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A New Teucrium L. (Lamiaceae) Species From South Anatolia (Turkey), Ömer Çeçen, Taner Özcan

Turkish Journal of Botany

In this study, a member of sect. Teucrium, hitherto undescribed as a new species, was analyzed based on morphological and micromorphological features and molecular findings. The closest species of the new species were defined according to leaf morphology via morphological characters. Leaf, stem, and nutlet trichome types were obtained and compared with resembling species. Moreover, two different DNA region sequences were used to evaluate its proper phylogenetic position in the section. The new species was described as Teucrium turcicum Çeçen & Özcan based on the results of using different approaches. According to our observations, flower color, leaf structure, and shape …

Metabolite Profiling, Distribution Of Secretory Structures, And Histochemistry Incurculigo Orchioides Gaertn. And Curculigo Latifolia Dryand. Ex W.T.Aiton, Abdul Halim Umar, Diah Ratnadewi, Mohamad Rafi, Yohana C. Sulistyaningsih, Hamim Hamim

Turkish Journal of Botany

Curculigo orchioides and Curculigo latifolia (Hypoxidaceae) have been widely used as traditional medicines in Indonesia and other Asian countries for antihyperglycemic, aphrodisiac, antioxidant, and antimicrobial treatments. This work aimed to determine the distribution of secretory structures and metabolites. Metabolite profiling approach of the plant organs was determined by UHPLC-QOrbitrap-HRMS. Histochemical-based techniques on rhizome, root, petiole, and leaf, with transversal sections on fresh samples, were prepared using a razor blade to determine the secretory structures of the plants, followed by plant anatomy procedures. Histochemical analysis was carried out using several reagents to detect the metabolites. Metabolite profiling revealed several classes of …

Using A Supermatrix Approach To Explore Phylogenetic Relationships, Divergence Times,And Historical Biogeography Of Saxifragales, Cara Tarullo, Jeffrey Rose, Kenneth Sytsma, Bryan T. Drew

Turkish Journal of Botany

The Saxifragales is a morphologically and ecologically diverse clade of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution. Although families and genera within the order exhibit classic biogeographical disjunctions, no studies to date have rigorously examined and described its historical biogeography. Here, we analyze the historical biogeography of Saxifragales by first generating a new chronogram for the order using a supermatrix approach, based on 61 loci from 251 representative members of Saxifragales. Our results suggest that Saxifragales originated in the early Albian approximately 107 Ma and diversified rapidly in the next 15 Ma, with all stem lineages of extant families present by …

Aethionema Aytachii (Brassicaceae): A New Species From Central Anatolia, Turkey, Kuddi̇si̇ Ertuğrul, Ergi̇n Hamzaoğlu, Hakki Demi̇relma, Tuna Uysal, Meryem Bozkurt, Emrah Şi̇ri̇n, Burcu Yilmaz Çitak, I. A. Al-Shehbaz

Turkish Journal of Botany

Aethionema aytachii Ertuğrul & Hamzaoğlu, a new species from central Anatolia that grows on marly hills in the Ayaş district of Ankara Province (Turkey), is described and its relationships and distinguishing characters from the closest relative A. dumanii are discussed. The shape of pollen grains of A. aytachii is tricolpate, and its seed-coat sculpture is verrucate. Sequence data of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the new species was used to determine about its phylogenetic relation within Aethionema.

Interactive Effects Of Salinity And Plant Density On The Growth Ofcyperus Arenarius, A Sand Dune Stabilizer, Farhat Agha, Muhammad Zaheer Ahmed, Bilquees Gul, Muhammad Ajmal Khan

Turkish Journal of Botany

Competition and environmental stress are crucial factors for structuring plant population in natural habitats. Cyperus arenarius, a sedge of coastal sand dunes habitat, is a suitable species for coastal restoration and dune stabilization, but how salinity and plant density interact in affecting its growth is still unknown. Here, growth, survival, and physiological responses of C. arenarius to salinity (sea-salt) and plant density were investigated. A set of growth experiments in which combinations of 4 salinity levels (0, 2, 4, and 6 S m-1 sea-salt) and 3 planting densities (2, 5, 8 plants pot-1) were tested under controlled greenhouse conditions. Plant …

Phenolic Content, Antibacterial, Antioxidant, And Toxicological Investigations Oferodium Guttatum (Geraniaceae) Collected From The Northeast Of Morocco, Hanae Naceiri Mrabti, Latifa Doudach, Mohamed Reda Kachmar, Abdelaziz Ed Dra, Zineb Khali, Nidal Naceiri Mrabti, Kaoutar Benrahou Benrahou, Khouloud Harraqui, Gökhan Zengi̇n, Abdelhakim Bouyahya, Moulay El Abbes Faouzi

Turkish Journal of Botany

Erodium genus contains several medicinal traditionally used and pharmacologically explored. However, Erodium guttatum has not been well valorized. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of E. guttatum extracts in addition to their toxicity. To achieve the objectives of this study, methanol and aqueous extracts of E. guttatum were prepared. Then, antibacterial activity was evaluated against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 43816, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, and Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 13932 by disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods. The antioxidant activity was …

A Comparative Study Of Physicochemical Properties, Antioxidant And Enzyme Inhibitionactivities Of Oils Extracted From Seeds Of Seven New Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.) Lines, Ahmed A. A. Abdalla, Sakina Yagi, Gökhan Zengi̇n, Abdelwahab H. Abdallah, Abdirahman Elmi, Rosella Spina, Francois Dupire, Dominique Mattar

Turkish Journal of Botany

This study was aimed to evaluate the physicochemical properties and chemical profile of seeds oil obtained from new seven sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) lines as well as their antioxidant and enzyme inhibition activity. The seeds powder was extracted by maceration in n-hexane. The oil content of the seven lines was ranged from 20.04% to 36.65% and was either yellow or pale yellow in color. No significant variations were observed on the refractive index (1.46 unit) of the oil. Oils of the seven lines were significantly (p ? 0.05) different in their saponification values (32.13-282.66 mg KOH/g oil), peroxide values (1.76-13.26 …

Caprine Mhc Gene Polymorphism And Its Association With Endoparasitic Infestation(Haemonchus Contortus) In Indian Goat Breeds, Thirunavukkarasu Sbalamurugan, Pushpendra Kumar, Kush Shrivastava, Chinmoy Mishra, Om Prakash, Amit Kumar, Anuj Chauhan, Nihar Ranjan Sahoo, Manjit Panigrahi, Bharat Bhushan, Arvind Prasad, Ilayakumar Kaveriyappan, Sharavanan Velusamy

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present study examined the variability of MHC class II DRB exon 2 gene using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of PCR-amplified fragments PCR-(RFLP), and its association with Haemonchus contortus infestation in Salem Black and Tellicherry goat population. Animals were naturally exposed to mixed infestation of endoparasites, predominantly Haemonchus contortus. Pooled fecal coproculture and larval identification showed predominant presence of haemonchus (L3) larva. Fecal egg count (FEC) and packed cell volume (PCV) were used as indicator traits. All the three studied loci, TaqI, BsaI, and BsaHI, were polymorphic having two alleles and three genotypes. The loci showed low to moderate …

High Level Of Fluctuating Asymmetry In The Byzantine Dogs From The Theodosius Harbor,Istanbul, Turkey, Abu B. Siddiq, Pere M Pares Casanova, Öğül Emre Öncü, Hakan Kar, Vedat Onar

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Asymmetry, the abnormality of an organism or a part of it from its perfect symmetry, is represented by three different categories: fluctuating asymmetry, directional asymmetry, and antisymmetry. Fluctuating asymmetry attributes to random developmental variation of a morphological character, whereas directional asymmetry attributes one of the body sides to be more prominent than the other. Antisymmetry appears whenever one body side of a biological body shows greater morphological appearance than the other. Since more environmental stress often produces greater effect of fluctuating asymmetry, it can be a good indicator of physiological stress in the morphological characteristic of a biological being. Applying, …

Igf-1 And Gh Alterations In Lambs With Intestinal Inflammation, Ethem Mutlu Temi̇zel, Adi̇l Ömer Karakuş, Fati̇h Kavukcu, Duygu Udum Küçükşen, İlker Ercan

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) acts on the development of internal organs such as the small intestine and muscle in all animal species. Similar to IGF-1, GH is also essential for growth and is an effective hormone on intestinal development during neonatal period. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of diarrhea on IGF-1 and GH hormones in lambs with intestinal inflammation up to 63 days of age. The study material consisted of 15 healthy and 15 diarrheic lambs. Blood and fecal samples were collected on the first day of life and on the 7th, 14th, 21st, 35th, …

Quality And Fertility Of Extended Boar Semen After Prolonged Transport, Tomislav Barna, Jelena Apic, Aleksandar Milovanovic, Nevena Maksimovic, Aleksandar Masic, Marina Lazarevic, Milos Pavlovic

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of this study was to analyse semen quality parameters of fresh-extended porcine semen imported from Denmark through prolonged importing regulations and transport and to analyse fertility performance in sows inseminated four days post semen collection. Semen was analysed immediately upon the arrival (4 days post collection) using computer-assisted sperm analyses (CASA), cytomorphology and flow cytometry, and sows were inseminated later the same day. The mean sperm concentration was 1718.09 ± 100.11 × 106 , with average of 1193.40 ± 90.58 × 106 motile cells (69%) and 756.04 ± 70.57 × 106 progressive motile spermatozoa (43.58%) in a dose, …

High Performance Spectral Methods For Graph-Based Machine Learning, Yongyu Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Graphs play a critical role in machine learning and data mining fields. The success of graph-based machine learning algorithms highly depends on the quality of the underlying graphs. Desired graphs should have two characteristics: 1) they should be able to well-capture the underlying structures of the data sets. 2) they should be sparse enough so that the downstream algorithms can be performed efficiently on them.

This dissertation first studies the application of a two-phase spectrum-preserving spectral sparsification method that enables to construct very sparse sparsifiers with guaranteed preservation of original graph spectra for spectral clustering. Experiments show that the computational …

Regeneration Patterns In Silvicultural Openings Of Western Great Lakes Northern Hardwood Forests 15-24 Years Post-Harvest, Matthew S. Vandermolen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In managed northern hardwood forests, successful forest regeneration can depend on the application of silvicultural methods tailored to stand-specific recruitment limitations. The objective of this research is to develop a deeper understanding of the factors that interfere with tree regeneration at three long-term, well-replicated experimental canopy gap studies in the upper Great Lakes region, USA. Chapter 2 examines regeneration at a hemlock canopy gap study 18 years post-harvest that included deer exclosures and a gradient of gap sizes. Chapter 3 investigates the spatial patterns of low-density regeneration along gradients of gap size and different levels of legacy-tree retention at two …

Development Of A Propagation Program For Beech Bark Disease-Resistant American Beech (Fagus Grandifolia) And An Applied Restoration Plan For Mitigation Of Beech Bark Disease, Ande Myers

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation describes the work accomplished towards mitigation of beech bark disease (BBD) through a joint venture by Michigan Technological University and the National Park Service. American beech is an ecologically important species that is threatened throughout its range by beech bark disease and other newer, emergent pressures such as climate change and beech leaf disease. A literature review is included to synthesize recent advances in American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) propagation and their application in mitigation of BBD (Chapter 2). These concepts are examined in an applied restoration framework to outline the importance of understanding ecological and technological …

Expatriate Middle Eastern Muslim Mothers’ Stories About Sex Education In U.S. Schools: Communication Privacy Challenges And Narrative Typologies, Nada Alfeir

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This study examines the stories of expatriate Middle Eastern Muslim (EMEM) mothers in the U.S. about how they talked with their children about the sexual education classes offered in U.S. public schools. Three concepts from the Communication Privacy Management theory (CPM; Petronio, 2002) were adapted to an interpretive narrative perspective drawn on Frank's (2013) typology of narrative types. A total of 15 EMEM mothers who had lived for more than one year in the U.S. were recruited in the study. Qualitative data were collected through written stories and interviews, and supplemented by the author's observations. All written stories and interviews …

Functional Genetic Approaches To Provide Evidence For The Role Of Toolkit Genes In The Evolution Of Complex Color Patterns In Drosophila Guttifera, Mujeeb Olushola Shittu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Toolkit genes are set of genes that orchestrate the development of basic body plan of animals, and they are highly conserved in all animals. The co-option of the toolkit genes into the pigmentation pathway has led to the evolution of novel species. This study focuses on understanding how the complex color patterns in animals develop by using the Drosophila species in the quinaria group as models. We developed an mRNA in situ hybridization (ISH) protocol, which allowed us to study gene expression patterns in the abdomen of developing pupae of non-model Drosophila species (Chapter 2). Through ISH, we found that …

Impact Of Hemodynamic Vortex Spatial And Temporal Characteristics On Analysis Of Intracranial Aneurysms, Kevin W. Sunderland

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a potentially devastating pathological condition in which bleeding occurs into the space surrounding the brain. One of the prominent sources of subarachnoid hemorrhage are intracranial aneurysms (IA): degenerative, irregular expansions of area(s) of the cerebral vasculature. In the event of IA rupture, the resultant subarachnoid hemorrhage ends in patient mortality occurring in ~50% of cases, with survivors enduring significant neurological damage with physical or cognitive impairment. The seriousness of IA rupture drives a degree of clinical interest in understanding these conditions that promote both the development and possible rupture of the vascular malformations. Current metrics for the …

A Transdisciplinary Analysis Of Just Transition Pathways To 100% Renewable Electricity, Adewale Aremu Adesanya

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The transition to using clean, affordable, and reliable electrical energy is critical for enhancing human opportunities and capabilities. In the United States, many states and localities are engaging in this transition despite the lack of ambitious federal policy support. This research builds on the theoretical framework of the multilevel perspective (MLP) of sociotechnical transitions as well as the concept of energy justice to investigate potential pathways to 100 percent renewable energy (RE) for electricity provision in the U.S. This research seeks to answer the question: what are the technical, policy, and perceptual pathways, barriers, and opportunities for just transition to …

Impacts Of Forest Tax Programs On Property Tax Rates In Michigan's Upper Peninsula And Northern Wisconsin, Elsa Schwartz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Forest tax programs offer reduced property taxes to private forest owners as incentive to sustainably manage their forests and to encourage the provision of ecosystem services. They also protect forests from conversion to other land uses and ensure the viable supply of timber for forest products industries. Despite the benefits that these programs provide, they can negatively impact local municipalities by reducing the property tax base, which can then cause local governments to increase tax rates for non-preferential properties in order to maintain revenue needed to run their services. This shifts the tax burden from participating properties to nonparticipating properties. …

Anaerobic Reductive Bioleaching Of Manganese Ores, Neha Sharma

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The increasing demand of manganese in the industries and various hindrances in its production from low grade ores by conventional method has made it imperative for researchers around the world to develop a method of manganese extraction from low grade ores that is both environment friendly and economical. Bioleaching has shown significant potential in manganese extraction and efficiencies of extraction have been found to be 70-98% with the help of various bacteria and fungi.

This study focuses on extraction of manganese with the help of mixed bacterial strains that have been collected from their natural anaerobic environment. The extraction of …

Applications Of Machine Learning In Microbial Forensics, Ryan B. Ghannam

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Microbial ecosystems are complex, with hundreds of members interacting with each other and the environment. The intricate and hidden behaviors underlying these interactions make research questions challenging – but can be better understood through machine learning. However, most machine learning that is used in microbiome work is a black box form of investigation, where accurate predictions can be made, but the inner logic behind what is driving prediction is hidden behind nontransparent layers of complexity.

Accordingly, the goal of this dissertation is to provide an interpretable and in-depth machine learning approach to investigate microbial biogeography and to use micro-organisms as …

Investigation Of A Machine-Plant Interface For Extracting Rooted Invasive Aquatic Plants, Brad Baas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The current solutions for managing rooted aquatic invasive plants are time consuming, have negative environmental impacts, or are cost-limiting for management organizations. The most effective treatment method is hand pulling, but hand pulling is not a feasible solution for a whole lake. A new device, the invasive aquatic plant extractor, aims to replace human divers who hand pull plants with a mechanical system. The device implements a machine-plant interface that resembles the tines of a fork. These tines will be pushed linearly through the substrate, and then raised from the substrate with the plant caught in the tines. The primary …

Controls On Autotrophic Respiration, Heterotrophic Respiration, And Decomposition In Northern Forested Rivers, Renn Schipper

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Autotrophic respiration (AR), heterotrophic respiration (HR), and decomposition are important contributors to the carbon cycle in streams. It is important to understand how different environmental factors, such as canopy cover and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), influence these processes. DOC concentrations in northern forested streams are increasing, which may affect light and carbon availability. To examine the effects of DOC and canopy cover on these processes we measured gross primary production, ecosystem respiration and decomposition at 8 sites in 4 streams in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and used quantile regression to estimate AR and HR. Among sites, AR and decomposition …

Recommendations For A Community-Led Multi-Stakeholder Watershed Management Plan In Rural Panama, Tristan Odekirk

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Valle Risco is a small, rapidly growing rural town in northwest Panama. As the town grows and develops those who live there have expressed concern at sustainably managing the surrounding watershed. This report consists of some considerations and suggestions for the community of Valle Risco as they build a strong town that plays a central role in the socioeconomic development of the region. This information is based on the experience of the author while he served the town with the U.S. Peace Corps. Recommendations include solutions for wastewater management, storm water drainage, consistent water quality monitoring, and the use of …

Evening And Overnight Cardiovascular And Arterial Stiffness Responses To Simulated Binge Drinking, Grant Thivierge

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Acute alcohol consumption has been shown to increase blood pressure, while chronic heavy alcohol consumption is associated with the development of hypertension. Another factor that contributes to hypertension is arterial stiffness. While evidence suggests light to moderate alcohol consumption can decrease arterial stiffness, the impact of binge alcohol consumption on acute and overnight changes of arterial stiffness remains unknown. Twenty-seven participants (14 female; 13 male) received a binge alcohol dose or fluid control randomly one month apart. Alcohol or fluid control doses were administered in two equally divided allocates at 8 and 9 pm. A 1:3 mixture of 190 proof …

Metagenomic Identification And Classification Of The Mercury-Methylating Gene Hgca In Response To Water Table And Plant Functional Group Manipulations In Peat Soil, Madeline Peterson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Methyl-mercury (MeHg) is a potent neurotoxin that threatens the health of humans and wildlife alike. Climate warming threatens to shift regional precipitation and climate regimes in peatland environments, which could destabilize northern peatlands and accelerate both Hg release from soil and MeHg production. Peatlands are among the leading hotspots for MeHg, yet little is known about the community composition or functional relationship of mercury-methylating microbes in response to varying environmental conditions. The recognized mercury-methylating genes responsible for this activity are the obligatory gene pair hgcA and hgcB. Metagenomic data from the full-factorial peatland mesocosm experiment PEATcosm was obtained to …

High-Resolution Molecular Characterization Of Complex Environmental Mixtures: Aquatic Dissolved Organic Matter And Wildfire-Influenced Aerosol, Amna Ijaz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The natural environment is replete with organic matter of varying complexities. Whether it is particulate material in the atmosphere, decades old organic matter trapped within glaciers, or biological debris flowing with rivers and streams, natural organic matter (NOM) is exquisitely complex. High-resolution mass spectrometry allows us to have a glimpse of the molecular composition of NOM and delineate the elemental compositions of thousands of chemical species that form it. In this dissertation, the overarching aim was to explore the molecular diversity of complex mixtures from two sources: Surface water and atmospheric organic aerosol. The first objective of this dissertation was …

The Extraction Of Waxes And Lipids From Sorghum Using Green And Renewable Solvents Followed By Conversion To Biofuels Using Gamma-Valerolactone Pretreatment, Marissa Gallmeyer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Plant matter contains waxes and lipids that can be extracted and used or sold as a value-added product prior to conversion of the remaining plant material to biofuels. Wax and lipid extraction of plant materials is currently performed using volatile, non-renewable hydrocarbons, primarily hexane, which is produced from fossil fuels and can pose a health and safety hazard. The purpose of this study is to compare the amount and characteristics of waxes extracted by hexane with those extracted using organic solvents that are less toxic and can be produced from renewable sources.

Sorghum samples were extracted separately with hexane, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran …

Construction And Analysis Of Genetic Regulatory Networks With Rna-Seq Data From Arabidopsis Thaliana, Tessa Kriz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Reconstruction of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is a fundamental aspect of genetic engineering and provides a deeper understanding of the biological processes of an organism. Two methods were implemented to reconstruct the gene regulatory networks of Arabidopsis thaliana under two treatments: methyl jasmonate (MeJa) and salicylic acid (SA). The Joint Reconstruction of multiple Gene Regulatory Networks (JRmGRN) method was utilized to construct a joint network for identifying hub genes common to both conditions in addition to networks specific to each condition. The Differential Network Analysis with False Discover Rate Control method constructed a network of connections unique to only one …

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Incidence Across Sex, Sport, And Level: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Dana Anderson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Well controlled Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury prevention neuromuscular training reduces the risk of ACL injury by 50%, but despite the efficacy of these programs, ACL injury rates have not decreased. This lack of decrease in injury incidence may be due in part to limited knowledge on who is most at risk for sustaining an ACL injury, and there is no formal clinical tool available to estimate the personalized or group risk of ACL injury. The purpose of this study was to better understand what groups of athletes are most at risk of sustaining a primary ACL injury, as the …