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Highways For Red Wood Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A New Method To Increase The Size Of Anthills, Stanislav Stukalyuk, Mykola Kozyr

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Red wood ants (RWA, Formica rufa group) play a key role in forest ecosystems as effective entomophages and participants in the circulation of organic matter. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficiency of using the highway method to accelerate the growth of anthills, specifically focusing on height, diameter, volume. The study was conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine, from May to October 2023. In the experimental group, highways were constructed on ant trails, totalling nine Formica polyctena Forster, 1850 anthills and eight Formica rufa Linnaeus, 1761 anthills. These highways consisted of a continuous line of logs ranging from 10 …

Inbreeding Tolerance In Two Isolated Populations Of Harting’S Vole Microtus Hartingi(Rodentia, Arvicolinae), Tanya Zorenko, Larisa Petra Kaija

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The adaptive effects of inbreeding are understudied, but accumulating evidence suggests that it plays a major adaptive role in speciation, as populations with a history of inbreeding are more prone to it. Differences in inbreeding tolerance in two populations of Microtus hartingi voles were studied through a series of experiments on reproductive behaviour and partner choice. Modelling an artificial polygyny via the formation of trios composed of a brother, sister, and an unrelated female has shown an uneven attitude towards inbreeding, which was closely linked to the reproduction strategy: voles of the Rhodopean population (RP) would reproduce communally with only …

Impact Of Coronavirus Pandemic On Employee Turnover In Financial Institutions In Ghana, Maame Esi Abbam

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus pandemic in late 2019 brought about a lot of challenges that affected several sectors and industries. The current research focused on assessing the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on employee turnover within the financial institutions in Ghana with a specific focus on women employees. Financial institutions are significant pillars of the Ghanaian economy, and they contribute to economic growth and provide essential financial services to businesses and individuals. Through Vroom’s expectancy theory and a qualitative phenomenological approach and analysis, the study was designed to explore the factors that contributed to employee turnover with a …

Inactivation Of Adenosine Receptor 2a Suppresses Endothelial-To-Mesenchymal Transition And Inhibits Subretinal Fibrosis In Mice, Qiuhua Yang, Yongfeng Cai, Qian Ma, Albert Xiong, Peishan Xu, Zhidan Zhang, Jiean Xu, Yaqi Zhou, Zhiping Liu, Dingwei Zhao, John Asara, Wei Li, Huidong Shi, Ruth B Caldwell, Akrit Sodhi, Yuqing Huo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy has had a substantial impact on the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), the leading cause of vision loss in older adults. Despite treatment, many patients with nAMD still develop severe and irreversible visual impairment because of the development of subretinal fibrosis. We recently reported the anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic effects of inhibiting the gene encoding adenosine receptor 2A (Adora2a), which has been implicated in cardiovascular disease. Here, using two mouse models of subretinal fibrosis (mice with laser injury–induced CNV or mice with a deficiency in the …

Correction: Jiménez-Ortigosa Et Al Cryo-Electron Tomography Of Candida Glabrata Plasma Membrane Proteins J Fungi 2021, 7, 120, Cristina Jiménez-Ortigosa, Jennifer Jiang, Muyuan Chen, Xuyuan Kuang, Kelley R Healey, Paul Castellano, Nikpreet Boparai, Steven J Ludtke, David S Perlin, Wei Dai

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The authors wish to update the article title to "Cryo-Electron Tomography of Candida glabrata Plasma Membrane Proteins" [...].

Enhancing Prognostic Power In Multiple Myeloma Using A Plasma Cell Signature Derived From Single-Cell Rna Sequencing, Jian-Rong Li, Shahram Arsang-Jang, Yan Cheng, Fumou Sun, Anita D'Souza, Binod Dhakal, Parameswaran Hari, Quillan Huang, Paul Auer, Yong Li, Raul Urrutia, Fenghuang Zhan, John D Shaughnessy, Siegfried Janz, Jing Dong, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a heterogenous plasma cell malignancy, for which the established prognostic models exhibit limitations in capturing the full spectrum of outcome variability. Leveraging single-cell RNA-sequencing data, we developed a novel plasma cell gene signature. We evaluated and validated the associations of the resulting plasma cell malignancy (PBM) score with disease state, progression and clinical outcomes using data from five independent myeloma studies consisting of 2115 samples (1978 MM, 65 monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, 35 smoldering MM, and 37 healthy controls). Overall, a higher PBM score was significantly associated with a more advanced stage within the spectrum …

Dynamic Contrast Optical Coherence Tomography (Dyc-Oct) For Label-Free Live Cell Imaging, Chao Ren, Senyue Hao, Fei Wang, Abigail Matt, Marcello Magri Amaral, Daniel Yang, Leyao Wang, Chao Zhou

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Dynamic contrast optical coherence tomography (DyC-OCT), an emerging imaging method, utilizes fluctuation patterns in OCT signals to enhance contrast, thereby enabling non-invasive label-free volumetric live cell imaging. In this mini review, we explain the core concepts behind DyC-OCT image formation and its system configurations, serving as practical guidance for future DyC-OCT users. Subsequently, we explore its applications in delivering high-quality, contrast-enhanced images of cellular morphology, as well as in monitoring changes in cellular activity/viability assay experiments.

Symposium: Gender, Health, And The Constitution: Gender-Affirming Care And Children's Liberty, Dara E. Purvis

ConLawNOW

This essay addresses the wave of statutes banning gender-affirming care for transgender and gender-diverse minors passed in states across the country over the last three years. It argues that an underdeveloped understanding of children’s rights makes it more difficult to explain how harmful gender-affirming care bans are and to challenge them in court. After explaining the nature of gender-affirming care, the essay discusses the grounds underlying existing challenges to gender-affirming care bans, highlighting the emphasis on equal protection and parental rights. It concludes by reframing the children’s liberty argument and exploring what the broader consequences of courts recognizing such a …

Cyanobacterial Contribution To Annual Cycles Of Phytoplankton In Lake Murray, Sc, Haley Durbin, Mikayla Radek, Catherine Schlenker, Sarah Bauman, James L. Pinckney

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

Freshwater lakes provide valuable recreational and tourism resources and are a major source of municipal drinking water for local communities. A primary management goal for lake systems is the maintenance of good water quality and a healthy aquatic ecosystem. Blooms of harmful or noxious species of cyanobacteria can result in severe water quality degradation. The purpose of this project was to provide baseline data on phytoplankton community composition, with special emphasis on cyanobacteria, and water quality parameters for Lake Murray, SC. The objective of this study was to determine the annual cyanobacterial contribution to total phytoplankton biomass in the lower …

Reproductive Biology Of The Jellyfish Outbreak Along The Uae Coastal Waters, Amrutha Aravind

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Jellyfish are a ubiquitous occurrence in the world’s oceans. During the past decades, dramatic spatial increases and temporal shifts in jellyfish distributions have been reported around the world. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), coastal area also has experienced several blooms along with severe adverse impacts on its economic facilities. Few studies have been conducted within the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, to identify the blooming species and the environmental parameters that favor such breakout. The present study aimed to identify the jellyfish species found along the coastal area of UAE and trying to link their occurrence with seasonal …

Radical Youth Work: A Community Based Approach To Working With Youth, Young Adults And Families, Weston J. Robins

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Radical Youth Work: A Community Based Approach to Working with Youth, Young Adults and Families

A focus on experiential mentoring, humanistic counseling and community engagement as a way to work with youth, young adults and families to provide true holistic therapeutic support and guidance.

Symposium: Gender, Health And The Constitution: More Than Merely "Two-Legged Wombs": Lessons On Metaphor And Body Politics From Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale (1985), Rachel Conrad Bracken

ConLawNOW

This essay explores the dehumanizing potential of metaphors used to describe women’s reproductive biology through literary analysis of Margaret Atwood’s canonical feminist novel The Handmaid’s Tale (1985). Attending to the rhetoric that both justifies and contests ritualized rape and forced surrogacy in Atwood’s novel, this essay begins by interrogating the ubiquitous cultural and biomedical metaphors that reduce women and pregnant people to their bodies’ reproductive potential. The first section draws from scholarship in medical anthropology, medical rhetoric, and literary studies to illuminate how gendered stereotypes pervade biomedical, cultural, and legal representations of reproduction, reifying the conflation of women and people …

Teaching Students About Trauma, Stress And Brain Regulation, Kathy J. Van Horn

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

All students are impacted by stress and can benefit by understanding their brains, their stress response, and strategies for regulation. This presentation will provide practical principles and ideas for teaching students strategies and skills for physical, emotional, and cortical regulation.

The Impact Of Hormone Replacement Therapy On The Clavicle, Ryland B. Lambert

McNair Scholars Research Journal

One of the many medical procedures of gender transition that are available for transgender individuals involve the use of cross-sex hormones to align one’s physical characteristics with one’s gender identity. During this process, transgender male-to-female patients may see the feminization of their bodies, while transgender female-to-male patients may see the masculinization of their bodies. Currently, little research has been done to show the full range of the effects that hormone replacement therapy induces, specifically regarding its impact on skeletal morphology. This lack of analysis is not only to the detriment of transgender patients themselves but also to the field of …

Major Northeastward Range Extension For A Western Grasshopper Species: New State Record For Trimerotropis Pallidipennis (Burmeister) In Wisconsin, Mathew L. Brust

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Trimerotropis pallidipennis (Burmeister) mostly occurs in the southwestern U.S., but is known to migrate significant distances periodically. It appears that some individuals of this species occasionally migrate very long distances. Here I present an extreme record for this species, over 480 km northeast of any previously known records, including any others recorded from 2022. A single male specimen was collected and photographed in Price County in north-central Wisconsin in June 2022.

Adult Neurocolpus Nubilus And Plagiognathus Sp. Dispersal On Tropaeolum Majus, Elyse Malamud

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Neurocolpus nubilus (Say) (Hemiptera: Miridae), commonly known as the clouded plant bug, is a species of plant bug. Widespread primarily across eastern North America, N. nubilus is known to feed on many types of plants. At least 43 host plants spanning 34 plant families have been recorded for N. nubilus and more may be possible. Plagiognathus (Fieber) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a genus of plant bugs that is widespread across the Holarctic region. Plagiognathus spp. are typically found on various woody host plants. This paper describes an instance of adult N. nubilus and Plagiognathus sp. feeding on a cultivar of Tropaeolum …

First Known Records Of The Specialist Bee, Colletes Aestivalis (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), In An Urban Area, Nina S. Fogel, Christine Kirmaier, Mike Arduser

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Here we report on the first known records of the Heuchera specialist bee Colletes aestivalis in an urban area. This bee was found by a participant in a citizen science project in a residential garden in a suburb that abuts St. Louis, Missouri. The females were found only visiting Heuchera richardsonii, and the males were seen scouting for females by hovering over the plants. This finding shows that urban areas can support uncommon specialist bees and the utility of engaging non-experts in cataloging biodiversity.

Willow Pollen Collection By A Blueberry Specialist Bee (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), James B. Watson, Keziah G. Bartel, Jason Gibbs

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Andrena (Conandrena) bradleyi Viereck (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) is widely regarded as a Ericaceae specialist bee due to its elongate head, plant records, and common collection in commercial blueberry fields. We provide evidence of A. bradleyi collecting pollen from willow (Salix, Salicaceae) L. in southeastern Manitoba. This indicates the bee is not obligately specialized on Ericaceae pollens and that early blooming plants may contribute to its early nutritional requirements.

Evidence Of Lilac Borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) Population On Mackinac Island, Mi, David Max Lowenstein

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Mackinac Island, Michigan, is a major tourism destination with its lilacs an important part of the local culture. Recently, the health of some lilacs has declined. It is uncertain if this is due to the lilac’s age, attack by lilac borer, Podosesia syringae (Harris) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), or a combination of environmental and biotic factors. The lilac borer is a clearwing moth whose larvae bore within ash and lilac, and there are minimal local records of the insect in Northern Michigan and none on Mackinac Island. This study deployed pheromone traps to identify the flight period of lilac borer, potential damage …

New Record Of The Pavement Ant, Tetramorium Immigrans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), In South Dakota With Notes On Its Thermal Tolerance And Geographic Distribution, Karl A. Roeder, Skylar Drey, Jesse D. Daniels, Diane V. Roeder, Jackson A. Helms Iv

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The pavement ant, Tetramorium immigrans, is an abundant and widespread species across large portions of the United States. Yet despite its current distribution in Northeastern, Midwestern, Pacific, and Western states, there is a surprising lack of records from the Great Plains. Here we present an updated county list of T. immigrans from museum collections and research grade observations (459 counties; ~15% of US counties), highlighting the first records from one Great Plains state—South Dakota. Observations on community science platforms since 2006 have undoubtedly increased the awareness of T. immigrans (+329 counties; ~72% of all county records), however we posit …

Bee (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) Richness In Eastern Ohio Pipeline Right Of Ways, Malisa Spring, Gabriel R. Karns

The Great Lakes Entomologist

It is relatively unknown which species of bees utilize pipeline Right of Ways. Most recent Right of Way research focuses on bees found on electrical transmission Right of Ways instead. Ohio is also relatively understudied in terms of bee richness. This project sought to document bees that are found in these pipeline Right of Ways in 4 heavily forested counties in eastern Ohio. A total of 3950 specimens were collected, accounting for 140 species across two years of sampling (2016 and 2018). Overall bee abundance peaked mid-season, with the highest abundance observed in July. The majority of bees collected were …

Reevaluating Abrupt Biological Discontinuity In A Small Michigan (Usa) Stream – Differences In The Organic Biomass Of Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Functional Feeding Groups Based On Benthic And Terrestrial Habitat, David C. Houghton, Danae Sollie, Daniel Votel, Elizabeth Potwardowski

The Great Lakes Entomologist

To examine the effects of habitat and benthic substrate differences on macroinvertebrate assemblages along a single continuum, we tested three sites along a small northern Lower Michigan stream over a four-year period. Terrestrial habitat along the stream abruptly changed from a cedar forest, to an open meadow, to a hardwood forest within a 1.4 km reach. Reflecting these changes, overhead canopy coverage and in-stream woody debris were higher at the two forested sites, whereas the organic biomass of periphyton was higher at the meadow site. The meadow site also had faster stream velocity and a greater volume of coarse benthic …

Observations On A Dendroctonus Simplex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Outbreak In A Rangewide Tamarack (Larix Laricina) Provenance Plantation In Michigan, Robert A. Haack, Richard W. Blank

The Great Lakes Entomologist

A tamarack [Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch] provenance plantation, consisting of 33 seed sources from the United States and Canada, was established in 1969 in southern Michigan (Kalamazoo County). About half of the trees were removed in fall 1984 when the stand was thinned, with the cut trees piled on the edge of the stand. The stand then experienced a severe ice storm in January 1985. The eastern larch beetle, Dendroctonus simplex LeConte, colonized the cut logs in 1985 and also infested many of the standing trees. By the end of 1986, over half the remaining trees had …

Observations On The Oak Twig Pruner, Anelaphus Villosus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), In Michigan: Size Of Twigs Pruned, Insect Survival, And Seasonality Of Twig Drop, Robert A. Haack

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The oak twig pruner [OTP; Anelaphus villosus (Fabricius)] is likely a species complex, with A. parallelus (Newman) recently recognized as a synonym. The parallelus form of A. villosus is considered the subject of this paper. In Michigan, OTP has a 2-year life cycle, with twigs pruned primarily in even-numbered years and adults emerging from the fallen twigs in odd-numbered years. During 1990 to 2011, I studied various aspects of OTP life history in southern Michigan (Ingham County). Based on measurements from over 300 infested oak twigs, they averaged 43.1 cm long, 9.4 mm in diameter at the pruned end, …

Flies Associated With Floral Canopies Of The New Oilseed Crop, Pennycress, In The Midwestern U.S.A., Frank Forcella, Matt Petersen, William L. Perry, Samantha S. Wells, Alex Hard, Russ W. Gesch, Yesuf Mohammed, Cody Hoerning, Tad L. Wesley, Emma Ambrosi, Winthrop B. Phippen

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Flies are frequent visitors to flowers of many species of plants within the mustard family (Brassicaceae). They derive nutrition from these flowers, and some fly species are pollinators. Field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) is a mustard species that is being developed as a new “cash cover crop,” i.e., an autumn-sown cover crop whose oil-rich seeds can be harvested profitably in spring. Although pennycress is largely wind- and self-pollinated, its flowers also attract insect visitors. However, the extent of visitation to pennycress flowers by flies remains largely unknown, especially the identities of those flies. Thus, we examined flies associated with …

The Heteroptera (Hemiptera) Of North Dakota Ii: Enicocephalomorpha : Enicocephalidae, Alexander H. Knudson, Veronica Calles Torrez, David A. Rider

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The Enicocephalomorpha of North Dakota is documented with the report of the unique-headed bug, Systelloderes biceps (Say, 1832) from North Dakota for the first time. We also discuss the geographic distribution of S. biceps and Systelloderes culicis (Uhler, 1892), provide color photographs, provide diagnoses for the separation of these species from all other North American species, and designate a lectotype for S. culicis (Uhler).

Cover Pages For Tgle Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Cover Pages for TGLE Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

Differentially Disrupted Spinal Cord And Muscle Energy Metabolism In Spinal And Bulbar Muscular Atrophy, Danielle Debartolo, Frederick Arnold, Y Liu, Elana Molotsky, Hsin-Yao Tang, Diane Merry

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Prior studies showed that polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor (AR) is aberrantly acetylated and that deacetylation of the mutant AR by overexpression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent (NAD+-dependent) sirtuin 1 is protective in cell models of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA). Based on these observations and reduced NAD+ in muscles of SBMA mouse models, we tested the therapeutic potential of NAD+ restoration in vivo by treating postsymptomatic transgenic SBMA mice with the NAD+ precursor nicotinamide riboside (NR). NR supplementation failed to alter disease progression and had no effect on increasing NAD+ or ATP content in muscle, despite producing a modest increase of …

Do Crows Have Culture?, Sao Mai Nguyen

D.U.Quark

No abstract provided.

Performance Classification For Lasso Weights With Penalized Logistic Regression For High-Dimensional Data, Afiaa Raheem Khudhair, Saja Mohammad Hussein

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

In high-dimensional data, classification performance is a crucial consideration. One method of interest is the penalized binary logistic regression. However, the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator) The Lasso method may face problems when the appropriate penalty for each coefficient is not determined. For this reason, different weights are used in weighted Lasso estimates to address this issue and improve classification performance. To overcome this limitation, we employ various Weighted Lasso Estimates, each with unique weight assignments, and compare their performance with our fifth proposed weight configuration. This application of Lasso weighting schemes aims to uncover the most effective approach …