Digital Commons Network^™

Reproduction In Relation To Heavy-Metal Contamination Along An Urbanization Gradient In Aninvasive Florida Lizard Species (Anolis Sagrei), Elizabeth Hauck

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental contamination is accumulating rapidly worldwide due to increasing urbanization rates. Heavy metals are known to be particularly toxic to organisms, to accumulate in biological systems, and to be found in higher concentrations in animals located in areas of high urban levels. However, the physiological impacts of these toxic heavy metals in wildlife remain largely unknown. Lizards are excellent bioindicator species for environmental contaminants due to their trophic level as mesopredators and their susceptibility of exposure via air, water, diet, and soil through egg deposition. To assess the impacts heavy-metal contamination has on reproductive parameters in lizards and how these …

Stochastic Models Of Zoonotic Avian Influenza With Multiple Hosts, Environmental Transmission, And Migration In The Natural Reservoir, Kaia Smith

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Unraveling The Complex Interactions Between Members Of The Schistosoma Haematobium Group And Bulinus Snails In And Around Lake Victoria In West Kenya, Caitlin Raiselle Babbitt

Biology ETDs

Schistosoma haematobium, the agent of urogenital schistosomiasis, and related schistosomes are transmitted by members of the genus Bulinus. Each of the 38 Bulinus species vary in their ability to vector schistosome species and non-schistosome trematodes resulting in a patchwork of snail-parasite compatibilities. Accurately identifying snail intermediate hosts and the disease-causing parasites they transmit is critical for snail control strategies and the management of human schistosomiasis. Towards these ends, this thesis identifies bulinid species and the parasites they transmit and implicates certain species in the transmission of S. haematobium. The thesis also includes a systematic review of methods …

Resource Availability Affects Seasonal Trajectories Of Population-Level Learning, Matthew W. Austin, Aimee S. Dunlap

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

Environmental effects on learning are well known, such as cognition that is mediated by nutritional consumption. Less known is how seasonally variable environments affect phenological trajectories of learning. Here, we test the hypothesis that nutritional availability affects seasonal trajectories of population-level learning in species with developmentally plastic cognition. We test this in bumble bees (Apidae: Bombus), a clade of eusocial insects that produce individuals at different time points across their reproductive season and exhibit organ developmental plasticity in response to nutritional consumption. To accomplish this, we develop a theoretical model that simulates learning development across a reproductive season for …

Females Exhibit Higher Glua2 Levels And Outperform Males In Active Place Avoidance Despite Increased Amyloid Plaques In Tgf344‑Alzheimer’S Rats, Osama Chaudry, Kelechi Ndukwe, Maria Figuiredo-Perira, Peter A. Serrano, Patricia Rockwell

Publications and Research

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is most prevalent in females. While estrogen provides neuroprotection in females, sex mediated differences in the development of AD pathology are not fully elucidated. Therefore, comparing events between sexes in early-stage AD pathology may reveal more effective therapeutic targets of intervention. To address sex differences, we analyzed early-stage 9-month male and female TgF344-AD (Tg-AD) rats, an AD model carrying the APPswe and Presenilin 1 (PS1ΔE9) mutations that develops progressive age-dependent AD pathology similar to humans. Tg-AD females significantly outperformed Tg-AD males in the active place avoidance (aPAT) test that assesses hippocampal-dependent …

The Biological Roles Of Tau Protein In The Vasculature And The Regulation Of Vegfr1 Signaling By Heparan Sulfate, Yanan Zhu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation consists of two research projects. The first project investigated the roles of extracellular tau in the vasculature, including tau-induced angiogenesis and tau internalization, a topic related to tauopathy. The second project was to understand the regulatory functions of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in VEGFR1 signaling.

Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, and are characterized by the appearance of intraneuronal tau inclusion in the brain and the patient's cognitive decline. Recent studies have emerged that soluble and aggregated tau also exists outside neurons in the central nervous system. Intriguingly, overexpressing tau in neurons in the mouse …

Tau Kinetics In Alzheimer's Disease, Daniel B. Hier, Sima Azizi, Matthew S. Thimgan, Donald C. Wunsch

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Cytoskeletal Protein Tau is Implicated in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease Which is Characterized by Intra-Neuronal Neurofibrillary Tangles Containing Abnormally Phosphorylated Insoluble Tau. Levels of Soluble Tau Are Elevated in the Brain, the CSF, and the Plasma of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease. to Better Understand the Causes of These Elevated Levels of Tau, We Propose a Three-Compartment Kinetic Model (Brain, CSF, and Plasma). the Model Assumes that the Synthesis of Tau Follows Zero-Order Kinetics (Uncorrelated with Compartmental Tau Levels) and that the Release, Absorption, and Clearance of Tau is Governed by First-Order Kinetics (Linearly Related to Compartmental Tau Levels). …

Visual Ecology: Sensing The Social World, Elliott P. Steele

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Social animals, and even solitary animals, must at different points in their life actively search for and locate conspecifics within their environment, using one or multiple senses. One sense in particular, vision, can provide some of the most spatially detailed and temporally rapid information about the environment. Yet, the surrounding environment can also severely challenge animals’ abilities to find fellow conspecifics. Furthermore, once an animal successfully locates conspecifics, it must then make key decisions about when and where to enter group formations, decisions which may strongly impact their access to socially-acquired resources. Even after an animal has positioned itself within …

Zebras Of All Stripes Repel Biting Flies At Close Range, Kaia J. Tombak, Andrew S. Gersick, Lily V. Reisinger, Brenda Larison, Daniel I. Rubenstein

Publications and Research

The best-supported hypothesis for why zebras have stripes is that stripes repel biting flies. While this effect is well-established, the mechanism behind it remains elusive. Myriad hypotheses have been suggested, but few experiments have helped narrow the field of possible explanations. In addition, the complex visual features of real zebra pelage and the natural range of stripe widths have been largely left out of experimental designs. In paired-choice field experiments in a Kenyan savannah, we found that hungry Stomoxys flies released in an enclosure strongly preferred to land on uniform tan impala pelts over striped zebra pelts but exhibited no …

Strategies Of Protected Area Use By Asian Elephants In Relation To Motivational State And Social Affiliations, Anastasia E. Madsen, Christin Minge, T.V. Pushpakumara, U. Sameera Weerathunga, U. K. Padmalal, Devaka K. Weerakoon, Shermin De Silva

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Animals’ space requirements may vary according to life-history and social considerations. We observed 516 wild adult Asian elephants from both sexes, over 9 years, to investigate how life-history traits and social behavior influence protected-area (PA) use at Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka. Male PA-use, quantified in terms of average between-sightings-interval (BSI), was significantly influenced by the interaction of age class and motivational state (i.e. reproduction vs. foraging). Musth lengthened with age, with a median of 24.5 days for ages 21–30, 32.5 days for ages 31–40, and 45 days for those > 40. A minority (11%) used it exclusively during musth, while …

Strategies Of Protected Area Use By Asian Elephants In Relation To Motivational State And Social Affiliations, Anastasia E. Madsen, Christin Minge, T. V. Pushpakumara, U. Sameera Weerathunga, U. K. Padmalal, Devaka K. Weerakoon, Shermin De Silva

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Animals’ space requirements may vary according to life-history and social considerations. We observed 516 wild adult Asian elephants from both sexes, over 9 years, to investigate how life-history traits and social behavior influence protected-area (PA) use at Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka. Male PA-use, quantified in terms of average between-sightings-interval (BSI), was significantly influenced by the interaction of age class and motivational state (i.e. reproduction vs. foraging). Musth lengthened with age, with a median of 24.5 days for ages 21–30, 32.5 days for ages 31–40, and 45 days for those > 40. A minority (11%) used it exclusively during musth, while …

Ecology And Evolution Of Social Information Use, Clare T. M. Doherty

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Sociality is a strategy many animals employ to cope with their environments, enabling them to survive and reproduce more successfully than would otherwise be possible. When navigating their environments and making decisions, social individuals often use information provided by conspecifics (in the form of social cues and signals), thereby increasing the scope and reliability of the information they can gather. However, social information use may be influenced by many factors, including key differences in context across the physical and social environment. My thesis asks and answers a series of questions regarding the trade-offs in social information use across different contexts, …

Introducing Interdisciplinary Curricula Into Conservation Biology: Exploring Changes In Students’ Perceived Proenvironmental Attitudes And Behaviors, Jasmine Janes, Lindsay J. Mccunn

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Today, conserving the natural environment is paramount. Educators have been striving to develop pedagogical approaches that facilitate greater engagement in conservation behaviors. However, many of these reforms have been targeted at an institutional level, without necessarily testing whether changes in proenvironmental perceptions, attitudes, or behaviors occur for students. This step seems important when developing conservation biology courses that provide well-rounded education that may better prepare students for future challenges in biodiverse conservation contexts. Our objective was to assess the proenvironmental attitudes and conservation values of undergraduate students enrolled in an undergraduate conservation biology course before and after instruction to determine …

An American Physiological Society Cross-Journal Call For Papers On “The Physiology Of Obesity”, Sue C. Bodine, Heddwen L. Brooks, Hilary A. Coller, Ana I. Domingos, Mark R. Frey, Barbara E. Goodman, Thomas R. Kleyman, Merry L. Lindsey, Rory E. Morty, Ole H. Petersen, Jan Marino Ramírez, Liliana Schaefer, Morten B. Thomsen, Gina L.C. Yosten

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Persistence And Expansion Of Cryptic Endangered Red Wolf Genomic Ancestry Along The American Gulf Coast, Bridgett M. Vonholdt, Kristin E. Brzeski, Matthew L. Aardema, Christopher J. Schell, Linda Y. Rutledge, Steven R. Fain, Amy C. Shutt, Anna Linderholm, William J. Murphy

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Admixture and introgression play a critical role in adaptation and genetic rescue that has only recently gained a deeper appreciation. Here, we explored the geographical and genomic landscape of cryptic ancestry of the endangered red wolf that persists within the genome of a ubiquitous sister taxon, the coyote, all while the red wolf has been extinct in the wild since the early 1980s. We assessed admixture across 120,621 single nucleotiode polymorphism (SNP) loci genotyped in 293 canid genomes. We found support for increased red wolf ancestry along a west-to-east gradient across the southern United States associated with historical admixture in …

Impacts Of Algal Morphology And Water Flow On Macroalgal Microplastic Capture, Cheyenne M. Adams

Honors College Theses

Microplastic pollution is a major area of concern in marine environments, especially as microplastics enter the food web. This study used pipe cleaners and two lichen species as algal mimics, and Chaetomorpha sp. and Chondrus crispus as model algal species to test the effects of morphology and biomass on microbead and foam capture. This study also utilized two different water flow methods: vortices and waves. Results suggest that water flow, as well as biomass and morphology, play a role in microplastic capture in macroalgae. For all mimics and algal species, except Cladonia lichens, turfs with increased biomass and length showed …

Experimental And Observational Evidence Of Negative Conspecific Density Dependence In Temperate Extomycorrhizal Trees, Fiona V. Jevon, Dayna De La Cruz, Joseph A. Lamanna, Ashley K. Lang, David A. Orwig, Sydne Record, Paige V. Kouba, Matthew P. Ayres, Jaclyn H. Matthes

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) promotes tree species diversity by reducing recruitment near conspecific adults due to biotic feedbacks from herbivores, pathogens, or competitors. While this process is well-described in tropical forests, tests of temperate tree species range from strong positive to strong negative density dependence. To explain this, several studies have suggested that tree species traits may help predict the strength and direction of density dependence: for example, ectomycorrhizal-associated tree species typically exhibit either positive or weaker negative conspecific density dependence. More generally, the strength of density dependence may be predictably related to other species-specific ecological attributes such as …

Post-Fire Seed Dispersal Of A Wind-Dispersed Shrub Declined With Distance To Seed Source, Yet Had High Levels Of Unexplained Variation, Cara Applestein, T. Trevor Caughlin, Matthew J. Germino

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Plant-population recovery across large disturbance areas is often seed-limited. An understanding of seed dispersal patterns is fundamental for determining natural-regeneration potential. However, forecasting seed dispersal rates across heterogeneous landscapes remains a challenge. Our objectives were to determine (i) the landscape patterning of post-disturbance seed dispersal, and underlying sources of variation and the scale at which they operate, and (ii) how the natural seed dispersal patterns relate to a seed augmentation strategy. Vertical seed trapping experiments were replicated across 2 years and five burned and/or managed landscapes in sagebrush steppe. Multi-scale sampling and hierarchical Bayesian models were used to determine the …

Evolution Of Immune Function In Response To Dietary Macronutrients In Male And Female Decorated Crickets, Corinne Letendre, Alejandro Rios-Villamil, Alexandria Williams, James Rapkin, Scott K. Sakaluk, Clarissa M. House, John Hunt

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Although dietary macronutrients are known to regulate insect immunity, few studies have examined their evolutionary effects. Here, we evaluate this relationship in the cricket Gryllodes sigillatus by maintaining replicate populations on four diets differing in protein (P) to carbohydrate (C) ratio (P‐ or C‐biased) and nutritional content (low‐ or high‐nutrition) for >37 generations. We split each population into two; one maintained on their evolution diet and the other switched to their ancestral diet. We also maintained populations exclusively on the ancestral diet (baseline). After three generations, we measured three immune parameters in males and females from each population. Immunity was …

In-Vitro Cell Culture Model To Determine Toxic Effects Of Soil Arsenic Due To Direct Dermal Exposure, Manas Warke, Madeline English, Laura De Marchi, Rohan Deep Sarkar, Srinivas Kannan, Rupali Datta, Smitha Rao

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Arsenic (As) is one of the most toxic environmental pollutants, classified as a Class I carcinogen. Anthropogenic activities have led to an increase in As contamination of soils. Using animal models to study the health impacts of As is time and cost-prohibitive, hence attempts have been made to develop in-vitro cell culture models. However, most studies so far have not represented realistic environmental exposure conditions. We exposed Human Immortalized Keratinocyte (HaCaT) and Primary Human Dermal Fibroblasts (HDFa) cells to the water-soluble fraction of arsenic extracted from As spiked Immokalee soil to study the effect of soil As on skin cells. …

Improving The Growth Performance Of The Mangrove Avicennia Marina Seedlings Using Plant Growth Promoting Actinobacteria, Alanoud Abdulla Al Shamsi

Theses

The combination of commercial fish emulsion (FE) and plant growth-promoting actinobacteria capable of producing plant growth regulators (PGRs) was evaluated as a biofertilizer to enhance growth and development of grey mangrove (Avicennia marina) in the United Arab Emirates. In vitro studies identified the rhizosphere-competent Streptomyces griseorubens UAE1 (Sg) that was able to solubilize phosphorus, produce auxins, cytokinins, gibberellic acid, polyamines, and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase. Growth promotion, nutrient contents and PGR levels in tissues of treated mangrove plants with fish emulsion and/or S. griseorubens UAE1 were further assessed in vivo. Under greenhouse and natural open-field nursery conditions, …

Maternal Effects On Growth Parameters Of Chloris Gayana Under Co2 Enrichment, Ahmed Adnan Mohammed Mashli

Theses

Rhodes grass, Chloris gayana, is commonly used forage plant for grazers, livestock, and cattle. It significantly improves soil fertility and its overall structure by preventing nematode flourishment in soil. It is also used as a cover crop to upgrade soil health by reducing soil erosion and increasing water availability. The present study assessed the effects of CO₂ on the growth, development and maternal effects of C. gayana. The experimental setup was made in such a way that the potential impacts of CO₂ can be measured on the eco-physiological growth of C. gayana by studying successive generations. Generation 1 …

Impacts Of Intermediate And Long-Term Vitamin D Deficiency On The Murine Gastric Epithelial Cells And Acid Secretion, Shaima Raji Sirajudeen

Dissertations

The biological functions of vitamin D (VD) are diverse. It influences immunological response, cell proliferation and differentiation, and calcium homeostasis. However, over one billion people globally are VD deficient. The VD receptors, VDR and PDIA3, mediate the biological activities of VD. Studies on the biological roles of VD are numerous but very little on the stomach. The stomach is divided into three main parts – forestomach, corpus and antrum. Gastric glands, which make up the functional units of the stomach, are made up of numerous cell lineages and are located in the corpus and antrum, which are the glandular parts …

Weather And Climate Change Drive Annual Variation Of Reproduction By An Aerial Insectivore, Michael T. Murphy, Lucas J. Redmond, Amy C. Dolan, Nathan W. Cooper, Karen Shepherdson, Christopher Michael Chutter, Sarah Cancellieri

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

For many bird species, but especially aerial insectivores, reproduction depends on weather. Climate change is likely to intensify effects, but with uncertain consequences. We report 22 years of data on Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) reproduction for two populations located in different hygric environments undergoing climate change; mesic central New York, USA, (NY; 12 years) and xeric southeastern Oregon, USA, (OR: 10 years). Laying date became earlier with increasing temperature in the 30-day period preceding laying in identical fashion at both sites, and in years of early laying, clutch size was larger, length of laying season increased, and failed …

Clearance Of Hiv-1 Or Siv Reservoirs By Promotion Of Apoptosis And Inhibition Of Autophagy: Targeting Intracellular Molecules In Cure-Directed Strategies, Min Chen, Min Li, Marietta M Budai, Andrew P Rice, Jason T Kimata, Mahesh Mohan, Jin Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The reservoirs of the HIV display cellular properties resembling long-lived immune memory cells that could be exploited for viral clearance. Our interest in developing a cure for HIV stems from the studies of immunologic memory against infections. We and others have found that long-lived immune memory cells employ prosurvival autophagy and antiapoptotic mechanisms to protect their longevity. Here, we describe the rationale for the development of an approach to clear HIV-1 by selective elimination of host cells harboring replication-competent HIV (SECH). While reactivation of HIV-1 in the host cells with latency reversing agents (LRAs) induces viral gene expression leading to …

A Hierarchy Of Interactions Between Pathogenic Virus And Vertebrate Host, Robert Friedman

Faculty Publications

This review is of basic models of the interactions between a pathogenic virus and vertebrate animal host. The interactions at the population level are described by a predatory-prey model, a common approach in the ecological sciences, and depend on births and deaths within each population. This ecological perspective is complemented by models at the genetical level, which includes the dynamics of gene frequencies and the mechanisms of evolution. These perspectives are symmetrical in their relatedness and reflect the idealized forms of processes in natural systems. In the latter sections, the general use of deep learning methods is discussed within the …

Administration Of Broadly Neutralizing Anti-Hiv-1 Antibodies At Art Initiation Maintains Long-Term Cd8+ T Cell Immunity, Miriam Rosás-Umbert, Jesper D. Gunst, Marie H. Pahus, Rikke Olesen, Mariane H. Schleimann, Paul W. Denton, Victor Ramos, Adam R. Ward, Natalie N. Kinloch, Dennis C. Copertino, Tuixent Escribà, Anuska Llano, Zabrina L. Brumme, R. Brad Jones, Beatriz Mothe, Christian Brander, Julie Fox, Michel C. Nussenzweig, Sarah Fidler, Marina Caskey, Martin Tolstrup, Ole S. Søgaard

Biology Faculty Publications

In simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)-infected non-human primates, broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) against the virus appear to stimulate T cell immunity. To determine whether this phenomenon also occurs in humans we measured HIV-1-specific cellular immunity longitudinally in individuals with HIV-1 starting antiviral therapy (ART) with or without adjunctive bNAb 3BNC117 treatment. Using the activation-induced marker (AIM) assay and interferon-γ release, we observe that frequencies of Pol- and Gag-specific CD8+ T cells, as well as Gag-induced interferon-γ responses, are significantly higher among individuals that received adjunctive 3BNC117 compared to ART-alone at 3 and 12 months after starting ART. The observed changes in …

Ca2+ Entry Units In A Superfast Fish Muscle, James Matthew Kittelberger, Clara Franzini-Armstrong, Simona Boncompagni

Biology Faculty Publications

Over the past two decades, mounting evidence has demonstrated that a mechanism known as store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) plays a crucial role in sustaining skeletal muscle contractility by facilitating Ca2+ influx from the extracellular space during sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ depletion. We recently demonstrated that, in exercised fast-twitch muscle from mice, the incidence of Ca2+ entry units (CEUs), newly described intracellular junctions between dead-end longitudinal transverse tubular (T-tubule) extensions and stacks of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) flat cisternae, strictly correlate with both the capability of fibers to maintain contractions during fatigue and enhanced Ca2+ influx via SOCE. Here, we tested the …

Design And Assessment Of A Novel Edna Survey Method For The Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon Couperi), Emily K. Galbraith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

1. Accurate information about species range declines is the cornerstone of effective conservation when habitat loss drives biodiversity loss. The Eastern Indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) is an apex predator in Florida and, like many other native Florida species, is threatened by widespread habitat destruction. Environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring of this elusive snake would provide a low-risk and low-cost approach to expand our knowledge of the species’ range and distribution.

2. We designed and tested an eDNA assay that can detect the presence of Eastern Indigo snake from soil samples of their natural habitat. This assay was …

Utilizing Maternal Investment Strategies Of Sharks To Develop Management Tools To Aid In Shark Conservation, Dennis Deeken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Every generation, breeding females and males repopulate ecosystems with the next generation of offspring. Two models link maternal investments in offspring size and number to natural selection processes. In unstable resource environments, bet-hedging models predict a conservative tradeoff in maternal investments resulting in moderate egg size and clutch size within a given range of sizes for a given species. r/K selection models make predictions on maternal investments across species. In unstable resource environments, r-selected species invest in large broods of small offspring. In stable environments, K-selected species invest in small broods of large offspring. The maternal risk management model predicts …