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Ua66 2007 Student Awards Ceremony, Wku Ogden College Of Science & Engineering

WKU Administration Documents

Program recognizing Ogden College students with brief list of activities for each student.

Genomic And Expression Analysis Of Multiple Sry Loci From A Single Rattus Norvegicus Y Chromosome, Monte E. Turner, Carey Martin, Almir S. Martins, Jeffrey Dunmire, Joel Farkas, Daniel L. Ely, Amy Milsted

Biology Faculty Research

Background: Sry is a gene known to be essential for testis determination but is also transcribed in adult male tissues. The laboratory rat, Rattus norvegicus, has multiple Y chromosome copies of Sry while most mammals have only a single copy. DNA sequence comparisons with other rodents with multiple Sry copies are inconsistent in divergence patterns and functionality of the multiple copies. To address hypotheses of divergence, gene conversion and functional constraints, we sequenced Sry loci from a single R. norvegicus Y chromosome from the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat strain (SHR) and analyzed DNA sequences for homology among copies. Next, to determine …

The Deleterious Effects Of Bed Rest On Human Skeletal Muscle Fibers Are Exacerbated By Hypercortisolemia And Ameliorated By Dietary Supplementation, Robert H. Fitts, Janell Romatowski, Jim R. Peters, D. Paddon-Jones, R. R. Wolfe, A. A. Ferrando

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Prolonged inactivity associated with bed rest in a clinical setting or spaceflight is frequently associated with hypercortisolemia and inadequate caloric intake. Here, we determined the effect of 28 days of bed rest (BR); bed rest plus hypercortisolemia (BRHC); and bed rest plus essential amino acid (AA) and carbohydrate (CHO) supplement (BRAA) on the size and function of single slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers. Supplementing meals, the BRAA group consumed 16.5 g essential amino acids and 30 g sucrose at 1100, 1600, and 2100 h, and the BRHC subjects received 5 daily doses of 10–15 mg of oral hydrocortisone sodium succinate …

Human Sex Ratios And Sex Distribution In Sibships Of Size 2, William D. Stansfield, Matthew A. Carlton

Biological Sciences

We previously analyzed data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, 1998 to 2002) on families with two biological children (10 years of age and younger) and found that the distribution of families with two boys, two girls, and one boy + one girl did not statistically conform to a binomial distribution regardless of the boy/girl sex ratio used. Using the best estimate of the sex ratio from the data, we found that there were significantly more families with opposite-sex siblings than families with same-sex siblings. No biological mechanism could explain these results at the time. In the present …

Bass Strike Like Lightning, Steve Huskey

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

First Slaty-Backed Gull For Minnesota, Philip C. Chu

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Associating Larvae And Adults Of Chinese Hydropsychidae Caddiflies (Insecta:Trichoptera) Using Dna Sequences, Xin Zhou, Karl M. Kjer, John C. Morse

Publications

The utility of hydropsychid (Trichoptera:Hydropsychidae) caddisfly larvae for freshwater biomonitoring has been demonstrated, but the major impediment to its implementation has been the lack of species-level larval descriptions and illustrations. A rapid and reliable molecular protocol that also uses morphology is proposed because conventional approaches to associating undescribed larvae with adults have been slow and problematic. Male adults were identified before DNA sequence analyses were used. These identifications established morphospecies boundaries that were mapped on phylograms constructed from 2 independent gene fragments: mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and large subunit (28S) nuclear ribosomal DNA expansion fragment D2 (D2). …

Shark Bay Prawn And Scallop Fisheries. Draft Review Report, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

In recent times, the Department of Fisheries has received representations from both sectors about the ongoing interaction of the fisheries and their respective management settings. As a result, a decision was made to comprehensively review the fisheries, taking into account matters of fishery sustainability and gear interactions, together with industry economics and market considerations. The review has also addressed research requirements to ensure an appropriate scientific basis for decision-making into the future.

Climate, Hydrologic Disturbance, And Succession: Drivers Of Floodplain Pattern, Diane C. Whited, Mark S. Lorang, Mary J. Harner, F. Richard Hauer, John S. Kimball, Jack Arthur Stanford

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Floodplains are among the world's most threatened ecosystems due to the pervasiveness of dams, levee systems, and other modi. cations to rivers. Few unaltered floodplains remain where we may examine their dynamics over decadal time scales. Our study provides a detailed examination of landscape change over a 60-year period ( 1945 - 2004) on the Nyack floodplain of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, a free-flowing, gravel-bed river in northwest Montana, USA. We used historical aerial photographs and airborne and satellite imagery to delineate habitats ( i.e., mature forest, regenerative forest, water, cobble) within the. oodplain. We related changes …

An Extended Stem-Loop 1 Is Necessary For Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 Replication And Affects Genomic Rna Encapsidation, Jean-Marc Lanchy, J. Stephen Lodmell

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Genomic RNA encapsidation in lentiviruses is a highly selective and regulated process. The unspliced RNA molecules are selected for encapsidation from a pool of many different viral and cellular RNA species. Moreover, two molecules are encapsidated per viral particle, where they are found associated as a dimer. In this study, we demonstrate that a 10-nucleotide palindromic sequence (pal) located at the 3' end of the psi encapsidation signal is critical for human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) replication and affects genomic RNA encapsidation. We used short-term and long-term culture of pal-mutated viruses in permissive C8166 cells and their phenotypic reversion …

Bitopic Membrane Topology Of The Stable Signal Peptide In The Tripartite Junin Virus Gp-C Envelope Glycoprotein Complex, Sudhakar S. Agnihothram, Joanne York, Meg Trahey, Jack H. Nunberg

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The stable signal peptide (SSP) of the GP-C envelope glycoprotein of the Junin arenavirus plays a critical role in trafficking of the GP-C complex to the cell surface and in its membrane fusion activity. SSP therefore may function on both sides of the lipid membrane. In this study, we have investigated the membrane topology of SSP by confocal microscopy of cells treated with the detergent digitonin to selectively permeabilize the plasma membrane. By using an affinity tag to mark the termini of SSP in the properly assembled GP-C complex, we find that both the N and C termini reside in …

A Sine-Based Dichotomous Key For Primate Identification, Jacquelyn W. Zimmerman

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Filling Key Gaps In Population And Community Ecology, Anurag A. Agrawal, David D. Ackerly, Fred Adler, A. Elizabeth Arnold, Carla Cáceres, Daniel F. Doak, Eric Post, Peter J. Hudson, John L. Maron, Kailen A. Mooney, Mary Power, Doug Schemske, Jay Stachowicz, Sharon Strauss, Monica G. Turner, Earl Werner

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We propose research to fill key gaps in the areas of population and community ecology, based on a National Science Foundation workshop identifying funding priorities for the next 5–10 years. Our vision for the near future of ecology focuses on three core areas: predicting the strength and context-dependence of species interactions across multiple scales; identifying the importance of feedbacks from individual interactions to ecosystem dynamics; and linking pattern with process to understand species coexistence. We outline a combination of theory development and explicit, realistic tests of hypotheses needed to advance population and community ecology.

Direct And Interactive Effects Of Enemies And Mutualists On Plant Performance: A Meta-Analysis, William F. Morris, Ruth A. Hufbauer, Anurag A. Agrawal, James D. Bever, Victoria A. Borowicz, Gregory S. Gilbert, John L. Maron, Charles E. Mitchell, Ingrid M. Parker, Alison G. Power, Mark E. Torchin, Diego P. Vázquez

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Plants engage in multiple, simultaneous interactions with other species; some (enemies) reduce and others (mutualists) enhance plant performance. Moreover, effects of different species may not be independent of one another; for example, enemies may compete, reducing their negative impact on a plant. The magnitudes of positive and negative effects, as well as the frequency of interactive effects and whether they tend to enhance or depress plant performance, have never been comprehensively assessed across the many published studies on plant–enemy and plant–mutualist interactions. We performed a meta-analysis of experiments in which two enemies, two mutualists, or an enemy and a mutualist …

Spiders Fluoresce Variably Across Many Taxa, Kindra Andrews, Scott M. Reed, Susan E. Masta

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The evolution of fluorescence is largely unexplored, despite the newfound occurrence of this phenomenon in a variety of organisms. We document that spiders fluoresce under ultraviolet illumination, and find that the expression of this trait varies greatly among taxa in this species-rich group. All spiders we examined possess fluorophores in their haemolymph, but bright fluorescence appears to result when a spider sequesters fluorophores in its setae or cuticle. By sampling widely across spider taxa, we determine that fluorescent expression is labile and has evolved multiple times. Moreover, examination of the excitation and emission properties of extracted fluorophores reveals that spiders …

A Cautionary Tale: Cryptic Sexual Size Dimorphism In A Socially Monogamous Passerine, Michael T. Murphy

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Among socially monogamous birds, standard metrics suggest that males are only ∼5% larger than females. An untested assumption is that, with the exception of reproductive systems, males and females are scaled mirror images of one another. I used external morphological and skeletal data, and information on muscle mass and organ size, to test this assumption in a population of breeding Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus). Male and female Eastern Kingbirds exhibited no differences in body mass or standard measures of size, except in a longer (∼6%) wing chord and tail in males. However, keel length, a character rarely measured …

The Tadpole Of Leptodactylus Notoaktites Heyer, 1978 (Anura, Leptodactylidae), Rafael O. De Sá, José A. Langone, Magno V. Segalla

Biology Faculty Publications

The external morphology and oral disc of the tadpole of Leptodactylus notoaktites Heyer, 1978, are described and illustrated for Gosner’s stage 33. The internal oral anatomy was analyzed under SEM at Gosner’s stage 36 whereas chondrocranial anatomy is reported for Gosner’ stage 38. The morphology of this tadpole is compared with those available for other species of the L. mystaceus complex. The overall characteristics do not depart from those known for the genus Leptodactylus and they particularly agree for those of the fuscus species group. The labial tooth row formula is 2(2)/3.

Some Of The Problems Associated With Lcn (Low Copy Number) Testing, Dan E. Krane

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Intrarectal Transmission, Systemic Infection, And Cd4+ T Cell Depletion In Humanized Mice Infected With Hiv-1, Zhifeng Sun, Paul W. Denton, Jacob D. Estes, Florence A. Othieno, Bangdong L. Wei, Anja K. Wege, Michael W. Melkus, Angela Padgett-Thomas, Mary Zupancic, Ashley T. Haase, J. Victor Garcia

Biology Faculty Publications

Intrarectal infection between men who have sex with men represents a predominant form of human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV) transmission in developed countries. Currently there are no adequate small animal models that recapitulate intrarectal HIV transmission. Here we demonstrate that human lymphocytes generated in situ from hematopoietic stem cells reconstitute the gastrointestinal tract of humanized mice with human CD4+ T cells rendering them susceptible to intrarectal HIV transmission. HIV infection after a single intrarectal inoculation results in systemic infection with depletion of CD4+ T cells in gut-associated lymphoid tissue and other pathologic sequela that closely mimics those observed in HIV …

Fresh Water Ecology Unit For Secondary Education Science Courses, Eric L. Hyer

Theses and Dissertations

Science means “to know", a process for gaining knowledge and an understanding of the natural world. Students need to be involved in active learning. In other words, they must do science, not just hear about it. Good science encourages students to gain knowledge by doing science: observing, questioning, exploring, making and testing hypotheses, comparing predictions, evaluating data, and communicating conclusions. This unit plan is designed to incorporate the components of fresh water, ecology, water quality, and a class-wide science project. Each lesson addresses selected standards from the state core curriculum and has specific objectives that are tied to the learning …

Community Composition Of Crustaceans And Gastropods On Caulerpa Prolifera, Halodule Wrightii And Thalassia Testudinum, Jennifer A. Gibson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Distribution Of Apolipoprotein E In Mouse Olfactory Epithelium, Britto Nathan, Sreenivas Nannapaneni, Salina Gairhe, Ikemefuna Nwosu, Robert Struble

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Previous studies from our laboratory suggest that apolipoprotein (apoE), a lipid transporting protein, facilitates olfactory nerve regeneration. We have shown that apoE is enriched in the olfactory nerve and around the glomeruli of the olfactory bulb (OB). The studies reported herein were undertaken to identify possible sources of apoE in the olfactory epithelium (OE). Immunoblotting results revealed apoE expression in the OE of wild-type (WT) mice, but not in apoE deficient/knockout (KO) mice. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that the perikarya and processes of sustentacular (Sus) cells expressed apoE-like immunoreactivity. Minimal neuronal apoE immunostaining was seen, although apoE was observed in the …

The Distribution Of Apolipoprotein E In Mouse Olfactory Epithelium, Britto P. Nathan, Sreenivas Nannapaneni, Salina Gairhe, Ikemefuna Nwosu, Robert G. Struble

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Previous studies from our laboratory suggest that apolipoprotein (apoE), a lipid transporting protein, facilitates olfactory nerve regeneration. We have shown that apoE is enriched in the olfactory nerve and around the glomeruli of the olfactory bulb (OB). The studies reported herein were undertaken to identify possible sources of apoE in the olfactory epithelium (OE). Immunoblotting results revealed apoE expression in the OE of wild-type (WT) mice, but not in apoE deficient/knockout (KO) mice. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that the perikarya and processes of sustentacular (Sus) cells expressed apoE-like immunoreactivity. Minimal neuronal apoE immunostaining was seen, although apoE was observed in the …

A Novel Human B Cell Subpopulation Representing The Initial Germinal Center Population To Express Aid, Grant R. Kolar, Darshna Mehta, Rosana Pelayo, J. Donald Capra

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

We have identified a novel mature human B-cell subpopulation in the human tonsil that has characteristics of both naive B cells and germinal center B cells including the expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which is essential for the process of immunoglobulin somatic hypermutation and class-switch recombination. These cells are clearly somatically hypermutated, albeit modestly. Their phenotype (IgD⁺CD38^-CD23 ^-FSC^hiCD71⁺) is unique and suggests they may be intermediate between both naive and germinal center cells. Morphologically they are also distinct from other B-cell subpopulations. The evidence presented suggests these cells may be …

The Effects Of Western Dwarf Mistletoe (Arceuthobium Campylopodum) On Radial Growth Of Ponderosa Pine (Pinus Ponderosa) In Managed Stands In Eastern Oregon, Sharon Marie Stanton

Dissertations and Theses

Dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp.) are native flowering plants that parasitize a range of conifer species throughout western North America. Dwarf mistletoes are considered destructive forest pathogens, but recent research indicates that mistletoes play a key role in structuring plant communities by increasing structural diversity and providing wildlife habitat. The primary objective of my research is to quantify the structural and functional differences between infected and uninfected forest communities.

I investigated the effects of mistletoe (Arceuthobium campylopodum ) on host community dynamics and the interaction between mistletoe infection and fire in old-growth ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests. …

Ecological And Genetic Evidence That Low-Order Streams Inhibit Dispersal By Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus), D. M. Marsh, R. B. Page, T. J. Hanlon, H. Bareke, R. Corritone, N. Jetter, N. G. Beckman, K. Gardner, D. E. Seifert, P. R. Cabe

Biology Faculty Publications

While many studies have examined the barrier effects of large rivers on animal dispersal and gene flow, few studies have considered the barrier effects of small streams. We used displacement experiments and analyses of genetic population structure to examine the effects of first-order and second-order streams on the dispersal of terrestrial red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus (Green, 1818). We marked red-backed salamanders from near the edges of one first-order stream and one second-order stream, and experimentally displaced them either across the stream or an equal distance farther into the forest. A comparison of return rates indicated that both streams were partial …

Anatomy Of The Recurrent Coastal Sediment Plume In Lake Michigan And Its Impacts On Light Climate, Nutrients, And Plankton, Henry Vanderploeg, Thomas Johengen, Peter J. Lavrentyev, Changsheng Chen, G. A. Lang, M. A. Agy, M. H. Bundy, J. F. Cavaletto, B. J. Eadie, J. R. Liebig, G. S. Miller, S. A. Ruberg, M. J. Mccormick

Biology Faculty Research

As part of the Episodic Events Great Lakes Experiment, we sampled total suspended matter (TSM), light climate, nutrients, and plankton along cross-margin transects in southern Lake Michigan during February, March, and April 1998-2000 to capture conditions before, during, and after the occurrence of storm-driven recurrent coastal sediment plumes to define the anatomy of the resuspension events and get insights into their interactions with nutrients and plankton. Variability in timing and strength of winter storms among years led to different timing, intensity, and extent of plumes among years. TSM concentrations in the core of plumes varied between 15 and 30 mg …

Comparison Of Best Management Practice Adoption Between Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Basin And Southern Rivers Watersheds, B. L. Benham, Amy Braccia, Saied Mostaghimi, J . B. Lowery, P. W. Mcclellan

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Producers in two regions of Virginia (Chesapeake Bay basin and Southern Rivers region) were surveyed to compare farming practices and agricultural best management practice (BMP) adoption. Objectives were to assess farming operations and determine the extent of cost-share and non-cost-share BMP implementation and gain insight into the impact of selected socioeconomic factors on the BMP adoption. Although farming characteristics and producer attitudes toward pollution and water quality were similar, BMP implementation differed between the two regions. Differences in BMP implementation may be due to a more focused, longer-term NPS pollution control educational effort in the Bay basin.

Environmental And Genetic Influences On Mating Strategies Along A Replicated Food Availability Gradient In Guppies (Poecilia Reticulata), Gita R. Kolluru, Gregory F. Grether, Heidy Contreras

Biological Sciences

Food availability is expected to influence the relative cost of different mating tactics, but little attention has been paid to this potential source of adaptive geographic variation in behavior. Associations between the frequency of different mating tactics and resource availability could arise because tactic use responds directly to food intake (phenotypic plasticity), because populations exposed to different average levels of food availability have diverged genetically in tactic use, or both. Different populations of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in Trinidad experience different average levels of food availability. We combined field observations with laboratory “common garden” and diet experiments to examine how this …

Specimens Of The Billfish Xiphiorhynchus Van Beneden, 1871, From The Yazoo Clay Formation (Late Eocene), Louisiana, Harry L. Fierstine, Gary L. Stringer

Biological Sciences

No abstract provided.