Digital Commons Network^™

Interactions Between Two Key Amphibian Defenses To Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis In Panamanian Glass Frogs (Espadarana Prosoblepon), Andi Levorse

Honors Theses

Research on the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the causative agent of the lethal disease chytridiomycosis, has advanced from assessments of pathogenicity and species susceptibility to more specialized questions concerning the complex interactions between the pathogen, species-specific immune responses, and the environment. Our work examines the potential for interactions between the two most important innate immune defenses of frogs against Bd: secretions of antimicrobial peptides and communities of commensal cutaneous bacteria. While both defenses have been studied individually, little data are available to examine interactions between these defenses. We conducted our study with field captured Panamanian glass frogs …

Community Structure Of The Microbiome Of Ixodes Scapularis In Relation To Sex, Stage, Lineage, And Geography, Christopher Lee Clark

Honors Theses

This study sought to fill these gaps of knowledge ticks as a model species. Based on the known information on the microbiome of vectors, and ticks more specifically, I sought to answer two prominent questions: are there relationships between the microbiome of individual ticks and do ticks from different sexes or life stages have variance in their microbiomes? In reference to my first question, I hypothesized that ticks coming from the same lineage, being the males, 7 Community Structure of the Microbiome of Ixodes scapularis females, and resulting eggs, would have a more similar microbiome to each other than to …

Analyzing Formation Of Silver Nanoparticles From The Filamentous Fungus Fusarium Oxysporum And Their Antimicrobial Activity, Abd-Almohaimen Ahmed, Haider Hamzah, Mohammed Maaroof

Turkish Journal of Biology

In recent years much attention has been paid to the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their important medical applications. The current study employs Fusarium oxysporum for the formation of silver nanoparticles and examines the antimicrobial activity of the particles against some multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbes. Silver nitrate was transformed into silver oxide, forming well-dispersed nanoparticles, by the action of F. oxysporum metabolically. The size of the nanoparticles ranged from 21.3 to 37.3 nm, and UV-spectroscopy showed a peak at 408-411 nm. Moreover, SEM, TEM, and AFM results revealed spherical and oval shapes and showed no sign of aggregation. Furthermore, the …

Platelet Rich Plasma Treatment Application For Multiple Purposes, Eric M. Bendel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatments, a relatively new practice, are used for a variety of medical and clinical treatments. More recently, an increasing number of case studies and research has focused on the efficacy and use of PRP to treat injuries, and potential cosmetic benefits. This article is a compilation of numerous case studies regarding diverse uses of PRP in order to better understand the uses as well as efficacy of the treatment. The applications include: atrophic acne scarring³, orthopedic care², Hepple stage V osteochondral lesion of the talus⁵, chronic non-healing ulcers⁶, …

Community Structure And Epizootic Infection Prevalence Of Northern Wisconsin Anurans, Kayla Christine Watters

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Amphibian populations are declining globally at historically rapid rates, and while a multitude of factors have contributed to amphibian population declines, emerging infectious diseases, such as chytridiomycosis and ranavirus have been linked to a large proportion of the reported amphibian mass mortality events. Distribution and infection prevalence data for chytridiomycosis and ranavirus are lacking, and effective surveillance is crucial. This project aims to describe anuran richness, relative abundance, habitat occupancy, and community structure and to identify the chytridiomycosis and ranavirus infection prevalence rates of the anuran population at Dairymen's Inc. Wood frogs, spring peepers, boreal chorus frogs, northern leopard frogs, …

The Development And Application Of Bioinformatics Core Competencies To Improve Bioinformatics Training And Education, Nicola Mulder, Russell Schwartz, Michelle D. Brazas, Cath Brooksbank, Bruno Gaeta, Sarah L. Morgan, Mark A. Pauley, Anne Rosenwald, Gabriella Rustici, Michael Sierk, Tandy Warnow, Lonnie Welch

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Bioinformatics is recognized as part of the essential knowledge base of numerous career paths in biomedical research and healthcare. However, there is little agreement in the field over what that knowledge entails or how best to provide it. These disagreements are compounded by the wide range of populations in need of bioinformatics training, with divergent prior backgrounds and intended application areas. The Curriculum Task Force of the International Society of Computational Biology (ISCB) Education Committee has sought to provide a framework for training needs and curricula in terms of a set of bioinformatics core competencies that cut across many user …

Synbiotics For Improved Human Health: Recent Developments, Challenges, And Opportunities, Janina A. Krumbeck, Jens Walter, Robert W. Hutkins

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Research on combining pro- and prebiotics as synbiotics to enhance human and animal health has accelerated in the past 10 years, including many clinical trials that have assessed a diverse range of synbiotic formulations. In this review, we summarize these studies as well as the commercial applications of synbiotics that are available. In particular, we critically assess the claimed health benefits of synbiotic applications and the ecological and therapeutic factors to consider when designing synbiotics and discuss the implications of these concepts for future research in this field.

Cd32 Is Expressed On Cells With Transcriptionally Active Hiv But Does Not Enrich For Hiv Dna In Resting T Cells, Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Leticia Kuri-Cervantes, Judith Grau-Exposito, Adam M. Spivak, Racheal A. Nell, Costin Tomescu, Surya Kumari Vadrevu, Leila B. Giron, Carla Serra-Peinado, Meritxell Genesca, Josep Castellvi, Guoxin Wu, Perla M. Del Rio Estrada, Mauricio Gonzalez-Navarro, Kenneth Lynn, Collin T. King, Sai Vemula, Kara Cox, Yanmin Wan, Qingsheng Li, Karam Mounzer, Jay Kostman, Ian Frank, Mirko Paiardini, Daria Hazuda, Gustavo Reyes-Teran, Douglas Richman, Bonnie Howell, Pablo Tebas, Javier Martinez-Picado, Vicente Planelles, Maria J. Buzon, Michael R. Betts, Luis J. Montaner

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The persistence of HIV reservoirs, including latently infected, resting CD4⁺ T cells, is the major obstacle to cure HIV infection. CD32a expression was recently reported to mark CD4⁺ T cells harboring a replication-competent HIV reservoir during antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppression. We aimed to determine whether CD32 expression marks HIV latently or transcriptionally active infected CD4⁺ T cells. Using peripheral blood and lymphoid tissue of ART-treated HIV⁺ or SIV⁺ subjects, we found that most of the circulating memory CD32⁺ CD4⁺ T cells expressed markers of activation, including CD69, HLA-DR, CD25, CD38, and Ki67, and …

Modelling The Effects Of Habitat And Hosts On Tick Invasions, Robyn M. Nadolny, Holly D. Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Many tick species are invading new areas because of anthropogenic changes in the landscape, shifting climatic variables and increasing populations of suitable host species and tick habitat. However, the relative influences of habitat and hosts in tick dispersal and tick population establishment remain in question. A spatially explicit agent-based model was developed to explore the spatio-temporal dynamics of a generic tick population in the years immediately following the introduction of ticks into a novel environment. The general model was then adapted to investigate a case study of two recent tick species invasions into the Mid-Atlantic United States. The recent simultaneous …

Biological Activities Of Phenolic Compounds Extracted From Some Plant Species From East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, Franxisca Mariani

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Ten medicinal plants used in this study are based on the experience of Dayak tribes. The scientific information about these plants are still limited, therefore, the objective of the present study was to analyze their phenolic content and biological activities. A selected species was subjected to successive extraction and compound isolation. The total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity were analyzed by using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and the phosphomolybdenum method, respectively. DPPH and ABTS assays were used for analyzing antioxidant activities. The antibacterial activity was performed against six bacterial strains by agar well diffusion and microdilution methods. The anti-tyrosinase activity used …

Environmental Gradients In Old‐Growth Appalachian Forest Predict Fine‐Scale Distribution, Co‐Occurrence, And Density Of Woodland Salamanders, J. Alex Baecher, Stephen C. Richter

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Woodland salamanders are among the most abundant vertebrate animals in temperate deciduous forests of eastern North America. Because of their abundance, woodland salamanders are responsible for the transformation of nutrients and translocation of energy between highly disparate levels of trophic organization: detrital food webs and high‐order predators. However, the spatial extent of woodland salamanders’ role in the ecosystem is likely contingent upon the distribution of their biomass throughout the forest. We sought to determine if natural environmental gradients influence the fine‐scale distribution and density of Southern Ravine Salamanders (Plethodon richmondi) and Cumberland Plateau Salamanders (P. kentucki). …

Effects Of Nonnative Rainbow Trout On Two Species Of Endemic Mexican Amphibians, A. B. Estrella Zamora, Geoffrey R. Smith, J. A. Lemos-Espinal, G. A. Woolrich-Pina, R. Montoya Ayala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Influences Of Forest Edges And Human Activities On The Dry Season Ranging Patterns Of Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes Schweinfurthii) In Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, Enathe Hasabwamariya

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Great apes, our closest biological relatives are threatened globally by the increasing anthropogenic pressures on their habitat. The major threats to the eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) are hunting for bush meat and illegal trade in chimpanzee infants, habitat loss or fragmentation and disease transmission (IUCN, 2010). Nyungwe National Park (NNP), Rwanda has a population of chimpanzees that face several threats, including hunting for bushmeat, habitat degradation from forest fires and human-wildlife conflicts, and much of these impacts are concentrated at forest edges. The main objectives of this research were to assess the use of forest edges by chimpanzees along …

Relationships Between Factors Influencing Biofilm Formation And Pathogen Retention In Complex Rhizosphere Microbial Communities, Aaron Coristine

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Riparian wetlands are unique habitats facilitating all forms of life. The riverbanks of these environments provide ideal conditions for bacteria, plants, and higher organisms. Of particular interest to this research was the variation in microbial community structure at high, intermediate and poor water quality impacted areas. Assessing the capabilities of plants to retain microbial pathogens was identified. Root systems and corresponding soil are ideal locations for bacterial deposition, resulting in attachment at these areas. Biofilm production in these regions is important for long-term establishment, leading to persistence and potential naturalization. Opportunistic pathogens originating from mammalian fecal matter are introduced into …

Charecterization Of The Innate Immune Response In The Rat Intervertebral Disc At The Tissue And Cellular Level, Matthew Guerreiro

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Low back pain (LBP) affects up to 80% of the global population at some point during their life. The costs associated with LBP are estimated at $100 billion per year, putting significant strains on our healthcare system. As intervertebral disc (IVD) herniation is one of the major causes of LBP we decided to focus on herniation facilitated inflammatory responses, where damage caused by herniation triggers an innate immune response which likely results in pain, inflammation, and recruitment of specialized innate immune cells like macrophages to the affected area. Since the role of the inflammatory response is relatively uncharacterized in the …

Detection Of “Xisco” Gene For Identification Of Streptococcus Pneumoniae Isolates, Francisco Salvà-Serra, Gwendolyn Connolly, Edward Moore, Lucia Gonzales-Siles

Articles

We describe a PCR-assay differentiating Streptococcus pneumoniae from closely-related species of the Mitis group of the genus Streptococcus and identification of pneumococcus clinical isolates, based on the “Xisco” gene discriminatory marker. The complete “Xisco” gene sequence was observed in all S. pneumoniae genomes analyzed and absent in all non-pneumococcus genomes.

A Comparison Of Three Diagnostic Platforms For The Detection Of Influenza A And B In Children, Furqan Kabir, Marvi Tariq, Fatima Aziz, Syed Imran Rizvi, Shahida Qureshi, Syed Asad Ali, Najeeha Talat Iqbal

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Viral flu is the predominant cause of hospitalization in young children, which invariably leads to enhanced morbidity and mortality in children in developing countries. Initial treatment of viral flu is based on presumptive diagnosis. Bedside testing is not common in clinical settings because of variable sensitivity and specificity of rapid tests in different settings.
Methods: To address this issue, we evaluated the performance of Binax influenza A/B rapid testing kit against two robust molecular platforms (quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction [qRT-PCR] and TaqMan array card [TAC]) in 24 nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, collected from children under 5 years of age. …

Multiple Acquisitions Of Pathogen-Derived Francisella Endosymbionts In Soft Ticks, Jonathan G. Gerhart, H. Auguste Dutcher, Amanda E. Brenner, Abraham S. Moses, Libor Grubhoffer, Rahul Raghavan

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bacterial endosymbionts of ticks are of interest due to their close evolutionary relationships with tick-vectored pathogens. For instance, whereas many ticks contain Francisella-like endosymbionts (FLEs), others transmit the mammalian pathogen Francisella tularensis. We recently sequenced the genome of an FLE present in the hard tick Amblyomma maculatum (FLE-Am) and showed that it likely evolved from a pathogenic ancestor. In order to expand our understanding of FLEs, in the current study we sequenced the genome of an FLE in the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata and compared it to the genomes of FLE-Am, Francisella persica—an FLE in the soft tick Argus (Persicargas) …

Identification Of Novel Mites (Miniature Inverted-Repeat Transposable Elements) In Coxiella Burnetii: Implications For Protein And Small Rna Evolution, Shaun Wachter, Rahul Raghavan, Jenny Wachter, Michael F. Minnick

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative gammaproteobacterium and zoonotic agent of Q fever. C. burnetii’s genome contains an abundance of pseudogenes and numerous selfish genetic elements. MITEs (miniature invertedrepeat transposable elements) are non-autonomous transposons that occur in all domains of life and are thought to be insertion sequences (ISs) that have lost their transposase function. Like most transposable elements (TEs), MITEs are thought to play an active role in evolution by altering gene function and expression through insertion and deletion activities. However, information regarding bacterial MITEs is limited. Results: We describe two MITE families discovered during research on small non-coding …

Connecting Chemistry To Community With Deliberative Democracy, Regis Komperda, Jack Barbera, Erin Shortlidge, Gwen Shusterman, Stem Education And Equity Institute, Portland State University

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Science education communities have called for rethinking curricula to improve student understanding of the nature of science and the role of science in addressing controversial modern issues such as climate change, energy policy, and pollution levels. One approach to meeting this call is integrating these topics into class activities that require students to use discussion and scientific approaches to solve problems and deliberate potential policy solutions. Deliberative democracy (DD) is one such active learning approach in which students work in peer groups to reach a consensus on a scientific topic relevant to both real-world issues and course content. During DD …

New Medical Indications For Thalidomide And Its Derivatives, Chaya Newfield

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Thalidomide is an anti-inflammatory and an anti-angiogenesis drug that is being used around the world for a variety of malignant and inflammatory diseases. Is it justified to continue prescribing and developing thalidomide given the discovery of many well-known side effects including catastrophic birth defects? To answer this question, this paper will discuss the pharmacology and history of thalidomide, as well as many of its proposed mechanisms of action.The medical indications for the current use of thalidomide as well as for several newer and more potent derivatives are mentioned for their therapeutic results, as well as their adverse side effects.

Xenotransplantation:The Science, The Advantages, The Ethics, Chana Erlbaum

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Xenotransplantation is a breakthrough medicinal technology that is an attempt to change the lives of millions of people. The problems in the current organ transplant system risk the lives of patients each and every day. Intense waiting periods and extremely costly procedures exemplify the stress and pressure that these patients face as an attempt to save their own lives. Xenotransplantation is the idea of growing human organs in a different species, using incredible stem-cell and CRISPR technology. This can introduce an answer to some of the issues in the current transplant system. Many technical and ethical issues are becoming relevant …

Aging Research Using The Common Marmoset: Focus On Aging Interventions, Corinna N. Ross, Adam B. Salmon

Biology Faculty Publications (Archived)

Traditional animal models have been used to make seminal discoveries in biomedical research including a better understanding of the biology of the aging process. However, translation of these findings from laboratory to clinical populations has likely been hindered due to fundamental biological and physiological differences between common laboratory animals and humans. Non-human primates (NHP) may serve as an effective bridge towards translation, and short-lived NHP like the common marmoset offer many advantages as models for aging research. Here, we address these advantages and discuss what is currently understood about the changes in physiology and pathology that occur with age in …

Molecular Candidates For Blocking The Transmission Of Vector-Borne Diseases, Ashish Naresh Vora

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) require urgent attention as they have a high mortality rate, with 700,000 people dying in a year as of 2017. So far, extremely few reliable vaccination strategies and solutions have emerged. Transmission blocking vaccines are one among many solutions available to manage the control of VBDs. These require identification of both vector and pathogen molecules that play important roles in the transmission, dissemination and establishment of VBDs. Our strategy is to characterize these candidates that play important roles in vector-host-pathogen interactions. This manuscript presents two such studies identifying the participation of two arthropod molecules in vector-host-pathogen interactions. …

Parasitaemia Data And Molecular Characterization Of Haemoproteus Catharti From New World Vultures (Cathartidae) Reveals A Novel Clade Of Haemosporida, Michael J. Yabsley, Ralph E.T. Vanstreels, Ellen S. Martinsen, Alexandra G. Wickson, Amanda E. Holland, Sonia M. Hernandez, Alec T. Thompson, Susan L. Perkins, Christopher A. Lawrence Bryan, Christopher A. Cleveland, Emily Jolly, Justin D. Brown, Dave Mcruer, Shannon Behmke, James C. Beasley

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: New World vultures (Cathartiformes: Cathartidae) are obligate scavengers comprised of seven species in five genera throughout the Americas. Of these, turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) and black vultures (Coragyps atratus) are the most widespread and, although ecologically similar, have evolved differences in morphology, physiology, and behaviour. Three species of haemosporidians have been reported in New World vultures to date: Haemoproteus catharti, Leucocytozoon toddi and Plasmodium elongatum, although few studies have investigated haemosporidian parasites in this important group of species. In this study, morphological and molecular methods were used to investi- gate the epidemiology and molecular biology of haemosporidian parasites of …

Ticks, Ixodes Scapularis, Feed Repeatedly On White-Footed Mice Despite Strong Inflammatory Response: An Expanding Paradigm For Understanding Tick-Host Interactions, Jennifer M. Anderson, Ian N. Moore, Bianca M. Nagata, José M.C. Ribeiro, Jesus G. Valenzuela, Daniel E. Sonenshine

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ticks transmit infectious agents including bacteria, viruses and protozoa. However, their transmission may be compromised by host resistance to repeated tick feeding. Increasing host resistance to repeated tick bites is well known in laboratory animals, including intense inflammation at the bite sites. However, it is not known whether this also occurs in wild rodents such as white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus, and other wildlife, or if it occurs at all. According to the "host immune incompetence" hypothesis, if these mice do not have a strong inflammatory response, they would not reject repeated tick bites by Ixodes scapularis. To test …

Daphnia: A Possible Way To Combat A Deadly Amphibian Pathogen, Taylor Thomas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Globally there is a biodiversity crisis, with many groups of species threatened with extinction due to changes in the environment and human impacts. Amphibians are one such group and according to the IUCN, over 30% of amphibians are threatened by extinction. There are many factors have that can explain the decline of amphibians including pollution, habitat loss, climate change and disease. One factor is chytridiomycosis, an emerging infectious disease caused by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. The chytrid enters the keratinized skin of the amphibian and asexually reproduces, where it disrupts host functions, often leading to host death.

Due to …

Influenza A Virus Genomic Reassortment And Packaging, Graham Devin Williams

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A viruses (IAV) are a major human and environmental pathogen. IAV successfully infects a diverse host range and adaptation of new viral strains to humans may cause pandemic events with high morbidity and mortality. As a member of the Orthomyxoviridae family, IAV inherently possesses a segmented genome, which enables a process of segment transmission between viruses following cellular co-infection, a process termed reassortment. The high rate of IAV mutation and continued co-circulation of diverse viral strains in divergent host species leads to the persistent prospect for emergence of new IAV with pandemic potential. Therefore, it is of great importance …

Mutational Analysis Of The Molluscum Contagiosum Virus Mc160 Protein, Henri Estanbouli

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The Molluscum Contagiosum Virus (MCV), belongs to a family of large DNA viruses called Poxviridae. MCV causes a common skin infection resulting in benign neoplasms. 122 million cases of MC were reported in 2010. The virus is not primarily lethal, though fatalities have occurred due to secondary bacterial infections. Even with the high volume of reported cases, MCV is very much understudied, and its pathogenicity is not well understood. Thus, with that in mind, a more in-depth understanding of the MCV-host interactions is a priority. Presumably during infection, MCV utilizes immune evasion molecules to inhibit activation of the host pro-inflammatory …

Surveying The Circular Rep Encoding Single Stranded (Cress) Dna Viral Consortium Found In Invasive Quagga Mussels (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugensis) And Sediments Of The Central Lake Michigan Benthos, Nicholas Gezon

Masters Theses

Globalization and resulting increases in international trade has allowed for the movement of species between almost all ecosystems on Earth. The Great Lakes in particular has seen a number of high impact invasive species that have moved in following the opening of the lakes to intercontinental shipping trade. This research specifically focuses on the benthic community of Lake Michigan which has seen significant community shifts including declines of the amphipods Diporeia spp. and the expansion of invasive quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis). Little is known about the viral community in the benthos of Lake Michigan and how …