Digital Commons Network^™

Autoregulation Of An Rna Polymerase Ii Promoter By The Rna Polymerase Iii Transcription Factor Iii C (TfIiiC) Complex, Richard A. Kleinschmidt, Kimberly E. Leblanc, David Donze

Faculty Publications

Extra TFIIIC (ETC) sites are chromosomal locations bound in vivo by the RNA polymerase III (Pol III) transcription factor III C (TF IIIC) complex, but are not necessarily associated with Pol III transcription. Although the location of ETC sequences are conserved in budding yeast, and similar sites are found in other organisms, their functions are largely unstudied. One such site, ETC6 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, lies upstream of TFC6, a gene encoding a subunit of the TFIIIC complex itself. Promoter analysis shows that the ETC6 B-box sequence is involved in autoregulation of the TFC6 promoter. Mutation of ETC6 increases TFC6 mRNA …

Mining The Meanings And Pulling Out The Processes From Psychology Of Religion’S Correlation Mountain, Loren D. Marks, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

The article illustrates how rigorous quantitative studies in three distinct and promising areas opened the door to additional related qualitative work. Using qualitative narratives from a landmark sample of 184 diverse religious families, the authors discuss and illustrate two research methods and that have been useful to them: triangulating data in the context of family, and seeking truth through progressive questioning. Next, consistent with the paper's primary purpose, the authors highlight three areas where the strong, correlation-based research foundation provided by quantitative social scientists of religion has created some prime, complementary opportunities for follow-up work by qualitative researchers. …

Preimplantation Factor (Pif) Correlates With Early Mammalian Embryo Development-Bovine And Murine Models, Christopher W. Stamatkin, Roumen G. Roussev, Mike Stout, Victor Absalon-Medina, Sivakumar Ramu, Chelsi Goodman, Carolyn B. Coulam, Robert O. Gilbert, Robert A. Godke, Eytan R. Barnea

Faculty Publications

Background: PreImplantation Factor (PIF), a novel peptide secreted by viable embryos is essential for pregnancy: PIF modulates local immunity, promotes decidual pro-adhesion molecules and enhances trophoblast invasion. To determine the role of PIF in post-fertilization embryo development, we measured the peptide's concentration in the culture medium and tested endogenous PIF's potential trophic effects and direct interaction with the embryo.Methods: Determine PIF levels in culture medium of multiple mouse and single bovine embryos cultured up to the blastocyst stage using PIF-ELISA. Examine the inhibitory effects of anti-PIF-monoclonal antibody (mAb) added to medium on cultured mouse embryos development. Test FITC-PIF uptake by …

Identification Of Suitable Copulas For Bivariate Frequency Analysis Of Flood Peak And Flood Volume Data, Hemant Chowdhary, Luis A. Escobar, Vijay P. Singh

Faculty Publications

Multivariate flood frequency analysis, involving flood peak flow, volume and duration, has been traditionally accomplished by employing available functional bivariate and multivariate frequency distributions that have a restriction on the marginals to be from the same family of distributions. The copula concept overcomes this restriction by allowing a combination of arbitrarily chosen marginal types. It also provides a wider choice of admissible dependence structure as compared to the conventional approach. The availability of a vast variety of copula types makes the selection of an appropriate copula family for different hydrological applications a non-trivial task. Graphical and analytic goodness-of-fit tests for …

Residence Time Distributions In Surface Transient Storage Zones In Streams: Estimation Via Signal Deconvolution, Michael N. Gooseff, David A. Benson, Martin A. Biggs, Mitchell Weaver, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Bruce J. Peterson, Charles S. Hopkinson

Faculty Publications

Little is known about the impact of surface transient storage (STS) zones on reach‐scale transport and the fate of dissolved nutrients in streams. Exchange with these locations may influence the rates of nutrient cycling often observed in whole‐stream tracer experiments, particularly because they are sites of organic matter collection and lower flow velocities than those observed in the thalweg. We performed a conservative stream tracer experiment (slug of dissolved NaCl) in the Ipswich River in northeastern Massachusetts and collected solute tracer data both in the thalweg and adjacent STS zones at three locations in a fifth‐order reach. Tracer time series …

Effects Of Tethering A Multistate Folding Protein To A Surface, Shuai Wei, Thomas A. Knotts Iv

Faculty Publications

Protein/surface interactions are important in a variety of fields and devices, yet fundamental understanding of the relevant phenomena remains fragmented due to resolution limitations of experimental techniques. Molecular simulation has provided useful answers, but such studies have focused on proteins that fold through a two-state process. This study uses simulation to show how surfaces can affect proteins which fold through a multistate process by investigating the folding mechanism of lysozyme (PDB ID: 7LZM). The results demonstrate that in the bulk 7LZM folds through a process with four stable states: the folded state, the unfolded state, and two stable intermediates. The …

Fire Ant Decapitating Fly Cooperative Release Programs (1994-2008): Two Pseudacteon Species, P. Tricuspis And P. Curvatus, Rapidly Expand Across Imported Fire Ant Populations In The Southeastern United States, Anne Marie A. Callcott, Sanford D. Porter, Ronald D. Weeks, L. C. Fudd Graham, Seth J. Johnson, Lawrence E. Gilbert

Faculty Publications

Natural enemies of the imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren S. richteri Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and their hybrid, include a suite of more than 20 fire ant decapitating phorid flies from South America in the genus Pseudacteon. Over the past 12 years, many researchers and associates have cooperated in introducing several species as classical or self-sustaining biological control agents in the United States. As a result, two species of flies, Pseudacteon tricuspis Borgmeier and P. curvatus Borgmeier (Diptera: Phoridae), are well established across large areas of the southeastern United States. Whereas many researchers have published local and state information about …

Height-Diameter Allometry Of Tropical Forest Trees, T. R. Feldpausch, L. Banin, O. L. Phillips, T. R. Baker, S. L. Lewis, C. A. Quesada, K. Affum-Baffoe, E. J. M. M. Arets, N. J. Berry, M. Bird, E. S. Brondizio, P. De Camargo, J. Chave, G. Djagbletey, T. F. Domingues, M. Drescher, P. M. Fearnside, M. B. Franca, N. M. Fyllas, G. Lopez-Gonzalez, A. Hladik, N. Higuchi, M. O. Hunter, Michael W. Palace

Faculty Publications

Tropical tree height-diameter (H:D) relationships may vary by forest type and region making large-scale estimates of above-ground biomass subject to bias if they ignore these differences in stem allometry. We have therefore developed a new global tropical forest database consisting of 39 955 concurrent H and D measurements encompassing 283 sites in 22 tropical countries. Utilising this database, our objectives were:

1. to determine if H:D relationships differ by geographic region and forest type (wet to dry forests, including zones of tension where forest and savanna overlap).

2. to ascertain if the H:D relationship is modulated by climate and/or forest …

Redesigning Introductory Biology: A Proposal, Eileen Gregory, Craig Lending, Amanda N. Orenstein, Jane P. Ellis

Faculty Publications

With the increasing complexity and expansion of the biological sciences, there has been a corresponding increase in content in the first-year introductory biology course sequence for majors. In general this has resulted in courses that introduce students to large amounts of material and leave little time for practicing investigative science or skill development. Based on our analysis of data compiled from 742 biology faculty at a variety of institutions across the United States, we verified that there is strong agreement on the content appropriate for introductory biology courses for majors. Therefore, we propose that faculty teaching these courses focus primarily …

Gp130 Cytokines Exert Differential Patterns Of Crosstalk In Adipocytes Both In Vitro And In Vivo, Ursula A. White, William C. Stewart, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

Glycoprotein 130 (Gp130) cytokines are involved in the regulation of numerous biological processes, including hematopoiesis, immune response, inflammation, cardiovascular action, and neuronal survival. These cytokines share gp130 as a common signal transducer in their receptor complex and typically activate signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3. Studies have shown that several gp130 cytokines have differential effects on both adipogenesis and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. Yet, the complex interactions of these cytokines in adipose tissue have not been studied. Gp130 cytokines are differentially regulated in multiple tissues due to the presence of additional receptor components that are required for signaling, including …

On The Cutting Edge: Post-Translational Modifications In Cytokinesis, K. Adam Bohnert, Kathleen L. Gould

Faculty Publications

Cytokinesis represents the final stage in the cell cycle, in which two daughter cells, each with their complement of the duplicated genome, physically separate. At the core of this process sits highly conserved machinery responsible for specifying the plane of division, building a contractile apparatus and ultimately cleaving cells in two. Although the 'parts list' of contributing proteins has been well described, mechanisms by which these parts are spatially and temporally regulated are only beginning to be understood. With advancements in biochemical and proteomic analyses, recent work has uncovered multiple new roles for post-translational modifications in the regulation of cytokinesis. …

Bmi Trajectories During The Transition To Older Adulthood: Persistent, Widening, Or Diminishing Disparities By Ethnicity And Education?, Katrina M. Walsemann, Jennifer A. Ailshire

Faculty Publications

Previous research has produced inconsistent results on whether education and ethnic disparities in BMI persist, widen, or diminish over time. We investigate how education and ethnicity, independently and conditionally, influence BMI trajectories during the transition to older adulthood. Employing random coefficient modeling, we analyzed 8 biennial waves of data (1992-2006) from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative longitudinal study of individuals born between 1931 and 1941. After adjusting for health behaviors and health status, education and ethnic disparities in BMI persisted for most groups, but narrowed between high-educated white men and both low-educated Hispanic men and high-educated black …

Metabolic Restructuring During Energy-Limited States: Insights From Artemia Franciscana Embryos And Other Animals, Steven C. Hand, Michael A. Menze, Apu Borcar, Yuvraj Patil, Joseph A. Covi, Julie A. Reynolds, Mehmet Toner

Faculty Publications

Many life history stages of animals that experience environmental insults enter developmental arrested states that are characterized by reduced cellular proliferation, with or without a concurrent reduction in overall metabolism. In the case of the most profound metabolic arrest reported in invertebrates, i.e., anaerobic quiescence in Artemia franciscana embryos, acidification of the intracellular milieu is a major factor governing catabolic and anabolic downregulation. Release of ions from intracellular compartments is the source for approximately 50% of the proton equivalents needed for the 1.5 unit acidification that is observed. Recovery from the metabolic arrest requires re-sequestration of the protons with a …

Elevated Corticosterone In Feathers Correlates With Corticosterone-Induced Decreased Feather Quality: A Validation Study, Christine R. Lattin, J. Michael Reed, David W. Desrochers, L. Michael Romero

Faculty Publications

The newly described technique of extracting corticosterone (CORT) from bird feathers may serve as a less invasive, more integrated measure of a bird's stress response. Previous work indicated that elevated plasma CORT resulted in poorer quality feathers during molt. We tested the hypothesis that a direct link exists between plasma and feather CORT concentrations. We experimentally increased plasma CORT concentrations using implants and found that the corresponding rise in CORT could be detected in feathers grown during implantation. Furthermore, CORT levels in two feathers grown at the same time from the same bird were very consistent. These results provide evidence …

Nucleotide Sequence Data Confirm Diagnosis And Local Endemism Of Variable Morphospecies Of Andean Astroblepid Catfishes (Siluriformes: Astroblepidae), Scott A. Schaefer, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Anthony J. Geneva, Mark H. Sabaj Pérez

Faculty Publications

Phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences was used to test the validity of morphospecies of catfishes of the family Astroblepidae inhabiting the southern-most limit of their Andean distribution in the upper Ucayali and upper Madre de Dios river basins. Population samples of morphospecies designated a priori on the basis of morphological features were further diagnosed by the presence of unique and unreversed molecular synapomorphies, thereby confirming species validity for seven of nine cases. Although each are distinguished by unique combinations of morphological features, two morphospecies (designated F and H) cannot be diagnosed on the basis of apomorphic …

Burkholderia Glumae: Next Major Pathogen Of Rice?, Jong Hyun Ham, Rebecca A. Melanson, Milton C. Rush

Faculty Publications

Burkholderia glumae causes bacterial panicle blight of rice, which is an increasingly important disease problem in global rice production. Toxoflavin and lipase are known to be major virulence factors of this pathogen, and their production is dependent on the TofI/TofR quorum-sensing system, which is mediated by N-octanoyl homoserine lactone. Flagellar biogenesis and a type III secretion system are also required for full virulence of B. glumae. Bacterial panicle blight is thought to be caused by seed-borne B. glumae; however, its disease cycle is not fully understood. In spite of its economic importance, neither effective control measures for bacterial panicle blight …

A Model To Predict Evaporation Rates In Habitats Used By Container-Dwelling Mosquitoes, Kristen Bartlett-Healy, Sean P. Healy, George C. Hamilton

Faculty Publications

Container-dwelling mosquitoes use a wide variety of container habitats. The bottle cap is often cited as the smallest container habitat used by container species. When containers are small, the habitat conditions can greatly affect evaporation rates that in turn can affect the species dynamics within the container. An evaporation rate model was adapted to predict evaporation rates in mosquito container habitats. In both the laboratory and field, our model was able to predict actual evaporation rates. Examples of how the model may be applied are provided by examining the likelihood of Aedes albopictus (Skuse), Aedes aegypti (L.), and Culex pipiens …

Wood Consumption By Formosan Subterranean Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) As Affected By Wood Moisture Content And Temperature, Bal K. Gautam, Gregg Henderson

Faculty Publications

Understanding foraging behaviors and food preferences of termite colonies is critical to optimizing control strategies. The relationship between the moisture content (MC) of wood blocks and the feeding preference of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) at three ambient temperatures (19, 28, and 35°C) was investigated with multiple-choice as well as no-choice feeding bioassays. In multiple-choice tests, when four wood blocks with initial MC as dry (0-3%), low MC (22-24%), medium MC (70-90%), and high MC (125-150%) were exposed to workers and soldiers, the highest consumption was found in the high MC wood blocks at all three temperatures, although high MC …

Aerodynamic Performance Of Extended Formation Flight, Andrew Ning, Tristan Flanzer, Ilan Kroo

Faculty Publications

Close formation flight is of limited practicality for commercial aviation. Our concept of extended formation flight takes advantage of the persistence of cruise wakes by extending the streamwise spacing between aircraft in a formation. This allows the aircraft to fly at safe separation distances from each other, while still benefiting from the upwash of the upstream wake(s). In this paper we are interested in estimating the performance of these extended formations, and estimating some of the effects that limit the longitudinal extent of the formation. We consider the effects of wake rollup, vortex decay, vortex instabilities, vortex motion, and atmospheric …

Trends Over 5 Decades In U.S. Occupation-Related Physical Activity And Their Associations With Obesity, Timothy S. Church, Diana M. Thomas, Catrine Tudor-Locke, Peter T. Katzmarzyk, Conrad P. Earnest, Ruben Q. Rodarte, Corby K. Martin, Steven N. Blair, Claude Bouchard

Faculty Publications

Background: The true causes of the obesity epidemic are not well understood and there are few longitudinal population-based data published examining this issue. The objective of this analysis was to examine trends in occupational physical activity during the past 5 decades and explore how these trends relate to concurrent changes in body weight in the U.S.

Methodology/Principle Findings: Analysis of energy expenditure for occupations in U.S. private industry since 1960 using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mean body weight was derived from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). In the early 1960's almost half …

Genomic Mechanisms Of Evolved Physiological Plasticity In Killifish Distributed Along An Environmental Salinity Gradient, Andrew Whitehead, Jennifer L. Roach, Shujun Zhang, Fernando Galvez

Faculty Publications

Adaptive variation tends to emerge clinally along environmental gradients or discretely among habitats with limited connectivity. However, in Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus), a population genetic discontinuity appears in the absence of obvious barriers to gene flow along parallel salinity clines and coincides with a physiologically stressful salinity. We show that populations resident on either side of this discontinuity differ in their abilities to compensate for osmotic shock and illustrate the physiological and functional genomic basis of population variation in hypoosmotic tolerance. A population native to a freshwater habitat, upstream of the genetic discontinuity, exhibits tolerance to extreme hypoosmotic challenge, whereas …

Making Connections Between Science And Equity: A Motivation To Teach Science In Elementary Grades, Grinell Smith, Colette Rabin

Faculty Publications

Teacher quality is among the strongest correlates of student outcomes. However, only about a quarter of the nation’s elementary teachers consider themselves qualified to teach science. In this descriptive and exploratory study, we investigated whether helping pre-service teacher candidates explore connections between science and issues of equity, particularly around sustainability issues, could help them see the importance of teaching science to their students more often. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from 59 students enrolled in revised science methods courses at a large public university. Our findings suggest that positioning science instruction thusly was perceived as a strong motivator to …

For Their Own Good: Moral Slavery 101--The Aristotelian Cantus Firmus, Gary M. Simpson

Faculty Publications

“Moral slavery” will sound curiously—even immorally—oxymoronic to most of us, and a “course” in Aristotle’s views on “moral slavery” will seem quaintly archaic or irrelevantly “academic.” We will be surprised to learn how much these ideas have influenced our culture and continue to influence our lives and politics.

A Current Bibliographic Resource For The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, Federal Wildlife Service

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A ‘Driving Force’ In Developing The Nation’S Forests: The Mcintire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program., Steven H. Bullard, Perry J. Brown, Catalino A. Blanche, Richard W. Binker, Don H. Thompson

Faculty Publications

The McIntire-Stennis (M-S) Cooperative Forestry Research Program has provided fundamental support for creating and strengthening forestry research and graduate training efforts at colleges and universities across the nation for nearly 50 years. M-S funding has helped produce thousands of forestry scientists and other research professionals, and M-S–supported research has provided critical basic understanding and applied solutions to extend the benefits that flow from forests and related rangelands across the nation over time. The 1962 legislation that created the M-S program authorized funding of up to one-half of the funds appropriated for federal forestry research conducted directly by the USDA. Throughout …

A Fresh Look At Two Genesis Creation Accounts: Contradictions?, Jiri Moskala

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Rex1/Zfp42 As An Epigenetic Regulator For Genomic Imprinting, Jeong Do Kim, Hana Kim, Muhammad B. Ekram, Sungryul Yu, Christopher Faulk, Joomyeong Kim

Faculty Publications

Zfp42/Rex1 (reduced expression gene 1) is a well-known stem-cell marker that has been duplicated from YY1 in the eutherian lineage. In the current study, we characterized the in vivo roles of Rex1 using a mutant mouse line disrupting its transcription. In contrast to the ubiquitous expression of YY1, Rex1 is expressed only during spermatogenesis and early embryogenesis and also in a very limited area of the placenta. Yet, the gene dosage of Rex1 is very critical for the survival of the late-stage embryos and neonates. This delayed phenotypic consequence suggests potential roles for Rex1 in establishing and maintaining unknown epigenetic …

Tripodfish (Aulopiformes: Bathypterois) Locomotion And Landing Behaviour From Video Observation At Bathypelagic Depths In The Campos Basin Of Brazil, Matthew P. Davis, Prosanta Chakrabarty

Faculty Publications

A video observation of a deep-sea tripodfish (Aulopiformes: Bathypterois) taken from a remotely-operated vehicle at a depth of 1443 m in the Campos Basin, Brazil is analysed for swimming and landing movements. The observed specimen is identified here as Bathypteroisgrallator, and this record is the first video observation of a tripodfish exhibiting periodic swimming followed by landing in a resting position on deep-sea substrate which we interpret as ‘bathypteroiform’ movement, a locomotive mode unique to taxa within Bathypterois. This observation describes the functional role of the fins associated with landing, including independent movements of the elongated fin ray elements. The …

Ratiometric Coumarin-Neutral Red (Coner) Nanoprobe For Detection Of Hydroxyl Radicals, Gabriela M. Ganea, Paulina E. Kolic, Bilal El-Zahab, Isiah M. Warner

Faculty Publications

Excessive production of reactive oxygen species can lead to alteration of cellular functions responsible for many diseases including cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and aging. Hydroxyl radical is a short-lived radical which is considered very aggressive due to its high reactivity toward biological molecules. In this study, a COumarin-NEutral Red (CONER) nanoprobe was developed for detection of hydroxyl radical based on the ratiometric fluorescence signal between 7-hydroxy coumarin 3-carboxylic acid and neutral red dyes. Biocompatible poly lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) nanoparticles containing encapsulated neutral red were produced using a coumarin 3-carboxylic acid conjugated poly(sodium N-undecylenyl-Nε-lysinate) (C3C-poly-Nε- SUK) as moiety reactive to hydroxyl …

Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals Decrease Cardiac Function Before And After Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury In Vivo, Kevin Lord, David Moll, John K. Lindsey, Sarah Mahne, Girija Raman, Tammy Dugas, Stephania Cormier, Dana Troxlair, Slawo Lomnicki, Barry Dellinger, Kurt Varner

Faculty Publications

Exposure to airborne particles is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. During the combustion of chlorine-containing hazardous materials and fuels, chlorinated hydrocarbons chemisorb to the surface of transition metal-oxide-containing particles, reduce the metal, and form an organic free radical. These radical-particle systems can survive in the environment for days and are called environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs). This study determined whether EPFRs could decrease left ventricular function before and after ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) in vivo. Male Brown-Norway rats were dosed (8mg/kg, intratracheal) 24h prior to testing with particles containing the EPFR of 1, 2-dichlorobenzene (DCB230). DCB230 treatment decreased …