Life Sciences Commons^™

Crowdfunding For Biotechs: How The Sec’S Proposed Rule May Undermine Capital Formation For Startups, Brian J. Farnkoff

Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy (1985-2015)

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Michele Harmon

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Salinity, Ph, Temperature, And Dissolved Oxygen On Sensitivity Of Pcr Identification Of T4 Bacteriophage, Joesph F. Cannon, Nicholas A. Thurn, Paul E. Richardson

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Bacteriophages are used as indicators of pathogenic bacteria in drinking, and wastewaters. They also show potential in limiting aquatic bacterial populations through their lytic properties. The effect of different water characteristics (salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature) on the sensitivity of the PCR identification of virus particles were analyzed to determine at what levels bacteriophage can be detected in environmental samples. Results from this preliminary study indicate that a PCR bacteriophage detection technique has potential as a relatively efficient and economical indicator of coliform contamination in multiple aquatic environments. While further evaluation is needed, the protocol appears to function in …

Exploring The Mechanisms Of Allelopathic Interaction In The Invasive Annual Plant, Phyllanthus Urinaria, Alyssa L. Smith, Andrew R. Dyer

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

The belowground mechanisms facilitating invasion and proliferation of non-native plant species into natural communities are of critical importance for understanding plant invasions. Research on allelopathy suggests that some exotic plant species produce compounds via root exudates that may suppress or inhibit the growth of neighboring plants, but the specific mechanisms and consequences of these plant-chemical interactions remain elusive. In an effort to understand the abiotic and biotic factors governing allelopathic activity, a two-part greenhouse experiment was designed to examine plant-soil interactions of the invasive euphorb, Phyllanthus urinaria, and the residual soil effects of these interactions on subsequent growth of …

Dose Dependent Effects Of Caffeine On Cognitive Performance And Neuronal Activation, Stephan Albrecht, Helen Morris, Michelle Vieyra

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Many students assume that the more caffeine you drink, the better your cognitive performance. Over-consumption of caffeine has many negative effects, so if there are no dose related cognitive benefits to large amounts of caffeine, then college students should limit their intake. This study looked at whether ingesting a medium dose (200 mg) versus a lower dose (100 mg) of caffeine improved short term memory as measured by Flanker and n-back tests, compared to a control group. In addition, we looked at whether larger doses of caffeine produced a difference in neuronal activation during these tests as measured by functional …

Fourier Analysis Of Phase Resetting Curves Of Neural Oscillators, Robert A. Raidt, Sorinel A. Oprisan

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

We investigated the impact of changes in biologically relevant control parameters, such as the shape of an external perturbation or the conductance values of an individual model neuron, on the shape of the phase resetting curve (PRC) of that neuron. For that purpose, PRCs were generated for groups of Morris-Lecar (ML) model neurons with different conductance values but similar firing periods (within 0.005ms) using external rectangular, triangular, or trapezoidal perturbations of varying areas. These PRCs were numerically described and analyzed as a series of coefficient values using a Fourier Discrete Sine Transform (DST). We found that changes in the shape …

A Review Of “An Ethical Market In Human Organs,” By Charles A. Erin And John Harris, And A Proposed Solution To The Current Organ Shortage, Rachel Rattenni Fcrh '14

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

In 2005, an Israeli man named Nick Rosen answered an ad in his local Tel Aviv newspaper searching for someone interested in selling a kidney. Through funding from the broker who placed the ad, Rosen was flown to New York and set up with a dialysis patient from Brooklyn. After Rosen and the dialysis patient passed a simple procedure for the screening of illegal organ sales by saying the two were old friends, the successful transplant surgery was performed at the esteemed Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. The Brooklyn resident walked away never again needing to go on …

Diversity Of Cultivable Bacteria Involved In The Formation Of Macroscopic Microbial Colonies (Cave Silver) On The Walls Of A Cave In Slovenia, Blagajana Herzog Velikonja, Rok Tkavc, Lejla Pašić

International Journal of Speleology

Karstic caves often support white, yellow, grey or pink microbial colonies that are termed ‘cave silver’ by speleologists. Using various sample pre-treatments and culture media, a wide variety of bacteria associated with these colonies were recovered from a cave in Slovenia, Pajsarjeva jama. Decreasing the inoculum size resulted in significant increases in viable counts, while pre-treatments had the opposite effect with the exception of microwave irradiation. While all growth media yielded viable counts, the maximal counts were observed on a low-nutrient TWA medium.

Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence of OTU representatives, the majority of the 80 isolates examined …

Abridged Submission Guidelines

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

No abstract provided.

Preface

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

No abstract provided.

The Fate Of Local Food Systems In The Global Industrialization Market: Food And Social Justice In The Rural South, Wylin D. Wilson, Reuben C. Warren, Stephen O. Sodeke, Norbert Wilson

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

This paper investigates the connection between local food systems, health disparities, and social justice in the rural South. It begins with the relationship between food insecurity and health disparities that disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority populations, and non-minority women and children. First, we discuss the concept of health disparities within the context of bioethics and public health ethics in order to explore the link between the food system and health as a social justice issue. Second, we define health disparities and discuss how they have historically plagued and disadvantaged racial minority populations. Third, we examine these disparities within the …

The Impact Of Selected Socioeconomic Factors On Asset Building In Rural Communities, Nii O. Tackie, Judith N. Aboagye, Gwendolyn J. Johnson, Millicent Braxton, Latanya Hunt-Haralson, Gertrude D. Wall

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

The study examined the impact of selected socioeconomic factors on asset building. Using a questionnaire, data were obtained from a convenience sample of 204 participants from several Alabama Black Belt Counties, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and logit analysis. The results showed that a majority (64%) was willing to participate in an asset building program. Of this, an overwhelming majority (at most 70%) wanted to set up a small business; further their education, or purchase a home. In addition, one socioeconomic factor, age, had a statistically significant (p = 0.016) effect on willingness to participate in an asset building …

Community-University Partnerships For Change In The Black Belt South, Rosalind Harris

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

This article explores issues related to community-university partnerships by examining

the unfolding of the Black Belt Initiative, a 21^st century mobilization within the Black Belt South to establish a Black Belt Regional Commission. The Black Belt Initiative provides an instructive and compelling case study. For instance, the very nature of the Black Belt Initiative’s beginnings through the provision of a grant by Senator Zell Miller of Georgia to the University of Georgia with the proviso that “poverty – not race be the guiding principle…” heightened the tension between historically black and white universities reflecting longstanding contestations around how problems …

Community Capital And Local Economic Development Efforts, Andrew A. Zekeri

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Actions by local groups and leaders constitute an essential but poorly understood element of many rural economic development efforts. Previous studies suggest that local development efforts can influence community changes, but questions remain about why localities differ in economic development efforts. Drawing upon community capital framework and human ecological theory, the purpose of this research was to examine the effects of community capital on economic development efforts in rural communities. Hierarchical regression results indicate that social capital, cultural capital, built capital significantly predict economic development effort to develop recreation and tourism and human services. Despite that, only built capital and …

Socially Disadvantaged Farmer Issues Can Be Addressed When Diverse Frontline Agricultural Workers Proactively Work Together, Walter A. Hill, Jillian Hishaw, Tasha M. Hargrove

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

This paper focuses on socially disadvantaged farmers (SDFs) and civil rights issues as it relates to the USDA. It also deals with Diversity Initiatives in the 2008 Farm Bill, and discusses an assessment by Jackson Lewis LLC of the USDA’s efforts to deal with the diversity initiatives. Redacted USDA case studies examined at the 2010 Professional Agricultural Workers Conference at Tuskegee University are presented. The findings revealed that at that time the 2008 Farm Bill Initiatives were not effectively being implemented. It was recommended that the USDA should: keep making the effort to reform or improve its civil rights practices; …

Plight Of Black Farmers In The Context Of Usda Farm Loan Programs: A Research Agenda For The Future, Shakara S. Tyler, Eddie A. Moore

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Black farmers remain an underdeveloped topic in academic literature. This historical study used a historical research methodology to assess the plight of Black farmers in the context of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) farm loan programs and offered an array of future research recommendations. We investigated the severity of the plight of Black farmers in the context of USDA farm loan programs with an emphasis on effective and responsive leadership in relation to four elements: 1) legislative initiatives, 2) policy initiatives, 3) USDA structure and delivery systems, and the 4) Pigford v. Glickman class action and consent decree. We …

Using Hydroxyapatite From Fish Scales To Prepare Chitosan/Gelatin/Hydroxyapatite Membrane: Exploring Potential For Bone Tissue Engineering, Yi-Cheng Huang, Hao-Wen Chu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Concerns have recently been raised about the treatment and use of hydroxyapatite, an important component of fish scale. The goal of this investigation is to evaluate the feasibility of using hydroxyapatite extracted from fish scale (FHAP) for bone tissue engineering. FHAP or sintered FHAP (sFHAP) was added to chitosan/gelatin (CS/GEL) mixture to prepare membrane. The effect of FHAP and sFHAP on the physical and chemical properties of the membrane and their affinities towards MG63 cells were studied. Accordingly, the prepared CS/GEL/FHAP membrane was characterized by FTIR (ATRFTIR) and SEM. Following sintering at 800°C for 4 h, the CS/GEL/sFHAP membrane had …

Seasonal Variation On General Composition, Free Amino Acids And Fatty Acids In The Gonad Of Taiwan's Sea Urchin Tripneustes Gratilla, Yu-Chun Chen, Tai-Yuan Chen, Tze-Kuei Chiou, Deng-Fwu Hwang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

The seasonal variation of chemical composition in sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla gonad from Taiwan is investigated. The level of both gonad index (GI) and body weight in the sea urchins showed seasonal variations and were higher during spring and summer. The main saturated fatty acids (SFA) of sea urchin gonad were C14:0 and C16:0, and both varied with season. Arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid were the dominant poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), while C16:1, C18:1 and C22:1 were the predominant monoenoic fatty acids (MFA). The levels of total fatty acids were higher in summer, and decreased to the lowest in December …

Ninth East China Sea Conference 2013: International Conference On The Marine Biodiversity And Environmental Fisheries Science Of The East China Sea In Keelung, Taiwan, Ching-Fong Chang, Tai-Wen Hsu, I-Shiung Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

No abstract provided.

First Record Of The Hairy Squat Lobster Genus Lauriea Baba, 1971 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheidae) From Kenting, Southern Taiwan, Chia-Wei Lin, Pi-Hsien Kuo, Tin-Yam Chan

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

The shallow water squat lobster genus Lauriea Baba, 1971 is reported for the first time from Taiwan. The three specimens collected from Kenting, southern Taiwan belong to Lauriea siagiani Baba, 1994. Lauriea siagiani is very distinctive by its striking coloration and having dense long plumose setae on the body. Its report in Taiwan fills the gap of geographical distribution of this species from Indonesia to Japan.

Fishing Vs. Climate Change: An Example Of Filefish (Thamnaconus Modestus) In The Northern East China Sea, Sukgeun Jung, Hyung Kee Cha

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

The main cause of annual fluctuations in catch and species composition of fisheries is usually uncertain, but a prevailing view has been that fishing effects are more critical than environmental variability. Filefish is a good anecdote: many Korean fisheries scientists have attributed the sudden collapse of Korean filefish fisheries in the early 1990s to overfishing, especially by trawl fisheries in the northern East China Sea (NECS). However, interdisciplinary researches have revealed that climate-driven, multi-decadal variability in oceanic conditions impacts both fish and fisheries around the world. To test the two alternative hypotheses (i.e., fishing and climate) as the major cause …

Seasonal Dynamics Of Flatfish Assemblage In Coastal Waters Off Northeastern Taiwan: With Implications For Shift In Species Dominance Of The Ecosystem, Shyh-Bin Wang, Wen-Kwen Chen, Shoou-Jeng Joung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

The seasonal dynamics of flatfish assemblage in the coastal waters off northeastern Taiwan was examined based on samples collected between March 2004 and March 2005 taken by bottom trawlers and landed at Da-Shi fishing port, Yilan county. A total of 28 species from 5 families and 18 genera were found. The Bothidae was the most dominant family, accounting for 81% of the total catch, while the most dominant species was the Pseudorhombus pentophthalmus. Species richness and diversity were high between the end of fall and the end of spring, but low in summer. Multivariate analyses based on cluster and nonparametric …

A Comparative Study Between Ranavirus And Megalocytivirus Infections In Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epienphelus Coioides), Jiann-Horng Leu, Ming-Hung Wu, Hsin-Yiu Chou

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Piscine iridoviruses infect a wide variety of fish and are classified into three genera: Lymphocystivirus, Ranavirus and Megalocytivirus. Lymphocystiviruses cause non-fatal, dermal infections, while ranaviruses and megalocytiviruses produce devastating, systemic infections with mortality reaching up to 100%. Although both ranaviruses and megalocytiviruses cause fatal systemic infections, they induce different pathology. In Taiwan, both ranaviruses and megalocytiviruses have caused serious epidemics in several mariculture fish species, including groupers. In this study, we infected the orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) with either a megalocytivirus (TGIV, grouper iridovirus of Taiwan) or a ranavirus (GIV, grouper iridovirus), and then the two iridoviruses were investigated and …

An Annotated Checklist Of Gobioid Fishes From The Mangrove Estuary Of Matang, Malay Peninsula, With Comments On A New Pseudogobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae) Species, Shih-Pin Huang, Kwang-Tsao Shao, Hao-Ming Huang, Ving-Ching Chong, I-Shiung Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

A series of field collections of fishes were made in the Matang mangrove, Malay Peninsula in April 2011. At least 23 genera and 27 species of gobioid fishes including a new Pseudogobius species were collected and recorded in this region during the expedition. The checklist of gobioid fauna and available materials are provided herein, and the formal description of a new goby species, Pseudogobius fulvicaudus Huang, Shao & Chen, new species will be provided and discussed in this paper.

Decadal Variation Of Wintertime Sea Surface Temperature In The Taiwan Strait, Yi-Chun Kuo, Ming-An Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Long-term advanced very-high-resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data with a resolution of 0.04° provided clearer views of sea surface temperature (SST) warming and variation associated with ENSO in the Taiwan Strait (TS) during wintertime (1981-2013). Over the 33 year period, the spatial average of winter SST warming in the TS reached to 3°C. From 1981- 2001, the SST exhibited an increasing trend, with the fastest warming taking place from 1991-2001 after which it seemed to pause. From 2002-2012, the SST showed a cooling trend (-0.08°C/yr). Spatial variation of the warming was distinct, with the highest values concentrated in the winter fronts region, …

Taxonomic Study Of Pike Congers (Anguilliformes: Muraenesocidae) With Identification Of Muraenesocid Collections In Taiwan, James Lin, Kwang-Tsao Shao, Hong-Ming Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

During the past years, we collected and studied on the Anguilliformes fishes, and described some new genera and new species of eels. We noticed that there are some misidentified species or invalid junior synonym in Muraenesocidae specimens. Considering how limited this family is known in Taiwan, we would like to revise the species of pike congers here. We collected muraenesocid specimens around Taiwan from fish markets, fishery harbors, fishermen, and also examined the specimens from other Taiwanese museum collections. Comparing to the past literature of Muraenesocidae, we found that the species Congresox talabon was misreported previously, and there is not …

Effects Of Elevated Seawater Co2 On Feed Intake, Oxygen Consumption And Morphology Of Aristotle's Lantern In The Sea Urchin Anthocidaris Crassispina, Guining Wang, Mitsuharu Yagi, Rui Yin, Weiqun Lu, Atsushi Ishimatsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Adult sea urchins, Anthocidaris crassispina, were reared individually in running seawater equilibrated with gas mixtures containing 380 ppm (control), 1,000 ppm or 3,000 ppm CO2, at ambient natural temperature for 140 days to study effects of elevated CO2 on feed intake, fecal production, oxygen consumption, and the morphology of Aristotle’s lantern. Feed intake became significantly lower in the two high CO2 groups than in the control after 90 (1,000 ppm) or 110 (3,000 ppm) days and remained suppressed until the end of the experiment (control, 0.16 ± 0.01 (mean ± SE) g dry wt ind-1 day-1; 1,000 ppm, 0.10 ± …

One New Record Genus And Three New Record Species Of Snake Eels (Ophichthidae:Anguilliformes) From Taiwan, Yung-Chieh Chiu, James Lin, Hong-Ming Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

The tropical and subtropical eel family Ophichthidae are the most diverse Anguilliformes fishes which occupy a variety of marine habitats such as reefs, sand and mud substrates. In Taiwan, we can often collect them from the capture of bottom-trawl fishery. In this study, we added two new recorded species Ophichthus machidai and O. obtusus of ophichthid eels collected from Da-xi fish market by comparing their morphological measurements, vertebral counts and head pores with the other six species of the genus Ophichthus: O. apicalis, O. aphotistos, O. asakusae, O. erabo, O. tsuchidae, O. urolophus. We also obtained a unique specimen from …

Two New Species Of Vanderhorstia Smith, 1949 (Teleostei: Gobiidae) From Ryukyus, Japan, Toshiyuki Suzuki, I-Shiung Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

Two new gobiid species of Vanderhorstia Smith, 1959 which have been recently collected from Japanese waters. Both new species are distributed in marine coral reef habitats off the Ryukyus, Japan. Vanderhorstia cyanolineata sp. nov. can be well distinguished from congeners by the following unique combination of features: (1) fin ray counts: second dorsal fin rays I/12, anal fin rays I/12; pectoral fin rays 18-19; (2) fin shape: low first dorsal fin with about equal 3rd to 5th spinous rays, caudal fin large and middle rays as sword-like projection; (3) scales: LR 50-52; TR 18; and (4) its own specific colouration …