Life Sciences Commons^™

Summer Field Report, June–July 2005, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

The highlights of this season revolve around the excellent wetland habitat that existed in the eastern Rainwater Basin as a result of two things: a period of good rains in May and playa wetlands that have undergone restoration. The latter involves removal of accumulated silt and woody vegetation. Silt removal allows for germination of plants of the native soil bank in the original impervious pan, as well as somewhat deeper and more stable water conditions. These conditions resulted in several important breeding records, such as Pied-billed Grebe, American Coot, Northern Shoveler, and especially Black-necked Stilt. The good water conditions no …

In Memory Of John J. Dinan, 1954–2005, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

It was immediately obvious to anyone who knew John that his work with the birds and other wildlife of Nebraska was more than just a job—it was his life, and he lived it with a passion. Although not always a formal member of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, John, as much as anyone, was "dedicated to the study, appreciation, and protection of birds" in Nebraska.

Those privileged enough to spend time afield with John quickly became aware of the presence of not just a professional biologist, but one still fired with that first innocent curiosity at discovering Nebraska's natural environment. That …

The 2005 Nebraska Nest Report, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

The drought that gripped much of western Nebraska for the past 5 years loosened its hold this year as rain returned to more normal levels, especially in the northwest Panhandle. Some other areas of the state still remained at below normal rainfall levels.

The following observers submitted records for the nest report: Kathy Delara (KD), Stephen J. Dinsmore (SJD), Mike Fritz (MF), Robin Harding (RH), Derrick Keim (DK), Alice Kenitz (AK), Courtney Kerns (CK), Daniel H. Kim (DHK), Thomas Labedz (TL), Andre Lima (AL), Leonard McDaniel (LM), Wayne Mollhoff (WM), Colleen Noecker (CN), Don Paseka (DP), Janis Paseka (JP), Lanny …

A New Species Of Pharaxonotha (Coleoptera: Erotylidae), Probable Pollinator Of The Endangered Cuban Cycad, Microcycas Calocoma (Zamiaceae), Ramiro Chavez, Julio A. Genaro

Insecta Mundi

Abstract:
The new species Pharaxonotha esperanzae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea: Erotylidae: Pharaxonothinae) is described. It feeds on the pollen of the endangered Cuban cycad Microcycas calocoma (Miq.) A. DC. and breeds in its male cones. Its potential role as a pollinator of Microcycas is discussed.

Resumen:
Se describe la especie nueva: Pharaxonotha esperanzae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea: Erotylidae: Pharaxonothinae). Ésta se alimenta del polen del cicadal cubano amenazado Microcycas calocoma (Miq.) A.DC y se reproduce en su cono masculino. Se discute su papel potencial como agente polinizador.

A Distributional Checklist Of The Leaf-Cutting Bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) Of Florida, J. M. Leavengood Jr., D. Serrano

Insecta Mundi

The leaf-cutting bees are a diverse group which is commonly encountered all across the country. With over 600 North American species, most of which are in the genera Anthidium, Dianthidium, Stelis, Heriades, Hoplitis, Osmia, Megachile and Coelioxys, there are numerous “non-Apis” pollinators. Being an important taxon, there is a definite need for an awareness of their distribution across the United States and, perhaps in time, everywhere. This may allow us to follow the establishment of exotic species such as Megachile [Callomegachile] torrida Smith, M. [Pseudomegachile] lanata Fabricius, and an unidentified exotic which is listed below in the subgenus Callomegachile …

Eight Species Of Whiteflies (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) Newly Recorded From Korea, Myeong-Lyeol Lee, Soo-Jung Suh, Greg Hodges, Mary Carver

Insecta Mundi

Aleuroclava magnoliae (Takahashi), Aleurotrachelus ishigakiensis (Takahashi), Aleyrodes lonicerae Walker, Asterobemisia carpini (Koch), Bemisia afer (Priesner and Hosny), Dialeurolobus pulcher Danzig, Pealius polygoni Takahashi, and Pealius rubi Takahashi are newly recorded from Korea.

The Transantarctic Genus Labena (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Labenini) In Chile, Charles C. Porter

Insecta Mundi

Abstract:
Labena is a primitive genus known from the Neotropic, Nearctic, Neantarctic, and Australian biogeographic regions. It parasitizes larvae of wood boring beetles in dead twigs and smaller branches of hardwood trees and shrubs. Descriptions are given of 2 new Chilean species: Labena canelensis Porter, from sclerophyll woodland in central Chile, is black with sparse white markings, has a strong tooth at the base of the submetapleural carina, and a short first gastric tergite (2.3-2.6 as long as wide at apex), whereas L. pucon Porter occurs in temperate wet forest of southern Chile and is black with profuse white markings, …

New Records Of Xorides (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Xoridinae) From Florida, Charles S. Porter

Insecta Mundi

Abstract:
Xorides albopictus (Cresson) and Xorides calidus (Provancher) are recorded for the first time from Florida. New Florida records are given for Xorides semirufus Townes, previously known only from the holotype female collected near Archer in Alachua County in 1953. A key is provided to the Florida species of Xorides. A photograph of X. semirufus is included.

Resumen:
Se citan por primera vez para Florida las especies Xorides albopictus (Cresson) y Xorides calidus (Provancher). Se proporcionan nuevos registros para Florida de Xorides semirufus Townes, especie de la cual antes se conocía un solo ejemplar, el holotipo coleccionado en 1953 …

A New Genus And Species Of Cryptocephaline Leaf Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) From Costa Rica, John R. Watts

Insecta Mundi

Aulacothoracicus coastaricensis Watts, new genus and new species of cryoptocephaline Chrysomelidae, is described from Costa Rica. Illustrations and an updated key to the genera of the subfamily in North and Central America are provided.

Distribution And Abundance Of Pest Animals In Western Australia: A Survey Of Institutional Knowledge, Andrew P. Woolnough, Garry S. Gray, Tim J. Lowe, Winifred E. Kirkpatrick, Ken Rose, Gary R. Martin

Agriculture reports

Data on the distribution and abundance of selected pest animals were obtained for the state of Western Australia. We used institutional knowledge from the Department of Agriculture (DAWA) and the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) to acquire this important information.A two-part survey process was used to capture knowledge in 104 face-to-face interviews. The first part of the survey was a questionnaire designed to capture local-area information about pest animals. The second part of the survey, a mapping exercise, was designed to capture information about the distribution and abundance of specific pest animals. The key to the mapping exercise …

Effect Of Melatonin And Dopamine In Site Specific Phosphorylation Of Phosducin In Intact Retina, Arinzechukwu Okere Nkemdirim

Theses and Dissertations

Phosducin (Pdc) is a 28 kDa binding partner for the G protein beta gamma subunit dimer (G-beta-gamma) found abundantly in the photoreceptor cells of the retina and pineal gland. In the retina, light-dependent changes in cAMP and Ca2+ control the phosphorylation of Pdc at serine 73 and 54, respectively, which in turn controls the binding of Pdc to G protein beta gamma subunit dimer . G protein beta gamma subunit dimer binding has been proposed to facilitate light-driven transport of G protein beta gamma subunit dimer from the site of phototransduction in the outer segment of the photoreceptor cell to …

Charge-Switch Nucleotides, John G. K. Williams, Gregory R. Bashford, Jiyan Chen, Dan Draney, Nara Narayanan, Bambi L. Reynolds, Pamela Sheaff

Biomedical Imaging and Biosignal Analysis Laboratory

The present invention provides compounds, methods and systems for sequencing nucleic acid using single molecule detection. Using labeled NPs that exhibit charge-switching behavior, single-molecule DNA sequencing in a microchannel sorting system is realized. In operation, sequencing products are detected enabling real-time sequencing as successive detectable moieties flow through a detection channel. By electrically sorting charged molecules, the cleaved product molecules are detected in isolation Without interference from unincorporated NPs and Without illuminating the polymerase-DNA complex.

Atypical Pkciota Contributes To Poor Prognosis Through Loss Of Apical-Basal Polarity And Cyclin E Overexpression In Ovarian Cancer, Astrid M. Eder, Xiaomei Sui, Daniel G. Rosen, Laura K. Nolden, Kwai Wa Cheng, John P. Lahad, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Karen H. Lu, Carla L. Warneke, Edward N. Atkinson, Isabelle Bedrosian, Khandan Keyomarsi, Wen-Lin Kuo, Joe W. Gray, Jerry C. P. Yin, Jinsong Liu, Georg Halder, Gordon B. Mills

Biology Faculty Publications

We show that atypical PKCι, which plays a critical role in the establishment and maintenance of epithelial cell polarity, is genomically amplified and overexpressed in serous epithelial ovarian cancers. Furthermore, PKCι protein is markedly increased or mislocalized in all serous ovarian cancers. An increased PKCι DNA copy number is associated with decreased progression-free survival in serous epithelial ovarian cancers. In a Drosophila in vivo epithelial tissue model, overexpression of persistently active atypical PKC results in defects in apical-basal polarity, increased Cyclin E protein expression, and increased proliferation. Similar to the Drosophila model, increased PKCι proteins levels are associated with …

Characterization Of The Yeast Ionome: A Genome-Wide Analysis Of Nutrient Mineral And Trace Element Homeostasis In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, David J. Eide, Suzanne Clark, T . Murlidharan Nair, Mathias Gehl, Michael Gribskov, Mary Lou Guerinot, Jeffrey Harper

Dartmouth Scholarship

Nutrient minerals are essential yet potentially toxic, and homeostatic mechanisms are required to regulate their intracellular levels. We describe here a genome-wide screen for genes involved in the homeostasis of minerals in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), we assayed 4,385 mutant strains for the accumulation of 13 elements (calcium, cobalt, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, nickel, phosphorus, selenium, sodium, sulfur, and zinc). We refer to the resulting accumulation profile as the yeast 'ionome'.

Agricultural Research Division News - August 2005

Agricultural Research Division: News and Annual Reports

Volume 38, Number 4. Comments from the Interim Dean, Z. B. Mayo; National Coalition for Rural Entrepreneurship; Hardin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship 2005-2006; Widaman Trust Distinguished Graduate Assistant Award 2005-2006; IANR Research Travel Grants; John and Louise Skala Fellowship 2005-2006; Al Moseman International Studies Fund 2005-2006; Shear-Miles Fellowship 2005-2006; New or Revised Projects May and June 2005; Proposals Submitted for Federal Grants May and June 2005; New Design to ARD News; Grants and Contracts Received for May and June 2005

Metaheuristic Applications And Their Solutions Quality, Dr. Zahid Hussain

International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies

Over the past few decades, a wide variety of classes of combinatorial problems (e.g. the assignment problem, the knapsack problem, the vehicle routing problem, etc.) have emerged - from such areas as management science, telecommunication, AI, VLSI design and many others. Many large combinatorial problems are NP-hard problems because of the combinatorial growth of their solution search space with the problem size. Such problems are commonly solved by some version of a prominent metaheuristic (e.g. Genetic Algorithms, Tabu Search, Simulated Annealing and etc.). These heuristics seek good but approximate solutions at a reasonable computational cost. These heuristics are of stochastic …

Assessing The Health Of Fringing Salt Marshes Along The Fore River And Its Tributaries, Pamela A. Morgan, Lucas Curci, Cayce Dalton, Jeremy Miller

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Casco Bay has experienced two significant oil spills in recent history - the Tamano Tanker spill in 1972 and the Julie N spill in 1996. In addition, the Fore River and its tributaries have experienced numerous small spills over the years, including the August 2002 fuel oil spill (2,900 gallons) and the April 2003 jet fuel spill (6,000 gallons). The impacts of these spills on the fringing salt marshes that line the edges of the Fore River and its tributaries are not well understood. Are these salt marshes resilient enough to withstand these impacts and still act as healthy marshes …

Lysimachia Nummularia L., John E. Ebinger

Specimens by Name

No abstract provided.

Fraxinus Lanceolata Borkh., John E. E. Ebinger

Specimens by Name

No abstract provided.

Morus Rubra L., John E. Ebinger

Specimens by Name

No abstract provided.

Acer Saccharinum L., John E. Ebinger

Specimens by Name

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Dietary Curcumin Or N-Acetylcysteine On Nf-Kappab Activity And Contractile Performance In Ambulatory And Unloaded Murine Soleus, Mehran Farid, Michael B. Reid, Yi-Ping Li, Eric Gerken, William J. Durham

Physiology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Unloading of skeletal muscle causes atrophy and loss of contractile function. In part, this response is believed to be mediated by the transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB). Both curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, inhibit activation of NF-kappaB by inflammatory stimuli, albeit by different mechanisms. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that dietary curcumin or NAC supplementation would inhibit unloading-induced NF-kappaB activity in skeletal muscle and thereby protect muscles against loss of mass and function caused by prolonged unloading.

METHODS: We used hindlimb suspension to unload the hindlimb muscles of …

Effects Of Summer Grazing Strategies On Organic Reserves And Root Characteristics Of Big Bluestem, E. M. Mousel, Walter H. Schacht, C. W. Zanner, Lowell E. Moser

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Quantifying root structure response to multiple defoliation events in a grazing situation is critical in developing management plans for warm-season tall grasses. A pasture experiment was conducted in 1999, 2000, and 2001 near Mead, NE. The objective of the experiment was to determine the effect of timing and frequency of grazing on big blue- stem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) etiolated tiller growth and root and rhizome structure. Paddocks were grazed at a stocking rate of 9.9 Animal Unit Month (AUM) ha^-1 in two to four cycles from mid-May to early-September. In April 2002, five 6.6- 132-cm soil cores were …

Soy Isoflavone Glycitein Protects Against Beta Amyloid-Induced Toxicity And Oxidative Stress In Transgenic Caenorhabditis Elegans, Astrid Gutierrez-Zepeda, Ross Santell, Zhixin Wu, Marishka Brown, Yanjue Wu, Ikhlas Khan, Christopher D. Link, Baolu Zhao, Yuan Luo

Faculty Publications

Background

Epidemiological studies have associated estrogen replacement therapy with a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, but a higher risk of developing breast cancer and certain cardiovascular disorders. The neuroprotective effect of estrogen prompted us to determine potential therapeutic impact of soy-derived estrogenic compounds. Transgenic C. elegans, that express human beta amyloid (Aβ), were fed with soy derived isoflavones genistein, daidzein and glycitein (100 μg/ml) and then examined for Aβ-induced paralysis and the levels of reactive oxygen species.

Results

Among the three compounds tested, only glycitein alleviated Aβ expression-induced paralysis in the transgenic C. elegans. This activity of …

Xenophilic Mating Preferences Among Populations Of The Jumping Spider Habronattus Pugillis Griswold, Eileen Hebets, Wayne P. Maddison

Eileen Hebets Publications

Sexual selection is thought to have driven the diversification of courtship behavior and associated ornamentation between geographically isolated populations of the jumping spider Habronattus pugillis Griswold. In an attempt to understand the pathways of sexual selection during this diversification, we conducted reciprocal mating trials between two populations of H. pugillis (Santa Rita [SR] and Atascosa [AT]) that differ in both male courtship display and secondary sexual ornamentation. Observations of mating frequencies show a xenophilic mating preference in which SR females have a stronger response to AT males than to SR males, while AT females show no difference in mating frequency. …

Rna Turnover: Unexpected Consequences Of Being Tailed, James T. Anderson

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

In eukaryotic cells, the 3′ poly(A) tails found on mRNA influence their stability and translation. The discovery of a second nuclear poly(A) polymerase complex has fueled a series of reports defining a new and unexpected role for 3′ end poly(A) tails in the nuclear surveillance and turnover of noncoding RNAs and intergenic mRNAs of unknown function.

Post-Translational Regulation Of Adipose Differentiation-Related Protein By The Ubiquitin/Proteasome Pathway, John Tansey

Chemistry Faculty Scholarship

Adipose differentiation-related protein (ADRP) is localized to lipid droplets in most mammalian cells. ADRP, proposed to regulate
fatty acid mobilization and lipid droplet formation, is linked to lipid accumulation in foam cells of human atherosclerotic
lesions. In this report, we show that ADRP protein accumulates in Chinese hamster ovary fibroblastic cells cultured in the
presence of oleic acid but is destabilized when fatty acid sources are removed from culture serum. The latter effect was blocked
by the proteasome inhibitor MG132, whereas inhibitors of other proteolytic processes were ineffective. Pulse-chase experiments
confirmed that ADRP degradation is inhibited by MG132. Conditions that …

Portable Probes To Measure Electrical Conductivity And Soil Quality In The Field, S.L. Arnold, John W. Doran, James S. Schepers, Brian J. Wienhold, Daniel Ginting, Brigid Amos, S. Gomes

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

Soil electrical conductivity (EC) is a useful indicator in managing agricultural systems, but tools for convenient and inexpensive measurements in the field are generally lacking. Handheld conductivity probes were designed to evaluate in-field naturally occurring and human-induced total soluble electrolyte levels in soil and water. The probes were used to survey and monitor EC in the field and to assess soil and water quality as related to environmental stability and sustainable food production. A pencil-sized 16-cm probe (PP) was connected to a handheld Hanna (DiST WP 4) conductivity meter, resulting in an economical, compact, and easy to use device. The …

Smokejumper Obituary: Spencer, John S. "Jack" (Missoula 1952), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Day 3: Friday, 19 August 2005: Section 7 Consultation, Susan Linner, Leslie Elwood, Steve Culver

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

10 pages (includes color illustrations and map).

Contains references.