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Evidence For A New Search Behavior: Porcupines “Scout” For Winter Habitat During Summer In A Coastal Dune System, Pairsa N. Belamaric

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Species are often challenged by periodic changes in food availability and habitat quality. These environmental conditions may provide strong selective pressure for animals to strategically "scout" for important resources during periods of abundance, when exploratory movements are less costly. North American porcupines experience a drastic shift in forage quality from summer - a time of abundant, high quality forage - to winter, a nutritional bottleneck. I evaluated potential scouting behaviors of porcupines in Tolowa Dunes State Park, California using movement and habitat-use data. I compared summer and winter space use of porcupines using GPS data and monitored seasonal use of …

Environmental Values Of California Winegrape Growers And The Use Of Barn Owls (Tyto Alba) As A Tool For Integrated Pest Management, Brooks R. Estes

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Landscape conversion and impacts of synthetic pesticides from agriculture pose threats to natural habitats critical to preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. Pest management is a concern for all agriculture, and many conventional practices can negatively affect the environment through drift, runoff, and harming non-target species. Winegrapes are particularly at risk of damage from rodents, which can girdle vines and destroy root systems.

One alternative to reduce rodent numbers that has shown promise in agriculture is the use of barn owl (Tyto alba) boxes. The Johnson Lab at Humboldt State University has been researching barn owl behavior and ecology …

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Signals Can Affect Electrostatic Environment Of Protiens Below The Threshold Of Conformational Effects: The Case Study Of Sod1 With A Molecular Simulation Study, Elena Della Valle, Paolo Marracino, Olga Pakhomova, Micaela Liberti, Francesca Apollonio

Bioelectrics Publications

Electric fields can be a powerful tool to interact with enzymes or proteins, with an intriguing perspective to allow protein manipulation. Recently, researchers have focused the interest on intracellular enzyme modifications triggered by the application of nanosecond pulsed electric fields. These findings were also supported by theoretical predictions from molecular dynamics simulations focussing on significant variations in protein secondary structures. In this work, a theoretical study utilizing molecular dynamics simulations is proposed to explore effects of electric fields of high intensity and very short nanosecond duration applied to the superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD or SOD-1), an important enzyme involved in the …

Selective Distant Electrostimulation By Synchronized Bipolar Nanosecond Pulses, Elena C. Gianulis, Maura Casciola, Carol Zhou, Enbo Yang, Shu Xiao, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

A unique aspect of electrostimulation (ES) with nanosecond electric pulses (nsEP) is the inhibition of effects when the polarity is reversed. This bipolar cancellation feature makes bipolar nsEP less efficient at biostimulation than unipolar nsEP. We propose to minimize stimulation near pulse-delivering electrodes by applying bipolar nsEP, whereas the superposition of two phase-shifted bipolar nsEP from two independent sources yields a biologically-effective unipolar pulse remotely. This is accomplished by electrical compensation of all nsEP phases except the first one, resulting in the restoration of stimulation efficiency due to cancellation of bipolar cancellation (CANCAN-ES). We experimentally proved the CANCAN-ES paradigm by …

Intratumoral Delivery Of Plasmid Il12 Via Electroporation Leads To Regression Of Injected And Noninjected Tumors In Merkel Cell Carcinoma, Shailender Bhatia, Natalie V. Longino, Natalie J. Miller, Rima Kulikauskas, Jayasri G. Iyer, Dafina Ibrani, Astrid Blom, David R. Byrd, Upendra Parvathaneni, Christopher Twitty, Jean S. Campbell, Mai H. Le, Sharron Gargosky, Robert H. Pierce, Richard Heller, Adil Daud, Paul Nghiem

Bioelectrics Publications

Purpose: Interleukin-12 (IL12) promotes adaptive type I immunity and has demonstrated antitumor efficacy, but systemic administration leads to severe adverse events (AE), including death. This pilot trial investigated safety, efficacy, and immunologic activity of intratumoral delivery of IL12 plasmid DNA (tavo) via in vivo electroporation (i.t.-tavo-EP) in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), an aggressive virus-associated skin cancer.

Experimental Design: Fifteen patients with MCC with superficial injectable tumor(s) received i.t.-tavo-EP on days 1, 5, and 8 of each cycle. Patients with locoregional MCC (cohort A, N = 3) received one cycle before definitive surgery in week 4. …

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields Induce Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Accompanied By Immunogenic Cell Death In Murine Models Of Lymphoma And Colorectal Cancer, Alessandra Rossi, Olga N. Pakhomova, Peter A. Mollica, Maura Casciola, Uma Mangalanathan, Andrei G. Pakhomov, Claudia Muratori

Bioelectrics Publications

Depending on the initiating stimulus, cancer cell death can be immunogenic or non-immunogenic. Inducers of immunogenic cell death (ICD) rely on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress for the trafficking of danger signals such as calreticulin (CRT) and ATP. We found that nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF), an emerging new modality for tumor ablation, cause the activation of the ER-resident stress sensor PERK in both CT-26 colon carcinoma and EL-4 lymphoma cells. PERK activation correlates with sustained CRT exposure on the cell plasma membrane and apoptosis induction in both nsPEF-treated cell lines. Our results show that, in CT-26 cells, the activity of …

Abnormal Response Of Costal Chondrocytes To Acidosis In Patients With Chest Wall Deformity, A. Asmar, Iurii Semenov, R. Kelly Jr., Michael Stacey

Bioelectrics Publications

Costal cartilage is much understudied compared to the load bearing cartilages. Abnormally grown costal cartilages are associated with the inherited chest wall deformities pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum resulting in sunken or pigeon chest respectively. A lack of understanding of the ultrastructural and molecular biology properties of costal cartilage is a major confounder in predicting causes and outcomes of these disorders. Due to the avascular nature of cartilage, chondrocytes metabolize glycolytically, producing an acidic environment. During physical activity hydrogen ions move within cartilage driven by compressive forces, thus at any one time, chondrocytes experience transient changes in pH. A variety …

Paralysis And Patriarchy: Moult’S “Stucco” And The Burden Of Responsibility, Elena Arana

Modernist Short Story Project

“Stucco” is a story about paralysis. A single man, around 50 years old, lives with and provides for his aging mother and spinster-sister. He is a blue collar factory employee who works six days a week, from dawn until dusk, humoring his family’s gossip around the dinner table each night in return for his weekend escapes to the country. When he finally gets the chance to retire, he pleads with his mother and sister to leave the city and move to the little cottage that he has always dreamed of owning. They refuse. He drops the subject. The end. “Stucco” …

Trajectories In The Evolution Of Mormon Studies On Faith And Science, Steven L. Peck

Mormon Studies Review

The relationship between science and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been and continues to be a complicated story. Concerns and differing perspectives about science provided the underlying context for a number of formal and informal institutional directions taken by the church in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries. Often, these were influenced by differences in opinion about science among various leaders of the church. Areas in which science played a role include: the relationship between secular and church education, a battleground in framing doctrinal questions about creation—including syncretic influence from the rise of Christian fundamentalism and …

Ligand Binding And Signaling Of Hare/Stabilin-2, Edward N. Harris, Fatima Cabral

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The Stabilin receptors are a two-member family in the type H class of scavenger receptors. These dynamic receptors bind and internalize multiple ligands from the cell surface for the purpose of clearing extracellular material including some synthetic drugs and for sensing the external environment of the cell. Stabilin-1 was the first receptor to be cloned, though the biological activity of Hyaluronic Acid Receptor for Endocytosis (HARE)/Stabilin-2 was observed about 10 years prior to the cloning of Stabilin-1. Stabilin-1 has a more diverse expression profile among the tissues than HARE/Stabilin-2. This review will focus on HARE/Stabilin-2 and its interactions with hyaluronan, …

Genome‐Wide Association And Genomic Prediction For Biomass Yield In A Genetically Diverse Miscanthus Sinensis Germplasm Panel Phenotyped At Five Locations In Asia And North America, Lindsay V. Clark, Maria S. Dwiyanti, Kossonou G. Anzoua, Joe E. Brummer, Bimal Kumar Ghimire, Katarzyna Glowacka, Megan Hall, Kweon Heo, Xiaoli Jin, Alexander E. Lipka, Junhua Peng, Toshihiko Yamada, Ji Hye Yoo, Chang Yeon Yu, Hua Zhao, Stephen P. Long, Erik J. Sacks

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

To improve the efficiency of breeding of Miscanthus for biomass yield, there is a need to develop genomics‐assisted selection for this long‐lived perennial crop by relating genotype to phenotype and breeding value across a broad range of environments. We present the first genome‐wide association (GWA) and genomic prediction study of Miscanthus that utilizes multilocation phenotypic data. A panel of 568 Miscanthus sinensis accessions was genotyped with 46,177 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and evaluated at one subtropical and five temperate locations over 3 years for biomass yield and 14 yield‐component traits. GWA and genomic prediction were performed separately for different years …

On The Necessity Of The Humanities: How A Foundational Education In The Humanities Can Help Us To Address The Pressing Issues Facing Our World Today, Blake Trinske

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Downregulation Of A Cyp74 Rubber Particle Protein Increases Natural Rubber Production In Parthenium Argentatum, Dante F. Placido, Niu Dong, Chen Dong, Von Mark V. Cruz, David A. Dierig, Rebecca E. Cahoon, Byung-Guk Kang, Trinh Huynh, Maureen Whalen, Grisel Ponciano, Colleen Mcmahan

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

We report functional genomics studies of a CYP74 rubber particle protein from Parthenium argentatum, commonly called guayule. Previously identified as an allene oxide synthase (AOS), this CYP74 constitutes the most abundant protein found in guayule rubber particles. Transgenic guayule lines with AOS gene expression down-regulated by RNAi (AOSi) exhibited strong phenotypes that included agricultural traits conducive to enhancing rubber yield. AOSi lines had higher leaf and stem biomass, thicker stembark tissues, increased stem branching and improved net photosynthetic rate. Importantly, the rubber content was significantly increased in AOSi lines compared to the wild-type (WT), vector control and …

Chloroviruses Lure Hosts Through Long-Distance Chemical Signaling, David Dunigan, Maitham Ahmed Al-Sammak, Zeina Al-Ameeli, Irina Agarkova, John Delong, James L. Van Etten

James Van Etten Publications

Chloroviruses exist in aquatic systems around the planet where they infect certain eukaryotic green algae that are mutualistic endosymbionts in a variety of protists and metazoans. Natural chlorovirus populations are seasonally dynamic but the precise temporal changes in these populations and the mechanisms that underlie them have, heretofore, been unclear. We recently reported the novel concept that predator/prey-mediated virus activation regulates chlorovirus population dynamics, and in the current manuscript demonstrate virus packaged chemotactic modulation of prey behavior.

Viruses have not previously been reported to act as chemotactic/chemo-attractive agents. Rather, viruses as extracellular entities are generally viewed as non-metabolically active spore-like …

Life Cycle Analysis (Lca) Models And Their Value For Solid Waste Planning, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Solid waste management is a complex undertaking that addresses a basic human need. Wastes can affect human health and the environment. Managing them so as to reduce and minimize these impacts requires expending physical and human resources. Often there are trade-offs among the effects associated with technological and policy choices.

Generally, understanding the effects of the various choices requires expanding scope beyond the immediate issue. Recycling, for instance, reduces disposal needs. It also affects the inputs to manufacturing processes, and can reduce the demand to extract natural resources. A larger perspective on recycling can provide justifications for increasing diversion efforts. …

The Future Of Facial Recognition Is Not Fully Known: Developing Privacy And Security Regulatory Mechanisms For Facial Recognition In The Retail Sector, Elias Wright

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

In recent years, advances in facial recognition technology have resulted in a rapid expansion in the prevalence of private sector biometric technologies. Facial recognition, while providing new potentials for safety and security and personalized marketing by retailers implicates complicated questions about the nature of consumer privacy and surveillance where a “collection imperative” incentivize corporate actors to accumulate increasingly massive reservoirs of consumer data. However, the law has not yet fully developed to address the unique risks to consumers through the use of this technology. This Note examines existing regulatory mechanisms, finding that consumer sensitivities and the opaque nature of the …

Practical Design Approaches For Assessing Parallelism In Dose Response Modelling, Timothy O'Brien, Jack Silcox

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Inbreeding On Life-History Traits And Sexual Competency In Decorated Crickets, Scott K. Sakaluk, Jeannine Oldzej, Christine J. Poppe, Jenny L. Harper, Ian G. Rines, Kylie J. Hampton, Kristin R. Duffield, John Hunt, Ben M. Sadd

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Although inbreeding depression in life-history traits has been well characterized, inbreeding effects on mating behaviour and sexually selected traits have been less well studied. Here, we assess levels of inbreeding depression in a number of fitness-related reproductive parameters of female decorated crickets, Gryllodes sigillatus. We predicted that due to direct negative effects of inbreeding and a potential trade-off between reproduction and current survival, as suggested by effects of inbreeding on immunity, inbred females would show significantly reduced reproductive output compared with outbred females. We also examined sex-specific effects of inbreeding on mating competency, focusing specifically on the female's decision …

Achievement Strivings: Motives And Goals That Promote Competence, A. M. Durik, K. Ann Renninger

Educational Studies Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

2019 Warbler, Eastern Illinois University

The Warbler

The 2019 Warbler, yearbook of Eastern Illinois University.

Construction Of A Cross-Layer Linked G-Octamer Via Conformational Control: A Stable G-Quadruplex In H-Bond Competitive Solvents, Ying He, Yanbin Zhang, Lukasz Wojtas, Novruz G. Akhmedov, David Thai, Heng Wang, Xiaopeng Li, Hao Guo, Xiaodong Shi

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Methanol soluble and stable guanosine octamers were successfully achieved via H-bond self-assembly. Through structural conformational design, we developed a new class of guanosine derivatives with modification on guanine (8-aryl) and ribose (2′,3′-isopropylidene). This unique design led to the formation of the first discrete G₈-octamer with its structure characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, MS and NMR spectroscopy. The G₈-octamer showed unique cation recognition properties, including the formation of a stable Rb⁺ templated G-quadruplex. Based on this observation, further modification on the 8-aryl moiety was performed to incorporate a cross-layer H-bond or covalent linkage. Similar G-octamers …

An Information Operations Theory Of Domestic Counterterrorism Efforts, Tung Yin

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dispersant Enhances Hydrocarbon Degradation And Alters The Structure Of Metabolically Active Microbial Communities In Shallow Seawater From The Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Xiaoxu Sun, Lena Chu, Elisa Mercando, Isabel Romero, David Hollander, Joel E Kostka

C-IMAGE Publications

Dispersant application is a primary emergency oil spill response strategy and yet the efficacy and unintended consequences of this approach in marine ecosystems remain controversial. To address these uncertainties, ex situ incubations were conducted to quantify the impact of dispersant on petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) biodegradation rates and microbial community structure at as close as realistically possible to approximated in situ conditions [2 ppm v/v oil with or without dispersant, at a dispersant to oil ratio (DOR) of 1:15] in surface seawater. Biodegradation rates were not substantially affected by dispersant application at low mixing conditions, while under completely dispersed conditions, biodegradation …

Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky: Annual Technical Report 2018, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

In 2018, KWRRI launched a new website, https://www.research.uky.edu/kentucky-water-resources-research-institute, to better meet the needs of its stakeholders. KWRRI also established a repository for KWRRI’s reports, https://uknowledge.uky.edu/kwrri/. The repository includes historical KWRRI reports, annual symposium proceedings, technical reports, and the Water Distribution System Research Database. During the reporting period, KWRRI produced two editions of its semi-annual newsletter (Spring 2018 and Winter 2019). The newsletter provides updates, facilitates information sharing, and increases communication among those in the Kentucky water community. The 2019 Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium was held on March 25, 2019, in Lexington, Kentucky. The day-long symposium, attended by …

Metabolism Reprogramming In Hexavalent Chromium-Induced Human Lung Carcinogenesis, James Tate Fortin Wise

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), is an established human carcinogen that is a worldwide environmental health concern. It is well understood that reactive oxygen species, genomic instability, and DNA damage repair deficiency are important contributors to Cr(VI)-induced carcinogenesis. After decades of research some cancer hallmarks remain understudied for the mechanism of Cr(VI) carcinogenesis. Dysregulated cellular energetics have been established as a hallmark of cancer. Energy pathways that become dysregulated in cancer include mitochondrial respiration, lipogenesis, pentose phosphate pathway, one carbon metabolism, and increased anaerobic glycolysis in the presence of oxygen or ‘Warburg effect’.

To investigate metabolism changes in Cr(VI) carcinogenesis, we exposed …

Limiting Lessons From Property: Reimagining The Public Domain In The Image Of The Public Trust Doctrine, Deirdré A. Keller

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Modulation Of Actin Dynamics Via Atypical Protein Kinase-C Activated Cofilin Regulates Metastasis Of Colorectal Cancer Cells, S. M. Anisul Islam, Rekha Patel, Raja Reddy Bommareddy, Khandker Mohammad Khalid, Mildred Acevedo-Duncan

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the United States. The exact mechanism of CRC cells metastasis is poorly understood. Actin polymerization is thought to be an initial step in the cancer cell motility cycle which drives the formation of cell protrusions and defines the direction of migration. Cofilin, a significant actin-regulating molecule, regulates the migration of cancer cells by the formation of lamellipodia and filopodia, however, little is known about the upstream regulation of cofilin. In this study, the effect of atypical Protein Kinase C (atypical PKC) on Cofilin activity in CRC was studied. This study …

Analysis Of Pkc‑Ζ Protein Levels In Normal And Malignant Breast Tissue Subtypes, Tracess Smalley, S. M. Anisul Islam, Christopher Apostolatos, André Apostolatos, Mildred Acevedo-Duncan

Chemistry Faculty Publications

It is estimated that breast cancer will be the second leading cause of cancer‑associated mortality in women in 2018. Previous research has demonstrated that the atypical protein kinase C‑ζ (PKC‑ζ) is a component of numerous dysregulated pathways in breast cancer, including cellular proliferation, survival, and cell cycle upregulation. The present study investigated the PKC‑ζ protein in breast tissue to evaluate its potential as a biomarker for breast cancer invasion, and demonstrated that an overexpression of PKC‑ζ protein can be indicative of carcinogenesis. The present study analyzed the expression of PKC‑ζ in individuals with no tumor complications and malignant female human …

Human Gait Analysis Metric For Gait Retraining, Tyagi Ramakrishnan, Seok Hun Kim, Kyle B. Reed

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The combined gait asymmetry metric (CGAM) provides a method to synthesize human gait motion. The metric is weighted to balance each parameter’s effect by normalizing the data so all parameters are more equally weighted. It is designed to combine spatial, temporal, kinematic, and kinetic gait parameter asymmetries. It can also combine subsets of the different gait parameters to provide a more thorough analysis. The single number quantifying gait could assist robotic rehabilitation methods to optimize the resulting gait patterns. CGAM will help define quantitative thresholds for achievable balanced overall gait asymmetry. The study presented here compares the combined gait parameters …

Single-Amino Acid Variants Reveal Evolutionary Processes That Shape The Biogeography Of A Global Sar11 Subclade, Tom O. Delmont, Evan Kiefl, Ozsel Kilinc, Ozcan C. Esen, Ismail Uysal, Michael S. Rappé, Steven Giovannoni, A. Murat Eren

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

Members of the SAR11 order Pelagibacterales dominate the surface oceans. Their extensive diversity challenges emerging operational boundaries defined for microbial 'species' and complicates efforts of population genetics to study their evolution. Here, we employed single-amino acid variants (SAAVs) to investigate ecological and evolutionary forces that maintain the genomic heterogeneity within ubiquitous SAR11 populations we accessed through metagenomic read recruitment using a single isolate genome. Integrating amino acid and protein biochemistry with metagenomics revealed that systematic purifying selection against deleterious variants governs non-synonymous variation among very closely related populations of SAR11. SAAVs partitioned metagenomes into two main groups matching large-scale oceanic …