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Articles 6031 - 6060 of 39346

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Targeting Hiv-1 Reservoirs In T Cell Subsets, Min Li, Marietta M Budai, Min Chen, Jin Wang Jan 2023

Targeting Hiv-1 Reservoirs In T Cell Subsets, Min Li, Marietta M Budai, Min Chen, Jin Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The HIV-1 reservoirs harbor the latent proviruses that are integrated into the host genome. It is a challenging task to eradicate the proviruses in order to achieve an HIV cure. We have described a strategy for the clearance of HIV-1 infection through selective elimination of host cells harboring replication-competent HIV (SECH), by inhibition of autophagy and promotion of apoptosis during viral re-activation. HIV-1 can infect various CD4+ T cell subsets, but it is not known whether the SECH approach is equally effective in targeting HIV-1 reservoirs in these different subsets in vivo. In a humanized mouse model, we found …

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How Do Necrotic Cells Expose Phosphatidylserine To Attract Their Predators-What’S Unique And What’S In Common With Apoptotic Cells, Yoshitaka Furuta, Zheng Zhou Jan 2023

How Do Necrotic Cells Expose Phosphatidylserine To Attract Their Predators-What’S Unique And What’S In Common With Apoptotic Cells, Yoshitaka Furuta, Zheng Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a lipid component of the plasma membrane. It is asymmetrically distributed to the inner leaflet in live cells. In cells undergoing apoptosis, phosphatidylserine is exposed to the outer surfaces. The exposed phosphatidylserine acts as an evolutionarily conserved “eat-me” signal that attracts neighboring engulfing cells in metazoan organisms, including the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and mammals. During apoptosis, the exposure of phosphatidylserine to the outer surface of a cell is driven by the membrane scramblases and flippases, the activities of which are regulated by caspases. Cells undergoing necrosis, a kind of cell …

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The Use Of A Habitat Quality Stress Index To Evaluate Stress As An Analog For Proximate Fitness In The American Crow Within A Matrix Of Landcover Characteristics To Assess Its Potential Contribution To Disease Etiologies, Theodore Lee Grabarz Jan 2023

The Use Of A Habitat Quality Stress Index To Evaluate Stress As An Analog For Proximate Fitness In The American Crow Within A Matrix Of Landcover Characteristics To Assess Its Potential Contribution To Disease Etiologies, Theodore Lee Grabarz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

All organisms occur within spatial and temporal environments to maximize proximate fitness (health) and thus life history outcomes. Previous work has examined the temporal and behavioral aspects of proximate fitness on life history outcomes particularly regarding highly perturbed environments (i.e., climate and land use change, resource extraction, agricultural erosion, etc.). My work focuses on the less examined spatial aspect of these perturbed environments. More specifically, this dissertation examines habitat selection and quality as the basis for understanding stress response (negative and positive feedback mechanisms) to environmental stressors within the larger context of regional or gamma (ɣ) biodiversity. Through the lens …

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Mortality Difference From Klebsiella Aerogenes Vs Enterobacter Cloacae Bloodstream Infections, Andrew Chou, Richard Sucgang, Richard J Hamill, Lynn Zechiedrich, Barbara W Trautner Jan 2023

Mortality Difference From Klebsiella Aerogenes Vs Enterobacter Cloacae Bloodstream Infections, Andrew Chou, Richard Sucgang, Richard J Hamill, Lynn Zechiedrich, Barbara W Trautner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Members of the order Enterobacterales, including Escherichia coli , Klebsiella species and Enterobacter species, are important pathogens in healthcare-associated infections. Higher mortality has been reported from infections due to Klebsiella pneumoniae than from E. coli , but prior studies comparing Enterobacter aerogenes (recently renamed Klebsiella aerogenes ) bacteraemia and Enterobacter cloacae complex bacteraemia have yielded conflicting results regarding whether clinical outcomes differ. We found bacteraemia with K. aerogenes was independently associated with greater risk of 30-day mortality than bacteraemia with Enterobacter cloacae complex.

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Oral Gauze For Bleeding Control In Perioral And Perinasal Dermatologic Surgery, Riyad N H Seervai, Jose A Cervantes, Ikue Shimizu, Ida F Orengo Jan 2023

Oral Gauze For Bleeding Control In Perioral And Perinasal Dermatologic Surgery, Riyad N H Seervai, Jose A Cervantes, Ikue Shimizu, Ida F Orengo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The use of oral gauze is a quick, cheap, and effective method of preventing bleeding into the patient's mouth during dermatologic surgery. We recommend this technique combined with appropriate positioning for lesions in the perioral and perinasal regions. Similar approaches may be applied for the prevention of bleeding into the ear canal during facial/periauricular surgery.

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Engineered Cd4 T Cells Expressing A Membrane Anchored Viral Inhibitor Restrict Hiv-1 Through Cis And Trans Mechanisms, Weiming Wang, Khanghy Truong, Chaobaihui Ye, Suman Sharma, Huan He, Lihong Liu, Michael Wen, Anisha Misra, Paul Zhou, Jason T Kimata Jan 2023

Engineered Cd4 T Cells Expressing A Membrane Anchored Viral Inhibitor Restrict Hiv-1 Through Cis And Trans Mechanisms, Weiming Wang, Khanghy Truong, Chaobaihui Ye, Suman Sharma, Huan He, Lihong Liu, Michael Wen, Anisha Misra, Paul Zhou, Jason T Kimata

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

HIV-1 infection of target cells can occur through either cell-free virions or cell-cell transmission in a virological synapse, with the latter mechanism of infection reported to be 100- to 1,000-fold more efficient. Neutralizing antibodies and entry inhibitors effectively block cell-free HIV-1, but with few exceptions, they display much less inhibitory activity against cell-mediated HIV-1 transmission. Previously, we showed that engineering HIV-1 target cells by genetically linking single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) of antibodies to glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) potently blocks infection by cell-free virions and cell-mediated infection by immature dendritic cell (iDC)-captured HIV-1. Expression of scFvs on CD4

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Postsurgical Morbidity And Mortality Favorably Informs Deep Brain Stimulation For New Indications Including Schizophrenia And Schizoaffective Disorder, Judith M Gault, Patrick Hosokawa, Daniel Kramer, Elyn R Saks, Paul S Appelbaum, John A Thompson, Ann Olincy, Nicola Cascella, Akira Sawa, Wayne Goodman, Nidal Moukaddam, Sameer A Sheth, William S Anderson, Rachel A Davis Jan 2023

Postsurgical Morbidity And Mortality Favorably Informs Deep Brain Stimulation For New Indications Including Schizophrenia And Schizoaffective Disorder, Judith M Gault, Patrick Hosokawa, Daniel Kramer, Elyn R Saks, Paul S Appelbaum, John A Thompson, Ann Olincy, Nicola Cascella, Akira Sawa, Wayne Goodman, Nidal Moukaddam, Sameer A Sheth, William S Anderson, Rachel A Davis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) shows promise for new indications like treatment-refractory schizophrenia in early clinical trials. In the first DBS clinical trial for treatment refractory schizophrenia, despite promising results in treating psychosis, one of the eight subjects experienced both a symptomatic hemorrhage and an infection requiring device removal. Now, ethical concerns about higher surgical risk in schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder (SZ/SAD) are impacting clinical trial progress. However, insufficient cases preclude conclusions regarding DBS risk in SZ/SAD. Therefore, we directly compare adverse surgical outcomes for all surgical procedures between SZ/SAD and Parkinson's disease (PD) cases to infer relative surgical risk relevant to …

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Adeno-Associated Virus 8 Delivers An Immunomodulatory Peptide To Mouse Liver More Efficiently Than To Rat Liver, Yuqing Wang, Ayrea Hurley, Marco De Giorgi, Mark R Tanner, Rong-Chi Hu, Michael W Pennington, William R Lagor, Christine Beeton Jan 2023

Adeno-Associated Virus 8 Delivers An Immunomodulatory Peptide To Mouse Liver More Efficiently Than To Rat Liver, Yuqing Wang, Ayrea Hurley, Marco De Giorgi, Mark R Tanner, Rong-Chi Hu, Michael W Pennington, William R Lagor, Christine Beeton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Targeting the Kv1.3 potassium channel has proven effective in reducing obesity and the severity of animal models of autoimmune disease. Stichodactyla toxin (ShK), isolated from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus, is a potent blocker of Kv1.3. Several of its analogs are some of the most potent and selective blockers of this channel. However, like most biologics, ShK and its analogs require injections for their delivery, and repeated injections reduce patient compliance during the treatment of chronic diseases. We hypothesized that inducing the expression of an ShK analog by hepatocytes would remove the requirement for frequent injections and lead to a …

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Combating Hypertension Beyond Genome-Wide Association Studies: Microbiome And Artificial Intelligence As Opportunities For Precision Medicine, Sachin Aryal, Ishan Manandhar, Xue Mei, Beng S Yeoh, Ramakumar Tummala, Piu Saha, Islam Osman, Jasenka Zubcevic, David J Durgan, Matam Vijay-Kumar, Bina Joe Jan 2023

Combating Hypertension Beyond Genome-Wide Association Studies: Microbiome And Artificial Intelligence As Opportunities For Precision Medicine, Sachin Aryal, Ishan Manandhar, Xue Mei, Beng S Yeoh, Ramakumar Tummala, Piu Saha, Islam Osman, Jasenka Zubcevic, David J Durgan, Matam Vijay-Kumar, Bina Joe

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The single largest contributor to human mortality is cardiovascular disease, the top risk factor for which is hypertension (HTN). The last two decades have placed much emphasis on the identification of genetic factors contributing to HTN. As a result, over 1,500 genetic alleles have been associated with human HTN. Mapping studies using genetic models of HTN have yielded hundreds of blood pressure (BP) loci but their individual effects on BP are minor, which limits opportunities to target them in the clinic. The value of collecting genome-wide association data is evident in ongoing research, which is beginning to utilize these data …

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Open-Source, Highly Efficient, Post-Acquisition Synchronization For 4d Dual-Contrast Imaging Of The Mouse Embryonic Heart Over Development With Optical Coherence Tomography, Andre C Faubert, Irina V Larina, Shang Wang Jan 2023

Open-Source, Highly Efficient, Post-Acquisition Synchronization For 4d Dual-Contrast Imaging Of The Mouse Embryonic Heart Over Development With Optical Coherence Tomography, Andre C Faubert, Irina V Larina, Shang Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Dynamic imaging of the beating embryonic heart in 3D is critical for understanding cardiac development and defects. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) plays an important role in embryonic heart imaging with its unique imaging scale and label-free contrasts. In particular, 4D (3D + time) OCT imaging enabled biomechanical analysis of the developing heart in various animal models. While ultrafast OCT systems allow for direct volumetric imaging of the beating heart, the imaging speed remains limited, leading to an image quality inferior to that produced by post-acquisition synchronization. As OCT systems become increasingly available to a wide range of biomedical researchers, a …

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Second Virtual International Symposium On Cellular And Organismal Stress Responses, September 8-9, 2022, Patricija Van Oosten-Hawle, Sarah J Backe, Anat Ben-Zvi, Dimitra Bourboulia, Mara Brancaccio, Jeff Brodsky, Melody Clark, Giorgio Colombo, Marc B Cox, Paolo De Los Rios, Frank Echtenkamp, Adrienne Edkins, Brian Freeman, Pierre Goloubinoff, Walid Houry, Jill Johnson, Paul Lapointe, Wei Li, Valerie Mezger, Len Neckers, Nadinath B Nillegoda, Veena Prahlad, Adam Reitzel, Ruth Scherz-Shouval, Lea Sistonen, Francis T F Tsai, Mark R Woodford, Mehdi Mollapour, Andrew W Truman Jan 2023

Second Virtual International Symposium On Cellular And Organismal Stress Responses, September 8-9, 2022, Patricija Van Oosten-Hawle, Sarah J Backe, Anat Ben-Zvi, Dimitra Bourboulia, Mara Brancaccio, Jeff Brodsky, Melody Clark, Giorgio Colombo, Marc B Cox, Paolo De Los Rios, Frank Echtenkamp, Adrienne Edkins, Brian Freeman, Pierre Goloubinoff, Walid Houry, Jill Johnson, Paul Lapointe, Wei Li, Valerie Mezger, Len Neckers, Nadinath B Nillegoda, Veena Prahlad, Adam Reitzel, Ruth Scherz-Shouval, Lea Sistonen, Francis T F Tsai, Mark R Woodford, Mehdi Mollapour, Andrew W Truman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The Second International Symposium on Cellular and Organismal Stress Responses took place virtually on September 8-9, 2022. This meeting was supported by the Cell Stress Society International (CSSI) and organized by Patricija Van Oosten-Hawle and Andrew Truman (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA) and Mehdi Mollapour (SUNY Upstate Medical University, USA). The goal of this symposium was to continue the theme from the initial meeting in 2020 by providing a platform for established researchers, new investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and students to present and exchange ideas on various topics on cellular stress and chaperones. We will summarize the highlights of …

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A Guide To Naming Eukaryotic Circular Rnas, Ling-Ling Chen, Albrecht Bindereif, Irene Bozzoni, Howard Y Chang, A Gregory Matera, Myriam Gorospe, Thomas B Hansen, Jørgen Kjems, Xu-Kai Ma, Jun Wei Pek, Nikolaus Rajewsky, Julia Salzman, Jeremy E Wilusz, Li Yang, Fangqing Zhao Jan 2023

A Guide To Naming Eukaryotic Circular Rnas, Ling-Ling Chen, Albrecht Bindereif, Irene Bozzoni, Howard Y Chang, A Gregory Matera, Myriam Gorospe, Thomas B Hansen, Jørgen Kjems, Xu-Kai Ma, Jun Wei Pek, Nikolaus Rajewsky, Julia Salzman, Jeremy E Wilusz, Li Yang, Fangqing Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Alternative splicing of eukaryotic transcripts often leads to production of multiple mature RNAs from a single gene locus. In addition to encoding linear RNAs, genes can produce stable circular RNAs (circRNAs) that are often co-expressed with their cognate linear RNAs. Multiple distinct circRNAs are frequently generated from a gene locus via back-splicing, with each mature transcript having a potentially unique function due to its distinct combination of exons and sometimes retained introns. However, names currently given to circRNAs are often ambiguous and lack consistency across studies. Here, we call on the community to embrace standards for naming circRNAs so that …

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Island Meltdown: Demise Of The Abrolhos Painted Button-Quail Turnix Varius Scintillans In The Face Of Multiple Threats, Ryan Carter Jan 2023

Island Meltdown: Demise Of The Abrolhos Painted Button-Quail Turnix Varius Scintillans In The Face Of Multiple Threats, Ryan Carter

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Island avifauna suffer high rates of extinction and decline. The major threats to island birds centre around the ecological impacts of invasive predators, competitors, and grazers. The Abrolhos Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius scintillans) is a subspecies that has been determined to be the 5th most likely taxon to become extinct in Australia. T. v. scintillans historically inhabited three islands in the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago off the mid-west coast of Australia. This study aimed to 1) confirm the status of T. v. scintillans on North Island and determine the main causes of decline, 2) model habitat variables with detections from camera …

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Edna Metabarcoding Of Avocado Flowers: ‘Hass’ It Got Potential To Survey Arthropods In Food Production Systems?, Joshua H. Kestel, Philip W. Bateman, David L. Field, Nicole E. White, Rose Lines, Paul Nevill Jan 2023

Edna Metabarcoding Of Avocado Flowers: ‘Hass’ It Got Potential To Survey Arthropods In Food Production Systems?, Joshua H. Kestel, Philip W. Bateman, David L. Field, Nicole E. White, Rose Lines, Paul Nevill

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In the face of global biodiversity declines, surveys of beneficial and antagonistic arthropod diversity as well as the ecological services that they provide are increasingly important in both natural and agro-ecosystems. Conventional survey methods used to monitor these communities often require extensive taxonomic expertise and are time-intensive, potentially limiting their application in industries such as agriculture, where arthropods often play a critical role in productivity (e.g. pollinators, pests and predators). Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of a novel substrate, crop flowers, may offer an accurate and high throughput alternative to aid in the detection of these managed and unmanaged taxa. Here, …

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Lipidomic Features Of Honey Bee And Colony Health During Limited Supplementary Feeding, Clara E. Castaños, Mary C. Boyce, Tiffane Bates, A. Harvey Millar, Gavin Flematti, Nathan G. Lawler, Julia Grassl Jan 2023

Lipidomic Features Of Honey Bee And Colony Health During Limited Supplementary Feeding, Clara E. Castaños, Mary C. Boyce, Tiffane Bates, A. Harvey Millar, Gavin Flematti, Nathan G. Lawler, Julia Grassl

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Honey bee nutritional health depends on nectar and pollen, which provide the main source of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids to individual bees. During malnutrition, insect metabolism accesses fat body reserves. However, this process in bees and its repercussions at the colony level are poorly understood. Using untargeted lipidomics and gene expression analysis, we examined the effects of different feeding treatments (starvation, sugar feeding and sugar + pollen feeding) on bees and correlated them with colony health indicators. We found that nutritional stress led to an increase in unsaturated triacylglycerols and diacylglycerols, as well as a decrease in free fatty acids …

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Microscale Pollen Release And Dispersal Patterns In Flowering Grass Populations, Carl A. Frisk, Godfrey P. Apangu, Geoffrey M. Petch, Simon Creer, Mary Hanson, Beverley Adams-Groom, Carsten A. Skjøth Jan 2023

Microscale Pollen Release And Dispersal Patterns In Flowering Grass Populations, Carl A. Frisk, Godfrey P. Apangu, Geoffrey M. Petch, Simon Creer, Mary Hanson, Beverley Adams-Groom, Carsten A. Skjøth

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Characterizing pollen release and dispersion processes is fundamental for knowledge advancement in ecological, agricultural and public health disciplines. Understanding pollen dispersion from grass communities is especially relevant due to their high species-specific allergenicity and heterogeneously distributed source areas. Here, we aimed to address questions concerning fine level heterogeneity in grass pollen release and dispersion processes, with a focus on characterizing the taxonomic composition of airborne grass pollen over the grass flowering season using eDNA and molecular ecology methods. High resolution grass pollen concentrations were compared between three microscale sites ( < 300 m apart) in a rural area in Worcestershire, UK. The grass pollen was modelled with local meteorology in a MANOVA (Multivariate ANOVA) approach to investigate factors relevant to pollen release and dispersion. Simultaneously, airborne pollen was sequenced using Illumina MySeq for metabarcoding, analysed against a reference database with all UK grasses using the R packages DADA2 and phyloseq to calculate Shannon's Diversity Index ( -diversity). The flowering phenology of a local Festuca rubra population was observed. We found that grass pollen concentrations varied on a microscale level, likely attributed to local topography and the dispersion distance of pollen from flowering grasses in local source areas. Six genera (Agrostis, Alopecurus, Arrhenatherum, Holcus, Lolium and Poa) dominated the pollen season, comprising on average 77 % of the relative abundance of grass species reads. Temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, turbulence and wind speeds were found to be relevant for grass pollen release and dispersion processes. An isolated flowering Festuca rubra population contributed almost 40 % of the relative pollen abundance adjacent to the nearby sampler, but only contributed 1 % to samplers situated 300 m away. This suggests that most emitted grass pollen has limited dispersion distance and our results show substantial variation in airborne grass species composition over short geographical scales.

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Sialylation And Fucosylation Modulate Inflammasome-Activating Eif2 Signaling And Microbial Translocation During Hiv Infection, Leila B. Giron, Ceylan E. Tanes, Mariane H. Schleimann, Phillip A. Engen, Lisa M. Mattei, Altizel Anzurez, Mohammad Damra, Huanjia Zhang, Kyle Bittinger, Frederic Bushman, Andrew Kossenkov, Paul Denton, Hiroaki Tateno, Ali Keshavarizian, Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Alan L. Landay Dec 2022

Sialylation And Fucosylation Modulate Inflammasome-Activating Eif2 Signaling And Microbial Translocation During Hiv Infection, Leila B. Giron, Ceylan E. Tanes, Mariane H. Schleimann, Phillip A. Engen, Lisa M. Mattei, Altizel Anzurez, Mohammad Damra, Huanjia Zhang, Kyle Bittinger, Frederic Bushman, Andrew Kossenkov, Paul Denton, Hiroaki Tateno, Ali Keshavarizian, Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Alan L. Landay

Biology Faculty Publications

An emerging paradigm suggests that gut glycosylation is a key force in maintaining the homeostatic relationship between the gut and its microbiota. Nevertheless, it is unclear how gut glycosylation contributes to the HIV-associated microbial translocation and inflammation that persist despite viral suppression and contribute to the development of several comorbidities. We examined terminal ileum, right colon, and sigmoid colon biopsies from HIV-infected virally-suppressed individuals and found that gut glycomic patterns are associated with distinct microbial compositions and differential levels of chronic inflammation and HIV persistence. In particular, high levels of the pro-inflammatory hypo-sialylated T-antigen glycans and low levels of the …

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Quantifying Life History Energetics Of An Oviparous Elasmobranch Subject To Future Warming Water, Carolyn R. Wheeler Dec 2022

Quantifying Life History Energetics Of An Oviparous Elasmobranch Subject To Future Warming Water, Carolyn R. Wheeler

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Marine ectothermic fishes – fishes that do not regulate internal body temperature independent from the water temperature – are some of the most vulnerable organisms to rapid and alarming increases in environmental temperature occurring due to climate change mediated-ocean warming. For tropical fish species that live near their thermal maxima, this warming could be of grave consequence to individuals, populations, and whole marine ecosystems. Certain key life stages such as embryos and reproducing adults may be particularly vulnerable to warming given the excess energetic costs of these life stages, which may disallow compensation for extreme changes in temperature. One taxonomic …

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Fool Me Once: Characterizing The Response Of Notophthalmus Viridescens To Multiple Exposures Of Batrachochytrium Salamandrivorans, Julia A. Mccartney Dec 2022

Fool Me Once: Characterizing The Response Of Notophthalmus Viridescens To Multiple Exposures Of Batrachochytrium Salamandrivorans, Julia A. Mccartney

Graduate Masters Theses

The repertoire of defenses a host may use against a pathogen is often thought of in the context of innate and adaptive immunity. However, the role of host symbionts such as the microbiome are being examined potentially as part of an individual’s defense against disease. Chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungal pathogens Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), is characterized by an infection of the skin often leading to osmotic imbalance and mortality, and has resulted in losses in global amphibian biodiversity. Understanding what may influence the development of resistance to or tolerance of infection is critical to developing prevention …

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Chemical Analysis, Antibacterial Activities And Uses Of Leaves And Calyces Of Hibiscus Sabdariffa Grown In Dodoma, Tanzania, Sartaz Begum, Derick R. Mwakimbwala, Gideon Sangiwa, Valence M.K. Ndesendo Dec 2022

Chemical Analysis, Antibacterial Activities And Uses Of Leaves And Calyces Of Hibiscus Sabdariffa Grown In Dodoma, Tanzania, Sartaz Begum, Derick R. Mwakimbwala, Gideon Sangiwa, Valence M.K. Ndesendo

Tanzania Journal of Science

Preliminary phytochemical screening of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa grown in Tanzania revealed the presence of secondary metabolites like steroids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, terpenoids, flavonoids along with L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and iron(II). Furthermore, both leaves and calyces showed antibacterial activities (agar well diffusion method) against selected bacterial species (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi and Shigella sonnei), but calyces possessed potent antibacterial activities compared to leaves. The results also supported the claimed traditional uses of this plant. When interrogated during the cross-sectional study in Dodoma region, 54% of the respondents claimed the plant is used to treat …

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Morphological Variabilities And Identification Of Yam (Dioscorea Spp.) Genotypes From Major Growing Regions In Tanzania, Joseph I Massawe, Gladness E Temu Dec 2022

Morphological Variabilities And Identification Of Yam (Dioscorea Spp.) Genotypes From Major Growing Regions In Tanzania, Joseph I Massawe, Gladness E Temu

Tanzania Journal of Science

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a vegetatively propagated crop that belongs to the family Dioscoreaceae. In Tanzania, yam is mainly grown as a source of food and income generation, especially for smallholder farmers. In this study, an assessment of morphological variations among 74 genotypes of Dioscorea spp. collected from six major growing regions was conducted. Yam genotypes were maintained and planted at Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute-Kibaha for characterization. Data from fifty morphological variables were subjected to multivariate analysis using principal component analysis and cluster analysis. The first nine principal components with Eigenvalues > 1 accounted for 86.28% of the total variations. Some …

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Phytochemical And Antibacterial Evaluations Of Chloroform Extract Of Mondia Whitei (Hook F) Skeels, Abdullahi Shehu, Ojochide Inikpi Egwemi, Olufunmilayo Adeola Ajayi, Abdulmumeen Amao Hamid Dec 2022

Phytochemical And Antibacterial Evaluations Of Chloroform Extract Of Mondia Whitei (Hook F) Skeels, Abdullahi Shehu, Ojochide Inikpi Egwemi, Olufunmilayo Adeola Ajayi, Abdulmumeen Amao Hamid

Tanzania Journal of Science

Mondia whitei, also known as Mondia, is an aromatic plant of Apocynaceae family. It is used as aphrodisiac, antidepressant, fertility medication and to improve appetite. The present study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical and antibacterial properties of the plant. The chloroform extract of M. whitei was screened for its antibacterial effects using agar diffusion method against five bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella typhi). The extract was active against S. typhi, K. pneumoniae and S. aureus at 400, 400 and 200 mg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial activity of the extract was observed in a dose-dependent …

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Impacts Of Climate Change On Small Pelagic Fish Catches In The Coastal Artisanal Fishers Communities Of Tanzania, Lyidia Kapapa, Paul Onyango Onyango, Nibedita Mukherjee, Prosper Mfilinge Dec 2022

Impacts Of Climate Change On Small Pelagic Fish Catches In The Coastal Artisanal Fishers Communities Of Tanzania, Lyidia Kapapa, Paul Onyango Onyango, Nibedita Mukherjee, Prosper Mfilinge

Tanzania Journal of Science

Climate-related effects occur across all regions in Tanzania, affecting primary sectors such as agriculture and fishing. This study investigated the impacts of climatic change on small pelagic catches in fishers in Kilindoni, Kipumbwi and Kilwa Kivinje villages along the Tanzanian coast. We studied how changes in rainfall, sea surface temperature, wind speed and chlorophyll a affect small pelagic fisheries using primary and secondary data. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. Primary data collection involved questionnaires, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Secondary data was obtained from Tanzania Meteorological Agency and remote sensing from Modi's sensor. Results showed an increase …

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Antibacterial Potency Of Allium Sativum, Psidium Guajava, Zingiber Officinale Roots Against The Food Poisoning Strains (Escherichia Coli 0157:H7 And Staphylococcus Aureus), Godfrey O. Mauti Dec 2022

Antibacterial Potency Of Allium Sativum, Psidium Guajava, Zingiber Officinale Roots Against The Food Poisoning Strains (Escherichia Coli 0157:H7 And Staphylococcus Aureus), Godfrey O. Mauti

Tanzania Journal of Science

Escherichia coli 0157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus are notorious food poisoning bacteria of great effect on human health. This study determined the phytochemical constituents of ethanolic, vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) filtrates of Allium sativum (garlic), Psidium guajava (guava), Zingiber officinale (ginger) and their antibacterial activities on E. coli 0157:H7 and S. aureus. In a laboratory-based controlled experiment, the antibacterial and inhibitory activities of the VLC filtrates in doses of 0.01, 0.02, 0.04, and 0.08g/mL were investigated on E. coli 0157:H7 and S. aureus using the agar well diffusion method and compared with a standard antibiotic. The indices of the zone of …

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Antimalarial And Antimicrobial Activities Of Some Heteroleptic Metal(Ii) Complexes Of Sulfadiazine–Vitamin C: Synthesis And Spectroscopic Studies, Ikechukwu P. Ejidike, Mercy O. Bamigboye, Dorcas A. Fadare, Juliana B. Adetunji, Joshua A. Obaleye Dec 2022

Antimalarial And Antimicrobial Activities Of Some Heteroleptic Metal(Ii) Complexes Of Sulfadiazine–Vitamin C: Synthesis And Spectroscopic Studies, Ikechukwu P. Ejidike, Mercy O. Bamigboye, Dorcas A. Fadare, Juliana B. Adetunji, Joshua A. Obaleye

Tanzania Journal of Science

Some new Ni(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Cu(II), and Cd(II) of mixed Sulphadiazine and Vitamin C complexes have been synthesized and characterized by different spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR, elemental analysis, molar conductivity, and magnetic measurements. Both ligands used for this research work act as bidentate ligands towards the central metal ions coordinating through the nitrogen atoms of >C=N–, NH2 groups of Sulphadiazine and oxygen atoms of OH, CO groups of Vitamin C. Tetrahedral and square-planar geometries have been proposed for the complexes. The complexes are stable under atmospheric conditions. The ligands and their complexes were screened for antimicrobial activities against some …

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Isolation And Characterization Of Cellulose Degrading Microorganisms Generating Electricity Using Microbial Fuel Cell, Lama Fayad, Rania Amer, Ahmad Abd El Nabi, Ali Hammoud, Hoda Yusef Dec 2022

Isolation And Characterization Of Cellulose Degrading Microorganisms Generating Electricity Using Microbial Fuel Cell, Lama Fayad, Rania Amer, Ahmad Abd El Nabi, Ali Hammoud, Hoda Yusef

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Global warming and the accumulation of organic waste constitute a serious environmental problem. Therefore, microbial fuel cells (MFC) are an eco-friendly device that have significant capability for the production of electricity using biodegradable waste as fuel. Microorganisms used as catalysts in the anode compartment, execute a principal function in operating MFCs. The present study was conducted to isolate and to screen potential bioelectricity generating microorganisms from dumpsite soil samples and also to construct a domestic dual-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC). Streptomyces fimicarius was found to be the best isolate for the degradation of cellulose and the production of bioelectricity. The …

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Feasibility And Effectiveness Of A Worksite-Weight-Loss Program For Cancer Prevention Among School-District Employees With Overweight And Obesity, Che Young Lee, Michael C Robertson, Hannah Johnston, Thuan Le, Margaret Raber, Ruth Rechis, Katherine Oestman, Alise Neff, Amber Macneish, Karen M Basen-Engquist Dec 2022

Feasibility And Effectiveness Of A Worksite-Weight-Loss Program For Cancer Prevention Among School-District Employees With Overweight And Obesity, Che Young Lee, Michael C Robertson, Hannah Johnston, Thuan Le, Margaret Raber, Ruth Rechis, Katherine Oestman, Alise Neff, Amber Macneish, Karen M Basen-Engquist

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The effects of Vibrant Lives, a 6-month worksite-weight-loss program, were examined in a cohort of school-district employees with overweight or obesity. The VL Basic (VLB) participants received materials and tailored text messages, the VL Plus (VLP) participants additionally received WIFI-enabled activity monitors and scales and participated in health challenges throughout the school year, and the VL Plus with Support (VLP + S) participants additionally received coaching support. The levels of program satisfaction and retention and changes in weight, physical activity (PA), and diet were compared across groups using Pearson chi-square tests, repeated-measure mixed models, and logistic regression. After the program, …

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Genetic Population Dynamics Of The Critically Endangered Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini) In The Eastern Tropical Pacific, Sydney P. Harned, Andrea Bernard, Pelayo Salinas-De-Leon, Marissa Mehlrose, Jenifer Suarez, Yolani Robles, Sandra Bessudo Lion, Felipe Ladino, Andrés López Garo, Ilena Zanella, Kevin A. Feldheim, Mahmood Shivji Dec 2022

Genetic Population Dynamics Of The Critically Endangered Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini) In The Eastern Tropical Pacific, Sydney P. Harned, Andrea Bernard, Pelayo Salinas-De-Leon, Marissa Mehlrose, Jenifer Suarez, Yolani Robles, Sandra Bessudo Lion, Felipe Ladino, Andrés López Garo, Ilena Zanella, Kevin A. Feldheim, Mahmood Shivji

Biology Faculty Articles

The scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, is a Critically Endangered, migratory species known for its tendency to form iconic and visually spectacular large aggregations. Herein, we investigated the population genetic dynamics of the scalloped hammerhead across much of its distribution in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), ranging from Costa Rica to Ecuador, focusing on young-of-year animals from putative coastal nursery areas and adult females from seasonal aggregations that form in the northern Galápagos Islands. Nuclear microsatellites and partial mitochondrial control region sequences showed little evidence of population structure suggesting that scalloped hammerheads in this ETP region comprise a single …

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New Worm On The Block: Planarians In (Neuro)Toxicology, Danielle Ireland, Eva-Maria S. Collins Dec 2022

New Worm On The Block: Planarians In (Neuro)Toxicology, Danielle Ireland, Eva-Maria S. Collins

Biology Faculty Works

Traditional mammalian testing is too time- and cost-intensive to keep up with the large number of environmental chemicals needing assessment. This has led to a dearth of information about the potential adverse effects of these chemicals, especially on the developing brain. Thus, there is an urgent need for rapid and cost-effective neurotoxicity and developmental neurotoxicity testing. Because of the complexity of the brain, metabolically competent organismal models are necessary to understand the effects of chemicals on nervous system development and function on a systems level. In this overview, we showcase asexual freshwater planarians as an alternative invertebrate (“non-animal”) organismal model …

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Heat Stressed Exercise Elicits Shifts In Cooling Strategies Across Body Mass In Tropical Songbirds, Kristen Dee Oliver Dec 2022

Heat Stressed Exercise Elicits Shifts In Cooling Strategies Across Body Mass In Tropical Songbirds, Kristen Dee Oliver

Biology ETDs

In resting animals, water use positively correlates with metabolic rate, for example smaller animals using proportionally more water per gram of body mass. However, animals also must endure heat and exertion, and evaporative cooling requires additional water use that may not scale similarly with body size. How evaporative water loss allometrically scales with body mass during heat-stressed exercise is poorly resolved, particularly for birds, yet is critically important for understanding the consequences of climate warming on the fitness of bird populations. Here, we evaluated how air temperature (Ta) influenced evaporative water loss during exercise (EWLexercise) across …

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