Digital Commons Network^™

Student Buy-In Toward Formative Assessments: The Influence Of Student Factors And Importance For Course Success, Kathleen R. Brazeal, Brian A. Couch

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Formative assessment (FA) techniques, such as pre-class assignments, in-class activities, and post-class homework, have been shown to improve student learning. While many students find these techniques beneficial, some students may not understand how they support learning or may resist their implementation. Improving our understanding of FA buy-in has important implications, since buy-in can potentially affect whether students fully engage with and learn from FAs. We investigated FAs in 12 undergraduate biology courses to understand which student characteristics influenced buy-in toward FAs and whether FA buy-in predicted course success. We administered a mid-semester survey that probed student perceptions toward several different …

First-Year And Non-First-Year Student Expectations Regarding In-Class And Out-Of-Class Learning Activities In Introductory Biology, Tanya L. Brown, Brian A. Couch

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

National calls for teaching transformation build on a constructivist learning theory and propose that students learn by actively engaging in course activities and interacting with other students. While interactive pedagogies can improve learning, they also have the potential to challenge traditional norms regarding class participation and learning strategies. To better understand the potential openness of students to interactive teaching practices, we administered a survey during the first week of two sections of an introductory biology course to characterize how students envisioned spending time during class as well as what activities they expected to complete outside of class during non-exam weeks …

Rewiring Metabolism Under Oxygen Deprivation: Naked Mole-Rats Evolved A Means To Cope With Anoxia, Jay F. Storz, Grant B. Mcclelland

Jay F. Storz Publications

When faced with a reduced availability of oxygen in the environment (hypoxia), vertebrates can make a variety of respiratory, cardiovascular, and hematological adjustments to ensure an uninterrupted supply of oxygen to the cells of metabolizing tissues (1, 2). These are adaptive solutions for “aerobic organisms in an aerobic world” (3). Coping with the complete absence of oxygen (anoxia) requires more fundamental alterations of cellular metabolism that are typically nothing more than emergency stopgap measures to buy time until the oxygen supply is (hopefully) reestablished (4). On page 307 of this issue [Science 356 (6335)], Park et al. (5) identify a …

Alteration Of The Α1Β2/Α2Β1 Subunit Interface Contributes To The Increased Hemoglobinoxygen Affinity Of High-Altitude Deer Mice, Noriko Inoguchi, Nobuhiro Mizuno, Seiki Baba, Takashi Kumasaka, Chandrasekhar Natarajan, Jay F. Storz, Hideaki Moriyama

Jay F. Storz Publications

Background

Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) that are native to high altitudes in the Rocky Mountains have evolved hemoglobins with an increased oxygen-binding affinity relative to those of lowland conspecifics. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms responsible for the evolved increase in hemoglobin-oxygen affinity, the crystal structure of the highland hemoglobin variant was solved and compared with the previously reported structure for the lowland variant.

Results

Highland hemoglobin yielded at least two crystal types, in which the longest axes were 507 and 230 Å. Using the smaller unit cell crystal, the structure was solved at 2.2 Å resolution. The asymmetric …

Stability-Mediated Epistasis Restricts Accessible Mutational Pathways In The Functional Evolution Of Avian Hemoglobin, Amit Kumar, Chandrasekhar Natarajan, Hideaki Moriyama, Christopher C. Witt, Roy E. Weber, Angela Fago, Jay F. Storz

Jay F. Storz Publications

If the fitness effects of amino acid mutations are conditional on genetic background, then mutations can have different effects depending on the sequential order in which they occur during evolutionary transitions in protein function. A key question concerns the fraction of possible mutational pathways connecting alternative functional states that involve transient reductions in fitness. Here we examine the functional effects of multiple amino acid substitutions that contributed to an evolutionary transition in the oxygenation properties of avian hemoglobin (Hb). The set of causative changes included mutations at intradimer interfaces of the Hb tetramer. Replacements at such sites may be especially …

Regulation-Structured Dynamic Metabolic Model Provides A Potential Mechanism For Delayed Enzyme Response In Denitrification Process, Hyun-Seob Song, Dennis G. Thomas, James C. Stegen, Minjing Li, Chongxuan Liu, Xuehang Song, Xingyuan Chen, Jim K. Fredrickson, John M. Zachara, Timothy D. Scheibe

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

In a recent study of denitrification dynamics in hyporheic zone sediments, we observed a significant time lag (up to several days) in enzymatic response to the changes in substrate concentration. To explore an underlying mechanism and understand the interactive dynamics between enzymes and nutrients, we developed a trait-based model that associates a community’s traits with functional enzymes, instead of typically used species guilds (or functional guilds). This enzyme-based formulation allows to collectively describe biogeochemical functions of microbial communities without directly parameterizing the dynamics of species guilds, therefore being scalable to complex communities. As a key component of modeling, we accounted …

Evaluation Of Valiantzas’ Simplified Forms Of The Fao-56 Penman-Monteith Reference Evapotranspiration Model In A Humid Climate, Koffi Djaman, Daran Rudnick, Valere C. Mel, Denis Mutiibwa, Lamine Diop, Mamadou Sall, Isa Kabenge, Ansoumana Bodian, Hossein Tabari, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The unavailability of some meteorological variables, especially solar radiation and wind speed, is the main constraint for reference evapotranspiration (ETo) estimation using the standard United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Penman–Monteith (FAO-PM) equation in most developing countries. The application of ETo methods with fewer input requirements is necessary under limited climatic data conditions. The FAO-PM method under limited data conditions and nine of Valiantzas’ equations were evaluated for daily ETo estimation in a humid climate in Uganda. The FAO-PM method with missing relative humidity data performed very well across Uganda, whereas using the long-term local wind speed average values …

Crop Canopy Sensor Orientation For Late Season Nitrogen Determination In Corn, T. M. Shaver, Greg Kruger, Daran Rudnick

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Increasing nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in irrigated corn production is of great importance to overall agricultural sustainability. Studies have shown that crop canopy sensors can aid in this pursuit as they allow for the determination of nitrogen (N) requirements in split applications later in the growing season. Fertigation can also increase NUE as many split applications can be conducted. If crop canopy sensors could be used to direct N fertigation rates, overall NUE may be increased even further. However, in some cases, N differences may need to be determined later in the growing season after corn has tasseled, which can …

Deciphering Fungal Dimorphism: Farnesol’S Unanswered Questions, Kenneth Nickerson, Audrey L. Atkin

Kenneth Nickerson Papers

Candida albicans excretes E,E-farnesol as a virulence factor and quorum sensing molecule that prevents the yeast to hyphal conversion. Polke et al. (2016) identified eed1Δ/Δ as the first farnesol hypersensitive mutant of C. albicans. eed1Δ/Δ also excretes 10X more farnesol and while able to form hyphae, it cannot maintain hyphae. This mutant enables new research into unanswered questions, including the existence of potential farnesol receptors and transporters, regulation of farnesol synthesis, and relationships among farnesol, germ tube formation and hyphal maintenance. The eed1 farnesol hypersensitivity can be explained by higher internal concentrations of farnesol or lower thresholds for response. One …

Neural Circuitry For Target Selection And Action Selection In Animal Behavior, Daizaburo Shizuka, Eileen Hebets, Kim L. Hoke

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

Animal behaviorists have long strived for a comprehensive understanding of the proximate and ultimate causes of complex behavior, and we propose that recent advances in neurobiology can help reshape or clarify this behavior-oriented understanding. We begin with an overview of current views of neural circuit mechanisms that mediate target selection and action selection. In target selection, different stimuli compete for priority in sensory-motor process- ing. Action selection is the process by which multiple possible motor actions compete for priority in a manner which balances the needs of the animal with opportunities or threats in the environment. We next discuss spatial …

Droughts Of The Twentieth And Early Twenty First Centuries: Influences On The Production Of Beef And Forage In Kentucky, Usa, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Biosurfactant As An Enhancer Of Geologic Carbon Storage: Microbial Modification Of Interfacial Tension And Contact Angle In Carbon Dioxide/Water/Quartz Systems, Taehyung Park, Hyun-Woo Joo, Gyeong-Yeong Kim, Seunghee Kim, Sukhwan Yoon, Tae-Hyuk Kwon

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Injecting and storing of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in deep geologic formations is considered as one of the promising approaches for geologic carbon storage. Microbial wettability alteration of injected CO₂ is expected to occur naturally by microorganisms indigenous to the geologic formation or microorganisms intentionally introduced to increase CO₂ storage capacity in the target reservoirs. The question as to the extent of microbial CO₂ wettability alteration under reservoir conditions still warrants further investigation. This study investigated the effect of a lipopeptide biosurfactant—surfactin, on interfacial tension (IFT) reduction and contact angle alteration in CO₂/water/quartz systems …

Role Of Fungal Biomass In N-Hexane Biofiltration, Mena M. Botros, Ashraf Aly Hassan, George A. Sorial

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The biofiltration of n-hexane is studied to optimize determinants factors of hydrophobic VOC filtration efficiency. Four trickle-bed air biofilters (TBABs) were employed; two of which were supplied with nutrients buffered at a neutral pH, while another two at an acidic pH of 4 to induce and enhance fungal growth. The loading rate of n-hexane was kept constant in all TBABs at 13 g/m³/h. At each pH levels studied, the biomass of the TBABs was pre-acclimated using different ratios of n-hexane and methanol. The fungal biomass responsible for the degradation of n-hexane was then examined and quantified. Dichloran Rose …

Criegee Intermediate-Hydrogen Sulfide Chemistry At The Air/Water Interface, Manoj Kumar, Jie Zhong, Joseph S. Francisco, Xiao Cheng Zeng

Xiao Cheng Zeng Publications

We carry out Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamic simulations to show that the reaction between the smallest Criegee intermediate, CH₂OO, and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) at the air/water interface can be observed within few picoseconds. The reaction follows both concerted and stepwise mechanisms with former being the dominant reaction pathway. The concerted reaction proceeds with or without the involvement of one or two nearby water molecules. An important implication of the simulation results is that the Criegee-H₂S reaction can provide a novel non-photochemical pathway for the formation of a C–S linkage in clouds and could be a …

Amino Acid Catabolism In Staphylococcus Aureus And The Function Of Carbon Catabolite Repression, Cortney R. Halsey, Shulei Lei, Jacqueline K. Wax, Mckenzie K. Lehman, Austin S. Nuxoll, Laurey Steinke, Marat Sadykov, Robert Powers, Paul D. Fey

Robert Powers Publications

Staphylococcus aureus must rapidly adapt to a variety of carbon and nitrogen sources during invasion of a host. Within a staphylococcal abscess, preferred carbon sources such as glucose are limiting, suggesting that S. aureus survives through the catabolism of secondary carbon sources. S. aureus encodes pathways to catabolize multiple amino acids, including those that generate pyruvate, 2-oxoglutarate, and oxaloacetate. To assess amino acid catabolism, S. aureus JE2 and mutants were grown in complete defined medium containing 18 amino acids but lacking glucose (CDM). A mutation in the gudB gene, coding for glutamate dehydrogenase, which generates 2-oxoglutarate from glutamate, significantly reduced …

Metabolic Investigations Of The Molecular Mechanisms Associated With Parkinson’S Disease, Robert Powers, Shulei Lei, Annadurai Anandhan, Darrell D. Marshall, Bradley Worley, Ronald Cerny, Eric D. Dodds, Yuting Huang, Mihalis I. Panayiotidis, Aglaia Pappa, Rodrigo Franco

Robert Powers Publications

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by fibrillar cytoplasmic aggregates of α-synuclein (i.e., Lewy bodies) and the associated loss of dopaminergic cells in the substantia nigra. Mutations in genes such as α -synuclein (SNCA) account for only 10% of PD occurrences. Exposure to environmental toxicants including pesticides and metals (e.g., paraquat (PQ) and manganese (Mn)) is also recognized as an important PD risk factor. Thus, aging, genetic alterations, and environmental factors all contribute to the etiology of PD. In fact, both genetic and environmental factors are thought to interact in the promotion of idiopathic PD, but the mechanisms …

Incorporating Sociocultural Phenomena Into Ecosystem-Service Valuation: The Importance Of Critical Pluralism, Carena J. Van Riper, Amanda J. Landon, Sarah Kidd, Patrick Bitterman, Lee A. Fitzgerald, Elise F. Granek, Sonia Ibarra, David M. Iwaniec, Christopher M. Raymond, David Toledo

Geography Program: Faculty Publications

Ecosystem-services scholarship has largely focused on monetary valuation and the material contributions of ecosystems to human well-being. Increasingly, research is calling for a deeper understanding of how less tangible, nonmaterial values shape management and stakeholder decisions. We propose a framework that characterizes a suite of sociocultural phenomena rooted in key social science disciplines that are currently underrepresented in the ecosystem-services literature. The results from three example studies are presented to demonstrate how the tenets of this conceptual model can be applied in practice. We consider the findings from these studies in light of three priorities for future research: (1) complexities …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Glbtq Legal Advocates & Defenders Et Al. In Support Of Respondent In Gloucester County School Board V. G.G., Sjc 16-273, Jennifer Levi, Shannon P. Minter, Dean Richlin, Amanda Hainsworth, Rachel Hutchinson, Emily J. Nash

Faculty Scholarship

Amici brief submitted by the GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Foley Hoag, LLP. to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., by His Next Friend and Mother, Deirdre Grimm. The brief argues that the Court should reject the school board’s claim that privacy interests justify its discriminatory policy for three reasons. First, there is no basis for the creation of a new privacy right that justifies excluding transgender students from shared restrooms. Second, nothing in Title IX or its regulations supports the School …

The Impact Of Pollen Consumption On Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Digestive Physiology And Carbohydrate Metabolism, Vincent A. Ricigliano, William Fitz, Duan C. Copeland, Brendon M. Mott, Patrick Maes, Amy S. Floyd, Arnold Dockstader, Kirk E. Anderson

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

Carbohydrate-active enzymes play an important role in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) due to its dietary specialization on plant-based nutrition. Secretory glycoside hydrolases (GHs) produced in worker head glands aid in the processing of floral nectar into honey and are expressed in accordance with the age-based division of labor. Pollen utilization by the honey bee has been investigated in considerable detail, but little is known about the metabolic fate of indigestible carbohydrates and glycosides in pollen biomass. Here, we demonstrate that pollen consumption stimulates the hydrolysis of sugars that are toxic to the bee (xylose, arabinose, mannose). GHs produced in …

Vulnerability Of Grazing And Confined Livestock In The Northern Great Plains To Projected Mid And Late-Twenty-First Century Climate, Justin D. Derner, David Briske, Matt Reeves, T. M. Brown-Brandl, Miranda Meehan, Dana M. Blumenthal, William E. Riebsame, David Augustine, Hailey Wilmer, Derek Scasta, John Hendrickson, Jerry Volesky, Laura Edwards, Dannele Peck

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

The Northern Great Plains (NGP) region of the USA—which comprises Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska—is a largely rural area that provides numerous ecosystem services, including livestock products, cultural services, and conservation of biological diversity. The region contains 25% of the Nation’s beef cattle and approximately one-third of the confined beef cattle, as well as the largest remaining native prairie in the US—the Northern Mixed grass Prairie. With rising atmospheric CO2, the NGP is projected to experience warmer and longer growing seasons, greater climatic variability, and more extreme events (e.g., increased occurrence of large precipitation events). These …

Diagnostic Performance Of Bone Metabolic Indexes For The Detection Of Stroke, Li-Ming Tan, Lu Wang, Juan-Juan Chen, Hua Li, Wen-Bo Luo

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To explore the diagnostic performance of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), parathyroid hormone (PTH), bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), and osteocalcin (OC) in predicting stroke. Methods: This retrospective survey was conducted in The Second Affiliated Hospital to Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. involved 121 cerebral infarction patients and 103 cerebral hemorrhage patients as the experimental groups, 100 volunteers as the healthy control group and 80 brain trauma patients as the disease control group. The 25(OH)D, PTH, BALP, and OC levels of all participants were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Results: The serum concentration of 25(OH)D in stroke patients was appreciably lower than …

The Relationship Between Periapical Lesions And The Serum Levels Of Glycosylated Hemoglobin And C-Reactive Protein In Type 2 Diabetic Patients, Mohammad S. Al-Zahrani, Basel M. Abozor, Khalid H. Zawawi

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the presence of periapical lesions (PL) and levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between September 2013 and February 2015. Medical and dental history and Sociodemographic data were obtained from participants. Dental and periodontal examinations were conducted and blood samples were obtained to determine levels of HbA1c and CRP. The presence of PL was recorded from panoramic and periapical radiographs. Descriptive statistics and multivariable linear and logistic …

Measles Jab Saves Over 20 Million Young Lives In 15 Years, But Hundreds Of Children Still Die Of The Disease Every Day

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

A Classification Model To Predict The Rate Of Decline Of Kidney Function, Ersoy Subasi, Munevver Mine Subasi, Peter L. Hammer, John Roboz, Victor Anbalagan, Michael S. Lipkowitz

Mathematics and System Engineering Faculty Publications

The African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK), a randomized double-blinded treatment trial, was motivated by the high rate of hypertension-related renal disease in the African-American population and the scarcity of effective therapies. This study describes a pattern-based classification approach to predict the rate of decline of kidney function using surface-enhanced laser desorption ionization/time of flight proteomic data from rapid and slow progressors classified by rate of change in glomerular filtration rate. An accurate classification model consisting of 7 out of 5,751 serum proteomic features is constructed by applying the logical analysis of data (LAD) methodology. On cross-validation …

Tourism Taxation, Politics And Territorialisation In Tanzania’S Wildlife Management, Emmanuel Sulle, Holti Banka

Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre

Tourism activities occurring on communal lands such as Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are increasing in Tanzania. This is the result of natural resources governance reforms aimed to empower communities to manage and benefit directly from resources found in their jurisdictions. This article explores the impacts of taxes imposed on tourism activities occurring on communal lands and the emerging politics of resource and revenue sharing among WMA member villages. In the process, we use empirical data gathered from two WMAs in northern Tanzania between 2006 and 2016. We find that while the current high tax rates on tourism businesses occurring at …

Cortisol Responses Enhance Negative Valence Perception For Ambiguous Facial Expressions, Catherine C. Brown, Candance M. Raio, Maital Neta

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Stress exposure elicits a prolonged neuroendocrine response, marked by cortisol release, which can influence important forms of affective decision-making. Identifying how stress reactivity shapes subjective biases in decisions about emotional ambiguity (i.e., valence bias) provides insight into the role stress plays in basic affective processing for healthy and clinical populations alike. Here, we sought to examine how stress reactivity affects valence decisions about emotional ambiguity. Given that stress prioritizes automatic emotional processing which, in the context of valence bias, is associated with increased negativity, we tested how individual differences in acute stress responses influence valence bias and how this decision …

Differentiating Sexual Offender Type On Measures Of Impulsivity And Compulsivity, Tara J. Ryan, Matthew T. Huss, Mario Scalora

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

It is suspected that rapists, child molesters, and offenders with both child and adult victims (mixed offenders) may have different motivations and offending patterns—that they are heterogeneous. A central difference between these groups of offenders may be their propensity toward sexually impulsive behaviors and compulsive behavior. Analyses were conducted to assess the mean differences between the various offender types across four measures related to sensation seeking and compulsivity as well as several other proxy behavioral measures. Results suggest that there are differences in sexual impulsive and compulsive behavior among the different types of offenders. Treatment implications are discussed.

Artificial Intelligence In Engineering Risk Analytics, Desheng Wu, David L. Olson, Alexandre Dolgui

Department of Supply Chain Management and Analytics: Faculty Publications

Risks exist in every aspect of our lives, and can mean different things to different people. While negative in general they always cause a great deal of potential damage and inconvenience for stakeholders. Recent engineering risks include the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster from the 2011 tsunami, a year that also saw earthquakes in New Zealand, tornados in the US, and floods in both Australia and Thailand. Earthquakes, tornados (not to mention hurricanes) and floods are repetitive natural phenomenon. But the October 2011 floods in Thailand were the worst in 50 years, impacting supply chains including those of Honda, Toyota, Lenovo, …

Amino Acid Catabolism In Staphylococcus Aureus And The Function Of Carbon Catabolite Repression, Cortney R. Halsey, Shulei Lei, Jacqueline K. Wax, Mckenzie K. Lehman, Austin S. Nuxoll, Laurey Steinke, Marat Sadykov, Robert Powers, Paul D. Fey

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

Staphylococcus aureus must rapidly adapt to a variety of carbon and nitrogen sources during invasion of a host. Within a staphylococcal abscess, preferred carbon sources such as glucose are limiting, suggesting that S. aureus survives through the catabolism of secondary carbon sources. S. aureus encodes pathways to catabolize multiple amino acids, including those that generate pyruvate, 2-oxoglutarate, and oxaloacetate. To assess amino acid catabolism, S. aureus JE2 and mutants were grown in complete defined medium containing 18 amino acids but lacking glucose (CDM). A mutation in the gudB gene, coding for glutamate dehydrogenase, which generates 2-oxoglutarate from glutamate, significantly reduced …

Nanomaterials As Stationary Phases And Supports In Liquid Chromatography: A Review, Sandya Beeram, Elliott Rodriguez, Suresh Doddavenkatanna, Zhao Li, Allegra Pekarek, Darin Peev, Kathryn Goerl, Gianfranco Trovato, Tino Hofmann, David S. Hage

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

The development of various nanomaterials over the last few decades has led to many applications for these materials in liquid chromatography (LC). This review will look at the types of nanomaterials that have been incorporated into LC systems and the applications that have been explored for such systems. A number of carbon-based nanomaterials and inorganic nanomaterials have been considered for use in LC, ranging from carbon nanotubes, fullerenes and nanodiamonds to metal nanoparticles and nanostructures based on silica, alumina, zirconia and titanium dioxide. Many ways have been described for incorporating these nanomaterials into LC systems. These methods have included covalent …