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Elm And Lightgbm: A Hybrid Machine Learning Technique With Intelligent Iot To Predict The Cardiovascular Disease, Gorapalli Srinivasa Rao, G Muneeswari May 2024

Elm And Lightgbm: A Hybrid Machine Learning Technique With Intelligent Iot To Predict The Cardiovascular Disease, Gorapalli Srinivasa Rao, G Muneeswari

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Cardiologists can more accurately classify a patient's condition by performing an accurate diagnostic and prognosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The clinical diagnosis, and therapies processes within the medical field have been substantially accelerated by ML-based approaches enabled by IoT-based systems. This structure is based on IoT-based system with enabled ML approach. This study investigates an approach known as ensemble categorization, which enhances the precision of weak algorithms by integrating multiple classifiers. For effective CVD classification, we utilized Ensemble learning machine (ELM) and Light GBM. The appropriate traits are chosen to speed up the categorization process using the Gorilla Troops Optimizer …


Effect Of Sex On The Accumulation Of Hepatic Mercury In Mallards Wintering In Louisiana, Latorya E. Mason May 2024

Effect Of Sex On The Accumulation Of Hepatic Mercury In Mallards Wintering In Louisiana, Latorya E. Mason

Master's Theses

The increase in mercury production through anthropogenic activities has led to a global crisis of mercury pollution that poses a significant threat to the health of both humans and wildlife. Aquatic ecosystems are especially at risk due to the creation of methylmercury, a toxic form of mercury, by sulfate-reducing bacteria in anoxic sediments and soils. Methylmercury enters the food chain where it bioaccumulates in individual organisms and then biomagnified with increasing trophic level. Aquatic birds are useful bioindicators of many pollutants, including mercury, due to their abundance and position in the food chain. Previous studies have primarily focused on mercury …


Chronic High-Salt Diet Activates Tumor-Initiating Stem Cells Leading To Breast Cancer Proliferation, Lisa Tucker, Umer Ali, Deborah A. Lannigan, Jeffrey C. Rathmell, Venkataswarup Tiriveedhi May 2024

Chronic High-Salt Diet Activates Tumor-Initiating Stem Cells Leading To Breast Cancer Proliferation, Lisa Tucker, Umer Ali, Deborah A. Lannigan, Jeffrey C. Rathmell, Venkataswarup Tiriveedhi

Biology Faculty Research

Several chronic inflammatory diseases have been linked to high-salt (HS) diets. Chronic inflammation is an established causative hallmark of cancer. However, a direct role of HS diets in tumorigenesis is yet to be defined. Previous orthotopic murine breast tumor studies have shown that short-term HS diets caused inhibition of tumor growth through the activation of cytotoxic adaptive immune responses. However, there have been experimental challenges in developing a viable chronic HS-diet-based murine tumor model. To address this, we have developed a novel chronic HS diet tumor model through the sequential passaging of tumor cells in mice under HS dietary conditions. …


Post-Stocking Predation And Dispersal Of Stocked Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) In Lake Oahe, South Dakota, Dylan Alan Jon Gravenhof May 2024

Post-Stocking Predation And Dispersal Of Stocked Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) In Lake Oahe, South Dakota, Dylan Alan Jon Gravenhof

Biology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Acoustic telemetry is a tool commonly used to better understand the fates of fish following a stocking event. Until recently, predation on stocked fish could only be inferred by observing and identifying abrupt changes in tag detection histories. Recently, a novel predation transmitter has provided better insight into how predation affects post-stocking survival. The main objectives of this study were to use these transmitters to 1) estimate predation rates on stocked juvenile Chinook Salmon in a landlocked system (Lake Oahe, South Dakota) and 2) estimate dispersal rates and residency times of the Chinook Salmon after stocking. Additionally, our secondary objectives …


Assessing The Influences Of Stocking And Introduced Alewife On Walleye Recruitment In Lake Mcconaughy, Nebraska, Logan Zebro May 2024

Assessing The Influences Of Stocking And Introduced Alewife On Walleye Recruitment In Lake Mcconaughy, Nebraska, Logan Zebro

Biology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Lake McConaughy is an important socioeconomic reservoir in Nebraska and Walleye is the priority management species. Walleye have been stocked annually since 1989 to support the Walleye population, however, adult Walleye relative abundance has steadily declined since the early 1990s. Additionally, in 1986, Alewives were introduced to improve the growth and body condition of adult Walleye, which subsequently increased the population size structure. However, Alewives can have negative influences on the recruitment of other fish species through predation and competition. Although Alewives have been in this reservoir for nearly 40 years, there have been no evaluations on the influence of …


Evolution Repeats Itself In Replicate Long-Term Studies In The Wild, Patrik Nosil, Clarissa F. De Carvalho, Romain Villoutreix, Laura S. Zamorano, Marion Sinclair-Waters, Nicholas P. Planidin, Thomas L. Parchman, Jeffrey Feder, Zach Gompert May 2024

Evolution Repeats Itself In Replicate Long-Term Studies In The Wild, Patrik Nosil, Clarissa F. De Carvalho, Romain Villoutreix, Laura S. Zamorano, Marion Sinclair-Waters, Nicholas P. Planidin, Thomas L. Parchman, Jeffrey Feder, Zach Gompert

Biology Faculty Publications

The extent to which evolution is repeatable remains debated. Here, we study changes over time in the frequency of cryptic color-pattern morphs in 10 replicate long-term field studies of a stick insect, each spanning at least a decade (across 30 years of total data). We find predictable “up-and-down” fluctuations in stripe frequency in all populations, representing repeatable evolutionary dynamics based on standing genetic variation. A field experiment demonstrates that these fluctuations involve negative frequency-dependent natural selection (NFDS). These fluctuations rely on demographic and selective variability that pushes populations away from equilibrium, such that they can reliably move back toward it …


The Stability Of Epigenetic Variants That Can Act As Loci Causing Phenotypic Change, Raul Faburrieta May 2024

The Stability Of Epigenetic Variants That Can Act As Loci Causing Phenotypic Change, Raul Faburrieta

Biology Theses

Epigenetic variations are a possible source of heritable phenotypic variation. In this study I focus on phenotypic alterations seen in epigenetic Recombinant Inbred Lines (epiRILs) of Arabidopsis thaliana. These epiRILs allow me to study the effects differentially methylated regions (DMRs) have on phenotypic variance. In a study performed in 2014 by Cortijo et al., they found that DMR’s affect flowering time and root length when grown under greenhouse conditions. In this study, I replicated the Cortijo et al. (2014) study, with some changes, to see whether the same significant eQTL regions are found. I found that, some of the eQTLs …


Sex Differences In Innate Immune Response Following Peanut Exposure, Sunanda Rajput May 2024

Sex Differences In Innate Immune Response Following Peanut Exposure, Sunanda Rajput

Biology Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Knowledge of the immunological mechanisms involved in the development of peanut (PN) allergy remains unclear. Analysis of US adults showed that females were twice as likely to develop PN allergy during childhood, indicating sex hormones may regulate PN allergic responses. This study aims to understand the role of sex hormones in the response of mast cells (MCs) and Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) to PN. Previously, androgen receptor-deficient (ARTfm) mice showed higher levels of PN-specific antibody and worse anaphylactic response to PN than wild type (WT) males. WT males also displayed less severe anaphylactic response compared to ARTfm and …


Ciliary Tip Actin Dynamics Regulate Photoreceptor Outer Segment Integrity, Roly Megaw, Abigail Moye, Zhixian Zhang, Fay Newton, Fraser Mcphie, Laura C Murphy, Lisa Mckie, Feng He, Melissa K Jungnickel, Alex Von Kriegsheim, Peter A Tennant, Chloe Brotherton, Christine Gurniak, Alecia K Gross, Laura M Machesky, Theodore G Wensel, Pleasantine Mill May 2024

Ciliary Tip Actin Dynamics Regulate Photoreceptor Outer Segment Integrity, Roly Megaw, Abigail Moye, Zhixian Zhang, Fay Newton, Fraser Mcphie, Laura C Murphy, Lisa Mckie, Feng He, Melissa K Jungnickel, Alex Von Kriegsheim, Peter A Tennant, Chloe Brotherton, Christine Gurniak, Alecia K Gross, Laura M Machesky, Theodore G Wensel, Pleasantine Mill

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

As signalling organelles, cilia regulate their G protein-coupled receptor content by ectocytosis, a process requiring localised actin dynamics to alter membrane shape. Photoreceptor outer segments comprise an expanse of folded membranes (discs) at the tip of highly-specialised connecting cilia, into which photosensitive GPCRs are concentrated. Discs are shed and remade daily. Defects in this process, due to mutations, cause retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Whilst fundamental for vision, the mechanism of photoreceptor disc generation is poorly understood. Here, we show membrane deformation required for disc genesis is driven by dynamic actin changes in a process akin to ectocytosis. We show RPGR, a …


An Unexpected Path For Malat1 In Neurons: Trafficking Out Of The Nucleus For Translation, Bradley W Wright, Jeremy E Wilusz May 2024

An Unexpected Path For Malat1 In Neurons: Trafficking Out Of The Nucleus For Translation, Bradley W Wright, Jeremy E Wilusz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The Malat1 (metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1) long noncoding RNA is highly and broadly expressed in mammalian tissues, accumulating in the nucleus where it modulates expression and pre-mRNA processing of many protein-coding genes. In this issue of Genes & Development, Xiao and colleagues (doi:10.1101/gad.351557.124) report that a significant fraction of Malat1 transcripts in cultured mouse neurons are surprisingly exported from the nucleus. These transcripts are packaged with Staufen proteins in RNA granules and traffic down the lengths of neurites. They then can be released in a stimulus-dependent manner to be locally translated into a microprotein that alters neuronal gene …


Synthetic Biology Enablement: From Academic Development To Industrial Transformation, Yan Xiong, Xueqing Ma, Daming Chen, Xiao Liu, Guoping Zhao May 2024

Synthetic Biology Enablement: From Academic Development To Industrial Transformation, Yan Xiong, Xueqing Ma, Daming Chen, Xiao Liu, Guoping Zhao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Synthetic biology revolutionizes the comprehension of life systems from an engineering perspective, employing a “bottomup” approach in life science research. It adopts an iterative research paradigm of “design-build-test-learn” in life science research and creates engineered new life systems grounded in genomics and systems biology. This provides a new pathway of “from creation to understanding” for life sciences, departing from the traditional reductionist research strategy of “study the whole to understand the parts” and opening up a new culture of “building to understand” the essence of life. Additionally, synthetic biology elevates existing biotechnologies previously based on “simulating natural processes” and “genetic …


Analysing An Imbalanced Stroke Prediction Dataset Using Machine Learning Techniques, Viswapriya Subramaniyam Elangovan, Rajeswari Devarajan, Osamah I. Khalaf, Mhd Saeed Sharif, Wael Elmedany May 2024

Analysing An Imbalanced Stroke Prediction Dataset Using Machine Learning Techniques, Viswapriya Subramaniyam Elangovan, Rajeswari Devarajan, Osamah I. Khalaf, Mhd Saeed Sharif, Wael Elmedany

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

A stroke is a medical condition characterized by the rupture of blood vessels within the brain which can lead to brain damage. various symptoms may be exhibited when the brain's supply of blood and essential nutrients is disrupted. To forecast the possibility of brain stroke occurring at an early stage using Machine Learning and Deep Learning is the main objective of this study. Timely detection of the various warning signs of a stroke can significantly reduce its severity. This paper performed a comprehensive analysis of features to enhance stroke prediction effectiveness. A reliable dataset for stroke prediction is taken from …


Potential Enhancement Of Microbial Disinfection Using Oxygen Enriched Cold Atmospheric-Pressure Argon (Ar/O2) Plasma Jet, Waleed O. Younis, Mahmoud M. Berekaa, Mostafa A. Ellbban, Abdel-Sattar S. Gadallah, Jamal Q. Almarashi, Abdel-Aleam H. Mohamed May 2024

Potential Enhancement Of Microbial Disinfection Using Oxygen Enriched Cold Atmospheric-Pressure Argon (Ar/O2) Plasma Jet, Waleed O. Younis, Mahmoud M. Berekaa, Mostafa A. Ellbban, Abdel-Sattar S. Gadallah, Jamal Q. Almarashi, Abdel-Aleam H. Mohamed

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Oxygen activated cold-atmospheric-pressure-argon plasma jet (APPJ) has gained prominence over the regular argon plasma especially in disinfection and decontamination. As an objective of the current research, an oxygen-enriched argon system was built, where plasma produced through a vessel metallic tube that is introduced into alumina one. A sinusoidal high voltage signal of 25 kHz was used to generate plasma jet. Potential impact of oxygen enriched APP jet (Ar/O2) in decontamination of different microbial cells was observed. For examination, suspension of each tested microbe was placed in contact with plasma jet nearly 10 mm away from the jet nozzle …


A Potential Of Watercress Nasturtium Officinale Bioactive Compounds In Inhibiting Infectious Myonecrosis Virus (Imnv) By Targeting Rna-Dependent Rna Polymerase (Rdrp) Virus From Several Countries: In Silico Approach, Qurrota A’Yunin, Fatchiyah Fatchiyah, Maftuch Maftuch, Feri Eko Hermanto, Muhammad Hermawan Widyananda, Narendra Santika Hartana, Muhaimin Rifa’I, Yoga Dwi Jatmiko May 2024

A Potential Of Watercress Nasturtium Officinale Bioactive Compounds In Inhibiting Infectious Myonecrosis Virus (Imnv) By Targeting Rna-Dependent Rna Polymerase (Rdrp) Virus From Several Countries: In Silico Approach, Qurrota A’Yunin, Fatchiyah Fatchiyah, Maftuch Maftuch, Feri Eko Hermanto, Muhammad Hermawan Widyananda, Narendra Santika Hartana, Muhaimin Rifa’I, Yoga Dwi Jatmiko

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) disease causes mass mortality and decreased shrimp production. The RdRp region projects to the interior, where it may function in transcription. The focus of this study was to determine the effect of amino acid polymorphisms from several countries on the structure of RdRp and identify the potential of watercress in inhibiting IMNV by targeting the RdRp protein of IMNV through an in silico approach. The results showed that the structure of the IMNV RdRp protein from Indonesia was similar to Mexico, and the protein structure from India_QDN was identical to India_QIL. Ligand binding affinity values showed …


Extraction Of Morphometric Features The Shape Of Mangrove Leaves Based On Digital Images And Classification Using The Support Vector Machine, Ishak Ariawan, Della Ayu Lestari, Luthfi Anzani, Tri Yanti, Cakra Rahardjo, M. Saleh, Sahril Angga Permana, Dea Aisyah Rusmawati May 2024

Extraction Of Morphometric Features The Shape Of Mangrove Leaves Based On Digital Images And Classification Using The Support Vector Machine, Ishak Ariawan, Della Ayu Lestari, Luthfi Anzani, Tri Yanti, Cakra Rahardjo, M. Saleh, Sahril Angga Permana, Dea Aisyah Rusmawati

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

At present, several botanists still rely on the use of manual estimating methods to assess the carbon content in mangrove. However, these methods have been reported to be extremely time-consuming, showing the need to develop a system for prediction. An effective solution lies in the creation of an artificial intelligence application, which can provide rapid and cost-effective results. In constructing this application, careful consideration must be given to the selection of parameters or attributes. Species is an essential parameter for the assessment of carbon content, but its determination has proven to be challenging due to the similarities of mangrove. The …


On The Importance Of Sequence Alignment Inspections In Plastid Phylogenomics – An Example From Revisiting The Relationships Of The Water-Lilies, Jessica A. Roestel, John H. Wiersema, Robert K. Jansen, Thomas Borsch, Michael Gruenstaeudl May 2024

On The Importance Of Sequence Alignment Inspections In Plastid Phylogenomics – An Example From Revisiting The Relationships Of The Water-Lilies, Jessica A. Roestel, John H. Wiersema, Robert K. Jansen, Thomas Borsch, Michael Gruenstaeudl

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The water-lily clade represents the second earliest-diverging branch of angiosperms. Most of its species belong to Nymphaeaceae, of which the “core Nymphaeaceae”—comprising the genera Euryale, Nymphaea and Victoria—is the most diverse clade. Despite previous molecular phylogenetic studies on the core Nymphaeaceae, various aspects of their evolutionary relationships have remained unresolved. The length-variable introns and intergenic spacers are known to contain most of the sequence variability within the water-lily plastomes. Despite the challenges with multiple sequence alignment, any new molecular phylogenetic investigation on the core Nymphaeaceae should focus on these noncoding plastome regions. For example, a new plastid phylogenomic study on …


Towards A New Role Of Mitochondrial Hydrogen Peroxide In Synaptic Function, Cliyahnelle Z. Alexander May 2024

Towards A New Role Of Mitochondrial Hydrogen Peroxide In Synaptic Function, Cliyahnelle Z. Alexander

Student Theses and Dissertations

Aerobic metabolism is known to generate damaging ROS, particularly hydrogen peroxide. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive molecules containing oxygen that have the potential to cause damage to cells and tissues in the body. ROS are highly reactive atoms or molecules that rapidly interact with other molecules within a cell. Intracellular accumulation can result in oxidative damage, dysfunction, and cell death. Due to the limitations of H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) detectors, other impacts of ROS exposure may have been missed. HyPer7, a genetically encoded sensor, measures hydrogen peroxide emissions precisely and sensitively, even at sublethal levels, during …


Optogenetic Induction Of Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress As A Potential Model To Study Non-Hereditary Als, Samia Alam May 2024

Optogenetic Induction Of Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress As A Potential Model To Study Non-Hereditary Als, Samia Alam

Student Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondrial dysfunction is a common denominator of neurodegenerative diseases, including hereditary and non-hereditary Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Ten percent of ALS cases are hereditary while a majority are sporadic, with no known hereditary link. For effective therapeutic approaches to be developed, there is a need for development of a sporadic animal model to better understand disease mechanism. In previous work, our laboratory developed an animal model (known as mitokiller flies) to study sporadic cases of ALS. The work reported in this honors thesis focuses on the use of optogenetics and electrophysiology recording to study the formation of excessive hydrogen peroxide …


Downregulation Of Dax-1 Expression Via Mirna Overexpression As A Mechanism To Potentiate Breast Cancer, Nicholas C. Devito May 2024

Downregulation Of Dax-1 Expression Via Mirna Overexpression As A Mechanism To Potentiate Breast Cancer, Nicholas C. Devito

Master's Theses

The orphan nuclear receptor DAX-1 (Dosage Sensitive Sex Reversal, Adrenal Hypoplasia Congenita, critical region on the X chromosome, gene 1) plays a key role in mammalian sex determination and steroidogenesis. In addition to these canonical examples, DAX-1 has been shown to play a contradictory role in cancer development. While DAX-1 is overexpressed in lung and prostate cancer, it is downregulated in breast cancer. One of the explanations for the paradoxical role of DAX-1 in cancer development could be microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation. After broadly surveying over 96 miRNAs historically upregulated in MCF7 breast cancer cells, we compared the expression of DAX-1 …


Impact Of Toll-Like Receptor 10 Mutations On Tuberculosis Infections, Adriana Nicole Rafael, Sangman Kim May 2024

Impact Of Toll-Like Receptor 10 Mutations On Tuberculosis Infections, Adriana Nicole Rafael, Sangman Kim

Master's Theses

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), is a leading global health crisis causing millions of cases and deaths each year. Though it affects individuals of any race, ethnicity, or cultural group, research shows the disease disproportionately affects individuals with Asian ancestry. Immunity to M. tb starts with its recognition by pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are key players in immune responses. TLR-10, an understudied toll-like receptor due to its inability to be studied through mouse models, is thought to play a key role in the clearance of inflammatory diseases. SNP I775V, …


Astrocyte Spatial Distribution Affects Growth Dynamics Of Breast Cancer Brain Metastases: An Agent-Based Modeling Study, Rupleen Kaur May 2024

Astrocyte Spatial Distribution Affects Growth Dynamics Of Breast Cancer Brain Metastases: An Agent-Based Modeling Study, Rupleen Kaur

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.


Tracking Food Quality In Algae-Daphnia Ecosystems Through Stage Structured Models And Colimitation, Tomas Ascoli May 2024

Tracking Food Quality In Algae-Daphnia Ecosystems Through Stage Structured Models And Colimitation, Tomas Ascoli

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.


Multiscale Modeling Of Microtubule Polarity Mechanisms Following Neuronal Axotomy, Hannah Scanlon May 2024

Multiscale Modeling Of Microtubule Polarity Mechanisms Following Neuronal Axotomy, Hannah Scanlon

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.


Increasing Bacterial Tolerance And Metabolism Of The Biofuel, N-Butanol Using Community-Level Evolution And Functional Genomics, Kayley T. You Mak May 2024

Increasing Bacterial Tolerance And Metabolism Of The Biofuel, N-Butanol Using Community-Level Evolution And Functional Genomics, Kayley T. You Mak

Biology ETDs

Bioremediation capability should be developed along with biofuel technology to mitigate the potential damage of future spills. Biobutanol is being developed since n-butanol is more energy dense and less volatile than ethanol. A bottleneck for industrial production of biobutanol is its toxicity; most microbes cannot survive ~1.5% v/v. Thus, microbial bioremediation of n-butanol would need microbes that can both tolerate and metabolize butanol. We used ecological and evolutionary biology approaches to find bacteria that could tolerate and metabolize butanol. Ecological community-level assays followed by 16S amplicon sequencing were completed to identify butanol-tolerant artificial bacterial communities. Secondly, we looked for bacteria …


Maturation Of An Off-Channel Habitat Concept To Conserve Native Fishes In The Lower Colorado River, Paul C. Marsh, Thomas E. Dowling, Thomas F. Turner, Megan J. Osborne, Brian R. Kesner May 2024

Maturation Of An Off-Channel Habitat Concept To Conserve Native Fishes In The Lower Colorado River, Paul C. Marsh, Thomas E. Dowling, Thomas F. Turner, Megan J. Osborne, Brian R. Kesner

Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist

Two endemic, “large river” fishes of the Colorado River basin of western North America, bonytail Gila elegans and razorback sucker Xyrauchen texanus, are among several critically endangered species in the system. Wild populations of bonytail are gone, and there are no self-sustaining populations of razorback sucker anywhere; reproduction occurs but recruitment does not. Both species have been under intensive management in the Lower Colorado River since the 1980s. Today, with the single exception of Lake Mead, remaining populations are composed entirely of repatriated individuals that depend on stocking for their continued existence. In 2003, a conceptual off-channel habitat (OCH) …


Energetic Cost Of Biosynthesis Is A Missing Link Between Growth And Longevity In Mammals, Chen Hou May 2024

Energetic Cost Of Biosynthesis Is A Missing Link Between Growth And Longevity In Mammals, Chen Hou

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Comparative Studies of Aging Have Established a Negative Correlation between Gompertz Postnatal Growth Constant and Maximum Lifespan Across Mammalian Species, But the Underlying Physiological Mechanism Remains Unclear. This Study Shows that the Gompertz Growth Constant Can Be Decomposed into Two Energetic Components, Mass-Specific Metabolic Rate and the Energetic Cost of Biosynthesis, and that after Controlling the Former as a Confounder, the Negative Correlation between Growth Constant and Lifespan Still Exists Due to a 100-Fold Variation in the Latter, Revealing that the Energetic Cost of Biosynthesis is a Link between Growth and Longevity in Mammals. Previously, the Energetic Cost of …


Intraguild Competition Is More Severe In Obligate Mutualisms Than In Facultative Mutualisms, Thomas Johnson May 2024

Intraguild Competition Is More Severe In Obligate Mutualisms Than In Facultative Mutualisms, Thomas Johnson

Theses - ALL

Mutualism, or the beneficial interaction of species, is an important and widespread interaction type in nature. Mutualist species exchange goods or services that benefit the species involved. These benefits can include protection from predators, parasites, and disease, dispersal of individuals, offspring, or gametes, and provisioning of various nutrients. Well-known mutualisms include the pollination of flowering plants by insects, birds, and other animals and the interaction between clownfish and sea anemones. Many mutualistic associations are less visible than these examples, as organisms often form beneficial relationships with microorganisms, like the many beneficial bacteria that live in the human gut, or the …


Investigating Vocal Development In Humpback Whales: Caller Identification, Acoustic And Movement Behavior, And Comparisons Across Age, Julia Marie Zeh May 2024

Investigating Vocal Development In Humpback Whales: Caller Identification, Acoustic And Movement Behavior, And Comparisons Across Age, Julia Marie Zeh

Dissertations - ALL

Studying variation in individual behavior can elucidate drivers related to factors like age, social context, and the environment. Differences in behavior with age are a product of survival needs and developmental differences as animals physiologically mature and modify their behaviors in response to experience. Learning is of particular interest across taxa because it is fundamental to the development of complex behaviors, from problem-solving to social hierarchies to animal songs and human language. Humpback whales (Megaptera noveaeangliae) exhibit a variety of complex and culturally transmitted behaviors across their range, including a diverse acoustic repertoire. Despite decades of research on adult behavior, …


Transcriptional And Environmental Regulation Of A Putative Xylan Biosynthesis Gene, Ptrparvus2 In Poplar, Dan Wang May 2024

Transcriptional And Environmental Regulation Of A Putative Xylan Biosynthesis Gene, Ptrparvus2 In Poplar, Dan Wang

Dissertations - ALL

Secondary cell wall (SCW) biosynthesis plays a crucial role in plant development and biomass production, with implications for various industries, including biofuels and forestry. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms governing SCW formation is essential for manipulating plant cell wall composition and properties to improve biomass yield and quality. In this study, we investigated the regulatory mechanisms controlling SCW biosynthesis in poplar, focusing on the transcriptional regulation of PtrPARVUS2, a putative gene involved in SCW formation. The regulatory mechanisms governing SCW biosynthesis in poplar were investigated, with a focus on the transcriptional regulation of PtrPARVUS2. Bioinformatic analysis of the PtrPARVUS2 promoter revealed …


The Tissue-Specific Role Of Smn-1 In C. Elegans, Lindsey Philips May 2024

The Tissue-Specific Role Of Smn-1 In C. Elegans, Lindsey Philips

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive disease that results from mutations in the Survival Motor Neuron (SMN-1) gene. Although SMN is a ubiquitously expressed protein that acts as an RNA-binding protein (RBP), SMA is characterized by the selective degeneration of motor neurons of the lower spinal cord. Despite a clear understanding of the genetic causes underlying SMA, the mechanisms associated with low SMN levels to disease pathogenesis remains unclear. Here, we investigate the role SMN-1 has in different tissues to begin understanding possible mechanisms. This project has three aims that has guided our experiments. The first aim is …