Digital Commons Network^™

Wild Sun Bears (Helarctos Malayanus) Exhibit Aseasonality In Parturition, Zachary A. David, Brian Crudge, Matt Hunt, Kirsty Officer, Vuthy Choun, Barbara Durrant, Megan A. Owen, Morokot Long, John P. Whiteman

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Seasonal reproduction can provide species with fitness advantages by allowing the birth of young to coincide with favorable environmental conditions, particularly in environments with high seasonal and intra-annual variation in these conditions. Seven of the eight species in the bear family (Ursidae) reproduce seasonally in both managed care and the wild; however, data for the eighth species, the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), is unclear. Sun bears have been observed to reproduce throughout the year in managed care, yet currently there are no clear data of birth timing for wild sun bear cubs. Here we investigate the seasonality of …

Active Facilitation Of Helper Dispersal By Parents And Siblings In The Cooperatively Breeding Acorn Woodpecker, Natasha D. G. Hagemeyer, Walter D. Koenig, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Offspring that delay dispersal in cooperatively breeding species have been hypothesized to gain direct fitness benefits via parental facilitation—being passively tolerated on their natal territory by their parents—thereby enjoying enhanced survival and increased probability of acquiring a breeding position in the population. Here we describe active facilitation in the acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) by parents and siblings assisting the dispersal of helpers in their social group. Helpers in this species compete for reproductive opportunities in “power struggles” that take place when all breeders of one sex die or disappear, creating a reproductive vacancy. Individuals compete at power struggles …

Baby's First Jets: A Kinematic And Hydrodynamic Analysis Of Turning In Cuttlefish Hatchlings, Alissa M. Ganley, Paul S. Krueger, Ian K. Bartol

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Turning is an important aspect of life underwater, playing integral roles in predator avoidance, prey capture, and communication. While turning abilities have been explored in a diversity of adult nekton, little is currently known about turning in early ontogeny, especially for cephalopods. In this study, we investigated the turning abilities of hatchling common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis, n = 49) and dwarf cuttlefish (Sepia bandensis, n = 30), using both kinematic and wake-based analyses. Using body tracking software and particle image velocimetry (PIV), we found that S. officinalis turned faster than S. bandensis, but both species …

Half Of Atlantic Reef-Building Corals At Elevated Risk Of Extinction Due To Climate Change And Other Threats, Luis Gutierrez, Beth Polidoro, David Obura, Francoise Cabada-Blanco, Christi Linardich, Emma Pettersson, Paul Pearce-Kelly, Krista Kemppinen, Juan Jose Alvarado, Lorenzo Alvarez-Filip, Anastazia Banaszak, Pilar Casado De Amezua, James Crabbe, Aldo Croquer, Joshua Feingold, Elizabeth Goergen, Stefano Goffredo, Bert Hoeksema, Danwei Huang, Emma Kennedy, Diego Kersting, Marcelo Kitahara, Petar Kružić, Margaret Miller, Flavia Nunes, Juan Pablo Quimbayo, Andrea Rivera-Sosa, Rosa Rodríguez-Martínez, Nadia Santodomingo, Michael Sweet, Mark Vermeij, Estrella Villamizar, Greta Aeby, Khatija Alliji, Daniel Bayley, Elena Couce, Benjamin Cowburn, C. Isabel Nuñez Lendo, Sean Porter, Kaveh Samimi-Namin, Tom Shlesinger, Bryan Wilson

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Atlantic reef-building corals and coral reefs continue to experience extensive decline due to increased stressors related to climate change, disease, pollution, and numerous anthropogenic threats. To understand the impact of ocean warming and reef loss on the estimated extinction risk of shallow water Atlantic reef-building scleractinians and milleporids, all 85 valid species were reassessed under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, updating the previous Red List assessment of Atlantic corals published in 2008. For the present assessment, individual species declines were estimated based on the modeled coral cover loss (1989–2019) and projected onset of annual severe bleaching events (2020–2050) …

Receptor-Targeted Next-Generation Probiotics Ameliorate Mammalian Colitis, Nicholas L. F. Gallina, Vignesh Nathan, Akshay Krishnakumar, Dongqi Liu, Rishi Drolia, Nicole Irrizary Tardi, Yang Fu, Manalee Samadar, Shivendra Tenguria, Alvin Cai, Ruth Eunice Centeno-Martinez, Timothy A. Johnson, Abigail Cox, Lavanya Reddivari, Bruce Applegate, Xingjian Bai, Luping Xu, Deepti Tanjore, Ramesh Vemulapalli, Rahim Rahimi, Arun K. Bhunia

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction: a loss of intestinal barrier function, inflammation, and an elevated expression of epithelial heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60) are features of an inflamed bowel. Probiotics have been used to alleviate colitis-induced pathologies, but offer poor adhesion and adaptation to the diseased gut. We hypothesize that enhancing probiotic adhesion in the inflamed bowel may ameliorate such pathologies. Listeria adhesion protein (LAP; 94-kDa acetaldehyde alcohol dehydrogenase) aids Listeria attachment to the epithelial cells by interacting with the mammalian receptor Hsp60. Bioengineered Lactobacillus casei probiotics (BLPs) expressing LAP showed strong interaction with epithelial Hsp60, a high immunomodulatory response, and sustained epithelial barrier …

Abalones At Risk: A Global Red List Assessment Of Haliotis In A Changing Climate, Howard Peters, Gina M. Ralph, Laura Rogers-Bennett

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

There is increasing awareness that marine invertebrates such as abalones are at risk from the combined stressors of fishing and climate change. Abalones are an important marine fishery resource and of cultural importance to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. A highly priced marine delicacy, they are inherently vulnerable: individuals are slow-growing and long-lived and successful reproduction requires dense assemblages. However, their global conservation status is poorly understood. Using IUCN Red List methodology, we assessed the extinction risk to all 54 species of abalone (genus Haliotis). Of the 21 fished commercially for human consumption either now and/or in the past, 15 …

Functional Genomics And Small Molecules In Mitochondrial Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Daniel G Calame, Lisa T Emrick

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Mitochondria are critical for brain development and homeostasis. Therefore, pathogenic variation in the mitochondrial or nuclear genome which disrupts mitochondrial function frequently results in developmental disorders and neurodegeneration at the organismal level. Large-scale application of genome-wide technologies to individuals with mitochondrial diseases has dramatically accelerated identification of mitochondrial disease-gene associations in humans. Multi-omic and high-throughput studies involving transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and saturation genome editing are providing deeper insights into the functional consequence of mitochondrial genomic variation. Integration of deep phenotypic and genomic data through allelic series continues to uncover novel mitochondrial functions and permit mitochondrial gene function dissection on an …

Bi-Allelic Variants In Cep295 Cause Seckel-Like Syndrome Presenting With Primary Microcephaly, Developmental Delay, Intellectual Disability, Short Stature, Craniofacial And Digital Abnormalities, Niu Li, Yufei Xu, Hongzhu Chen, Jingqi Lin, Lama Alabdi, Mir Reza Bekheirnia, Guoqiang Li, Yoel Gofin, Nasim Bekheirnia, Eissa Faqeih, Lina Chen, Guoying Chang, Jie Tang, Ruen Yao, Tingting Yu, Xiumin Wang, Wei Fu, Qihua Fu, Yiping Shen, Fowzan S Alkuraya, Keren Machol, Jian Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Pathogenic variants in the centrosome protein (CEP) family have been implicated in primary microcephaly, Seckel syndrome, and classical ciliopathies. However, most CEP genes remain unlinked to specific Mendelian genetic diseases in humans. We sought to explore the roles of CEP295 in human pathology.

METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing was performed to screen for pathogenic variants in patients with severe microcephaly. Patient-derived fibroblasts and CEP295-depleted U2OS and RPE1 cells were used to clarify the underlying pathomechanisms, including centriole/centrosome development, cell cycle and proliferation changes, and ciliogenesis. Complementary experiments using CEP295 mRNA were performed to determine the pathogenicity of the identified missense variant. …

Crystal Structure Of Trichinella Spiralis Calreticulin And The Structural Basis Of Its Complement Evasion Mechanism Involving C1q, Zhihui Jia, Wen Yu, Jingmo Li, Mingming Zhang, Bin Zhan, Liming Yan, Zhenhua Ming, Yuli Cheng, Xiaolin Tian, Shuai Shao, Jingjing Huang, Xinping Zhu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Helminths produce calreticulin (CRT) to immunomodulate the host immune system as a survival strategy. However, the structure of helminth-derived CRT and the structural basis of the immune evasion process remains unclarified. Previous study found that the tissue-dwelling helminth Trichinella spiralis produces calreticulin (TsCRT), which binds C1q to inhibit activation of the complement classical pathway. Here, we used x-ray crystallography to resolve the structure of truncated TsCRT (TsCRTΔ), the first structure of helminth-derived CRT. TsCRTΔ was observed to share the same binding region on C1q with IgG based on the structure and molecular docking, which explains the inhibitory effect of TsCRT …

Metabolic Bioactivation Of Antidepressants: Advance And Underlying Hepatotoxicity, Saleh M Khalil, Kevin R Mackenzie, Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, Feng Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Many drugs that serve as first-line medications for the treatment of depression are associated with severe side effects, including liver injury. Of the 34 antidepressants discussed in this review, four have been withdrawn from the market due to severe hepatotoxicity, and others carry boxed warnings for idiosyncratic liver toxicity. The clinical and economic implications of antidepressant-induced liver injury are substantial, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Drug-induced liver injury may involve the host immune system, the parent drug, or its metabolites, and reactive drug metabolites are one of the most commonly referenced risk factors. Although the precise mechanism by which …

Citrulline And Adi-Peg20 Reduce Inflammation In A Juvenile Porcine Model Of Acute Endotoxemia, Caitlin Vonderohe, Barbara Stoll, Inka Didelija, Trung Nguyen, Mahmoud Mohammad, Yava Jones-Hall, Miguel A Cruz, Juan Marini, Douglas Burrin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid that is depleted in critically ill or surgical patients. In pediatric and adult patients, sepsis results in an arginine-deficient state, and the depletion of plasma arginine is associated with greater mortality. However, direct supplementation of arginine can result in the excessive production of nitric oxide (NO), which can contribute to the hypotension and macrovascular hypo-reactivity observed in septic shock. Pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG20, pegargiminase) reduces plasma arginine and generates citrulline that can be transported intracellularly to generate local arginine and NO, without resulting in hypotension, while maintaining microvascular patency. The objective of …

Bioconcentration Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances And Precursors In Fathead Minnow Tissues Environmentally Exposed To Aqueous Film-Forming Foam–Contaminated Waters, Nicholas I. Hill, Jitka Becanova, Simon Vojta, Larry A. Barber, Denis R. Leblanc, Alan M. Vajda, Heidi M. Pickard, Rainer Lohmann

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been associated with toxicity in wildlife and negative health effects in humans. Decades of fire training activity at Joint Base Cape Cod (MA, USA) incorporated the use of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), which resulted in long-term PFAS contamination of sediments, groundwater, and hydrologically connected surface waters. To explore the bioconcentration potential of PFAS in complex environmental mixtures, a mobile laboratory was established to evaluate the bioconcentration of PFAS from AFFF-impacted groundwater by flow-through design. Fathead minnows (n = 24) were exposed to PFAS in groundwater over a 21-day period and tissue-specific …

Influence Maximization Using Triadic Closures, Communities, And Quotas, Matthew Fu

Master's Projects

Online social networks have exploded in popularity in the last decade. In addition, traditional advertising methods such as television advertising have greatly decreased. This allows companies to utilize viral marketing more effectively. With viral marketing, companies can spread information on a product to a social network by reaching out to a small group of early adopters, who will go on to inform the people around them of the product. The problem is selecting the early adopters that can maximize the spread of influence. The Influence Maximization (IM) problem is finding a social network’s most influential (early adopters) starting nodes, called …

Gesture Recognition Dynamics: Unveiling Video Patterns With Deep Learning, Nithish Reddy Agumamidi

Master's Projects

This paper, Gesture Recognition Dynamics: Revealing Video Patterns with Deep Learning, explores the combination of Long Short-Term Memory(LSTM) with Convolutional Neural Network(CNN) in the identification of convoluted human activities. The study assesses LSTM’s capability to capture temporal dependencies and CNN’s potential to apprehend and extract spatial characteristics to detect the gestures from UCF50. It further evaluates the architecture linkage of LSTM and CNN, which will improve the analytical capacity to interpret and validate dynamic gesture trends. The paper utilizes Mediapipe, an open-source framework created by Google specifically designed for extracting poses. The Mediapipe tool is well-designed to track important body …

Deciphering Speech Through Vision: A Deep Learning Lip Reading System, Srujith Rao Ambati

Master's Projects

Lip-reading, a ubiquitous field between computer vision and speech processing, focuses on identifying what spoken words a person generates depending on their uttering lip movements. This paper presents a streamlined lip-reading solution that employs machine learning and deep learning. First, Our work utilizes the Multi-Task Cascaded Convo- lutional Networks to detect facial “landmarks,” including the face and lips region, and the aligns the face. The aligned faces are segmented to get the lip images. Lip images are preprocessed using the Real-Enhanced Super Resolution Generative Adversarial Network to enhance image resolution to identify subtle lip movement in video images: a critical …

Image Segmentation By Convolutional Neural Networks In Coral Resilience Research, Jennifer Benbow

Master's Projects

As ocean temperatures rise, coral bleaching is becoming more frequent and severe. Selective breeding experiments show promise for enhancing coral resilience, but scaling these projects is hindered by the labor-intensive nature of taking numerous time series measurements as corals grow. Automating this process with computer vision is one solution to this bottleneck, and to our knowledge, no such tool exists at present. To fill this gap, we have trained a set of machine learning models, based on the Mask R-CNN framework, for segmenting juvenile corals in lab-based coral resilience research. This work shows that retraining the Mask R-CNN architecture through …

Multi-Platform Cyberbullying Detection Using Nlp And Machine Learning, Chinmayi Lokeshwar Hegde

Master's Projects

The issue of cyberbullying is growing due to the online anonymity and due to online platforms having less repercussions. This research proposes for proactive measures to detect and prevent such behavior before it reaches the victim. By using data from various social media platforms and employing machine learning techniques, this research proposes an innovative system aimed at identifying and thwarting cyberbullying incidents preemptively. While existing methods have primarily focused on prediction and detection of cyberbullying incidents, there remains a significant gap in research regarding prevention strategies. This project aims to address this gap by leveraging machine learning, natural language processing …

Personalizing Image Generation From Prompts Using Generative Ai, Mit Ramesh Jain

Master's Projects

The rapid advancements in Generative AI, particularly Text-to-Image (T2I) models, have opened up new possibilities for personalized image generation. Finetuning large T2I models for specific downstream tasks is a key approach to achieving tailored outputs. In recent years, Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning (PEFT) techniques have gained significant attention as a cost-effective and efficient solution for fine-tuning large models. Initially developed for fine-tuning large language models (LLMs), PEFT techniques have been extensively studied and compared in the context of language tasks. However, regarding the T2I domain, there is a lack of similarly exhaustive and detailed literature on PEFT. This research project, in the …

Optimizing Web Design Code Generation: A Comparative Study Of Finetuning, Pretrained Models, And Rag (Retrieval Augmented Generation), Srinivas Rao Chavan

Master's Projects

Website Creation is revolutionized by automated code generation, reducing the development effort, speeding the production process, and ensuring consistency in design. Automated web design code generation has emerged as a transformative tool bridging the gap between design and development. In this research, a website design tool is developed and used to create visual layouts, exporting them as JSON designs. These JSON outputs were then transformed into textual prompts, optimized using established HCI principles and UI/UX rules to ensure consistency, visual hierarchy, aesthetics and minimalistic design, accessibility, user-friendly navigation and flexibility. These generated prompts were fed into large language models for …

Integrating Chatgpt With A-Frame For User-Driven 3d Modeling, Ivan Hernandez

Master's Projects

ChatGPT is a large language model that is capable of creating conversational text and functional code that can be integrated into various technologies, including computer graphics software. Currently, 3D modeling applications can be relatively difficult for novices to learn and understand due to the overwhelming amount of graphical user interfaces. However, we can remedy this issue by leveraging ChatGPT’s conversational language capabilities. Our project described in this report integrates ChatGPT with A-Frame, an online framework for developing virtual reality experiences, to create an immersive and user-friendly 3D modeling environment where users can create and modify 3D models through natural language …

Noteblocklib: A Library For Physics- And Animation-Driven Virtual Midi Instruments For Use In Video Games, Kevin Rotunni

Master's Projects

To better capture the relationship between the performer of a piece of music and the music itself in a video game context, I have designed NoteBlockLib, a system by which MIDI instructions are generated and processed in real time based on the motion and collision data of in-game objects. Ultimately, the movement of instruments made using this system would be driven by the animations of a character in the game. This system would thus allow the player character to interact with the performer in the game without sacrificing the relationship between the performer’s actions and the resulting music or to …

Birdsong Classification Using Deep Learning And Mixit, Sasanka Kosuru

Master's Projects

The identification of bird species using deep learning techniques presents a novel approach in bioacoustics, by significantly advancing our understanding and enhancing our capabilities in bird species recognition from audio recordings. The value of audio over visual data for monitoring ecological patterns in birds can be highlighted with the deployment of automated recording devices in remote wildlife sensing, offering a more cost-effective, non-invasive, and practical solution. However, the methods of processing and classifying the audio remain challenging due to the complexity of bird audio, characterized by diverse vocalizations and imminent environmental noise, which poses difficult challenges to perform effective classification. …

Vincentian Formation In Africa For Missionary Preaching In The Footsteps Of Saint Vincent De Paul, Linus Umoren C.M.

Vincentian Studies

Vincent de Paul was deeply concerned with the proper preparation of the clergy so that the poor could be evangelized. Linus Umoren outlines Vincent's method of preaching and the challenges the Church faced in reforming the clergy during the Counter-Reformation. Many of today’s new priests, including Vincentians, are coming from Africa. It is therefore necessary to develop a formation program that is uniquely suited to the African cultural context. Because of colonialism, the Church in Africa still needs to develop its own theological perspective instead of the one that had been brought to it by Europeans. It also faces several …

Mitochondrial Dna Genetic Variation Of Feral And Managed Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera, Colonies From Oklahoma, Allen Szalanski

Entomology and Plant Pathology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding the genetic diversity of honey bees in North America provides valuable insight into the conservation, ecology, and evolution of this economically important insect. Here, we characterized the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic variation in populations of the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., in Oklahoma by sequencing a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COI-COII) intergenic region. The samples were primarily of feral origin (n = 164), as well as from 24 managed colonies. Samples were obtained from 50 of Oklahoma's 77 counties, which represented six distinct ecoregions. Of the 188 colonies sampled,19 distinct haplotypes were observed, which included: A (African) …

Mitochondrial Dna Variation In Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Colonies From Arkansas, U.S., Allen Szalanski

Entomology and Plant Pathology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study characterized the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic variation in Arkansas honey bee, Apis mellifera L., by sequencing a portion of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COI-COII) intergenic region). The samples were primarily of hobbyist-managed origin (n=180), as well as 32 feral colonies and two swarms. Of the 214 honey bee colonies and swarms sampled, 23 haplotypes were observed. The haplotypes were from the: A (African) (1.87%); C (South eastern European) (92.52%); M (Northern and Western European) (3.27%); and O (Near East and Middle East) lineages (2.34%). Six C lineage haplotypes were predominantly detected (n=189, 88.31%), all of which are common …

Reconstruct, Jenna Deal

Theses

This thesis explores how construction materials can be used in sculpture, pushing artistic boundaries and challenging traditional perceptions. It examines the potential of materials like mortar, PVC, HVAC duct, carpet, and asphalt roofing, aiming to redefine the relationship between labor, materials, and artistic expression. By breaking free from construction norms and engaging with materials in unexpected ways, the study aims to foster a deeper understanding of the value and creative possibilities inherent in the materials of our built environment.

Emerging Treatment And Prevention Options In Diet Through The Gut-Brain Axis, And Its Impact On Patients With Alzheimer’S Disease, Jewel Amrich

Theses

Objectives:

To outline the most recent data regarding diet in the role in moderating prevention and progression of Alzheimer’s disease using the relationship between the gut microbiome and central nervous system. In addition, the Mediterranean diet and the components that make up the diet, and those alike will be thoroughly discussed.

Evidence Acquisition:

Using key terms “Alzheimer’s Disease” and “Diet”, Web of Science searched for papers that were published between 2012 and 2023, which yielded 807 results. Refining the search to “Neurodegenerative Diseases” returned 292 results. Adding “Gut-brain axis”, “gut microbiome”, and “Mediterranean diet” to separate search inputs yielded 25 …

Does Alzheimer’S Disease Begin In Your Gut? A Review Of The Gut-Brain Axis Effect On Cognitive Impairment And The Potential For Therapeutic Targeted Interventions., Jane Greenberg

Theses

Objective: To summarize current data regarding the bidirectional communication of the gut microbiota and the brain, specifically in relation to cognitive improvement, microbiota diversity, and dietary interventions. Additionally, the mechanisms underlying these relationships will be explored. Evidence Acquisition: Using the key terms “gut-brain axis" and "Alzheimer’s disease” PubMed and Web of Science were searched for papers published between 2014 and 2023. This yielded 297 results, of which 23 were relevant to this topic. Articles that failed to address cognitive impairment or only studied animal subjects were excluded. After scanning each paper, nine review articles and 14 new studies were selected …

Admissions Viewbook, 2024-2025, Illinois State University, Office Of Admissions

Admissions Viewbook

Recruitment booklet created by Illinois State University's Office of Admissions

Prediction Of Chlorophyll-A As An Index Of Harmful Algal Blooms Using Machine Learning Models, Ibrahim Busari, Debrabata Sahoo, R. Daren Harmel, Brian E. Haggard

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The complex dynamics of freshwater harmful algal blooms (HABs) necessitate proactive monitoring approaches to mitigate their impacts. The rapid breakthrough in computing prowess and statistical advances is triggering the development of data-driven techniques such as machine learning (ML) models, which have been shown in different fields to be instrumental in finding patterns for explaining relationships in observed data. This study assesses the ability of ML models for HABs monitoring in a lake using chlorophyll-a concentration as the index. The selected models for this study were regression tree, random forest (RF), multilayer perceptron (MLP), support vector regression (SVR), long short-term memory …