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Natural History Note No Trade-Off Between Seed Size And Number In The Valley Oak Quercus Lobata, Walter D. Koenig, Johannes M.H. Knops, William J. Carmen, Richard D. Sage

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

We examined the relationship between acorn mass and number in valley oaks (Quercus lobata) over 4 years in central coastal California. Despite considerable variation in acorn size among both trees and years, trees produced acorns of the same size relative to other trees in different years. Across years, the relationship between acorn mass and acorn crop size was generally positive, even after controlling for environmental conditions and differences in individual tree size and quality. Life-history trade-offs in valley oaks are primarily between current and future reproduction and indirectly between concurrent growth and reproduction, not between seed size and …

Role Of Vapbc Toxin–Antitoxin Loci In The Thermal Stress Response Of Sulfolobus Solfataricus, Charlotte R. Cooper, Amanda J. Daugherty, Sabrina Tachdjian, Paul H. Blum, Robert M. Kelly

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

TA (toxin–antitoxin) loci are ubiquitous in prokaryotic microorganisms, including archaea, yet

their physiological function is largely unknown. For example, preliminary reports have suggested

that TA loci are microbial stress-response elements, although it was recently shown that knocking

out all known chromosomally located TA loci in Escherichia coli did not have an impact on

survival under certain types of stress. The hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus

encodes at least 26 vapBC (where vap is virulence-associated protein) family TA loci in its

genome. VapCs are PIN (PilT N-terminus) domain proteins with putative ribonuclease activity,

while VapBs are proteolytically labile proteins, which purportedly function …

Caenorhabditis Elegans Genomic Response To Soil Bacteria Predicts Environment-Specific Genetic Effects On Life History Traits, Joseph D. Coolon, Kenneth L. Jones, Timothy C. Todd, Bryanua C. Carr, Michael A. Herman

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

With the post-genomic era came a dramatic increase in high-throughput technologies, of which transcriptional profiling by microarrays was one of the most popular. One application of this technology is to identify genes that are differentially expressed in response to different environmental conditions. These experiments are constructed under the assumption that the differentially expressed genes are functionally important in the environment where they are induced. However, whether differential expression is predictive of functional importance has yet to be tested. Here we have addressed this expectation by employing Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for the interaction of native soil nematode taxa and …

Comparison Of A Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire With 24-Hour Dietary Recalls To Assess Dietary Intake Of Adult Kuwaitis, Mahshid Dehghan, Nawal Al-Hamad, Catherine R. Mcmillan, Prasanna Prakash, Anwar T. Merchant

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Bess: BIofuel ENergy SYstems SImulator: Life Cycle Energy & Emissions Analysis Model For Corn-Ethanol Biofuel Production Systems -- User’S Guide For The Bess Model, Adam Liska, Haishun Yang, Daniel T. Walters, Kenneth Cassman, Terry Klopfenstein, Galen Erickson, Virgil R. Bremer, Richard K. Koelsch, Dan Kenney, Patrick Tracy

Adam Liska Papers

The BESS model is a software tool to calculate the energy efficiency, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and natural resource requirements of corn–to-ethanol biofuel production systems. The model provides a “cradle-to-grave” analysis of the production life cycle of biofuels from the creation of material inputs to finished products, producing an inventory of distributed GHG emissions from fossil fuels and a few key indirect emissions in the production life cycle. The model parameters can be set by the user to achieve the highest accuracy in evaluating a single corn-ethanol biorefinery and its surrounding feedstock crop production zone. The model equations and summary …

Triacylglyceride Metabolism By Fusarium Graminearum During Colonization And Sexual Development On Wheat, John C. Guenther, Heather E. Hallen-Adams, Heike Bücking, Yair Shachar-Hill, Frances Trail

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Fusarium graminearum, a devastating pathogen of small grains, overwinters on crop residues and produces ephemeral perithecia. Accumulation of lipids in overwintering hyphae would provide reserves for overwinter survival and perithecium development. Fatty acid composition of cultures during perithecium development indicated a drop in neutral lipid levels during development but little change in fatty acid composition across stages. Microscopic examination of cultures early in sexual development revealed hyphal cells engorged with lipid bodies. In comparison, vegetative hyphae contained few lipid bodies. Microarray analysis was performed on wheat stems at stages of colonization through perithecium development. Gene expression analysis during stages of …

Diet-Induced Metabolic Improvements In A Hamster Model Of Hypercholesterolemia Are Strongly Linked To Alterations Of The Gut Microbiota, Inés Martínez, Chaomei Zhang, Ryan Legge, Andrew K. Benson, Timothy P. Carr, Etsuko N. Moriyama, Jens Walter

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The mammalian gastrointestinal microbiota exerts a strong influence on host lipid and cholesterol metabolism. In this study, we have characterized the interplay among diet, gut microbial ecology, and cholesterol metabolism in a hamster model of hypercholesterolemia. Previous work in this model had shown that grain sorghum lipid extract (GSL) included in the diet significantly improved the high-density lipoprotein (HDL)/ non-HDL cholesterol equilibrium (T. P. Carr, C. L. Weller, V. L. Schlegel, S. L. Cuppett, D. M. Guderian, Jr., and K. R. Johnson, J. Nutr. 135:2236-2240, 2005). Molecular analysis of the hamsters’ fecal bacterial populations by pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA tags, …

Enhancing The Perceived Threat Of Vehicle Approach To Deer, Bradley F. Blackwell, Thomas W. Seamans

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In North America and Europe, deer (Cervidae)–vehicle collisions (DVCs) are common and result not only in injury and death to the animals involved, but also human injury and property damage. Given that most DVCs occur during crepuscular periods, we questioned whether the perceived threat to deer posed by vehicle approach could be enhanced. We hypothesized that a vehicle-based lighting system that better complements peak visual capabilities of deer at night relative to standard tungsten-halogen (TH) lighting alone would elicit a greater flight-initiation distance (FID) by free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Our lighting system comprised 2 TH lamps and …

Selective Foraging For Anthropogenic Resources By Black Bears: Minivans In Yosemite National Park, Stewart W. Breck, Nathan Lance, Victoria Seher

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Black bears (Ursus americanus) forage selectively in natural environments. To determine if bears also forage selectively for anthropogenic resources we analyzed data on vehicles broken into by bears from Yosemite National Park, California. We classified vehicles into 9 categories based on their make and model and collected data on use (2001–2007) and availability (2004–2005). From 2001 to 2007 bears broke into 908 vehicles at the following rates: minivan (26.0%), sport–utility vehicle (22.5%), small car (17.1%), sedan (13.7%), truck (11.9%), van (4.2%), sports car (1.7%), coupe (1.7%), and station wagon (1.4%). Only use of minivans (29%) during 2004–2005 was …

Feral Swine Damage And Damage Management In Forested Ecosystems, Tyler A. Campbell, David B. Long

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive feral swine (Sus scrofa) cause deleterious impacts to ecosystem processes and functioning throughout their worldwide distribution, including forested ecosystems in the United States. Unfortunately, many feral swine damage management programs are conducted in a piecemeal fashion, are not adequately funded, and lack clearly stated or realistic objectives. This review paper identifies damage caused by feral swine to forest resources and presents techniques used to prevent and control feral swine damage. Concluding points related to planning a feral swine damage management program are: (1) the value of using a variety of techniques in an integrated fashion cannot be …

Protein Hydrolysates Are Avoided By Herbivores But Not By Omnivores In Two-Choice Preference Tests, Kristin L. Field, Alexander Bachmanov, Julie A. Mennella, Gary K. Beauchamp, Bruce A. Kimball

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background: The negative sensory properties of casein hydrolysates (HC) often limit their usage in products intended for human consumption, despite HC being nutritious and having many functional benefits. Recent, but taxonomically limited, evidence suggests that other animals also avoid consuming HC when alternatives exist.

Methodology/Principal Findings: We evaluated ingestive responses of five herbivorous species (guinea pig, mountain beaver, gopher, vole, and rabbit) and five omnivorous species (rat, coyote, house mouse, white-footed mouse, and deer mouse; N = 16–18/species) using solid foods containing 20% HC in a series of two-choice preference tests that used a nonprotein, cellulose-based alternative. Individuals …

“Species Pollution” In Florida: A Cross-Section Of Invasive Vertebrate Issues And Management Responses, Richard M. Engeman, Bernice Constantin, Scott Hardin, Henry Smith, Walter Meshaka Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The state of Florida as among the two worst invasive species problems in the USA. Besides the sheer numbers of established exotic species in Florida, many present novel difficulties for management, or have other characteristics making effective management extremely challenging. Moreover, initiation of management action requires more than recognition by experts that a potentially harmful species has become established. It also requires the political will along with concomitant resources and appropriate personnel to develop effective methods and apply them. We illustrate various aspects of the situation in Florida with examples of invasive vertebrates, the problems they pose(d), and management approaches …

Field Test Of A Single-Injection Gonadotrophin-Releasing Hormone Immunocontraceptive Vaccine In Female White-Tailed Deer, James P. Gionfriddo, John D. Eisemann, Kevin J. Sullivan, Ronald S. Healey, Lowell A. Miller, Kathleen A. Fagerstone, Richard M. Engeman, Christi A. Yoder

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The development and use of safe, effective and practical wildlife contraceptive agents could reduce reproduction in locally overabundant deer populations in situations where traditional management tools such as regulated hunting cannot be employed. GonaCon Immunocontraceptive Vaccine (the commercial name for a particular gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-based emulsion) was tested in adult female white-tailed deer in a fenced herd near Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. Observations of udder condition were used to identify does that had become pregnant. Necropsy observations, histopathology and serum concentrations of anti-GnRH antibodies, luteinising hormone and progesterone were used to compare health and reproductive status of treated (n = …

Evaluation Of Attractants To Improve Trapping Success Of Nutria On Louisiana Coastal Marsh, Susan Jojola, Gary W. Witmer, Patrick Burke

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nutria (Myocastor coypus) are an important part of the Louisiana (USA) fur industry, but high densities of nutria cause extensive damage to coastal marsh ecosystems. Hence, there is a need to develop improved methods for targeted management of nutria. We screened 14 olfactory cues as potential lures for nutria, first in controlled settings and then in the field, to see if nutria capture rates using foothold traps would increase. In Y-maze trials, nutria most frequently selected olfactory cues of a synthetic formulation of nutria anal-gland secretion and nutria fur extract. We examined the 3 most selected attractants in …

Experimental Inoculation Of Coyotes With Mycobacterium Bovis Susceptibility And Shedding, Shylo R. Johnson, Mike R. Dunbar, Lorene Martinez, Robert L. Jones, Richard Bowen, Paul Gordy

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Several wildlife species have tested positive for bovine tuberculosis in Michigan and may potentially transmit the disease to other animals. Coyotes have the highest known prevalence in the endemic area and thus, our objective was to investigate the shedding of Mycobacterium bovis by coyotes. Four coyotes were orally inoculated with 1 ml of 1 x 10⁵ CFU/ml of M. bovis. Oral and nasal swabs, and feces were collected regularly and tested by culture. Fecal samples were also tested by exposing guinea pigs to the coyotes' feces. All animals were necropsied to determine if infection occurred. All swabs, feces …

White-Tailed Deer Herbivory And Timber Harvesting Rates: Implications For Regeneration Success, Brad F. Miller, Tyler A. Campbell, Benjamin R. Laseter, W. Mark Ford, Karl V. Miller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Herbivory by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can affect forest regeneration. Typical measures to ensure forest regeneration have included physical barriers or direct manipulation of deer densities. However, altering silvicultural practices to provide abundant deer forage has not been tested thoroughly. We examined browse species preferences and changes in herbivory rates in 1–6 year old regeneration areas from 2001 to 2004 in the central Appalachians on the MeadWestvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest in West Virginia. Woody vegetation reached the maximum plot coverage by the 4th growing season. However, the establishment of less abundant woody species, such as northern …

Daily Negative Mood Affects Fasting Glucose In Type 2 Diabetes, Marilyn M. Skaff, Joseph T. Mullan, David M. Almeida, Lesa Hoffman, Umesh Masharani, David C. Mohr, Lawrence Fisher

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective—To examine the relationship between mood and blood glucose in a 21 day daily diary study.

Design—During a home visit, information was gathered from two hundred six persons with type 2 diabetes regarding demographics, disease characteristics and treatment, and depressive symptoms. They had blood drawn at a laboratory, yielding HbA1C. The participants were then telephoned each evening for 21 days and were asked about their positive and negative mood during the past 24 hours. They also tested their blood glucose upon rising in the morning.

Main Outcome Measures—The main outcomes measures were positive and negative affect and fasting glucose.

Results—Multilevel …

Low-Level Lead Exposure And Contingency-Based Responding In Preschoolers: An Exploratory Study, Melanie Mcdiarmid Nelson, Kimberly A. Espy

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Two reversal paradigm tasks (spatial reversal and spatial reversal with irrelevant color cues) originally designed to assess contingency-based responding in primates were adapted for use with 139 preschool children with a mean peak blood lead level (BLL) of 4.2 μg/dl (SD = 2.2). Sixty-nine children with BLL ≥ 5 μg/dl and 70 children with BLL of < 5 μg/dl were included. Results indicated that preschool children with low-level lead exposure take longer to learn associations than preschool children with very low levels of lead exposure, and this difference cannot be attributed to increased distractibility or perseverative responding. These results support the use of these measures to assess specific cognitive functions in preschool children.

Central Pattern Generation Involved In Oral And Respiratory Control For Feeding In The Term Infant, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose of review—Drinking and eating are essential skills for survival and benefit from the coordination of several pattern generating networks and their musculoskeletal effectors to achieve safe swallows. Oral-pharyngo-esophageal motility develops during infancy and early childhood, and is influenced by various factors, including neuromuscular maturation, dietary and postural habits, arousal state, ongoing illnesses, congenital anomalies, and the effects of medical or surgical interventions. Gastroesophageal reflux is frequent in neonates and infants, and its role in neonatal morbidity including dysphagia, chronic lung disease, or apparent life-threatening events is not well understood. This review highlights recent studies aimed at understanding the development …

Oral And Respiratory Control For Preterm Feeding, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose of review—Feeding competency is a frequent and serious challenge to the neonatal intensive care unit survivors and to the physician–provider–parent teams. The urgency of effective assessment and intervention techniques is obviated to promote safe swallow, as attainment of oral feeding for the preterm infant/newborn is one of the prerequisites for hospital discharge. If left unresolved, feeding problems may persist into early childhood and may require management by pediatric gastroenterologists and feeding therapists. This review highlights studies aimed at understanding the motor control and development of nonnutritive and nutritive suck, swallow, and coordination with respiration in preterm populations.

Recent findings—Functional …

Deer Responses To Repellent Stimuli, Bruce A. Kimball, Jimmy D. Taylor Ii, Kelly R. Perry, Christina Capelli

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Four repellents representing different modes of action (neophobia, irritation, conditioned aversion, and flavor modification) were tested with captive white-tailed deer in a series of two-choice tests. Two diets differing significantly in energy content were employed in choice tests so that incentive to consume repellent-treated diets varied according to which diet was treated. When the high energy diet was treated with repellents, only blood (flavor modification) and capsaicin (irritation) proved highly effective. Rapid habituation to the odor of meat and bone meal (neophobia) presented in a sachet limited its effectiveness as a repellent under conditions with a high feeding motivation. Thiram, …

Fluid Fertilizer’S Role In Sustaining Soils Used For Bio-Fuels Production, John L. Kovar, Douglas Karlen

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The short- and long-term effects on soil nutrient cycling, physical properties, and biological activity of striving for higher grain yields and removing crop residues for bio-fuels production must be understood to provide more quantitative crop and soil management guidelines. This study focuses on potassium (K) and sulfur (S) requirements of corn (Zea mays L.) grown for bioenergy feedstock production. Our objectives for 2008 were to: i) evaluate the performance of several S fertilizers, including liquid ammonium thiosulfate (12-0-0-26S), as S sources for corn grown in Iowa, and ii) establish a comprehensive tillage, nutrient management, crop residue removal, and cover …

Content Validity Of Nutrition Diagnostic Term Involuntary Weight Loss, Paula K. Ritter-Gooder, Nancy M. Lewis

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Objective The purpose of this study was to validate content of the Nutrition Diagnostic Term NC- 3.2 Involuntary Weight Loss using expert raters.

Design/Subjects This descriptive survey invited all Board Certified Specialists in Gerontological Nutrition (CSG) to participate by mail. An instrument was developed that included the definition, etiologies, and signs and symptoms (s/s) of the diagnosis with items added from literature review. CSG rated how common or characteristic each item is to the diagnosis using a 5 point Likert scale. A weighted response for each item was used to calculate a Diagnostic Content Validity (DCV) score. DCV scores of …

Effects Of Β-Alanine Supplementation And High-Intensity Interval Training On Endurance Performance And Body Composition In Men; A Double-Blind Trial, Abbie E. Smith, Ashley A. Walter, Jennifer L. Graef, Kristina L. Kendall, Jordan R. Moon, Christopher M. Lockwood, David H. Fukuda, Travis W. Beck, Joel T. Cramer, Jeffrey R. Stout

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Intermittent bouts of high-intensity exercise result in diminished stores of energy substrates, followed by an accumulation of metabolites, promoting chronic physiological adaptations. In addition, β-alanine has been accepted has an effective physiological hydrogen ion (H⁺) buffer. Concurrent high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and β-alanine supplementation may result in greater adaptations than HIIT alone. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of combining β-alanine supplementation with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on endurance performance and aerobic metabolism in recreationally active college-aged men.

Methods: Forty-six men (Age: 22.2 ± 2.7 yrs; Ht: 178.1 ± 7.4 cm; Wt: …

Acute Effects Of A Thermogenic Nutritional Supplement On Cycling Time To Exhaustion And Muscular Strength In College-Aged Men, Ashley A. Walter, Trent J. Herda, Eric D. Ryan, Pablo B. Costa, Katherine M. Hoge, Travis W. Beck, Jeffrey R. Stout, Joel T. Cramer

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The purpose of the present study was to examine the acute effects of a thermogenic nutritional supplement containing caffeine, capsaicin, bioperine, and niacin on muscular strength and endurance performance.

Methods: Twenty recreationally-active men (mean ± SD age = 21.5 ± 1.4 years; stature = 178.2 ± 6.3 cm; mass = 76.5 ± 9.9 kg; VO_{2 PEAK} = 3.05 ± 0.59 L/min^-1) volunteered to participate in this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. All testing took place over a three-week period, with each of the 3 laboratory visits separated by 7 days (± 2 hours). During the initial …

A Journey Of Change In A Comprehensive At-Risk High School, Kathleen Wolfley

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

It all started with 7th grade reading WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning, used to meet state and federal testing requirements) scores. We had just finished the annual staff meeting of humiliation in which yet another year of the results of our non-progress on the annual state assessments in reading, writing and math had been presented to us. I was teaching social studies in a low-income urban middle school where our low WASL reading scores had not budged in several years. I knew I had personally been trying to help my social studies students read and write better by having …

A Comparison Of Lifestyle Intervention Sessions And Clinical Screening As Motivators In The South Dakota Wisewoman Program, Jacy Clarke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

WISEWOMAN (WW) is a comprehensive program for medically underserved women in South Dakota (SD), aged 30 to 64, which aims to reduce morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases. Screening services include blood total cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose, and body mass index (BMI). Lifestyle intervention (LSI) sessions are also offered to address physical activity and nutrition. The purpose of this retrospective longitudinal study was to quantitatively examine whether the combination of LSI's and clinical screenings or clinical screenings alone lead to improvements in blood pressure, blood glucose, total cholesterol, and/or BMI at rescreening 10 to14 months from initial screening. …

Steroid Regulation In Professional Sports: Sarbanes-Oxley As A Guide, Sarah R. Heisler

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Comparative Metabolism Of Benzo(A)Pyrene By Ovarian Microsomes Of Various Species, Deacqunita L. Harris, Ashley C. Huderson, Mohammad S. Niaz, J. Joe Ford, Anthony E. Archibong, Aramandla Ramesh

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Knowledge of the ability of the female reproductive system to metabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is critical to the diagnosis and management of female infertility and for risk assessment purposes. The PAHs are a family of widespread pollutants that are released into the environment from automobile exhausts, cigarette smoke, burning of refuse, industrial emissions, and hazardous waste sites. In exposed animals, PAHs become activated to reactive metabolites that interfere with target organ function and as a consequence cause toxicity. The extent of susceptibility to PAH exposure may depend on the ability of animals to metabolize these chemicals. The present study …

Effects Of Maternal Nutritional Plane And Selenium Supply On Cellularity Estimates Of Neonatal Lamb Jejunal Mucosa, Heart, And Skeletal Muscle, T. L. Neville, A. M. Meyer, J. J. Reed, J. B. Taylor, L. P. Reynolds, D. A. Redmer, K. R. Maddock Carlin, K. A. Vonnahme, J. S. Caton

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Objectives were to investigate the effects of maternal nutrition and Se supply during gestation on lamb jejunal mucosa, heart, and skeletal muscle RNA, DNA, and protein. Rambouillet ewe lambs (n = 84) were allotted to a 2 x 3 factorial design including dietary factors of Se [adequate Se (ASe; 11.5 μg/kg BW) or high Se (HSe; 77.0 μg/kg BW)] and nutritional plane [60% (RES), 100% (CON), or 140% (HIGH)]. At breeding Se treatments were initiated followed by nutritional treatments on d 40 of gestation. At birth, lambs (n = 13, …