Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of Growth Performance And Meat Quality Traits Of Commercial Cross-Bred Pigs Versus The Large Black Pig Breed, Yongjie Wang, Keshari Thakali, Palika Morse, Sarah Shelby, Jinglong Chen, Jason Apple, Yan Huang

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The meat quality of different pig breeds is associated with their different muscle tissue physiological processes, which involves a large variety of genes related with muscle fat and energy metabolism. Understanding the differences of biological processes of muscle after slaughter is helpful to reveal the meat quality development of different breeds. Therefore, eight native Large Black pigs (BP), with high fat content in meat, and seven cross-bred commercial pigs (CP), which had a high feed efficiency with high lean meat, were used to investigate the differences in their meat quality and RNA transcriptomes. The average daily gain (ADG) and hot …

New Faculty Research Profile: Martin A. Edwards: Bibliometric Analysis Of His Research, Lutishoor Salisbury, Yang Tian, Jeremy Smith

University Libraries Faculty Publications and Presentations

This poster was compiled to welcome Dr. Martin A. Edwards as an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at the University of Arkansas in 2020. It provides a bibliometric analysis of his research achievements and their scholarly impact.

Geometric Morphometric Analyses Define Riverine And Lacustrine Species Flocks Of Himalayan Snowtrout (Cyprinidae: Schizothorax) In Nepal, Binod Regmi, Marlis R. Douglas, David R. Edds, Michael E. Douglas

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Freshwater fishes in the river and lake systems in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau are morphologically diverged but the evolutionary relationship of putative subspecies separated in these freshwater systems has not been explored. Snowtrout (Schizothorax spp.) are minnows (Cyprinidae) broadly distributed in Asia. Body shapes of 3 Lake Rara (northwest Nepal) endemics (S. macrophthalmus, S. nepalensis, S. raraensis) and 2 widely distributed riverine species (S. progastus, S. richardsonii) across 3 drainages in Nepal (i.e. Karnali, Gandaki, and Koshi Rivers) were studied using geometric morphometry. Data were derived from museum voucher specimens/tissues collected …

Nucleus Type-Specific Dna Methylomics Reveals Epigenetic “Memory” Of Prior Adaptation In Skeletal Muscle, Yuan Wen, Cory M. Dungan, C. Brooks Mobley, Taylor Valentino, Ferdinand Von Walden, Kevin A. Murach

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using a mouse model of conditional and inducible in vivo fluorescent myonuclear labeling (HSA-GFP), sorting purification of nuclei, low-input reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), and a translatable and reversible model of exercise (progressive weighted wheel running, PoWeR), we provide the first nucleus type-specific epigenetic information on skeletal muscle adaptation and detraining. Adult (>4 mo) HSA-GFP mice performed PoWeR for 8 wk then detrained for 12 wk; age-matched untrained mice were used to control for the long duration of the study. Myonuclei and interstitial nuclei from plantaris muscles were isolated for RRBS. Relative to untrained, PoWeR caused similar myonuclear CpG …

Compulsory Licensing Of Climate Engineering Patents: How Embracing Technology- And Research-Sharing Strategies Brings Us One Step Closer To Solving Climate Change, Buzz Hardin

Arkansas Law Review

The impact of climate change spans the globe and includes increasingly severe and dangerous climate events, including coastal flooding, extreme heat and wildfires, reduced crop yield, and decreased food security. In the United States, if the proper steps toward mitigating or reversing the effects of climate change are not taken, it is very likely that the United States will experience substantial damage to its economy, the health of its citizens, and the environment. In response to the challenges presented by climate change, the number of inventions in the field of climate engineering, or “geoengineering,” has skyrocketed over the past several …

Diet And Successful Aging, Jamie Baum

Diet, Food, Exercise, and Nutrition (D-FEND)

Learning Objectives:

Define successful aging

Understand the components of successful aging

Learn diets and dietary patterns for successful aging

Physical activity and successful aging

Adhesion And Deformation Mechanisms Of Polydopamine And Polytetrafluoroethylene: A Multiscale Computational Study, Matthew Brownell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polydopamine (PDA) has been shown to bond via covalent bonding, van der Waals forces, and hydrogen bonding and is known to adhere strongly to almost any material. The application of PDA between a substrate and a PTFE surface coating has resulted in low friction and a greatly reduced wear rate. Previous research probing the capabilities and limitations of PDA/PTFE films have studied the wear and mechanical properties of the film, but the overall adhesive and deformation mechanisms remain unclear.

In this research, we investigate the tribological properties of PDA and PTFE molecules and composites from the atomic to the microscale …

Leveraging Biomimicry And Additive Manufacturing To Improve Load Transfer In Brittle Materials, Ana Paula Bernardo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the emergence of Additive Manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing) in construction, new strategically designed shapes can be created to improve load transfer through structural members and foundations. Cross-sections can be optimized to carry load using less material, or even using weaker constituent materials, like soils, which are cheap and abundant. The goal of this research is to investigate the benefits of using cellular patterns which leverage biomimicry in civil engineering applications, since nature has perfectly engineered materials and patterns which carry loads with the least amount of material possible. Most of the periodic cellular work to date has focused on …

The Virome Of Peony And The Population Structure Of Its Most Prominent Viruses, Cullen Shaffer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Peony (Peonia lactiflora, Pall.) is a popular ornamental that has been cultivated for millennia. Due to its popularity, plant material is frequently moved across international borders allowing for the spread of viruses. The virome of several peony plants was investigated and four viruses; namely Amazon lily mild mottle virus (ALiMMV), Cycas necrotic stunt virus (CNSV), Gentian Kobu-sho associated virus (GKaV) and Lychnis mottle virus (LycMoV) were detected for the first time in the Western Hemisphere. Incidence ranged from a few plants for ALiMMV to near universal infection for CNSV. GKaV was found in individuals that were infected with Lemoine’s disease …

Parallel Strategies To Control Bacterial Panicle Blight Of Rice, Laura Ortega

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial Panicle Blight (BPB) of rice is a seed-borne disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia glumae. This disease has affected rice production worldwide and its effects are likely to become more devastating with the continuous increase in global temperatures especially during the growing season. Field data has shown that the disease has been more prevalent in years when the temperatures have been unusually high especially at night possibly due to the bacterial adaptation to grow at temperatures higher than 40oC. With the continuous rise in global temperatures, it is likely that this disease will be more problematic. The bacterium can …

Moisture Monitoring Of A Clt Structure In A Southern Climate, Elizabeth Poblete

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding of moisture behavior in cross laminated timber (CLT) is critical to the widespread use of CLT in construction in the United States. Currently, very little data exists on the long-term impact of moisture on CLT. The objective of this research is to collect data regarding the long-term moisture variation in the CLT panel at the University of Arkansas Adohi Hall residence hall. The climate of Northwest Arkansas is different from previously monitored buildings, as they were in the Pacific Northwest. Comparatively, Northwest Arkansas has a warmer climate with higher average annual precipitation. Waterproofing efforts are usually employed to prevent …

Effects Of Temporal Variation On Ambient Light In Northwest Arkansas, Ashlyn Anderson

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

An animal’s life success is determined solely by its fitness, which makes choosing a mate one of its most important life decisions. Natural selection plays a big part in an animal’s phenotype, but so does sexual selection. Even though females are usually thought to be the choosier sex, in many species or seasons males are also choosy. Male mate preference is an understudied topic compared to female mate preference and therefore, even less is known about the outcomes of a male’s prior mating experience’s influence on future mating experiences. Therefore, I dove deeper into this topic with the highly studied …

Supersize It! Developing A "Supercytoplast" Through Platelet Fusion, Taulbee B. Gunter

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Stem cell research opens a wide range of possibilities from lab-grown tissues for medical purposes to cloned animals for livestock production. The issue with one of the most popular forms of cell recombination into a stem cell, known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), is that it requires an oocyte. The requirement of an oocyte is often the host of public scrutiny for its economic and ethical issues. Platelets may offer a less expensive and more accessible alternative to oocytes as sources of naturally enucleated cells. Thus, the objective of this explorative research project is to isolate and fuse platelets …

Respiratory Illness And Household Air Pollution: Problem Identification And Intervention, Hannah Flournoy

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study is an expanded literature review that identifies the key concepts of Household Air Pollution (HAP) and the relationship it has with respiratory illness. This study identifies twenty research studies that inspect HAP and respiratory symptoms across a number of communities that utilize biomass fuel as their primary fuel source. It seeks to identify the problems that come with HAP, such as childhood respiratory infection, COPD, and other respiratory illnesses. This review seeks to identify if people in low to middle income countries, who utilize biomass fuel sources, see and improved respiratory outcome from using modern cookstoves and other …

Can Small Farmers Survive?: Problems Of Commercializing The Milk Value Chain In Pakistan, Erum Sattar

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Milk in Pakistan is infused with the self-understanding of a nation. British colonial administrators laid the modern-day foundations of the country’s structure through land grants to small farmers. In an agricultural country where nearly forty percent of the population remains food insecure, rearing animals is a way of life in the rural areas where milk remains an important source of animal protein. Selling the daily surplus that families don’t consume is a significant source of earnings for cash poor families – and here an unprecedented change is taking place within dairy management and milk procurement systems. The scale of this …

A Snapshot Semester: Students’ Reflections Of Performance And Mental State Throughout A Graduate Course, Bradley D. Borges

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Graduate students are anecdotally reputed to be among the most stressed groups of young adults. Common sources of stress for graduate students have included coursework, assistantships, finances, career preparation, and family (Wyatt & Oswalt, 2013; Mazzola, Walker, Shockley & Spector, 2011; Oswalt & Riddock, 2007). Guided reflection can be used by educators to assist students in both learning (Boud, Keogh & Walker, 2013; Kolb, 1984) and managing stress (Shoulders, Whitehead, & Morrison, 2018). By understanding how students’ progress through a semester in terms of both their learning and their management of stress, instructors and academic advisors can better anticipate times …

Understanding Radiation Resistance In Head And Neck Tumor Xenografts Using Diffuse Reflectance And Raman Spectroscopy, Sina Dadgar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Each year, 800,000 new patients are diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a majority of whom are treated with a combination of daily fractions of radiation and weekly chemotherapy sessions for up to seven weeks. Current methods to evaluate treatment response of individual patients are limited to anatomical measurements of tumor burden using CT scan or MRI 4-8 weeks after completion of treatment. However, earlier knowledge of radiation-response prior to or at early days after commencement of therapy can aid oncologist with escalating and de-escalating treatment plans for exceptionally non-responding and responding patients. Such a knowledge can …

Comparative Evaluation Of Statistical Dependence Measures, Eman Abdel Rahman Ibrahim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Measuring and testing dependence between random variables is of great importance in many scientific fields. In the case of linearly correlated variables, Pearson’s correlation coefficient is a commonly used measure of the correlation strength. In the case of nonlinear correlation, several innovative measures have been proposed, such as distance-based correlation, rank-based correlations, and information theory-based correlation. This thesis focuses on the statistical comparison of several important correlations, including Spearman’s correlation, mutual information, maximal information coefficient, biweight midcorrelation, distance correlation, and copula correlation, under various simulation settings such as correlative patterns and the level of random noise. Furthermore, we apply those …

Gene Set Testing By Distance Correlation, Sho-Hsien Su

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pathways are the functional building blocks of complex diseases such as cancers. Pathway-level studies may provide insights on some important biological processes. Gene set test is an important tool to study the differential expression of a gene set between two groups, e.g., cancer vs normal. The differential expression of a gene set could be due to the difference in mean, variability, or both. However, most existing gene set tests only target the mean difference but overlook other types of differential expression. In this thesis, we propose to use the recently developed distance correlation for gene set testing. To assess the …