Life Sciences Commons^™

Are Neuronal Mechanisms Of Attentional Modulation Universal Across Human Sensory And Motor Brain Maps?, Edgar A. Deyoe, Wendy E. Huddleston, Adam S. Greenberg

Kinesiology Faculty Articles

One's experience of shifting attention from the color to the smell to the act of picking a flower seems like a unitary process applied, at will, to one modality after another. Yet, the unique experience of sight vs smell vs movement might suggest that the neural mechanisms of attention have been selectively optimized to employ each modality to greatest advantage. Relevant experimental data can be difficult to compare across modalities due to design and methodological heterogeneity. Here we outline some of the issues related to this problem and suggest how experimental data can be obtained across modalities using more uniform …

Aerobic Respiration And Its Regulation In The Metal Reducer Shewanella Oneidensis, Kristen Bertling, Areen Banerjee, Daad Saffarini

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is a facultative anaerobe known for its ability to reduce metal oxides. Anaerobic respiration, especially metal reduction, has been the subject of extensive research. In contrast, S. oneidensis aerobic respiration has received less attention. S. oneidensis expresses cbb3- and aa3-type cytochrome c oxidases and a bd-type quinol oxidase. The aa3-type oxidase, which in other bacteria is the major oxygen reductase under oxygen replete conditions, does not appear to contribute to aerobic respiration and growth in S. oneidensis. Our results indicated that although the aa3-type oxidase does not play a role in aerobic growth …

Human Fecal Contamination Corresponds To Changes In The Freshwater Bacterial Communities Of A Large River Basin, Jill Mcclary-Gutierrez, Zac Driscoll, Cheryl Nenn

Freshwater Faculty Articles

Microbial water quality is generally monitored by culturable fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), which are intended to signal human health risk due to fecal pollution. However, FIB have limited utility in most urbanized watersheds as they do not discriminate among fecal pollution sources, tend to make up a small fraction of the total microbial community, and do not inform on pollution impacts on the native ecosystem. To move beyond these limitations, we assessed entire bacterial communities and investigated how bacterial diversity relates to traditional ecological and human health-relevant water quality indicators throughout the Milwaukee River Basin. Samples were collected from 16 …

Effects Of Land Use And Pollution Loadings On Ecotoxicological Assays And Bacterial Taxonomical Diversity In Constructed Wetlands, Subhomita Ghosh Roy, Charles F. Wimpee, Stephen Andrew Mcguire, Timothy J. Ehlinger

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Freshwater ecosystems are affected by anthropogenic alterations. Different studies have extensively studied the concentrations of metals, nutrients, and water quality as measurements of pollution in freshwater ecosystems. However, few studies have been able to link these pollutants to bioindicators as a risk assessment tool. This study aimed to examine the potential of two bioindicators, plant ecotoxicological assays and sediment bacterial taxonomic diversity, in ecological risk assessment for six freshwater constructed wetlands in a rapidly urbanizing watershed with diverse land uses. Sediment samples were collected summer, 2015 and 2017, and late summer and early fall in 2016 to conduct plant ecotoxicological …

Modeling The Bidirectional Glutamine/ Ammonium Conversion Between Cancer Cells And Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts, Peter Hinow, Gabriella Pinter, Wei Yan, Shizhen Emily Wang

Mathematical Sciences Faculty Articles

Like in an ecosystem, cancer and other cells residing in the tumor microenvironment engage in various modes of interactions to buffer the negative effects of environmental changes. One such change is the consumption of common nutrients (such as glutamine/Gln) and the consequent accumulation of toxic metabolic byproducts (such as ammonium/NH⁴⁾. Ammonium is a waste product of cellular metabolism whose accumulation causes cell stress. In tumors, it is known that it can be recycled into nutrients by cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). Here we present monoculture and coculture growth of cancer cells and CAFs on different substrates: glutamine and ammonium. …

Characterizing Patterns Of Genomic Variation In The Threatened Utah Prairie Dog: Implications For Conservation And Management, Rachael M. Giglio, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio, Emily Latch

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Utah prairie dogs (Cynomys parvidens) are federally threatened due to eradication campaigns, habitat destruction, and outbreaks of plague. Today, Utah prairie dogs exist in small, isolated populations, making them less demographically stable and more susceptible to erosion of genetic variation by genetic drift. We characterized patterns of genetic structure at neutral and putatively adaptive loci in order to evaluate the relative effects of genetic drift and local adaptation on population divergence. We sampled individuals across the Utah prairie dog species range and generated 2,955 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using double digest restriction site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD). Genetic …

Exploring Anatomic Variants To Enhance Anatomy Teaching: Musculus Sternalis, Andrew J. Petto, David E. Zimmerman, Elizabeth K. Johnson, Lucas Gauthier, James T. Menor, Nicholas Wohkittel

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

The opportunity to encounter and appreciate the range of human variation in anatomic structures—and its potential impact on related structures, function, and treatment—is one of the chief benefits of cadaveric dissection for students in clinical preprofessional programs. The dissection lab is also where students can examine unusual anatomic variants that may not be included in their textbooks, lab manuals, or other course materials. For students specializing in physical medicine, awareness and understanding of muscle variants has a practical relevance to their preparations for clinical practice. In a routine dissection of the superficial chest muscles, graduate students in a human gross …

Remote Concussion History Does Not Affect Visually-Guided Reaching In Young Adult Females, Christopher James Fueger, Lauren E. Sergio, Sabine Heuer, Labina Petrovska, Wendy E. Huddleston

Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Aim: We examined the long-term effects of concussions in young adult females on visuomotor behavior during a visually-guided reaching task of various complexities. Materials & methods: 20 females with a history of longer than 6 months since a concussion and 20 healthy females quickly and accurately performed a delayed reach to a previously cued target. Results: As both cognitive and motor load increased, task performance decreased for both groups (p < 0.05). However, contrary to our primary hypothesis, no differences in task performance were found between the two experimental groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The young adult females with a remote history of concussion demonstrated no deficits in visuomotor behavior on an attention-mediated reaching task as compared with control participants.

Lay abstract: …

Lack Of Generalization Between Explicit And Implicit Visuomotor Learning, Jinsung Wang, Shancheng Bao, Grant Tays

Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Visuomotor adaptation has been thought to occur implicitly, although recent findings suggest that it involves both explicit and implicit processes. Here, we investigated generalization between an explicit condition, in which subjects reached toward imaginary targets under a veridical visuomotor condition, and an implicit condition, in which subjects reached toward visual targets under a 30-degree counterclockwise rotation condition. In experiment 1, two groups of healthy young adults first experienced either the explicit or the implicit condition, then the other condition. The third group experienced the explicit, then the implicit condition with an instruction that the same cognitive strategy could be used …

Evidence For Adaptive Introgression Of Exons Across A Hybrid Swarm In Deer, Emily Latch, Margaret Haines, Gordon Luikart, Stephen Amish, Seth Smith

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Background: Secondary contact between closely related lineages can result in a variety of outcomes, including hybridization, depending upon the strength of reproductive barriers. By examining the extent to which different parts of the genome introgress, it is possible to infer the strength of selection and gain insight into the evolutionary trajectory of lineages. Following secondary contact approximately 8000 years ago in the Pacific Northwest, mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) and black-tailed deer (O. h. columbianus) formed a hybrid swarm along the Cascade mountain range despite substantial differences in body size (up to two times) and habitat preference. In this study, …

Do Stand-Biased Desks In The Classroom Change School-Time Activity And Sedentary Behavior?, Ann M. Swartz, Nathan Tokarek, Krista M. Lisdahl, Hotaka Maeda, Scott J. Strath, Chi C. Cho

Kinesiology Faculty Articles

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of stand-biased desks on the physical activity and sedentary behavior of third, fourth and sixth grade students across the school year. Methods: This within classroom crossover design study used teacher-determined allocation for seating within each classroom. Half of the students used a stand-biased desk and half used a sitting desk. Five-day hip-worn accelerometer assessments were completed at baseline and at the end of each nine-week intervention period. A mixed effects model was used to determine the differences in the percentage of time spent active and sedentary. Results: A …

Diverse Microbial Communities Hosted By The Model Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Sarracenia Purpurea: Analysis Of Both Bacterial And Eukaryotic Composition Across Distinct Host Plant Populations, Jacob J. Grothjan, Erica B. Young

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Background. The pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea supplements nutrient acquisition through carnivory, capturing insect prey which are digested by a food web community of eukaryotes and bacteria. While the food web invertebrates are well studied, and some recent studies have characterized bacteria, detailed genetic analysis of eukaryotic diversity is lacking. This study aimed to compare eukaryotic and bacterial composition and diversity of pitcher communities within and between populations of host plants in nearby but distinct wetland habitats, and to characterize microbial functions across populations and in comparison with another freshwater community.

Methods. Pitcher fluid was sampled from the two …

Mitochondrial Voltage-Dependent Anion Channel Protein Por1 Positively Regulates The Nuclear Localization Of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Amp-Activated Protein Kinase, Aishwarya Shevade, Vera Strogolova, Marianna Orlova, Chay Teng Yeo, Sergei Kuchin

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

ABSTRACT Snf1 protein kinase of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a member of the highly conserved eukaryotic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) family, which is involved in regulating responses to energy limitation. Under conditions of carbon/energy stress, such as during glucose depletion, Snf1 is catalytically activated and enriched in the nucleus to regulate transcription. Snf1 catalytic activation requires phosphorylation of its conserved activation loop threonine (Thr210) by upstream kinases. Catalytic activation is also a prerequisite for Snf1’s subsequent nuclear enrichment, a process that is mediated by Gal83, one of three alternate β-subunits of the Snf1 kinase complex. We previously reported …

Analysis Of Social-Ecological Dynamics Driving Conflict In Linked Surface-Groundwater Systems, Stephen Andrew Mcguire, Timothy J. Ehlinger

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Conflict over water resources emerges from complex interactions among biophysical, social, and economic processes operating at multiple scales. Competing use of linked surface-groundwater (LSGW) resources is an excellent yet relatively unexplored example of such conflict. Dynamic circumstances surrounding the contested installation of a high capacity municipal well in southeastern Wisconsin were examined through the theoretical lens of adaptive governance using document analysis and open-ended key stakeholder interviews. A framework analysis method extracted 16 controlling variables from the qualitative data. These controlling variables were placed on a threshold matrix at their appropriate geospatial scale (Property, Watershed, State) and process domain (Biophysical, …

Female Mate Choice Of Male Signals Is Unlikely To Promote Ecological Adaptation In Enchenopa Treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae), Kasey Fowler-Finn, Joseph T. Kilmer, Daniel C. Cruz, Rafael Rodriguez

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

A key question in speciation research is how ecological and sexual divergence arise and interact. We tested the hypothesis that mate choice causes local adaptation and ecological divergence using the rationale that the performance~signal trait relationship should parallel the attractiveness~signal trait relationship. We used female fecundity as a measure of ecological performance. We used a species in the Enchenopa binotata treehopper complex, wherein speciation involves adaptation to novel environments and divergence in sexual communication. We used a full-sibling, split-family rearing design to estimate genetic correlations (r_G) between fecundity and signal traits, and compared those relationships against population-level …

A Multifactorial Analysis Of Acceptance Of Evolution, Ryan D.P. Dunk, Andrew J. Petto, Jason R. Wiles, Benjamin C. Campbell

Anthropology Faculty Articles

Background: Despite decades of education reform efforts, the percent of the general US population accepting biological evolution as the explanation for the diversity of life has remained relatively unchanged over the past 35 years. Previous work has shown the importance of both educational and non-educational (sociodemographic and psychological) factors on acceptance of evolution, but has often looked at such factors in isolation. Our study is among the first attempts to model quantitatively how the unique influences of evolutionary content knowledge, religiosity, epistemological sophistication, and an understanding of the nature of science collectively predict an individual’s acceptance or rejection of …

Characterization Of 2-(2-Nitro-4-Trifluoromethylbenzoyl)- 1,3-Cyclohexanedione Resistance In Pyomelanogenic Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Dkn343, Laura M. Ketelboeter, Sonia L. Bardy

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Pyomelanin is a reddish-brown pigment that provides bacteria and fungi protection from oxidative stress, and is reported to contribute to infection persistence. Production of this pigment can be inhibited by the anti-virulence agent 2-(2-nitro-4-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)-1,3- cyclohexanedione (NTBC). The Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolate DKN343 exhibited high levels of resistance to NTBC, and the mechanism of pyomelanin production in this strain was uncharacterized. We determined that pyomelanin production in the clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate DKN343 was due to a loss of function in homogentisate 1,2- dioxygenase (HmgA). Several potential resistance mechanisms were investigated, and the MexAB-OprM efflux pump is required for resistance to …

Failure To Filter: Anxious Individuals Show Inefficient Gating Of Threat From Working Memory, Daniel M. Stout, Alexander J. Shackman, Christine L. Larson

Psychology Faculty Articles

Dispositional anxiety is a well-established risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders along the internalizing spectrum,including anxiety and depression. Importantly, many of the maladaptive behaviors characteristic of anxiety, such as anticipatory apprehension, occur when threat is absent.This raises the possibility that anxious individuals are less efficient at gating threat’s access to working memory, a limited capacity work space where information is actively retained, manipulated, and used to flexibly guide goal-directed behavior when it is no longer present in the external environment. Using a well-validated neurophysiological index of working memory storage, we demonstrate that threat-related distracters were difficult to filter …

A Preliminary, Annotated List Of Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) From The Uw-Milwaukee Field Station, Daniel K. Young

Field Station Bulletins

Coleoptera, the beetles, account for nearly 25% of all known animal species, and nearly 18% of all described species of life on the planet. Their species richness is equal to the number of all plant species in the world and six times the number of all vertebrate species. They are found almost everywhere, yet many minute or cryptic species go virtually un-noticed even by trained naturalists. Little wonder, then, that such a dominant group might pass through time relatively unknown to most naturalists, hobbyists, and even entomologists; even an elementary comprehension of the beetle fauna of our own region has …

Use Of Small-Scale Disturbances To Establish Native Plants In An Abandoned Agricultural Field, Janine Roubik, James Reinartz, Gretchen Meyer

Field Station Bulletins

Small-scale disturbances in plant communities create open patches that may allow new species to invade or suppressed species to become more abundant. We evaluated whether small-scale disturbances in an abandoned agricultural field dominated by exotic grasses could be used to increase abundance and diversity of native plants. Coverboards made of plywood (2 X 122 X 81cm) were laid out on a 15 meter by 15 meter grid in the South Hayfield at the Field Station in 2008 for a study of the Butler’s garter snake. The boards were kept in place until March 2010, creating many small-scale disturbances after removal …

Liana Abundance, Diversity, And Distribution On Barro Colorado Island, Panama, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Scott A. Mangan, James W. Dalling, Claire A. Baldeck, Stephen P. Hubbell, Alicia Ledo, Helene Muller-Landau, Michael F. Tobin, Salomon Aguilar, David Brassfield, Andres Hernandez, Suzanne Lao, Rolando Perez, Oldemar Valdes, Suzanne Rutishauser Yorke

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Lianas are a key component of tropical forests; however, most surveys are too small to accurately quantify liana community composition, diversity, abundance, and spatial distribution – critical components for measuring the contribution of lianas to forest processes. In 2007, we tagged, mapped, measured the diameter, and identified all lianas ≥ 1 cm rooted in a 50-ha plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama (BCI). We calculated liana density, basal area, and species richness for both independently rooted lianas and all rooted liana stems (genets plus clones). We compared spatial aggregation patterns of liana and tree species, and among liana species that …

Mig-10 Functions With Abi-1 To Mediate The Unc-6 And Slt-1 Axon Guidance Signaling Pathways, Yan Xu, Christopher C. Quinn

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Extracellular guidance cues steer axons towards their targets by eliciting morphological changes in the growth cone. A key part of this process is the asymmetric recruitment of the cytoplasmic scaffolding protein MIG-10 (lamellipodin). MIG-10 is thought to asymmetrically promote outgrowth by inducing actin polymerization. However, the mechanism that links MIG- 10 to actin polymerization is not known. We have identified the actin regulatory protein ABI-1 as a partner for MIG-10 that can mediate its outgrowth-promoting activity. The SH3 domain of ABI-1 binds to MIG-10, and loss of function of either of these proteins causes similar axon guidance defects. Like MIG-10, …

Lianas Have A Greater Competitive Effect Than Trees Of Similar Biomass On Tropical Canopy Trees, Michael F. Tobin, Alexandra J. Wright, Scott A. Mangan, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Lianas (woody vines) reduce growth and survival of host trees in both temperate and tropical forests; however, the relative strength of liana-tree competition in comparison to tree-tree competition remains unexplored. When controlling for biomass, lianas may have greater competitive effects than trees because the unique morphology of lianas allows them to reach the forest canopy at relatively small stem diameters and deploy a substantial crown above their host. We tested the hypothesis that lianas have a greater negative effect on canopy trees than do trees of similar biomass with a liana- and tree saplingcutting experiment in a seasonal tropical moist …

Browsing The Bog, Kate Redmond

Field Station Bulletins

The Cedarburg Bog and its surrounding uplands provided a rich smorgasbord of plants to fill the many needs of its earliest human inhabitants. A flora of the area and a list of plant species that were employed in some manner by the Native Americans would be almost identical. The species discussed in this paper had real or rumored values for a variety of Woodland tribes of the Upper Midwest and later for the settlers. Besides their medicinal value, many plants were sources of food, fiber, dyes, construction, and of a variety of “magical” or symbolic purposes. My intent is not …

Vegetation Of The Ulao Swamp, A Disturbed Hardwood-Conifer Swamp In Southeastern Wisconsin, Jill A. Hapner, James A. Reinartz

Field Station Bulletins

Ulao Swamp (Grafton, Wisconsin) is a 185-hectare wetland, which was a confer/hardwood swamp before European settlement. Post-settlement disturbances include logging, drainage, flooding, cultivation, grazing, non-metallic mining, and development in the watershed. As a result of these disturbances, very little of the presettlement-type mixed hardwood and cedar/tamarack conifer swamp vegetation currently remains in the wetland. Historically the northern quarter of the wetland had surface drainage to the north, and the southern three-quarters drained to the south. Between 1980 and 1985 a north-south ditch was constructed causing water from the northern quarter of the wetland to drain southward, dramatically increasing water levels …

Factors Influencing Germination Of Six Wetland Cyperaceae, John L. Larson

Field Station Bulletins

In order to determine factors which may affect the differential seed germination of six members of the Cyperaceae which occur together in newly revegetated sedge meadow, seeds were tested for germ inability at three storage conditions. Seeds were also germinated at two alternating temperature regimes, 21/25° and 25/32°C. Germination of dry stored Carex hystericina and C. vulpinoidea was greater at the higher alternating temperature of 25/32°C while Scirpus atrovirens and S. cyperinus dry stored seed had a similar germination response at both alternating temperatures. Most of the moist-cool stored (stratified) seeds of the six species germinated well regardless of temperature. …

Wisconsin Freshwater Isopods (Asellidae), Joan Jass, Barbara Klausmeier

Field Station Bulletins

Four species of freshwater isopods in the family Asellidae were collected from Wisconsin. There is very little published information on the asellid isopods of Wisconsin. In this paper we provide descriptions of the size range, habitat characteristics, distribution, and life history traits of Wisconsin asellids based on data from our field work and information from the literature. We include a provisional key for identification of the male asellids which have been collected from Wisconsin.

Notes On The Milliped Pleuroloma Flavipes (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae) In Wisconsin, Dreux J. Watermolen, G Andrew Larsen

Field Station Bulletins

The milliped Pleuroloma flavipes Rafinesque 1820 is one of the more widespread and better known North American millipeds. During the course of recent studies in Wisconsin, we have had opportunities to examine museum specimens and make field observations of this species. In this note, we report new locality records, discuss observations of mass aggregations, describe a color variation, and illustrate an individual with developmental abnormalities.

The Centipede Lithobius Celer (Chilopoda: Lithobiidae) In Wisconsin, Dreux J. Watermolen

Field Station Bulletins

The centipede Lithobius celer Bollman 1888 has been reported from Wisconsin only one time. Chamberlin (1911) provisionally referred specimens collected from unspecified Wisconsin and Michigan localities to this species, with considerable doubt since neither was a ''fully-grown male/' Subsequent investigators (e.g., Matthews 1935, Crabill 1958) did not report L. celer from the state. While examining specimens collected as part of an on-going prairie ecology study, I discovered a L. celer specimen from southern Wisconsin. The specimen was collected in a pitfall trap at Hawkhill Prairie, Dane County (T9N, R8E, Sec. 5) on 21 August 1986 by A. Lisken.

Comparison Of Wisconsin Terrestrial Isopods And Their Life Cycle Traits, Joan Jass, Barbara Klausmeier

Field Station Bulletins

Seasonal reproductive patterns for the 11 terrestrial isopod species found in Wisconsin are presented. The pattern of the most widespread species, Trachelipus rathkei, is examined hi detail through a series of paired north/south samplings which reveal a seasonal lag in the percent of females which were gravid in populations from the northern part of the state. A difference in sex ratio between north and south samples is reported.