Digital Commons Network^™

A Common Mechanism Links Epstein‐Barr Virus Infections And Autoimmune Diseases, Luwen Zhang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) infection is associated with a variety of the autoimmune diseases. There is apparently no unified model for the role of EBV in autoimmune diseases. In this article, the development of autoimmune diseases is proposed as a simple two‐step process: specific autoimmune initiators may cause irreversible changes to genetic materials that increase autoimmune risks, and autoimmune promoters promote autoimmune disease formation once cells are susceptible to autoimmunity. EBV has several types of latencies including type III latency with higher proliferation potential. EBV could serve as autoimmune initiators for some autoimmune diseases. At the same time, EBV may play …

Wics Conference 2022: Driving Research, Teaching, And Extension Impact, Daren Redfearn, Daran Rudnick

Water and Integrated Cropping Systems Conferences

The Water and Integrated Cropping Systems (WICS) Hub was established to facilitate and provide collaborative opportunities for IANR faculty to leverage their individual and collective knowledge, talents, and interests to drive impact in Research and Discovery, Teaching and Learning, Extension and Outreach. This past year we focused on building connections as well as identifying and prioritizing big challenges and opportunities facing Nebraskans. The faculty identified and organized around the following themes, Digital/Precision Agriculture, Soil Health, Integrated Cropping Systems, Water Quality, and Water Quantity. The Theme Groups are faculty led and multi-disciplinary with representation across IANR Departments and Faculty appointments. We …

Evaluation Of The Effects Of Pine-Sourced Biochar On Cattle Performance And Methane And Carbon Dioxide Production From Growing And Finishing Steers, J. L. Sperber, B. C. Troyer, Galen E. Erickson, Andrea K. Watson

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

A feedlot growing (77-d) and finishing (111-d) experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding biochar on steer performance, methane and carbon dioxide emissions, and carcass characteristics. Two treatments were evaluated, a control diet without biochar and the same diet with biochar included at 0.8% of dietary DM (growing) or 1.0% of dietary DM (finishing). The growing diet consisted of 40% corn silage, 40% wheat straw, 15% modified distillers grains plus solubles, and 5% supplement, with 0.8% biochar replacing fine ground corn in supplement. The finishing diet consisted of 55% high-moisture corn (HMC), 35% Sweet Bran, 5% wheat straw, …

A Pipeline To Generate Deep Learning Surrogates Of Genome-Scale Metabolic Models, Achilles Rasquinha

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Genome-Scale Metabolic Models (GEMMs) are powerful reconstructions of biological systems that help metabolic engineers understand and predict growth conditions subjected to various environmental factors around the cellular metabolism of an organism in observation, purely in silico. Applications of metabolic engineering range from perturbation analysis and drug-target discovery to predicting growth rates of biotechnologically important metabolites and reaction objectives within dierent single-cell and multi-cellular organism types. GEMMs use mathematical frameworks for quantitative estimations of flux distributions within metabolic networks. The reasons behind why an organism activates, stuns, or fluctuates between alternative pathways for growth and survival, however, remain relatively unknown. GEMMs …

Predicting Personalized Responses To Dietary Fiber Interventions: Opportunities For Modulation Of The Gut Microbiome To Improve Health, Car Reen Kok, Devin J. Rose, Robert Hutkins

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Inadequate dietary fiber consumption has become common across industrialized nations, accompanied by changes in gut microbial composition and a dramatic increase in chronic metabolic diseases.The human gut microbiome harbors genes that are required for the digestion of fiber, resulting in the production of end products that mediate gastrointestinal and systemic benefits to the host. Thus, the use of fiber interventions has attracted increasing interest as a strategy to modulate the gut microbiome and improve human health. However, considerable interindividual differences in gut microbial composition have resulted in variable responses toward fiber interventions. This variability has led to observed nonresponder individuals …

Application Of Uas‑Based Remote Sensing In Estimating Winter Wheat Phenotypic Traits And Yield During The Growing Season, Kianoosh Hassani, Hamed Gholizadeh, Saleh Taghvaeian, Victoria Natalie, Jonathan Carpenter, Jamey Jacob

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Phenotyping approaches have been considered as a vital component in crop breeding programs to improve crops and develop new high-yielding cultivars. However, traditional field-based monitoring methods are expensive, invasive, and time-intensive. Moreover, data collected using satellite and airborne platforms are either costly or limited by their spatial and temporal resolution. Here, we investigated whether low-cost unmanned/unoccupied aerial systems (UASs) data can be used to estimate winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) nitrogen (N) content, structural traits including plant height, fresh and dry biomass, and leaf area index (LAI) as well as yield during different winter wheat growing stages. To achieve …

Takeda Pharmaceutical Rare Hematology Strategic Audit, Brian Duval

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company is a large Japanese-based multinational pharmaceutical company that manufactures treatments for many different diseases. It is the largest pharmaceutical company in Asia and has a significant share in markets across the world. This report focuses specifically on Takeda’s treatments for rare bleeding disorders under its Rare Diseases & Hematology division. Using internal and external analysis tools, this report seeks to understand how Takeda has created and sustained competitive advantages in the complex environment of the pharmaceutical industry. Specific tools used to highlight this include Porter’s Five Forces and PESTEL analyses. This report also examines the environment surrounding …

A Non-Destructive Approach For Measuring Rice Panicle-Level Photosynthetic Responses Using 3d-Image Reconstruction, Jaspinder Singh Dharni, Balpreet Kaur Dhatt, Puneet Paul, Tian Gao, Tala Awada, Harel Bacher4, Zvi Peleg, Paul E. Staswick, Jason Hupp, Hongfeng Yu, Harkamal Walia

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Our understanding of the physiological responses of rice inflorescence (panicle) to environmental stresses is limited by the challenge of accurately determining panicle photosynthetic parameters and their impact on grain yield. This is primarily due to the lack of a suitable gas exchange methodology for panicles and non-destructive methods to accurately determine panicle surface area.

Results: To address these challenges, we have developed a custom panicle gas exchange cylinder compatible with the LiCor 6800 Infra-red Gas Analyzer. Accurate surface area measurements were determined using 3D panicle imaging to normalize the panicle-level photosynthetic measurements. We observed differential responses in …

Dynamic Regulation Of Phenylpropanoid Pathway Metabolites In Modulating Sorghum Defense Against Fall Armyworm, Sajjan Grover, Sanket Shinde, Heena Puri, Nathan Palmer, Gautam Sarath, Scott E. Sattler, Joe Louis

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Plants undergo dynamic metabolic changes at the cellular level upon insect infestation to better defend themselves. Phenylpropanoids, a hub of secondary plant metabolites, encompass a wide range of compounds that can contribute to insect resistance. Here, the role of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) phenylpropanoids in providing defense against the chewing herbivore, fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, was explored. We screened a panel of nested association mapping (NAM) founder lines against FAW and identified SC1345 and Ajabsido as most resistant and susceptible lines to FAW, respectively, compared to reference parent, RTx430. Gene expression and metabolomic studies suggested that FAW …

Natural Resource System Size Can Be Used For Managing Recreational Use, Derek S. Kane, Kevin L. Pope, Keith D. Koupal, Mark A. Pegg, Christopher J. Chizinski, Mark A. Kaemingk

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Outdoor recreation provides societal benefits that are often measured by the amount of use natural resource systems receive. Still, the amount of resource use natural resource systems receive is often unknown or unstudied. Monitoring and quantifying resource use is often logistically difficult and costly but is paramount to optimize societal benefits. Identifying a simple and readily available metric that can indicate the quantity of recreational use of natural resource systems would benefit natural resource management. Using recreational angler participation data during an 11-year study period from 73 public waterbodies in Nebraska, USA, we developed a resource size-use model that demonstrates …

In Vitro Models For The Study Of Liver Biology And Diseases: Advances And Limitations, Savneet Kaur, Srivatsan Kidambi, Martí Ortega-Ribera, Le Thi Thanh Thuy, Natalia Nieto, Victoria C. Cogger, Wei-Fen Xie, Frank Tacke, Jordi Gracia-Sancho

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

In vitro models of liver (patho)physiology, new technologies, and experimental approaches are progressing rapidly. Based on cell lines, induced pluripotent stem cells or primary cells derived from mouse or human liver as well as whole tissue (slices), such in vitro single- and multicellular models, including complex microfluidic organ-on-a-chip systems, provide tools to functionally understand mechanisms of liver health and disease. The International Society of Hepatic Sinusoidal Research (ISHSR) commissioned this working group to review the currently available in vitro liver models and describe the advantages and disadvantages of each in the context of evaluating their use for the study of …

Exosomes Derived From Differentiated Human Admsc With The Schwann Cell Phenotype Modulate Peripheral Nerve-Related Cellular Functions, Bo Liu, Yunfan Kong, Wen Shi, Mitchell Kuss, Ke Liao, Guoku Hu, Peng Xiao, Jagadesan Sankarasubramanian, Chittibabu Guda, Xinglong Wang, Yuguo Lei, Bin Duan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Peripheral nerve regeneration remains a significant clinical challenge due to the unsatisfactory functional recovery and public health burden. Exosomes, especially those derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are promising as potential cell-free therapeutics and gene therapy vehicles for promoting neural regeneration. In this study, we reported the differentiation of human adipose derived MSCs (hADMSCs) towards the Schwann cell (SC) phenotype (hADMSC-SCs) and then isolated exosomes from hADMSCs with and without differentiation (i.e., dExo vs uExo). We assessed and compared the effects of uExo and dExo on antioxidative, angiogenic, antiinflammatory, and axon growth promoting properties by using various peripheral nerve-related cells. …

A Field Synopsis, Systematic Review, And Meta-Analyses Of Cophylogenetic Studies: What Is Affecting Congruence Between Phylogenies?, Valeria Trivellone, Bernd Panassiti

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

We conducted a field synopsis and systematic meta-analysis of studies that carried out cophylogenetic analyses using algorithms and available software. We evaluated the influence of three factors—namely, cophylogenetic method, association, and ecosystem type—on the outcome of the analyses, that is, the degree of congruence between phylogenies of interacting species.

The published papers were identified using 4 different databases and 13 keywords; we included all studies for which statistical approaches to compare phylogenies (cophylogenetic analyses) of interacting lineages were used. After the initial screening, 296 studies were selected to extract response variable (outcome of the cophylogenetic analyses, i.e., congruent, incongruent, or …

Il-33 Promotes Increased Replication Of Theiler’S Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus In Raw264.7 Macrophage Cells With An Irf3-Dependent Response, Ahmed Esmael, Thomas M. Petro

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Interleukin-33 (IL-33), which promotes M2 macrophage development, may influence the control of viruses, such as Theiler’s Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus (TMEV) that infect macrophages. Because Interferon Regulatory Factor-3 (IRF3) is also critical to control of TMEV infection in macrophages, information on the relationship between IL-33 and IRF3 is important. Thus, RAW264.7 Lucia murine macrophage lineage cells with an endogenous IRF3-ISRE promoter driving secreted luciferase and IRF3KO RAW Lucia, a subline deficient in IRF3, were challenged with TMEV. After the challenge, considerable TMEV RNA detected at 18 and 24 h in RAW cells was significantly elevated in IRF3KO RAW cells. TMEV induction …

Il-33 Promotes Increased Replication Of Theiler’S Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus In Raw264.7 Macrophage Cells With An Irf3-Dependent Response, Ahmed Esmael, Thomas M. Petro

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Interleukin-33 (IL-33), which promotes M2 macrophage development, may influence the control of viruses, such as Theiler’s Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus (TMEV) that infect macrophages. Because Interferon Regulatory Factor-3 (IRF3) is also critical to control of TMEV infection in macrophages, information on the relationship between IL-33 and IRF3 is important. Thus, RAW264.7 Lucia murine macrophage lineage cells with an endogenous IRF3-ISRE promoter driving secreted luciferase and IRF3KO RAW Lucia, a subline deficient in IRF3, were challenged with TMEV. After the challenge, considerable TMEV RNA detected at 18 and 24 h in RAW cells was significantly elevated in IRF3KO RAW cells. TMEV induction …

A Single Amino Acid Substitution In Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Glycoprotein 2 Significantly Impairs Its Infectivity In Macrophages, Jayeshbhai Chaudhari, Raquel Arruda Leme, Kassandra Durazo-Martinez, Sarah Vitosh-Sillman, Aspen M. Workman, Hiep Vu

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has a restricted tropism for macrophages and CD163 is a key receptor for infection. In this study, the PRRSV strain NCV1 was passaged on MARC-145 cells for 95 passages, and two plaque-clones (C1 and C2) were randomly selected for further analysis. The C1 virus nearly lost the ability to infect porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs), as well as porcine kidney cells expressing porcine CD163 (PK15-pCD163), while the C2 virus replicates well in these two cell types. Pretreatment of MARC-145 cells with an anti-CD163 antibody nearly blocked C1 virus infection, indicating that the virus still …

Genetic Code Expansion In Pseudomonas Putida Kt2440, Xinyuan He, Tian Gao, Yan Chen, Kun Liu, Jiantao Guo, Wei Niu

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Pseudomonas putida KT2440 is an emerging microbial chassis for bio-based chemical production from renewable feedstocks and environmental bioremediation. However, tools for studying, engineering, and modulating protein complexes and biosynthetic enzymes in this organism are largely underdeveloped. Genetic code expansion for the incorporation of unnatural amino acids (unAAs) into proteins can advance such efforts and, furthermore, enable additional controls of biological processes of the strain. In this work, we established the orthogonality of two widely used archaeal tRNA synthetase and tRNA pairs in KT2440. Following the optimization of decoding systems, four unAAs were incorporated into proteins in response to a UAG …

Life History And Ecology Of The San Emigdio Blue Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), Gregory R. Ballmer

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The San Emigdio blue butterfly, Plebulina emigdionis (Grinnell, 1905), occurs in small, scattered colonies in and near the southwestern Mojave Desert of California. Colonies depend on a symbiotic relationship with the ant Formica francoueri (Bolton), and occur only where the ant’s range (primarily in more mesic cis-montane habitats) narrowly overlaps that of the butterfly’s more widely distributed Atriplex larval hosts in more xeric habitats. Colonies of P. emigdionis are often localized around a few host plants and, therefore, sensitive to habitat changes due to anthropocentric causes and environmental stochasticity. The biology, ecology, and status of known colonies of P emigdionis …

Bison Movements Change With Weather: Implications For Their Continued Conservation In The Anthropocene, Nicholas A. Mcmillan, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Barney Luttbeg, Laura E. Goodman, Craig A. Davis, Brady W. Allred, Robert G. Hamilton

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Animal movement patterns are affected by complex interactions between biotic and abiotic landscape conditions, and these patterns are being altered by weather variability associated with a changing climate. Some animals, like the American plains bison (Bison bison L.; hereafter, plains bison), are considered keystone species, thus their response to weather variability may alter ecosystem structure and biodiversity patterns. Many movement studies of plains bison and other ungulates have focused on point-pattern analyses (e.g., resource-selection) that have provided information about where these animals move, but information about when or why these animals move is limited. For example, information surrounding the …

The First Complete Genome Of The Simian Malaria Parasite Plasmodium Brasilianum, Marko Bajic, Shashidhar Ravishankar, Mili Sheth, Lori A. Rowe, M. Andreina Pacheco, Dhruviben S. Patel, Dhwani Batra, Vladimir Loparev, Christian Olsen, Ananias A. Escalante, Fredrik Vannberg, Venkatachalam Udhayakumar, John W. Barnwell, Eldin Talundzic

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Naturally occurring human infections by zoonotic Plasmodium species have been documented for P. knowlesi, P. cynomolgi, P. simium, P. simiovale, P. inui, P. inui-like, P. coatneyi, and P. brasilianum. Accurate detection of each species is complicated by their morphological similarities with other Plasmodium species. PCR-based assays offer a solution but require prior knowledge of adequate genomic targets that can distinguish the species. While whole genomes have been published for P. knowlesi, P. cynomolgi, P. simium, and P. inui, no complete genome for P. brasilianum has …

Held At Bay: A Case Study Of A Lake Community’S Effort To Prevent A Zebra Mussel Invasion, Benjamin Breske

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This case study was completed in a lake community in the upper midwestern United States. It seeks to understand the social factors that allowed a lake community to establish an effort to protect against a zebra mussel invasion, as well as the perceptions of the different stakeholders and the steps they took to get the effort going. Rural community action is important for the sustainability of many of the world’s natural resources as these communities are often the first line of defense. Understanding how efforts like this one come together is vital for creating similar efforts elsewhere. I conducted a …

Vaccinate: Posters From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Aaron Sutherlen, Judy Diamond, Meghan Leadabrand, Julia Mcquillan, St Patrick Reid

Zea E-Books Collection

In 2022 we are living through a global pandemic, and vaccines are one of the most effective strategies for slowing the spread of infectious disease, minimizing symptoms, and lowering healthcare demands. In short, vaccines save lives and can reduce the risk of contagion from social interaction.

In the United States in late 2021, after the vaccines had been broadly available for almost a year, one in five adults still chose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Art can disrupt what is embedded in our minds and open us up to new perspectives and insights. We hope to offer access to …

Computer Engineering Education, Marilyn Wolf

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

Computer engineering is a rapidly evolving discipline. How should we teach it to our students?

This virtual roundtable on computer engineering education was conducted in summer 2022 over a combination of email and virtual meetings. The panel considered what topics are of importance to the computer engineering curriculum, what distinguishes computer engineering from related disciplines, and how computer engineering concepts should be taught.

Polyphenolics, Glucosinolates And Isothiocyanates Profiling Of Aerial Parts Of Nasturtium Officinale (Watercress), Sotiris Kyriakou, Kyriaki Michailidou, Tom Amery, Kyle Stewart, Paul G. Winyard, Dimitrios T. Trafalis, Rodrigo Franco, Aglaia Pappa, Mihalis I. Panayiotidis

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is a rich source of secondary metabolites with disease-preventing and/or health-promoting properties. Herein, we have utilized extraction procedures to isolate fractions of polyphenols, glucosinolates and isothiocyanates to determine their identification, and quantification. In doing so, we have utilized reproducible analytical methodologies based on liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry by either positive or negative ion mode. Due to the instability and volatility of isothiocyanates, we followed an ammonia derivatization protocol which converts them into respective ionizable thiourea derivatives. The analytes’ content distribution map was created on watercress flowers, leaves and stems. We have demonstrated that …

Polyphenolics, Glucosinolates And Isothiocyanates Profiling Of Aerial Parts Of Nasturtium Officinale (Watercress), Sotiris Kyriakou, Kyriaki Michailidou, Tom Amery, Kyle Stewart, Paul G. Winyard, Dimitrios T. Trafalis, Rodrigo Franco, Aglaia Pappa, Mihalis I. Panayiotidis

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) is a rich source of secondary metabolites with disease-preventing and/or health-promoting properties. Herein, we have utilized extraction procedures to isolate fractions of polyphenols, glucosinolates and isothiocyanates to determine their identification, and quantification. In doing so, we have utilized reproducible analytical methodologies based on liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry by either positive or negative ion mode. Due to the instability and volatility of isothiocyanates, we followed an ammonia derivatization protocol which converts them into respective ionizable thiourea derivatives. The analytes’ content distribution map was created on watercress flowers, leaves and stems. We have demonstrated that …

The Genome Of Orychophragmus Violaceus Provides Genomic Insights Into The Evolution Of Brassicaceaepolyploidizationandits Distinct Traits, Kang Zhang, Yinqing Yang, Xin Zhang, Lingkui Zhang, Yu Fu, Zhongwei Guo, Shumin Chen, Jian Wu, James C. Schnable, Keke Yi, Xiaowu Wang, Feng Cheng

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Orychophragmus violaceus, referred to as ‘‘eryuelan’’ (February orchid) in China, is an early-flowering ornamental plant. The high oil content and abundance of unsaturated fatty acids in O. violaceus seeds make it a potential high-quality oilseed crop. Here, we generated a whole-genome assembly for O. violaceus using Nanopore and Hi-C sequencing technologies. The assembled genome of O. violaceus was ~1.3 Gb in size, with 12 pairs of chromosomes. Through investigation of ancestral genome evolution, we determined that the genome of O. violaceus experienced a tetraploidization event from a diploid progenitor with the translocated proto-Calepineae karyotype. Comparisons between the reconstructed subgenomes …

Piglet Cardiopulmonary Bypass Induces Intestinal Dysbiosis And Barrier Dysfunction Associated With Systemic Inflammation, Jeffrey D. Salomon, Haowen Qiu, Dan Feng, Jacob Owens, Ludmila Khailova, Suzanne Osorio Lujan, John Iguidbashian, Yashpal S. Chhonker, Daryl J. Murry, Jean-Jack Riethoven, Merry L. Lindsey, Amar B. Singh, Jesse A. Davidson

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

The intestinal microbiome is essential to human health and homeostasis, and is implicated in the pathophysiology of disease, including congenital heart disease and cardiac surgery. Improving the microbiome and reducing inflammatory metabolites may reduce systemic inflammation following cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to expedite recovery postoperatively. Limited research exists in this area and identifying animal models that can replicate changes in the human intestinal microbiome after CPB is necessary. We used a piglet model of CPB with two groups, CPB (n=5) and a control group with mechanical ventilation (n=7), to evaluate changes to the microbiome, …

Novel Single-Nucleotide Variants For Morpho-Physiological Traits Involved In Enhancing Drought Stress Tolerance In Barley, Ibrahim S. Elbasyoni, Shamseldeen Eltaher, Sabah Morsy, Alsayed M. Mashaheet, Ahmed M. Abdallah, Heba G. Ali, Samah A. Mariey, P. Stephen Baenziger, Katherine Anna Frels

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) thrives in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world; never-theless, it suffers large grain yield losses due to drought stress. A panel of 426 lines of barley was evaluated in Egypt under deficit (DI) and full irrigation (FI) during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons. Observations were recorded on the number of days to flowering (NDF), total chlorophyll content (CH), canopy temperature (CAN), grain filling duration (GFD), plant height (PH), and grain yield (Yield) under DI and FI. The lines were genotyped using the 9K Infinium iSelect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) genotyping platform, which …

Canopycam – An Edge-Computing Sensing Unit For Continuous Measurement Of Canopy Cover Percentage Of Dry Edible Beans, Wei-Zhen Liang, Joseph Oboamah, Xin Qiao, Yufeng Ge, Robert M. Harveson, Daran Rudnick, Jun Wang, Haishun Yang, Angie Gradiz

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Canopy cover (CC) is an important indicator for crop development. Currently, CC can be estimated indirectly by measuring leaf area index (LAI) using commercially available hand-held meters. However, it does not capture the dynamics of CC. Continuous CC monitoring is essential for dry edible beans production since it can affect crop water use, weed, and disease control. It also helps growers to closely monitor “yellowness”, or senescence of dry beans to decide proper irrigation cutoff timing to allow the crop to dry down for harvest. Therefore, the goal of this study was to develop a device – CanopyCAM, containing software …

Exercise Facilitates Regeneration After Severe Nerve Transection And Further Modulates Neural Plasticity, Yunfan Kong, Mitchell Kuss, Yu Shi, Fang Fang, Wen Xue, Wen Shi, Yutong Liu, Chi Zhang, Peng Zhong, Bin Duan

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Patients with severe traumatic peripheral nerve injury (PNI) always suffer from incomplete recovery and poor functional outcome. Physical exercise-based rehabilitation, as a non-invasive interventional strategy, has been widely acknowledged to improve PNI recovery by promoting nerve regeneration and relieving pain. However, effects of exercise on chronic plastic changes following severe traumatic PNIs have been limitedly discussed. In this study, we created a long-gap sciatic nerve transection followed by autograft bridging in rats and tested the therapeutic functions of treadmill running with low intensity and late initiation. We demonstrated that treadmill running effectively facilitated nerve regeneration and prevented muscle atrophy and …