Digital Commons Network^™

Potential Benefits And Shortcomings Of Marine Protected Areas For Small Seabirds Revealed Using Miniature Tags, Sara M. Maxwell, Melinda G. Conners, Nicholas B. Sisson, Tiffany M. Dawson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Marine protected areas are considered important tools for protecting marine biodiversity, and animal tracking is a key way to determine if boundaries are effectively placed for protection of key marine species, including seabirds. We tracked chick-rearing brown noddies (Anous stolidus) from the Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida USA in 2016 using 1.8 g Nanofix GPS tags (n = 10), making this the first time this species has ever been tracked. We determined movement parameters, such as flight speed, distance traveled and home range, and how birds used a complex of marine protected areas including the Dry Tortugas …

Isoetes Mississippiensis: A New Quillwort From Mississippi, Usa, Peter W. Schafran, Steven W. Leonard, Rebecca D. Bray, W. Carl Taylor, Lytton John Musselman

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Isoetes mississippiensis S.W. Leonard, W.C. Taylor, L.J. Musselman and R.D. Bray (Isoetaceae, Lycopodiophyta) is a new species known from two sites along tributaries of the Pearl River in southern Mississippi. This species is distinguished from other species in the southeastern United States by a combination of character states including a basic diploid (2n=22) chromosome count, laevigate megaspores, and a narrow velum covering less than one-third of the adaxial sporangium wall.

Evidence Of Female Sex Pheromones And Characterization Of The Cuticular Lipids Of Unfed, Adult Male Versus Female Blacklegged Ticks, Ixodes Scapularis, Ann L. Carr, Daniel E. Sonenshine, John B. Strider Jr., R. Michael Roe

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Copulation in I. scapularis involves physical contact between the male and female (on or off the host), male mounting the female, insertion/maintenance of the male chelicerae in the female genital pore (initiates spermatophore production), and the transfer of the spermatophore by the male into the female genital pore. Bioassays determined that male mounting behavior/chelicerae insertion required direct contact with the female likely requiring non-volatile chemical cues with no evidence of a female volatile sex pheromone to attract males. Unfed virgin adult females and replete mated adult females elicited the highest rates of male chelicerae insertion with part fed virgin adult …

Wake Me When It's Over- Bacterial Toxin-Antitoxin Proteins And Induced Dormancy, Nathan P. Coussens, Dayle A. Daines

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Toxin-antitoxin systems are encoded by bacteria and archaea to enable an immediate response to environmental stresses, including antibiotics and the host immune response. During normal conditions, the antitoxin components prevent toxins from interfering with metabolism and arresting growth; however, toxin activation enables microbes to remain dormant through unfavorable conditions that might continue over millions of years. Intense investigations have revealed a multitude of mechanisms for both regulation and activation of toxin-antitoxin systems, which are abundant in pathogenic microorganisms. This minireview provides an overview of the current knowledge regarding type II toxin-antitoxin systems along with their clinical and environmental implications.

Local Avian Density Influences Risk Of Mortality From Window Strikes, Ann M. Sabo, Natasha D.G. Hagemeyer, Ally S. Lahey, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Up to a billion birds die per year in North America as a result of striking windows. Both transparent and reflective glass panes are a cause for concern, misleading birds by either acting as invisible, impenetrable barriers to desired resources, or reflecting those resources over a large surface area. A high number of window strikes occur during migration, but little is known about the factors of susceptibility, or whether particular avian taxa are more vulnerable than others. We report on a study of window strikes and mist-netting data at the Virginia Zoological Park (Norfolk, Virginia, USA), conducted in the autumn …

Rnd3 As A Novel Target To Ameliorate Microvascular Leakage, Jerome W. Breslin, Dayle A. Daines, Travis M. Doggett, Kristine H. Kurtz, Flavia M. Souza-Smith, Xun E. Zhang, Mack H. Wu, Sarah Y. Yuan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background -Microvascular leakage of plasma proteins is a hallmark of inflammation that leads to tissue dysfunction. There are no current therapeutic strategies to reduce microvascular permeability. The purpose of this study was to identify the role of Rnd3, an atypical Rho family GTPase, in the control of endothelial barrier integrity. The potential therapeutic benefit of Rnd3 protein delivery to ameliorate microvascular leakage was also investigated.

Methods and Results-Using immunofluorescence microscopy, Rnd3 was observed primarily in cytoplasmic areas around the nuclei of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Permeability to fluorescein isothiocyanate-albumin and transendothelial electrical resistance of human umbilical vein …

Radio-Frequency Plasma Polymerized Biodegradable Carrier For In Vivo Release Of Cis-Platinum, Sudhir Bhatt, Fatemeh Valamanesh, Jerome Pulpytel, Rea Lo Dico, Aliby Baiyukha, Iman Al-Dybiat, Marc Pocard, Farzaneh Arefi-Khonsari, Massoud Mirshahi

Bioelectrics Publications

A low pressure plasma process based on plasma deposition has been used to develop a drug delivery strategy. In this study, a drug delivery system based on different layers of plasma co-polymerized Poly ε-caprolactone-Polyethylene glycol (PCL-PEG) co-polymers was deposited on biocompatible substrates. Cis-platinum (118 μgm/cm²) was used as an anti-cancer drug and incorporated for local delivery of the chemotherapeutic agent. The co-polymer layers and their interaction with cancer cells were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. Our study showed that the plasma-PCL-PEG coated cellophane membranes, in which the drug, was included did not modify the flexibility and appearance of …

Nature & Spirit: A Digital Lens Of Gay-Male Culture, Brandon S. Gellis

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

History is fraught with critical reactions toward homosexuality. Within the United States, response by the culture-at-large (mainstream culture) towards this sexual orientation underwent a radical transformation within the last one hundred years. Toward the beginning of the 20th century, homosexuality was deemed immoral and punishable by law, necessitating that most homosexuals remained closeted and forcing gay communities to evolve separately from, yet in parallel to, the culture-at-large. However, by the 1960s gay political organizations began publicly protesting the mistreatment of gay communities, and arguing for equal treatment and the decriminalization of homosexuality. Burdened by the mid-20th century art world's homophobic …

Aqueous Reactive Species Induced By A Surface Air Discharge: Heterogenous Mass Transfer And Liquid Chemistry Pathways, D. X. Liu, Z. C. Liu, C. Chen, A. J. Yang, D. Li, M. Z. Rong, H. L. Chen, M. G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

Plasma-liquid interaction is a critical area of plasma science and a knowledge bottleneck for many promising applications. In this paper, the interaction between a surface air discharge and its downstream sample of deionized water is studied with a system-level computational model, which has previously reached good agreement with experimental results. Our computational results reveal that the plasma-induced aqueous species are mainly H+, nitrate, nitrite, H2O2 and O-3. In addition, various short-lived aqueous species are also induced, regardless whether they are generated in the gas phase first. The production/loss pathways for aqueous species are quantified for an air gap width ranging …

The Effects Of Rubric Use On Calibration Accuracy, Katrice Hawthorne, Linda Bol, Shana L. Pribesh

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The utility of rubric-referenced calibration and the interaction between achievement and calibration accuracy were investigated. Students (N = 596) were assigned to one of three rubric conditions: (1) a global condition, (2) a general criteria condition, or (3) a detailed criteria condition. Students in all three conditions provided holistic predictions and postdictions. Students in the rubric conditions also provided criteria-based predictions and postdictions. Whereas calibrating by condition did not affect calibration accuracy overall, significant effects were found between calibration accuracy by criteria and achievement level. Lower achieving students had better calibration accuracy in the detailed rubric criteria condition when compared …

The Small Mammals Of Southeastern Virginia As Revealed By Pitfall Trapping, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Pitfall trapping is a poor method to catch small mammals but the only way to catch and study the Southeastern Shrew (Sorex longirostris), the primary mammal of interest in the field studies reported here. While learning much about its distribution and abundance, still more was learned about the other small mammals present in forests and fields of eastern Virginia. A total of 15 species was captured at 19 locations during the 1990-2013 period, including five shrews, two moles, and eight rodents, representing all but one of the common small mammals in eastern Virginia.

Studies On Hydroxyl Radical Formation And Correlated Photoflocculation Process Using Degraded Wood Leachate As A Cdom Source, Luni Sun, Kenneth Mopper

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

In this study, we examined hydroxyl radical (•OH) formation with respect to photoreactivity of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), the Fenton reaction, and photoflocculation using leachate from decaying wood. The relationship between •OH photoproduction rate and leachate optical properties (UV-visible absorption and fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMS)) was studied during irradiation using a UV solar simulator. The results showed that the •OH photochemical formation rate is strongly related to humic-like fluorescence as characterized by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and that these fluorescence components are more photolabile than most of the other CDOM components. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) indicated the photodegradation …

The Role Of Microbial Exopolymers In Determining The Fate Of Oil And Chemical Dispersants In The Ocean, Antonietta Quigg, Uta Passow, Wei-Chun Chin, Chen Xu, Shawn Doyle, Laura Bretherton, Manoj Kamalanathan, Alicia K. Williams, Jason B. Sylvan, Zoe V. Finkel, Anthony H. Knap, Kathleen A. Schwehr, Saijin Zhang, Luni Sun, Terry L. Wade, Wassim Obeid, Patrick G. Hatcher, Peter H. Santschi

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by planktonic microbes can influence the fate of oil and chemical dispersants in the ocean through emulsification, degradation, dispersion, aggregation, and/or sedimentation. In turn, microbial community structure and function, including the production and character of EPS, is influenced by the concentration and chemical composition of oil and chemical dispersants. For example, the production of marine oil snow and its sedimentation and flocculent accumulation to the seafloor were observed on an expansive scale after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Northern Gulf of Mexico in 2010, but little is known about the underlying …

Measurement Of Antioxidant Activity Toward Superoxide In Natural Waters, D. Whitney King, Emma Berger, Zachary Helm, Eleanor Irish, Kenneth Mopper

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Antioxidants are a class of molecules that provide a protective function against reactive oxygen species (ROS) in biological systems by out competing physiologically important molecules for ROS oxidation. In natural waters, the reactivity of antioxidants gives an estimate of oxidative stress, and may determine the reactivity and distribution of reactive oxidants. We present an analytical method to measure antioxidant activity in natural waters through the competition between ascorbic acid, an antioxidant, and MCLA, a chemiluminescent probe for superoxide. A numerical kinetic model of the analytical method has been developed to optimize analytical performance. Measurements of antioxidant concentrations in pure and …

Anticancer, Biophysical And Computational Investigations Of Half-Sandwich Ruthenium(Ii) Thiosemicarbazone Complexes: The Effect Of Arene Versus Thiacrown Face-Cap, Floyd A. Beckford, Alyssa Stott, P. Canisius Mbarushimana, Marc-Andre Leblanc, Kinsey Hall, Samantha Smith, Jimmie L. Bullock, Dennis J. Houghton, Alvin A. Holder, Nikolay Gerasimchuk, Antonio Gonzalez-Sarrías

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

A series of half-sandwich ruthenium complexes, two containing an arene face-cap and the other a thiacrown ether face-cap were synthesized to investigate the necessity of the arene for anticancer activity in this class of compounds. The complexes are formulated as [(h⁶-p-cymene)Ru(dmabTSC)Cl]PF₆, [(h⁶-benzene)Ru(dmabTSC)Cl]PF₆ (arene complexes), and [([9]aneS₃(dmabTSC)Cl]PF₆ (dmabTSC = dimethylaminobenzaldehye thiosemicarbazone). It was observed that none of the complexes showed good anticancer activity in vitro against HCT-116 and Caco-2 (colon adenocarcinoma) cells. All three complexes can bind strongly to calf-thymus DNA with binding constants on the order of 10 …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Azo-Guanidine Based Alcoholic Media Naked Eye Dna Sensor, Ataf A. Altaf, Uzma Hashmat, Muhammad Yousaf, Bhajan Lal, Shafiq Ullah, Alvin A. Holder, Amin Badshah

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

DNA sensing always has an open meadow of curiosity for biotechnologists and other researchers. Recently, in this field, we have introduced an emerging class of molecules containing azo and guanidine functionalities. In this study, we have synthesized three new compounds (UA1, UA6 and UA7) for potential application in DNA sensing in alcoholic medium. The synthesized materials were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, UV-visible, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopies. Their DNA sensing potential were investigated by UV-visible spectroscopy. The insight of interaction with DNA was further investigated by electrochemical (cyclic voltammetry) and hydrodynamic (viscosity) studies. …

Detailed Source-Specific Molecular Composition Of Ambient Aerosol Organic Matter Using Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry And H Nmr, Amanda S. Willoughby, Andrew S. Wozniak, Patrick G. Hatcher

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Organic aerosols (OA) are universally regarded as an important component of the atmosphere that have far-ranging impacts on climate forcing and human health. Many of these impacts are related to OA molecular characteristics. Despite the acknowledged importance, current uncertainties related to the source apportionment of molecular properties and environmental impacts make it difficult to confidently predict the net impacts of OA. Here we evaluate the specific molecular compounds as well as bulk structural properties of total suspended particulates in ambient OA collected from key emission sources (marine, biomass burning, and urban) using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry (UHR-MS) and proton nuclear …

Investigating Cholera Using An Sir Model With Age-Class Structure And Optimal Control, K. Renee Fister, Holly Gaff, Elsa Schaefer, Glenna Buford, Bryce C. Norris

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The use of systems of differential equations in mathematical modeling in conjunction with epidemiology continues to be an area of focused research. This paper briefly acquaints readers with epidemiology, cholera, and the need for effective control strategies; discusses cholera dynamics through a variation on the SIR epidemiological model in which two separate age classes exist in a population; finds the numeric value for R₀ to be approximately 1.54 using estimated parameters for Bangladesh; and employs an optimal control resulting in a suggestion that a protection control be implemented at the end of the monsoon season.

Assessing The Cost Of Global Biodiversity And Conservation Knowledge, Diego Juffe-Bignoli, Thomas M. Brooks, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Richard B. Jenkins, Kaia Boe, Michael Hoffman, Ariadne Angulo, Steve Bachman, Monica Böhm, Neil Brummitt, Kent E. Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge products for biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decision makers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largely undocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintaining four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are …

Draft Genome Sequences For Seven Streptococcus Parauberis Isolates From Wild Fish In The Chesapeake Bay, Ashley Haines, Emily Nebergall, Elvira Besong, Kimaya Council, Onaysha Lambert, David Gauthier

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Streptococcus parauberis is a pathogen of cattle and fish, closely related Streptococcus uberis and Streptococcus iniae. We report the genomes of seven S. parauberis strains recovered from striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Chesapeake Bay. The availability of these genomes will allow comparative genomic analysis of Chesapeake Bay S. parauberis strains versus S. parauberis cultured from other animal hosts and geographic regions.

Genomic Insights Into The Ixodes Scapularis Tick Vector Of Lyme Disease, Monika Gulia-Nuss, Andrew B. Nuss, Jason M. Meyer, Daniel E. Sonenshine, R. Michael Roe, Robert M. Waterhouse, David B. Sattelle, Jose De La Fuente, Jose M. Ribeiro, Karine Megy

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. The large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive DNA, new lineages of retro-transposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. Annotation of scaffolds representing ~57% of the genome, reveals 20,486 protein-coding genes and expansions of gene families associated with tick-host interactions. We report insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host 'questing', prolonged feeding, cuticle …

Isolation And Characterization Of Eight Polymorphic Microsatellites For The Spotted Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Guttatus, Nathan Truelove, Donald C. Behringer, Mark J. Butler Iv, Richard F. Preziosi

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Microsatellite sequences were isolated from enriched genomic libraries of the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus using 454 pyrosequencing. Twenty-nine previously developed polymerase chain reaction primer pairs of Panulirus argus microsatellite loci were also tested for cross-species amplification in Panulirus guttatus. In total, eight consistently amplifying, and polymorphic loci were characterized for 57 individuals collected in the Florida Keys and Bermuda. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 8 to 20 and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.409 to 0.958. Significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were found in one locus from Florida and three loci from Bermuda. Quality control testing indicated …

A Microfluidic-Based Tactile Sensor For Palpating Mice Tumor Tissues, Yichao Yang, Garett Johnson, Dean Krusienski, Siqi Guo, Cheng Lin, Zhili Hao

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

In light of the need of tissue palpation for Robotics-assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery (RMIS), this paper presents a microfluidic-based tactile sensor for palpating mice tissues for tumor localization. The core of the sensor is a 3x3 sensing-plate/transducer array built into a single polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microstructure, with a transducer spacing of 3.75mmx1.5mm. Mounted on a robot, the sensor is pressed against a tissue region with a pre-defined indentation depth pattern, and consequently the stiffness distribution across the tissue region translates to the deflection distribution of the sensing-plate array and is captured by the transducer array underneath as resistance changes. Thus, the …

Health Service Utilization And Poor Health Reporting In Asthma Patients, Joshua G. Behr, Rafael Diaz, Muge Akpinar-Elci

VMASC Publications

The management and treatment of adult asthma has been associated with utilization of health services. Objectives: First, to investigate the likelihood of health service utilization, including primary care, emergency department, and hospital stays, among persons diagnosed with an asthma condition relative to those that do not have an asthma condition. Second, to examine the likelihood of poor physical health among asthma respondents relative to those that do not have an asthma condition. Third, to demonstrate that these relationships vary with frequency of utilization. Fourth, to discuss the magnitude of differences in frequent utilization between asthma and non-asthma respondents. Data …

Mining Human Activity Using Dimensionality Reduction And Pattern Recognition, Ismail El Moudden, Mounir Ouzir, Badreddine Benyacoub, Souad El Bernoussi

Research and Infrastructure Service Enterprise (RISE) Faculty Publications

Human activity recognition (HAR) is an emerging research topic in pattern recognition, especially in computer vision. The main objective of human activity recognition is to automatically detect and analyze human activities from the information acquired from different sensors. Human activity prediction using big data remains a challengingly open problem. Several approaches have recently been developed in order to find practical ways to solve high dimensionality of data problems. The aim of this study is to attempt, using data mining techniques, to deal with HAR modeling involving a significant number of variables in order to identify relevant parameters from data and …

Mfge8 Regulates Tgf-Β-Induced Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition In Endometrial Epithelial Cells In Vitro, Liang Yu, Rong Hu, Claretta Sullivan, R. James Swanson, Sergio Oehninger, Ying-Pu Sun, Silvina Bocca

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

This study investigated the role of milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor-factor 8 (MFGE8) in TGF-β-induced epithelial– mesenchymal transition (EMT) of endometrial epithelial cells. These were in vitro studies using human endometrial epithelial cells and mouse blastocysts. We investigated the ability of TGF-β to induce EMT in endometrial epithelial cells (HEC-1A) by assessment of cytological phenotype (by light and atomic force microscopy), changes in expression of the markers of cell adhesion/differentiation E- and N-cadherin, and of the transcription factor Snail (by immunofluorescence and immunoblotting), and competence to support embryo attachment in a mouse blastocyst outgrowth assay. We also studied the effects …

Tick-, Mosquito-, And Rodent-Bourne Parasite Sampling Designs For The National Ecological Observatory Network, Yuri Springer, David Hoekman, Pieter T.J. Johnson, Paul A. Duffy, Rebecca A. Hufft, Holly D. Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Parasites and pathogens are increasingly recognized as significant drivers of ecological and evolutionary change in natural ecosystems. Concurrently, transmission of infectious agents among human, livestock, and wildlife populations represents a growing threat to veterinary and human health. In light of these trends and the scarcity of long-term time series data on infection rates among vectors and reservoirs, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will collect measurements and samples of a suite of tick-, mosquito-, and rodent-borne parasites through a continental-scale surveillance program. Here, we describe the sampling designs for these efforts, highlighting sampling priorities, field and analytical methods, and the …

Anaplasma Marginale Actively Modulates Vacuolar Maturation During Intracellular Infection Of Its Tick Vector, Dermacentor Andersoni, Foregivemore Magunda, Chelsea Wright Thompson, David A. Schneider, Susan M. Noh

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

ABSTRACT Tick-borne transmission of bacterial pathogens in the order Rickettsiales is responsible for diverse infectious diseases, many of them severe, in humans and animals. Transmission dynamics differ among these pathogens and are reflected in the pathogen-vector interaction. Anaplasma marginale has been shown to establish and maintain infectivity within Dermacentor spp. for weeks to months while escaping the complex network of vacuolar peptidases that are responsible for digestion ofthe tick blood meal. How this prolonged maintenance of infectivity in a potentially hostile environment is achieved has been unknown. Using the natural vector Dermacentor andersoni, we demonstrated that A. marginale …

Powerlessness Repurposed: The Feminist Ethos Of Judy Bonds, Mary Beth Pennington

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Gay Habits Set Strait: Fan Culture And Authoritative Praxis In Ready Player One, Kevin Moberly, Brent Moberly

English Faculty Publications

(First Paragraph) Gwendolyn Morgan reminds us that medievalism and authority are complementary fictions.¹ Recognizing that the "past with which we identify actually reflects our present needs," she examines the way that contemporary writers establish the authority of their works by adapting, if not explicitly fabricating medieval sources.² The result, she argues, is a kind of "double practice of medievalism," one that invokes the authoritative power of the Middle Ages by appropriating the medieval appeal to auctoritee, which is to say the pretense of "citing real and invented classical authorities" to both disguise and justify authorial invention.³ Morgan …