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The Effects Of Aqueous Nitrate On Freshwater Crayfish, Erik Hartman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Globalization and a rising need for greater production from the agricultural system have increased the use of fertilizer by farms across the entire country. The purpose of this experiment was to observe the effects of aqueous nitrate (commonly found in many fertilizers) on the metabolic rate and hemolymph lactate concentration of freshwater crayfish. After exposure, there was no observed change in metabolic rate, but there was a significant decrease in hemolymph lactate concentration in the groups exposed to nitrate.

Osmotic Activation Of Sperm Motility Via Water Flow Through Aquaporins In The Freeze-Tolerant Cope's Gray Treefrog, Dryophytes Chrysoscelis, Deja Miller

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Gametes of gray treefrogs, Dryophytes chrysoscelis, are deposited into freshwater ponds. Sperm undergo spermatogenesis and maturation beginning in the seminiferous tubules and migrating to the lumen. In mammals and fishes, these cells are immotile within the isosmotic fluid of the testes and have motility activated by exposure to a hyper- or hypoosmotic medium. Water flows into or out of the sperm cell, altering intracellular ionic concentrations, and ultimately stimulates flagellar movement. We tested the hypothesis that exposure to a hypotonic environment activates motility of gray treefrog sperm. We also hypothesized that osmotic water uptake is facilitated by expression of water …

River Biofilm Structure And Function In A Resource Landscape Modified By Agriculture: Implications For Primary Consumers, Hannah M. Fazekas

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic alterations to nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus bioavailability have increased the flux of these resources into the biosphere and altered stream ecosystem function. Streams modify the transport of these resources to receiving ecosystems through uptake, transformation, and mineralization. Understanding how streams process carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus can provide insight about how stream ecosystems function in landscapes where human modification is inescapable. I investigated how land use in agricultural regions affect resource availability to primary producers and consumers and the subsequent impact on stream processes. I surveyed headwater streams in three Lake Erie watersheds to determine spatiotemporal nutrient limitation of attached …

Role Of Natural Antioxidants From Functional Foods In Neurodegenerative And Metabolic Disorders, José Carvalho, Caio P. Fernandes, Júlio Beltrame Daleprane, Maria Silvana Alves, Didier Stien, N. P. Dhammika Nanayakkara

Faculty and Student Publications (Open Access)

No abstract provided.

Neuromuscular Control Of The Calling Apparatus In The Túngara Frog (Engystomops Pustulosus), Kiran Kaur Grewal

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Male túngara frogs can add a distinctive note ("chuck”) to their mating call. Production of the chuck involves vibrating a pair of laryngeal fibrous masses that is attached to the vocal cords. The muscular control of this mechanism remains unknown. Recent studies revealed a split in the laryngeal dilator muscle, which unveiled the deep dilator as a novel laryngeal muscle with unique attachments, innervation, and (likely) function. The deep dilator may position the fibrous masses for chuck production. The goals of this study were 1) to confirm the innervation of the novel muscle through electrophysiology; and 2) to determine the …

Noradrenergic Tuning, Not Simple Rate Effects, Produces Temperature-Sensitivity Of The Respiratory Network In Bullfrogs, Mauricio Vallejo

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Animals match ventilation to metabolic and acid-base regulatory demands during changes in body temperature. Across vertebrates ventilation increases at warmer temperatures and decreases at cooler temperatures. At the organismal level this is attributed to metabolic feedback and/or alpha-stat pH regulation; however, the cellular mechanisms that produce ventilatory output in response to brain temperature changes remain unclear. To identify mechanisms underlying temperature-sensitivity of the respiratory control network, I used brainstem-spinal cord preparations producing spontaneously active, rhythmic motor output similar to breathing in vivo of adult bullfrogs Lithobates catesbeianus. In vitro brainstem-spinal cords were superfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) equilibrated at …

Characterization Of The Effect Of Optineurin On Alpha-Synuclein Aggregation And Toxicity In Yeast, Md Moydul Islam

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Optineurin, an autophagy adaptor protein genetically linked to Normal Tension Glaucoma and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, has been found in the pathological inclusions of various other neurodegenerative disorders, supporting an important role of optineurin in neurodegeneration. Using yeast as a model, we found that overexpression of optineurin drastically enhances the toxicity of the Parkinson's disease-causing protein, alpha-synuclein. Considering the conserved protein-protein interaction between optineurin and Ypt1, a yeast suppressor of the toxicity of both optineurin and alpha-synuclein, we hypothesize that cellular targets of optineurin underlie in the cytotoxicity and the enhancer effect. Using genome-wide yeast two-hybrid screens, we identified 97 yeast …

Endocrine Responses To Repeated Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Administration In Free-Ranging Elephant, Molly Mccormley

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the physiological response of marine mammals to anthropogenic stressors can inform marine ecosystem conservation strategies. Stress stimulates release of glucocorticoid (GC) hormones, which increase energy substrate availability while suppressing energy-intensive processes. Exposure to repeated stressors can potentially affect an animal’s ability to respond to and recover from subsequent challenges. To assess the endocrine response of a marine mammal to repeated stressors, we administered adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to free-ranging juvenile northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris; n=7) once daily for four days. ACTH administration induced significant, but transient (<24 h) elevation in circulating cortisol levels (p < 0.0001). These increases did not vary in magnitude between the first ACTH challenge on day 1 and the last challenge on day 4. In contrast, aldosterone levels remained elevated above baseline for at least 24 hours after each ACTH injection (p < 0.001), and responses were greater on day 4 than day 1 (p < 0.01). Total triiodothyronine (tT3) levels were decreased on day 4 relative to day 1 (p < 0.01), while reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) concentrations increased relative to baseline on days 1 and 4 (p < 0.001) in response to ACTH, indicating a suppression of thyroid hormone secretion. There was no effect of ACTH on the sex steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). These results suggest that elephant seals are able to mount adrenal responses to multiple ACTH challenges. However, repeated stress results in facilitation of aldosterone secretion and suppression of tT3, which may impact osmoregulation and metabolism. We propose that aldosterone and tT3 are informative additional indicators of repeated stress in marine mammals.

Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Batesian Mimicry Between Adelpha Californica And Limenitis Lorquini, Louis Albert Prusa

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Conspicuous coloration is one of the main ways that animals communicate. The use of eye-catching color patterns to warn predators of an unprofitable trait is referred to as aposematism. Once predators learn to recognize the color pattern, a new signaling niche becomes available where other species can share the same signal. This mimicry niche can involve a “hide in plain sight” strategy by mimicking or parasitizing this signal, with mimics lacking the defense and associated costs that make them unprofitable. This is termed Batesian mimicry, and it decreases predation by taking advantage of the memory and learning of the predator …

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Complex Environments Drive The Developmental Plasticity Of Flight Capacity And Flight-Related Tradeoffs, Jordan R. Glass

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Animals must balance multiple, fitness-related traits in environments that are complex and characterized by co-varying factors, such as co-variation in temperature and food availability. Thus, experiments manipulating multiple environmental factors provide valuable insight into the role of the environment in shaping not only important traits (e.g., dispersal capacity or reproduction), but also trait-trait interactions (e.g., trade-offs between traits). We employed a multi-factorial design to manipulate variation in temperature (constant 28°C vs. 28±5°C daily cycle) and food availability (unlimited vs. intermittent access) throughout development in the sand field cricket, Gryllus firmus. We found that fitness-related, life-history traits and trait trade-offs can …

Association Between Mechanics And Biology In Vascular Graft Remodeling, David Andrew Prim

Theses and Dissertations

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) restores myocardial perfusion in patients with severe coronary artery disease by utilizing autografts – usually at least one of the internal thoracic artery (ITA), radial artery (RA), and great saphenous vein (GSV) – to bypass stenosed regions of coronary arteries. While decades of research and clinical improvements have made CABG an indispensable procedure, tens of thousands of grafts fail each year, which is due, at least in part, to an inability of the source vessels to adapt to the altered stimuli of the coronary circulation. In this dissertation, we first quantify and compare the mechanical …

Unseen Science: Modern Discoveries Too Far Away Or Tiny For Human Eyes, Lucy Huang

Capstones

As science has progressed, scientists have realized that evidence goes beyond the realms of physical sight. Whether it is too small or difficult to find, scientists have developed different ways to get around this problem. We see this in cancer genomics and in extrasolar planetary research. Scientists use what they know and what they measure to validate their work.

https://lucy-huang-9tge.squarespace.com/

Community Structure And Zonation Of Antarctic Benthic Invertebrates: Using A Remotely Operated Vehicle Under Ice To Define Biological Patterns, Dorota Szuta

Master's Theses

The Ross Sea, Antarctica is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean that exhibits seasonal sea ice and is adjacent to a permanent ice shelf overlying seawater. In 2008 and 2009, imagery of the seafloor under the McMurdo Ice Shelf and under the seasonal ice in the Ross Sea was collected via remotely operated vehicle (ROV) at depths to 300 m. Distinct differences in Antarctic benthic communities were observed over multiple environmental gradients. Species abundance typically exhibited a unimodal distribution with depth with mid-depth peaks, reflecting a food limitation at the deep end and potentially ice disturbance on the shallow …

Gardner-Webb Alumnus Recognized For Undergraduate Research, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

The summer before Christopher Lile graduated from Gardner-Webb University, he spent five weeks studying small mammals on the Broad River Greenway and the surrounding area. The research experience helped him secure internships in Indiana and Madagascar. Recently, the Waynesville, N.C., native received another honor for his work.

Repeated Observations Of Northern Goshawks Foraging As Terrestrial Predators, Robert A. Miller

Intermountain Bird Observatory Publications and Presentations

The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis; hereafter goshawk) is a generalist predator occupying boreal and temperate forests of the Holarctic (Squires and Reynolds 1997). The diet of goshawks has been studied in many areas and varies substantially among study sites, but some avian and mammalian genera are consistently represented (Squires and Reynolds 1997, Squires and Kennedy 2006). Within the northern Great Basin of North America, the breeding-season diet of goshawks is often dominated by Belding's ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi, also known as Spermophilus beldingi; Younk and Bechard 1994, Miller et al. 2014). The local reliance upon …

Gardner-Webb To Offer Biomedical Sciences Concentration For Biology Majors, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

Students who are planning a career in a medical-related or research field have a new undergraduate option available at Gardner-Webb University. Beginning in fall 2018, the Department of Natural Sciences will offer a biomedical sciences concentration within the biology major. “These courses encompass the prerequisites for pharmacy school, medical school and dental school, while still providing a balanced education,” noted Dr. Meredith Rowe, assistant professor of biology.

The Characterization Of Alpha-Carbonic Anhydrases Through Mutagenesis And Subcellular Localization In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Lance E. Pounds

LSU Master's Theses

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are zinc metalloenzymes which catalyze the interconversion of carbon dioxide and bicarbonate. It is hypothesized that CA activity facilitates CO₂ flux in leaf mesophyll cells to maintain optimal rates of photosynthesis or to maintain a pool of inorganic carbon for other metabolic processes. There are three classes of CAs (α, β, and γ) in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. The βCAs and γCAs have been well studied, but the αCAs have received relatively little study. There are eight αCA genes in Arabidopsis. This study investigates which αCAs are expressed in shoots, their tissue-specific expression, their …

3d Bioprinting Patentable Subject Matter Boundaries, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Seattle University Law Review

3D bioprinting combines emerging 3D printing technologies with synthetic biology. The promise of 3D bioprinting technology is to fabricate organs for transplantation, treat burn victims with in vivo skin repair, and create wearable microbiomes. 3D bioprinting can successively build, repair, or reproduce living human cells. This capability challenges eligible subject matter doctrine in U.S. patent law because the law has no brightline standard for patent eligibility for nature-based products. As 3D bioprinting technologies mature, U.S. patent law will need to respond to situations where living and nonliving worlds merge. This Article proposes a “Mixed-Scanned-Transformed” standard to supplement U.S. patent law’s …

Lifelines Fall 2017, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Fall 2017 issue of Lifelines contains articles on dinosaur research, student missions in Bolivia, an alumni spotlight, and Southern's preparations to become an official Tennessee Arboretum.

Microbiology For Allied Health Students: Instructional Materials, Molly Smith, Sara Selby

Biological Sciences Ancillary Materials

This is a collection of instructional materials for the following open textbook and lab manual:

• Microbiology for Allied Health Students Textbook
• Microbiology for Allied Health Students Lab Manual

Authors' Description:

The materials in this collection were developed from various sources as a means of engaging students and assessing their understanding of the course content. Included in the Active Learning Strategies are several game-type activities, as well as a webquest that serves as a directed research project designed to supplement the information found in their lab manual.

The Case Studies build on information from the remixed version of the OpenStax Microbiology …

Microbiology For Allied Health Students: Lab Manual, Molly Smith, Sara Selby

Biological Sciences Open Textbooks

This open lab manual is a remix of Openstax Microbiology, CC-BY 4.0, and created through an Affordable Learning Georgia Round Six Textbook Transformation Grant.

The lab manual was made to be used with the remixed textbook Microbiology for Allied Health Students, and the textbook has a set of Instructional Materials.

Authors' Description:

This lab manual was created to support a microbiology course for allied health students.

The first section of the manual was adapted from the OpenStax Microbiology textbook, of which a remixed version, Microbiology for Allied Health Students, is used as the text for the …

The Cosm Newsletter, Georgia Southern University

College of Science & Mathematics: News & Publications (2012-2022)

• Faculty and Staff presented with COSM Awards of Excellence
• Biology Undergraduate and Graduate Student News
• Kane Lab News
• Biology Alumni: Points of Pride
• Biology Faculty and Staff News
• Other Biology Departmental News
• Chemistry Alum featured in JAAS
• Georgia Southern University Sea Turtle Program at St.Catherines Island: 2017
• Season
• Diamondback Terrapin Project
• Gopher Tortoise Program
• Experiential Learning for Teachers
• Math Faculty News
• Math Departmental News
• The Planetarium's Adventure to see the Eclipse
• Mark Edwards, Ph.D., receives $165,000 NSF grant to study ultracold gases
• Physics Faculty and Students Published
• Physics Faculty participate in summer scholarly activities
• Physics students present at the American …

Fundamentals Of Biology Research Project [Biology], Ana Lucia Fuentes, Maria Entezari

Open Educational Resources

1. The goal of this initiative is to improve students’ learning of the subject while developing their Inquiry and Problem-Solving competencies as well as their numeracy, written, digital and oral communication abilities.
2. A “flipped-class” approach will be taken to present different topics ahead of the practical laboratory experiences. Topics will be presented with PowerPoints and/or videos posted on Blackboard.
3. Students will be given a “low stakes” quiz at the beginning of each laboratory session to assess their knowledge and understanding of the posted material.
4. A research project, introduced at the beginning of the semester, will be used as the backbone to …

Life Begins, Yuju Yen

Theses

My work reveals the world I see, the world I feel, and the world I imagine. The story I want to tell in my thesis is about every stunning moment when a life begins. While the sculptures and jewelry in my thesis body of work differ in scale, they are all singing the same theme: when a life starts to grow and when a flower blooms.

The forms of my thesis work are inspired from various natural lives, such as virus, fungi, jellyfish, bacteria, blooming flowers, and sea creatures. They are vividly waving, rotating, spinning their tentacles, antennas, and microfibers …

Introduction To Biological Principles (Georgia Tech), Chrissy Spencer, Jung Choi, Shana Kerr

Biological Sciences Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Introduction to Biological Principles was created under a Round Three ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Foundations Of Biology (Ghc), Tom Harnden, Sharryse Henderson, Andrew Dawson, Jason Christian, Greg Ford, Christin Collins

Biological Sciences Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Foundations of Biology was created under a Round Five ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Evolution Of Nervous System Centralization: Role Of Bmp Signaling In Neural Fate And Dorsal-Ventral Axis Specification In Capitella Teleta, Christie Joyce

Biology

Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling plays an important role in establishing the dorsal-ventral (D-V) axis across Bilateria. BMP signaling has also been implicated in neural fate specification in several bilaterians that possess centralized nervous systems. The classic examples are found in vertebrates and Drosophila melanogaster, where opposing gradients of BMP2/4/Dpp and Chordin/Sog specify the D-V axis and the nervous system arises on the Chordin/Sog side of the early embryo due to the anti-neural role of BMPs. These similarities have been used as support for the hypothesis that the bilaterian ancestor possessed a centralized nervous system and that BMP signaling delimited …

The Effect Of Substrate Unevenness And Irregularity On Locomotor Performance And Kinematics Of Curly-Tailed Lizards, Marian E. Crockett

Biology

Uneven surfaces are ubiquitous in nature and animals must frequently move across them, yet their effects on locomotion are not well understood. I studied how surface unevenness and irregularity of substrates made of large particles affect the locomotor performance and kinematics of the terrestrial generalist sprinter, the Northern Curly-Tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus carinatus). I compared a flat surface (even), three sizes of spheres (regular but uneven surfaces), and three sizes of natural rocks (irregular and uneven surfaces). As the size of the particles increased, the unevenness of the surface increased. The lizards ran at similar speeds on all substrates, but compensated …

Feminism In Biology And Belief, Rachel Hurst

Dialogue & Nexus

As feminism has become more hotly-contested in today’s society, the need to analyze the movement’s claims from a scientific and theological perspective has developed. Labor statistics and sociological research reveal that income inequality persists between the sexes. Neuroscience and evolutionary psychology show that subtle differences exist between male and female brains, and these slight variations can potentially be traced to the differing selective pressures between the genders. Ultimately, the biological differences that favor power differentials must be overcome to remedy inequality and injustice. Although Christians have historically upheld these differences and viewed women as inferior, a more modern theological understanding …

A Functional Ecological Comparison Of Three Sponge Species From The Lower Florida Keys, Tyler William Griffin, Clara Prentiss, Malcolm Hill, Jeremy Weisz

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

The shallow, tidal flats off the islands of the lower Florida Keys represent a harsh environment for sessile marine invertebrates. This habitat is home to three taxonomically distinct sponge species that share similar rope morphologies: Cliona varians forma varians, Ircinia variabilis, and Neopetrosia subtriangularis. Despite sharing a habitat, these three species differ in their symbiont regime, with C. varians hosting dinoflagellate photosymbionts, and I. variabilis and N. subtriangularis hosting cyanobacterial photosymbionts. We conducted experiments to measure other ecological differences between these species. The sponges were all assayed for pumping rates using dye-video analysis and tissue samples were taken …