Digital Commons Network^™

Pathogenic Bacillus Anthracis In The Progressive Gene Losses And Gains In Adaptive Evolution, Gongxin Yu

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Sequence mutations represent a driving force of adaptive evolution in bacterial pathogens. It is especially evident in reductive genome evolution where bacteria underwent lifestyles shifting from a free-living to a strictly intracellular or host-depending life. It resulted in loss of function mutations and/or the acquisition of virulence gene clusters. Bacillus anthracis shares a common soil bacterial ancestor with its closely related bacillus species but is the only obligate, causative agent of inhalation anthrax within the genus Bacillus. The anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis experienced the similar lifestyle changes. We thus hypothesized that the bacterial pathogen would follow a compatible evolution path. …

Caspase-Cleaved Tar Dna-Binding Protein-43 In Pick’S Disease, Troy T. Rohn, Polina Kokoulina

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The hyperphosphorylation and proteolytic modification of the TAR DNA binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is a key finding in a number of neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal dementia with ubiquitin-positive inclusions (FTLD-U), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and most recently Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To examine whether proteolytic modifications of TDP-43 is a relevant finding in Pick’s disease, we utilized a novel site-directed caspase-cleavage antibody based upon a known caspase-3 cleavage consensus site within TDP-43 at position 219. Application of this antibody, termed TDP caspase-cleavage product (TDPccp) to postmortem Pick’s disease brain sections revealed the presence of caspase-cleaved TDP-43 in Pick and Hirano bodies predominantly …

Male Rape And Human Rights, Lara Stemple

UC Law Journal

For the last few decades, the prevailing approach to sexual violence in international human rights instruments has focused virtually exclusively on the abuse of women and girls. In the meantime, sexual violence against males continues to flourish in prisons, men have been abused and sexually humiliated during situations of armed conflict, the sexual abuse of boys remains alarmingly common, and gay male victims of sexual assault are assumed to have "asked for it." This Article discusses the frequency of male rape and the various contexts in which in occurs. It notes, however, that numerous instruments in the human rights canon …

The Folly Of Early Filing In Patent Law, Christopher A. Cotropia

UC Law Journal

This Article questions the conventional wisdom that the patent system should continue to encourage "early filing" of patent applications-filing at the beginning stages of technological development. The current thinking regarding early filing fails to account for the lack of technical and market information available about the invention at the early stages of development. A "file early, file often" mentality is instilled in inventors, exacerbating such systemic patent problems as too many patent applications, too many patents, underdevelopment of patented technology, increased assertion of patent rights, and fuzzy patent boundaries, to name a few. The Article suggests that in response patent …

Second Amendment Limitations And Criminological Considerations, Don B. Kates, Clayton E. Cramer

UC Law Journal

Criminological studies which identify perpetrator characteristics are unanimous in finding that almost all murderers fall into three categories: (i) the mentally disturbed, and/or (2) adults with criminal records, and/or (3) juveniles with juvenile records. Many murder perpetrators exhibit two or all three characteristics. Thus laws such as the ones Heller invalidated that seek to disarm the general population have minimal value and deprive victims of the means of self-defense.

The Second Amendment does not guarantee: (i) weapons of indiscriminate destructiveness such as cannons, (2) any right of violent felons or of other felons whom legislatures reasonably identify as likely to …

An Exon-Based Comparative Variant Analysis Pipeline To Study The Scale And Role Of Frameshift And Nonsense Mutation In The Human-Chimpanzee Divergence, Gongxin Yu

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Chimpanzees and humans are closely related but differ in many deadly human diseases and other characteristics in physiology, anatomy, and pathology. In spite of decades of extensive research, crucial questions about the molecular mechanisms behind the differences are yet to be understood. Here I report ExonVar, a novel computational pipeline for Exon-based human-chimpanzee comparative Variant analysis. The objective is to comparatively analyze mutations specifically those that caused the frameshift and nonsense mutations and to assess their scale and potential impacts on human-chimpanzee divergence. Genomewide analysis of human and chimpanzee exons with ExonVar identified a number of species-specific, …

Diabetes Self-Management In A Latino Social Environment, Dawn Weiler, Janice D. Crist

Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the socio-cultural influences and social context associated with living with type 2 diabetes among rural, migrant Latino adults.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study using grounded theory techniques was conducted. In-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with ten participants (6 female and 4 male) ranging in age from 46-65 years and duration of diabetes diagnosis ranging from 1.5- 40 years.

Results: An over-arching meta-theme Self Management in a Social Environment emerged. Every aspect of the process of self-management, as described in the four major themes, (1) Family Cohesion, (2) Social Stigma …

7tmrmine: A Web Server For Hierarchical Mining Of 7tmr Proteins, Guoqing Lu, Zhifang Wang, Alan M. Jones, Etsuko N. Moriyama

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Background: Seven-transmembrane region-containing receptors (7TMRs) play central roles in eukaryotic signal transduction. Due to their biomedical importance, thorough mining of 7TMRs from diverse genomes has been an active target of bioinformatics and pharmacogenomics research. The need for new and accurate 7TMR/GPCR prediction tools is paramount with the accelerated rate of acquisition of diverse sequence information. Currently available and often used protein classification methods (e.g., profile hidden Markov Models) are highly accurate for identifying their membership information among already known 7TMR subfamilies. However, these alignment-based methods are less effective for identifying remote similarities, e.g., identifying proteins from highly divergent or possibly …

Attenuation Of Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiac Injury By Mitochondrial Glutaredoxin 2, Nicole M. Diotte, Ye Xiong, Jinping Gao, Balvin H.L. Chua, Ye-Shih Ho

United States Public Health Resources

While the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin (DOX) is known to be partly mediated through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the biochemical mechanisms by which ROS damage cardiomyocytes remain to be determined. This study investigates whether S-glutathionylation of mitochondrial proteins plays a role in DOX-induced myocardial injury using a line of transgenic mice expressing the human mitochondrial glutaredoxin 2 (Glrx2), a thiotransferase catalyzing the reduction as well as formation of protein–glutathione mixed disulfides, in cardiomyocytes. The total glutaredoxin (Glrx) activity was increased by 76% and 53 fold in homogenates of whole heart and isolated heart mitochondria of Glrx2 transgenic mice, …

Neurobiological Determinants Of Communication Development, Steven M. Barlow, Jordan R. Green

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Neurobiological studies of the mammalian brain in health and disease have contributed greatly towards an improved understanding of the maturation-dependent vulnerability of the late preterm brain, the plasticity of the immature nervous system, and the evolution of specialized mechanisms for a communication or “language-ready” neural substrate. Advances in developmental neurobiology have important implications for speech-language pathologists and audiologists working with neonates who, by virtue of their prematurity, are at risk for developmental disabilities. The extra-uterine environment during this critical period (24–40 weeks gestation) in brain development has a profound and long lasting impact on the premature infant. Prior barriers to …

Ncuwm Talk Abstracts 2009

Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Ncuwm Poster Abstracts 2009

Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Citric Acid Cross-Linking Of Starch Films, Narendra Reddy, Yiqi Yang

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Faculty Publications

This paper shows that citric acid can cross-link starch and improve the tensile strength, thermal stability and decrease the dissolution of starch films in water and formic acid. The poor mechanical properties and water stability of starch have restricted its industrial applications. Although cross-linking is a common approach to improve the properties of starch products, current starch cross-linking methods are either expensive, toxic or do not impart the desired properties to the cross-linked materials. In this research, the possibility of cross-linking starch films using citric acid to improve their strength and stability was examined. Citric acid cross-linked starch films show …

Animal Helminths In Human Archaeological Remains: A Review Of Zoonoses In The Past, Luciana Sianto, Marcia Chame, Cassius S. P. Silva, Marcelo L. C. Gonçalves, Karl Reinhard, Martín Horacio Fugassa, Adauto Araújo

Karl Reinhard Publications

The authors present a review of records of intestinal parasitic helminths from animals in human archaeological remains, reported since the emergence of paleopathological studies. The objective was to relate paleoparasitological findings to geographic, biotic, and abiotic factors from the environment in which the prehistoric populations lived, and understand some aspects related to the process of human dispersion and biological and cultural evolution. Modification of eating habits and the incorporation of new cultural practices are analyzed from the perspective of zoonoses from prehistory to the present day, especially in Brazilian indigenous populations. Three tables identifying the helminths, their natural hosts, dates, …

Nebraska Cooperative Fish And Wildlife Research Unit—Usgs: Report Of Activities October 2008 – October 2009

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Annual Reports

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .. 1
PERSONNEL AND COOPERATORS . 2
Unit Personnel .. 2
Coordinating Committee Members . 4
Cooperators .. 5
MILESTONES .. 7
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS .. 8
THESES AND DISERTATIONS .. 8
PROJECTS IN FISHERY SCIENCE . 9
Angler Behavior in Response to Management Actions on Nebraska Reservoirs . 10
Geographic Trends in Contamination of Nebraska’s Surface Waters as Indexed by Sex Steroids of Common Carp .. 11
Impact of White Perch on Walleye at Branched Oak and Pawnee Reservoirs . 12
Latitudinal Influence on Age Estimation of Bluegill . 13
Predators of White Perch at Branched Oak …

The Communicator, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2009

The Communicator: News from the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Faces – New and Old (Cassie Manhart; Peter Spirk; Nate Gosch; Beth Forbus) Changes (Dustin Martin; Chris Lewis; Thad Miller; Justin Williams) New Federal Staff (Dr. Joseph (TJ) Fontaine) Publications New Research Angler Behavior in Response to Management Actions on Nebraska Reservoirs Missouri River Mitigation: Implementation of Amphibian Monitoring and Adaptive Management for Wetland Restoration Evaluation Current Research Assessing the Relationship between Stable Isotopes and Grassland Bird Productivity on Great Plains National Park Service Properties Cross-Scale Structure in Ecosystems Diversity and Ecological Functions Conferences/Meetings/Workshops Teaching Awards & Recognitions UCARE Project Graduate Student News (Aaron Alai; Aaron Lotz; Ryan Lueckenhoff; Annabel …

The Communicator, Volume 5, Issue 2, August 2009

The Communicator: News from the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Faces – New and Old (Tony Barada; Jason DeBoer; Caryl Cashmere; Karie Decker; Lucas Kowaleski; Kody Unstad; Michelle Hellman; Carla Knight; Lexi Maple; Thad Miller) Awards & Recognitions (Jason DeBoer; Andrew Furman; Dustin Martin; Kristine Nemec; Sarah Rehme; Amy Williams) Service (Kevin Pope; Valerie Egger) Current Research Angler Behavior in Response to Management Actions on Nebraska Reservoirs Assessing the Relationship between Stable Isotopes and Grassland Bird Productivity on Great Plains National Park Service Properties Diversity and Ecological Functions The Effect of Common Reed (Phragmites australis) on River Otter (Lontra canadensis) Habitat Use Identifying Socio-Ecological Factors Determining Invasions and Extinctions Conferences/Meetings/Workshops …

Variability In Population Abundance Is Associated With Thresholds Between Scaling Regimes, Donald Wardwell, Craig R. Allen

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Discontinuous structure in landscapes may result in discontinuous, aggregated species bodymass patterns, reflecting the scales of structure available to animal communities within a landscape. The edges of these body-mass aggregations reflect transitions between available scales of landscape structure. Such transitions, or scale breaks, are theoretically associated with increased biological variability. We hypothesized that variability in population abundance is greater in animal species near the edge of bodymass aggregations than it is in species that are situated in the interior of body-mass aggregations. We tested this hypothesis by examining both temporal and spatial variability in the abundance of species in the …

A Neotropical Migrant Bird’S Dilemma— Where To Stop For A Good Meal, Joseph J. Fontaine, Charles Van Riper Iii

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

To learn how migrating birds determine where to stop and find food, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Arizona University, and The University of Arizona studied the behavior of 28 species of neotropical migrant songbirds—warblers, flycatchers, tanagers, and vireos—along the lower Colorado River from 2001 to 2004. They found that, like interstate travelers greeted by restaurant billboards, songbirds flying over Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, relied on the flowering of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) to detect the availability of insects that they prey on. Understanding where and why migrant birds stop will help land managers better protect …

Stomach Capacities Of Six Freshwater Fishes, Nathan J.C. Gosch, Kevin L. Pope, Paul H. Michaletz

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

We investigated the relationship between stomach capacity and total body length in bluegill (Lepomis macrocirirus), spotted bass (Microplerus punctulatus), white crappie (Pomoxis annularis), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromoculatus), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) , and white bass (Morone chrysops). The rate of change in stomach capacity for a given change in fish length was greatest for spoiled bass and channel catfish, which may indicate greater ontogenetic shifts in feeding strategies. Fish with larger stomach capacities should have more plastic diets because they are capable of consuming a wider range of …

Asian Carp In The Missouri River: Analysis From Multiple Missouri River Habitat And Fisheries Programs, Greg A. Wanner, Robert A. Klumb

National Invasive Species Council

Bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, silver carp H. molitrix, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus, and grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, collectively referred to as Asian carps, are invasive species that were either accidentally or intentionally introduced into the Mississippi River basin. The expansion of Asian carp into the Missouri River is not well understood and knowledge of population characteristics within this river were lacking. The objectives of this study were to describe the relative abundance, size structure, and spatial and temporal trends of Asian carp using multiple gears from three long-term fish community monitoring programs in the Missouri River …

Common Carp Abundance, Biomass, And Removal From Dewey And Clear Lakes On The Valentine National Wildlife Refuge: Does Trapping And Removing Carp Payoff?, Greg A. Wanner, Melvin P. Nenneman, Mark A. Kaemingk

National Invasive Species Council

Common carp Cyprinus carpio is a nonnative invasive nuisance species to North America. Many authors have documented the detrimental affects of common carp invasions on waterfowl habitats (Chamberlain 1948; Robel 1961), game fish habitat (Cahn 1929), and the overall decline in native fishes (Bernstein and Olson 2001; Koehn 2004). Common carp reduce water quality by mobilizing nutrients and increasing turbidity; therefore, increasing phytoplankton biomass and reducing zooplankton biomass and rooted aquatic vegetation (Lougheed et al. 1998). Common carp are capable of rapidly colonizing shallow lakes and altering a body of water from a clear stable state, dominated by submergent vegetation …

Demography And Genetic Structure Of A Recovering Grizzly Bear Population, Katherine C. Kendall, Jeffrey B. Stetz, John Boulanger, Amy Macleod, David Paetkau, Gary White

United States National Park Service: Publications

Grizzly bears (brown bears; Ursus arctos) are imperiled in the southern extent of their range worldwide. The threatened population in northwestern Montana, USA, has been managed for recovery since 1975; yet, no rigorous data were available to monitor program success. We used data from a large noninvasive genetic sampling effort conducted in 2004 and 33 years of physical captures to assess abundance, distribution, and genetic health of this population. We combined data from our 3 sampling methods (hair trap, bear rub, and physical capture) to construct individual bear encounter histories for use in Huggins–Pledger closed mark–recapture models. Our population …

Unearthing Archaeology: A Study Of The Recent Coverage Of Selected English-Language Archaeology Journals By Multi-Subject Indexes And By Anthropological Literature, David C. Tyler, Yang Xu, Emily Dust Nimsakont

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Librarians, faculty, and professional researchers, and students already encounter difficulties in locating journal articles for the field of archaeology, yet, in the current budgetary climate, librarians needing to reduce subscription costs may be tempted to cancel smaller, discipline-specific indexes in favor of large multi- subject indexes with broad coverage. This study examines and compares the coverage provided to 208 archaeology and archaeology-related journals and magazines by six multi-subject indexes (Academic Search Premier, ArticleFirst, eLibrary, IngentaConnect, Wilson OmniFile, Web of Science) and by anthropology’s primary index, Anthropological Literature, over a twenty year period (1988–2007).

Creating Online Tutorials At Your Libraries: Software Choices And Practical Implications, Maribeth Slebodnik, Catherine Fraser Riehle

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The use of online tutorials for information literacy instruction is on the rise. Active library-related discussion lists such as ILI-L, the Association of College and Research Libraries’ discussion on information literacy and instruction, and LIBREF-L typically feature several questions and surveys related to online tutorials every week. Discussion groups and forums at library conferences consistently offer discussions, programs, and resources about creating online tutorials, and share examples. What is causing the surge of interest in online tutorials? Reasons vary: staff shortages, a desire to provide more point-of-need assistance, and increased distance learning and a growing awareness—particularly in public and academic …

Elementary Teachers’ Conceptions Of Flooding Before And After Professional Development, Elizabeth B. Lewis, Katrien J. Kraft, Nievita Bueno Watts, Meredith J. Wilson, Dale R. Baker, Michael Lang

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Presentations

This study focuses on elementary teachers' conceptions of flooding before and after inquiry-based Earth science content-based professional development. Several misconceptions emerged from the science content two tier pre-post test, some of which persisted throughout the institute while others led to evidence of teachers' conceptual change. On the post-test some teachers' ideas emerged as hybrid conceptions as they applied newly acquired academic language to prior conceptions. There was a significant increase (n = 17, mean gain = 4.3 (SD = 3.27, t (17) = 5.69, p < .000) from the pre- to post-test. The concepts most resistant to change from pre- to post-test were analyzing an overall topographic region, reading a map image, and hydrograph interpretation. The highest frequency of hybrid conceptions occurred as teachers attempted to add new academic language, such as storm surge and discharge, to their prior understandings. Teachers’ greatest conceptual change occurred in understanding the probability and role of ground conditions in flooding events. Teachers demonstrated significant growth in their understanding of flooding concepts through scaffolded inquiry lessons modeled through the professional development. Teachers who had greater levels of prior knowledge showed the most change to a normative view of flooding. This speaks to the importance of building teachers' background knowledge before initiating professional development with complex science concepts.

Spatial Ecology Of Raccoons Related To Cattle And Bovine Tuberculosis In Northeastern Michigan, Todd Atwood, Thomas Deliberto, Holly Smith, Justin Stevenson, Kurt C. Vercauteren

Michigan Bovine Tuberculosis Bibliography and Database

In 1995, Mycobacterium bovis, the causative bacterium of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), was detected in 5 beef cattle operations in Alcona County, Michigan, USA. In accordance with Federal law, the operations were depopulated to prevent the spread of bTB. Subsequent wildlife surveillance programs identified high prevalence of M. bovis in mesocarnivores, including raccoons ( Procyon lotor), which suggested that raccoons may be complicit in vectoring the pathogen among livestock operations. Our goal was to develop an empirical basis for generating hypotheses about the likelihood for raccoons to mediate the transmission of bTB to livestock. We found intersexual differences in …

Disease, Predation And Demography: Assessing The Impacts Of Bovine Tuberculosis On African Buffalo By Monitoring At Individual And Population Levels, P. C. Cross, D. M. Heisey, J. A. Bowers, C. T. Hay, J. Wolhuter, P. Buss, M. Hofmey, A. L. Michel, R. G. Bengis, T. L. F. Bird, J. T. Du Toit, W. M. Getz

Michigan Bovine Tuberculosis Bibliography and Database

1. Understanding the effects of disease is critical to determining appropriate management responses, but estimating those effects in wildlife species is challenging. We used bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in the African buffalo Syncerus caffer population of Kruger National Park, South Africa, as a case study to highlight the issues associated with estimating chronic disease effects in a long-lived host.

2. We used known and radio-collared buffalo, aerial census data, and a natural gradient in pathogen prevalence to investigate if: (i) at the individual level, BTB infection reduces reproduction; (ii) BTB infection increases vulnerability to predation; and (iii) at the population level, …

Evaluation Of Blood Assays For Detection Of Mycobacterium Bovis In White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) In Michigan, Daniel J. O’Brien, Stephen M. Schmitt, Konstantin P. Lyashchenko, W. Ray Waters, Dale E. Berry, Mitchell V. Palmer, Jim Mcnair, Rena Greenwald, Javan Esfandiari, Melinda K. Cosgrove

Michigan Bovine Tuberculosis Bibliography and Database

Surveillance and control activities related to bovine tuberculosis (TB) in free-ranging, Michigan white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have been underway for over a decade, with significant progress. However, foci of higher TB prevalence on private lands and limited agency ability to eliminate them using broad control strategies have led to development and trial of new control strategies, such as live trapping, testing, and culling or release. Such strategies require a prompt, accurate live animal test, which has thus far been lacking. We report here the ability of seven candidate blood assays to determine the TB infection status of Michigan …

Tuberculosis: A Re-Emerging Disease In Animals And Humans, Charles O. Thoen, Philip A. Lobue, Donald A. Enarson, John B. Kaneene, Isabel N. De Kantor

Michigan Bovine Tuberculosis Bibliography and Database

Tuberculosis continues to be an important disease both in humans and animals. It causes morbidity, mortality, and economic loss worldwide. The occurrence of Mycobacterium bovis disease in humans, domesticated and wild animals confirms the relevance of this zoonosis. M. bovis in humans continues to be reported in industrialized countries and in immigrants from regions of the world where tuberculosis in cattle is endemic. The real incidence of M. bovis in humans in developing countries continues to be roughly underestimated due to the scarcity of appropriate laboratory facilities to isolate and to differentiate M. bovis strains. In Latin America, less than …