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The Effects Of Conjugated Linoleic Acid And Berberine Supplementation On Markers Of Allopurinol Activated Oxidative Stress In Broiler Chickens, Vincent Dartigue

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Selection for rapid growth in poultry can be linked to an exaggerated state of oxidative stress (reactive oxidative species, ROS). Reactive oxidative species are kept in balance by endogenous and exogenous antioxidants. Two compounds, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and berberine (BRB) a purified compound from plant root extract have been suggested to ameliorate antioxidant activity. A ten week study examined the effect of CLA and berberine supplementation on markers of oxidative stress in poultry. Broiler chickens (n=60) were equally divided into six groups; a control, a CLA group where half of the regular oil used in a standard was substituted …

The Effect Of Early Skin-To-Skin Contact On Breastfeeding Duration And Exclusivity: A Mixed Methods Study, Cristina Menking-Hoggatt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Breastfeeding is beneficial to the health of both mother and infant and fosters optimal growth for the baby in the first two years of life. Evidence based guidelines followed by the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) includes Ten Steps. Step Four recommends placing the newborn skin-to-skin on the mother's chest to foster the initiation of breastfeeding in the first hour after birth.;Objectives: The first and second objective determined if skin-to-skin contact (SSC) between mother and infant in the healthy postpartum breastfeeding mother affected duration and exclusivity rates at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. The third objective described …

Novel Treatment Strategies For Brain Metastases Of Breast Cancer, Afroz Shareef Mohammad

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

About 20-40% of advanced breast cancer patients will develop symptomatic brain metastases. Once the patients diagnosed with metastatic brain tumors, there is 80% mortality rate within one year. The presence of blood-brain barrier makes it difficult for drugs to reach the site of action in brain-related ailments. To overcome we came up with two strategies: First, we encapsulated the chemotherapy in a liposome and thereby significantly improving the plasma pharmacokinetics of chemotherapy. We also observed that tumor drug exposure significantly improved by liposomal formulation. This improvement in plasma drug pharmacokinetics and tumor drug accumulation after administration of the liposomal formulation …

Proteomic And Metabolomic Analyses Of Biological Systems With Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry And Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry, Megan M. Maurer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Proteomic and metabolomic analyses provide information about altered metabolic processes in plants and animals. This information can be used to assess the impact of toxicant exposure or diseases on biological systems. In this dissertation, development of an ion mobility spectrometry - mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) strategy has been evaluated in addition to utilizing traditional liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) techniques for metabolite and protein analysis. Traditional LC-MS/MS techniques have been applied to the study of: 1) the molecular mechanisms responsible for altered microvasculature function as a result of pulmonary TiO2 exposure in rats; and 2) the effectiveness of intracerebroventricular (ICV) …

A Discussion Of Art Therapy Approaches Used In Classroom Activities To Help Students With Emotional And Behavioral Issues, Ashley Nichol Elliott

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this paper was to inform the reader of the benefits of using art therapy activities in art lessons as a way to help students' process emotional and behavioral issues. New and future art educators are not equipped to handle the wide range of issues that students face everyday. This is especially true for the students in the West Virginia public school system. As in larger, more urban locations, many students here deal with drugs, violence, bullying, abuse, and others contemporary social stressors. In this paper, I utilized my own personal experiences, literary research, experimentation, and observations of …

Child-Care Directors' Years Of Experience In Relation To The Activities Subscale Score On The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-R, Angelica Everetts

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study focused on examining the relationship between the child-care directors' years of experience in relation to the Activities subscale on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-R. The data used in the study was from the Quality Rating and Improvement for West Virginia Child-Care grant, which was funded by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. The participants included 175 4-year-old classrooms across West Virginia. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale contains 43 items across seven subscales. This scale was used to measure the activities score of the 4-year-old classrooms. There was no significant relationship found between the …

Ripple Effect Mapping Of Youth & Adult Dyad Pairs Demonstrating Community Impact From Icook 4-H Intervention, Sina J.E. King

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction: Creating effective dissemination and implementation tools within community based, obesity prevention research is needed to bridge the current science to practice gap. Ripple Effect Mapping (REM) using Community Capitals Framework (CCF) is a community impact evaluation tool that is hypothesized to positively capture activity during dissemination within community programs. Although REM is a proposed impact evaluation method, it has not been widely adopted within the research sector. In order to facilitate the translation of research into evidenced based practice, a stepwise process must be described and tested to determine efficacy and effectiveness, followed by a method to translate findings …

The Lived Experience Of Establishing A Home After A Period Of Homelessness, Monica Iaquinta

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the structure of meaning of the lived experience of establishing a home after a period of homelessness. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted using a unique line of inquiry based upon story theory and hermeneutic phenomenology. Questions were posed beginning with the present daily life in a home, followed by the previous experience of homelessness, and ending with establishing a home in the future. Stories were reconstructed, using the participant's own words, and confirmed during a second interview. The data analysis strategies were rooted in the theoretical framework including identifying essential statements, …

Evaluating Steam Conditioning Manipulations And Grain Expressed Enzymes Effects On Feed Manufacturing Metrics, Feed Hygiene, Broiler Performance, And Bone Mineralization, John William Boney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Animal well-being, evolving feed manufacturing regulatory programs, and consumer perception drive the continued need to provide safe feed to animals. Considering the performance benefits associated with feeding pelleted feed, the concepts of hygienic feed production and production of highly durable pellets may interact to benefit the broiler chicken. In addition to hygienic and physical attributes, poultry nutrition may be enhanced by cereal grains expressing enzymatic activity. These additives may provide additional opportunities to support dietary phosphorus (P) requirements in growing broilers, further contributing to improved animal welfare conditions in an economically favorable manner. In order to study the effects of …

Novel Mechanisms Controlling The Expression Of The Antidiabetic Hepatokine Fibroblast Growth Factor 21, Kimberly M. Alonge

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The incidence of obesity has increased at an alarming rate during the past thirty years. Current therapies for the treatment and prevention of obesity and metabolic syndrome are ineffective and/or produce undesirable side effects. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a liver derived hormone that mediates adaptive changes in hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism by elevating energy expenditure and reducing lipid storage. Pharmacological administration of FGF21 analogs in both animal and human models induces striking reversals of obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, the activity of FGF21 analogs exhibit short half-lives in blood circulation and are unsuitable for current treatment. …

Bioacoustics And Behavior Of American Crocodiles In Belize, Miriam Boucher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

American Crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are large-bodied crocodylians broadly distributed throughout coastal and lowland wetlands in the Americas. Despite their being large, charismatic megafauna, the study of American Crocodile ecology is still lacking in many areas. As such we assessed the behavior and bioacoustics of American Crocodiles in Belize to address the paucity of data regarding these two facets of American Crocodile ecology. We conducted behavioral observations from three sites in the coastal zone of Belize. We categorized American Crocodile behavior and recorded activity duration for observed behaviors. In conjunction with behavioral data, we also assessed study sites to quantify the …

Interactions Between Euwallacea Ambrosia Beetles, Their Fungal Symbionts And The Native Trees They Attack In The Eastern United States, Matthew C. Berger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In a globalized world, wood products are constantly being shipped from one location to another, along with tiny hitchhikers in the form of insects and microorganisms. Euwallacea validus is a fungus-farming ambrosia beetle native to East Asia that likely made its way to the United States in wood packaging materials in the latter half of the twentieth century. E. validus cultivates two fungal symbionts in the U.S., an unnamed Fusarium sp. (AF-4) and Raffaelea subfusca. Fusarium symbionts of Euwallacea ambrosia beetles as well as Raffaelea symbionts of closely related ambrosia beetles have incited widespread disease on more than one-hundred hosts …

Thermal Processes Associated With Pelleting And Feed Phosphate Variation In Diets On Feed Manufacture And Broiler Performance, Ariel N. Bergeron

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objectives of the first study were to assess performance and digestible amino acid concentration of diets fed to broilers that differed in diet formulation and degree of thermal processing. Basal diets were corn, soybean meal, and DDGS based and formulations were balanced to be similar in calculated energy and digestible amino acids. Treatments were arranged in a 3 x 3 factorial that varied in diet formulation (Basal, Basal + Meat and Bone Meal (MBM), and Basal + Bakery Byproduct (BBP)) and degree of thermal processing (Unprocessed Mash, Pellet, Double Pellet). Pelleted treatments were steam conditioned and extruded through a …

Managing For Pasture Value, Edward Barrow Rayburn

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

WVU-Extension fact sheet

Fixing The Fmla's Flaws: A Fight For Care, Adult Children, And Tax Incentives, Kelsey A. Jonas

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Despite What You've Been Sold - Unwrapping The Falsities Surounding Food Labels, Camille Currey

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pasture And Grazing Management, Edward Barrow Rayburn

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

WVU-Extension fact sheet

Dual-Seq Transcriptomics Reveals The Battle For Iron During Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Acute Murine Pneumonia, F Heath Damron, Amanda G. Oglesby-Sherrouse, Angela Wilks, Mariette Barbier

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Determining bacterial gene expression during infection is fundamental to understand pathogenesis. In this study, we used dual RNA-seq to simultaneously measure P. aeruginosa and the murine host’s gene expression and response to respiratory infection. Bacterial genes encoding products involved in metabolism and virulence were differentially expressed during infection and the type III and VI secretion systems were highly expressed in vivo. Strikingly, heme acquisition, ferric-enterobactin transport, and pyoverdine biosynthesis genes were found to be significantly up-regulated during infection. In the mouse, we profiled the acute immune response to P. aeruginosa and identified the pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in acute response …

Oral Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (Pfos) Lessens Tumor Development In The Apcmin Mouse Model Of Spontaneous Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, Jeffrey Wimsatt, Meghan Villers, Laurel Thomas, Stacey Kamarec, Caitlin Montgomery, Leo W. Y. Yeung, Yanqing Hu, Kim Innes

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths for both men and women, and the third most common cause of cancer in the U.S. Toxicity of current chemotherapeutic agents for colorectal cancer, and emergence of drug resistance underscore the need to develop new, potentially less toxic alternatives. Our recent cross-sectional study in a large Appalachian population, showed a strong, inverse, dose–response association of serum perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) levels to prevalent colorectal cancer, suggesting PFOS may have therapeutic potential in the prevention and/or treatment of colorectal cancer. In these preliminary studies using a mouse model of familial colorectal …

Soil Respiration And Its Environmental Response Varies By Day/Night And By Growing/Dormant Season In A Subalpine Forest, Zongda Hu, Shirong Liu, Xingliang Liu, Liyong Fu, Jingxin Wang, Kuan Liu, Xueman Huang, Yuandong Zhang, Fei He

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Comparisons of soil respiration (RS) and its components of heterotrophic (RH) and rhizospheric (RR) respiration during daytime and nighttime, growing (GS) and dormant season (DS), have not being well studied and documented. In this study, we compared RS, RH, RR, and their responses to soil temperature (T5) and moisture (θ5) in daytime vs. nighttime and GS vs. DS in a subalpine forest in 2011. In GS, nighttime RS and RH rates were 30.5 ± 4.4% (mean ± SE) and …

Genome-Wide Association Study For Identifying Loci That Affect Fillet Yield, Carcass, And Body Weight Traits In Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Dianelys Gonzalez-Pena, Guangtu Gao, Matthew Baranski, Thomas Moen, Beth M. Cleveland, P. Brett Kenney, Roger L. Vallejo, Yniv Palti, Timothy D. Leeds

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Fillet yield (FY, %) is an economically-important trait in rainbow trout aquaculture that affects production efficiency. Despite that, FY has received little attention in breeding programs because it is difficult to measure on a large number of fish and cannot be directly measured on breeding candidates. The recent development of a high-density SNP array for rainbow trout has provided the needed tool for studying the underlying genetic architecture of this trait. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted for FY, body weight at 10 (BW10) and 13 (BW13) months post-hatching, head-off carcass weight (CAR), and fillet weight (FW) in a …

An Ovarian Bioreactor For In Vitro Culture Of The Whole Bovine Ovary: A Preliminary Report, Matthew R. Zanotelli, Joseph D. Henningsen, Patrick M. Hopkins, Aaron P. Dederich, Tessa Herman, Tracy J. Puccinelli, Sana M. Salih

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Improved cancer therapeutics and enhanced cancer survivorship have emphasized the severe long-term side effects of chemotherapy. Specifically, studies have linked many chemotherapy agents with primary ovarian insufficiency, although an exact insult model has not yet been determined. To investigate and ultimately solve this problem, a novel device for extended study of mammalian ovaries in vitro was developed.

Methods: A bioreactor was fabricated for bovine ovarian culture that provides intravascular delivery of media to the ovary through isolation and cannulation of a main ovarian artery branch. Whole ovaries were cultured in vitro using three methods: (1) continuously supplied fresh culture …

Prenatal And Early Postnatal Exposure To Cigarette Smoke Decreases Bdnf/Trkb Signaling And Increases Abnormal Behaviors Later In Life, Lan Xiao Phd, Vincent L. Kish Ms, Katherine M. Benders Ms, Zhong-Xin Wu Phd

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Cigarette smoke exposure during prenatal and early postnatal periods increases the incidence of a variety of abnormal behaviors later in life. The purpose of this study was to identify the possible critical period of susceptibility to cigarette smoke exposure and evaluate the possibe effects of cigarette smoke during early life on brain-derived neurotrophic factor/neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor B signaling in the brain.

Methods: Three different age of imprinting control region mice were exposed to cigarette smoke or filtered air for 10 consecutive days beginning on either gestational day 7 by maternal exposure, or postnatal days 2 or 21 by …

Establishing Waist-To-Height Ratio Standards From Criterion-Referenced Bmi Using Roc Curves In Low-Income Children, Ryan D. Burns, Timothy A. Brusseau, Yi Fang, You Fu, James C. Hannon

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to establish health-related waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) cut-points associating with FITNESSGRAM’s body mass index (BMI) criterion-referenced standards in low-income children. A secondary aim was to examine the classification agreement between the derived WHtR cut-points and various cardiometabolic blood markers using current recommendations. Participants were 219 children from low-income schools (mean age = 10.5 ± 0.6 years). Waist circumference, height, weight, and cardiometabolic blood markers were collected in a fasting state before school hours. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine WHtR cut-points that associated with a child meeting FITNESSGRAM’s age- and sex-specific criterionreferenced …

The Association Of Physical Activity During Weekdays And Weekend With Body Composition In Young Adults, Clemens Drenowatz, Nicole Gribben, Michael D. Wirth, Gregory A. Hand, Robin P. Shook, Stephanie Burgess, Steven N. Blair

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Physical activity (PA) is a key contributor in long-term weight management but there remains limited research on the association between weekly PA patterns and weight change. The purpose of the present study was to examine the prospective association between weekly PA patterns and weight change in generally healthy young adults. Anthropometric measurements, including dual X-ray absorptiometry, were obtained every 3 months over a period of one year in 338 adults (53% male). At each measurement time, participants wore a multisensor device for a minimum of 10 days to determine total daily energy expenditure and time spent sleeping, sedentary, in light …

Transition In Tuber Quality Attributes Of Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) Under Different Packaging Systems During Storage, Kashif Sarfraz Abbasi, Tariq Masud, Abdul Qayyum, Sami Ullah Khan, Asif Ahmad, Ayaz Mehmood, Abid Farid, Matthew A. Jenks

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The suitability of different packaging materials i.e. jute, nylon, polypropylene, cotton, low density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, and high density polyethylene were studied for tubers of the premium potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) variety “Lady Rosetta”. After harvest, potato tubers were washed, sorted, graded, cured, and subsequently stored in different packaging materials at ambient temperature (25±2 °C). Changes in quality attributes of potato tubers under different packaging materials were studied on the basis of their physico-chemical and functional parameters. Overall results revealed that packaging materials had a significant (p ≤ 0.05) effect on many important quality attributes. Generally, weight loss, glucose …

Community-Based Diabetes Screening And Risk Assessment In Rural West Virginia, Ranjita Misra, Cindy Fitch, David Roberts, Dana Wright

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This project utilized a cross-sectional study design to assess diabetes risk among 540 individuals from 12 counties using trained extension agents and community organizations in West Virginia. Individuals were screened for diabetes using (1) the validated 7-item diabetes risk assessment survey and (2) hemoglobin A1c tests. Demographic and lifestyle behaviors were also collected. The average age, body mass index, and A1c were 51.2 ± 16.4, 31.1 ± 7.5, and 5.8 ± 0.74, respectively. The majority were females, NonHispanic Whites with no prior diagnosis of diabetes. Screenings showed that 61.8% of participants were at high risk for diabetes. Family history of …

Transcriptome Analysis Of Bovine Ovarian Follicles At Predeviation And Onset Of Deviation Stages Of A Follicular Wave, Pengfei Li, Jinzhu Meng, Wenzhong Liu, George W. Smith, Jianbo Yao, Lihua Lyu

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

For two libraries (PDF1 and ODF1) using Illumina sequencing 44,082,301 and 43,708,132 clean reads were obtained, respectively. After being mapped to the bovine RefSeq database, 15,533 genes were identified to be expressed in both types of follicles (cut-off RPKM > 0.5), of which 719 were highly expressed in bovine follicles (cut-off RPKM > 100). Furthermore, 83 genes were identified as being differentially expressed in ODF1 versus PDF1, where 42 genes were upregulated and 41 genes were downregulated. KEGG pathway analysis revealed two upregulated genes in ODF1 versus PDF1, CYP11A1, and CYP19A1, which are important genes in the steroid hormone biosynthesis pathway. This …

Feasibility For Measuring Transverse Area Ratios And Asymmetry Of Lumbosacral Region Paraspinal Muscles In Working Dogs Using Computed Tomography, Bethany Cain, Jeryl C. Jones, Ida Holaskova, Larry Freeman, Bess Pierce

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objectives: Describe computed tomographic (CT) anatomy of canine lumbosacral (LS) paraspinal muscles, a method for measuring paraspinal muscle transverse area ratios and asymmetry using CT, and application of this method in a small sample of working dogs with versus without LS pain.

Methods: Published anatomy references and atlases were reviewed and discrepancies were resolved by examination of anatomic specimens and multiplanar reformatted images to describe transverse CT anatomy of LS region paraspinal muscles. Sixteen Belgian malinois military working dogs were retrospectively recruited and assigned to LS pain positive versus negative groups based on medical record entries. A single observer unaware …

Bovine Lhx8, A Germ Cell-Specificnuclear Factor, Interacts With Figla, Liyuan Fu, Mingxiang Zhang, Kristen Mastrantoni, Mark Perfetto, Shuo Wei, Jianbo Yao

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

LIM homeobox 8 (Lhx8) is a germ cell-specific transcription factor essential for the development of oocytes during early oogenesis. In mice, Lhx8 deficiency causes postnatal oocyte loss and affects the expression of many oocyte-specific genes. The aims of this study were to characterize the bovine Lhx8 gene, determine its mRNA expression during oocyte development and early embryogenesis, and evaluate its interactions with other oocyte-specific transcription factors. The bovine Lhx8 gene encodes a protein of 377 amino acids. A splice variant of Lhx8 (Lhx8_v1) was also identified. The predicted bovine Lhx8 protein contains two LIM domains and one homeobox domain. However, …