Digital Commons Network^™

Climate And Seasonality Drive The Richness And Composition Of Tropical Fungal Endophytes At A Landscape Scale, Shuzo Oita, Alicia Ibáñez, François Lutzoni, Jolanta Miadlikowska, József Geml, Louise A. Lewis, Erik F. Y. Hom, Ignazio Carbone, Jana M. U’Ren, A. Elizabeth Arnold

Faculty and Student Publications

Understanding how species-rich communities persist is a foundational question in ecology. In tropical forests, tree diversity is structured by edaphic factors, climate, and biotic interactions, with seasonality playing an essential role at landscape scales: wetter and less seasonal forests typically harbor higher tree diversity than more seasonal forests. We posited that the abiotic factors shaping tree diversity extend to hyperdiverse symbionts in leaves—fungal endophytes—that influence plant health, function, and resilience to stress. Through surveys in forests across Panama that considered climate, seasonality, and covarying biotic factors, we demonstrate that endophyte richness varies negatively with temperature seasonality. Endophyte community structure and …

Publisher Correction: The Genome Of The Stable Fly, Stomoxys Calcitrans, Reveals Potential Mechanisms Underlying Reproduction, Host Interactions, And Novel Targets For Pest Control (Bmc Biology, (2021), 19, 1, (41), 10.1186/S12915-021-00975-9), Pia U. Olafson, Serap Aksoy, Geoffrey M. Attardo, Greta Buckmeier, Xiaoting Chen, Craig J. Coates, Megan Davis, Justin Dykema, Scott J. Emrich, Markus Friedrich, Christopher J. Holmes, Panagiotis Ioannidis, Evan N. Jansen, Emily C. Jennings, Daniel Lawson, Ellen O. Martinson, Gareth L. Maslen, Richard P. Meisel, Terence D. Murphy, Dana Nayduch, David R. Nelson, Kennan J. Oyen, Tyler J. Raszick, José M.C. Ribeiro, Hugh M. Robertson, Andrew J. Rosendale, Timothy B. Sackton, Perot Saelao, Sonja L. Swiger, Sing Hoi Sze, Aaron M. Tarone, David B. Taylor, Wesley C. Warren, Robert M. Waterhouse, Matthew T. Weirauch, John H. Werren, Richard K. Wilson, Evgeny M. Zdobnov, Joshua B. Benoit

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Following publication of the original article [1], it was reported that the article copyright was incorrect. The correct copyright statement is: © This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply 2021. The original article [1] has been corrected.

Genetic Fingerprinting And Aflatoxin Production Of Aspergillus Section Flavi Associated With Groundnut In Eastern Ethiopia, Abdi Mohammed, Paola C. Faustinelli, Alemayehu Chala, Mashilla Dejene, Chemeda Fininsa, Amare Ayalew, Chris O. Ojiewo, David A. Hoisington, Victor S. Sobolev, Jaime Martínez-Castillo, Renee S. Arias

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Background: Aspergillus species cause aflatoxin contamination in groundnut kernels, being a health threat in agricultural products and leading to commodity rejection by domestic and international markets. Presence of Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus colonizing groundnut in eastern Ethiopia, as well as presence of aflatoxins have been reported, though in this region, no genetic studies have been done of these species in relation to their aflatoxin production. Results: In this study, 145 Aspergillus isolates obtained from groundnut kernels in eastern Ethiopia were genetically fingerprinted using 23 Insertion/Deletion (InDel) markers within the aflatoxin-biosynthesis gene cluster (ABC), identifying 133 ABC genotypes. Eighty-four isolates …

Spatiotemporal Pattern Detection With Neuromorphic Circuits, Robert C. Ivans

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, neuromorphic circuits are used to implement spiking neural networks in order to detect spatiotemporal patterns. Unsupervised training and detection-by-design techniques were used to attain the appropriate connectomes and perform pattern detection.

Unsupervised training was performed by feeding random digital spikes with a repeating embedded spatiotemporal pattern to a spiking neural network composed of leaky integrate-and-fire neurons and memristor-R(t) element circuits which implement spike-timing-dependent plasticity learning rules.

Detection-by-design was achieved using neuromporphic circuits and digital logic gates. When detection-by-design was achieved using both neuromorphic circuits and digital logic gates, a network was created of spatiotemporal pattern detector circuits, …

Nuclear Envelope Mechanobiology: Linking The Nuclear Structure And Function, Matthew Goelzer, Julianna Goelzer, Matthew L. Ferguson, Corey P. Neu, Gunes Uzer

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The nucleus, central to cellular activity, relies on both direct mechanical input as well as its molecular transducers to sense external stimuli and respond by regulating intra-nuclear chromatin organization that determines cell function and fate. In mesenchymal stem cells of musculoskeletal tissues, changes in nuclear structures are emerging as a key modulator of their differentiation and proliferation programs. In this review we will first introduce the structural elements of the nucleoskeleton and discuss the current literature on how nuclear structure and signaling are altered in relation to environmental and tissue level mechanical cues. We will focus on state-of-the-art techniques to …

2021 Summer-Fall Graduate Recognition Program, Propulsion Research Center, Robert Frederick

PRC Graduate Recognition

This program includes the graduate recognition program for summer and fall 2021. Includes photographs, upcoming events, recent publications, and student profiles.

Developing Strategy For A Successful Antioxidant, Anticancer Activity Via An Improved Method Prepared To Porous Silicon Nanoparticles, Kareem Jawad, Butheina Hasson

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Porous silicon nanoparticles, or PSNPs, are one of the most common NPS with distinct characteristics. PSNPs were created using an enhanced approach known as the electrochemical etching process. The nanoparticles were treated with a post-laser to obtain the nanoparticles, which were subsequently analyzed using (SEM), (UV-Vis), and (XRD). The size refers to porous silicon with a nanostructure. Because of the differences in interaction between the HF electrolyzed and silicon and crystal structure, PS (100) offers better NP properties than directional silicon (111). PSNPs' antioxidant activity was measured using the DPPH test, while cytotoxicity was measured using the MTT assay on …

Sequencing Analysis Of Cvac Gene In Acinetobacter Baumannii That Isolates From Different Infections, Rana Abdullah, Rasha Ahmed

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the opportunistic nurses responsible for many acquired infections in hospitals due to its ability to resist many antibiotics. This is one of the problems facing hospitals in the world. Identification of the cvaC gene and sequence analysis in Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from various infections, and mutation detection in this gene. From 1st of September to 30th of November, 2016, 200 Acinetobacter baumannii isolates were obtained from various clinical samples. Follow fifty isolates from blood, twenty isolates from urinary tract infections, thirty isolates from wound infections, forty isolates from burn infections and twenty-five isolates from stool …

Evidence Of Antioxidant Activity Of Novel L-Glutaminase Purified From L. Gasseri Brlhm, Butheina Hasson, Likaa Mahdi, Rajwa Essa

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Probiotic strains have the potential to be used as bio-preservatives and functional radical scavenging treatments in the future.  Antioxidant tests, including DPPH radical scavenging, were used to evaluate the antioxidant effects of extracellular L- Glutaminase isolated from L. gasseri BRLHM. Parameters for the promoted production of the enzyme under minimal production media were optimized.    The importance of this study lies in enhancing the production of the L- Glutaminase isolated from L. gasseri BRLHM with a high activity using these L. gasseri bacterial as antioxidant activity. In ion-exchange chromatography, the specific activity was 14.7U/mg protein, with 58.8% yield and 4.6 purification …

The Effect Of Current Density On The Properties Of Porous Silicon Gas Sensor For Ethanol And Methanol Vapour Detection, Muna Kareem, Adi M., Haitham Hussein

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

In this paper, Gas sensors for ethanol and methanol were created utilizing porous silicon (PSi).n-type silicon was employed for all PSi samples, photo-electrochemical etching technique (PECE) was used to prepare porous surface. The intensity of the three etchings current densities was 12, 24 and 30 mA / cm2, with 40% hydrofluoric acid concentration (HF) and a time of etching 10 minutes. Porous silicon (100) has been strictly studied by the structure and formation of surface bonding of the PSi layer; the structural properties, morphological characteristics, pore diameter, and roughness were described using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and …

Obtaining L - Glutamate Oxidase Enzyme From Streptomyces And Estimation Its Toxicity On Blood Components, Dina Abdul Hameed, Entesar Ali

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Streptomyces was isolated from the soil and then tested to diagnose morphologically and microscopically. Also, cultivated in the production medium of the L-glutamate oxidase enzyme, for which the wheat bran culture media was used, and then the extracellular L-glutamate oxidase enzyme was extracted using a cooling centrifuge at 8000 rpm for 20 minutes. The optimal temperature and pH for the production of the enzyme’s conditions were studied. Research results revealed that the optimum temperature for enzyme production was 30°C, and the best pH for the enzyme’s production was 7.0 later on, the enzyme was purified using common purification techniques represented …

Preparation Of V2o5 And Sno2 Nanoparticles And Their Application As Pollutant Removal, Zahra Hassan, Rashed Rasheed

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Vanadium pentoxide and Tin dioxide nanoparticles were prepared by hydrothermal methods to remove methylene blue (MB) and bromothymol blue (BTB) dyes). First the prepared nanoparticles were heated at different temperature (90 oC and 500 oC). Then these nanoparticles were characterized by different methods such as UV/Visible, FT-IR Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Our results explain that vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles appeared high remove activity against both types of organic dyes (MB and BTB) compared to tin dioxide nanoparticles. Furthermore,vanadium pentoxide heating at 90 oC has grain size (86.02 nm) more than that of …

A Generalization Of The Concave Integral In Terms Of Decomposition Of The Integrated Function For Bipolar Scales, Fadheela Kareem, Jabbar Abbas

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

In the context of the multiple-criteria decision aid (MCDA), several fuzzy integrals concerning capacities (non-additive measures) have been introduced by various researchers in the last sixty years.  Recently, Lehrer has proposed a new integral for capacities known as concave integral. The concave integral is based on the decomposition of random variables into simple ingredients. The concave integral concerning capacity is defined as the maximum value obtained among all its decompositions. The paper aims to model a new integration based on the decomposition of random variables into simple ingredients for multi-criteria decision making support when underlying scales are bipolar.  This paper …

Iris Magazine: Omens, Iris Magazine Staff

Iris Magazine

ARTICLES

PAGE 1-3…….HUMANIZING GENESEO, MADISON WRIGHT AND NEVAEH TUCKER

PAGE 4-5…….STRIPPING MENSTRUATION OF GENDERED LANGUAGE, SARAH SHARPLES

CREATIVE ENTRIES

PAGE 1……….FIREWATCH, SAGE KEARNEY

PAGE 2……….MESS, LIDABEL GUZMAN AVILA

PAGE 3……….SELF SACRIFICIAL, LIDABEL GUZMAN AVILA

PAGE 4-6…….LIFE AFTER, AL TEJERA

PAGE 7-8…….SERAPH, SOL RIVERA

PAGE 9……….PLAYLIST, KAMAL LYTHCOTT

VISUAL ART

PAGE 1……….CEOS ON SUNDAYS, AL TEJERA

PAGE 2……….CHURCH, MIKAYLA ANDERSON

PAGE 3……….ENTRANCED, NOEL GUIDRY

PAGE 4……….THE WITCHING HOUR, NOEL GUIDRY

PAGE 5……….IF YOU WORE THESE SHORTS AS A KID YOU’RE GAY NOW, ANONYMOUS

PAGE 6……….LION, SIERRE ETKIN

5-Ht Recruits Distinct Neurocircuits To Inhibit Hunger-Driven And Non-Hunger-Driven Feeding, Yanlin He, Xing Cai, Hailan Liu, Krisitine M Conde, Pingwen Xu, Yongxiang Li, Chunmei Wang, Meng Yu, Yang He, Hesong Liu, Chen Liang, Tingting Yang, Yongjie Yang, Kaifan Yu, Julia Wang, Rong Zheng, Feng Liu, Zheng Sun, Lora Heisler, Qi Wu, Qingchun Tong, Canjun Zhu, Gang Shu, Yong Xu

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Obesity is primarily a consequence of consuming calories beyond energetic requirements, but underpinning drivers have not been fully defined. 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neurons in the dorsal Raphe nucleus (5-HTDRN) regulate different types of feeding behavior, such as eating to cope with hunger or for pleasure. Here, we observed that activation of 5-HTDRN to hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (5-HTDRN → ARH) projections inhibits food intake driven by hunger via actions at ARH 5-HT2C and 5-HT1B receptors, whereas activation of 5-HTDRN to ventral tegmental area (5-HTDRN → VTA) projections inhibits non-hunger-driven feeding via actions at 5-HT2C receptors. Further, hunger-driven feeding gradually activates ARH-projecting 5-HTDRN …

Towards Non-Intrusive Camera-Based Heart Rate Variability Estimation In The Car Under Naturalistic Condition, Shu Liu, Kevin Koch, Zimu Zhou, Martin Maritsch, Xiaoxi He, Elgar Fleisch, Felix Wortmann

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Driver status monitoring systems are a vital component of smart cars in the future, especially in the era when an increasing amount of time is spent in the vehicle. The heart rate (HR) is one of the most important physiological signals of driver status. To infer HR of drivers, the mainstream of existing research focused on capturing subtle heartbeat-induced vibration of the torso or leveraged photoplethysmography (PPG) that detects cardiac cycle-related blood volume changes in the microvascular. However, existing approaches rely on dedicated sensors that are expensive and cumbersome to be integrated or are vulnerable to ambient noise. Moreover, their …

Brevity Vs. Breadth: Can Memory Disorders Be Diagnosed Using Fewer Neuropsychological Assessments?, Analise Roccaforte

Theses and Dissertations

Object: The present study examines the clinical utility of combining a cognitive screener, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), with a measure of adaptive functioning, Texas Functional Living Scale (TFLS), to diagnose memory disorders when differentiating between cognition within normal limits (WNL), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Method: A total of 207 Health First Memory Disorder Clinic patients, ages 64-94, were included in the study. Participants were screened using the MoCA and then they completed a brief neuropsychological evaluation, which included the TFLS. Participants were only included if they received a diagnosis of cognition WNL, MCI, or AD. They …

Utilizing The Radsm Process: Developing An Unobtrusive Measure Of Cohesion, Zachary Lee Rahner

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, verbal indicators produced following the RADSM process were used to code transcript data collected from 62 three-person teams playing a cooperative bridge crew simulator. A training dataset, consisting of 88 mission transcripts, and a testing dataset, consisting of 39 mission transcripts, were created from the data. Multilevel modeling was employed to develop a linear-regression algorithm to predict/measure team task and social cohesion. The findings revealed that task cohesion perceptions are linked to the proportion of speech dedicated to information requests and instructions, whereas social cohesion perceptions are associated with the proportion of speech dedicated to amusing and …

Autonomous Feature Detection For Capture Path Planning For Rendezvous And Docking With Non-Cooperative Spacecraft, Trupti Mahendrakar

Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing risk of collisions with space debris and the growing interest in on-orbit servicing, the ability to autonomously capture non-cooperative, tumbling target objects remains an unresolved challenge. This thesis provides an autonomous and artificial intelligence solution to either inspect, avoid, or perform on-orbit spacecraft servicing of an uncooperative resident space object (RSO). The solution is built on the fundamentals of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), which is used to classify the four most targeted features of a spacecraft essential for docking and collision avoidance during rendezvous, such as solar panels, antennas, spacecraft bodies, and thrusters. The solution was then …

Synthesis, Isolation And Structural Elucidation Of Cage-Shaped Aluminum And Gallium Phosphorous Aryloxide Complexes As Highly Reactive Lewis Acids And Carboxyboranes As Carbon Monoxide Releasing Molecules (Corms), Hussam Wannas Shinawa Alhamza

Theses and Dissertations

Group 13 Lewis acids have gained a lot of interest in over the years due to their reactivity, potency, and applications in the field of catalysis. Generally, there is a direct relationship between the catalytic activity of the organometallic Lewis acid and its acidity. However, this gives rise to a bigger challenge which is related to the stability of the catalyst. Our preliminary results from working on the catalytic reduction of CO2 have shown catalytic deactivation after one or two cycles. Utilizing bulkier substituents such as monodentate phenolates have shown promising increased stability and reactivity. The structural optimization (i.e., open-shape …

3d Printed Bioglass Incorporated Collagen Matrices For Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering, Nilabh Sunil Kajave

Theses and Dissertations

Musculoskeletal injuries are a major cause of disability affecting millions of people around the world and resulting in a significant economic burden of over $14 billion. Surgical intervention using autografts and allografts is the current gold standard used in the clinic for the repair and regeneration of musculoskeletal injuries, but these treatment options are associated with major limitations such as donor-site morbidity, need for multiple surgeries, immune-related complications, and risk for disease transmission. Over the past three decades, the development and application of tissue engineering strategies for restoration and reconstruction of damaged or diseased musculoskeletal tissues have gained considerable momentum …

Charged Particle Environment Testing Of A Deep Space Radiation Shield With Associated Fabrication And Calibration Of Pulsed Power Systems, Mark Bedford Moffett

Theses and Dissertations

Space radiation is one of the primary dangers faced outside of the protective magnetosphere of Earth. Despite the persistent radiation threat to self-contained human habitation and the risk of increased exposure during long-duration missions, reliable long-term radiation protection is not well-developed. Active shielding is an avenue of preventative radiation protection that could be deployed to protect astronauts and biological life from the effects of radiation. This dissertation explores the design scalability of an active magnetic shield for protecting against isotropic radiation in deep space. Each shield is composed of two concentric, elliptical layers of circular conducting coils, each arranged like …

A Comparative Study On The Application Of Intelligent Algorithms As The Solution Of Inverse Heat Conduction Problems, Dominic Allard

Theses and Dissertations

A critical component necessary for the safety and survival of space vehicles are the thermal protection systems (TPS). Especially when subject to atmospheric re-entry, the heating loads subject to the space vehicle requires the implementation of extensive protection. The TPS commonly used currently are passive ablative materials which burn away under extreme heat flux. Due to the nature of the material and the incident heat flux, it is not feasible to attain accurate, real-time measurements for the boundary conditions with sensors placed on the surface of the space vehicle. The ability to do such would allow opportunities to implement active …

A Machine Learning-Based Approach To Predict And Optimize The Performance Of Zero Energy Building (Zeb): A Case Study For Florida, Benjamin Kubwimana

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning is currently one of the most searched fields aiming to solve real-life problems. Building simulation software tools help engineers estimate building energy behaviors before the actual construction, allowing implementation of more energy efficient choices in building design and construction. Current building energy simulation software tools are mostly physics-based and still lack the benefit obtained with machine learningbased modeling, which offers fast and less computationally expensive techniques to build energy models and efficiently perform design optimization. This thesis presents a machine learning-based approach for building energy modeling and optimizing design parameters to minimize building’s energy consumption. The study is …

Changes In The Abundance And Distribution Of Benthic Mollusks In Polluted Sediments Of A Shallow Subtropical Estuary, Rachael Holtsberg Stark

Theses and Dissertations

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) has been degraded by decades of eutrophication, and has accumulated an abundance of fine-grained, organic-rich sediments (muck). To quantify the impacts of organic sediments and environmental dredging, benthic mollusks were chosen to serve as bioindicators of environmental change, sediment health, and water quality. Data on species richness, biodiversity, and abundances was collected alongside sediment and water quality data before, during and after dredging. Organic sediment content was found to have an inverse logarithmic relationship benthic mollusk biodiversity, species richness, and abundance. Sediments low in percent organic content (0.7% to 6.1%) were located near the adjacent …

Variations In Otolith-Zinc Concentrations Of Brown Surgeonfish (Acanthurus Nigrofuscus) Between Marine Protected Areas And Fished Reefs, Matthew Austin Nichols

Theses and Dissertations

As human populations continue to increase, the growing reliance on exploited fish stocks has furthered patterns of declining body size and biomass worldwide. To mitigate these impacts, fisheries managers have implemented a variety of conservation strategies, including marine protected areas (MPA), as these serve as a refuge for fish, resulting in increases in numerous health metrics (fish density, biomass, body-size, and species diversity). By using fish otolith samples previously concluded to have physiological and morphometric differences between MPA and fished reef (FR) fish, this thesis explores the potential of using microchemical analysis of zinc (Zn) to reveal impacts MPAs might …

Development And Optimization Of A Denitrification System To Promote Biological Nutrient Removal In A Subtropical Estuary, Abigail Gering

Theses and Dissertations

Eutrophication impacts coastal ecosystems globally and triggers phytoplankton and algal blooms, leading to an increase in oxygen demand in the water column and sediments due to various biogeochemical processes. Naturally, biological nitrification, denitrification and anammox processes help to remove nitrogen predominately by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in the sediments. Eutrophic systems have increased nutrient and organic matter loading and are prone to the accumulation of ‘muddy’, fine-grained, organic-rich sediments (locally termed ‘muck’) that may not be able to support high enough populations of these bacteria, and therefore, may not adequately support nitrification/denitrification processes that would otherwise remove nitrogen. To decrease …

Survivals Of Two Cooperating Species Of Animals, Joon Hyuk Kang

Faculty Publications

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December 2021 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Comparative Riverscape Genomics Of The Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma Caeruleum) In Glaciated And Unglaciated Environments, Jon M. Luiken, Tony Gamble, Peter B. Berendzen

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Periodic glaciation during the Quaternary period shaped the contemporary riverscape and distribution of freshwater fishes in the Mississippi River drainage of central North America. The rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) is a member of this ichthyofauna and has a disjunct distribution in glaciated and unglaciated environments west of the Mississippi River. Based on glacial history of the region, there are different expectations on the observed spatial genetic structure of populations in these environments. The aim of this study was to utilize genome-wide SNP data to compare the population genomic structure of the rainbow darter in river networks with disparate …