Digital Commons Network^™

Season Progression, Ontogenesis, And Environment Affect Lespedeza Cuneata Herbage Condensed Tannin, Fiber, And Crude Protein Concentrations, James P. Muir, Thomas H. Terrill, Jorge A. Mosjidis, Jean Marie Luginbuhl, James E. Miller, Joan M. Burke, Samuel W. Coleman

Faculty Publications

© Crop Science Society of America. Sericea lespedeza [Lespedeza cuneata (Dumont de Courset) G. Don., SL] is a perennial, warm-season forage legume with wide adaptation, freeze tolerance, establishment ease, and persistence under grazing. It has high condensed tannin (CT) concentrations (g kg−1), which could be useful for methane mitigation and rumen bypass protein, as well as insect pest and gastro-intestinal nematode suppression. However, CT concentration is variable. Our objective was to test CT, crude protein (CP), and fiber concentrations at five locations (Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Texas) during a growing season. Established ‘AU Grazer’ SL regrowth and accumulated …

Biodistribution Of Orally Administered Poly(Lactic-Co-Glycolic) Acid Nanoparticles For 7 Days Followed By 21 Day Recovery In F344 Rats, Sara M. Navarro, Sean Swetledge, Timothy Morgan, Carlos E. Astete, Rhett Stout, Diana Coulon, Cristina M. Sabliov

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. The aim of this research was to assess biodistribution of orally administered poly(lactide-co-glycolide) acid nanoparticles (PLGA NPs) in rats and investigate the excretion of PLGA nanoparticles after administration has ended. The experiment was divided into 2 phases. In phase I, F344 rats were orally administered fluorescently tagged PLGA nanoparticles daily (3 mg/day) for 7 days, followed by a mass balance analysis which was performed on tissues of interest to determine NP biodistribution. In phase II, after 7 days of oral exposure, rats were no longer administered PLGA NPs, and amount of NPs excreted was measured each …

Obese Zdf Rats Fermented Resistant Starch With Effects On Gut Microbiota But No Reduction In Abdominal Fat, Felicia Goldsmith, Justin Guice, Ryan Page, David A. Welsh, Christopher M. Taylor, Eugene E. Blanchard, Meng Luo, Anne M. Raggio, Rhett W. Stout, Diana Carvajal-Aldaz, Amanda Gaither, Christine Pelkman, Jianping Ye, Roy J. Martin, James Geaghan, Holiday A. Durham, Diana Coulon, Michael J. Keenan

Faculty Publications

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Scope: To determine if whole-grain (WG) flour with resistant starch (RS) will produce greater fermentation than isolated RS in obese Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rats, and whether greater fermentation results in different microbiota, reduced abdominal fat, and increased insulin sensitivity. Methods and results: This study utilized four groups fed diets made with either isolated digestible control starch, WG control flour (6.9% RS), isolated RS-rich corn starch (25% RS), or WG corn flour (25% RS). ZDF rats fermented RS and RS-rich WG flour to greatest extent among groups. High-RS groups had increased …

Pomegranate Juice And Extract Extended Lifespan And Reduced Intestinal Fat Deposition In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Jolene Zheng, David Heber, Mingming Wang, Chenfei Gao, Steven B. Heymsfield, Roy J. Martin, Frank L. Greenway, John W. Finley, Jeffrey H. Burton, William D. Johnson, Frederick M. Enright, Michael J. Keenan, Zhaoping Li

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Hogrefe. Pomegranate juice with a high content of polyphenols, pomegranate extract, ellagic acid, and urolithin A, have anti-oxidant and anti-obesity effects in humans. Pomegranate juice extends lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) (n = 6) compared to the control group in each treatment, lifespan was increased by pomegranate juice in wild type (N2, 56 %, P < 0.001) and daf-16 mutant (daf-16(mgDf50)I) (18 %, P = 0.00012), by pomegranate extract in N2 (28 %, P = 0.00004) and in daf-16(mgDf50)I (10 %, P < 0.05), or by ellagic acid (11 %, P < 0.05). Pomegranate juice reduced intestinal fat deposition (IFD) in C. elegans (n = 10) N2 (–68 %, P = 0.0003) or in the daf-16(mgDf50)I (–33 %, P = 0.0034). The intestinal fat deposition was increased by pomegranate extract in N2 (137 %, P < 0.0138) and in daf-16(mgDf50)I (26 %, P = 0.0225), by ellagic acid in N2 (66 %, P < 0.0001) and in daf-16(mgDf50)I (74 %, P < 0.0001), or by urolithin A in N2 (57 %, P = 0.0039) and in daf-16(mgDf50)I (43 %, P = 0.0001). These effects were partially mediated by the daf-16 pathway. The data may offer insights to human aging and obesity due to homology with C. elegans.

Physical Geology: With Emphasis On America's National Part Areas, 2nd Edition, Brooks B. Ellwood

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Wnt Regulation Of Embryonic Development Likely Involves Pathways Independent Of Nuclear Ctnnb1, Paula Tribulo, James I. Moss, Manabu Ozawa, Zongliang Jiang, Xiuchun Cindy Tian, Peter J. Hansen

Faculty Publications

© 2017 Society for Reproduction and Fertility. The bovine was used to examine the potential for WNT signaling to affect the preimplantation embryo. Expression of seven key genes involved in canonical WNT signaling declined to a nadir at the morula or blastocyst stage. Expression of 80 genes associated with WNT signaling in the morula and inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) of the blastocyst was also evaluated. Many genes associated with WNT signaling were characterized by low transcript abundance. Seven genes were different between ICM and TE, and all of them were overexpressed in TE as compared to ICM, …

The Dynamic Evolutionary History Of Genome Size In North American Woodland Salamanders, Catherine E. Newman, T. Ryan Gregory, Christopher C. Austin

Faculty Publications

© 2017 Published by NRC Research Press. The genus Plethodon is the most species-rich salamander genus in North America, and nearly half of its species face an uncertain future. It is also one of the most diverse families in terms of genome sizes, which range from 1C = 18.2 to 69.3 pg, or 5-20 times larger than the human genome. Large genome size in salamanders results in part from accumulation of transposable elements and is associated with various developmental and physiological traits. However, genome sizes have been reported for only 25% of the species of Plethodon (14 of 55). We …

Phylogeography And Species Delimitation In Convict Cichlids (Cichlidae: Amatitlania): Implications For Taxonomy And Plio-Pleistocene Evolutionary History In Central America, Justin C. Bagley, Wilfredo A. Matamoros, Caleb D. Mcmahan, Michael Tobler, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Jerald B. Johnson

Faculty Publications

© 2016 The Linnean Society of London. We investigate phylogeographic patterns and delimit species boundaries within Amatitlania, a genus of Central American cichlid fishes. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences from 318 individuals spanning the geographical ranges of all three currently recognized Amatitlania species strongly supported one major clade, with a relatively diverged subclade corresponding to A. kanna samples from eastern Costa Rica and Panama. Gene trees and networks revealed marked incongruences between phylogeographic structure and morpho-species taxonomy as a result of species-level polyphyly. Bayes factor comparisons of species delimitation models accounting for incomplete lineage sorting under the multispecies coalescent …

Alternative Facts And The Post-Truth Society: Meeting The Challenge, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

In the hours following the 2017 U.S. presidential inauguration, the world was introduced to the concept of "alternative facts," a term that quickly became synonymous with a willingness to persevere with a particular belief either in complete ignorance of, or with a total disregard for, reality.' The increasing incidence of alternative facts in the popular and political arena creates a critical conundrum for lawyers, judges, legislators, and anyone interested in deliberative democracy, since it is unclear how rational debate can proceed if empirical evidence holds no persuasive value.

This Essay seeks to use empirical research to demonstrate that conventional means …

Zika, Pregnancy, And The Law, Sam F. Halabi

Faculty Publications

This Essay situates a crucial component of the public health response to Zika - the effort to develop a safe and effective vaccine - within the broader literature. It does so in an effort to highlight the need to revisit the relationship between law and pregnancy - not only in the areas legal scholars have prioritized so far, but also in the context of routine and emergency maternal health, which has heretofore been largely assumed to be governed by straightforward norms and practices based on medical evidence and physician ethics. In fact, whereas the current literature tends to assume or …

Ertapenem-Induced Encephalopathy In A Patient With Normal Renal Function, S. Scott Sutton, Mark Jumper, Michael D. Wyatt

Faculty Publications

Drug-induced neurotoxicity is a rare adverse reaction associated with ertapenem. Encephalopathy is a type of neurotoxicity that is defined as a diffuse disease of the brain that alters brain function or structure. We report a patient with normal renal function who developed ertapenem-induced encephalopathy manifesting as altered mental status, hallucinations, and dystonic symptoms. The patient’s symptoms improved dramatically following ertapenem discontinuation, consistent with case reports describing ertapenem neurotoxicity in renal dysfunction. Since clinical evidence strongly suggested ertapenem causality, we utilized the Naranjo Scale to estimate the probability of an adverse drug reaction to ertapenem. Our patient received a Naranjo Scale …

The Double Abcx Model, Family Stress Theory, Risk, Protection, And Resilience In The Movie “Precious”, Cassandra Chaney Phd

Faculty Publications

The critically acclaimed movie Precious [1] highlights the multiple stressors and crises experienced by an abused Black teen female living in poverty. Given its introduction to the screen, scholars have yet to make critical connections between the family dynamics portrayed in this movie and a particular family theory. The purpose of this paper is to help scholars who teach family stress courses apply the experiences of this young woman and her family to McCubbin and Patterson’s [2] Double ABCX Model. Furthermore, this paper will examine the risk factors, the protective factors, and the resilience demonstrated by the movie’s protagonist, Claireece …

Formation Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals (Epfrs) On Zno At Room Temperature: Implications For The Fundamental Model Of Epfr Generation, Matthew C. Patterson, Mark F. Ditusa, Cheri A. Mcferrin, R. L. Kurtz, Randall W. Hall, E. D. Poliakoff, P. T. Sprunger

Faculty Publications

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) have significant environmental and public health impacts. In this study, we demonstrate that EPFRs formed on ZnO nanoparticles provide two significant surprises. First, EPR spectroscopy shows that phenoxy radicals form readily on ZnO nanoparticles at room temperature, yielding EPR signals similar to those previously measured after 250 °C exposures. Vibrational spectroscopy supports the conclusion that phenoxy-derived species chemisorb to ZnO nanoparticles under both exposure temperatures. Second, DFT calculations indicate that electrons are transferred from ZnO to the adsorbed organic (oxidizing the Zn), the opposite direction proposed by previous descriptions of EPFR formation on metal oxides.

2-Deoxyglucose Inhibits Induction Of Chemokine Expression In 3t3-L1 Adipocytes And Adipose Tissue Explants, Ryan W. Grant, Jacqueline I. Boudreaux, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

© 2016 The Obesity Society Objective: To determine the influence of glycolytic inhibition on the adipocyte inflammatory response. Methods: To determine the effect of 2-deoxyglucose (2-DOG) on the inflammatory response, mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes were co-treated with 2-DOG and LPS or TNF. To determine the effect of endoplasmic reticulum stress on TNF-induced induction of chemokines, adipocytes were pretreated with thapsigargin or salubrinal. Chemokine mRNA levels were determined using quantitative real-time PCR, and secretion of CCL2 was determined by Western blot. Results: 2-DOG treatment reduced the ability of LPS and TNF to induce CCL2 mRNA levels and reduced secreted CCL2 protein levels …

Oncostatin M Impairs Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenic Function And The Browning Of Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue, David Sánchez-Infantes, Rubén Cereijo, Marion Peyrou, Irene Piquer-Garcia, Jacqueline M. Stephens, Francesc Villarroya

Faculty Publications

© 2016 The Obesity Society Objective: Since oncostatin m (OSM) is elevated in adipose tissue in conditions of obesity and type 2 diabetes in mice and humans, the aim of this study was to determine whether this cytokine plays a crucial role in the impairment of brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity and browning capacity that has been observed in people with obesity. Methods: C57BL/6J mice rendered obese by high-fat diet, their lean controls, and C57BL/6J mice fed a standard diet and implanted subcutaneously with a mini pump through a surgical procedure to deliver OSM or placebo were used. Preadipocytes or …

Db / Db Mice Exhibit Features Of Human Type 2 Diabetes That Are Not Present In Weight-Matched C57bl/6j Mice Fed A Western Diet, Susan J. Burke, Heidi M. Batdorf, David H. Burk, Robert C. Noland, Adrianna E. Eder, Matthew S. Boulos, Michael D. Karlstad, J. Jason Collier

Faculty Publications

© 2017 Susan J. Burke et al. To understand features of human obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) that can be recapitulated in the mouse, we compared C57BL/6J mice fed a Western-style diet (WD) to weight-matched genetically obese leptin receptor-deficient mice (db/db). All mice were monitored for changes in body composition, glycemia, and total body mass. To objectively compare diet-induced and genetic models of obesity, tissue analyses were conducted using mice with similar body mass. We found that adipose tissue inflammation was present in both models of obesity. In addition, distinct alterations in metabolic flexibility were evident between WD-fed …

The Biogeography Of Sodium In Neotropical Figs (Moraceae), Adriana Bravo, Kyle E. Harms

Faculty Publications

© 2016 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation Sodium is essential for animals but not for most plants. Terrestrial sodium comes largely from marine aerosols, so inland ecosystems should have greater potential for sodium limitation than coastal ecosystems. We report a significant decrease of sodium in fruits of four Neotropical Ficus species with distance from presumed marine source.

Biology And Management Of The Texas Leafcutting Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), T. D. Schowalter, D. R. Ring

Faculty Publications

Leafcutting ants are primarily a tropical group, but three species, particularly the Texas leafcutting ant, Atta texana (Buckley) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), occur in the southern United States. Leafcutting ants provide an example of the complexity of ecological interactions. As a result of extensive defoliation and nest excavation, these ants influence vegetation cover, soil structure, and water fluxes over a significant portion of the landscape. They also can be severe forest and crop pests, and collapse of their extensive underground colonies can undermine roads and structures. In Texas, they are considered the second most important pest in pine plantations, following southern pine …

Libraries Are The Homes Of Books: Whiteness In The Construction Of School Libraries, Suzanne Marie Stauffer

Faculty Publications

The bibliographic instructional work, The Children’s Book on How to Use Books and Libraries, issued seven times between 1937 and 1973, utilized the metaphor of the library as the “home of books.” That “home” was constructed as a private, white, middle- class space in which children, who are invited guests, not residents, were expected to behave according to white, middle-class social norms and cultural values. The children depicted were uniformly white, able-bodied, and middle class as well. American cultural values such as individualism, competition, and pragmatism and utilitarianism were celebrated. This work critically analyzes the whiteness of the presentation, including …

Biomarkers Of Aryl-Hydrocarbon Receptor Activity In Gulf Killifish (Fundulus Grandis) From Northern Gulf Of Mexico Marshes Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Benjamin Dubansky, Charles D. Rice, Lester F. Barrois, Fernando Galvez

Faculty Publications

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York. Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, shorelines throughout the Barataria Basin of the northern Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana were heavily oiled for months with Macondo-252 oil, potentially impacting estuarine species. The Gulf killifish (Fundulus grandis) has been identified as a sentinel species for the study of site-specific effects of crude oil contamination on biological function. In November and December 2010, 4–5 months after the Macondo well was plugged and new oil was no longer spilling into the Gulf waters, Gulf killifish were collected across the Barataria Basin from 14 sites with varying …

A Multiple Case Narrative Examining The Experiences Of Alumni Of A Minority Research And Training Program, Gretchen Burton

Faculty Publications

The implementation of minority research and training (MRT) programs at the post secondary level has risen to close the educational achievement gap and build undergraduate pathways to generate a highly skilled and diverse STEM pool. Although the numbers of advanced science related degrees have slowly increased over the past decade, partially due to the utilization of MRT programs, this increase has not been adequate to establish an impactful representation in either academic or industry research careers. Numerous studies identify various support interventions influencing positive outcomes among MRT participants achieving graduate degrees. However, majority of the studies utilize quantitative or a …

[Review Of] Robert J. Richards And Michael Ruse, Debating Darwin, Charles H. Pence

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Microbiome Of Neotropical Ticks Parasitizing On Passerine Migratory Birds, Khemraj Budachetri, Jaclyn Williams, Nabanita Mukherjee, Michael Sellers, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Seasonal migration of passerine birds between temperate North America and tropical Central and South America is an ecological phenomenon. Migration of birds has been associated with the introduction of ectoparasites like ticks or tick-borne pathogens across the avian migration routes. In this study, the microbial diversity was determined in the ticks and bird DNA samples using 454 pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Tick DNA samples showed the dominance of genera Lactococcus, Francisella, Raoultella, Wolbachiaand Rickettsia across all the ticks, but birds DNA did not share common microbial diversity with ticks. Furthermore, “Candidatus Rickettsia amblyommii” …

Be-Breeder – An Application For Analysis Of Genomic Data In Plant Breeding, Filipe Inácio Matias, Italo Stefanine Correa Granato, Gabriel Dequigiovanni, Roberto Fritsche-Neto

Faculty Publications

Be-Breeder is an application directed toward genetic breeding of plants, developed through the Shiny package of the R software, which allows different phenotype and molecular (marker) analysis to be undertaken. The section for analysis of molecular data of the Be-Breeder application makes it possible to achieve quality control of genotyping data, to obtain genomic kinship matrices, and to analyze genomic selection, genome association, and genetic diversity in a simple manner on line. This application is available for use in a network through the site of the Allogamous Plant Breeding Laboratory of ESALQ-USP (http://www.genetica.esalq.usp.br/alogamas/R.html).

A Before–After Control–Impact Assessment To Understand The Potential Impacts Of Highway Construction Noise And Activity On An Endangered Songbird, Ashley M. Long, Melanie R. Colón, Jessica L. Bosman, Dianne H. Robinson, Hannah L. Pruett, Tiffany M. Mcfarland, Heather A. Mathewson, Joseph M. Szewczak, J. Cal Newnam, Michael L. Morrison

Faculty Publications

Anthropogenic noise associated with highway construction and operation can have individual- and population-level consequences for wildlife (e.g., reduced densities, decreased reproductive success, behavioral changes). We used a before–after control–impact study design to examine the potential impacts of highway construction and traffic noise on endangered golden-cheeked warblers (Setophaga chrysoparia; hereafter warbler) in urban Texas. We mapped and monitored warbler territories before (2009–2011), during (2012–2013), and after (2014) highway construction at three study sites: a treatment site exposed to highway construction and traffic noise, a control site exposed only to traffic noise, and a second control site exposed to neither highway construction …

Understanding The Uterine Environment In Early Pregnancy In Cattle: How Have The Omics Enhanced Our Knowledge?, Constantine A. Simintiras, Niamh Forde

Faculty Publications

Early pregnancy loss in cattle can be attributed to a myriad of sources. One key factor that can influence early pregnancy success or loss is the influence and interactions between the maternal environment and the developing embryo/conceptus. Recent advances in high-throughput 'omics' technologies coupled with improved bioinformatics capabilities represent a promising avenue for enhancing our understanding of fundamental developmental events - which would have direct agricultural, veterinary, and economic benefits. Thusly this review revolves around recent applications of advanced transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses within a bovine uterine secretomic and interactomic context, with an overriding aim to highlight the advantages …

Modelling Aspects Of Oviduct Fluid Formation In Vitro, Constantine A. Simintiras, Thomas Fröhlich, Thozhukat Sathyapalan, Georg J. Arnold, Susanne E. Ulbrich, Henry J. Leese, Roger G. Sturmey

Faculty Publications

Oviduct fluid is the microenvironment that supports early reproductive processes including fertilisation, embryo cleavage and genome activation. However, the composition and regulation of this critical environment remain rather poorly defined. This study uses an in vitro preparation of the bovine oviduct epithelium to investigate the formation and composition of in vitro-derived oviduct fluid (ivDOF) within a controlled environment. We confirm the presence of oviduct-specific glycoprotein 1 in ivDOF and show that the amino acid and carbohydrate content resembles that of previously reported in vivo data. In parallel, using a different culture system, a panel of oviduct epithelial solute carrier genes …

Dual Roles Of Oxidative Stress In Metal Carcinogenesis, Jie Xu, James T.F. Wise, Lei Wang, Kortney Schumann, Zhuo Zhang, Xianglin Shi

Faculty Publications

It has been well established that environmental and occupational exposure to heavy metal causes cancer in several organs. Although the exact mechanism of heavy metal carcinogenesis remains elusive, metal-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential. ROS can play two roles in metal carcinogenesis; two stages in the process of metal carcinogenesis differ in the amounts of ROS activating a dual redox-mediated mechanism. In the early stage of metal carcinogenesis, ROS acts in an oncogenic role. However, in the late stage of metal carcinogenesis, ROS plays an antioncogenic role. Similarly, NF-E2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) also has two different roles, which makes …

A New Species Of Shrew (Soricomorpha: Crocidura) From Java, Indonesia: Possible Character Displacement Despite Interspecific Gene Flow, Terrence C. Demos, Anang S. Achmadi, Heru Handika, Maharadatunkamsi, Kevin C. Rowe, Jacob A. Esselstyn

Faculty Publications

We describe a new species of shrew (Soricomorpha, Soricidae, Crocidura) from Mt. Gede, West Java, Indonesia. Relative to other Javan shrews, the new species is small with a relatively thick, dark brown, medium-length tail. The new species is known only from the type locality at 1,611 and 1,950 m elevation on Mt. Gede. It occurs syntopically with at least 3 other Crocidura species: C. orientalis, C. abscondita, and C. monticola. Phylogenetically, the new species is nested among sympatric and allopatric populations of C. monticola. Although topological inferences differ slightly between the mtDNA gene tree and multilocus species tree, the new …

Poultry Litter Ash Reduces Phosphorus Losses During Greenhouse Production Of Lantana Camara L. ‘New Gold’, Daniel E. Wells, Jeffrey S. Beasley, Lewis A. Gaston, Edward W. Bush, Maureen E. Thiessen

Faculty Publications

Phosphorus (P) fertilizers with high water-solubility are often applied in excessive amounts to porous horticultural substrates to produce high-quality plants. As a result, high P losses during containerized plant production have presented an environmental challenge to responsible growers. Poultry litter ash (PLA), a byproduct of bioenergy production, contains P concentrations comparable to conventional P fertilizers but is characterized as having lower water-solubility. Therefore, a series of experiments were conducted to characterize effects of PLA on container-plant growth and P leaching. PLA was compared with superphosphate (SP), a highly water-soluble P source, in ratios of 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and 100:0 …