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The Evolution Of Anti-Bat Sensory Illusions In Moths, Juliette Rubin

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Prey-generated illusions span sensory systems. Previous studies have mainly focused on visual illusions presented by prey coloring or morphology, but few have explored illusions produced via sound. We investigate an acoustic sensory illusion in moths, created by complex hindwing structures that divert echolocating bat predators. A phylogeny of the moth family, Saturniidae, in combination with data from geometric morphometrics, reveals that hindwings have repeatedly elongated to form tails across evolutionary time. Using high-speed, multi-camera, synchronized videos of bat-moth battles, we quantified the selective pressure of predation on extant and experimentally-modified moths, defined by moth escape success from bat attack. We …

Forage News [2017-08], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Possible Causes of Yellowing Alfalfa
• Dung Beetles: Underground Allies
• Don't Overlook Johnsongrass

Brain Microvascular Injury And White Matter Disease Provoked By Diabetes-Associated Hyperamylinemia, Han Ly, Nirmal Verma, Fengen Wu, Miao Liu, Kathryn E. Saatman, Peter T. Nelson, John T. Slevin, Larry B. Goldstein, Geert Jan Biessels, Florin Despa

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: The brain blood vessels of patients with type 2 diabetes and dementia have deposition of amylin, an amyloidogenic hormone cosecreted with insulin. It is not known whether vascular amylin deposition is a consequence or a trigger of vascular injury. We tested the hypothesis that the vascular amylin deposits cause endothelial dysfunction and microvascular injury and are modulated by amylin transport in the brain via plasma apolipoproteins.

METHODS: Rats overexpressing amyloidogenic (human) amylin in the pancreas (HIP rats) and amylin knockout (AKO) rats intravenously infused with aggregated amylin were used for in vivo phenotyping. We also carried out biochemical analyses …

A Retrospective Review Of Paediatric Head Injuries In Asia - A Pan Asian Trauma Outcomes Study (Patos) Collaboration, Shu-Ling Chong, Uzma R. Khan, Indumathy Santhanam, Jun Seok Seo, Quan Wang, Sabariah Faizah Jamaluddin,, Quoc Ai Hoang Quoc, Su Yah Chew, Marcus Eng Hock Ong

Department of Emergency Medicine

Objective: We aim to examine the mechanisms of head-injured children presenting to participating centres in the Pan Asian Trauma Outcomes Study (PATOS) and to evaluate the association between mechanism of injury and severe outcomes.
Design and Setting: We performed a retrospective review of medical records among emergency departments (EDs) of eight PATOS centres, from September 2014 - August 2015.
Participants: We included children <16 years old who presented within 24 hours of head injury and were admitted for observation or required a computed tomography (CT) of the brain from the ED. We excluded children with known coagulopathies, neurological co-morbidities or prior neurosurgery. We reviewed the mechanism, intent, location and object involved in each injury, and the patients' physical findings on presentation.
Outcomes: Primary outcomes were death, endotracheal intubation or neurosurgical intervention. Secondary outcomes included hospital and ED length of stay.
Results: 1438 children were analysed. 953 children (66.3%) were male and the median age was 5.0 years (IQR …

The Prospect Of Rising In Rank Is Key To Long-Term Stability In Tibetan Macaque Society, Lixing Sun, Dong-Po Xia, Shine Sun, Lori K. Sheeran, Jin-Hua Li

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

One of the most fundamental questions in behavioural biology is why societies can persist for a long period of time. While researchers in animal behaviour have been hindered by a lack of an aggregate measure (such as social mobility) to quantify the dynamics of animal societies, researchers in social sciences have been challenged by the complexity and diversity of human societies. As a result, direct empirical evidence is still lacking for the hypothesized causal relationship between social mobility and social stability. Here we attempt to fill the void by examining a much simpler society in the Tibetan macaque (Macaca …

Identification Of Changes In Neuronal Function As A Consequence Of Aging And Tauopathic Neurodegeneration Using A Novel And Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging Approach, Sarah N. Fontaine, Alexandria Ingram, Ryan A. Cloyd, Shelby E. Meier, Emily Miller, Danielle N. Lyons, Grant K. Nation, Elizabeth Mechas, Blaine Weiss, Chiara Lanzillotta, Fabio Di Domenico, Frederick A. Schmitt, David K. Powell, Moriel H. Vandsburger, Jose Francisco Abisambra

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Tauopathies, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), constitute the most crippling neurodegenerative threat to our aging population. Tauopathic patients have significant cognitive decline accompanied by irreversible and severe brain atrophy, and it is thought that neuronal dysfunction begins years before diagnosis. Our current understanding of tauopathies has yielded promising therapeutic interventions but have all failed in clinical trials. This is partly due to the inability to identify and intervene in an effective therapeutic window early in the disease process. A major challenge that contributes to the definition of an early therapeutic window is limited technologies. To address …

A Naturally Generated Decoy Of The Prostate Apoptosis Response-4 Protein Overcomes Therapy Resistance In Tumors, Nikhil Hebbar, Ravshan Burikhanov, Nidhi Shukla, Shirley Qiu, Yanming Zhao, Kojo S. J. Elenitoba-Johnson, Vivek M. Rangnekar

Radiation Medicine Faculty Publications

Primary tumors are often heterogeneous, composed of therapy-sensitive and emerging therapy-resistant cancer cells. Interestingly, treatment of therapy-sensitive tumors in heterogeneous tumor microenvironments results in apoptosis of therapy-resistant tumors. In this study, we identify a prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) amino-terminal fragment (PAF) that is released by diverse therapy-sensitive cancer cells following therapy-induced caspase cleavage of the tumor suppressor Par-4 protein. PAF caused apoptosis in cancer cells resistant to therapy and inhibited tumor growth. A VASA segment of Par-4 mediated its binding and degradation by the ubiquitin ligase Fbxo45, resulting in loss of Par-4 proapoptotic function. Conversely, PAF, which contains this VASA …

Assessing The Impact Of Pain On Decision-Making In A Rat Gambling Task (Rgt), Celina Antionette Salcido

Psychology Theses - Archive

Recent clinical assessments using the Iowa Gambling Task have revealed pain can negatively affect decision-making processes, leading to risky or poor decisions. Despite the gain these models have made in further elucidating the cognitive components of pain, they fail to fully address neurobiological factors of decision-making on behavior. As a result, there remains significant limitation in assessing the extent of how acute or chronic pain and the relief of pain with analgesics can affect cognitive abilities. Therefore, we examined the effect of acute and chronic pain on decision processing and the impact of morphine on that decision processing. In this …

Claiming Primordial Landscapes: Science And Imperialism In Turn-Of-The-Century Science Fiction Novels, Kaitlin S. Andersen

All NMU Master's Theses

This thesis argues that the relationship between nineteenth-century geology and paleontology play a role in imperial ambitions of countries and characters in science fiction novels. Two novels are analyzed— Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne and The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle—using the theories of Edward Said and Michel Foucault. I pay specific attention to the idea of knowledge serving as power in imperial exploration, and how the control of knowledge allows for the empowerment of imperialist characters in the texts.

By reading the novels as imperial narratives, I have found that the scientific …

Globular Domain Structure And Function Of Restriction-Like-Endonuclease Bearing Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements, Mst Murshida Mahbub

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements (LINEs) are a major group of eukaryotic transposable elements that have profoundly influenced and sculpted eukaryotic genome structure and function. LINEs replicate within the host genome, often to high copy number. Replication occurs through an RNA intermediate, which is integrated back into the host genome by target primed reverse transcription (TPRT). The element encoded protein is known to contain a restriction-like DNA endonuclease, a reverse transcriptase, and nucleic acid binding domains. However, the secondary and tertiary structure of these domains as well as the overall protein is poorly understood. The protein encoded by the R2 element …

Predictive Relationship Of Positive Lifestyle Choices With Emotional Distress Of Undergraduate College Students: An Analysis Of American College Health Association Data, Robin Lockhart

Nursing Dissertations - Archive

Undergraduate student reports of anxiety and depression have risen each year since 2012 to the most recent report of 17% experiencing anxiety and 14% experiencing depression (ACHA, 2016). The significance of the experience of anxiety and depression in this population is that they are the top-reported factors affecting academic attrition (ACHA, 2016). The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive relationship of three healthy lifestyle behaviors and emotional distress among undergraduate college students. The three healthy lifestyle choices examined were nutrition, exercise and rest. The prevalence of emotional distress and depression within each year of study also was …

Production Of A Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone 2 Receptor Knockdown (Gnrhr2 Kd) Swine Line., Amy T. Desaulniers, Rebecca Middleton, Ginger A. Mills, Clay A. Lents, Brett R. White

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Swine are the only livestock species that produce both the second mammalian isoform of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GNRH2) and its receptor (GNRHR2). Previously, we reported that GNRH2 and GNRHR2 mediate LH-independent testosterone secretion from porcine testes. To further explore this ligand-receptor complex, a pig model with reduced GNRHR2 expression was developed. Small hairpin RNA sequences targeting porcine GNRHR2 were subcloned into a lentiviral-based vector, lentiviral particles were generated and microinjected into the perivitelline space of zygotes, and embryos were transferred into a recipient. One GNRHR2 knockdown (KD) female was born that subsequently produced 80 piglets from 6 litters with 46 hemizygous …

Hexapod Herald - Vol. 29, No. 4, August 2017

Hexapod Herald and Other Entomology Department Newsletters

Contents: Welcome - Congratulations Graduates - Publications - Faculty News - North Central Branch Meeting News - Student News - Meet an Online Student - Grants - Bee Fun Day 2017 - Busy as a Bee, er, BugMaster

Hypomethylation Of Cntfrα Is Associated With Proliferation And Poor Prognosis In Lower Grade Gliomas., Kun Fan, Xiaowen Wang, Jingwen Zhang, Romela Irene Ramos, Haibo Zhang, Chunjie Li, Dan Ye, Jiansheng Kang, Diego M Marzese, Dave S B Hoon, Wei Hua

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor α subunit (CNTFRα) and CNTF play important roles in neuron survival, glial differentiation and brain tumor growth. However, the molecular mechanisms of CNTFRα regulation and its clinical significance in glioma remain largely unknown. Here, we found CNTFRα was overexpressed in lower grade gliomas (LGG) compared with glioblastoma (GBM) and normal brain specimens in TCGA datasets and in an independent cohort. Bioinformatics analysis revealed a CpG shore of the CNTFRα gene regulated its mRNA expression in TCGA datasets. This observation was further validated with clinical specimens and functionally verified using demethylating agents. Additionally, we observed that independent …

Planning For A Community Wildfire Protection Plan In San Luis Obispo County, Justin Sauder

City and Regional Planning

San Luis Obispo County has a long history of wildfires and can be expected every fire season. Agencies providing fire protection do an excellent job at reducing the risk to loss of life, property, and natural resources in the area, but there is always room for improvement. California in general is experiencing increasingly longer, hotter, and drier fire seasons due to climate change, and San Luis Obispo County is no exception. As the population increases urban development is pushed to the outer limits of city boundaries where it often conflicts with forests in an area called the wildland urban interface. …

Examining The Effects Of Altered Avatars On Perception-Action In Virtual Reality, Brian Day

All Dissertations

In virtual reality avatars are animated graphical representation of a person embedded in a virtual environment. Previous research has illustrated the benefits of having an avatar when perceiving aspects of virtual reality. We studied the effect that a non-faithful, or altered, avatar had on the perception of one's action capabilities in VR. In Experiment 1, one group of participants acted with a normal, or faithful, avatar and the other group of participants used an avatar with an extended arm, all in virtual reality. In Experiment 2, the same methodology and procedure was used as in Experiment 1, except only the …

Increased Expression Of M1 And M2 Phenotypic Markers In Isolated Microglia After Four-Day Binge Alcohol Exposure In Male Rats, Hui Peng, Chelsea Rhea Geil Nickell, Kevin Y. Chen, Justin A. Mcclain, Kimberly Nixon

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Microglia activation and neuroinflammation are common features of neurodegenerative conditions, including alcohol use disorders (AUDs). When activated, microglia span a continuum of diverse phenotypes ranging from classically activated, pro-inflammatory (M1) microglia/macrophages to alternatively activated, growth-promoting (M2) microglia/macrophages. Identifying microglia phenotypes is critical for understanding the role of microglia in the pathogenesis of AUDs. Therefore, male rats were gavaged with 25% (w/v) ethanol or isocaloric control diet every 8 h for 4 days and sacrificed at 0, 2, 4, and 7 days after alcohol exposure (e.g., T0, T2, etc.). Microglia were isolated from hippocampus and entorhinal cortices by Percoll density gradient …

Pharmacovigilance: The Role Of Pharmaceutical Companies To Protect Patients From Adverse Drug Reactions, Srikanth Nukala

Dissertations and Theses

Health Care Professionals (HCPs) play a vital role in the early detection, assessment and reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) to the Regulatory Health Authority or Pharmaceutical Manufacturer. It’s always important that HCPs should improve continuously about their knowledge, attitude and their practice towards Pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting. The main goal of the research study is to evaluate whether if pharmacovigilance training provided by the Pharmaceutical Company will improve the HCP’s knowledge, their attitude and practice improves towards Pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting (Alan, Melike, Sule , Burcu, & Yusuf , 2013). The training is provided through the electronic learning management …

The Geography Of Glaciers And Perennial Snowfields In The American West, Andrew G. Fountain, Bryce Glenn, Hassan J. Basagic

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A comprehensive mid-20th century inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields (G&PS) was compiled for the American West, west of the 100° meridian. The inventory was derived from U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographic maps based on aerial photographs acquired during 35 years, 1955–1990, of which the first 20 years or more was a cool period with little glacier change. The mapped features were filtered for those greater than 0.01 km². Results show that 5036 G&PS (672 km², 14 km³) populate eight states, of which about 1276 (554 km^2, 12 km³) are glaciers. …

Validation Of Extrusion Processing For The Safety Of Low-Moisture Foods, Tushar Verma

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Salmonella in low-moisture foods is an emerging challenge due to numerous food product recalls and foodborne illness outbreaks. The new Food Safety Modernization Act requires the food processors to validate their process controls that indeed kills the desired number of bacteria. This research had two major objectives: 1) Develop a response surface model for Salmonella inactivation during the extrusion of low-moisture food 2) Evaluate the use of Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as an adequate surrogate for Salmonella during the extrusion of low-moisture food. Oat flour was selected as a low-moisture food model. For inoculation, cocktail of five different strains of …

Removal Of Nitrates From Stormwater Using Nanoclays, Rubia Siddiqi

Master's Theses

Creeks and rivers are often polluted as a result of stormwater runoff that carries various contaminants in to open water bodies, causing adverse environmental and health effects. Low impact development (LID) techniques are currently employed to treat this runoff prior to discharge. Nitrate, however, is not consistently removed by these LID techniques. This study analyzed the ability of several nanoclays to remove nitrate in runoff and determined the feasibility of using them as a soil supplement for LID implementation. Six different nanoclays and HCl-treated clays were compared (pre-modified trimethyl stearyl ammonium nanoclay, pre-modified dimethyl dialkyl amine nanoclay, unmodified hydrophilic bentonite, …

Metabolic Regulation By Stress Mediators In Fetal Ovine Skeletal Muscle And Adult Bovine Myoblasts, Elena Marie Merrick

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Our objective was to determine the effect of stress mediators such as inflammatory cytokines and β adrenergic agonists on developing skeletal muscle. Fetal sheep exposed to chronic maternal inflammation had decreased skeletal muscle glucose oxidation rates when stimulated with insulin or TNFα. In addition, activation of Akt by insulin was decreased after maternal inflammation when compared to controls and there were not differences in skeletal muscle fiber type ratios between the two treatment groups. This indicates that maternal inflammation does not affect overall oxidative capacity in the developing fetus, but rather insulin signaling pathways are disrupted.

We sought to determine …

Evaluation Of Distillers' Grains Components For Finishing Beef Cattle, Jordan E. Burhoop

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With the large expansion of the ethanol industry in previous years, there has been an increase in supply of distillers grains plus solubles (DGS) for the feedlot industry. Distiller’s grains are a common byproduct used in feedlot diets for added protein or energy. Recently, ethanol companies have been using different extraction techniques to remove various parts of the DGS to sell separately, such as corn oil and fiber. Previous research trials have tried to determine the contribution of individual nutrients in distillers grains that improve performance in order to predict the impact of removing certain components. In previous studies, fiber …

Animal Science E-Newsletter, August 2017, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Department Of Animal Sciences

Animal Science e-Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Strategic Sustainability Assessment Of Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion Of Food And Bioplastic Waste For Municipalities, Shakira R. Hobbs

All Dissertations

Organic waste streams often include bioplastics, such as polylactic acid (PLA) and food waste. PLA is a plant-derived bioplastic intended to replace petroleum based plastics; it is often used to make utensils and food packaging. Recently, managing food waste and PLA are becoming more and more complex as the amounts disposed continue to increase. PLA and food waste are often comingled during disposal since PLA is touted as being compostable. However, PLA does not degrade at the same rate as food waste in compost facilities. As such, PLA builds up within compost facilities and has to be screened out and …

1825 - Mission Spheres Of Influence Circa 1825, Salinas Valley And Vicinity [Draft]

Mission Maps

Map depicting mission spheres of influence in approximately 1825 in the Salinas Valley and surrounding vicinities. Supplemental downloadable August 4, 2017 memorandum regarding the Motivations for Mapping "Spanish Mission Sphere of Influence."

The Effects Of Interrelated Goals, Anxiety, And Mindfulness On Somatic Symptoms, Liesel Christoe-Frazier

Dissertations

The present study investigated the interrelationships between interrelated goals, anxiety, somatic symptoms, and mindfulness among a sample of undergraduate college students (n = 454). Structural equation modeling was used to develop a well-fitting model based on collected data. Results showed that goal conflict was positively associated with higher levels of anxiety and somatic symptoms. Anxiety was found to mediate the relationship between goal conflict and somatic symptoms. Goal facilitation was found to be unrelated to anxiety and somatic symptoms. Mindfulness was not found to moderate the relationship between anxiety and somatic symptoms, but was found to be negatively related to …

Functional Expression Of Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (B7-H1) By Immune Cells And Tumor Cells, Rachel M. Gibbons Johnson

Biology Publications

The programmed death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 (B7-H1) signaling pathway has been the focus of much enthusiasm in the fields of tumor immunology and oncology with recent FDA approval of the anti-PD-1 antibodies pembrolizumab and nivolumab and the anti-PD-L1 antibodies durvalumab, atezolimuab, and avelumab. These therapies, referred to here as PD-L1/ PD-1 checkpoint blockade therapies, are designed to block the interaction between PD-L1, expressed by tumor cells, and PD-1, expressed by tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells, leading to enhanced antitumor CD8+ T cell responses and tumor regression. The influence of PD-L1 expressed by tumor cells on antitumor CD8+ T cell …

Archaeological Investigations At Skidaway Island's Benedictine Monastery & Freedmen School: Interim Phase Ii Report, Laura Seifert

Digging Savannah Reports (Archived)

No abstract provided.

“Lands Of The Future:” German-Speaking Identity, Networks, And Territoriality In The South Atlantic, 1820-1930, Isabelle Rispler

History Dissertations - Archive

The movement of German-speakers to the South Atlantic did not begin with Nazis seeking refuge in Argentina in the aftermath of World War II, nor did it start with the organization of the German protectorate of South-West Africa in 1884. Throughout the nineteenth century, the great majority of German-speakers leaving Europe travelled and migrated to North America, but some German-speakers had begun settling in both Argentina and Namibia well before the turn of the twentieth century. German-speaking merchants and missionaries started travelling to and settling in the South Atlantic in the 1820s. These South Atlantic German-speakers were influenced by the …