human gut to form complex communities that collectively transform and individually evolve in response to changing environmental conditions. Individual microbes can also cause human infection and escape antibiotic clearance through acquisition and development of novel resistance mechanisms. In this thesis, I chronicle the relationships between microbes and humans across two axes: from complex communities to single isolates, and from targeted studies of pediatric populations vulnerable to microbiome perturbations and pathogen challenge, to broader human and animal cohorts spanning colonizing and diagnostic environments.In Chapter 2, I extensively …

A Mechanistic Study Of Err Α/Γ Agonists For Treatment Of Metabolic Dysfunction In Heart Failure, Mckenna Lael Losby

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Heart failure is the leading cause of death in the United States and current therapeutic interventions fail to reverse the disease progression. In the failing heart, pathological cardiac remodeling leads to disease progression: a process characterized by hypertrophy, inflammation, fibrosis, and metabolic remodeling. By pharmacologically targeting the nuclear hormone receptors estrogen receptor-related receptor α and γ (ERRα and γ), it may be possible to reverse the array of metabolic pathways that are pathologically inhibited in the failing heart. Fatty acids are the primary fuel source of the adult heart that generate the ATP required for each contraction; however, in heart …

Examining Therapeutic Targets For Central Nervous System Autoimmune Disease, Sindhu Manivasagam

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that leads to demyelination, axonal damage, and neuronal loss. Patients are typically diagnosed early in adulthood and due to the chronic nature of the disease, will continue to develop symptoms over their lifetime. Currently available therapeutics for MS focus on symptomatic relief and reduce severity of relapses; however, they are unable to prevent disease progression or promote recovery. Therefore, there is a critical need to understand the biological mechanisms driving neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes in MS and to translate these findings into novel therapeutic strategies.Here we …

An Investigation Of Second-Site Non-Complementation Among Motile Cilia Genes In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Gervette M. Penny

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATIONAn Investigation of Second-Site Non-Complementation among Motile Cilia Genes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by Gervette M. Penny Doctor of Philosophy in Biology and Biomedical Sciences Molecular Genetics and Genomics Washington University in St. Louis, 2023 Professor Susan K. Dutcher, ChairMotile cilia are complex microtubule-based organelles used by eukaryotic cells for locomotion or directing fluid flow. In humans, motile cilia defects cause primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), characterized by neonatal respiratory distress, recurrent lung infections, bronchiectasis, and low nitric oxide. Situs inversus and/or male infertility are present in about 50% of cases. PCD inheritance is recessive; both copies (alleles) of …

Maternal-Fetal Circadian Communication During Pregnancy, Keenan Bates

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Circadian rhythms in gene expression and hormones are ubiquitous across species and across cell types. Circadian rhythms depend on a transcription-translation negative feedback loop that drives many daily rhythms in behavior and physiological processes. Circadian rhythms regulate many aspects of reproduction, such as fetal development and birth timing. Mammalian pregnancy presents a unique situation with circadian rhythms in the mom and, eventually, in the fetus. Prior studies showed that circadian rhythms develop in utero and that maternal signals, such as glucocorticoids, may act to entrain or drive daily rhythms in the fetus. However, there remains considerable debate about when and …

The Role Of The Neurodevelopmental Disorder Gene Myt1l In Mammalian Brain Development, Jiayang Chen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent human genetic studies have associated mutations in a gene called Myelin Transcription Factor 1 Like (MYT1L) with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Patients with MYT1L loss of function (LoF) mutations (MYT1L Syndrome patients) demonstrate shared symptoms such as microcephaly, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obesity. Despite prior studies showing MYT1L overexpression facilitates neuronal differentiation in vitro, its functions in vivo, especially in the mammalian brain, and how its mutation leads to human disease pathology remains poorly understood. Here, I established the first mouse model of MYT1L Syndrome mimicking a patient specific LoF mutation. I found mice with Myt1l heterozygous …

The Role Of Mavs And Interferon-Lambda In Regulating Astrovirus And Norovirus Infections, Heyde Makimaa

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Although they globally cause viral gastroenteritis in children, astroviruses are understudied due to the lack of well-defined animal models. While muAstVs chronically infect immunodeficient mice, a culture system and understanding of their pathogenesis is lacking. Here, we describe a platform to cultivate muAstV using air–liquid interface (ALI) cultures derived from mouse enteroids, which support apical infection and release. Chronic muAstV infection occurs in the small intestine and correlates with higher IFN-λ expression. MuAstV stimulates IFN-λ production in ALI, recapitulating our in vivo findings. We demonstrate that goblet cells and enterocytes are targets for chronic muAstV infection in vivo, and that …

Circadian Protein Bmal1 Regulates Astrocyte Activation And Protein Degradation In Health And Disease, Celia Augusta Mckee

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The circadian clock regulates gene transcription to control daily rhythms in cellular function, behavior, and disease. Circadian dysfunction is a symptom of aging and neurodegenerative diseases, and recent studies suggest reciprocal regulation between impaired clock function and neurodegeneration. In addition to the clock regulating neuronal activity, non-neuronal glia cells of the brain also possess functional circadian clocks which control their responses to daily oscillations in brain activity, cellular stress, and metabolism. Astrocytes directly support brain function through synaptic interactions, neuronal metabolic support, neuroinflammatory regulation, and control of neurovascular coupling at blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barriers. Emerging evidence suggests that …

Roles Of The Transcription Factors Bcl6, Irf2, And Notch2 In Myeloid Development, Kevin William O'Connor

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Development of immune cells is orchestrated by expression of transcription factors which function to control differentiation of progenitor populations and survival of mature cells. Nonclassical monocytes are a population of myeloid cells which patrol the bloodstream and are thought to maintain vascular endothelium. Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are antigen-presenting myeloid cells which serve to activate naïve T cells during infections. cDCs are further differentiated into cDC1s capable of cross-presenting exogenous antigens to activate CD8 T cells and cDC2s which are thought to play essential roles in activating Th2 and Th17 responses. These disparate cells originate from a shared bone marrow …

Understanding Thermotolerance In Photosynthetic Cells: From Green Algae To Land Plants, Erin Marie Mattoon

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Global temperatures are increasing, causing damage to crop plants, algae, and reducing food and biofuel production. To meet increasing demand for food and energy, we must engineer thermotolerant crops and algae that will thrive in the increasingly warm environment. However, there are many things we do not understand about how photosynthetic cells cope with high temperatures. Primarily, we do not fully understand which genes are required for thermotolerance and how different intensities and durations of high temperature periods may change this list. In this thesis, I employed high-throughput, quantitative, and genomic approaches including transcriptomics, proteomics, and genome-wide pooled mutant screens …

Dynamics Of Epithelial Differentiation Following Intestinal Villus Injury, Takahiro Erick Ohara

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Millions of finger-like structures called villi line the small intestine, providing an enormous surface area for rapid and efficient nutrient absorption. Collapse of the villus architecture, known as villus atrophy, is often observed in response to pathogen invasion, inflammation, medications, and ischemia due to loss of intestinal epithelial cells, resulting in symptoms of diarrhea and malabsorption. Though removal of the inciting agent generally allows for near complete tissue recovery, some individuals take longer to restore their villi, a condition known as persistent villus atrophy, for reasons that are unknown. How intestinal villi cope with tissue damage and re-establish their structure …

Mechanisms Of Transcription Regulation By Card In Mycobacterium, Dennis Xiaoqian Zhu

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is an important human pathogen that is responsible for over 1 million deaths each year. As a bacterial pathogen, Mtb is highly adapted to survival within the host environment, which imposes numerous environmental stresses on the bacteria. To survive these challenges, Mtb utilizes a network of transcription factors to adapt its gene expression and physiology. CarD is an essential transcription factor in mycobacteria that binds directly to RNA polymerase (RNAP) rather than DNA sequence motifs on the chromosome. Prior mechanistic studies of CarD’s function in mycobacteria have been limited to studies of CarD’s effects on individual kinetic …