Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Basal Diet On Obesity Phenotype Of Host Mice Following Fecal Transfer From Obese Or Lean Human Donors, Daphne Rodriguez

Student Research Symposium

The composition of the human gut microbiome can be affected by environmental factors, such as a poor diet. A Western dietary pattern is associated with dysbiosis and adverse health outcomes, including obesity and metabolic disorders. The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of gut microbiota from lean or obese human donors on development of metabolic syndrome and weight gain in recipient mice fed one of three basal diets: 1) the standard AIN93G diet, which promotes rodent health; 2) the total Western diet (TWD), which promotes inflammation-associated colorectal carcinogenesis; and 3) a 45% high fat diet-induced obesity (DIO) …

Impact Of Green Tea For Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer Prevention In A Multigenerational Murine Model Incorporating The Total Western Diet., Sumira Phatak

Student Research Symposium

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of US cancer death, yet Americans routinely consume highly processed foods that are energy-dense and nutrient-poor, contributing to chronic inflammation. Other foods are known to contain bioactive molecules that protect against cancer by virtue of antioxidant properties. Over 27,000 research articles are published on green tea, a popular beverage, second worldwide only to water. Previous work has shown that green tea polyphenols decrease body fat composition, reverse insulin resistance, reduce cardiovascular disease risk, protect against pathogenic bacteria, improve brain function, increase lifespan, and suppress inflammatory processes that contribute to carcinogenesis. The objective …

Effect Of Wood Chips As A Component Of Soilless Media On Growth And Nutrition Of Food And Ornamental Crops, Kristen Bullough

Student Research Symposium

Peat is the central component of the soil-less media mix that is used in all greenhouse crop production but it is harvested in Canada and shipped to greenhouses across North America. Wood chips provide a local, low-cost alternative to peat, but observations by growers indicate potential growth reductions from the addition of wood to peat-based media. Here I report the effects of the addition of wood chips to peat-based media. The study included four treatments: two standard controls (peat/vermiculite: 50/50 and 75/25) and two treatments with wood chips (peat/wood chips: 50/50 and 75/25). Each media treatment included three species (sunflowers, …

Restoring Underutilized Native American Food Crops Navajo Spinach, Cleome Serrulata & Native Peach, Reagan Wytsalucy

Student Research Symposium

Native American populations in the Four Corners area have largely lost their connection to agriculture and face serious health challenges due to poor diet and limited availability of nutritious fruits and vegetables. With the need to address pressing nutritional concerns for Native American's in the Southwest, this study looks into assessing the germination response of Navajo Spinach, Cleome serrulata, to temperature, scarification requirements, and evaluating approved seed treatments to enhance germination to warrant local production in the Southwest. Historical practices for cultivating and preserving C. serrulata have been documented and outreach products relevant for targeted audiences at Chapter Houses, high …

Vitamin D Levels During Pregnancy And Related Outcomes, Kelsey Girardelli

Student Research Symposium

Recent scientific literature is uncovering important associations between vitamin D during pregnancy and related outcomes for maternal health, fetal health and early childhood development. Many studies have shown that large portions of the population are vitamin D deficient, especially in northern latitudes where there is a relative lack of sunlight. This problem is exacerbated when analyzing communities where dark-skinned immigrants have migrated to more northern latitudes (Datta, et al., 2002).This is because increased levels of melanin pigment in the skin make it much more difficult for people of darker skin tones to absorb the necessary UVB light to produce sufficient …

Phenological Mismatch In Coastal Western Alaska May Increase Summer Season Greenhouse Gas Uptake, Katharine C. Kelsey, A. Joshua Leffler, Karen H. Beard, Ryan T. Choi, Joel A. Schmutz, Jeffery M. Welker

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

High latitude ecosystems are prone to phenological mismatches due to climate change- driven advances in the growing season and changing arrival times of migratory herbivores. These changes have the potential to alter biogeochemical cycling and contribute to feedbacks on climate change by altering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) through large regions of the Arctic. Yet the effects of phenological mismatches on gas fluxes are currently unexplored. We used a three-year field experiment that altered the start of the growing season and timing of grazing to …

The Utah Statesman, April 10, 2018, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Natural Variance Of The Arabidopsis Floral Secondary Metabolome, Takayuki Tohge, Monica Borghi, Alisdair R. Fernie

Biology Faculty Publications

Application of mass spectrometry-based metabolomics enables the detection of genotype-related natural variance in metabolism. Differences in secondary metabolite composition of flowers of 64 Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) natural accessions, representing a considerable portion of the natural variation in this species are presented. The raw metabolomic data of the accessions and reference extracts derived from flavonoid knockout mutants have been deposited in the MetaboLights database. Additionally, summary tables of floral secondary metabolite data are presented in this article to enable efficient re-use of the dataset either in metabolomics cross-study comparisons or correlation-based integrative analysis of other metabolomic and phenotypic features such as …

Faculty Senate Agenda, April 2, 2018, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC March Report
• Faculty Diversity, Development and Equity (FDDE) Annual Report
• Professional Responsibilities and Procedures (PRPC) Annual Report
• Honorary Degrees and Awards
• 401.4.2 (7) State Cooperator (SC) Ranks (first reading)

Responses Of Marigold Cultivars To Saline Water Irrigation, Youping Sun, Genhua Niu, Christina Perez, H. Brent Pemberton, James Altland

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Marigolds (Tagetes sp.) are ornamental plants with fine-textured, dark green foliage, and yellow, orange, or bicolored flowers. The relative salt tolerance of eight marigolds [‘Discovery Orange’, ‘Discovery Yellow’, ‘Taishan Gold’, ‘Taishan Orange’, and ‘Taishan Yellow’ African marigold (Tagetes erecta); ‘Hot Pak Gold’, ‘Hot Pak Orange’, and ‘Hot Pak Yellow’ French marigold (Tagetes patula)] was evaluated in a greenhouse experiment. Plants were irrigated weekly with nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.2 dS·m⁻¹ (control) or saline solutions at an EC of 3.0 or 6.0 dS·m⁻¹ (EC 3 or EC 6). Marigold plants …

Helpful Hints For Parents Of Picky Eaters, Chelsea Feller, Mateja R. Savoie-Roskos, Carrie Durward

All Current Publications

This fact sheet offers helpful hints to reduce picky eating and make mealtime enjoyable and fun for the whole family.

Strategies For Dealing With Life's Difficulties, Jennifer Viveros, David G. Schramm

All Current Publications

This fact sheet outlines four healthy, effective approaches to coping with the challenges of life: eliminating overthinking, working from your strengths, taking time for self-care, and finding meaning in your experiences.

Herbivory And Eutrophication Mediate Grassland Plant Nutrient Responses Across A Global Climatic Gradient, T. Michael Anderson, Daniel M. Griffith, James B. Grace, Eric M. Lind, Peter B. Adler, Lori A. Biederman, Dana M. Blumenthal, Pedro Daleo, Jennifer Firn, Nicole Hagenah, W. Stanley Harpole, Andrew S. Macdougall, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Suzanne M. Prober, Anita C. Risch, Mahesh Sankaran, Martin Schütz, Eric W. Seabloom, Carly J. Stevens, Lauren L. Sullivan, Peter D. Wragg, Elizabeth T. Borer

Ecology Center Publications

Plant stoichiometry, the relative concentration of elements, is a key regulator of ecosystem functioning and is also being altered by human activities. In this paper we sought to understand the global drivers of plant stoichiometry and compare the relative contribution of climatic vs. anthropogenic effects. We addressed this goal by measuring plant elemental (C, N, P and K) responses to eutrophication and vertebrate herbivore exclusion at eighteen sites on six continents. Across sites, climate and atmospheric N deposition emerged as strong predictors of plot‐level tissue nutrients, mediated by biomass and plant chemistry. Within sites, fertilization increased total plant nutrient pools, …

Herbivore Removal Reduces Influence Of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi On Plant Growth And Tolerance In An East African Savanna, Jonathan B. González, Renee H. Petipas, Oscar Franken, E. Toby Kiers, Kari E. Veblen, Alison K. Brody

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The functional relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and their hosts is variable on small spatial scales. Here, we hypothesized that herbivore exclusion changes the AMF community and alters the ability of AMF to enhance plant tolerance to grazing. We grew the perennial bunchgrass, Themeda triandra Forssk in inoculum from soils collected in the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment where treatments representing different levels of herbivory have been in place since 1995. We assessed AMF diversity in the field, using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism and compared fungal diversity among treatments. We conducted clipping experiments in the greenhouse and field and …

Food In The West: Using Timelinejs In The Classroom, Julia Gossard

Spark - Empower Teaching Scholarship Collection

“Never underestimate the ‘hangry.’” This might as well be one of the learning objectives in my Foundations of Western Civilization course at Utah State University. Whether the bread riots of the 1790s in France, the “Hungry 1840s,” or the starvation of Russian citizens after the conclusion of World War II, food (and access to it) has continued to be a mobilizing factor in history. By examining what people ate and how they ate at different points in time, we can know a lot about a particular era’s economic conditions, social mores, political conflicts, religious issues, and nutrition. For the past …

Functional Trait Differences Between Native Bunchgrasses And The Invasive Grass Bromus Tectorum, Huiqin H.E., Thomas A. Monaco, Thomas A. Jones

Forage and Range Research Laboratory Publications

We conducted 30- and 60-d greenhouse experiments to compare functional traits of Bromus tectorum (invasive annual grass) and four perennial bunchgrasses under well-watered or drought conditions. Even under drought, B. tectorum experienced significantly less stress (i.e., higher xylem pressure potential and greater shoot water content, water use per day and water-use efficiency) and biomass production than the perennial grasses after 30 d. However, after 60 d, its superiority was reduced under infrequent watering. Differences among perennial grasses were more pronounced for physiological traits under infrequent watering and for morphological traits under frequent watering. Elymus multisetus (fastgrowing species) had a higher …

Influence Of Harvest Date On Seed Yield And Quality In Forage Kochia, Cody F. Creech, Blair L. Waldron, Corey V. Ransom, Dale R. Zobell, Joseph Earl Creech

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Forage kochia (Bassia prostrata) is used for rangeland reclamation and livestock and wildlife forage, but limited research has been conducted on its seed production. Therefore, this research evaluated the effect of harvest date on seed weight, germination, and seed yield of forage kochia subspecies virescens and grisea. Seed was harvested from individual plants for 3 years during October, November, and December. October harvest had the lightest 100-seed weights, with the November harvest slightly heavier than December, for most accessions. Cultivar Snowstorm and breeding line Sahsel, both subsp. grisea, had the greatest 100-seed weights in November, 155 …

Relationships Between Cattle And Biodiversity In Multiuse Landscape Revealed By Kenya Long-Term Exclosure Experiment, Truman P. Young, Lauren M. Porensky, Corinna Riginos, Kari E. Veblen, Wilfred O. Odadi, Duncan M. Kimuyu, Grace K. Charles, Hillary S. Young

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

On rangelands worldwide, cattle interact with many forms of biodiversity, most obviously with vegetation and other large herbivores. Since 1995, we have been manipulating the presence of cattle, mesoherbivores, and megaherbivores (elephants and giraffes) in a series of eighteen 4-ha (10-acre) plots at the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment. We recently (2013) crossed these treatments with small-scale controlled burns. These replicated experimental treatments simulate different land management practices. We seek to disentangle the complex relationships between livestock and biodiversity in a biome where worldwide, uneasy coexistence is the norm. Here, we synthesize more than 20 yr of data to address three …

Faculty Senate Minutes, March 12, 2018, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Comprehensive Year-Seven Self Study for NWCCU - Michael Torrens
• EPC February Report - Edward Reeve
• Koch Task Force Update - Kimberly Lott

Faculty Senate Agenda, March 12, 2018, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC February Report
• Koch Task Force Update

Winter Feeding Of Elk In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem And Its Effects On Disease Dynamics, Gavin C. Cotterill, Paul C. Cross, Erik K. Cole, Rebecca K. Fuda, Jared D. Rogerson, Brandon M. Scurlock, Johan T. Du Toit

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Providing food to wildlife during periods when natural food is limited results in aggregations that may facilitate disease transmission. This is exemplified in western Wyoming where institutional feeding over the past century has aimed to mitigate wildlife–livestock conflict and minimize winter mortality of elk (Cervus canadensis). Here we review research across 23 winter feedgrounds where the most studied disease is brucellosis, caused by the bacterium Brucella abortus. Traditional veterinary practices (vaccination, test-and-slaughter) have thus far been unable to control this disease in elk, which can spill over to cattle. Current disease-reduction efforts are being guided by ecological …

Impact Of Low And Moderate Salinity Water On Plant Performance Of Leafy Vegetables In A Recirculating Nft System, Genhua Niu, Youping Sun, Joseph G. Masabni

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Two greenhouse experiments were conducted to examine the growth and mineral nutrition of four leafy vegetables in a nutrient film technique (NFT) system with water with low to moderate salinity. In Expt. 1, a nutrient solution was prepared using reverse osmosis (RO) water and treatments consisted of supplementing with RO water, tap water, or nutrient solution. In Expt. 2, nutrient solution was prepared using three different water sources (treatments), namely, RO water, tap water, or tap water, plus sodium chloride (NaCl), and supplementing solution was prepared using the same three water sources at one third strength. For both of the …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, March 1, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, March 1, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Curriculum Subcommittee report
• Academic Standards Subcommittee report
• General Education Subcommittee report

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, March 1, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Program Proposal

• Offering a Minor in Film Studies

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Other

• Syllabus updates
• R401 proposal process
• Curriculog shutdown

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, March 1, 2018, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Program Proposal

• Offering a Minor in Film Studies

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Other

• Syllabus updates
• Curriculog shutdown
• R401 proposal process

Create Family Meals Curriculum, Carolyn Washburn, Melanie Jewkes, Jaqueline Neid, Teresa Hunsaker

All Current Publications

This curriculum is intended to give family members a hands-on experience in planning nutritious and delicious meals, as well as improving their cooking skills, and spending time together as a family. CREATE Family Meals lessons focus on developing healthy families through encouraging healthy eating patterns and increasing daily physical activity.

Combinations Of Plant Water-Stress And Neonicotinoids Can Lead To Secondary Outbreaks Of Banks Grass Mite (Oligonychus Pratensis Banks), Alice Ruckert, L. Niel Allen, Ricardo A. Ramirez

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Spider mites, a cosmopolitan pest of agricultural and landscape plants, thrive under hot and dry conditions, which could become more frequent and extreme due to climate change. Recent work has shown that neonicotinoids, a widely used class of systemic insecticides that have come under scrutiny for non-target effects, can elevate spider mite populations. Both water-stress and neonicotinoids independently alter plant resistance against herbivores. Yet, the interaction between these two factors on spider mites is unclear, particularly for Banks grass mite (Oligonychus pratensis; BGM). We conducted a field study to examine the effects of water-stress (optimal irrigation = 100% …

Is Doping Of Cognitive Performance An Anti‐Herbivore Adaptation? Alkaloids Inhibiting Acetylcholinesterase As A Case, Maciej J. Ejsmond, Frederick D. Provenza

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Historically, people who study interactions between plants and herbivores focused on the ecological costs and benefits of synthesizing secondary metabolites. These compounds have diverse functions including defenses against herbivores. Some plants produce alkaloids that act as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, increasing both the level and duration of action of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine with potential toxic effects in insects and mammals. Yet, among a number of neuroactive plant chemicals, alkaloids that inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AIA) display nootropic activities, that is, positively affect cognition, learning, and memory in mammals. This creates a paradox: Neuroactive AIA, expected to punish herbivores, enhance cognition, learning, and memory. A …

Phosphofructokinase And Mitochondria Partially Explain The High Ultimate Ph Of Broiler Pectoralis Major Muscle, Sulaiman K. Matarneh, Con-Ning Yen, Jennifer M. Elgin, Mariane Beline, Saulo Da Luz E Silva, Jordan C. Wicks, Eric M. England, Rami A. Dalloul, Michael E. Persia, Islam I. Omara, Hao Shi, David E. Gerrard

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

During postmortem metabolism, muscle pH gradually declines to reach an ultimate pH near 5.6 across most meat species. Yet, broiler pectoralis major (P. major) muscle generates meat with high ultimate pH (pH ∼ 5.9). For better understanding of the underlying mechanism responsible for this phenomenon, we evaluated the involvement of breast muscle chilling on the extent of postmortem metabolism. Broiler breast muscles were either subjected to chilling treatment (control) or left at room temperature (RT) for 120 min. P. major muscle from the RT treatment had lower ultimate pH, greater glycogen degradation and lactate accumulation. While these findings suggest that …