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Characterization Of Soluble Matrix From Molluscan Shell With An Emphasis On Two Major Phosphoproteins From The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, Mary Johnstone

All Dissertations

The soluble organic matrix (SM) extracted from the shell of the Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica was analyzed to identify the constituent proteins and their structures. Two acidic proteins with estimated molecular weights of 48 and 55 kD were isolated and determined to have highly related structures. Both proteins are comprised primarily of aspartate, serine, and glycine which represent nearly 90% of the total amino acids. Studies indicate that both proteins are phosphorylated and have estimated isoelectric points in the range of 3 to 5. Evidence suggests that poly-aspartate and poly-serine domains are present in the 48 kD protein. Amino terminal …

Development Of A Novel Fouling Deterrence Strategy By Understanding The Efect Of Noradrenaline On The Cells Of Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica And Cypris Larve Of The Striped Barnacle Balanus Amphitrite, Neeraj Gohad

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The focus of this study was to understand and evaluate the effect of noradrenaline (NA) on two prominent fouling marine invertebrates, the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica and the Striped Barnacle, Balanus amphitrite for the purpose of developing a novel fouling deterrence strategy.
To understand the effect of NA at a cellular level the immune cells (hemocytes) of C. virginica were chosen as representative molluscan cells. Upon stimulation with 10 micro-molar of noradrenaline ~4% hemocytes of C. virginica labeled positive for the beta-adrenergic receptor (beta-AR). Upon NA stimulation the beta-AR positive cells formed cell-cell synapses and apoptosis was detected in …

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

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

A New Reproductive Mode In The Genus Melanzophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 (Anura: Bufonidae) With Description Of A New Species From The State Of Paraná, Brazil, José A. Langone, Magno V. Segallo, Marcos Bornschein, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

A new species of bufonid toad of the genus Melanophryniscus is described from a mountaintop that is part of the Serra do Mar in the northeastern State of Paraná, Brazil. Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. is distinguished from other known species by its uniformly dark brown dorsal color and a unique breeding site. The new species reproduces in bromeliads, a reproductive mode previously unknown for this genus. This species might be susceptible to current habitat lost.

Measuring Bite Force In Small Mammals With A Piezo-Resistive Sensor, Patricia W. Freeman, Cliff A. Lemen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

We tested the use of piezo-resistive force sensors to measure bite force in small mammals. These force sensors are thin (less than 1 mm) and can be used to measure forces up to 4,500 N. A battery-operated unit, ideal for field research, can be built easily and inexpensively. We tested this sensor in the laboratory and in the field on a variety of small mammals. Although our results indicate that the sensor is somewhat less accurate (coefficient of variation = 4%) than a conventional load cell, the small size and ease of use of the piezo-resistive detector is highly desirable. …

Law, Biology Professor Val Nolan Dies

Val Nolan Jr. (1976 Acting; 1980 Acting)

No abstract provided.

Functions, Structure, And Read-Through Alternative Splicing Of Feline Apobec3 Genes, Carsten Munk, Thomas W. Beck, Jorg Zielonka, Agnes Hotz-Wagenblatt, Sarah Chareza, Marion Battenberg, Jens Thielebein, Klaus Cichutek, Ignacio G. Bravo, Stephen J. O'Brien, Martin Lochelt, Naoya Yuhki

Biology Faculty Articles

Background:

Over the past years a variety of host restriction genes have been identified in human and mammals that modulate retrovirus infectivity, replication, assembly, and/or cross-species transmission. Among these host-encoded restriction factors, the APOBEC3 (A3; apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide 3) proteins are potent inhibitors of retroviruses and retrotransposons. While primates encode seven of these genes (A3A to A3H), rodents carry only a single A3 gene.

Results:

Here we identified and characterized several A3 genes in the genome of domestic cat (Felis catus) by analyzing the genomic A3 locus. The cat genome presents one A3H gene and three …

Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Treasurer's Report, December 31, 2007

Nebraska Bird Review

One-page spreadsheet constituting the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union treasurer's report at year end (December 31) of 2007. The grand total is $56,601.74.

Nebraska Bird Review (March 2008) 76(1), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Editor's Note ... 2

Winter Field Report, Dec. 2007-Feb. 2008 by W. Ross Silcock ... 2

2007-2008 Christmas Bird Counts in Nebraska ... 16

First Report of Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) Breeding in the Nebraska Panhandle Region by Wayne J. Mollhoff, Joseph Gubanyi, and Mark A. Brogie ... 32

[Photographs page: Least Bittern, Pomarine Jaeger, Wood Stork, and White-winged Dove] ... 38

First Nebraska Record for the Royal Tern (Sterna maxima) and a Review of Regional Records by Sarah E. Rehme, Thomas E. Labedz, Don and Janis Paseka ... 39

NOU Annual Treasurer's Report for 2007 …

First Nebraska Record For The Royal Tern (Sterna Maxima) And A Review Of Regional Records, Sarah E. Rehme, Thomas E. Labedz, Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

On the afternoon of 8 Sept 2007, Don and Janis Paseka discovered a large tern on the causeway that separates Lake North from Lake Babcock, north of Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska. The causeway consists of a road next to Lake North and a low cement wall next to Lake Babcock. They observed the tern at approximately 1630 CDT standing on the low wall, on the west side of the causeway. The tern remained standing on the wall as they drove to within 15 feet and photographed it. The tern was standing with its wings drooping (Photo 1), and the fact …

Winter Field Report, December 2007 To February 2008, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This winter in Nebraska was much colder on average than the few previous winters, not so much because of low temperatures, but a lack of warmer days. This kept water bodies frozen most of the winter, with far fewer than usual midwinter water-bird records. Surprisingly, though, passerines, including some surprises, were able to brave the coolness. Notable were three species of wood-warblers; although Yellow-rumped Warblers winter to some extent in the southeast, 9 of the 21 total February records for the species have come in the last two winters. The others were not unprecedented for Nebraska, and are known to …

2007–2008 Christmas Bird Counts In Nebraska

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2007-08 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) period will be remembered for snow cover and cold temperatures. More counts than usual were postponed due to weather. The average high temperature on count day this year was 28°F and the low was 12°F, both of which are 5-10° colder than any count day average since 2000-01. Only three counts made it above freezing during the course of the day. Snow was also a problem, and although only two circles recorded precipitation on the day of the count, snow cover and ice from earlier storms resulted in stuck vehicles, arduous walking, and inaccessible …

Subscription And Organization Information [March 2008]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada, and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Editor's Note

Nebraska Bird Review

With this issue we step into a new era: this is the first issue in the history of The Nebraska Bird Review to feature full color pages. Thanks are due to Wayne Mollhoff, who instigated this change and underwrote the bulk of the cost for the color printing, and to others who contributed financially, photographically, and with much-appreciated advice and encouragement.

[Photographs: Least Bittern, Pomarine Jaeger, Wood Stork, And White-Winged Dove]

Nebraska Bird Review

Least Bittern, North Lake Basin WMA, Seward County, 9 June 2007. Photo by Joseph Gubanyi.

Pomarine Jaeger, Lake McConaughy, Keith County, 17 September 2005. Photo by Stephen J. Dinsmore.

Wood Stork, west of Ashland, Saunders County, 2 August 2006. Photo by Joel Jorgensen.

White-winged Dove, Johnson farm, 7 miles NW of Wakefield, Dixon County, 15 June 2008. Photo by Jan Johnson.

First Report Of Ash-Throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus Cinerascens) Breeding In The Nebraska Panhandle Region, Wayne J. Mollhoff, Joseph Gubanyi, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

This report presents evidence of the breeding of Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) in mixed conifer woodland in the Nebraska Panhandle Region, 160 miles north of its nearest known breeding area. In addition, it presents the first photographic evidence and the second accepted record by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (NOURC) of the presence of Ash-throated Flycatcher in Nebraska.

On 28 June 2007 Wayne Mollhoff observed an adult Ash-throated Flycatcher while conducting a survey in Priority Block K409 in Kimball County, Nebraska, for the Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas Project II. The bird was observed on private property in …

Ecology Of The Missouri River: Missouri River Creel Survey, Bellevue Bridge To Camp Creek, 31 March Through 12 October 2007. Supplement I, Gerald Mestl

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This report describes Missouri River activities and results related to a channelized Missouri River creel survey conducted from 29 March through 10 October 2003. This is the fourth of a planned annual creel survey to be conducted on alternating sections of the channelized Missouri River to measure changes in recreational fishing activity, especially those changes due to large scale habitat restoration efforts. Future reports will contain additional analyses of these data.

Anglers spent over 30,000 hours fishing the Missouri River from Camp Creek (rk 883.5) to the Kansas state line (rk 790.2) during the survey period. Effort peaked during the …

The Adaptive Evolution Of The Mammalian Mitochondrial Genome, Rute R. Da Fonseca, Warren E. Johnson, Stephen J. O'Brien, Maria J. Ramos, Agostinho Antunes

Biology Faculty Articles

Background

The mitochondria produce up to 95% of a eukaryotic cell's energy through oxidative phosphorylation. The proteins involved in this vital process are under high functional constraints. However, metabolic requirements vary across species, potentially modifying selective pressures. We evaluate the adaptive evolution of 12 protein-coding mitochondrial genes in 41 placental mammalian species by assessing amino acid sequence variation and exploring the functional implications of observed variation in secondary and tertiary protein structures.

Results

Wide variation in the properties of amino acids were observed at functionally important regions of cytochrome b in species with more-specialized metabolic requirements (such as adaptation to …

Terrapene Ornata (Ornate Box Turtle) Predation On Cliff Swallows, Mary Bomberger Brown, Charles R. Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

During a 25-year study of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in southwestern Nebraska, we observed Terrapene ornata prey, or attempt to prey, on swallows. On one occasion as large numbers of birds flushed and hit the net, the weight of the birds pulled the net down to ground level. One T. ornata, which was seen regularly at the colony, approached one adult Cliff Swallow that was very low in the net and killed it by biting and eating its head. After killing the bird, the turtle walked away carrying the head.

A Simple Morphological Predictor Of Bite Force In Rodents, Patricia W. Freeman, Cliff A. Lemen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Bite force was quantified for 13 species of North American rodents using a piezo-resistive sensor. Most of the species measured (11) formed a tight relationship between body mass and bite force (log 10(bite force) = 0.43(log 10(body mass)) + 0.416; R² > 0.98). This high correlation exists despite the ecological (omnivores, grazers and more carnivorous) and taxonomic (Cricetidae, Heteromyidae, Sciuridae and Zapodidae) diversity of species. Two additional species, Geomys bursarius (Geomyidae) and a Sciurus niger (Sciuridae), bit much harder for their size. We found a simple index of strength based on two measurements of the incisor at the level of …

Scale-Dependent Habitat Use By Fall Migratory Birds: Vegetation Architecture, Floristics, And Geographic Consistency, Jill Deppe, John Rotenberry

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Animal habitat selection is a central focus of ecology and conservation biology. Understanding habitat associations in migratory animals is particularly complicated because individuals have variable habitat requirements during the annual cycle, across their geographic range, along migratory routes, and at multiple spatial scales. We studied habitat associations of 16 fall Nearctic–Neotropical migratory land birds at two spatial scales at a stopover site along the northern Yucatan coast to examine scale-dependent habitat use, identify proximate cues shaping birds' distributions, and evaluate similarities in habitat use between our tropical stopover site and temperate sites. We addressed scale-dependent habitat associations in two ways, …

Variation In Surrounding Forest Habitat Influences The Initial Orientation Of Juvenile Amphibians Emigrating From Breeding Ponds, Leroy J. Walston, Stephen J. Mullin

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Scale-Dependent Habitat Use By Fall Migratory Birds: Vegetation Architecture, Floristics, And Geographic Consistency, Jill L. Deppe, John T. Rotenberry

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Animal habitat selection is a central focus of ecology and conservation biology. Understanding habitat associations in migratory animals is particularly complicated because individuals have variable habitat requirements during the annual cycle, across their geographic range, along migratory routes, and at multiple spatial scales. We studied habitat associations of 16 fall Nearctic–Neotropical migratory land birds at two spatial scales at a stopover site along the northern Yucatan coast to examine scale-dependent habitat use, identify proximate cues shaping birds' distributions, and evaluate similarities in habitat use between our tropical stopover site and temperate sites. We addressed scale-dependent habitat associations in two ways, …

Obituary: Terry Lamon Yates, 1950-2007., Robert J. Baker, David J. Schmidly, Joseph A. Cook, Jorge Salazar-Bravo, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

On December 11, 2007, the science of mammalogy lost one of its most valued and influential leaders. Terry Lamon Yates succumbed to complications of treatments for an aggressive form of brain cancer after a brief but courageous fight. He was born on March 17, 1950, in Mayfield, Kentucky, the older son of Ellen Wanda Byrd and William Hanley Yates. Terry’s only sibling was a brother, Johnny. He is survived by his wife Nancy Fennell Yates, his two sons, Brian Christopher and Michael Ryan, and daughter-in-law Laura Manchéno Macia.

Dr. Maximillian Schmidt's 1884 Review Of The Growth Rates Of Asian Elephants, Robert H.I. Dale, Fred Yaniga

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Rarely is there a scientific article of such creativity, insight and importance that it is fascinating even 125 years after it was written. The following article by Max Schmidt, translated in English for the first time, as far as we know, is one of these. As in the original article, an illustration precedes the text.

Dr. Schmidt addressed a topic of considerable interest in recent times (for example, Sukumar, 2003, Appendix 2): The growth curves of elephants. He combined data on multiple elephants from several sources to generate a table of shoulder heights from birth to the age of 34 …

Tribute: In Memoriam, Jeheskel "Hezy" Shoshani, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The elephant community has lost one of its great ambassadors, Dr. Jeheskel "Hezy" Shoshani, at the age of 65. A wave of condolences and testimonials from colleagues and friends around the world followed his death on May 21, 2008.

History: The Birth Of "America" In 1882, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This article concerns a New York Times story about the birth of the female Asian elephant calf, named America, at the winter headquarters of the "Greatest Show on Earth" in Bridgeport, Connecticut on February 2, 1882. Phineas T. Barnum, one of the owners of the show, and one prone to self-aggrandizing bluster, claimed that America was the second elephant ever born in captivity. America was born only to months before the arrival in New York of the most famous circus elephant of all time, Jumbo, on Easter Sunday, 1882, and only two years before the origin of a small wagon …

Calf Development: Most Births At Night, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

For many years, field researchers studying both African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximas) elephants have indicated that they have observed relatively few births in situ, suggesting that most elephant dams give birth at night. For example, according to Cynthia Moss, "Possibly the majority of births occur at night and perhaps those that do take place in the daytime happen in secluded places" (1988, p. 151). Others, for example, Clive Spinage, have referred to "the old beliefs that the cows retreated to 'calving grounds' or that birth took place at night." (Spinage, 1994, p. 90). Although …

Mating Systems, Copulatory Organ Size, And Scaling Relationship In Mollies (Poecilia Spp.), Martha Divver, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Copulatory organs rapidly evolve and are subject to complex selective pressures affecting mating success. One feature of copulatory organs that is subject to such selective pressures is size. Benefits of longer organs may include greater signal effectiveness in courtship and longer ‘reach’ when attempting copulations with evasive females. Costs of longer organs may include impaired locomotion, increased energetic cost or reduced mechanical compatibility with female genitalia. The optimal size for a copulatory organ may vary with mating behavior. The objective of this study is to examine among-species variability in copulatory organ size, body size and the relationship between copulatory organ …

Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, 1819-1820: America's First Biodiversity Ineventory, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

It is our thesis that members of the Stephen Long Expedition of 1819-20 completed the first biodiversity inventory undertaken in the United States at their winter quarters, Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, in the modern state of Nebraska. This accomplishment has been overlooked both by biologists and historians, but it should rank among the most significant accomplishments of the expedition. The results of this inventory allow us to evaluate the environmental, faunal, and floral changes along the Missouri River in the intervening nearly 190 years. The historical records form a visual image of a dynamic riverine system in which a highly …