Digital Commons Network^™

Evolution Of Eukaryal And Archaeal Pseudouridine Synthase Pus10., Elisabeth Fitzek, Archi Joardar, Ramesh Gupta, Matt Geisler

Articles

In archaea, pseudouridine (Ψ) synthase Pus10 modifies uridine (U) to Ψ at positions 54 and 55 of tRNA. In contrast, Pus10 is not found in bacteria, where modifications at those two positions are carried out by TrmA (U54 to m5U54) and TruB (U55 to Ψ55). Many eukaryotes have an apparent redundancy; their genomes contain orthologs of archaeal Pus10 and bacterial TrmA and TruB. Although eukaryal Pus10 genes share a conserved catalytic domain with archaeal Pus10 genes, their biological roles are not clear for the two reasons. First, experimental evidence suggests that human Pus10 participates in apoptosis induced by the tumor …

Recruitment Sources And Spatial Patterns Of Population Demographics Of Spotted Bass In A Large River–Tributary Network, Nick Abell, Devon Oliver, Gregory Whitledge

Publications

Understanding spatial patterns in population characteristics and the principal natal environments supporting riverine fish populations are important for fisheries management. Fin ray microchemistry was used to identify natal environment, and age estimates from sectioned fin rays were used to estimate growth and mortality rates for spotted bass, Micropterus punctulatus (Rafinesque), in a segment of the Ohio River (Smithland Pool) and three tributaries. Differences in water Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca among the Ohio River and tributaries were reflected in fin ray edge Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca. Fourteen percent of spotted bass ≥ age 2 captured in the Ohio River originated in tributaries, whereas …

Kansas Trends And Changes In Temperature, Precipitation, Drought, And Frost-Free Days From The 1890s To 2015, X. Lin, J. Harrington, I. Ciampitti, P. Gowda, D. Brown, I. Kisekka

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

Kansas extends 660 km from the moderate elevations and semi-humid conditions of the Lower Missouri Basin to the High Plains lying above the Ogallala Aquifer and along the Rockies’ eastern slope. Such characteristics result in significant climate variability across the state, making timely and accurate climate trend and change information valuable for water resources management and crop production. Here we used high-quality daily and monthly climate observations spanning a long-term period of 121 years (1895–2015) to assess trends and changes in air temperature, precipitation, drought, and frost-free days across Kansas. We show that a statewide average warming rate of 0.06°C …

Ogallala Aquifer Program: A Catalyst For Research And Education To Sustain The Ogallala Aquifer On The Southern High Plains (2003-2017), David Brauer, Dan Devlin, Kevin Wagner, Mike Ballou, Dean Hawkins, Robert Lascano

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

The Ogallala Aquifer Program (OAP) was created in 2003 with support from Congressmen from Kansas and Texas. The OAP is a research-education consortium seeking solutions from problems arising from declining water availability from the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas and the Texas High Plains. The consortium is led by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) laboratories in Bushland and Lubbock, TX, and the university partners are Kansas State University, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Service, Texas Tech University, and West Texas A&M University. The OAP has provided over $40 million to support research and education activities. About half of these …

Calibration And Validation Of Csm-Cropgro-Cotton Model Using Lysimeter Data In The Texas High Plains, P. Adhikari, P.H. Gowda, G.W. Marek, D.K. Brauer, I. Kisekka, B. Northup, A. Rocateli

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

Texas High Plains (THP), one of the most important food and fiber producing regions in the Ogallala Aquifer Region, currently faces rapid decline of groundwater levels. Predicted climate extremes and high temporal variability in growing season precipitation may require growers to pump more groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer to meet higher crop water demand. The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) Cropping System Model (CSM) is a widely used crop simulation tool for evaluating impacts of different water and crop management practices, including irrigation on crop yield and water use efficiency. In this study, CROPGRO-Cotton module of the DSSAT …

Aquifer Depletion In The Lower Mississippi River Basin: Challenges And Solutions, M.L. Reba, J.H. Massey, M.A. Adviento-Borbe, D. Leslie, M.A. Yaeger, M. Anders, J. Farris

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

The Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB) is an internationally-important region of intensive agricultural crop production that relies heavily on the underlying Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVAA) for irrigation. Extensive irrigation coupled with the region's geology have led to significant aquifer decline. The response to the decline has been multi-faceted. Research related to three responses are highlighted: innovation in rice irrigation, on-farm reservoirs, and managed aquifer recharge. Irrigated rice grown in Arkansas, which is nearly 50% of annual U.S. rice production, accounts for a significant portion of aquifer withdrawal. As a result, strategies for using less water while maintaining rice …

Siu Alumni, Siu Alumni Association

SIU Alumni Magazine

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Effect Of Contextual Variables On Discounting Of Health Related Behaviors, Jessica Hubrich

Theses

The present study used a discounting task with differing contextual variables to examine how variables effect discounting between studies and future health related behaviors. Thirty nine participants completed two discounting questionnaires, each included hypothetical food choices paired with a weight loss or stable weight. Participants were instructed to complete each survey based on either their current weight or a gain of 75 pounds, and each survey included two identical hypothetical menu options. One menu incorporated low calorie foods, while the other incorporated moderately healthy foods, and participants were instructed to select the menu they preferred based on weight loss/no weight …

Survival And Capture Efficiency Of River Otters In Southern Illinois, Andrew U. Rutter

Theses

River otter (Lontra canadensis) populations in Illinois have rebounded considerably after >80 years of harvest protection and a successful reintroduction program. However, few studies of river otter ecology exist in the Midwestern U.S. where river otter numbers have increased in recent decades. Capturing study animals safely and efficiently is a critical part of wildlife research, and difficulties associated with live capture of river otters have contributed to the dearth of research on the species. Furthermore, estimating survival rates and identifying causes of mortality are important in effectively managing river otters. To address these knowledge gaps, my objectives were determine survival …

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy For Children With Autism, Tiffany Thomas

Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive lifelong developmental delay with a prevalence of 1 in 68 children. This growing epidemic occurs for unspecified causes and researchers continue to explore evidence-based treatments available. Parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) is a parent training program, initially developed for implementation with typically-developing children. PCIT has shown effectiveness in increasing child compliance, minimizing disruptive problem, improving parent-child relationship satisfaction, and communication. The present study investigated the efficacy of PCIT as an evidence-based practice (EBP) for children with ASD by implementing a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across three participants. Results indicated socially significant increases in child …

Music To Our Eyes: Assessing The Role Of Experience For Multisensory Integration In Music Perception, Robert Edward Graham

Dissertations

Based on research on the “McGurk Effect” (McGurk & McDonald, 1976) in speech perception, some researchers (e.g. Liberman & Mattingly, 1985) have argued that humans uniquely interpret auditory and visual (motor) speech signals as a single intended audiovisual articulatory gesture, and that such multisensory integration is innate and specific to language. Our goal for the present study was to determine if a McGurk-like Effect holds true for music perception as well, as a domain for which innateness and experience can be disentangled more easily than in language. We sought to investigate the effects of visual musical information on auditory music …

Off-Target Effects Of Drugs That Disrupt Human Mitochondrial Dna Maintenance., Matthew J Young

Articles

Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) were the first drugs used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Development of severe mitochondrial toxicity has been well documented in patients infected with HIV and administered NRTIs. In vitro biochemical experiments have demonstrated that the replicative mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymerase gamma, Polg, is a sensitive target for inhibition by metabolically active forms of NRTIs, nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NtRTIs). Once incorporated into newly synthesized daughter strands NtRTIs block further DNA polymerization reactions. Human cell culture and animal studies have demonstrated that cell lines and mice exposed to NRTIs …

Latino Representation In Telemundo Chicago News, Manuel Perez Venegas

Research Papers

In the last decades the population in United States with Hispanic roots, comprised of many different races, such as Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Peruvians, and Spaniards, with also including individuals who either speak Spanish as native language or whose families or ancestors are native to countries in Latin America, have increased exponentially to reach 54.1 million people in 2014. By 2050, United States is expected to become the largest Spanish speaking country in the world, will constitute 30%, and Hispanics the majority group within the country. (Rojas and Pinon, 2014). More than 35 million Latinos claim to speak Spanish at …

Culturally Responsive Graduate Teaching Instructors: Lessons On Facilitating Classroom Dialogues On Racial, Ethnic, And Cultural Injustices, Nancy Maingi

Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research

Graduate teaching instructors (GTIs) have the unique opportunity of learning to be both scholars and teachers at the same time. This juxtaposition between teacher and student presents distinctive challenges that are seldom captured in existing research. One such challenge is the task to facilitate classroom dialogues on issues of race, ethnicity, and culture. While GTIs are charged with the labor of instructing university classrooms full of diverse student populations, it is common for them to instruct these courses without ever having instructional training on culturally responsive teaching. It is also possible that GTIs are not comfortable discussing issues of race, …

Performance Results Of Using Waste Vegetable Oil Based Biodiesel Fuel In A Turboshaft Gas Turbine Engine, Donald Bartlett 5218591, Blaine M. Heisner

ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium

The purpose of this research is to record and compare the operating parameters of a turboshaft gas turbine engine using two different blends of biodiesel fuel and the standard Jet A fuel.

Progress Towards An Opposed Piston Two Stroke Gasoline Aviation Engine, Donald R. Morris

ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium

Opposed Piston Engine Technology is not new, but its application to small two-stroke gasoline engines is unexplored. This presentation explores the potential advantages of such an engine as well as progress towards a workable design.

Comparison Of New Metrics For Assessment Of Risks Of Occupational Noise, Wisam Al-Dayyeni, Jun Qin

ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium

The acoustic environment nowadays is filled with excessive noise sources. Here, we will compare the conventional noise metrics(A-weighting and C-weighting) with our two developed advanced models (the adaptive weighting (F-weight) and the complex velocity level (CVL) auditory fatigue model).

Fdm Machine Learning: An Investigation Into The Utility Of Neural Networks As A Predictive Analytic Tool For Go Around Decision Making, John Bro

ASA Multidisciplinary Research Symposium

FDM MACHINE LEARNING: An investigation into the utility of neural networks as a predictive analytic tool for go around decision making.

The Art Of Reflection, Amy L. Ruopp, Mae Debruyn

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

This writing shares a course designed to reconnect middle school students to the natural world. In reconnecting to nature while IN nature students are afforded the opportunity for deep reflection, and the space to wonder and realize the inter-connectivity between things. We highlight transformational thinking and feeling awareness as students’ connection with nature is expressed though art and writing while deeply immersed in the natural environment.

Embroidered Meteorology, Bettina L. Matzkuhn

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Weathering is a series of embroidered works that explore the symbolic and cartographic language of meteorology. Through research, mentorship and the physical work, my understanding and anxiety around weather has grown. Making art is a learning process for me: the haptic is a means for understanding. From embroidered world maps to animation to painted laundry, I conflate the intricacy of textiles with the complicated nature of the atmosphere.

Book Review Of "Point Of Departure: Returning To A More Authentic Worldview For Education And Survival" By Four Arrows (Aka Don Trent Jacobs), Barbara Bickel

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Four Arrows’ new book, according to his Wikipedia page, is his 22^nd book. Prolific in his life work as a professor, Indigenous educator, writer, musician and activist, he describes this book as his most honest and most radical. It is radical in how it reveals the damage inflicted by what he labels the Dominant (Western) Worldview. He urges us to return to the primal healing ways of the contrasting ancient Indigenous Worldview in order to limit the largely anthropogenic 6^th mass extinction on planet earth. The good news that Four Arrows highlights at the opening of the book …

Being In Sync: Practicing Creative Nature Connection With Youth, Lisa M. Lipsett

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

This article and companion video detail the Creative Nature Connection program, its theory and application, in five place based learning classrooms. Opening the senses, repeated practice, using simple materials, making encounters personally meaningful, following the principles of contemplative practice and supporting improvisational free play all support the shift to being in- sync with nature building a love of nature, creative confidence and environmental knowledge. Themes of resilience, well-being, trust, calm, creative confidence, focus, self-change, alternative ways to know, belonging and connection to self, others and nature, are briefly shared using student's and teacher's words. The companion video shares short student …

Art-Based Perceptual Ecology: An Alternative Monitoring Method In The Assessment Of Rainfall And Vegetation In A Ciénaga Community, Lee Ann Woolery

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

As an artist, educator, researcher, and scholar, with a focus on divergent ways of knowing, I use art-making as a way to connect with the natural world. In the following article, I explore the making of an image with my hands when practicing Art-Based Perceptual Ecology (ABPE) as a way of extending my understanding and ecological knowing of the natural world, or what will also be referred to as the landscape. ABPE methodologies may offer the means by which humans reconnect to a pre-discursive (mimetic) language, a sentient language our ancestors used to communicate with the animate world. In …

Art & Ecology In The West Of Ireland: Finding, Understanding, & Creating Relationships Between Artistic Practice And The Burren, Eileen C. Hutton

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

In this essay I describe how my engagement with the Burren in the west of Ireland became the foundation for my doctoral research and subsequently the development of an Art & Ecology Masters in Fine Art. I present a brief overview of the unique ecology of the Burren, including its geological, archaeological and agricultural history, so as to provide a context for both my artistic inquiry and the Burren College of Art students’ immersive experience. I then discuss my collaborative practice with small birds and honeybees as a means for exploring and expanding the traditional notion of ecology through artistic …

The World Breathing Me. Introduction To Artizein, Jan Van Boeckel

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

This introductory article argues why it is both relevant and timely to reflect on ways in which art and ecology can be brought together in educational practices – the theme of this edition of Artizein. It also provides an overview of all written contributions.

Trypanosoma Cruzi Strain Tciv Infects Raccoons From Illinois, Cailey Vandermark, Elliott A. Zieman, Esmarie Boyles, Clayton Nielsen, Cheryl Davis, F. Agustin Jimenez

Publications

BACKGROUND The northern limits of Trypanosoma cruzi across the territory of the United States remain unknown. The known vectors Triatoma sanguisuga and T. lecticularia find their northernmost limits in Illinois; yet, earlier screenings of those insects did not reveal the presence of the pathogen, which has not been reported in vectors or reservoir hosts in this state.

OBJECTIVES Five species of medium-sized mammals were screened for the presence of T. cruzi.

METHODS Genomic DNA was isolated from heart, spleen and skeletal muscle of bobcats (Lynx rufus, n = 60), raccoons (Procyon lotor, n = 37), …

A Pilot Study On The Effects Of Curcumin On Parasites, Inflammation, And Opportunistic Bacteria In Riding Horses, Samantha Wuest, Rebecca Lynn Atkinson, Stephanie D. Bland, Darcie Hastings

Peer-reviewed Articles

Twelve riding horses were utilized to examine the effects of curcumin on intestinal parasites, inflammation, and the fecal shedding of Streptococcus bovis/equinus complex (SBEC), Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens. Known for having anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiparasitic properties it was hypothesized that curcumin would decrease parasite shedding, inflammation, and opportunistic bacteria found in the GIT of riding horses. Horses were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments (n = 6/treatment): 1) no curcumin, control (CON); or 2) 15 g of 95% pure curcumin, (CUR). Curcumin was dosed per day for 30 d. Fecal samples were evaluated for shedding of …

How Zoological Studies And Semiotic Analysis Can Form A Symbiotic Relationship Via Firefly Flash Pattern In Relation To Cognitive Abilities., Elyse Hickey

2018

This analysis works to further understand the signs used in communication among the Photinus genus of fireflies, and discusses some of the implications of this investigation in regard to the cognitive thinking abilities in this species. It will describe why and how this sign communication indicates cognitive abilities. Through this interpretation I will also expand on the ways in which semiotic and zoological studies can work together to supplement areas the other may need expansion or clarification in.

Phytochemicals: Extraction, Isolation, And Identification Of Bioactive Compounds From Plant Extracts, Ammar Altemimi, Naoufal Lakhssassi, Azam Baharlouei, Dennis G. Watson, David A. Lightfoot

Articles

There are concerns about using synthetic phenolic antioxidants such as butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) as food additives because of the reported negative effects on human health. Thus, a replacement of these synthetics by antioxidant extractions from various foods has been proposed. More than 8000 different phenolic compounds have been characterized; fruits and vegetables are the prime sources of natural antioxidants. In order to extract, measure, and identify bioactive compounds from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, researchers use multiple techniques and methods. This review includes a brief description of a wide range of different assays. The …

Land Use Modification And Changing Redox Conditions Releases Selenium And Sulfur From Historic Marsh Sediments, Barry J. Hibbs, Monica Lee, Rachel Ridgway

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

San Diego Creek Watershed forms the southern end of the Coastal Plain that covers much of Los Angeles County and Orange County, California. Prior to 1900, the central part of the watershed was marshland, and the edges of the watershed were used for grazing sheep and cattle. After 1900, cattle and sheep grazing were displaced by irrigated agriculture. Drainage ditches and channels were constructed to drain the marshes to “reclaim” the land for agriculture. Today, the drainage ditches and channels still exist in the watershed, which has undergone massive urban growth. Shallow groundwater discharges into these channels and ditches, which …