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The Influence Of The 5e Learning Cycle Strategy With A Link Map On Students' Mastery Of Physics Concepts And Science Process Skills, Dian Farida Rosanti, Markus Diantoro, Sentot Kusairi, Erni Yulianti

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

Link maps help students correlate interconcepts in order to facilitate students mastery of the concept learned. The researcher accompanied the link map in learning to find out its effect on concept mastery and students science process skills. This study used a quasi-experimental research design by providing a posttest only for the control group. The sample consisted of two classes, divided into an experimental class and a control class. The experimental class was taught using the 5E learning cycle strategy accompanied by a link map, and the control class was taught using the 5E learning cycle strategy only. The results of …

Epistemological Obstacles Of Students In Accomplishing Hots Tests According To Field-Dependent Cognitive Style, Widi Candika Pakaya, Fattah Hanurawan

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

The main goal of this study is to describe the epistemological obstacles faced by students with field-dependent cognitive styles when attempting to solve HOTS questions. This study uses a qualitative-descriptive methodology. The instruments used are cognitive style tests and HOTS questions. Data is collected through interviews and student work. The research subjects were two participants in third-semester PGSD students at Universitas Negeri Gorontalo. In this study, the data were analyzed by identifying the answers of two respondents to the indicators of epistemological barriers that had been done by the students and then interviewing the respondents. The results of this study …

Ecoliteracy Analysis And Science Teaching Materials: A Survey In Junior High Schools, Ghina Nisrina Ramadhanti, Indarini Dwi Pursitasari, Indriyani Rachman

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

The study aims to analyze ecoliteracy and the teaching materials required for 21st century learning these days. The study employs the survey method by involving population of 104 junior high school students in grade VIII in Bogor City. The data are collected using ecoliteracy tests and interviews and analyzed using descriptive statistics techniques. The results showed that 48 students (46.15%) fall into the category of lacking ecoliteracy cognitive competence. The results of the questionnaire on the competence of attitudes, skills, and human relations with nature fall into the medium category. Therefore, in order to support the improvement of students’ ecoliteracy, …

Population Genetics And Morphometrics Of Overwintering Swamp Sparrows (Melospiza Georgiana) At Panola Mountain State Park, Ashley Mcmahon

Graduate Research Showcase

Grassland birds are facing the greatest decline of any bird guild in North America due to widespread loss of grassland habitats. Conservation efforts tend to focus on birds that breed in grasslands, but grassland habitat loss will also negatively affect populations that overwinter in grasslands. Three Swamp Sparrow subspecies (Melospiza georgiana georgiana, M. g. ericrypta, M. g. nigrescens) segregate on at least some of their breeding grounds but may mix on wintering grounds, which often includes grasslands. Philopatric passerines often also segregate by sex on wintering grounds. Thus, loss of overwintering grasslands may disproportionately impact both subspecies and sex, leading …

Preliminary Analysis Of Landscape Associations For Virginia Opossum Roadkills, Lucy Beck

Graduate Research Showcase

Methods for mitigating wildlife-vehicle collisions are important for the health of local wildlife populations and for driver safety. A variety of spatial, temporal, and biological factors are known to influence these collisions, and the combination of these factors varies for any given road. Therefore, understanding the spatial distribution of roadkill on the local landscape scale is required for effective mitigation planning. Furthermore, the distribution of roadkill on a local scale aids in our understanding of species’ ranges and the environmental factors associated with habitat use. A total of 620 Virginia Opossums (Didelphis virginiana) roadkills were recorded during a 10-year period …

Fluorescent Analysis Of Protein Localization In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Lewis Barr, Ellen France Phd

Graduate Research Showcase

A principal objective of cellular biology is to identify the function of proteins as they interact with their environment. Cellular localization provides context for the function and interactions of proteins. In this study, we seek to identify the localization of three proteins within Saccharomyces cerevisiae through C-terminal green fluorescent protein epitope tagging and subsequent fluorescent microscopy. As 75% of the yeast proteome has been classified, this project seeks to fill the remaining gap in unidentified cellular localization by investigating the proteins fsh3, gid10, and ade13. The analysis of high-resolution localization and comparative phylogenetic data reveals potential cellular environments and protein …

Emerging Vibrio Harveyi And Vibrio Campbellii Pathogens In Georgia Waters, Cameron Brown

Graduate Research Showcase

In the face of global warming and ocean acidification, waterborne pathogens are geographically expanding and rapidly evolving. The Vibrio genus contains a number of pathogens of humans and aquatic animals, many of which benefit from elevated temperatures and low pH conditions. Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio campbellii belong to the Harveyi clade and are barely distinguishable upon their genetic make-up. Natively found in warm waters of Asia and South America, these species are well-established pathogens that infect fish, shrimp, and mollusks. Due to climate change, the Southeastern United States is potentially becoming an accommodating environment for these pathogens, however this has …

The Effect Of Callery Pear (Pyrus Calleryana) On Soil Macrofauna (Diplopoda And Oligochaeta), Joseph M. Mcgee, Bruce Snyder

Graduate Research Showcase

Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is a relatively recent invader of North America. Its ecological effects are still being explored, including those affecting soil macrofauna such as millipedes (Diplopoda) and earthworms (Clitellata: Oligochaeta). These animals play important roles in many soil processes so understanding how they respond to invasive species is vital to soil health. A previous study exploring potential herbicide control was completed in 2019, however as of 2022 there are still treatment zones with little to no Callery pear alongside fully invaded plots, providing an optimal habitat mosaic for comparison. This allowed us to pursue two research goals: To …

Effects Of Roadways On Seasonal Movement Strategies And Mate Location Success In An Imperiled Pit Viper (Crotalus Horridus), Elizabeth J. Noble

Graduate Research Showcase

Understanding animal movement behavior is fundamental to effective conservation and management. Within populations, various movement strategies can be displayed in search of critical resources, and these strategies are influenced by multiple factors related to individuals and the environment. Mating partners are one critical resource that affect movement during mating seasons. For many large-bodied snakes, male mate-searching movements are the primary determinant of mate location success, however, males incur significant risks associated with elevated movement. In an increasingly human-modified world, this often includes increased interactions with anthropogenic landscape features. A recent range-wide status assessment for Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) identified roadways …

Comparison Of Avian And Non-Avian Reptile Digestion On Small Mammal Remains And The Implications For Palaeoecological Interpretations., Todd B. Bennett*

Graduate Research Showcase

Small mammals are a uniquely important group in understanding paleoecology due to their restricted habitat and sensitivity to changing environments. The use of small mammal fossils has been widely documented in taphonomical and paleontological research, mainly in the form of owl pellet analysis. However, few studies have focused on other animal clades, though a small number have examined digestive damage due to mammals and reptiles. Research presented here examines digestive modification of small mammals caused by various species of snakes, a previously unresearched taxa, compared to previous work done on owl pellets. This study lays out a systematic approach for …

The Influence Of Gmos On The Composition Of The Gut Microbiome, Shawnia Rakhshani, Hailey Wight

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Genetically modified organisms have been used for decades in agriculture across the world. The use of GMOs has been advertised as a solution to many agricultural issues. However, people have raised concerns about GMOs reshaping human health, and more importantly, the composition of the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome has a vital role in human health through digestion, immune abilities, and protection against disease-causing bacteria. If any disturbances occur in the microbiome, it can have negative effects on an individual’s overall health and wellbeing. Our paper investigates the pros and cons of ingesting GMOs in relation to our human gut …

Surveillance And Stewardship: Where Infection Prevention And Antimicrobial Stewardship Intersect, Fred C. Tenover, Debra A. Goff

Biology Faculty Publications

Colonization with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) is a risk factor for subsequent infection. Surveillance for MDROs, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales, and carbapenemase-producing organisms, is commonly conducted in hospitals to prevent spread of MDROs, in part to reduce the potential for additional infections. Although colonization is a risk factor for infection, data on colonization with various MDROs are often not considered when selecting anti-infective therapy. There are conflicting data on the strength of the positive and negative predictive values of the colonization test results to guide therapeutic strategies. Defining therapeutic strategies for patients with complicated or …

Statistical Analysis Of Ribonucleotide Incorporation In Human Cells, Tejasvi Channagiri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the DNA replication process, ribonucleotides, the building blocks of RNA, may be occasionally incorporated in the newly synthesized DNA. DNA is primarily composed of deoxyribonucleotides and there exist cellular mechanisms for removing ribonucleotides from DNA, which may point towards ribonucleotide incorporation being a replication error. Further, an excess of these ribonucleotides in the genome has been known to lead to genomic instability and has been implicated in human diseases. However, there are also hypotheses that suggest that ribonucleotides may be beneficial in certain circumstances. In this study we examine ribonucleotide incorporation in the human genome in several human cell …

Morphological Characterization Of Intraspecific Variation For Trichome Traits In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum), Satinderpal Kaur, Neetu Khanal, Robert K. Dearth, Rupesh R. Kariyat

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

Trichomes, the hairlike protuberances in plants, have been well known to act as the first line of defense against herbivores, and abiotic stresses, along with other structural defenses such as spines, thorns, and waxes. We previously reported the tremendous variation in trichome traits among different wild and cultivated Solanum species and demonstrated that trichomes types and density are traditionally miscalculated and often misnamed. However, intraspecific variation in trichome traits is poorly understood, although this has implications for stress tolerance and resistance breeding programs in economically important crop species and can also mediate ecological interactions at multiple trophic levels in their …

Development Of A Novel Cox Ii Mitochondrial Dna Marker For Rat Fecal Contamination.**, A'Aden Redhead

Graduate Research Showcase

Rodent feces can contain dangerous human microbial pathogens that are a serious health hazard to the human population. Currently, there is no known rapid assay to detect rodent fecal contamination. In this study, a rapid PCR-based mitochondrial DNA primer pair was constructed as it enabled the detection of rodent fecal pollution in environmental samples. Environmental samples were all tested using end-point PCR after filtration and then extraction of DNA using the DNeasy Powersoil pro kit. These primers were designed to specifically detect rodent feces that belong to the Rattus Sp. taxonomic group. Rodent samples from various counties in Georgia were …

The Role Of The Dna Helicase Rrm3 Under Replication Stress, Julius Muellner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

DNA replication needs to be strictly monitored to ensure proper duplication of the genome. During DNA synthesis, the DNA replication machinery encounters multiple obstacles such as incorrect dNTP incorporation, RNA-DNA hybrids, modification of DNA nucleobases, collision with the transcription-replication machinery. These endogenous and exogenous sources of DNA damage may result in single-strand breaks (SSBs) and double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs), thereby impeding fork progression. To prevent stalling of DNA synthesis a multitude of DNA repair pathways are specifically designed to deal with these kinds of blockages. One of the proteins involved in ensuring DNA replication fork progression is the DNA helicase …

Body Dimension And Length-Weigh Relationships Of Invasive Exotic Earthworm Species In Huron Mountains Forests, Paula Arroyo, Xiaoyong Chen, Timothy Gsell, John A. Yunger, Mary E. Carrington

Research Days

Invasive exotic earthworms have undesired ecological effects on structure, function, and biodiversity of forest ecosystems in the Great Lakes region. Biological parameters including body length, weight, growth rate, and regeneration patterns of earthworms are necessary to understand their life cycle and impacts on ecological processes such as nutrient biogeochemistry cycling and carbon sequestration in the forests, as well as for forest management practices. In this work, earthworms were surveyed in main forest types of the Huron Mountains Preserve of Michigan, Upper Peninsula during the period of May 2021 to October 2022. Earthworms were captured from established sampling quadrates using a …

Role Of Nod2 Receptor In Immune Response To Staphylococcus Aureus, Precious Mckenzie, Aparna Palakodeti Ph.D

Research Days

Staphylococcus aureus, a gram-positive, commensal bacterium, causes several opportunistic diseases and infections in humans. Furthermore, some strains of S.aureus have developed resistance to antibiotics such as methicillin and pose a health risk. Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs) on host immune cells recognize specific components of S.aureus cell wall and mount an immune response against the bacteria. One such PRR is the Nuclear Oligomerization Domain 2 (NOD2) receptor which is present in the cytosol of host immune cells. NOD2 recognizes Muramyl-Dipeptide (MDP), a component of the peptidoglycan cell wall of several bacteria including S. aureus. The binding of MDP to NOD2 allows …

College Students' Relationship With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Learning Accommodations At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brianna Danehey, Kim Hansen Dr., Chelsea Witt Dr.

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can provide many challenges for college students due to difficulties focusing, multi-tasking, and staying organized. Colleges are required to offer academic accommodations to students with disabilities in an attempt to provide students with an equitable learning environment. However, accommodations may be ineffective if they are highly unattainable, unused by the student once granted, or hindered by university faculty.

The objective of this study was to identify barriers to receiving effective and beneficial academic accommodations for individuals with ADHD at the University level and to provide insight into college students' knowledge and relationships relating to the …

Margalefidinium Polykrikoides Cyst Resuspension In The Lafayette River, A Sub-Tributary Of The Chesapeake Bay, Gabrielle Greaney, Eduardo Perez Vega, Katherine Crider, Dreux Chappell, Kimberly Powell, Richard Hale, Peter Bernhardt, Margaret Mulholland

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Harmful Algal Blooms are a collection of algae in a body of water that can cause serious environmental issues and health problems in both people and aquatic organisms. Dinoflagellates are microscopic, unicellular, and eukaryotic organisms that are well known for forming harmful algal blooms because of eutrophication. Coastal Virginia suffers from HABs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. A common species of dinoflagellate, known as Margalefidinium polykrikoides exists in the Chesapeake Bay. The purpose of this study is to determine if sediment resuspension produced by wind generated surface gravity waves cause cysts (dinoflagellate resting stages) to be suspended into …

Histone Deacetylase 8 Is A Novel Therapeutic Target For Mantle Cell Lymphoma And Preserves Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxic Function, January M. Watters

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study demonstrates for the first time that HDAC8 function is critical for MCL survival, and abrogating its activity in human primary NK cells does not interfere with NK IgG antibody directed ADCC therapies ex vivo. Human NK cells, isolated from healthy donors, are highly resistant to HDAC8 inhibitor treatment with PCI-34051. Even at the highest concentration, 20uM, no toxicity was observed. Conversely, MCL cell lines representative of the aggressive MCL subtype, classical MCL, were especially sensitive to PCI-34051, an HDAC8 selective inhibitor, treatment. Blocking HDAC8 activity and/or abrogating expression through shRNA silencing induced significant DNA damage, hyperacetylation of SMC3, …

Deep Learning Can Be Used To Classify And Segment Plant Cell Types In Xylem Tissue, Sean Wu, Reem Al Dabagh, Fabien Scalzo, Helen Irene Holmlund

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Studies of plant anatomical traits are essential for understanding plant physiological adaptations to stressful environments. For example, shrubs in the chaparral ecosystem of southern California have adapted various xylem anatomical traits that help them survive drought and freezing. Previous studies have shown that xylem conduits with a narrow diameter allows certain chaparral shrub species to survive temperatures as low as -12 C. Other studies have shown that increased cell wall thickness of fibers surrounding xylem vessels improves resistance to water stress-induced embolism formation. Historically, these studies on xylem anatomical traits have relied on hand measurements of cells in light micrographs, …

Nutrient Resorption And Stoichiometric Characteristics Of Wuyi Rock Tea Cultivars, Dehuang Zhu, Suhong Peng, Wenzhen Liu, Shengjie Yu, Dafeng Hui

Biology Faculty Research

Nutrient resorption is an important strategy for plants to retain critical nutrients from senesced leaves and plays important roles in nutrient cycling and ecosystem productivity. As a main economic crop and soil and water conservation species, Wuyi Rock tea has been widely planted in Fujian Province, China. However, foliar nutrient resorptions of Wuyi Rock tea cultivars have not been well quantified. In this study, three Wuyi Rock tea cultivars (Wuyi Jingui, Wuyi Rougui, and Wuyi Shuixian) were selected in the Wuyishan National Soil and Water Conservation, Science and Technology Demonstration Park. Resorption efficiencies of nitrogen (NRE), phosphorus (PRE), and potassium …

Calpain Activity Is Negatively Regulated By A Kctd7-Cullin-3 Complex Via Non-Degradative Ubiquitination, Jaiprakash Sharma, Shalaka Mulherkar, Uan-I Chen, Yan Xiong, Lakshya Bajaj, Byoung-Kyu Cho, Young Ah Goo, Hon-Chiu Eastwood Leung, Kimberley F Tolias, Marco Sardiello

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Calpains are a class of non-lysosomal cysteine proteases that exert their regulatory functions via limited proteolysis of their substrates. Similar to the lysosomal and proteasomal systems, calpain dysregulation is implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Despite intensive efforts placed on the identification of mechanisms that regulate calpains, however, calpain protein modifications that regulate calpain activity are incompletely understood. Here we show that calpains are regulated by KCTD7, a cytosolic protein of previously uncharacterized function whose pathogenic mutations result in epilepsy, progressive ataxia, and severe neurocognitive deterioration. We show that KCTD7 works in complex with Cullin-3 and Rbx1 …

Small Rnas >26 Nt In Length Associate With Ago1 And Are Upregulated By Nutrient Deprivation In The Alga Chlamydomonas, Yingshan Li, Eun-Jeong Kim, Adam Voshall, Etsuko Moriyama, Heriberto D. Cerutti

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Small RNAs (sRNAs) associate with ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins forming effector complexes with key roles in gene regulation and defense responses against molecular parasites. In multicellular eukaryotes, extensive duplication and diversification of RNA interference (RNAi) components have resulted in intricate pathways for epigenetic control of gene expression. The unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii also has a complex RNAi machinery, including 3 AGOs and 3 DICER-like proteins. However, little is known about the biogenesis and function of most endogenous sRNAs. We demonstrate here that Chlamydomonas contains uncommonly long (>26 nt) sRNAs that associate preferentially with AGO1. Somewhat reminiscent of animal PIWI-interacting RNAs, …

Rna Virus-Mediated Changes In Organismal Oxygen Consumption Rate In Young And Old Drosophila Melanogaster Males, Eli Hagedorn, Dean Bunnell, Beate Henschel, Daniel Smith Jr, Stephanie Dickinson, Andrew Brown, Maria De Luca, Ashley Turner, Stanislava Chtarbanova

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Aging is accompanied by increased susceptibility to infections including with viral pathogens resulting in higher morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Significant changes in host metabolism can take place following virus infection. Efficient immune responses are energetically costly, and viruses divert host molecular resources to promote their own replication. Virus-induced metabolic reprogramming could impact infection outcomes, however, how this is affected by aging and impacts organismal survival remains poorly understood. RNA virus infection of Drosophila melanogaster with Flock House virus (FHV) is an effective model to study antiviral responses with age, where older flies die faster than younger flies due …

Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin Participates In The Host Response To Intra-Amniotic Inflammation Leading To Preterm Labor And Birth, Tomi Kanninen, Li Tao, Roberto Romero, Yi Xu, Marcia Arenas-Hernandez, Jose Galaz, Zhenjie Liu, Derek Miller, Dustyn Levenson, Jonathan M. Greenberg, Jonathan Panzer, Justin Padron, Kevin Theis, Nardhy Gomez-Lopez Phd

Medical Student Research Symposium

Objective: To determine if bacteria (Ureaplasma parvum and Sneathia spp.) associated with intra-amniotic infection can trigger the induction of cytokine Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in human amnion epithelial cells (hAECs) in vitro.

Material or subjects: Amniotic fluid and chorioamniotic membrane (CAM) were collected from women with sPTL who delivered at term (n=30) or preterm without intra-amniotic inflammation (n=34), with sterile intra-amniotic inflammation (SIAI, n=27), or with intra-amniotic infection (IAI, n=17). Amnion epithelial cells (AECs), Ureaplasma parvum, and Sneathia spp. were also utilized.

Methods: The expression of TSLP, TSLPR, and IL-7Rα was evaluated in amniotic fluid or CAM by …

The Effects Of Chronic Hypercarbia On Morphological And Ventilatory Development In Crayfish, Cassandra Poeppelman, Josh Hivner, Lynn K. Hartzler

Festival of Research

Instances of abnormally high CO2 levels are becoming increasingly common in freshwater ecosystems undergoing eutrophication. Chronic hypercarbia (long-term elevation of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (Pco2)) is pervasive in these eutrophic ecosystems. Elevated Pco2 increases the ventilation and metabolism of some tadpoles and aquatic frogs and hinders their morphological development23. We expect that chronic hypercarbia will affect most aquatic organisms in the same way, but it remains to be verified that chronic hypercarbic conditions also alter aquatic organisms similarly to intermittent and acute hypercarbic challenges.

Comparing Mortality In Response To Simulated Climate Change In The Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex Badius, And The Fire Ant, Solenopsis Invicta, Haley Depner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the rapid transport of plants, produce, and goods out of its South American home, the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, has invaded continents on a global scale. In the United States alone, S. invicta is responsible for an estimated $1 billion in damages annually. In contrast to the invasive fire ant, Florida’s native harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius, is a keystone seed disperser, providing seed relocation benefits to Florida’s sandhill wildfire-adapted habitats. Seed relocation reduces seedling competition for nutrients with the parent plant, reduces predation of seeds by rodents, increases nutrient loads associated with ant mound soils, and protects seeds from …

Bats And Bridges: What You Need To Know, Rusty Yeager, Jason Dupont

Purdue Road School

Bats’ use of bridges is well documented. With more bat species being added to the endangered species list, this is a significant issue for maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement. From defining bat species using specific bridges to monitoring bat use through in-depth analysis, several techniques can facilitate USFWS coordination and ensure negative impacts to endangered species are avoided or minimized throughout transportation improvements. This session will detail these techniques and approaches and educate transportation planners on best practices.