Digital Commons Network^™

Current Status Of Anthelmintic Resistance In Meat Goats: A Comparative Efficacy Study Of Albendazole And Fenbendazole In Maha Sarakham, Thailand, Minta Pipatsakulpak, Usanisa Boonum, Kotchakorn Roongruang, Benjawan Sae-Chue, Sukanya Leethongdee, Songsak Chumpawadee, Nattaya Watwiengkam, Pongphol Pongthaisong

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Anthelmintic resistance in gastrointestinal nematodes threatens sustainable goat production globally. While resistance is well-documented in many regions, data from Thailand remain limited. This study determined the prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes and assessed the efficacy of albendazole and fenbendazole in meat goats in Maha Sarakham province, northeastern Thailand. A two-stage cross-sectional study was conducted on 10 meat goat farms between August 2021 and March 2022. In Stage 1, fecal samples from 150 goats were examined using simple flotation and sedimentation techniques to identify parasite morphology. In Stage 2, the McMaster technique was employed to quantify fecal egg counts (FEC). Twenty-six goats …

Diversification Of Ghost Electric Fishes (Gymnotiformes, Apteronotidae) In Tropical South America: How Traits And Environmental Factors Constrain Macroevolutionary Diversification, Jonathan Gifford Allen

Doctoral Dissertations

Neotropical electric fishes (Apteronotidae) display remarkable phenotypic and ecological diversity, offering an exceptional system for studying macroevolutionary processes in freshwater environments. Here I investigate the morphological, ecological, and historical factors shaping diversification in the clade Navajini, with a focus on craniofacial evolution, species delimitation, and biogeographic patterns. First, using high-resolution micro-CT scans, 3D geometric morphometrics, and phylogenetic comparative methods, I analyze skull shape variation across Navajini. Key traits resulting from heterocephaly exhibit strong phylogenetic signal and reflect functional differentiation among genera. Sexual dimorphism contributes significantly to cranial disparity in some lineages, while others show conserved, modular patterns likely tied to …

The Relationship Between The Environment And Pollution With Surgical Outcomes And Disparities, Wendelyn Marie Oslock

ETDs from 2020-2029

Air pollution exposure has been linked to many surgically managed diseases and adverse health events that occur in the postoperative period. Despite this, the impact of air pollution on postoperative recovery is poorly understood. This knowledge gap may be one of the underlying mechanisms for persistent disparities in surgical outcomes. Previous studies have found racial and economic disparities in air pollution exposure. These same communities have been shown to experience worse surgical outcomes. The goal of this thesis is to explore if exposure to air pollution impacts surgical outcomes and determine if disparities in socioeconomic factors impact this relationship. The …

Unh Extension Pollinator Garden Certification Application, Shyloh Favreau

UNH Cooperative Extension

When you certify your garden or landscape through The UNH Extension Pollinator Garden Certification Program, you become part of a growing community committed to creating meaningful habitat for pollinators through sustainable, science-based practices. Grounded in research, education, and shared learning, the program supports gardeners of all experience levels in contributing to the health and diversity of native pollinators. From plant selection to pollinator-friendly management practices, this application will guide you in planning, refining, and developing your garden into a safe, resilient habitat for native bees and other pollinating insects.

UNH Extension staff and Master Gardener volunteers are here to …

Targeting Inflammatory And Growth Signaling Pathways In Breast Cancer Through Diet, Microbiome, And Metabolite Interactions, Brittany Lorraine Witt

ETDs from 2020-2029

Breast cancer (BC) accounts for 1 in 3 (or 30%) of all new female cancers each year and is the most common malignant cancer in women in the United States. Since the 1990s, there has been a 44% decrease in BC, but there is still a significant gap between certain groups in terms of mortality rates. Black women have a higher mortality rate and risk for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). This may be due to social (inadequate access to health care facilities, insurance, or completion of therapy) and biological (genetic mutations, tumor characteristics, or comorbidity) factors between races and other …

Limitations And Alternative Applications Of Carbohydrate Fatty Acid Esters As Food Antimicrobials: A Review, Valeria Rodríguez Monge, Namhyeon Park

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science Student Research

Carbohydrate fatty acid esters (CFAs) are nontoxic food additives with reported antimicrobial activity and growing interest as a potential safer alternative to conventional preservatives. However, their translation into real food systems remains limited. This review examined the main factors that restrict the antimicrobial performance of CFAs in foods and evaluated emerging alternative applications, particularly edible coatings, antibiofilm strategies, and synergistic combinations with other cleaning agents or processing techniques. Overall, the available evidence indicates that the antimicrobial efficacy of CFAs is often reduced in real food matrices compared with in vitro conditions. This loss of activity has been mainly associated with …

Growing Pains: The Loss Of Plasticity To Extreme Anoxia In Developing Embryos Of Austrofundulus Limnaeus, Patrick Ryan Clouser

Dissertations and Theses

Oxygen plays a pivotal role for most animal life on Earth, so much so that even short exposures to no oxygen, anoxia, can have severe effects on the animal's wellbeing. Conversely, aerobic recovery after anoxic insult can be just as detrimental. Some animals are the exception to this rule and demonstrate survival through anoxia and recovery. There has been a great deal of research around anoxia tolerant animals, but what remains unclear are the genetic underpinnings that determine the anoxia tolerant phenotype. RNA sequencing allows for the quantification of RNA transcripts within a sample, which can indicate if a gene …

Comparison Of Fish Biomass And Fish Carbon Content Associated With Reef Sites At The Rio Grande Valley Artificial Reef In The Gulf Of Mexico, Allison K. White, Md Saydur Rahman, Richard J. Kline

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

As global fisheries stocks have decreased due to overfishing and climate change, artificial reefs have gained significant attention. In addition to providing or restoring habitat, artificial reefs may serve as carbon capture sinks and potential climate mitigation strategies. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Reef is an artificial reef located in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas. The RGV Reef area spans 1,650 acres and is comprised of hundreds of groupings of recycled and pre-formed materials ranging from low relief (1–2 ft) to high relief (8–30 ft) reef structures. This reef provides a variety of novel habitat …

Biologically Informed Negative Samplingfor Antibody Chain Pairing Classification, Ishita Singh

Computer Science Senior Theses

Antibody heavy and light chain (H/L) pairing is fundamental to antigen recognition and stability. While single-cell sequencing preserves native pairing information, widely used bulk repertoire and spatial transcriptomics platforms do not, motivating the need for efficient ML methods to infer H/L pairing. Training a binary classifier for this task faces the methodological challenge of a lack of true biological negatives, since natural selection eliminates B cells with incompatible H/L pairs.

In this thesis, I introduce a biologically informed negative sampling strategy for H/L pairing classification, drawing on known V-gene biases in heavy and light chain pairing. Pseudo-negatives are constructed by …

Wrack Lines Spring-Summer 2026 Volume Number 1, Margaret Cozens, Johann Heupel, Owen Placido, Paul Salopek, Judy Benson

Wrack Lines

“Building community around the places we love,” is the theme of the Spring-Summer 2026 issue of Wrack Lines magazine. Learn about the work of the Six Lakes Park coalition in Hamden, Riverfront Recapture in Hartford, MyCoast in southeastern Connecticut and the statewide land conservation conference. Additional stories tell about the artistry and mission of photographer-videographer Tomas Koeck, and National Geographic explorer Paul Salopek, who is traveling the world on foot.

Vitamin D–Amp Axis In Host Defense Against Fungal Infections, Nuraly S. Akimbekov, Ilya Digel, Svetlana K. Sakhanova, Kuanysh Tastambek, Dinara K. Sherelkhan, Mohammed S. Razzaque

School of Medicine Publications

Vitamin D–mediated regulation of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is an important focus in innate immunology and is aimed at elucidating the role of vitamin D in enhancing antimicrobial defense. AMPs are short protein chains that serve as a first line of defense against invading pathogens, including fungi, bacteria and viruses. Unlike conventional antibiotics, AMPs are produced endogenously and are less likely to induce antimicrobial resistance, making them promising candidates for treating infections caused by drug-resistant pathogens. Studies indicate that optimal vitamin D levels are essential for activating antimicrobial pathways and regulating AMPs that target multiple fungal pathogens. This article summarizes recent …

National Agricultural Library (Nal) Search., Leah Everitt, Sonya Lemke

Publications

SEARCH is the USDA National Agricultural Library (NAL)'s main discovery platform that provides integrated access to the NAL Digital Collections, Special Collections, PubAg and AGRICOLA. NAL SEARCH is a valuable tool for health science librarians, students, and professionals seeking veterinary science, nutrition, or animal experiment alternatives. This article aims to give users a comprehensive overview of this resource.

Life Without Oxygen: Cellular Mechanisms Enabling Genome Maintenance And Proliferation In Cells From An Anoxia-Tolerant Vertebrate, Riley Asa Roth-Carter

Dissertations and Theses

When exposed to the complete loss of oxygen (anoxia) most organisms undergo rapid cellular deterioration driven by a range of metabolic dysfunctions associated with the loss of the terminal electron acceptor for aerobic respiration. This loss of ability to create and maintain necessary levels of cellular ATP through oxidative phosphorylation contributes to loss of membrane potentials, increase in the accumulation of acidic by-products of anaerobic metabolism, and a decrease in the ability to support other molecular processes that rely on a steady supply of ATP. While this extreme oxygen stress is lethal to a majority of vertebrate organisms there are …

Loss Of Mct1 Mediated Lactate Uptake Causes Delayed Endplate Maturation And Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, Maria Tsingas, Konstantinos Tsingas, Mei Smyers, Wujuan Zhang, Aaron R. Goldman, Eulisa Lawrence, John A. Collins, Makarand V. Risbud

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

During skeletal growth, it is thought that the lactate secreted by the glycolytic nucleus pulposus (NP) cells exits the intervertebral disc into circulation via endplates. Our current studies challenge this long-held notion. Mice with early postnatal, endplate, and annulus fibrosus-specific deletion of lactate importer, MCT1, exhibited disc degeneration characterized by NP cell loss and pronounced endplate structural changes. Using metabolic and transcriptomic approaches, we demonstrate that MCT1 loss inhibits endplate chondrocyte differentiation and that lactate serves both as a crucial TCA metabolite and promotes protein and histone lactylation and gene expression. These findings suggest that during skeletal growth, NP-derived lactate …

Napier Grass (Pennisetum Purpureum) Meal Modulates Growth Efficiency, Gut Morphology, And Systemic Health In Broiler Chickens, Eric Lim Teik Chung, Yee Lyn Ong, Nazri Nayan, Muhamad Faris Ab Aziz, Faez Firdaus Abdullah Jesse, Faizal Andri, Arissara Sopawong

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Grass and leaf meals, which include vital phytocompounds, have the potential to be a natural and safe alternative to antibiotics in the poultry industry. Therefore, this study aims to assess Pennisetum purpureum leaf meal and its phytocompounds on the health performances of colored-broilers. A total of 216 unsexed Sasso chicks were assigned to six diet groups. The negative control (T1) received a commercial basal diet without antibiotics, while the positive control (T2) received the same diet with oxytetracycline (100 mg/kg). Groups T3 to T6 received no antibiotics and included P. purpureum meal at 1.25, 2.50, 3.75, or 5.00 grams per …

An Integrative Approach To The Evolution Of Neotropical Whale Catfishes (Family: Cetopsidae), Daniel Akin

Doctoral Dissertations

The catfishes (order Siluriformes) represent over five percent of world’s vertebrate diversity. The story of vertebrate evolution remains incomplete without a thorough evaluation of catfishes, and the ichthyological community is yet to reach consensus on some of the deeper evolutionary patterns within this fascinating group. Our complete macro-evolutionary understanding of catfishes is inhibited by a paucity of information on the taxonomies, phylogenetics, ecologies, and life histories of many understudied groups of catfishes. One such group is the Neotropical whale catfishes of the family Cetopsidae. This dissertation provides an integrated approach to studying the family Cetopsidae. I use genomics to determine …

The Evolutionary Response Of HawaiʻI ʻAmakihi (Chlorodrepanis Virens) To The Introduction Of Avian Malaria (Plasmodium Relictum), Gabrielle Atkinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The emergence of novel pathogens can impose intense selective pressures on natural populations, driving rapid evolutionary change or precipitating population collapse. In Hawaiʻi, the introduction of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) and its mosquito vector (Culex quinquefasciatus) have caused severe declines and extinctions among native forest birds. Yet some populations of Hawaiʻi ʻamakihi (Chlorodrepanis virens) persist across a broad elevational and disease gradient, providing a powerful natural system for examining the genomic basis of rapid adaptation, the role of gene flow in adaptive response, and the potential for parallel evolutionary responses. This dissertation integrates genomic, population genetic, and transcriptomic approaches to …

Diversity, Systematics, And Phylogenomics Of The Neotropical Glass And Longtail Knifefishes (Gymnotiformes: Sternopygidae), Kevin Thomas Torgersen

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation provides a comprehensive systematic and phylogenetic study of the electric knifefish family Sternopygidae, integrating morphological, molecular, osteological, and phylogenomic data to clarify species diversity, evolutionary relationships, and biogeographic patterns in this Neotropical group. Across six studies, the work reveals that Sternopygidae diversity has been significantly underestimated due to morphological conservatism that obscures species boundaries. Chapter 1 revises the genus Sternopygus in the Guiana Shield, identifying nine species (five new) using osteology, morphometrics, and µCT imaging. Distinct anatomical traits and distribution patterns show strong regional structuring, highlighting the Guiana Shield as a diversification center. Chapter 2 describes a new …

Applications Of Iceye Commercial Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar In The Laurentian Great Lakes, Ray H. Watkins, Susan Janiszewski, Michael Sayers, Robert Shuchman, Karl Bosse, Gary L. Fahnenstiel, Joseph W. Burns

Michigan Tech Publications

The Laurentian Great Lakes, often resembling inland seas, exhibit complex interactions between wind and waves that influence lake conditions. Monitoring these dynamics currently relies on buoy-based measurements and model predictions. Recent advancements in commercial satellite technology now provide high-revisit, high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, such as ICEYE’s X-band data from the NASA Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program. SAR offers all-weather, day-and-night capabilities, making it a valuable tool for Great Lakes monitoring. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of ICEYE SAR for lake monitoring, focusing on western Lake Erie. We evaluate multiple imaging modes and find that Stripmap …

Severity Of Deficit In Skeletal Muscle Lipid Metabolism Invokes Unique Adaptive Responses In Dietary Lipid Intake And Absorption, Victoria Datta

Masters Theses

Skeletal muscle plays a central role in whole-body lipid metabolism through mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation (FAO). When skeletal muscle lipid metabolism is impaired, whole-body adaptations occur to maintain metabolic homeostasis. We hypothesized that limiting skeletal muscle lipid metabolism through mitochondria and/or peroxisomes would trigger adaptive responses to reduce dietary lipid intake and/or absorption with the most robust changes coinciding with deficit severity. Mice were generated with skeletal muscle-specific deletion of 1) carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1b (Cpt1bM-/-) to limit mitochondrial FAO, 2) peroxin 5 (Pex5M-/-) to impair peroxisomal FAO, and 3) both Cpt1b and Pex5 (DKO). Results were compared to …

Investigating Patterns Of (Mal)Adaptation In Two Dominant Cajun Prairie Grasses: Schizachyrium Scoparium And Panicum Virgatum, Braden Isaiah Doucet

Masters Theses

Local adaptation is assumed to be prevalent within natural populations, but anthropogenic climate change and habitat destruction have been demonstrated to cause maladaptation. This thesis examines patterns of adaptation within two dominant grass species of our local Cajun Prairie ecosystem, Panicum virgatum and Schizachyrium scoparium. Using a provenance common garden study, our results reveal how climate change and habitat destruction have altered the patterns of adaptation within local populations. Chapter 1 examines how source climate and geographic distance predicts population fitness. Chapter 2 examines the type, magnitude, and direction of selection acting on key ecological traits of both species, as …

Effects Of L-Baiba Supplementation With And Without Grains Of Paradise On Changes In Resting Metabolic Rate, Body Composition, And Cardiometabolic Risk Factors, Leah E. Allen, Paige J. Sutton, Alex Schrautemeier, Kevin Holley, Connor J. Gaige, Joesi M. Krieger, Anthony M. Hagele, Karenina Antequera Gutierrez, Petey Mumford, Chad Kerksick

Faculty Symposium

To evaluate the impact of 56 days of supplementing with L-BAIBA or L-BAIBA + GOP (BGOP) on resting metabolic rate, body composition, perceptual indicators of mood and affect, and cardiometabolic markers in overweight and obese men and women.

METHODS: Healthy men and women (43.2±11.4 years, 169.4±7.6 cm, 90.3±15.6 kg, 31.4±4.4 kg∙m-2) completed a weekly exercise program and followed a calorierestrictive diet and were randomly assigned in a double-blind and blocked manner according to sex and DXA lean mass to consume daily either a placebo (PLA) (n=12 [11F, 1M]), 500 mg L-BAIBA (L-BAIBA: MitoBurn™, NNB Nutrition) (n=13 [9F, 4M]), or …

First Course Portfolio For Plpt 803 Fundamentals Of Scientific Discovery, Hernan Garcia-Ruiz

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

PLPT 803 Fundamentals of Scientific discovery is a new curse in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I designed and developed this course from the ground up. Initially, it was offered as a special topic (PLPT 892-014) for four years. PLPT 803 was approved by the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources curriculum committee in September of 2025. PLPT 803 is unique within the University of Nebraska system and will be offered for the first time in the fall of 2027. The course is designed for students to learn fundamental scientific skills such as scrutinize, …

Life-Stage Specific Predatory Efficiency Of 2 Generalist Predators Of Bemisia Tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), Itohan Aigbedion-Atalor, Abdelmutalab G. Azrag, Alvin M. Simmons, Jason M. Schmidt

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is an economically damaging invasive pest to global vegetable production. Current management strategies rely heavily on insecticides, but increasing levels of resistance raise sustainability concerns. Therefore, strengthening integrated pest management (IPM) programs requires enhancing biocontrol through improved predator-pest interactions. Despite the well-established relevance of functional response modulation by multiple environmental factors, limited research has explored how plant traits and prey life stages interact to influence the efficiency of generalist predators in vegetable systems. To address this gap, we evaluated the functional responses of 2 adult generalist predators, Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Méneville) and Geocoris punctipes (Say), against 3 nymphal …

Nmda Receptor Subunit Nmr-2 Regulates Pathogen-Induced Immune Responses Via The Nervous System In C. Elegans, Benson Otarigho, Jonathan Lalsiamthara, Alejandro Aballay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neural control of innate immunity must balance restraint of basal immune activity with rapid activation upon pathogen encounter. Glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, has been implicated in several neurological disorders associated with inflammation, suggesting a potential link to immune regulation. However, how glutamatergic signaling contributes to immune balance remains unknown. Here, we demonstrated that the NMDA-type ionotropic glutamate receptor subunit NMR-2, a component of the NMDA receptor complex, acts in the

Diabetes Mellitus Exacerbates Covid-19 Severity And Prolongs Recovery: A Clinical Study From Southern Iraq, Hussein Ali Hussein Al-Hchaimi, Mohammad Ali Hassan Jassim, Mustafa Abbass, Shahab Abdulla, Ralela Makline

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Diabetes mellitus (DM) constitutes one of the most consequential comorbidities shaping the clinical trajectory of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), operating through intersecting mechanisms of chronic inflammation, endothelial injury, and immunosuppression that collectively amplify viral pathogenicity. This study investigated the impact of diabetes type on COVID-19 symptom severity, hospitalization duration, and recovery time among patients in Nasiriyah City, southern Iraq — a region substantially underrepresented in the global DM–COVID-19 literature. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted across healthcare facilities in Nasiriyah City from 2023 to 2024. A total of 150 hospitalized adult patients carrying confirmed diagnoses of both COVID-19 and type …

[2026 Winner] Seed Sovereignty Through The Lens Of Decolonization, Lily A. Marx

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

This paper explores the movement of seed sovereignty, a contemporary movement stemming from the history of theft, appropriation, and forced assimilation endured by indigenous peoples. This movement recognizes that consumers alone cannot mend the damage being done to our food systems, but instead encourages communities to take political action by saving seeds and rebuilding connections with the land.

Influences On Growth And Survival Of Seedlings Planted In Black Ash Stands Of Northern Michigan And Wisconsin, Seth W. Davenport, Dustin R. Bronson, Kathryn L. Hofmeister, Randall K. Kolka, Grady J. Boyle, Fengjing Liu

Michigan Tech Publications

The invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is a threat to all North American ash (genus Fraxinus) trees, but wetland ecosystems dominated by black ash (F. nigra) are of particular concern to land managers. The rapid and extensive death of black ash on the landscape causes unprecedented ecological and hydrological impacts to cascade through the ecosystem. A strategy to combat such impacts and maintain these wetlands as forested is to underplant these stands with seedlings of alternative species that are capable of maturing into canopy trees. This study planted seedlings of seven non-ash tree species in black ash wetlands across …

City Farm Slo: A Case Study Of Nonprofit Regenerative Agriculture, Carver Tunnell

Master's Theses

The focus of this thesis is to create a case study on City Farm SLO, a nonprofit based in San Luis Obispo, California, that has engaged in education and regenerative agriculture on City owned land since 2013. This case study is intended for use in undergraduate agribusiness and natural resource management courses, to encourage thoughtful discussion surrounding nonprofit and regenerative agricultural systems. The case presents the nonprofit at a time of relative success, having recently secured a lease renewal, extending stewardship 40 years into the future. However, the reliance on grants and donations threatens the security of the operation going …

The Mayfly Newsletter, Donna Giberson

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.