Digital Commons Network^™

Virulence Of Drosophila C Virus Increased After A Host Shift And Serial Passage In Drosophila Hosts, Katie A. Johnson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

The outcomes of novel host-pathogen interactions are unpredictable but can result in epidemics or pandemics. Exploring the initial encounter between a pathogen and a novel host species can elucidate why some pathogens successfully infect and adapt on a novel host when others fail. Much of our understanding of host virulence after host shifts was developed using serial passage experiments (SPEs) in bacteria. Three accepted SPE generalities have emerged: virulence increases on the novel host, the evolved pathogen will become less able to infect its native host, and the pathogen experiences convergent evolution. This study tests the first two generalities using …

Love Is A Country, Gregory Ethan Scheiber

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Non-Commercial Thinning On Great Horned Owls On Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Christopher P. Brady

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

To sustain forest health, increase species diversity and reduce wildfire events in the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests of at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR) managers have implemented a variety of approaches including prescribed burning and non-commercial thinning. The impacts of thinning on owl species diversity and habitat occupancy have not been studied in these ponderosa pine forests. My study had the following objectives 1) compare forest stand metrics between treatment plots, 2) compare owl species richness between treatment plots, 3) examine if occupancy and detection patterns of Great Horned Owls varied with forest condition and season, respectively, and 4) …

Measuring Variation In Body Morphology And Life History Traits In Brook Stickleback (Culaea Inconstans), Eastern Washington, Usa, Lily Crytser

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

For freshwater ecosystems, invasive species are considered a major threat to biodiversity, and pose a challenge to those attempting to advance management strategies aimed at conserving natural populations. An invasive species’ ability to successfully invade a new ecosystem may be influenced by phenotypic plasticity, flexibility of life history traits, and the ability to migrate/disperse, among other factors. Brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) have been a concern in eastern Washington since 1999 when they were discovered in water bodies on Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. The purpose of this project was to describe potential variation in body morphology traits between systems that differed …

Developing Engaged Scholars Through Glocal Learning: A Case Study Of The Thailand Global Citizenship And Civic Engagement Initiative, Sornnate Areesophonpichet, Chris R. Glass, Rachawan Wongtrirat

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

With the development of Thailand 4.0, it is critical for engaged scholars to address the role of higher education in Thailand’s social and economic development with an understanding of how local histories (local) and economic globalization (global) shape their work. We discuss the Thai context for community engagement, then describe the purpose and learning goals for the Global Citizenship and Civic Engagement (GCCE) initiative, as well as the methodological approach used to assess the initiative’s impact and long-term sustainability. The findings highlight how glocal learning fostered Thai and U.S. graduate students’ valuing local knowledge and linking economic inequality to environmental …

Comparison Of Wetland Restoration Techniques In And Around Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Cheney, Wa, Jade S. Clinkenbeard

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Throughout the West, wetlands have been drained or filled in for agricultural or urban uses. Staff at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR) in Cheney work with local landowners to restore wetlands through excavation or flooding techniques. Unfortunately, TNWR staff cannot evaluate the wetlands to determine which technique is most successful. This thesis project compared the macroinvertebrate and plant communities and the limnological features of wetlands restored through excavation and flooding with those of unaltered, reference wetlands on TNWR. I hypothesized that the reference wetlands would hold water longest and would have higher plant diversity and macroinvertebrate diversity and abundance than …

Biology I Lab, Melba D. Horton

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Perioperative Acute Kidney Injury, Sam D Gumbert, Felix Kork, Maisie L Jackson, Naveen Vanga, Semhar J Ghebremichael, Christy Y Wang, Holger K Eltzschig

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Perioperative organ injury is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality of surgical patients. Among different types of perioperative organ injury, acute kidney injury occurs particularly frequently and has an exceptionally detrimental effect on surgical outcomes. Currently, acute kidney injury is most commonly diagnosed by assessing increases in serum creatinine concentration or decreased urine output. Recently, novel biomarkers have become a focus of translational research for improving timely detection and prognosis for acute kidney injury. However, specificity and timing of biomarker release continue to present challenges to their integration into existing diagnostic regimens. Despite many clinical trials using various …

The Vimentin Rod Domain Blocks P-Selectin-P-Selectin Glycoprotein Ligand 1 Interactions To Attenuate Leukocyte Adhesion To Inflamed Endothelium, Fong Wilson Lam, Cameron August Brown, Christian Valladolid, Dabel Cynthia Emebo, Timothy Gerald Palzkill, Miguel Angel Cruz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Acute inflammation begins with leukocyte P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) binding to P-selectin on inflamed endothelium and platelets. In pathologic conditions, this process may contribute to secondary organ damage, like sepsis-induced liver injury. Therefore, developing novel therapies to attenuate inflammation may be beneficial. We previously reported that recombinant human vimentin (rhVim) binds P-selectin to block leukocyte adhesion to endothelium and platelets. In this study, we used SPOT-peptide arrays to identify the rod domain as the active region within rhVim that interacts with P-selectin. Indeed, recombinant human rod domain of vimentin (rhRod) binds to P-selectin with high affinity, with in silico modeling …

Extracellular Mitochondria Released From Traumatized Brains Induced Platelet Procoagulant Activity, Zilong Zhao, Yuan Zhou, Tristan Hilton, Fanjian Li, Cha Han, Li Liu, Hengjie Yuan, Ying Li, Xin Xu, Xiaoping Wu, Fangyi Zhang, Perumal Thiagarajan, Andrew Cap, Fu-Dong Shi, Jianning Zhang, Jing-Fei Dong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Coagulopathy often develops soon after acute traumatic brain injury and its cause remains poorly understood. We have shown that injured brains release cellular microvesicles that disrupt the endothelial barrier and induce consumptive coagulopathy. Morphologically intact extracellular mitochondria accounted for 55.2% of these microvesicles, leading to the hypothesis that these extracellular mitochondria are metabolically active and serve as a source of oxidative stress that activates platelets and renders them procoagulant. In testing this hypothesis experimentally, we found that the extracellular mitochondria purified from brain trauma mice and those released from brains subjected to freeze-thaw injury remained metabolically active and produced reactive …

Spironolactone In Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Results Of A Cross-Over Study, Zeenat Safdar, Adaani Frost, Arya Basant, Anita Deswal, E O'Brian Smith, Mark Entman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system is implicated in the pathophysiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension. We undertook this study to determine the effects of spironolactone, a mineralocorticoid receptor blocker, on collagen metabolism in pulmonary arterial hypertension patients. After obtaining institutional review board approval and informed consent, 42 pulmonary arterial hypertension patients were prospectively enrolled and 35 patients completed the 16-week randomized double-blinded crossover clinical trial. Subjects received 50 mg spironolactone or placebo and at the end of week 8, treatment arm was switched. Circulating levels of collagen biomarkers, brain natriuretic peptide, and aldosterone levels were measured, and six-minute walk distance, liver function tests, …

Protocatechuic Acid As A Topical Antimicrobial For Surgical Skin Antisepsis: Preclinical Investigations, Omid Jalali, Molly Best, Alison Wong, Brett Schaeffer, Brendon Bauer, Lanny Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: There is a need for novel skin antiseptic agents to combat the health-care burdens associated with surgical site infection (SSI) and bacterial resistance. The purpose of this proof-of-principle pilot study was to investigate the potential of the phenolic compound protocatechuic acid (PCA) as a topical antimicrobial for surgical skin antisepsis.

METHODS: The Kirby-Bauer method of disc diffusion was used to investigate the in vitro antimicrobial activity and comparative effectiveness of PCA and 7 related compounds against SSI pathogens. To explore the in vivo efficacy of topical PCA for providing deep, penetrating skin antisepsis, living

RESULTS: Compared with other polyphenols, …

Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 16 No. 2, 2020, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Contents:

Editor's Introduction by Melissa S. Dale

We are pleased to announce the publication of the latest issue of Asia Pacific Perspectives. In vol. 16, no. 2 (2020), we present the multifaceted ways in which scholars in the humanities and social sciences are looking at food and culture in the Asia Pacific. Beyond satisfying our curiosity about food trends and consumption patterns both past and present, our latest issue also considers themes important for our understanding of East Asia during the 20th and 21st centuries including global modernity, imperialism, the history of food in East Asia, the history of animal …

Sirt3 Promotes Lipophagy And Chaperon-Mediated Autophagy To Protect Hepatocytes Against Lipotoxicity, Tian Zhang, Jingxin Liu, Shengnan Shen, Qiang Tong, Xiaojun Ma, Ligen Lin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Lipophagy is a lysosomal lipolytic pathway that complements the actions of cytosolic neutral lipases. Chaperon-mediated autophagy (CMA) triggers lipid droplets (LDs) breakdown, to initiate lipolysis via either cytosolic lipases or macroautophagy. SIRT3, a mitochondrial NAD+-dependent deacetylase, regulates the acetylation status and activity of many substrates involving in energy metabolism. However, the role of SIRT3 in regulating lipophagy is controversial. The current study showed that SIRT3 expression was decreased and the macroautophagy flux was blocked in the primary hepatocytes from high-fat diet fed mice and P/O (palmitic acid and oleic acid mixture) treated AML12 mouse hepatocytes, compared with the corresponding controls. …

Price And Performance Trends For Cellular Trail Cameras Explained With A Time Trend, Google Keyword Trends, And A Use Case Of Suburban Deer Management, G. Webb

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Price and performance improvements for trail cameras, remote cameras designed for wildlife observation, havegiven wildlife researchers a widely accepted new tool. After their introduction in 2010, cellular trail cameras havebecome popular, saving travel time and reducing disturbance to wildlife. A use case of trail cameras for suburbandeer management illustrates desirable product features and risks of using citizen science for research. A time trendof camera prices identifies a common product price pattern for technology products, a decline following a logisticor inverted s-curve. Data from Google Keyword Trends captures the changing level of market interest correlatedwith high statistical significance compared to price …

Hypogonadism, Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus, And Bone Health: A Narrative Review, Vittoria Russo, Rui Chen, Reina Armamento-Villareal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

One of the complications from chronic hyperglycemia and insulin resistance due to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in men is the high prevalence of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). Both T2DM and hypogonadism are associated with impaired bone health and increased fracture risk but whether the combination results in even worse bone disease than either one alone is not well-studied. It is possible that having both conditions predisposes men to an even greater risk for fracture than either one alone. Given the common occurrence of HH or hypogonadism in general in T2DM, a significant number of men could …

High Tensile Permanent Electric Fence, Electrifying The Fence, Matthew Palmer, Eric Thacker, Shannon Cromwell, Kevin Heaton, Kohl Carter

All Current Publications

This fact sheet discusses the proper way to energize or power the high tensile fence so livestock will respect its boundaries.

High Tensile Permanent Electric Fence, Installation, Matthew Palmer, Eric Thacker, Shannon Cromwell, Kevin Heaton, Kohl Carter

All Current Publications

This fact sheet details important installation steps to follow to ensure a durable and long-lasting high-tensile electric fence..

Shrub Management Handbook For Utah Rangelands, Rebecca Mann, Tom Monaco, Kari E. Veblen, Eric Thacker, Elizabeth A. Burritt

All Current Publications

This handbook is a guide to developing realistic project plans and implementing appropriate management strategies by enhancing your understanding of basic shrub biology, ecological concepts,and management principles.

Infants’ Relationship With Drop-Offs And Water Environments, Carolina Burnay Rodrigues De Morais

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Underpinned by the ecological approach to perceptual-motor development, this Thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the organization of infants’ behaviour during encounters with drop-offs and water environments. Previous studies have linked locomotor experience to infants’ avoidance of falling from heights. Using the Real Cliff / Water Cliff apparatus, Burnay and Cordovil (2016) confirmed the effect of locomotor experience on crawlers’ avoidance of drop-offs and linked locomotor experience to infants’ avoidance of falling into the water for the first time. However, the effect of other specific locomotor experiences on infants’ approach to aquatic environments has not been addressed. This …

Application Of Advanced Algorithms And Statistical Techniques For Weed-Plant Discrimination, Saman Akbar Zadeh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Precision agriculture requires automated systems for weed detection as weeds compete with the crop for water, nutrients, and light. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of machine learning methods to classify weeds/crops in agriculture. Statistical methods, support vector machines, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are introduced, investigated and optimized as classifiers to provide high accuracy at high vehicular speed for weed detection.

Initially, Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms are developed for weed-crop discrimination and their accuracies are compared with a conventional data-aggregation method based on the evaluation of discrete Normalised Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVIs) at two different …

Conospermum Undulatum: Insights Into Population Genetics And Pollination Ecology Of A Threatened Species, Nicola Delnevo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Fragmentation of natural vegetation is currently one of the largest threats to biodiversity. Within the southwest Australia global biodiversity hotspot, the Swan Coastal Plain was historically cleared for agriculture and forestry and is now experiencing extensive land clearing for urbanisation. The wavy-leaved smokebush Conospermum undulatum is a rare species endemic to the Swan Coastal Plain, and its future persistence is threatened by urban expansion.

Throughout this research, I investigated the pollination ecology of this species and found a specific association between C. undulatum and native bees for pollination. I also demonstrated that C. undulatum has evolved pollen with resistance to …

Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes For Advanced Optical Materials, Wearable Biosensing, And Bioimaging, Mohammad Moein Safaee

Open Access Dissertations

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) functionalized with synthetic or natural polymers are a class of advanced optical nanomaterials that have recently found applications in a wide range of molecular diagnostics platforms as biosensors and bioimaging agents. Despite their widespread applications, there is an urgent need to develop standard characterization assays to evaluate their optical, physical, and interfacial properties in vitro and in complex biological environments. The results from such assays are essential for defining general design principles for nanotube-based optical probes and biosensing devices. Moreover, to fully exploit the nanotube's unique properties for health monitoring, it is essential to employ micro- …

Regulating Quiescence And Division In Escherichia Coli, Eric Charles Dibiasio

Open Access Dissertations

The decision for a bacterium to grow and divide may seem like a simple process, but in reality, there are many factors that influence and regulate this choice. Bacteria have been known to respond to many environmental signals or cues that represent either favorable or non-favorable growth conditions, as well as cues, secreted from other bacteria or, in the case of a pathogen, the host. It is not uncommon for bacteria that find their environment unfavorable, to alter their growth, and in some cases, even enter into a type of non-proliferative state, which we term, dormancy. Bacterial dormancy has many …

Distribution Of Novel And Legacy Organic Pollutants In Seabirds From Contrasting Marine Environments, Anna Ruth Robuck

Open Access Dissertations

Despite their ubiquity in the environment, large data gaps exist surrounding the distribution, biotic accumulation, and possible impacts of many high priority organic pollutants, particularly those considered emerging contaminants. Emerging pollutants, or contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), represent a dynamic and rapidly evolving group of substances, some of which have been extant for decades. Chapter 1 provides background about CECs covered in this dissertation, and highlights key data gaps explored within this work.

The first three manuscripts of this dissertation (Chapters 2 – 5) focus on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. PFAS are a family of CECs that demonstrate …

Investigating Nat Products & Pharmaceuticals Targeting Inflammation In Neurodegenerative Diseases, Shelby L. Johnson

Open Access Dissertations

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease (AD and PD, respectively) are the two most common neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, no interventions have been successful in stopping the progression of these diseases. Here, we utilize two independent strategies: the use of natural products and repurposed pharmaceuticals to target neuroinflammation in models of neurodegeneration.

Natural products have been used for their medicinal properties for centuries in traditional eastern medicine practices. Mucuna pruriens (Mucuna) is a well-known natural source of levodopa, typically prescribed in Ayurveda for PD. A novel levodopa reduced seed extract exhibited protective effects against oxidative stress and PD specific toxic agents, both in …

Right-Shoring: Offshoring To Reshoring For A Sustainable Manufacturing Location Decision In The Healthcare Industry, Gawon Yun

Open Access Dissertations

Firms have increasingly offshored manufacturing to foreign countries in the past decades due to the expected benefits driven by low manufacturing costs in developing economies. With changes in competition and government pressure for domestic production, however, manufacturing firms have reevaluated these decisions leading some to reshore manufacturing activities. Recent studies have investigated various reshoring motivations and developed conceptual frameworks that can be used as tools in reshoring decisions. However, the complexity in decision making remains high due to product and industry specific traits impacting the manufacturing process. Examples include the increasing concern over product quality and changing regulations. Two industries …

Structured, Individualized, Video-Based Coaching To Improve Technical Skill Acquisition, Kenneth A. Lynch Jr.

Open Access Dissertations

In the current era of a reduced hourly workweek and competency-based curriculum, it is becoming increasingly clear that the cognitive apprenticeship model of training, which dominated the surgical discipline for well over a century, may no longer be the single best strategy to train the surgeons of today. There needs to be a multifaceted approach to surgical residency training, especially with regards to improving technical skill acquisition. Video-based-coaching is quickly being adapted for use in many training programs due to its low cost and broad range of applications including self-assessment, operative evaluations, and bench model training. The challenge for most …

Icg- And Gnp-Phlip: Novel Agents For Imaging And Therapy, Troy M. Crawford

Open Access Dissertations

After heart disease, cancer is the leading cause of death in the U.S. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 38% of the population will be diagnosed with cancer at some point over the course of their life. This number is only expected to increase with the increased age of the general public due to medical progress, leading to an increased importance in finding effective and convenient treatment that can be used across a wide array of cancers.

In theory, any tumor can be destroyed using enough of a cytotoxic method, whether it be heating, radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy. However, …

Lsvt®Big Exercise-Induced Neuroplasticity In People With Parkinson’S Disease: An Assessment Of Physiological And Behavioral Outcomes, Christine Marie Clarkin

Open Access Dissertations

Background and Purpose

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the impact of LSVT.BIG, an intensive, whole-body, amplitude-based exercise protocol for people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD), on functional mobility, quality of life, and markers of neuroplasticity. A secondary aim was to evaluate correlations between neurobiological measures (serum brain derived neurotrophic factor - sBDNF) and functional changes associated with the intervention.

Methods

Nine people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD), age = 69.9 years Å} 4.9, were recruited from the local community and enrolled in LSVT BIG, which includes 16, one-hour individual treatment sessions delivered over one month (4 sessions per …