Digital Commons Network^™

(R1980) Effect Of Climate Change On Brain Tumor, Pardeep Kumar, Sarita Jha, Rajiv Aggarwal, Govind Kumar Jha

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we introduce a new dynamical model addressing the variation in climate condition due the presence of microorganisms. We also introduce a new dynamical model of cancer growth which includes three interactive cell populations with drug free environment, namely tumor cells, healthy host cells, and immune effector cells. In this, we considered the super growth of tumor cells. For the choice of certain parameters, both of the systems exhibit chaotic behavior. The aim of this work is to design the controller to control the chaos and to provide sufficient conditions which achieve synchronization of two non-identical systems, which …

(R2020) Dynamical Study And Optimal Harvesting Of A Two-Species Amensalism Model Incorporating Nonlinear Harvesting, Manoj Kumar Singh, Poonam .

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This study proposes a two-species amensalism model with a cover to protect the first species from the second species, with the assumption that the growth of the second species is governed by nonlinear harvesting. Analytical and numerical analyses have both been done on this suggested ecological model. Boundedness and positivity of the solutions of the model are examined. The existence of feasible equilibrium points and their local stability have been discussed. In addition, the parametric conditions under which the proposed system is globally stable have been determined. It has also been shown, using the Sotomayor theorem, that under certain parametric …

Comparative Ubiquitination Proteomics Revealed The Salt Tolerance Mechanism In Sugar Beet Monomeric Additional Line M14, He Liu, Jialin Zhang, Jinna Li, Bing Yu, Sixue Chen, Chunquan Ma, Haiying Li

Faculty and Student Publications

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are important molecular processes that regulate organismal responses to different stresses. Ubiquitination modification is not only involved in human health but also plays crucial roles in plant growth, development, and responses to environmental stresses. In this study, we investigated the ubiquitination proteome changes in the salt-tolerant sugar beet monomeric additional line M14 under salt stress treatments. Based on the expression of the key genes of the ubiquitination system and the ubiquitination-modified proteins before and after salt stress, 30 min of 200 mM NaCl treatment and 6 h of 400 mM NaCl treatment were selected as time points. …

Survival Analysis And Prognostic Factors Of The Carcinoma Of Gallbladder, Zainab Feroz, Priyanka Gautam, Sonia Tiwari, Girish C. Shukla, Munish Kuma

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Background: The present study aims to evaluate the survival status of patients with gallbladder cancer (GBC) and explore the prognostic factors for the improvement and preventions.
Methods: The study consists of 176 patients with clinically diagnosed gallbladder cancer; the study was conducted between 2019 and 2021 registered at Kamala Nehru Memorial Cancer Hospital, Prayagraj, India. The survival rates were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method; survival rate difference was analyzed by log-rank test, prognosis factors; and hazard ratio for mortality outcomes was estimated using Cox regression method.
Results: The overall median survival time of patients was 5 months with the 1-year, …

Functional Analysis Of Legionella Pneumophila Effector Protein, Shreya Neupane

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Legionella pneumophila is a gram-negative bacterium that causes Legionnaire’s disease (a severe form of pneumonia) in humans. L. pneumophila can cause infection by utilizing its Type IV secretion system, a protein secretion system that transports proteins from the bacterial cytosol into the infected macrophage. Effectors released from the Type Iv secretion system allow L. pneumophila to create a safe environment to survive, replicate and cause infection. One such effector, RavQ, inhibits cell proliferation of mammalian HEK 293T cells and localizes to the cell’s nucleus, leading us to hypothesize that RavQ interferes with cellular activity in the nucleus. To detect its …

Deciphering The Role Of Spl12 And Agl6 From A Genetic Module That Functions In Nodulation And Root Regeneration In Medicago Sativa., Vida Nasrollahi, Ze-Chun Yuan, Qing Shi Mimmie Lu, Tim Mcdowell, Susanne Kohalmi, Abdelali Hannoufa

Biology Publications

Our results show that SPL12 plays a crucial role in regulating nodule development in Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa), and that AGL6 is targeted and downregulated by SPL12. Root architecture in plants is critical because of its role in controlling nutrient cycling, water use efficiency and response to biotic and abiotic stress factors. The small RNA, microRNA156 (miR156), is highly conserved in plants, where it functions by silencing a group of SQUAMOSA-PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) transcription factors. We previously showed that transgenic Medicago sativa (alfalfa) plants overexpressing miR156 display increased nodulation, improved nitrogen fixation and enhanced root regenerative capacity during vegetative …

(R2022) Mathematical Modelling Of Tuberculosis And Covid-19 Co-Infection In India: A Real Data Analysis On Concomitant Diseases, Vijai Shanker Verma, Harshita Kaushik, Archana Singh Bhadauria

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we have proposed an epidemiological model to study the dynamics of two concomitant diseases Tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19. Here, we have formulated a deterministic compartmental model as an extended form of the classical SIS model. First, the basic reproduction number R₀ is derived and then stability analysis of the model is done. It is observed that the disease-free equilibrium is stable when R₀ is less than one and the endemic equilibrium is stable only when R₀ is greater than one. Numerical simulation is carried out to illustrate the theoretical findings and to study the …

(R1522) Modelling The Influence Of Desertic Aerosols On The Transmission Dynamics Of Neisseria Meningitidis Serogroup A, Francis Signing, Berge Tsanou, Samuel Bowong

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This paper assesses the role of desert aerosols and vaccine on the transmission dynamics of Neisseria Meningitis serogroup A (NmA). It is biologically well-documented that the inhalation of aerosol dust and its presence in the nasal cavity weakens the nasopharyngeal mucosa by damaging the mucosal barrier and inhibiting the mucosal immune defenses of susceptible and vaccinated individuals. We address the latter by proposing and analyzing a mathematical model for the dynamics of NmA that specifically accounts for the fast progression of susceptible and vaccinated individuals to the invasive stage of the disease. We compute the basic reproduction number and use …

Environmental Influences On The Growth Of Inland Cisco Populations In Three Minnesota Sentinel Lakes, Edward Carlson

Biology Graduate Theses

Cisco Coregonus artedi are a pelagic cold-water fish that are widely distributed throughout many inland lakes across the northern Midwest and play an important role as forage for large piscivores. Inland Cisco populations have been observed to vary in their overall size and recruitment potential based on the system in which they are found. Cisco are sensitive to oxythermal stress and with climate change, land use, and invasive species effects becoming more prevalent in Minnesota, aspects of lake ecosystems are changing, ultimately making Cisco more susceptible to these stressors. To investigate how different factors were affecting the population dynamics of …

Bioactivation And Detoxification Of Organophosphorus Pesticides In Freshwater Planarians Shares Similarities With Humans, Danielle Ireland, Christina Rabeler, Taixi Gong , '24, Eva-Maria S. Collins

Biology Faculty Works

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) are a chemically diverse class of insecticides that inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Many OPs require bioactivation to their active oxon form via cytochrome P450 to effectively inhibit AChE. OP toxicity can be mitigated by detoxification reactions performed by carboxylesterase and paraoxonase. The relative extent of bioactivation to detoxification varies among individuals and between species, leading to differential susceptibility to OP toxicity. Because of these species differences, it is imperative to characterize OP metabolism in model systems used to assess OP toxicity. We have shown that the asexual freshwater planarian Dugesia japonica is a suitable model to assess OP …

Applied Studies Of Raptor Sensory Ecology Are Rare, Christopher J.W. Mcclure, Simon Potier, Jesse R. Barber

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Light and noise often act as pollutants, but can also be used as tools for managing wildlife (e.g., sensory deterrents). Given that raptors are among the most threatened groups of birds, we expected there to be a moderate amount of applied research on their sensory ecology. We searched Web of Science and Google Scholar to quantify and classify the research that has been conducted on the applied sensory ecology of raptors. Of 32 studies assessing the effects of sensory pollution on raptors, we found that 10 studies examined effects of light pollution and 24 studies examined effects of noise pollution. …

Drone Imagery Protocols To Map Vegetation Are Transferable Between Dryland Sites Across An Elevational Gradient, Anna Roser, Josh Enterkine, Juan M. Requena-Mullor, Nancy F. Glenn, Alex R. Boehm, Marie-Anne De Graaff, Patrick E. Clark, Fred Pierson, T. Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The structure and composition of plant communities in drylands are highly variable across scales, from microsites to landscapes. Fine spatial resolution field surveys of dryland plants are essential to unravel the impact of climate change; however, traditional field data collection is challenging considering sampling efforts and costs. Unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) can alleviate this challenge by providing standardized measurements of plant community attributes with high resolution. However, given widespread heterogeneity in plant communities in drylands, and especially across environmental gradients, the transferability of UAS imagery protocols is unclear. Plant functional types (PFTs) are a classification scheme that aggregates the diversity …

Avian Species Distribution Models: Using Location Data To Inform Management Decisions, Marilyn E. Wright

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Both state and federal wildlife agencies strive to conserve and protect wildlife and their habitats as an important public resource. Applied management decisions often rely on being able to obtain data that can efficiently and effectively enhance the understanding of these systems for informing management actions. Wildlife managers often focus efforts on a small subset of species from an ecosystem, typically called focal species, who can serve as surrogates for understanding the health and function of the system. Models that consider how these focal species interact with the ecosystem are often used to better understand important aspects of their life …

Sensitivites Of Dryland Mammals To Mean And Variance In Aridity, Jessica C. Johnson

Biology ETDs

An important component of evaluating the consequences of climate change is to understand not only how climate trends, such as warming, affect species abundance but also how increasing climate variability will change population abundances. Studies on species' sensitivities to interannual variability are rare because they require long-term data collected either over naturally variable climate conditions or within direct manipulations of year-to-year variability. Physiology, functional traits, and diet composition related to resource acquisition or reproduction may be valuable predictors of species sensitivities to changes in both climate mean and variability. We predicted that species with certain physiologies, such as large body …

Examining The Symbioses Between Bioluminescent Vibrio Species And Ponyfishes In The Indian Ocean And Between Vibrio Species And Crassostrea Virginica In The Gulf Of Mexico, Alexandra Chauvin

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Epidemic Time Series Similarity Is Related To Geographic Distance And Age Structure, Tad Dallas, Grant Foster, Robert L. Richards, Bret D. Elderd

Faculty Publications

Objective

More similar locations may have similar infectious disease dynamics. There is clear overlap in putative causes for epidemic similarity, such as geographic distance, age structure, and population size. We compare the effects of these potential drivers on epidemic similarity compared to a baseline assumption that differences in the basic reproductive number (R₀) will translate to differences in epidemic trajectories.

Methods

Using COVID-19 case counts from United States counties, we explore the importance of geographic distance, population size differences, and age structure dissimilarity on resulting epidemic similarity.

Results

We find clear effects of geographic space, age structure, …

Vircy-Seq : A Protocol For Characterizing Viral Activity, Tyler James Dion

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The main purpose of pharmaceutical production is to produce safe effective medicine for patient use. In an effort to ensure patient safety constant surveillance for viruses takes place. The detection of a viral nucleic acid in a pharmaceutical production setting results in investigations to assess its infectious potential. This is an intensive, expensive process that entails many tests such as the observation of hemadsorption, cytopathic effects (CPE), and more. These tests are typically specific and only capture certain viruses, as factors like CPE can only be observed in some viral species. A new investigational method that is effective on all …

Understanding SjöGren's Syndrome As A Systemic Autoimmune Disorder, Gaietchyne Chery

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune condition characterized by a dysfunction in the lachrymal and salivary glands which results in dry eyes and dry mouth. Since its first description in 1892, the disease is one of the most common autoimmune diseases after lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis in the United States. Despite its high prevalence in the general population, Sjögren’s syndrome remains hard to diagnose due to the wide range of symptoms associated with the disease that is also shared by other conditions. Furthermore, the mechanisms behind the pathogenesis are not properly understood even though multiple factors have been proposed to …

Characterizing And Epitope Mapping Single-Domain Antibodies On Borrelia Burgdorferi Protein Ospa, Saiful Basir

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Epitope mapping a protein that enables pathogenesis is crucial for the development of therapies and prophylactics that can inhibit the pathogen’s function and its transmission of disease. The lipoprotein OspA enables Lyme Disease etiologic pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi, to inhabit the tick midgut until transmission occurs. Anti-OspA mAbs and their smaller VHH counterparts are highly specific and tailored to bind proteins such as OspA, reproducibly, at established binding sites or epitopes. Previous studies found an array of mAbs that successfully bound OspA and have already been used in epitope mapping. To our knowledge, this is the first use of VHHs in …

Bayesian Models For Spatially Explicit Interactions Between Neighbouring Plants, Cristina Barber, Andrii Zaiats, Cara Applestein, Lisa Rosenthal, T. Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

1. Interactions between neighbouring plants drive population and community dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding these interactions is critical for both fundamental and applied ecology. Spatial approaches to model neighbour interactions are necessary, as interaction strength depends on the distance between neighbouring plants. Recent Bayesian advancements, including the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm, offer the flexibility and speed to fit models of spatially explicit neighbour interactions. We present a guide for parameterizing these models in the Stan programming language and demonstrate how Bayesian computation can assist ecological inference on plant–plant interactions.

2. Modelling plant neighbour interactions presents several challenges for ecological modelling. First, nonlinear …

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Venomic Characterization Of A Medically Relevant Rear-Fanged Snake, Conophis Lineatus (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae), From Middle America, Tristan Schramer

All Theses

Most traditional research on snake venoms has focused on front-fanged snake families (Viperidae, Elapidae, and Atractaspididae). However, venom is now generally accepted as being a much more broadly possessed trait within snakes, including species traditionally considered harmless. Unfortunately, due to historical inertia and methodological challenges, the toxin repertoires of non-front-fanged snake families (e.g., Colubridae, Dipsadidae, and Natricidae) have been heavily neglected despite the knowledge of numerous species capable of inflicting medically relevant envenomations. Integrating proteomic data for validation, we perform a de novo assembly and analysis of the Duvernoy’s venom gland transcriptome of the Central American Road Guarder (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae: …

Characterization Of Enhancer Fragments In Drosophila Robo2, Gina Hauptman, Marie C. Reichert, Muna A. Abdal Rhida, Timonthy A. Evans

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Receptor proteins of the Roundabout (Robo) family regulate axon guidance decisions during nervous system development. Among the three Drosophila robo family genes (robo1, robo2 and robo3), robo2 displays a dynamic expression pattern and regulates multiple axon guidance outcomes, including preventing midline crossing in some axons, promoting midline crossing in others, forming lateral longitudinal axon pathways, and regulating motor axon guidance. The identity and location of enhancer elements regulating robo2’s complex and dynamic expression pattern in different neural cell types are unknown. Here, we characterize a set of 17 transgenic lines expressing GAL4 under the control of DNA sequences derived …

Spatial Models Can Improve The Experimental Design Of Field-Based Transplant Gardens By Preventing Bias Due To Neighborhood Crowding, Andrii Zaiats, Juan M. Raquena-Mullor, Matthew J. Germino, Jennifer S. Forbey, Bryce A. Richardson, T. Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Field-based transplant gardens, including common and reciprocal garden experiments, are a powerful tool for studying genetic variation and gene-by-environment interactions. These experiments assume that individuals within the garden represent independent replicates growing in a homogenous environment. Plant neighborhood interactions are pervasive across plant populations and could violate assumptions of transplant garden experiments. We demonstrate how spatially explicit models for plant–plant interactions can provide novel insights on genotypes' performance in field-transplant garden designs. We used individual-based models, based on data from a sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) common garden, to simulate the impact of spatial plant–plant interactions on between-group differences in plant …

Transcriptomic Signal Of Reproductive Modes And Early Speciation In Daphnia Pulex-Pulicaria System, Trung Viet Huynh

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Daphnia have been gaining recognition as a key model system for studies of evolution, ecology, toxicology, and more recently genomics. The defining characteristic of this particular model system is its phenotypic plasticity and its responsiveness to environmental cues. At the same time, the advent of RNA sequencing technology has helped researchers gain new insights on the plasticity of gene expression and its role linking environmental cues with the physiological response mounted by the organism. Although many RNA-seq studies have been conducted in Daphnia, surprisingly no one has recorded the gene expression profile of one of Daphnia’s most famous phenotypic plastic …

Egestion Rates Of Microplastic Fibres In Fish Scaled To In Situ Concentration And Fish Density, Loren Hou, Rachel Mcneish, Timothy Hoellein

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Microplastics (particles <5 >mm) are commonly found in aquatic organisms across taxonomic groups and ecosystems. However, the egestion rate of microplastics from aquatic organisms and how egestion rates compare to other rates of microplastic movement in the environment are sparsely documented.We fed microplastic fibres to round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus), an abundant, invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. We conducted two trials where round gobies were fed microplastic-containing food either a single time (1 day) or every day over 7 days.There was no difference in microplastic egestion rates from the 1 day or 7 day feeding trials, suggesting no impact of …

Targeting A Highly Repetitive Genomic Sequence For Sensitive And Specific Molecular Detection Of The Filarial Parasite Mansonella Perstans From Human Blood And Mosquitoes, Nils Pilotte, Tamara Thomas, Michael F. Zulch, Allison R. Sirois, Corrado Minetti, Lisa J. Reimer, Steven A. Williams, Lori J. Saunders

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background Mansonella perstans is among the most neglected of the neglected tropical diseases and is believed to cause more human infections than any other filarial pathogen in Africa. Based largely upon assumptions of limited infection-associated morbidity, this pathogen remains understudied, and many basic questions pertaining to its pathogenicity, distribution, prevalence, and vector-host relationships remain unanswered. However, in recent years, mounting evidence of the potential for increased Mansonella infection-associated disease has sparked a renewal in research interest. This, in turn, has produced a need for improved diagnostics, capable of providing more accurate pictures of infection prevalence, pathogen distribution, and vector-host interactions. …

Callery Pear Allelopathy Study, Michaela J. Woods, Jonathan T. Bauer, Dena Schaeffer, Ryan W. Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

No abstract provided.

Identification Of A Cis-Sex Chromosome Transition In Banded Geckos (Coleonyx, Eublepharidae, Gekkota), Shannon E. Keating, Eli Greenbaum, Jerry D. Johnson, Tony Gamble

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Sex-determination systems are highly variable amongst vertebrate groups, and the prevalence of genomic data has greatly expanded our knowledge of how diverse some groups truly are. Gecko lizards are known to possess a variety of sex-determination systems, and each new study increases our knowledge of this diversity. Here, we used RADseq to identify male-specific markers in the banded gecko Coleonyx brevis, indicating this species has a XX/XY sex-determination system. Furthermore, we show that these sex-linked regions are not homologous to the XX/XY sex chromosomes of two related Coleonyx species, C. elegans and C. mitratus, suggesting that a cis- …

Channel Catfish - Ictalurus Punctatus, Jason E. Rosales, David William Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium total length is 110.81 mm, [CHANNEL CATFISH , Ictalurus punctatus} collected from Canal in Davie on November 18th, 2022 by Zachary

Environmental Sensitivity Of Maternal And Offspring Phenotype In The Green Anole (Anolis Carolinensis) Lizard, Jamie Marks

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Animals dynamically invest their acquired energetic resources into fitness-related traits, and life-history trade-offs occur when limited resources are invested in a given trait at the expense of another. The phenotypic effects of life history trade-offs are well documented, but the mechanisms facilitating these trade-offs are poorly understood. One such mechanism is the insulin/insulin-like signaling (IIS) network, and specifically its two primary hormones: insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2). IGF1 is well-characterized but IGF2 is severely understudied, though it is present in nearly all amniotes and sometimes expressed at higher levels than IGF1 in adulthood. I …