Digital Commons Network^™

Astrocytes Regulate Glp-1 Receptor-Mediated Effects On Energy Balance, David J. Reiner, Elizabeth G. Mietlicki-Baase, Lauren E. Mcgrath, Derek J. Zimmer, Kendra K. Bence, Gregory L. Sousa, Vaibhav R. Konanur, Joanna Krawczyk, David H. Burk, Scott E. Kanoski, Gerlinda E. Hermann, Richard C. Rogers, Matthew R. Hayes

Faculty Publications

© 2016 the authors. Astrocytes are well established modulators of extracellular glutamate, but their direct influence on energy balance-relevant behaviors is largely understudied. As the anorectic effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists are partly mediated by central modulation of glutamatergic signaling, we tested the hypothesis that astrocytic GLP-1R signaling regulates energy balance in rats. Central or peripheral administration of a fluorophore-labeled GLP-1R agonist, exendin-4, localizes within astrocytes and neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), a hindbrain nucleus critical for energy balance control. This effect is mediated by GLP-1R, as the uptake of systemically administered fluorophore-tagged exendin-4 was blocked …

Pelvic Sexual Dimorphism Among Species Monomorphic In Body Size: Relationship To Relative Newborn Body Mass, Robert G. Tague

Faculty Publications

Females have larger pelves than males among eutherians to mitigate obstetrical difficulty. This study addresses 3 issues concerning pelvic sexual dimorphism using 8 species that are sexually monomorphic in nonpelvic size: Aotus azarae, Castor canadensis, Dasypus novemcinctus, Hylobates lar, Saguinus geoffroyi, Sciurus carolinensis, Sylvilagus floridanus, and Urocyon cinereoargenteus. Using published data to compute the index of relative newborn body mass (RNBM = [newborn body mass/adult female body mass]100%) for 266 eutherian species, A. azarae, H. lar, and S. geoffroyi are characterized as giving birth to relatively large newborns and the other 5 species as giving birth to relatively small newborns. …

Influential Herbal And Botanical Texts From The 16th Through 18th Centuries, Michael C. Goates

Faculty Publications

Humans have always had an intimate and complex relationship with plants. Plants provide many of the basic necessities for survival, such as food, clothing, and shelter. Plants also play an important and rich part in human culture. This fascination with plants has led to detailed studies of their natural history as well as explorations into their unique and useful properties. Throughout recorded history, philosophers, herbalists, botanists, and others have captured their observations about plants. From the Middle Ages through the Early Modern Period, herbalists compiled these collective observations into large printed volumes, referred to as herbals. With the Scientific Revolution …

A Recommendation System For Meta-Modeling: A Meta-Learning Based Approach, Can Cui, Mengqi Hu, Jeffery D. Weir, Teresa Wu

Faculty Publications

Various meta-modeling techniques have been developed to replace computationally expensive simulation models. The performance of these meta-modeling techniques on different models is varied which makes existing model selection/recommendation approaches (e.g., trial-and-error, ensemble) problematic. To address these research gaps, we propose a general meta-modeling recommendation system using meta-learning which can automate the meta-modeling recommendation process by intelligently adapting the learning bias to problem characterizations. The proposed intelligent recommendation system includes four modules: (1) problem module, (2) meta-feature module which includes a comprehensive set of meta-features to characterize the geometrical properties of problems, (3) meta-learner module which compares the performance of instance-based …

Anthropogenic Habitats Facilitate Dispersal Of An Early Successional Obligate: Implications For Restoration Of An Endangered Ecosystem, Katrina E. Amaral, Michael W. Palace, Kathleen M. O'Brien, Lindsey E. Fenderson, Adrienne I. Kovach

Faculty Publications

Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation disrupt the connectivity of natural landscapes, with major consequences for biodiversity. Species that require patchily distributed habitats, such as those that specialize on early successional ecosystems, must disperse through a landscape matrix with unsuitable habitat types. We evaluated landscape effects on dispersal of an early successional obligate, the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). Using a landscape genetics approach, we identified barriers and facilitators of gene flow and connectivity corridors for a population of cottontails in the northeastern United States. We modeled dispersal in relation to landscape structure and composition and tested hypotheses about the influence …

Dietary Plant Lectins Appear To Be Transported From The Gut To Gain Access To And Alter Dopaminergic Neurons Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, A Potential Etiology Of Parkinson’S Disease, Jolene Zheng, Mingming Wang, Wenqian Wei, Jeffrey N. Keller, Binita Adhikari, Jason F. King, Michael L. King, Nan Peng, Roger A. Laine

Faculty Publications

© Copyright © 2016 Zheng, Wang, Wei, Keller, Adhikari, King, King, Peng and Laine. Lectins from dietary plants have been shown to enhance drug absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of rats, be transported trans-synaptically as shown by tracing of axonal and dendritic paths, and enhance gene delivery. Other carbohydrate-binding protein toxins are known to traverse the gut intact in dogs. Post-feeding rhodamine- or TRITC-tagged dietary lectins, the lectins were tracked from gut to dopaminergic neurons (DAergic-N) in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) [egIs1(Pdat-1:GFP)] where the mutant has the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene fused to a dopamine transport protein gene …

Objective Research? Information Literacy Instruction Perspectives, Terry Dwain Robertson

Faculty Publications

Common understandings of “objective” research include values such as “factual” and “interpretive neutrality”. There is a growing consensus that the person, the “subject”, doing the research counts as much as if not more in the interpretive outcomes than the “facts” alone, and that “interpretive neutrality” is not possible.

The presentation offers an alternative framing of “objective research” as the grounded, intentional and savvy analysis of an “object” in conversation with a community of peers/experts for the purpose of creating knowledge.

Following Ferraris’ ontology, three classes of “objects” exist (1) Natural objects: exist whether or not a person notices them. Example: …

Cucumis Melo Endornavirus: Genome Organization, Host Range And Co-Divergence With The Host, Sead Sabanadzovic, William M. Wintermantel, Rodrigo A. Valverde, James D. Mccreight, Nina Aboughanem-Sabanadzovic

Faculty Publications

A high molecular weight dsRNA was isolated from a Cucumis melo L. plant (referred to as 'CL01') of an unknown cultivar and completely sequenced. Sequence analyses showed that dsRNA is associated with an endornavirus for which a name Cucumis melo endornavirus (CmEV) is proposed. The genome of CmEV-CL01 consists of 15,078 nt, contains a single, 4939 codons-long ORF and terminates with a stretch of 10 cytosine residues. Comparisons of the putative CmEV-encoded polyprotein with available references in protein databases revealed a unique genome organization characterized by the presence of the following domains: viral helicase Superfamily 1 (Hel-1), three glucosyltransferases (doublet …

Influence Of The Mississippi River On Pseudo-Nitzschia Spp. Abundance And Toxicity In Louisiana Coastal Waters, Sibel Bargu, Melissa M. Baustian, Nancy N. Rabalais, Ross Del Rio, Benjamin Von Korff, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

The presence of domoic acid (DA) toxin from multiple species of Pseudo-nitzschia is a concern in the highly productive food webs of the northern 1,* 2,3 2 1 1,4 1 1 2 3 4 Gulf of Mexico. We documented the Pseudo-­nitzschia presence, abundance, blooms, and toxicity over 3 years along a transect ∼100 km west of the Mississippi River Delta on the continental shelf. Pseudo-nitzschia were present throughout the year and occurred in high abundances (>10 cells l ) in the early spring months during high Mississippi River (MSR) flow (∼20,000 m s ) but were most abundant ( …

Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica L.) Attenuates Ffa Induced Ceramide Accumulation In 3t3- L1 Adipocytes In An Adiponectin Dependent Manner, Diana N. Obanda, Peng Zhao, Allison J. Richard, David Ribnicky, William T. Cefalu, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

©2016 Obanda et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Objective Excess dietary lipids result in the accumulation of lipid metabolites including ceramides that can attenuate insulin signaling. There is evidence that a botanical extract of Urtica dioica L. (stinging nettle) improves insulin action, yet the precise mechanism(s) are not known. Hence, we examined the effects of Urtica dioica L. (UT) on adipocytes. Research Design We investigated the effects of an ethanolic extract …

Investigation Of Possible Pumpkin Seeds And Ginger Effects On Gastrointestinal Nematode Infection Indicators In Meat Goat Kids And Lambs, K. K. Matthews, D. J. O'Brien, N. C. Whitley, J. M. Burke, J. E. Miller, R. A. Barczewski

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. In four experiments, 77 naturally-infected Boer crossbred kids and 28 artificially-inoculated Katahdin lambs were used to evaluate the effect of pumpkin seeds (Exp 1; 21 kids), ginger or pumpkin seed drench (Exp 2; 30 kids) and pumpkin seed oil (Exp 3 and 4: 28 lambs and 26 kids, respectively) on gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) indicators. In all experiments, kids and lambs were placed in individual pens and received pre-weighed rations of a commercially pelleted meat goat or sheep diet daily. In Exp 1, kids were supplemented with ground pumpkin seeds (PUM; n = 10) mixed into feed …

Variable Prey Development Time Suppresses Predator-Prey Cycles And Enhances Stability, James T. Cronin, John D. Reeve, Dashun Xu, Mingqing Xiao, Heidi N. Stevens

Faculty Publications

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS. Although theoretical models have demonstrated that predator-prey population dynamics can depend critically on age (stage) structure and the duration and variability in development times of different life stages, experimental support for this theory is non-existent. We conducted an experiment with a host-parasitoid system to test the prediction that increased variability in the development time of the vulnerable host stage can promote interaction stability. Host-parasitoid microcosms were subjected to two treatments: Normal and High variance in the duration of the vulnerable host stage. In control and Normal-variance microcosms, hosts and parasitoids exhibited distinct population …

Competition-Mediated Feedbacks In Experimental Multispecies Epizootics, Tad Dallas, Richard J. Hall, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2016 by the Ecological Society of America. Competition structures ecological communities and alters host-pathogen interactions. In environmentally transmitted pathogens, an infection-resistant competitor may influence infection dynamics in a susceptible species through the negative impacts of competition (e.g., by reducing host density or causing nutritional stress that increases susceptibility to infection) and/or the positive impacts of reducing transmission efficiency (e.g., by removing environmental pathogen stages). Thus, a non-susceptible competitor may enhance, reduce, or have no net effect on susceptible host density and infection prevalence. Here, we couple an epidemiological model with experimental epidemics to test how resource competition with a …

Costs Of Resistance And Infection By A Generalist Pathogen, Tad Dallas, Mathieu Holtackers, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Pathogen infection is typically costly to hosts, resulting in reduced fitness. However, pathogen exposure may also come at a cost even if the host does not become infected. These fitness reductions, referred to as "resistance costs", are inducible physiological costs expressed as a result of a trade-off between resistance to a pathogen and aspects of host fitness (e.g., reproduction). Here, we examine resistance and infection costs of a generalist fungal pathogen (Metschnikowia bicuspidata) capable of infecting a number of host species. Costs were quantified as reductions in host lifespan, total reproduction, …

Comparison Of Thermal Performance Equations In Describing Temperature-Dependent Developmental Rates Of Insects: (I) Empirical Models, Pei Jian Shi, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Lei Chen, Feng Ge

Faculty Publications

Temperature greatly affects the developmental duration of insects at their different stages, and many mathematical models exist for describing their temperature-dependent developmental rates. It is important to choose a suitable model to predict outbreaks of pest insects under climate change. However, previous comparisons among these models were usually based on a single species. In the present study, we compared the six nonlinear models (the Briére-1, Briére-2, Lactin, Performance-2, beta, and Ratkowsky models) based on the goodness of fit and the trade-off between the model's goodness of fit and structural complexity, using 10 temperaturedependent developmental rate datasets on insects to make …

Effect Of Temperature On Two Bio-Insecticides For The Control Of Confused Flour Beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), Brian M. Thompson, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

Stored product pests account for as much as 10% of food loss worldwide. Insects such as the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), are major pests of small grain in storage bins and grain elevators in Montana. Cold winters and dry summers have traditionally helped reduce levels of T. confusum in storage bins. However, with change in winter temperatures, this pest has become harder to manage using physical measures such as desiccation. The alternative, the chemical insecticide aluminum phosphide, is effective at controlling T. confusum in grain stores but is highly toxic to mammals, and recently …

“A False Idea Of Economy”: Costs, Counties, And The Origins Of The California Correctional System, W. David Ball

Faculty Publications

Realignment in California comes at a time when the state’s prison system is expensive and overcrowded; the response has been to reevaluate and reconfigure the way counties use state prisons. Based on an original historical analysis of state archival records from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as a well as a review of secondary historical accounts of California’s prison system, I show that similar problems and policies were present at the state’s founding: issues of expense, overcrowding, and the county-state relationship help to explain the origins, size, and shape of the California prison system. California’s lack of money …

An Extract Of Urtica Dioica L. Mitigates Obesity Induced Insulin Resistance In Mice Skeletal Muscle Via Protein Phosphatase 2a (Pp2a), Diana N. Obanda, David Ribnicky, Yongmei Yu, Jacqueline Stephens, William T. Cefalu

Faculty Publications

The leaf extract of Urtica dioica L. (UT) has been reported to improve glucose homeostasis in vivo, but definitive studies on efficacy and mechanism of action are lacking. We investigated the effects of UT on obesity-induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Male C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups: low-fat diet (LFD), high-fat diet (HFD) and HFD supplemented with UT. Body weight, body composition, plasma glucose and plasma insulin were monitored. Skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius) was analyzed for insulin sensitivity, ceramide accumulation and the post translational modification and activity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). PP2A is activated by ceramides and dephosphorylates …

Interfaces Between Linguistic Systems: Evidence From Child Language, Lyle Lustigman

Faculty Publications

Interfaces between grammatical domains have been considered from various perspectives in child language research and in general linguistics. The study aims to provide evidence for interfaces in acquisition of early clause-structure, based on longitudinal data from three Hebrew-acquiring toddlers. Two facets of their early speech output were examined: Usage productivity in verb-inflection, identified by a criterion of contextual appropriateness; and structural transparency/opacity of children’s speech output, with transparent forms being unambiguous in relation to their grammatical targets. These factors yielded two distinct developmental periods for the three children: I – from the onset of verb usage to productive verb inflection, …

Effects Of High Hydrostatic Pressure On Expression Profiles Of In Vitro Produced Vitrified Bovine Blastocysts, Zongliang Jiang, Patrick Harrington, Ming Zhang, Sadie L. Marjani, Joonghoon Park, Lynn Kuo, Csaba Pribenszky, Xiuchun Tian

Faculty Publications

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) has been used to pre-condition embryos before essential, yet potentially detrimental procedures such as cryopreservation. However, the mechanisms for HHP are poorly understood. We treated bovine blastocysts with three different HHP (40, 60 and 80 MPa) in combination with three recovery periods (0, 1 h, 2 h post HHP). Re-expansion rates were significantly higher at 40 and 60 but lower at 80 MPa after vitrification-warming in the treated groups than controls. Microarray analysis revealed 399 differentially expressed transcripts, representing 254 unique genes, among different groups. Gene ontology analysis indicated that HHP at 40 and 60 MPa …

Prototype Muon Detectors For The Amiga Component Of The Pierre Auger Observatory, A. Aab, P. Abreu, M. Aglietta, E. J. Ahn, I. Al Samarai, I. F.M. Albuquerque, I. Allekotte, P. Allison, A. Almela, J. Alvarez Castillo, J. Alvarez-Muñiz, R. Alves Batista, M. Ambrosio, A. Aminaei, G. A. Anastasi, L. Anchordoqui, B. Andrada, S. Andringa, C. Aramo, F. Arqueros, N. Arsene, H. Asorey, P. Assis, J. Aublin, G. Avila, N. Awal, A. M. Badescu, C. Baus, J. J. Beatty, K. H. Becker, J. A. Bellido, C. Berat, M. E. Bertaina

Faculty Publications

AMIGA (Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array) is an upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory to extend its range of detection and to directly measure the muon content of the particle showers. It consists of an infill of surface water-Cherenkov detectors accompanied by buried scintillator detectors used for muon counting. The main objectives of the AMIGA engineering array, referred to as the Unitary Cell, are to identify and resolve all engineering issues as well as to understand the muon-number counting uncertainties related to the design of the detector. The mechanical design, fabrication and deployment processes of the muon …

Costs Of Resistance And Infection By A Generalist Pathogen, Tad Dallas, Mathieu Holtackers, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

Pathogen infection is typically costly to hosts, resulting in reduced fitness. However, pathogen exposure may also come at a cost even if the host does not become infected. These fitness reductions, referred to as “resistance costs”, are inducible physiological costs expressed as a result of a trade-off between resistance to a pathogen and aspects of host fitness (e.g., reproduction). Here, we examine resistance and infection costs of a generalist fungal pathogen (Metschnikowia bicuspidata) capable of infecting a number of host species. Costs were quantified as reductions in host lifespan, total reproduction, and mean clutch size as a function …

Soil Functional Zone Management: A Vehicle For Enhancing Production And Soil Ecosystem Services In Row-Crop Agroecosystems, Alwyn Williams, Daniel A. Kane, Patrick M. Ewing, Lesley W. Atwood, Andrea Jilling, Meng Li, Yi Lou, Adam S. Davis, A. Stuart Grandy, Sheri C. Huerd, Mitchell C. Hunter, Roger T. Koide, David A. Mortensen, Richard G. Smith, Sieglinde S. Snapp, Kurt A. Spokas, Anthony C. Yannarell, Nicholas R. Jordan

Faculty Publications

There is increasing global demand for food, bioenergy feedstocks and a wide variety of bio-based products. In response, agriculture has advanced production, but is increasingly depleting soil regulating and supporting ecosystem services. New production systems have emerged, such as no-tillage, that can enhance soil services but may limit yields. Moving forward, agricultural systems must reduce trade-offs between production and soil services. Soil functional zone management (SFZM) is a novel strategy for developing sustainable production systems that attempts to integrate the benefits of conventional, intensive agriculture, and no-tillage. SFZM creates distinct functional zones within crop row and inter-row spaces. By incorporating …

Incomplete Protection Against Dengue Virus Type 2 Re-Infection In Peru, Brett M. Forshey, Robert C. Reiner, Sandra Olkowski, Amy C. Morrison, Angelica Espinoza, Kanya C. Long, Stalin Vilcarromero, Wilma Casanova, Helen J. Wearing, Eric S. Halsey, Tadeusz J. Kochel, Thomas W. Scott, Steven T. Stoddard

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Public Library of Science. All Rights Reserved. Background: Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk for dengue, yet no licensed vaccine or anti-viral drug is currently available. Dengue is caused by any of four dengue virus serotypes (DENV-1 through DENV-4), and infection by a DENV serotype is assumed to provide life-long protection against re-infection by that serotype. We investigated the validity of this fundamental assumption during a large dengue epidemic caused by DENV-2 in Iquitos, Peru, in 2010–2011, 15 years after the first outbreak of DENV-2 in the region. Methodology/Principal Findings: We estimated the age-dependent prevalence …

Estimates Of The Quality Of Complementary Feeding Amongvietnamese Infants Aged 6-23months Varied By Howcommercial Baby Cereals Were Classified In 24-H Recalls, Nguyen T. Tuan, Mellissa Withers, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Nemat Hajeebhoy

Faculty Publications

The World Health Organization's (WHO) standardized questionnaire for assessing infant and young child feeding practices does not include commercial baby cereals (CBC), which are derived from several food groups and are fortified with micronutrients. We examined how different scenarios for classifying CBC affect estimates of the quality of complementary feeding in children ages 6−23 months in Vietnam in 2014 (n = 4811). In addition to the WHO standardized 24‐h recall questionnaire for infant and young child feeding, we asked mothers about the consumption of CBC. The five resulting scenarios were S1 – omitted CBC; S2 – CBC classified as grains; …

Chinese Slang, Robert L. Moore

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Prefrontal Neurons Encode Actions And Outcomes In Conjunction With Spatial Location In Rats Performing A Dynamic Delayed Non-Match To Position Task, Kristen D. Onos, Miranda J. Francoeur, Benjamin A. Wormwood, Rikki L.A. Miller Phd, Brett M. Gibson, Robert G. Mair

Faculty Publications

To respond adaptively to change organisms must utilize information about recent events and environmental context to select actions that are likely to produce favorable outcomes. We developed a dynamic delayed nonmatching to position task to study the influence of spatial context on event-related activity of medial prefrontal cortex neurons during reinforcement-guided decision-making. We found neurons with responses related to preparation, movement, lever press responses, reinforcement, and memory delays. Combined event-related and video tracking analyses revealed variability in spatial tuning of neurons with similar event-related activity. While all correlated neurons exhibited spatial tuning broadly consistent with relevant task events, for instance …

Does Corticosterone Regulate The Onset Of Breeding In Free-Living Birds?: The Cort-Flexibility Hypothesis And Six Potential Mechanisms For Priming Corticosteroid Function, Christine R. Lattin, Creagh W. Breuner, L. Michael Romero

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc. For many avian species, the decision to initiate breeding is based on information from a variety of environmental cues, including photoperiod, temperature, food availability, and social interactions. There is evidence that the hormone corticosterone may be involved in delaying the onset of breeding in cases where supplemental cues, such as low food availability and inclement weather, indicate that the environment is not suitable. However, not all studies have found the expected relationships between breeding delays and corticosterone titers. In this review, we present the hypothesis that corticosterone physiology mediates flexibility in breeding initiation (the …

Mathematical Model Of The Firefly Luciferase Complementation Assay Reveals A Non-Linear Relationship Between The Detected Luminescence And The Affinity Of The Protein Pair Being Analyzed, Renee Dale, Yuki Ohmuro-Matsuyama, Hiroshi Ueda, Naohiro Kato

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Dale et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The firefly luciferase complementation assay is widely used as a bioluminescent reporter technology to detect protein-protein interactions in vitro, in cellulo, and in vivo. Upon the interaction of a protein pair, complemented firefly luciferase emits light through the adenylation and oxidation of its substrate, luciferin. Although it has been suggested that kinetics of light production in the firefly luciferase complementation assay …

Meat Goat Enterprise Efficiency Analysis In The Southeastern United States, Berdikul Qushim, Jeffrey Gillespie, Kenneth Mcmillin

Faculty Publications

© The Author(s) 2016. Meat goat enterprise efficiency was estimated using an input distance function (IDF) by applying stochastic production frontier techniques for the southeastern U.S. region. We found increasing returns to scale and scope economies for southeastern U.S. meat goat enterprises. Mean technical efficiency was 0.81. Our results suggest southeastern U.S. meat goat enterprises can be scale efficient if their size of operation is >~60 goats or >40 breeding does. Cost and IDF analyses show input expenses decreased substantially with increasing scale of operations in southeastern U.S. meat goat production. Empirical Monte Carlo simulation techniques show consistency of small-sample …