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Evaluating The Effects Of Bisphenols F And S With Respect To Bisphenol A On Primordial Germ Cell Migration In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) Embryos Using Immunofluorescence Microscopy, Siti Sarah Safura, George Roba, Edward A. Freeman

Undergraduate External Publications

Primordial Germ Cell (PGC) migration occurs in early embryonic development and is highly conserved across taxa. PGC migration occurs within the first 24 hours post fertilization (hpf) in zebrafish, making the organism an efficient model for observing the migration pathway. Proper PGC migration is necessary for normal gonad development and, in some species, sex determination. Disruption of this process leads to defects in gonad formation and abnormal sex determination and differentiation. Studies show that endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) disrupt PGC migration in zebrafish. BPA is an estrogenic compound that has been linked to a variety of human …

Isolation Of Intact Chloroplast For Sequencing Plastid Genomes Of Five Festuca Species, Md Shofiqul Islam, Gretta L. Buttelmann, Konstantin Chekhovskiy, Taegun Kwon, Malay C. Saha

College of Agriculture

Isolation of good quality chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) is a challenge in different plant species, although several methods for isolation are known. Attempts were undertaken to isolate cpDNA from Festuca grass species by using available standard protocols; however, they failed due to difficulties separating intact chloroplasts from the polysaccharides, oleoresin, and contaminated nuclear DNA that are present in the crude homogenate. In this study, we present a quick and inexpensive protocol for isolating intact chloroplasts from seven grass varieties/accessions of five Festuca species using a single layer of 30% Percoll solution. This protocol was successful in isolating high quality cpDNA with …

Rootstock Effects On Scion Phenotypes In A ‘Chambourcin’ Experimental Vineyard, Zoë Migicovsky, Zachary N. Harris, Laura L. Klein, Mao Li, Adam Mcdermaid, Daniel H. Chitwood, Anne Fennell, Laszlo G. Kovacs, Misha Kwasniewski, Jason P. Londo

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Understanding how root systems modulate shoot system phenotypes is a fundamental question in plant biology and will be useful in developing resilient agricultural crops. Grafting is a common horticultural practice that joins the roots (rootstock) of one plant to the shoot (scion) of another, providing an excellent method for investigating how these two organ systems affect each other. In this study, we used the French-American hybrid grapevine ‘Chambourcin’ (Vitis L.) as a model to explore the rootstock–scion relationship. We examined leaf shape, ion concentrations, and gene expression in ‘Chambourcin’ grown ungrafted as well as grafted to three different rootstocks (‘SO4’, …

Isolation, Identification, And Antibiotics Susceptibility Determination Of Proteus Species Obtained From Various Clinical Specimens In Erbil City, Treska Dhia Kamil, Sanaria Fawzi Jarjes

Polytechnic Journal

Fifty-two Proteus isolates, (47) Proteus mirabilis, (4) Proteus vulgaris, and (1) Proteus hauseri are being isolated from (200) clinical specimens taken from patients admitted to different hospitals in Erbil city/Kurdistan region of Iraq. Specimens were of urine, wounds swabs, burn swabs, vaginal swabs, ear swabs, eye swabs, and sputum. All isolates were identified depending on cultural, morphological, biochemical characteristics, and confirmatory VITEK 2 system. Furthermore, VITEK 2 (antibiotic susceptibility testing) panel was used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility of Proteus isolates, and the results showed that all isolates were entirely resistant to tetracycline and tigecycline (100%), but sensitive to meropenem. …

Detection Of Helicobacterpylori Antigens Among Patients With Gastroenteritis In Erbil City, Iraq, Karim J. S., Pshtewan D. Majeed, Kareem K. Hamad, Kareem K. Hamad

Polytechnic Journal

Helicobacter pylori is a significant pathogen of the gastrointestinal tract infection connected with gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric carcinoma. Its infection influence more than half of the world’s inhabitants. This study aims to reveal the prevalence rate of H. pylori infection among patients with gastroenteritis and to investigate the risk factors such as age, gender, residency, blood group and rhesus factors related to this infection in Erbil city. Of 300 stool specimens from patients presenting with gastroenteritis who were admitted to Rizgary Teaching Hospital, Erbil, Iraq, from September 2018 to February 2019 were collected and screened for the presence of …

Assessments Of Facial Muscle Thickness By Ultrasound In Younger Adults: Absolute And Relative Reliability, Takashi Abe, Robert W. Spitz, Vickie Wong, Ricardo B. Viana, Yujiro Yamada, Zachary W. Bell, Raksha N. Chatakondi, Jeremy P. Loenneke

Faculty and Student Publications

© 2019 by the authors. The absolute reliability (i.e., standard error of measurement and minimal difference) of a measurement is important to consider when assessing training effects. However, the absolute reliability for ultrasound measured facial muscle thickness had not been investigated. In order to examine the absolute and relative reliability of measuring facial muscles, 98 healthy, young, and middle-aged adults (18-40 years) had ultrasound measurements taken twice, separated by an average of three days. Six facial muscles were selected to determine the reliability of facial muscle thickness. The relative reliability (ICC3,1) ranged from 0.425 for the orbicularis oris (inferior) to …

A Comparison Of Academic Performance Measures Of Hsta Participants With Non-Hsta Participants: Is It Possible To Narrow The African American-White Achievement Gap?, Sherron Mckendall, Alan Mckendall, Ann Chester

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Historically, African American and other underserved students encounter academic challenges in pursuit of a college degree—one of which is their performance on standardized tests. This paper analyzes College Grade Point Averages (CGPAs), ACT Composite (ACTC), and SAT Total (SATT) scores of students who participated in the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA), an out-of-school-time (OST) program, and Non-HSTA (NHSTA) students attending West Virginia University. Traditionally, OST programs provide academic enrichment to underserved youth to increase their chances for post-secondary entry and success. Two-Way Factorial ANOVA determined if HSTA participants performed better on academic measures than their NHSTA counterparts. The ANOVAs …

Non-Standard Finite Difference Schemes For Investigating Stability Of A Mathematical Model Of Virus Therapy For Cancer, A. R. Yaghoubi, H. S. Najafi

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, a special case of finite difference method called non-standard finite difference (NSFD) method was studied to compute the numerical solutions of the nonlinear mathematical model of the interaction between tumor cells and oncolytic viruses. The global stability of the equilibrium points of the discrete model is investigated by using the Lyapunov stability theorem. Some conditions were gained for the local asymptotical stability of the equilibrium points of the system. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the main theoretical results. The discrete system is dynamically consistent with its continuous model, it preserves essential properties, such as …

On A Hybrid Technique To Handle Analytical And Approximate Solutions Of Linear And Nonlinear Fractional Order Partial Differential Equations, Kamal Shah, Hammad Khalil, Ahmet Yildirim

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This manuscript is devoted to consider Natural transform (NT) coupled with homotopy perturbation method (HPM) for obtaining series solutions to some linear and nonlinear fractional partial differential equations (FPDEs). By means of NT, we obtain the transformed problem which is then solved by using HPM. By means of Stehfest’s numerical algorithm and using the dual relationship of NT and Laplace transform, we calculate inverse NT for approximate solutions. The series solutions we obtain using the proposed method are in close agreement with the exact solutions. We apply the proposed method to some interesting problems to illustrate our main results.

Bifurcation Analysis For Prey-Predator Model With Holling Type Iii Functional Response Incorporating Prey Refuge, Lazaar Oussama, Mustapha Serhani

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we carried out the bifurcation analysis for a Lotka-Volterra prey-predator model with Holling type III functional response incorporating prey refuge protecting a constant proportion of the preys. We study the local bifurcation considering the refuge constant as a parameter. From the center manifold equation, we establish a transcritical bifurcation for the boundary equilibrium. In addition, we prove the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation for the homogeneous equilibrium. Moreover, we give the radius and period of the unique limit cycle for our system

The Topographic Signature Of Ecosystem Climate Sensitivity In The Western United States, Zachary Hoylman, Kelsey Jencso, Jia Hu, Zachary A. Holden, Brady W. Allred, Solomon Z. Dobrowski, Nathaniel Robinson, Justin T. Martin, David L.R. Affleck, Carl Seielstad

Montana Climate Office Publications

It has been suggested that hillslope topography can produce hydrologic refugia, sites where ecosystem productivity is relatively insensitive to climate variation. However, the ecological impacts and spatial distribution of these sites are poorly resolved across gradients in climate. We quantified the response of ecosystem net primary productivity to changes in the annual climatic water balance for 30 years using pixel‐specific linear regression (30‐m resolution) across the western United States. The standardized slopes of these models represent ecosystem climate sensitivity and provide a means to identify drought‐resistant ecosystems. Productive and resistant ecosystems were most frequent in convergent hillslope positions, especially in …

Application Of Reduced Differential Transform Method For Solving Two-Dimensional Volterra Integral Equations Of The Second Kind, Seyyedeh R. Moosavi Noori, Nasir Taghizadeh

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we propose new theorems of the reduced differential transform method (RDTM) for solving a class of two-dimensional linear and nonlinear Volterra integral equations (VIEs) of the second kind. The advantage of this method is its simplicity in using. It solves the equations straightforward and directly without using perturbation, Adomian’s polynomial, linearization or any other transformation and gives the solution as convergent power series with simply determinable components. Also, six examples and numerical results are provided so as to validate the reliability and efficiency of the method.

Illuminator, Volume 3, Issue 4, Batten College Of Engineering & Technology, Old Dominion University

College of Engineering & Technology Newsletter

December 2019 issue of Illuminator, a monthly publication of ODU's Batten College of Engineering and Technology

Fracture Analysis Of The Lower Oceanic Crust, Atlantis Bank, Southwest Indian Ridge, Trent Jackson

Master's Theses

Atlantis Bank (AB) is an oceanic core complex (OCC), formed at the slow-spreading (spreading rate/yr) Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR)-Atlantis II transform junction. AB is a domal massif composed of lower crustal and upper mantle rocks exhumed along a normal-sense detachment shear zone/fault. OCCs are of high interest since oceanic crust comprises the majority of Earth’s crust and OCCs form up to 15% of the crust that is formed at slow-spreading ridges. Brittle deformation, such as faults and fractures provide pathways for fluids to interact with the crust, which increases heat and mass exchange between the crust and hydrosphere, and is …

Tigerprints Annual Report, 2019, Kirstin O'Keefe

Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Exercise For Depression, Rebecca Gleason

Health, Leisure, and Sport Sciences Undergraduate Work

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exercise for adolescents, middle-aged adults, and older adults with depression.

Literature from thirty-four professional medical journals and eight professional websites were reviewed. The resulting information was organized into categories as described in the purpose of the study.

In 2017, it was estimated that 17.3 million adults living in the United States had at least one major depressive episode, which came to be 7.1% of all adults (DBSA, 2019). In a 2019 review, causes of depression were related to personal factors, some being personality, drug or alcohol use, family history, …

Effects Of Soil Amendments On The Germination And Health Of Panicum Virgatum L. Grown On Soils Polluted By Copper Mining Activities, Brandon Caltrider

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

Symbiosis In Digital Performance: The Relationship Between Interactive Technologies And Improvisational Choreography, Tessa Rixon

Behind the Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice

Within Australian live performance, there is a rising number of works relying on digital media technologies to shape their scenographic environments. Situated in this field of digital performance, this paper examines the relationship between two subsets of digital scenography and dance: interactive digital technologies and improvisational choreography. While there are a number of perspectives that consider the role and impact of digital technologies within this specific field, many focus on the dancer or choreographer rather than the designer/technologist. The concept of symbiosis offers an alternative framework to understand the relationship between interactive digital technologies and improvisational choreography, and has potential …

Willis Linn Jepson, James P. Smith Jr

Botanical Studies

No abstract provided.

Flowering Plant Families Of Northwestern California: A Tabular Comparison, James P. Smith Jr

Botanical Studies

No abstract provided.

Pittsburg State University Annual Commencement, December 2019, Pittsburg State University

Commencement, 1903-Present

Program of undergraduate and graduate commencement exercises at Pittsburg State University on December of 2019

The Histoplasma Capsulatum Ddr48 Gene Is Required For Survival Within Macrophages And Resistance To Oxidative Stress And Antifungal Drugs, Logan Blancett

Dissertations

Histoplasma capsulatum(Hc)is a systemic, dimorphic fungal pathogen that affects upwards of 500,000 individuals in the United States annually. Hc grows as a multicellular mold at environmental temperatures; whereas, upon inhalation into a human or other mammalian host, it transforms into a unicellular, pathogenic yeast. The research presented in this dissertation is focused on characterizing the DNA damage-responsive gene HcDDR48. HcDDR48was originally isolated via a subtractive DNA library enriched for transcripts enriched in the mold-phase of Hcgrowth. Upon further analysis we found that HcDDR48is not just expressed in the mold morphotype, but both growth programs …

The Antimicrobial Activity And Cellular Targets Of Plant Derived Aldehydes And Degradable Pro-Antimicrobial Networks In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Yetunde Adewunmi

Dissertations

Essential oils (EOs) are plant-derived products that have been long exploited for their antimicrobial activities in medicine, agriculture, and food preservation. EOs represent a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics due to the broad-range antimicrobial activity, low toxicity to human commensal bacteria, and the capacity to kill microorganisms without promoting resistance. Despite the progress in the understanding of the biological activity of EOs, many aspects of their mode of action remain inconclusive. The overarching aim of this work was to address these gaps by studying molecular interactions between antimicrobial plant aldehydes and the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We initiated …

Female Student Perceptions Of Factors That Influence Persistence In Male-Dominated Community College Career And Technical Education Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math Programs, Valeria Williams

Dissertations

The number of males enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs outnumber female counterparts (Wang & Degol, 2017). The disparity is even greater in persistence rates for STEM related fields (Glass, Sassler, Levitte & Michelmore, 2013). The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of females enrolled in traditionally male-dominated programs of study, specifically in the areas of STEM in community and junior colleges, to determine factors that influence persistence.

Although previous research exists focusing on women in STEM, most studies explore the barriers women face (Ong, Wright, Espinosa, & Orfield, 2011). The findings from previous …

Variation In Genome Content And Predatory Phenotypes Between Bdellovibrio Sp. Nc01 Isolated From Soil And B. Bacteriovorus Type Strain Hd100, Laura E. Williams, Nicole Cullen, Joseph A. Degiorgis, Karla J. Martinez, Justina Mellone, Molly Oser, Jing Wang, Ying Zhang

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Defining phenotypic and associated genotypic variation among Bdellovibrio may further our understanding of how this genus attacks and kills different Gram-negative bacteria. We isolated Bdellovibrio sp. NC01 from soil. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences and average amino acid identity showed that NC01 belongs to a different species than the type species bacteriovorus. By clustering amino acid sequences from completely sequenced Bdellovibrio and comparing the resulting orthologue groups to a previously published analysis, we defined a ‘core genome’ of 778 protein-coding genes and identified four protein-coding genes that appeared to be missing only in NC01. To determine how horizontal gene …

Why Spiking Neural Networks Are Efficient: A Theorem, Michael Beer, Julio Urenda, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Current artificial neural networks are very successful in many machine learning applications, but in some cases they still lag behind human abilities. To improve their performance, a natural idea is to simulate features of biological neurons which are not yet implemented in machine learning. One of such features is the fact that in biological neural networks, signals are represented by a train of spikes. Researchers have tried adding this spikiness to machine learning and indeed got very good results, especially when processing time series (and, more generally, spatio-temporal data). In this paper, we provide a theoretical explanation for this empirical …

On The Weighted Pseudo Almost Periodic Solutions Of Nicholson’S Blowflies Equation, Ramazan Yazgan, Cemil Tunç

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This study is concerned with the existence, uniqueness and global exponential stability of weighted pseudo almost periodic solutions of a generalized Nicholson’s blowflies equation with mixed delays. Using some differential inequalities and a fixed point theorem, sufficient conditions were obtained for the existence, uniqueness of at the least a weighted pseudo almost periodic solutions and global exponential stability of this solution. The results of this study are new and complementary to the previous ones can be found in the literature. At the end of the study an example is given to show the accuracy of our results.

A New Method To Solve Fractional Differential Equations: Inverse Fractional Shehu Transform Method, Ali Khalouta, Abdelouahab Kadem

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we propose a new method called the inverse fractional Shehu transform method to solve homogenous and non-homogenous linear fractional differential equations. Fractional derivatives are described in the sense of Riemann-Liouville and Caputo. Illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the validity, efficiency and applicability of the presented method. The solutions obtained by the proposed method are in complete agreement with the solutions available in the literature.

An Efficient Computational Method For Solving A System Of Fdes Via Fractional Finite Difference Method, M. M. Khader, Sunil Kumar

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This paper aims to provide a numerical method for solving systems of fractional (Caputo sense) differential equations (FDEs). This method is based on the fractional finite difference method (FDM), where we implemented the Grünwald-Letnikov’s approach. This method is computationally very efficient and gives very accurate solutions. In this study, the stability of the obtained numerical scheme is given. The numerical results show that the proposed approach is easy to be implemented and are accurate when applied to system of FDEs. The method introduces promising tool for solving many systems of FDEs. Two examples are given to demonstrate the applicability and …

On Nearly Kähler Finsler Spaces, Z. Didehkhani, B. Najafi, N. Heidari

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Ichijy¯o introduced (a; b; J)-manifolds as a special class of generalized Randers manifolds. We introduce generalized (a; b; J)-manifolds. A partial negative answer to Ichijy¯o’s open problem on nearly Kähler Finsler manifolds is given. The condition under which generalized (a; b; J)- manifolds are Berwaldian is obtained. Finally, we prove that under a mild assumption a nearly Kähler Finsler manifold is Landsbergian.