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In Vivo Liver Endocytosis Followed By Purification Of Liver Cells By Liver Perfusion, Sandhya Gopalakrishnan, Edward N. Harris

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The liver is the metabolic center of the mammalian body and serves as a filter for the blood. The basic architecture of the liver is illustrated in figure ¹ in which more than 85% of the liver mass is composed of hepatocytes and the remaining 15% of the cellular mass is composed of Kupffer cells (KCs), stellate cells (HSCs), and sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs). SECs form the blood vessel walls within the liver and contain specialized morphology called fenestrae within in the cytoplasm. Fenestration of the cytoplasm is the appearance of holes (˜100 μm) within the cells so that the …

Paleoepidemiology Of Intestinal Parasites And Lice In Pre-Columbian South America, Adauto Araujo, Karl Reinhard, Daniela Leles, Luciana Sianto, Alena M. Iñiguez, Martin Fugassa, Bernardo Arriaza, Nancy Orellana, Luis Fernando Ferreira

Karl Reinhard Publications

Some human parasites originated in prehominid ancestors in Africa. Nematode species, such as Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm), hookworms and Trichuris trichiura are shared by humans and other close phylogenetic primates (Pan and Gorilla), showing that they infected a common ancestor to this group. When humans migrated from Africa to other continents they carried these parasites wherever climate conditions allowed parasite transmission from host to host. Other parasites, however, were acquired throughout human biological and social evolutive history when new territories were occupied. Paleoparasitology data is a valuable source to recover emergence and disappearance of parasite infections through analysis of …

A Multi-Year Comparison Of Ipci Scores For Prairie Pothole Wetlands: Implications Of Temporal And Spatial Variation, Ned H. Euliss Jr., David M. Mushet

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

In the prairie pothole region of North America, development of Indices of Biotic Integrity (IBIs) to detect anthropogenic impacts on wetlands has been hampered by naturally dynamic inter-annual climate fluctuations. Of multiple efforts to develop IBIs for prairie pothole wetlands, only one, the Index of Plant Community Integrity (IPCI), has reported success. We evaluated the IPCI and its ability to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic variation using plant community data collected from 16 wetlands over a 4-year-period. We found that under constant anthropogenic influence, IPCI metric scores and condition ratings varied annually in response to environmental variation driven primarily by …

Classifying The Hydrologic Function Of Prairie Potholes With Remote Sensing And Gis, Jennifer Rover, Chris K. Wright, Ned H. Euliss Jr., David M. Mushet, Bruce K. Wylie

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

A sequence of Landsat TM/ETM+ scenes capturing the substantial surface water variations exhibited by prairie pothole wetlands over a drought to deluge period were analyzed in an attempt to determine the general hydrologic function of individual wetlands (recharge, flowthrough, and discharge). Multipixel objects (water bodies) were clustered according to their temporal changes in water extents. We found that wetlands receiving groundwater discharge responded differently over the time period than wetlands that did not. Also, wetlands located within topographically closed discharge basins could be distinguished from discharge basins with overland outlets. Field verification data showed that discharge wetlands with closed basins …

The In Situ Function Of A Microbial Community Profiled By Ft-Ir: A Snapshot In Time, Ryan Roberts

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Photographs of an ecosystem are an important tool in macro-community ecology. The photograph is a permanent record of species phenotype. In microbiology, biochemical activity provides the most descriptive information of an organism’s phenotype. A method for fingerprinting all biochemical activities occurring within a microbial community is analogous to a photograph. Infrared spectroscopy in the region between wavelengths 2500 to 20,000 nm (mid-IR) is a well established instrumental method for fingerprinting the total biochemical profile of axenic cultures. Spectra are complex and sensitive as demonstrated by the ability to discriminate between strains of bacteria, fungi, and algae. This thesis develops the …

A State Record For The Oconee Scorpionfly, Panorpa Oconee Byers (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), In Florida, Louis A. Somma

Insecta Mundi

I provide the first state record for the Oconee scorpionfly, Panorpa oconee Byers, from Putnam County, Florida. This is the southernmost record for P. oconee, extends its range 321 km south of its known distribution and, if valid, adds a seventh described species of panorpid, and twelfth mecopteran, indigenous to Florida.

Morphological Characterization And Molecular Mediated Genetic Variation Of Thief Ant (Solenopsis Molesta Say, Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Ralph B. Narain

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The thief ant, Solenopsis molesta (Say), a common nuisance ant species found throughout the United States is genetically related to other stinging ants. This research was undertaken to estimate genetic variation utilizing mitochondrial DNA sequences of cytochrome oxidase I in thief ant populations from various geographic locations. Thief ants were collected from nine states, identified to species using morphologic characteristics from available keys. DNA extractions were completed with Qiagen’s Gentra PUREGENE® DNA Isolation Kit using their solid tissue protocol. PCR reactions were run on the extracted DNA using primers Lep-F1 (forward) and Lep-R1 (reverse). The resulting DNA products were concentrated …

Energy Restriction During Development In Breeding Gilts: An Economic Analysis, Justin Cech

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Swine production has become a low-margin business. As costs of production have increased, producers are continuing to increase efficiency in market pig production and gilt development. Restricting energy intake during gilt development could have a positive impact on a producer’s bottom line, but few studies have economically analyzed production differences caused by energy restriction. This study utilized gilt development and market pig production data from biological studies that included a 2x2 factorial arrangement of half-sibling maternal lines (LWxLR and L45X) entering two gilt development programs. In one program, gilts were fed on an ad libitum basis. In the other, gilts …

Ducks, Geese, And Swans Of The World: Sources Cited, Paul A. Johnsgard

Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World by Paul A. Johnsgard

350+ citations

Waterfowl Of North America: Sources, Paul A. Johnsgard

Waterfowl of North America, Revised Edition (2010) by Paul A. Johnsgard

Approximately 500 citations.

See also the updated bibliography in the 2010 supplement: "North America’s Ducks, Geese and Swans in the 21st Century"

Evaluation Of Five Methods For Total Dna Extraction From Western Corn Rootworm Beetles, Hong Chen, Murugesan Rangasamy, Sek Yee Tan, Haichuan Wang, Blair D. Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Background: DNA extraction is a routine step in many insect molecular studies. A variety of methods have been used to isolate DNA molecules from insects, and many commercial kits are available. Extraction methods need to be evaluated for their efficiency, cost, and side effects such as DNA degradation during extraction.

Methodology/Principal Findings: From individual western corn rootworm beetles, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, DNA extractions by the SDS method, CTAB method, DNAzol reagent, Puregene solutions and DNeasy column were compared in terms of DNA quantity and quality, cost of materials, and time consumed. Although all five methods resulted in acceptable DNA …

In-Silico Prediction Of Blood-Secretory Human Proteins Using A Ranking Algorithm, Qi Liu, Juan Cui, Qiang Yang, Ying Xu

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Background: Computational identification of blood-secretory proteins, especially proteins with differentially expressed genes in diseased tissues, can provide highly useful information in linking transcriptomic data to proteomic studies for targeted disease biomarker discovery in serum.

Results: A new algorithm for prediction of blood-secretory proteins is presented using an information-retrieval technique, called manifold ranking. On a dataset containing 305 known blood-secretory human proteins and a large number of other proteins that are either not blood-secretory or unknown, the new method performs better than the previous published method, measured in terms of the area under the recall-precision curve (AUC). A key advantage …

Distillers Grains And Livestock Are Important To Ethanol Energy And Greenhouse Gas Balance, Virgil R. Bremer, Adam J. Liska, Haishun Yang, Daniel T. Walters, Galen E. Erickson, Terry J. Klopfenstein, Richard K. Koelsch, Kenneth G. Cassman

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

A life cycle assessment of the impact of distillers grains plus solubles (DGS) on mitigation of energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions comparing corn ethanol to gasoline demonstrates the importanceof feeding wet DGS (WDGS) to feedlot cattle to optimize the environmental benefit of ethanol production relative to gasoline. Ethanol produced in Nebraska has a superior environmentalimpact compared to ethanol produced in Iowa or Texas.

Soydb: A Knowledge Database Of Soybean Transcription Factors, Zheng Wang, Marc Libault, Trupti Joshi, Babu Valliyodan, Henry T. Nguyen, Dong Xu, Gary Stacey, Jianlin Cheng

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Transcription factors play the crucial rule of regulating gene expression and influence almost all biological processes. Systematically identifying and annotating transcription factors can greatly aid further understanding their functions and mechanisms. In this article, we present SoyDB, a user friendly database containing comprehensive knowledge of soybean transcription factors.

Description: The soybean genome was recently sequenced by the Department of Energy-Joint Genome Institute (DOE-JGI) and is publicly available. Mining of this sequence identified 5,671 soybean genes as putative transcription factors. These genes were comprehensively annotated as an aid to the soybean research community. We developed SoyDB - a knowledge database …

Physics And Astronomy Collection Development Policy, Virginia A. Baldwin

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Collection Development Policies

The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers the B.A. and B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The department offers a Physics degree with an astronomy option and Physics faculty will continue to teach Astronomy classes. The graduate program in Astronomy is being phased out and there is currently no Physics Education program. The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln offers graduate education leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Physics. The Department has a flexible program of graduate study to accommodate students with a wide variety of goals and backgrounds.

Philosophy Collection Development Policy, Kathleen Johnson

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Collection Development Policies

The philosophy collection supports the teaching, research, and service activities of the entire university community. Its primary audience is the faculty and students of the Department of Philosophy in the College of Arts & Sciences. Its primary focus is support for the undergraduate and graduate curricula for philosophy. Research needs of faculty and students are supplemented through Interlibrary Loan. Although the collection also benefits other citizens of the state of Nebraska, materials are not purchased with them in mind. While the collection focuses on works classified in Library of Congress call numbers B, BC-BD, BH, and BJ, research support is …

Agronomy & Horticulture Collection Development Policy, Elaine Maytag Nowick

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Collection Development Policies

The Agronomy & Horticulture Collection supports the RESEARCH, graduate, and undergraduate education mission of the department. It also provides information resources for related groups in the university such as Cooperative Extension, RESEARCH & Extension Centers, the Statewide Arboretum, and the Water Center. The Department is also supported by materials in other subject areas such as Plant Pathology, Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Statistics.

Monitoring Early Season Mosquito And Bird Populations: Implications For West Nile Virus In Lancaster County, Nebraska, Jason Thiele, Trevor Hefley, Lindsay Beck-Johnson, Emily Matthews

RURALS: Review of Undergraduate Research in Agricultural and Life Sciences

West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance efforts in Nebraska focus on the late summer and early fall months. We studied mosquito and bird populations in Lancaster County, Nebraska to evaluate the potential for WNV transmission in the late spring and early summer, prior to occurrences of human WNV infections. Culex tarsalis is the most important vector of WNV in Nebraska and was the focal species for the study. Mosquitoes were trapped at six locations representing three habitat types from May 14 to July 11, 2007. The C. tarsalis population, as estimated by the number of individuals caught in the traps each …

The Early Development Of Gender Differences, Matthew H. Mcintyre, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This article reviews findings from anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines about the role of biological factors in the development of sex differences in human behavior, including biological theories, the developmental course of sex differences, and the interaction of biological and cultural gendering processes at different ages. Current evidence suggests that major biological influences on individual differences in human gender, to the extent that they exist, operate primarily in early development, during and especially prior to puberty. Biological effects are likely to be mediated by relatively simple processes, like temperament, which are then elaborated through social interactions (as with mother and …

Molecular Taxonomy, Phylogeny And Biogeography Of Nematodes Belonging To The Trichinella Genus, Edoardo Pozio, Eric Hoberg, Giuseppe La Rosa, Dante S. Zarlenga

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Studying parasites of the genus Trichinella provides scientists of today many advantages. This is a group of zoonotic nematodes that circulates freely among wildlife hosts with one in particular, Trichinella spiralis that is exceptionally well adapted to domestic swine. Recent reports suggest that human infections from hunted animals are on the rise worldwide and numerous countries still experience problems with T. spiralis in their domestic food supplies. Trichinella is a genus whose members are easily propagated in the laboratories, have been used as models to investigate host-parasite relationships and parasitism among clade I organisms, and represent a poorly investigated link …

Birds Of The Great Plains: Family Vireonidae (Vireos), Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

Black-capped Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Bell Vireo
Gray Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Solitary Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Warbling Vireo

Birds Of The Great Plains: References, Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

A 21-page bibliography, including REGIONAL AND STATE REFERENCES and REFERENCES ON INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. Approximately 400 entries, through 1979.

An updated list of references will be found at the end of the new essay "Three Decades of Change in Great Plains Birds."

Birds Of The Great Plains: Family Parulidae (Wood Warblers), Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Swainson Warbler
Wonn-eating Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle and Audubon Warblers)
Black-throated Green Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow -throated Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Mourning Warbler
MacGillivray Warbler
Conunon Yellowthroat
Yellow -breasted Chat
Hooded Warbler
Canada Warbler
American Redstart

Insights Into The Population Structure Of Blue Whales In The Eastern North Pacific From Recent Sightings And Photographic Identification, John Calambokidis, Jay Barlow, John K. B. Ford, Todd E. Chandler, Annie B. Douglas

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Blue whales were widely distributed in the North Pacific prior to the primary period of modern commercial whaling in the early 1900s. Despite concentrations of blue whale catches off British Columbia and in the Gulf of Alaska, there had been few documented sightings in these areas since whaling for blue whales ended in 1965. In contrast, large concentrations of blue whales have been documented off California and Baja California and in the eastern tropical Pacific since the 1970s, but it was not known if these animals were part of the same population that previously ranged into Alaskan waters. We document …

Birds Of The Great Plains: Family Strigidae (Typical Owls), Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
Barred Owl
Great Gray Owl
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Saw-whet Owl

Historical Changes In The Occurrence And Distribution Of Freshwater Mussels In Kansas, Robert T. Angelo, M. Steve Cringan, Eva Hays, Clint A. Goodrich, Edwin J. Miller, Mark A. Vanscoyoc, Bryan R. Simmons

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

The surface waters of eastern and central Kansas once supported an impressive variety of native freshwater mussels, but a widespread decline in species richness accompanied the urban, industrial, and agricultural development of this region. Statewide mussel surveys implemented during the past two decades have shed new light on the scope and severity of this decline. Of the 48 mussel species originally known from Kansas, six are now extirpated, one lacks reproductively viable populations (i.e., faces imminent extirpation), and 38 others have suffered evident range reductions or a widespread thinning of former populations. Soil erosion and stream siltation, other forms of …

Birds Of The Great Plains: Family Turdidae (Thrushes, Bluebirds, And Solitaires), Paul A. Johnsgard

Birds of the Great Plains (Revised Edition, 2009) by Paul Johnsgard

American Robin
Wood Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Swainson Thrush
Veery
Eastern Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Townsend Solitaire

Enzymatic Quantification Of Phytate In Animal Manure, Zhongqi He, Heidi W. Waldrip, C. Wayne Honeycutt, M. Susan Erich, Zachary N. Senwo

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Phytate (inositol hexaphosphate) has been identified as a major organic phosphorus (P) form in soil, animal manure, and other environmental samples. Although a number of methods are available for quantitative isolation and determination of phytate, they are time-consuming and not amenable to routine analysis. We developed a simple, rapid method for enzymatic determination of phytate in animal manure. Animal manure was extracted by H₂O, 1M hydrochloric acid (HCl), 0.1M sodium acetate (NaOAc, pH5.0) with or without 0.05M ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA), and 0.25M or 0.5M sodium hydroxide (NaOH)–0.05M EDTA. Extracts were diluted (1/10–1/150) and adjusted to pH5.0 in sodium acetate …

A Comparison Of Complete Mitochondrial Genomes Of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix And Bighead Carp Hypophthalmichthys Nobilis: Implications For Their Taxonomic Relationship And Phylogeny, S. F. Li, J. W. Xu, Q. L. Yang, C. H. Wang, Q. Chen, D. C. Chapman, Guoqing Lu

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Based upon morphological characters, Silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (or Aristichthys nobilis) have been classified into either the same genus or two distinct genera. Consequently, the taxonomic relationship of the two species at the generic level remains equivocal. This issue is addressed by sequencing complete mitochondrial genomes of H. molitrix and H. nobilis, comparing their mitogenome organization, structure and sequence similarity, and conducting a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of cyprinid species. As with other cyprinid fishes, the mitogenomes of the two species were structurally conserved, containing 37 genes including 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA …

Lek Behavior As A Model For Multi-Robot Systems, Brittany Duncan, Patrick D. Ulam, Ronald C. Arkin

School of Computing: Technical Reports

Lek behavior is a biological mechanism used by male birds to attract mates by forming a group. This project explores the use of a biological behavior found in many species of birds to form leks to guide the creation of groups of robots. The lek behavior provides a sound basis for multi-robot formation because it demonstrates a group of individual entities forming up around a scarce resource. This behavior can be useful to robots in many situations, with an example scenario the case in which robots were dropped via parachute into an area and then needed to form meaningful task-oriented …