Digital Commons Network^™

Transcriptomic Profiling Of Trypanosoma Congolense Mouthpart Parasites From Naturally Infected Flies, Sara Silva Pereira, Kawira Mathenge, Daniel Masiga, Andrew Jackson

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Background: Animal African trypanosomiasis, or nagana, is a veterinary disease caused by African trypanosomes transmitted by tsetse flies. In Africa, Trypanosoma congolense is one of the most pathogenic and prevalent causes of nagana in livestock, resulting in high animal morbidity and mortality and extensive production losses. In the tsetse fly, parasites colonise the midgut and eventually reach the mouthparts, from where they can be transmitted as the fly feeds on vertebrate hosts such as cattle. Despite the extreme importance of mouthpart-form parasites for disease transmission, very few global expression profile studies have been conducted in these parasite forms. Methods: Here, …

Nutrient Quality And Maturity Status Of Frass Fertilizer From Nine Edible Insects, Dennis Beesigamukama, Sevgan Subramanian, Chrysantus M. Tanga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Globally, there is growing interest to recycle organic waste using insect larvae into high-quality frass fertilizer through circular economy approach. This paper presents the first comparative report on the nutrient concentrations, fertilizing indices, nutrient supply potentials and compost maturity of nine edible insect frass fertilizers. Our results revealed that frass fertilizers from all the insect species had adequate concentrations and contents of macronutrients [nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K)], secondary nutrients (calcium, magnesium, and sulphur) and micro-nutrients (manganese, copper, iron, zinc, boron, and sodium). The fertilizing indices of the frass fertilizers were above 3. However, black soldier fly (BSF) frass …

Malaria Vector Feeding, Peak Biting Time And Resting Place Preference Behaviors In Line With Indoor Based Intervention Tools And Its Implication: Scenario From Selected Sentinel Sites Of Ethiopia, Alemnesh Hailemariam Bedasso, Abebe Asale Gutto, Abate Waldetensai, Araya Eukubay, Getachew Eticha Bokore, Solomon Kinde, Fekadu Gemechu, Yared Debebe, Mesfin Aklilu, Geremew Tasew, Fekadu Massebo, Abebe Teshome, Tilahun Kebede, Bedri Abdulatif, Achamyelesh Sisay, Hiwot Solomon, Eliningaya J. Kweka

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

In Ethiopia, malaria incidence has significantly reduced in the past decade through the combined use of conventional vector control approaches and treatment using antimalarial drugs. However, the sustainability of this achievement is threatened by the shift in biting and resting behaviors and emergence of insecticide resistance by the primary malaria vector. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the behaviour of malaria mosquitoes in different sentinel sites is crucial to design effective prevention and control methods in the local context. Entomological investigations were conducted in three sentinel sites for five consecutive months during the major malaria transmission season. The species composition, population dynamics, …

Honey Compositional Convergence And The Parallel Domestication Of Social Bees, Pierre Noiset, Nathalie Cabirol, Marcelo Rojas-Oropeza, Natapot Warrit, Kiatoko Nkoba, Nicolas J. Vereecken

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Honey collection evolved from simple honey hunting to the parallel and independent domestication of different species of bees in various parts of the world. In this study, we investigate the extent to which the composition of Apis and stingless bee honeys has been a driver in the selection of different bee species for domestication in Mesoamerica (Mexico) and Asia (Thailand) using a sampling design that combines peak honey profiling by H1 NMR spectroscopy with the collection of honeys from domesticated and undomesticated bee species. Our results show that, independently of the region of the world considered, domesticated stingless bees produce …

The Effect Of Climate Variability In The Efficacy Of The Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium Acridum Against The Desert Locust Schistocerca Gregaria, Samuel F. Kamga, Frank T. Ndjomatchoua, Ritter A. Guimapi, Ingeborg Klingen, Clément Tchawoua, Anne Grete Roer Hjelkrem, Karl H. Thunes, Francois M. Kakmeni

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Despite substantial efforts to control locusts they remain periodically a major burden in Africa, causing severe yield loss and hence loss of food and income. Distribution maps indicating the value of the basic reproduction number R0 was used to identify areas where an insect pest can be controlled by a natural enemy. A dynamic process-based mathematical model integrating essential features of a natural enemy and its interaction with the pest is used to generate R0 risk maps for insect pest outbreaks, using desert locust and the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum (Synn. Metarhizium anisoliae var. acridum) as a case study. This …

Leveraging Machine Learning Tools And Algorithms For Analysis Of Fruit Fly Morphometrics, Daisy Salifu, Eric Ali Ibrahim, Henri E.Z. Tonnang

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Analysis of landmark-based morphometric measurements taken on body parts of insects have been a useful taxonomic approach alongside DNA barcoding in insect identification. Statistical analysis of morphometrics have largely been dominated by traditional methods and approaches such as principal component analysis (PCA), canonical variate analysis (CVA) and discriminant analysis (DA). However, advancement in computing power creates a paradigm shift to apply modern tools such as machine learning. Herein, we assess the predictive performance of four machine learning classifiers; K-nearest neighbor (KNN), random forest (RF), support vector machine (the linear, polynomial and radial kernel SVMs) and artificial neural network (ANNs) on …

Accessibility To Archaeological Sites In Cairo (Case Study: Gabal Citadel And Baron Palace), Asmaa Fathi Hammed, Haby Mustafa Hosney

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Cultural tourism is one of the most important factors attracting tourists around the world to enjoy heritage and experience a unique journey through history and witnessing great civilizations, and the diversity of tourists causes the diversity of needs, services and rehabilitation that makes the tourist enjoy the entire trip, as research shows that making buildings more accessible can lead to an increase in the number of visitors. However, some historical areas in Egypt still suffer from lack of rehabilitation and full accessibility for persons with disabilities. Therefore, this research paper aims to study the access problems and challenges that stand …

A National Multi-Institutional Analysis Of Predictors Of Surgical Site Complications And Unplanned Reoperation After Paramedian Forehead Flap Reconstruction, Garrett Ni, Rohan Brebion, Pablo A. Baltodano, Michael C. Coronado, Nicholas Elmer, Theresa K. Webster, Huaqing Zhao, Xiaoning Lu, Sthefano Araya, Sameer Patel

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Background: Although postoperative complications of paramedian forehead flap (PMFF) are generally low, surgical site complications and unplanned reoperation can still occur. Recent literature suggests infection to be the most common complication following PMFF reconstruction. This study sought to determine the patient and preoperative factors associated with surgical site complications and unplanned reoperations at a national level.

Methods: Patients who underwent PMFF reconstruction from the ACS-NSQIP 2007 - 2019 database were analyzed to determine composite surgical site morbidity and unplanned return to the operating room. Patient and operative factors were also analyzed to assess independent risk factors for surgical site morbidity …

The Possibilities Of Explicit Striga (Striga Asiatica) Risk Monitoring Using Phenometric, Edaphic, And Climatic Variables, Demonstrated For Malawi And Zambia, Emily Kimathi, Bester Tawona Mudereri, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Saliou Niassy, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Tobias Landmann

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Food insecurity continues to affect more than two-thirds of the population in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly those depending on rain-fed agriculture. Striga, a parasitic weed, has caused yield losses of cereal crops, immensely affecting smallholder farmers in SSA. Although earlier studies have established that Striga is a constraint to crop production, there is little information on the spatial extent of spread and infestation severity of the weed in some SSA countries like Malawi and Zambia. This study aimed to use remotely sensed vegetation phenological (n = 11), climatic (n = 3), and soil (n = 4) variables to develop a …

Essential Property, Timothy M. Mulvaney, Joseph William Singer

Faculty Scholarship

For a sizable swath of the U.S. population, incomes and wealth are insufficient to cover life’s most basic necessities even in the most ordinary of times. A disturbingly resilient explanation for this state of affairs rests on the view that resource inequities are avoidable through self-reliance, a stance that invites observers to see people in poverty as morally suspect. This Article advances a counterview in contending that the widespread lack of essential resources did not simply arise naturally via individuals’ life choices but instead has been, in very meaningful part, created and perpetuated by our system of property laws.

The …

Designing For Justice: Pandemic Lessons For Criminal Courts, Cynthia Alkon

Faculty Scholarship

March 2020 brought an unprecedented crisis to the United States: COVID-19. In a two-week period, criminal courts across the country closed. But, that is where the uniformity ended. Criminal courts did not have a clear process to decide how to conduct necessary business. As a result, criminal courts across the country took different approaches to deciding how to continue necessary operations and in doing so many did not consider the impact on justice of the operational changes that were made to manage the COVID-19 crisis. One key problem was that many courts did not use inclusive processes and include all …

Optimizing Disaster Preparedness Planning For Minority Older Adults: One Size Does Not Fit All, Omolola E. Adepoju, Luz E. Herrera, Minji Chae, Daikwon Han

Faculty Scholarship

By 2050, one in five Americans will be 65 years and older. The growing proportion of older adults in the U.S. population has implications for many aspects of health including disaster preparedness. This study assessed correlates of disaster preparedness among community-dwelling minority older adults and explored unique differences for African American and Hispanic older adults. An electronic survey was disseminated to older minority adults 55+, between November 2020 and January 2021 (n = 522). An empirical framework was used to contextualize 12 disaster-related activities into survival and planning actions. Multivariate logistic regression models were stratified by race/ethnicity to examine the …

Blood Pressure Responses Are Dependent On Call Type And Related To Hypertension Status In Firefighters, Paige J Rynne, Cassandra C Derella, Carly Mcmorrow, Rachel L Dickinson, Stephanie Donahue, Andrew A Almeida, Megan Carty, Deborah L Feairheller

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Background: Impaired cardiovascular health is a concern for firefighters, with over 50% of line-of-duty deaths having cardiac causes. Many firefighters have hypertension and <25% have their blood pressure (BP) controlled. The alarm response could be an unidentified cardiac risk, but interestingly, the BP response to different calls and on-the-job activity is unknown.

Purpose: We aimed to measure the physiological stress resulting from different call types (fire, medical) and job activity (riding apparatus, pre-alert alarms) through ambulatory BP (ABP) monitoring in a population of firefighters.

Materials and methods: During 111 12-h work shifts firefighters wore an ABP monitor. BP was measured at 30-min intervals and manual measurements were prompted when the pager went off or whenever they felt stress.

Results: Firefighters were hypertensive (124.3 ± 9.9/78.1 ± 6.7 mmHg), overweight …

Characterization Of Colletotrichum Nymphaeae Isolates From Apple With Reduced Sensitivity To Fluazinam And Tebuconazole, Rulyu Meng

All Theses

Apple bitter rot is caused by Colletotrichum nymphaeae and other Colletotrichum species and management relies primarily on synthetic pesticides. Very few fungicides are effective against the disease and resistance has further limited their usefulness. A recent study indicated relatively low EC₅₀ values (the concentration required to inhibit 50% of mycelial growth in vitro) of C. nymphaeae isolates from Brazilian apples to fluazinam and tebuconazole, two fungicides that are not routinely used for bitter rot control. Isolates on opposite sides of the sensitivity range were designated either sensitive (lowest EC₅₀ values) and reduced-sensitive (highest EC₅₀ values). The objective …

Designing The House Of The Future: Social Commentary On Retrofuturism, Alyssa Woodruff

All Theses

This project explores the aesthetics of retrofuturism and the historical context of the house of the future. Retrofuturism captures how people perceived the future during previous eras in history. Conceptions of the future reflect the time period in which they are created. I designed and implemented a 3D model of a house of the future to express the aesthetics of mid-century modernism. I created the models in ZBrush and Maya. I took inspiration from The Jetsons cartoon, the New York World’s Fair of 1964-65, and Disneyland’s original Tomorrowland theme park. This project also incorporates contemporary features to reflect modern concerns. …

Venomic Characterization Of A Medically Relevant Rear-Fanged Snake, Conophis Lineatus (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae), From Middle America, Tristan Schramer

All Theses

Most traditional research on snake venoms has focused on front-fanged snake families (Viperidae, Elapidae, and Atractaspididae). However, venom is now generally accepted as being a much more broadly possessed trait within snakes, including species traditionally considered harmless. Unfortunately, due to historical inertia and methodological challenges, the toxin repertoires of non-front-fanged snake families (e.g., Colubridae, Dipsadidae, and Natricidae) have been heavily neglected despite the knowledge of numerous species capable of inflicting medically relevant envenomations. Integrating proteomic data for validation, we perform a de novo assembly and analysis of the Duvernoy’s venom gland transcriptome of the Central American Road Guarder (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae: …

Impact Of Housing And Management On Production, Behavior, And Welfare Of Dairy Cows In Automatic Milking Systems, Lindsey Eve Davis

All Theses

The overall objective of this research was to determine the impact of Automatic Milking System (AMS) housing and management practices on cow production, behavior, and welfare of Holstein dairy cows. The first objective was to identify factors at the farm and cow level associated with lameness on AMS farms through decision tree analysis to allocate probabilities to each input. Results indicated this novel multifactorial approach of data analysis enabled us to highlight critical points that can be focused on to lessen cow-level complications or enhance farm-level housing and management practices to reduce the incidence and severity of lameness in AMS …

Investigating Attention Modeling Differences Between Older And Younger Drivers, Kathryn Baringer

All Theses

As in-vehicle technologies (IVTs) grow in both popularity and complexity, the question of whether these IVTs improve, or hinder, driver performance has gained more attention. The ability to predict when a driver will be looking at the road or a display on the car’s dashboard or center console is crucial to understanding the impact of the recent tech-heavy trend in car designs on safety and the extent to which IVTs compete with the primary driving task for visual resources. The SEEV model of visual attention has been shown to be able to predict the probability of attending an area if …

Cover Cropping And Organic Amendments To Improve Sandy Soils Under Organic Vegetable Production, Charles Williamson

All Theses

Coastal Plain soils in the Southeastern USA are typically sandy with poor soil structure, low soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and meager soil fertility that pose challenges to organic agriculture. Adding organic inputs is a strategy to improve these soils' physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Here, we aim to investigate the impacts of Cover Cropping (CC) and manure inclusions on sandy soils under organic vegetable production. The experiment design was a randomized complete block with two treatments of manure application (with and without) and four CC treatments of cereal rye (Secale cereale), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), …

Examining The Perceptions Associated With Sunday Hunting Restrictions In South Carolina, Elizabeth Piller

All Theses

Public land is an invitation for many to engage with the natural world through a variety of different activities. Sometimes these activities are mutually exclusive and can cause land use conflict, which natural resource managers must navigate. One example of this conflict is restrictions to Sunday hunting. In South Carolina, Sunday hunting is allowed on private late but banned on public Wildlife Management Area (WMA) land. This regulation remains from ‘blue laws,’ laws prohibiting certain activities on Sundays to honor the Christian Sabbath (Balestra, 2008). Blue laws are typically thought of as prohibiting alcohol, but eleven U.S. states currently have …

A Study On The Environmental And Societal Impact Of Salad Packaging, Nathanael Stephens

All Theses

Packaged salads are becoming an increasingly popular segment of today’s fresh cut vegetables and salads market. This increased demand is leading to an increased need for packaging. This increase in packaging can lead to a potential increase in impact on the environment. With a large push for sustainability in the modern economy, this environmental impact is becoming more and more unacceptable. Several studies have been conducted to determine environmental impacts of packaging, but none have homed in on the salad packaging market segment in detail until this study. This study is also pioneering the way by pairing environmental impacts of …

Chinese Celebrities’ Political Signaling On Weibo, Dan Chen, Gengsong Gao

Political Science Faculty Publications

In China, celebrities can dominate public discourse and shape popular culture, but they are under the state’s close gaze. Recent studies have revealed how the state disciplines and co-opts celebrities to promote patriotism, foster traditional values, and spread political propaganda. However, how do celebrities adapt to the changing political environment? Focusing on political signaling on Weibo, we analyze a novel dataset and find that the vast majority of top celebrities repost from official accounts of government agencies and state media outlets, though there are variations. Younger celebrities with more followers tend to repost from official accounts more. Celebrities from Taiwan …

Rapamycin Inhibits Light-Induced Necrosome Activation Occurring In Wild-Type, But Not Rpe65-Null, Mouse Retina, Chunfeng Lu, Songhua Li, Minghao Jin

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

PURPOSE. Both photodamage and aberrant visual cycle contribute to disease progress of many retinal degenerative disorders, whereas the signaling pathways causing photoreceptor death remain unclear. Here we investigated the effects of intense photo-stress on (1) necrosome activation in wild-type and RPE65-null mice, (2) interaction of p62/Sequestosome-1 with the necrosome proteins, and (3) the effects of rapamycin on photodamage-induced necrosome activation and retinal degeneration in wild-type mice. METHODS. Dark-adapted rd12 mice and 129S2/Sv mice with or without rapamycin treatment were exposed to 15,000 lux light for different times. Expression levels and subcellular localization of proteins were determined through immunoblot and immunohistochemical …

Highlighting Excellence In Small Schools, Anneris Coria-Navia, Aimee Leukert, Jerome Thayer, Maria Bastien Valenca, Elissa Kido

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Using Reinforcement Learning To Improve Network Reliability Through Optimal Resource Allocation, Henley Wells

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Networks provide a variety of critical services to society (e.g. power grid, telecommunication, water, transportation) but are prone to disruption. With this motivation, we study a sequential decision problem in which an initial network is improved over time (e.g., by adding or increasing the reliability of edges) and rewards are gained over time as a function of the network’s all-terminal reliability. The actions during each time period are limited due to availability of resources such as time, money, or labor. To solve this problem, we utilized a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) approach implemented within OpenAI-Gym using Stable Baselines. A Proximal …

A Deep Dive Into The American And Italian Healthcare Systems - What Can We Learn?, Natalie Woodland

Honors Projects

It is no secret that the American healthcare system needs improvement. Yet, little has been done to effectively make those improvements. The United States healthcare system has substantial challenges and is underperforming on almost every measure when compared to other health systems. Comparing systems and seeing which ones excel at which dimensions and how they do it can help inform the design of particular reforms in other countries. This paper aims to break down the healthcare systems both in America and Italy, compare each system on critical measures like cost, health outcomes, access to care, and quality of care, and …

Equity In The Classroom For Individuals With Disabilities At Grand Valley State University, Abagail Boyd

Honors Projects

The purpose of this project is to identify areas of equity and inequity for students with disabilities at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) pertaining to their ability to successfully complete their degrees. GVSU has a history of being at the forefront of accommodations with their creation of the LINKS program for students with autism spectrum disorders and their policies on assistance and service animals in the classroom. However, it is not known whether the accommodations and policies currently in place offer the students with disabilities an equitable opportunity for academic success as GVSU students without disabilities. To obtain this information, …

Mental Health Concerns In The Pediatric Population Following Covid-19, Kristina N. Yaczik, Ashley M. Komosinski

Honors Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to an increase in stress and mental health concerns in the pediatric population. Research indicates a decrease in pediatric mental health incidences in 2020, followed by an increase in 2021 and 2022. It is thought that the initial decrease may be due to the intensity of the pandemic at the time and a lack of hospital beds available. The increase suggests a response to the high levels of adversity and stress children and adolescents faced both during and after the origination of the pandemic. The evidence supports the idea that the COVID-19 pandemic had a …

Xenotransplantation: Using Animals To Save Human Lives, Casey Restau

Honors Projects

The United States currently faces an extreme shortage of organs available for those in need of life-saving transplants. Xenotransplantation, using tissues or organs from non-human animal sources, could provide a solution to this daunting problem. The science behind xenotransplantation has been studied for several decades, however, there is yet to be a truly successful case of xenotransplantation. Major breakthroughs in this experimental treatment have been made within the past couple of years, but progress is slow. Many ethical and moral issues surrounding xenotransplantation have attributed to its controversial nature that could prevent the treatment from becoming reality.

A Review Of The Benefits, Risks, And Guide To Adopting Barefoot Running, Joe Wallace

Honors Projects

This presentation discusses the history of barefoot running including empirical evidence of the effects on injury prevalence, rehabilitation, and performance enhancement in runners. Prehistoric humans made use of their endurance running skills to run down their prey for food, so humans are built to be endurance runners. Modern human runners experience high injury rates even after a lot of research has been put into designing the most effective running shoes for injury prevention. Careful selection of scholarly research articles was performed to develop a guide for runners or practitioners interested in the adoption of barefoot running. The research found that …