Digital Commons Network^™

Rumen Fermentation Responses To Purified Palmitic, Stearic, Or Oleic Fatty Acids And The Impact Of A Palmitic Acid-Enriched Supplement On Animal Performance, Austin Paul Sears

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our research examined the responses of palmitic, stearic and oleic fatty acids on neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility and rumen fermentation and the impact of a palmitic acid-enriched supplement on animal performance. In the first research chapter, we evaluated the effect of purified palmitic, stearic, and oleic fatty acids on NDF digestibility and rumen fermentation. Palmitic acid increased NDF digestibility and total production of volatile fatty acids (VFA) compared with oleic acid. Bacterial fatty acid composition was altered by palmitic acid, increasing anteiso-C15:0, C18:2n6 and C18:3n3 fatty acids compared with oleic acid. Compared with control, …

Assessment Of Compost On Dryland Wheat Yield And Quality, Soil Fertility And Water Availability In Utah, Kareem A. Adeleke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 2014-2016 Kareem Adeleke undertook a graduate project under the supervision of Utah State University (USU) Plants, Soils and Climate professors, Drs. Jennifer Reeve, Astrid Jacobson, and Earl Creech. Organic wheat producers face numerous challenges, such as low soil moisture, soil erosion, and low soil fertility. Organic wheat growers generally do not apply fertilizer due to inability to recoup the costs in the short-term. Compost enhances long-term improvement in soil quality, soil fertility and increase yield in low input environments. Understanding of compost carryover effects in dryland wheat systems is necessary for increased yield that will allow adequate supply of …

Assessing The Effects Of Cold Storage Regimes Of North American Bombus Queens: Long Live The Humble Queen, Thuy - Tien Thai Lindsay

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bumble bees (Bombus) provide critical pollination services for wild plants and crops. They are generalist pollinators, and do not depend on one singular floral type. Native bumble bees are adapted to pollinating many native plants, such as blueberries, squash, and tomatoes. A critical component of bumble bee pollination in the greenhouse tomato industry is the domestication of commercially bred colonies. However, the domestication of Bombus is pretty early in its development, and not all aspects of the bumble bee life cycle is fully understood. This thesis addresses one of the major obstacles in domestication, which is successful mimicking …

Fate Of Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products In Duckweed And Waste Activated Sludge Under Aerobic And Anaerobic Solids Stabilization Conditions, Kwame Tweneboah Duodu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Twelve commonly used pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)(acetaminophen, β-Estradiol, caffeine, carbamazepine, DEET, estrone, gemfibrozil, triclosan, TCEP, sulfamethoxazole, progesterone, fluoxetine) were investigated to determine their fate in biosolids. These compounds were selected due to their wide usage, and varying properties, that makes them representative of many other PPCPs.

Commonly used PPCPs (caffeine commonly found in tea, coffee, chocolate and soda, the pain reliever acetaminophen, and the pesticide DEET) were detected in high amounts in the influent of the Hyrum WWTP and Wellsville sewage lagoons. Although conventional WWTPs are not designed to remove PPCPs from wastewater, some PPCPs, such as acetaminophen, …

A Deep Dive Into Natural Swimming Pool Filtration: Living Walls As Technical Wetland Filters, Anna Farb

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Vertical gardens such as living walls can filter air and water, in addition to cooling buildings, reducing noise, increasing urban biodiversity, providing food, and enhancing well-being. Natural swimming pools (NSPs) are an ecologically sound alternative to chemically treated pools, but they have not reached their potential in the U.S. We investigated whether a living wall could be integrated into an NSP system for water filtration purposes, given that the vertical filter would have to produce excellent water quality for human swimmers. This could be a novel landscape design, particularly in the cases of steep contours, urbanized sites with limited space, …

The Consequences Of Environmental Properties And Tree Spatial Neighborhood On Post-Fire Structure Of Forest In Yosemite National Park, Jelveh Tamjidi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Separating the contribution of habitat filtering and dispersal mechanisms in forming species distribution remains a challenge in community ecology. Despite the effect of environmental variables in structuring communities, only restricted numbers of them were considered as a habitat dissimilarity.

In Chapter 2, I used topography and soil properties to define habitats within the Yosemite Forest Dynamics Plot (YFDP). The soil enzymes were added in soil samples due to their important role in releasing nutrients into the soil environment. The preference of eleven species to a specific habitat were examined. Also, the relative importance of habitat filtering and dispersal limitation were …

Soil Health, Phosphorus And Carbon Dynamics In Response To A One-Time Compost Application And Cover Crops In Organic Dryland Winter Wheat, Idowu Ademola Atoloye

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Organic dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) growers in the U.S. are faced with high interannual variability in yields. This is related to the low annual precipitation and low soil fertility on the cultivated soils. Improving soil health is the key to increasing and maintaining crop yields. In this study, we compared the effects of different rates (0, 12.5, 25 and 50 Mg DW ha^-1 compost and 2 Mg ha manure^-1) of large quantities of steer manure compost and the inclusion of cover crops versus fallow on soil health and on carbon and phosphorus dynamics in …

The Role Of The Recently Deorphanized G-Protein Coupled Receptor, Gpr171, In Morphine Tolerance And Withdrawal, Leela Afrose

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Opioid analgesics, such as morphine, represent the gold standard pain killer and the most frequently used drugs for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. Despite being a potent analgesic, morphine has unwanted and dangerous side effects with repeated use, such as tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is a state when a person no longer responds to a drug and a higher dose is required to achieve the same initial pain relief. Withdrawal is a set of undesirable psychological and physiological symptoms that occur after someone stops taking a drug or reduces the dose. Morphine tolerance and withdrawal play a vital …

Effects Of Effort Training On Effort-Based Impulsive Choice, Sara Peck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Because impulsive decision-making is correlated with many maladaptive tendencies, researchers have increasingly studied methods for reducing impulsive choice. Most research in this area has focused on reducing delay-based impulsive choice, as measured by choices between smaller, immediate or larger, delayed rewards. A second type of impulsive choice is selecting a smaller, less-effortful reward over a larger, more-effortful one. Little nonhuman research has examined experimental methods for reducing effort-based impulsive choice. Within the realm of delay-based impulsive choice, extended exposure to reinforcer delays has proven effective in reducing impulsive choices in rats. The current study took a similar tac by evaluating …

Leadership Styles And Barriers To Leadership For Women In Agriculture: A Mixed Methods Study, Erica Ramsey Louder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Women are a growing demographic in agriculture, yet women holding positions in agricultural leadership is limited. This research sought to identify the ways women in agriculture lead by examining their leadership styles and the barriers they face as they strive to advance within their professions.

The results show that women are relationship-based leaders and that there are significant barriers that inhibit women’s advancement in agriculture. Many of these barriers are related to gender bias, self-perception, and life issues such as stress and workload.

Effects Of Premortem Stress On Heat Shock Protein Abundance, Oxidation, And Color In The Longissimus Lumborum Of Holstein Steers Following Harvest, Reganne K. Briggs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumers consider tenderness and steak color to be two important attributes associated with meat quality. However, inconsistencies in both tenderness and steak color remain despite similar production practices of beef cattle. Stressful events before harvest may impact meat quality by initiating certain pathways such as abundance of heat shock proteins (HSP) and oxidation within the skeletal muscle. Heat shock proteins have been associated with tenderness while oxidation may affect steak color and flavor. In this study, 40 Holstein steers were administered adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) to mimic a stressful event before harvest. Animals were harvested at different times following the ACTH …

Propagation Of Two Utah Native Plants: Ceanothus Velutinus And Cercocarpus Montanus, Asmita Paudel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Among various water conservative approaches, the use of native plants in landscape, such as Ceanothus velutinus (snowbrush ceanothus) and Cercocarpus montanus (alder-leaf mountain mahogany), is attractive. Efficient propagation methods are required to allow these native species to use in water-efficient landscaping. Sexual (seed) and asexual/vegetative (cuttings and micropropagation) propagation methods were evaluated.

Seeds of both C. velutinus and C. montanus were scarified and/or stratified and treated with gibberellic acid (GA₃) to break dormancy. The results showed hot water scarification and 2-3 months of stratification effectively broke the dormancy of C. velutinus seeds, and stratification for 2-3 months was …

Modulation Of P3 And The Late Positive Potential Erp Components By Standard Stimulus Restorativeness And Naturalness, Salif P. Mahamane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Tests of attention restoration theory (ART) consistently support that exposure to restorative environments can replenish finite cognitive resources, needed to focus attention, from a depleted state. These environments are usually natural, but the dimensions of naturalness and restorativeness are not one and the same, and yet have not been empirically delineated. The restorative effect has been documented in children and adults. However, neuroscientists have barely begun to test for neural correlates of ART. In this dissertation, I employ electroencephalography (EEG) to record electrophysiological brain activity during an active visual oddball task to capture and analyze p3 elicitation and late positive …

Application Of Compressive Sensing To Microwave Tomography, Rafael Gerardo Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Microwave tomography(MT) allows the safe, non-intrusive examination of the internal structureof an object by irradiating it with microwave signals and measuring how they get attenuated and diffracted as they propagate through the object. Measurement of these signals is difficult and slow, it depends on the objectâ??s physical properties and the test setup used for this. MT is based on a scanning process that yields measurement data with unique characteristics that make it difficult to process using standard computational methods. As the number of measurements needed for an image with acceptable resolution increases, the complexity of processing all the data becomes …

An Economic Analysis Of Using Retired Vessels To Create Artificial Reefs In Costa Rica, Josué González

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The Republic of Costa Rica is a Central American country with only 0.03% of the world’s landmass, but 5% of the world’s biodiversity, making it a leading ecotourism destination. Ecotourism is one of the main sources of revenue for the country, but the degradation of coastal reefs has resulted in a significant loss of financial income for developing areas. As a result, many of these areas are searching for methods to revert the degradation of coral reefs.

Artificial reefs play an important ecological role in marine ecosystems due to their complexity and size. They help in the development of …

Aerial Mineral And Organic Particulate Deposition In East Texas, Sarah Caton, Sarah Caton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study determined the monthly amount, particle size distribution, and chemical composition of particulate deposition in East Texas over a one-year period. It also recognized the seasonal patterns of this deposition as well as its primary origins as either mineral or organic particulate deposition.

The study recorded the monthly mass of deposition, particle size distribution, and the chemical makeup of deposition throughout a period of twelve months at seven sampling locations. SEM-EDS technology was used in conjunction with PCI programming to measure the sizes of depositional particles throughout this time period and identify their chemical composition.

The total yearly deposition …

Stratigraphy, Petrology, Diagenesis, Paleontology, And Depositional Environments Of The Harrisburg Member Of The Kaibab Formation In Northern Arizona And Southern Utah, Zachery T. Case

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Kaibab Formation has two members, the Fossil Mountain Member below and the Harrisburg Member above. They were deposited in shallow-marine shelf to restricted coastal settings. Stratigraphically above are the Rock Canyon Conglomerate and the Moenkopi Formation; consisting of the Timpoweap and Lower Red members; which are the only members present in the study area. The Rock Canyon Conglomerate was deposited in depressions and as a regolith. The Timpoweap and Lower Red members were deposited in shallow marine to tidal environments.

Nine stratigraphic units were identified in the Harrisburg Member. Units one, two, three, five, six, seven, and nine are …

Pananalamin At Pagkokolorete, Benilda S. Santos

Katipunan

Ang sanaysay ay isang bugso ng pagkatuto ng may-akda hinggil sa pagkamasunurin bilang paraan upang magkapapel sa patriarkiya, at upang matutuhan ang unang leksiyon: ang sariling pamamahala sa kalinisan ng katawan. Narito ang pagmumuni-muni sa pisikal, ang pagsubheto (pagdidisiplina rin) dito sa pamamagitan ng kalinisan. Narito rin ang mga kamag-anak, ang mga minahal, at patuloy na minamahal: ang baha-bahagi nila na nasa may-akda; sila na mga tekstong buháy na naggugumiit sa kamalayan ng may-akda. Narito rin ang hika, ang sakit na naging birtud, o mutya ng kaniyang pagpasok sa mundo ng teksto. Ang mga unang pagbababad sa pagbabasa at pagsusulat. …

Sakit Ng Loob, Sakit Ng Labas: Pagtutumbas Sa Mga Neolohismong Umusbong Sa Kontemporanidad Ng Covid-19 Tungo Sa Pag-Unawa Ng Kasaysayan Ng Ketong Sa Patolohiyang Pilipino, Axle Christien Tugano

Katipunan

Layunin ng artikulong ito na itampok ang umaalingawngaw na isyu patungkol sa pandemyang dulot ng COVID-19 sa Pilipinas. Sa pagsasapantaha, tila bagang itinatrato ng mga kontemporanyong Pilipino ang paglaganap nito bilang isang bago at kaunaunahang sakit na naranasan ng ating lipunan. Sinasalamin lamang nito ang hindi lipos na pag-aaral patungkol sa patolohiyang Pilipino. Kaya’t may tendensiya na balahuin o hindi seryosohin ng balanang Pilipino ang kinahaharap na pandemya dahil bukod sa kulang ang mga kaalaman ukol dito, posibleng hindi na napipiho ang naging hamon at tugon ng ating lipunan sa mga nagdaang sakit (na mas malala pa nga sa COVID-19). …

Doc Willie: The Movie: Isang Rebyu, Samuel Cabbuag

Katipunan

No abstract provided.

Dust And Shadow, Anna Grant Dean

Graduate Theses

Dust and Shadow is an investigation into systems of order and chaos that exist within the natural and manmade worlds. Human constructs (such as grids) and manmade systems (such as social media) abide in a space that is tangential to the structures and systems that choreograph the functions of the natural world. Exploring how these two very different worlds weave in and out of human existence allows me to examine my relationship to the complex facets of this twenty-first century experience.

My research into chaos and entropy serves as a catalyst for this body of work. Examining the parallels between …

Sequence Analysis In Bos Taurus Reveals Pervasiveness Of X-Y Arms Races In Mammalian Lineages, Jennifer F Hughes, Colin Kremitzki, Catrina Fronick, Tina A Graves-Lindsay, Lucinda Fulton, Wesley C Warren, Richard K Wilson, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Studies of Y Chromosome evolution have focused primarily on gene decay, a consequence of suppression of crossing-over with the X Chromosome. Here, we provide evidence that suppression of X-Y crossing-over unleashed a second dynamic: selfish X-Y arms races that reshaped the sex chromosomes in mammals as different as cattle, mice, and men. Using super-resolution sequencing, we explore the Y Chromosome of

Microplastic Abundance, Distribution And Impacts On Sargassum-Associated Juvenile Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia Lestrade

Master's Theses

Microplastics are a concern in marine environments because they are highly durable, ubiquitous, and can be mistaken for food and ingested by small organisms. Pelagic Sargassum, an important habitat for larval and juvenile stages of many fish species, is found in large surface aggregations, and may provide complex structure in which microplastics become trapped. This could lead to greater risk of microplastic ingestion by fish early life stages associated with Sargassum habitats. To better understand the impacts of microplastics within Sargassum communities, this study examined 1) microplastic concentrations and ingestion by juvenile fishes associated with Sargassum; 2) the microbial …

A Call To Arms: A Comparative Study Of Mississippi And Kentucky Citizens During The Secession Crisis, 1859-1861, Amy Myers

Master's Theses

Many studies of the American Civil War have considered why Mississippi leaders voted to secede, while Kentucky politicians remained in the Union. Scholars have previously focused on political elites to understand the underlying motivations behind each state’s decision. These same scholars have often confined their studies to a synthesis of why secession occurred nationally or at the state level. The question remains as to what the common citizen saw and believed when faced with secession and if their views matched their delegates.

This study utilizes the governors’ papers of John J. Pettus and Beriah Magoffin, the Jefferson Davis papers, and …

Determining The Trophic Role Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) In Mississippi State Waters Using Stomach Content And Stable Isotope Analysis, Branden Kohler

Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to determine the diet composition, trophic position and ecological role of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in Mississippi state waters utilizing stable isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) and stomach content analysis. Stable isotope analysis of fish and their prey can provide information on species-specific basal resource utilization, diet composition and trophic position which can improve food web models and inform fisheries management decisions. Particulate organic matter (POM), the presumed base of the food web, red snapper muscle tissue, and red snapper stomach contents were collected from 25 sites in 2016 and …

Assessing The Nursery-Role Function Of Pelagic Sargassum For Juvenile Fishes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Courtney Stachowiak

Master's Theses

Sargassum, a genus of holopelagic brown algae, floats at the ocean’s surface using air-filled bladders and forms a complex comprised of two species, S. natans and S. fluitans. Oceanic processes (e.g., Langmuir circulation, etc.) aggregate Sargassum into mats and weedlines, and primarily distribute the algal complex throughout the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). These floating habitats provide shelter and feeding opportunities for a diverse community of invertebrates and fishes. Sargassum is a presumed nursery habitat for juvenile stages of commercially- and recreationally-targeted fishery species. In this study, I estimated the standardized abundances of juvenile …

The Cancer Patient And Cardiology, José Luis Zamorano, Christer Gottfridsson, Riccardo Asteggiano, Dan Atar, Lina Badimon, Jeroen J Bax, Daniela Cardinale, Antonella Cardone, Elizabeth A M Feijen, Péter Ferdinandy, Teresa López-Fernández, Chris P Gale, John H Maduro, Javid Moslehi, Torbjørn Omland, Juan Carlos Plana Gomez, Jessica Scott, Thomas M Suter, Giorgio Minotti

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Advances in cancer treatments have improved clinical outcomes, leading to an increasing population of cancer survivors. However, this success is associated with high rates of short- and long-term cardiovascular (CV) toxicities. The number and variety of cancer drugs and CV toxicity types make long-term care a complex undertaking. This requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes expertise in oncology, cardiology and other related specialties, and has led to the development of the cardio-oncology subspecialty. This paper aims to provide an overview of the main adverse events, risk assessment and risk mitigation strategies, early diagnosis, medical and complementary strategies for prevention and …

Stat1 Dissociates Adipose Tissue Inflammation From Insulin Sensitivity In Obesity, Aaron R Cox, Natasha Chernis, David A Bader, Pradip K Saha, Peter M Masschelin, Jessica B Felix, Robert Sharp, Zeqin Lian, Vasanta Putluri, Kimal Rajapakshe, Kang Ho Kim, Dennis T Villareal, Reina Armamento-Villareal, Huaizhu Wu, Cristian Coarfa, Nagireddy Putluri, Sean M Hartig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Obesity fosters low-grade inflammation in white adipose tissue (WAT) that may contribute to the insulin resistance that characterizes type 2 diabetes. However, the causal relationship of these events remains unclear. The established dominance of STAT1 function in the immune response suggests an obligate link between inflammation and the comorbidities of obesity. To this end, we sought to determine how STAT1 activity in white adipocytes affects insulin sensitivity. STAT1 expression in WAT inversely correlated with fasting plasma glucose in both obese mice and humans. Metabolomic and gene expression profiling established STAT1 deletion in adipocytes (STAT1a-KO) enhanced mitochondrial function …

Mouse Models To Study The Pathophysiology Of Combined Methylmalonic Acidemia And Homocystinuria, Cblc Type, Tiffany Chern, Annita Achilleos, Xuefei Tong, Chih-Wei Hsu, Leeyean Wong, Ross A Poché

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Combined methylmalonic acidemia and homocystinuria, cblC type, is the most common inherited disorder of cobalamin metabolism and is characterized by severe fetal developmental defects primarily impacting the central nervous system, hematopoietic system, and heart. CblC was previously shown to be due to mutations in the MMACHC gene, which encodes a protein thought to function in intracellular cobalamin trafficking and biosynthesis of adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl) and methylcobalamin (MeCbl). These coenzymes are required for the production of succinyl-CoA and methionine, respectively. However, it is currently unclear whether additional roles for MMACHC exist outside of cobalamin metabolism. Furthermore, due to a lack of sufficient …

The Modular Expression Patterns Of Three Pigmentation Genes Prefigure Unique Abdominal Morphologies Seen Among Three Drosophila Species, William A. Dion, Mujeeb O. Shittu, Tessa Steenwinkel, Komal K.B. Raja, Prajakta P. Kokate, Thomas Werner

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

To understand how novel animal body colorations emerged, one needs to ask how the development of color patterns differs among closely related species. Here we examine three species of fruit flies – Drosophila guttifera (D. guttifera), D. palustris, and D. subpalustris – displaying a varying number of abdominal spot rows. Through in situ hybridization experiments, we examine the mRNA expression patterns for the pigmentation genes Dopa decarboxylase (Ddc), tan (t), and yellow (y) during pupal development. Our results show that Ddc, t, and y are co-expressed in modular, identical patterns, each foreshadowing the adult abdominal spots in D. guttifera, D. …