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Transcriptomic And Genomic Insights Into Nutrient Stress Responses And Subgenome Evolution In Chenopodium, Ashley Kathleen Marcheschi

Theses and Dissertations

Chenopodium is a diverse genus of nutritionally and ecologically important species in the Amaranthaceae family. This thesis investigates two outstanding questions in the genus: how Chenopodium quinoa responds transcriptionally to nutrient deficiency and how Australian Chenopodium species are related through their subgenomic ancestry and evolutionary history. First, we characterized transcriptomic responses of C. quinoa to deficiencies of twelve essential macro- and micronutrients across leaf and root tissues using RNA sequencing. Leaves showed the strongest responses under nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and zinc deficiency, while roots responded more evenly across conditions. Recurring responses included suppression of photosynthesis, remodeling of translational machinery, reactive …

Movement And Distribution Dynamics Of Predatory Fishes In The St. Lucie Estuary, Sarah Fae Leonowicz Torre

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Estuaries are productive but highly variable ecosystems that support recreationally and commercially valuable fisheries, as well as species of conservation concern. However, coastal development, habitat loss, altered freshwater inflow, and declining water quality can modify the environmental gradients that structure fish distributions. In the St. Lucie River and southern Indian River Lagoon, located in southeast Florida, managed freshwater discharges, watershed runoff, shoreline modification, and degradation of essential fish habitats (e.g., seagrass, oyster, and mangrove forests) have altered estuarine conditions.

This dissertation evaluates how four estuarine fish species with contrasting life histories respond to environmental variability, hydrologic disturbance, and habitat structure …

Deciphering The Potential Of Monopterus Albus Protein Hydrolysate As A Therapeutic Candidate Against Cervical Cancer By Integrating Content Analysis, Network Pharmacology, And Molecular Docking, Okid Parama Astirin, Widya Mega Rahmawati, Elisa Herawati, Tetri Widiyani, Lili Pandan Sari, Sherly Octaviana

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Cervical cancer has a high incidence rate in women, making the development of cancer drugs increasingly urgent. Asian swamp eel protein hydrolysate shows great promise as an anticancer candidate. This study aimed to reveal the potential of Asian swamp eel protein hydrolysate as an anticancer candidate in the cervix. Asian swamp eel protein hydrolysate was produced by hydrolyzing flesh with the enzyme alcalase. Compounds and peptides were identified using LC-HRMS. These compounds and peptides were analyzed using network pharmacology, gene ontology, and molecular docking. The results identified 153 endogenous compounds, including fatty acids and peptides. The key proteins targeted by …

Dietary Stability Of The Eurasian Beaver Revealed By Hair Stable Isotopes, Linas Balčiauskas, Rasa Vaitkevičiūtė Koklevičienė, Andrius Garbaras, Inga Garbarienė, Laima Balčiauskienė

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is a keystone ecosystem engineer whose expanding populations increasingly occupy agricultural landscapes. Hair stable  isotope analysis was applied to reconstruct assimilated diet in 56 legally  hunted beavers in Lithuania in 2024–2025. Stable carbon isotope values were tightly  clustered (–25.53 ± 0.10‰ SE), while those for nitrogen showed greater variability (5.38 ± 0.20‰ SE), indicating limited interindividual dietary differentiation.  Generalized linear models revealed no significant effects of sex, year, or month, and  age-related differences were limited to the youngest individuals. Comparison with  published Polish data showed no significant differences in mean isotope values.  Overall, the results …

Harmful Algal Blooms: Risks For Food In Utah, Jose Brandao, Sarah Erwin, Stephanie Vaughn, Clare Entwistle

All Current Publications

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a problem because they can produce toxins that make water unsafe for people, animals, and the environment. In recent years, HABs have emerged as a growing concern in freshwater systems throughout Utah, including irrigation canals, reservoirs, and livestock ponds. HABs in freshwater are caused by cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae. These microorganisms can release dangerous toxins that can harm swimmers, pets, and the food supply. Unlike foodborne pathogens, these toxins cannot be removed by boiling, cooking, or washing the food. Therefore, regular monitoring is essential to detect HABs early and reduce exposure risks. This fact …

Resource Assessment Report No. 09: South Coast Crustacean Resource 2045-25 Assessment, Emma-Jade Tuffley, Simon De Lestang

Resource Assessment Reports

The South Coast Crustacean Resource (SCCR) comprises southern rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii), western rock lobster (Panulirus cygnus), crystal crab (Chaceon albus), giant crab (Pseudocarcinus gigas), and champagne crab (Hypothalassia acerba). The resource is accessed primarily by the South Coast Crustacean Managed Fishery (SCCMF), which operates between Augusta in the west and the South Australian border in the east. Since the 2022–23 season, the SCCMF has been managed under an Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) system with Total Allowable Commercial Catches (TACs) set for four quota zones. Recreational fishing retains a small quantity of rock lobster only.

During the 2024–25 fishing season, …

Edible Insect Allergens: An Emerging Food Safety Challenge, Changqi Liu, Cassandra Maya, John J. Love, Huilian Che, Ke Chen, Jing Zhao

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Edible insects are increasingly promoted as sustainable protein sources; however, their allergenic potential remains a significant food safety concern. This review synthesizes current knowledge on insect allergens, with a focus on IgE-mediated mechanisms, identified allergenic proteins, and patterns of cross-reactivity. Key pan-allergens, including tropomyosin and arginine kinase, are widely conserved across insect species and are strongly implicated in cross-reactivity with crustaceans and house dust mites. In addition, other insect allergens (e.g., larval cuticle proteins) contribute to primary sensitization. Evidence from proteomic and immunological studies highlights substantial variability in allergen profiles across species and experimental approaches. The impact of food processing …

Determinants Of Home Composting Behavior In Supporting Sustainable Agriculture Among Smallholder Farmers: A Case Study In The Thai Nguyen Province Of Vietnam, Bac Ho Van, Hien Vu Thi, Xinh Ho Luong

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Home composting is a practical and sustainable approach for the management of organic waste generated in the home and agricultural production that contributes to both organic waste management and soil fertility enhancement. In the northern mountainous regions of Vietnam, smallholder farmers face limited adoption of sustainable waste management practices due to behavioral constraints, limited technical knowledge, and resource constraints affecting agricultural productivity.  This study applies and extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by integrating behavioral and contextual determinants to examine home composting adoption among smallholder farmers in rural Vietnam. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to reduce and structure …

Engineering Fsh-Cer T Cells To Enhance Response To Epithelial Ovarian Cancer, Nolan J. Beatty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer remains a significant cause of cancer-related mortality, with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) being the most common subtype. Despite advances in treatment, the 5-year survival rate for late-stage EOC remains low due to factors such as tumor heterogeneity and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). This study investigates the therapeutic potential of chimeric endocrine receptor (CER) T cells engineered to express follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in a syngeneic mouse model of EOC expressing follicle stimulating hormone receptor (ID8-FSHR). We compared two different co-stimulatory domains—CD28ζ and 4-1BBζ—in FSH-CER T cells and found that FSH-CD28ζ CER T cells exhibited enhanced cytotoxicity, proliferation, …

Fly Density At Trash Disposal Sites As An Environmental Bioindicator Using Fly Grill, Fly Spot Card, And Fly Sticky Paper, Tri Ilmanisa, Susi Soviana, Supriyono Supriyono

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Flies are synanthropic insects of public health importance commonly found at trash disposal sites (TDS). Poor waste management promotes fly breeding, increases the risk of disease transmission, reflects low sanitation, and serves as an environmental bioindicator. Studies on flies at TDS in university campus environments in West Java, Indonesia, remain limited, particularly with respect to species composition, fly density, and the use of different density measurement methods. Fly density monitoring in Indonesia still relies on the fly grill method under Ministry of Health Regulation No. 2 of 2023, although alternative tools, such as fly spot cards and fly sticky paper …

Out Of This World: An Exoplanetary Workshop, Monica Storss, Bart Kuipers

ELO (un)supervised 2026

The workshop investigates how scientific constraints can productively defamiliarize human experience and create new frameworks for creativity and expression. Participants will produce original work while considering broader questions about environment, perception, and cultural formation in speculative contexts, and how the arts, sciences, and technology inform each other in relational multiplicities. This generative workshop explores how astronomical data from confirmed exoplanets can generate new poetic forms and linguistic constraints. Participants will examine how exoplanetary conditions can shape language, metaphor, and narrative structure. We'll develop from writing exercises that respond to non-terrestrial physical parameters: alternative light spectra, gravitational variations, and atmospheric compositions. …

Food Systems Transformation Would Reshape Global Agriculture, Matthew Gibson, Marina Sundiang, Daniel Mason-D’Croz, Thais Diniz Oliveira, Felicitas Beier, Lauren Benavidez-Brouk, Astrid Bos, Maksym Chepeliev, Jonathan Doelman, Shahnila Dunston, Shinichiro Fujimori, Tomoko Hasegawa, Petr Havlik, Jordan Hristov, Jonas Jägermeyr, Marta Kozicka, Marijke Kuiper, Page Kyle, Thijs De Lange, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Hermen Luchtenbelt, David Meng-Chuen Chen, Abhijeet Mishra, Christoph Müller, Gerald Nelson, Amanda Palazzo, Ignacio Perez Dominguez, Alexander Popp, Ronald Sands, Marco Springman, Elke Stehfest, Timothy B. Sulser, Kiyoshi Takahashi, Gianmaria Tassinari, Ferike Thom, Philip Thornton, Kazuaki Tsuchiya, Willem-Jan Van Zeist, Hans Van Meijl, Dominique Van Der Mensbrugghe, Detlef Van Vuuren, Hannah H.E. Van Zanten, Isabelle Weindl, Keith Wiebe, Xin Zhao, Mario Herrero

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Food systems are a major contributor to exceeding planetary boundaries1,2,3 and poor quality diets are a key mortality risk globally4. Projected population and income growth could exacerbate these challenges5. In response, there are calls for transformation towards healthy and sustainable food systems6,7,8. However, the scale and distribution of the impacts of this transformation on agriculture are underexplored. Here we show that, by 2050, the transformation of food systems towards healthy diets (adoption of the EAT–Lancet reference diet), improved productivity and halving of food waste results in a fundamental restructuring of global agriculture, aspects of which break with historical trends. Scenario …

Aquaponics: Farming Fish And Growing Greens For Grades 9–12, Amy M. Shambach,, Rebecca M. Ward, J. Stuart Carlton, Kwamena K. Quagrainie, Tomas O. Höök

Purdue University Press Books

Aquaponics: Farming Fish and Growing Greens for Grades 9–12 teaches STEM-related course material through aquaponics, a water-based agricultural system that combines aquaculture (fish production) and hydroponics (soilless vegetable production) systems. This curriculum is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and designed to be used with an onsite aquaponics system. Topics include an introduction to aquaculture, fundamental parts of an aquaponics system, the nitrogen cycle, water quality, population dynamics, our modern food system, and more. The ten lessons presented build on each other and are intended to be delivered in sequential order. Alternatively, lessons may also be utilized as stand-alone units …

Sophisticated Song: Exploring The Evolution And Ontogeny Of Large Repertoires And Syntax Usage In The Bachman’S Sparrow (Peucaea Aestivalis), Heather Jean Wolverton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

While humans have the most complex vocal communication system, many of the features that make human language so intricate can be found in other taxa. One building block of language commonly studied in animal communication is syntax, or the organization of vocalizations. Birds, wolves, and cetaceans all display complex vocal signaling that utilizes syntax. Understanding how syntax functions in different taxa can help illuminate the evolution and development of human language and the role it plays in social cognition. The Bachman’s sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis) is a species of songbird that utilizes syntax in the form of preferred transitions …

Measuring And Mapping Spatial Distributions Of Soil Lead Concentrations Along Chicago Parkways: West Ridge And Near South Side, Alyssa M. Kain

DePaul Discoveries

Lead is a heavy metal that can be found in every part of our planet. Human activities like the extraction of fossil fuels and degradation of construction materials can release lead into the environment, where it travels and accumulates in places like our soil or water. Despite efforts to lower the use of lead-based materials within the last fifty years, lead contamination remains as a threat to public health and safety. Elevated blood lead levels are known to cause a variety of health issues particularly for young children and pregnant women. This study aims to measure, map, and analyze the …

Healthcare Access And The Persistent Racial Disparities In Low Birth Weight, Zaheda A. Hussain, Yadanar Moe

DePaul Discoveries

Low birth weight (LBW), defined as less than 2,500 grams, is an influential factor contributing to infant mortality in the United States, with significant racial disparities between Black and White mothers. This study analyzed data from 3,054 Black and White mothers collected from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey to explore the association between access to medical care and LBW within different racial groups. The prevalence of LBW was 8.0%. Overall, mothers without a usual place of medical care had, on average, an 18% higher risk of LBW than those with a usual place (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 0.80–1.74). …

From Landfill To Ladle: Using Open Lca To Calculate Food Diversion Impacts, Samantha Rodriguez

DePaul Discoveries

Food waste contributes to climate change because discarded food results in wasting embodied carbon from producing food. In addition to wasting embodied carbon, food that ends up in landfills emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. This life cycle assessment quantifies the carbon equivalent footprint of food donations from Costco to the Seton Soup Kitchen using OpenLCA. Two functional units were analyzed in this study. The first functional unit is one meal consisting of 500 grams of donated food that would otherwise be landfilled served to a Seton Soup Kitchen patron during one meal service. The …

Fish Tissue Digestion And Microplastic Polymer Identification Protocol Using Open-Source Ftir Database, Shawn L. Kissinger, Vick-Ariel Privert, Jason Bystriansky, Kyle A. Grice

DePaul Discoveries

Microplastic (MP) contamination in aquatic ecosystems poses significant concerns for environmental and public health, as seafood represents a critical food source worldwide. Despite increasing evidence of MP presence in marine organisms, efficient and accessible detection methods remain essential for characterizing contamination patterns and informing regulatory frameworks. This study extracted MPs from brain, gill, intestine, liver, and muscle tissues of gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata) and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), two commercially important species from the Gulf of Cádiz, Spain, using a NaOH–HNO₃ chemical digestion protocol. Isolated particles were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, with …

Crystal Structural Analysis Of Medieval Human Bones Using Wide-Angle X-Ray Scattering, Selly Altangerel, Leslie Gracia

DePaul Discoveries

Female human second metacarpal (mc2) bones from a medieval cemetery at Wharram Percy, England, were studied using high-energy Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) at beamline 1-ID of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. The age-at-death of 33 samples was determined from molar wear and classified into 3 groups:  18-30, 30-50, and 50+ years old.  Rietveld refinements of the WAXS data were performed to obtain lattice parameters of the hexagonal carbonated apatite phase (cAp). Individual fittings for cAp peaks 00.2, 00.4, and 31.0 were performed to obtain their widths and correlate them to collagen retention. For the three samples described …

Clearing The Air: Tracking Spatial And Temporal Pm2.5 Variability Along A Biking Transect In Chicago, Beau R. Rass

DePaul Discoveries

Fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) poses significant risks to human health and disproportionately affects marginalized communities in urban environments (World Health Organization [WHO], 2021; Tessum et al., 2021). Using low-cost mobile sensors, this study explored spatiotemporal PM₂.₅ concentration patterns along a north–south transect of Halsted Street in Chicago. A 2B Technologies Portable Aerosol Monitor (PAM) mounted on a bicycle was used to continuously record PM₂.₅ concentrations with associated GPS coordinates at approximately two-second intervals during 16 sampling events between 08-12-2025 and 10-05-2025. PM₂.₅ concentrations did not differ significantly among the South Side, West Loop, and North Side regions, contrary to the …

Depaul Discoveries Volume 15 Cover Art, Dina Khdair

DePaul Discoveries

No abstract provided.

Vertebrate Diversity In Cave Systems Of Colombia: An Approach Based On Environmental Dna Metabarcoding Analysis, Rita Daniela Martinelli Marín, Carlos Andres Lasso, Francesco Sauro, Susana Josefina Caballero

International Journal of Speleology

There is currently limited knowledge of the biological communities inhabiting cave ecosystems in South America. This study examines the vertebrate community composition of 21 caves across diverse subterranean ecosystems in Colombia using environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis. Water was collected from water bodies inside caves and subterranean systems in six of the eight speleological regions of Colombia in eight departments. Water was filtered manually through a 0.8 m pore size filter and preserved with Longmire solution. A 170-base pair (bp) fragment of the 12s mitochondrial gene specific for vertebrate identification was amplified by PCR and sequenced by Illumina (metabarcoding). Data corresponding …

Influence Of A New Nanoensemble Of Graphene Oxide And Indole-3-Acetic Acid On The Morphophysiological, Biochemical, And Ultrastructural Characteristics Of Upland Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum L.), Nurlan Amrahov, Ulviyya Hasanova, Aliyeva Gunel, Aghazada Goncha, Fuad Rzayev, Eldar Gasimov, Aliyeva Solmaz, Lala Gahramanli, Elvin Ibrahimli, Ruhangiz Mammadova, Zarema Gakhramanova, Cem Bayram, Goncha Eyvazova, Si̇bel Hasanova, Ziyaddin Mammadov

Turkish Journal of Botany

​The exogenous application of phytohormones plays a crucial role in the activation of adaptive mechanisms in plants under both normal and stress conditions. Therefore, the present study investigates the synthesis, characterization, and application of nanoensembles based on indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and graphene oxide (GO) nanolayers. The surface of GO synthesized by the modified Hummer method was noncovalently functionalized with IAA molecules. The structure and morphological properties of the prepared materials were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The IAA and IAA+GO nanoensemble enhanced the morphological parameters, lateral root formation, catalase and peroxidase …

Systematic Implications Of Seed Morphology In Oxytropis (Galegeae: Fabaceae) From Pakistan, Amjad Khan, Amir Sultan, Raees Khan, Rozina Rozina, Shahab Ali, Ali Bagheri, Rifat Ullah Khan, Abdul Samad Mumtaz, Tariq Ullah, Ghalia Saleem Aljeddani, Hasil Khan

Turkish Journal of Botany

Oxytropis is a taxonomically challenging genus within the tribe Galegeae of the family Fabaceae. Despite its systematic importance, the seed morphology of Oxytropis has been poorly investigated. In the present study, we examined the seed morphology of 18 Oxytropis species representing 10 sections from the Pakistan, with the aim of evaluating the diagnostic value of seed traits using both light and scanning electron microscopy. The current investigation revealed two distinct seed shapes, namely cordiform and prolonged reniform, across the studied taxa. Seed length ranged from 1.75 mm in O. crassiuscula to 2.3 mm in O. duthieana, while seed width varied …

Oregon State Rank Assessment For Steens Mountain Cushion Buckwheat (Eriogonum Ovalifolium Var. Rubidum), Lindsey K. Wise

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Oregon state conservation status assessment for Steens Mountain Cushion Buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium var. rubidum) using NatureServe methodology, 2026.

Longitudinal Patterns In Stygobiont Distribution In The Hyporheic Zone Of The Karst Spring-Fed San Marcos River, Texas, Usa, Kenneth Sparks, Benjamin F. Schwartz, Safra Altman, Kathryn E. Perez, Zoey B. Chanin, Caroline Mierzejewski, Benjamin T. Hutchins

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

Groundwater-obligate taxa (stygobionts) exhibit variable degrees of habitat specialization, ranging from those restricted to single micro-habitats to generalists occurring in a broad range of habitat types. The karstic Edwards Aquifer is the most biodiverse and well-studied groundwater habitat in the continental United States, but some Edwards Aquifer-associated species also occupy the hyporheic zone of rivers downstream from karst. The goals of this research were to 1) assess the potential of the off-karst hyporheic zone as habitat for ‘karst’ species and 2) to determine how stygobiont richness, diversity, and abundance related to distance from karst in the hyporheic zone of a …

Physical And Chemical Ameliorations Of A Heavy Soil Constrained By Sodicity And Alkalinity For Improving Productivity In The Low Rainfall Regions Of Western Australia, Md. Shahinur Rahman, Gaus Azam Dr

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Heavy soil can be compacted and poorly structured with dense sodic and alkaline (high pH) clay in the B-horizon, which prevents root exploration in the subsoil layer, potentially restricting grain yield in the low rainfall regions of Western Australia (WA) and globally. This study investigated whether loosening of compacted soil layers through deep ripping with or without phosphorus (P) and gypsum addition can increase barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) crop productivity in a 3-year-long field experiment. Soil loosening significantly increased barley root exploration and yield immediately after deep ripping in 2021 and showed no significant difference in 2022 and 2023. The …

Research Progress In Production Process And Flavor Modulation Mechanisms Of Cooking Wine, An Nan, Liu Gongliang, Bai Weidong, Tong Xing, Wang Hong

Food and Machinery

As a core condiment in traditional Chinese cuisine, the flavor modulation mechanisms of cooking wine are closely related to its production processes. This review systematically organizes the three major production systems of cooking wine, i.e., brewed, blended, and seasoned, comparing their differences in base-wine origin, flavor-formation pathways, and product stability. By integrating the latest developments in flavoromics, molecular interactions, and intelligent fermentation, it provides a systematic analysis of the relationship between production process differences and flavor formation mechanisms. The paper clarifies the multi-stage “dissolution–modification–suppression” mechanism for off-flavor removal and proposes a metabolic flux-directed process optimization pathway. Additionally, it explores the …

Sources And Potential Risks Of Micro- And Nanoplastics In Foods, Zhao Xinlong, Li Wei, Zhang Mengling, Xing Liwen, Tian Huafeng

Food and Machinery

Plastics are widely used in food packaging, storage, processing, and other food-related applications, playing a vital role in extending food shelf life, reducing material loss, and promoting food circulation. However, these plastic products that come into direct or indirect contact with foods can release micro- and nanoplastics through various physical and chemical processes. These micro- and nanoplastics can accumulate in the human body through bioaccumulation and other pathways and have become one of the emerging contaminants threatening food safety and human health. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the research progress on the generation pathways, release mechanisms, potential health …

An Ai-Driven Safety Traceability And Monitoring System For Food Cold Chain, Zeng Xiaoqing, Zhang Yuyue, Xie Wenqing, Zhou Jianhua

Food and Machinery

Targeting the three major obstacles—information fragmentation, delayed risk response, and ambiguous accountability—in food cold chain safety governance, this study constructs an integrated cold chain safety traceability and monitoring system centered on artificial intelligence technology and incorporating the Internet of Things and blockchain. On the basis of a comprehensive risk analysis of the entire food cold chain process, and drawing on theoretical frameworks including supply chain resilience theory, information asymmetry theory, HACCP, and ISO 22000 food safety standards, this study designs a system architecture organized around five functional modules: multi-source data collection and traceability, dynamic food quality assessment, risk prediction and …