Life Sciences Commons^™

Thermal Biology And Immersion Tolerance Of The Beringian Pseudoscorpion Wyochernes 4 Asiaticus, Susan E. Anthony, Christopher M. Buddle, Brent J Sinclair

Biology Publications

Wyochernes asiaticus (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Chernetidae) is a pseudoscorpion distributed across Beringia, the areas of Yukon, Alaska and Siberia that remained unglaciated at the last glacial maximum. Along with low temperatures, its streamside habitat suggests that submergence during flood events is an important physiological challenge for this species. We collected W. asiaticus in midsummer from 66.8N Yukon Territory, Canada, and measured thermal and immersion tolerance. Wyochernes asiaticus is freeze-avoidant, with a mean supercooling point of -6.9 C. It remains active at low temperatures (mean critical thermal minimum, CTmin, is -3.6 C) and has a critical thermal maximum (CTmax) of 37.8 C, …

The Biology Of Eastern Kingbirds At Malheur National Wildlife Refuge: Survival, Reproduction, And Testosterone Secretion, Lucas J. Redmond

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation presents the results of a study that I undertook to better understand the breeding biology of Eastern Kingbirds (hereafter, kingbirds) at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon from 2003 to 2009. Kingbirds are long-distance migratory songbirds that breed across much of North America. This species is socially monogamous but, via frequent extra-pair copulations, is genetically polygamous. Kingbirds exhibit relatively high breeding site fidelity, often returning to the same tree to nest in subsequent years. Both members of a pair provide parental care, but there are often specific duties performed by both male and female kingbirds. For example, …

Community Scholars Program - Hopkins County, Kentucky (Fa 736), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 736. This collection contains information and documentation about the Community Scholars Program’s workshops held in Hopkins County, Kentucky during the summer of 2008. The collection chiefly consists of projects completed by program participants.

Increased Minimum Toe Clearance Variability In Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease, Troy Rand, Shane R. Wurdeman, Jason M. Johanning, Iraklis Pipinos, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Individuals with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) report difficulty walking and experience 73% more falls than their healthy counterparts, but no studies have investigated functional mechanisms contributing to increased falls. Minimum toe clearance (MTC) is the minimum vertical distance between the toe of the swinging leg and the walking surface when the leg is swinging, and decreased values are associated with an increased risk for falls. This study is the first such analysis in patients with PAD. Eighteen individuals with PAD and eighteen healthy controls walked on a treadmill before and after the onset of claudication pain. Mean MTC and the …

Relative Salt Tolerance Of Seven Strawberry Cultivars, Youping Sun, Genhua Niu, Russ Wallace, Joseph Masabni, Mengmeng Gu

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) cultivars (“Albion”, “Benicia”, “Camarosa”, “Camino Real”, “Chandler”, “Radiance”, and “San Andreas”) were evaluated for salt tolerance in a greenhouse environment. Plants were irrigated with a nutrient solution with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.1 dS·m−1 (control) or a nutrient solution with the addition of salts (salt solution) with ECs of 2.2, 3.3, or 4.4 dS·m−1 for four months. Salinity reduced plant growth and fruit yield of strawberry; however, the magnitude of reduction varied with cultivar. For example, at an EC of 4.4 dS·m−1 , “Benicia” and “Chandler” had 39% and 44% less shoot dry weight (DW) …

Molecular Genetic Aspects Of Iron And Copper Cross-Talk In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Qingyuan Xiang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) are essential micronutrients for plants and humans who consume plants. Their functions are tightly linked. For example, both of Fe and Cu work as cofactors in superoxide dismutase proteins to prevent reactive oxygen species damage. When Fe is removed from nutrient solution, plants uptake more Cu, but how plants sense and respond to Fe status is not fully understood. This thesis includes two projects that focus on Fe and Cu interaction, homeostasis and cross-talk in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Two Arabidopsis ecotypes, Kas-1 and Tsu-1, have difference in timing of Cu accumulation in rosettes under Fe …

Differential Impact Of Lpg-And Pg-Deficient Leishmania Major Mutants On The Immune Response Of Human Dendritic Cells, Michelle A. Favila, Nicholas S. Geraci, Asha Jayakumar, Suzanne Hickerson, Janet Mostrom, Salvatore J. Turco, Stephen M. Beverley, Mary Ann Mcdowell

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Leishmania major infection induces robust interleukin-12 (IL12) production in human dendritic cells (hDC), ultimately resulting in Th1-mediated immunity and clinical resolution. The surface of Leishmania parasites is covered in a dense glycocalyx consisting of primarily lipophosphoglycan (LPG) and other phosphoglycan-containing molecules (PGs), making these glycoconjugates the likely pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPS) responsible for IL12 induction.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we explored the role of parasite glycoconjugates on the hDC IL12 response by generating L. major Friedlin V1 mutants defective in LPG alone, (FV1 lpg1-), or generally deficient for all PGs, (FV1 lpg2-). Infection with metacyclic, infective …

Street Drug Markets Beyond Favelas In Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Elenice De Souza Oliveira, Braulio Figueiredo Alves Silva, Marcos Oliveira Prates

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examines whether social disorganization mechanisms that explain clusters of street drug markets in socially disorganized neighborhoods in developed countries can also help explain geographical patterns of drug dealing across neighborhoods in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Data for this study includes drug arrests from 2007 to 2011 and socio demographic data from the 2010 Census. To examine the influence of exploratory variables on drug market locations, the Negative Binominal regression model was used at two levels of analysis—the Belo Horizonte city center and other neighborhoods including favelas. The findings show that a high hot spot of street drug markets located …

Production And Economic Efficiencies Of Intensified Cow–Calf Production Management Systems, Jason M. Warner

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of four experiments conducted was to evaluate production and economic efficiencies of intensified cow-calf production management systems. The first experiment tested the effect of calf age at weaning on cow and calf performance and feed utilization at 2 locations. Body weight change from early to conventional weaning time was greater for early-weaned cows. Cow BCS and conception rates were not impacted by weaning. Calf BW at conventional weaning time was greater for conventionally-weaned calves than early-weaned calves at ARDC, but greater for early-weaned than conventionally-weaned calves at PHREC. Calf ADG per unit of total feed energy intake was …

Managing Net Income Risk With Crop Insurance, Farm Bill, And Hedging, Cory Walters

Cornhusker Economics

Managing uncertain yields and prices before planting is a primary concern to producers, especially when financial ruin is at stake. To manage uncertainty, producers are presented with a complex set of financial tools from both public sources (crop insurance and Farm Bill) and private sources (commodity futures markets). Over time these tools and their relation have evolved. Prior to the mid-1990s, before crop insurance expanded, producers relied primarily on privately operated commodity futures markets and publicly funded government programs, such as the disaster assistance program and the loan deficiency program, to reduce income uncertainty. Since this time the U.S. government …

Culturally Speaking: Of Rotary Phones And Dairy Foods, Phillip Tong

Dairy Science

No abstract provided.

Partial Calcium Depletion During Membrane Filtration Affects Gelation Of Reconstituted Milk Protein Concentrates, H. Eshpari, R. Jiménez-Flores, P. S. Tong, M. Corredig

Dairy Science

Milk protein concentrate powders (MPC) with improved rehydration properties are often manufactured using processing steps, such as acidification and high-pressure processing, and with addition of other ingredients, such as sodium chloride, during their production. These steps are known to increase the amount of serum caseins or modify the mineral equilibrium, hence improving solubility of the retentates. The processing functionality of the micelles may be affected. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of partial acidification by adding glucono-δ-lactone (GDL) to skim milk during membrane filtration on the structural changes of the casein micelles by observing their chymosin-induced …

A New Method For Shear Wave Speed Estimation In Shear Wave Elastography, Aaron J. Engel, Gregory R. Bashford

Biomedical Imaging and Biosignal Analysis Laboratory

Visualization of mechanical properties of tissue can aid in noninvasive pathology diagnosis. Shear wave elastography (SWE) measures the elastic properties of soft tissues by estimation of local shear wave propagation speed. In this paper, a new robust method for estimation of shear wave speed is introduced which has the potential for simplifying continuous filtering and real-time elasticity processing. Shear waves were generated by external mechanical excitation and imaged at a high frame rate. Three homogeneous phantoms of varying elastic moduli and one inclusion phantom were imaged. Waves propagating in separate directions were filtered and shear wave speed was estimated by …

An Evaluation Of The Genetic Structure Of Mapleleaf Mussels (Quadrula Quadrula) In The Lake Erie Watershed, Wendy L. Paterson, Traci A. Griffith, Robert A. Krebs, Lyubov E. Burlakova, David T. Zanatta

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Physical barriers, habitat fragmentation, invasive species and geographic distance have isolated remnant populations of unionids in Great Lakes coastal refuges. Dreissenid species (Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) may be the greatest threat to the survival of unionids in the Great Lakes since their introduction in the late 1980s and early 1990s; however, native unionids remain in coastal habitats of western Lake Erie. One of the most abundant unionid species in Lake Erie, Quadrula quadrula, was collected along coastal areas within the lake and from three tributaries, the Maumee River, Huron River (Ohio), and Grand River (Ontario, Canada) and genotyped …

Viability Of Developmental Stages Of Schistosoma Mansoni Quantified With Xcelligence Worm Real-Time Motility Assay (Xworm)., Gabriel Rinaldi, Alex Loukas, Paul J. Brindley, Jeff T. Irelan, Michael J. Smout

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Infection with helminth parasites causes morbidity and mortality in billions of people and livestock worldwide. Where anthelmintic drugs are available, drug resistance is a major problem in livestock parasites, and a looming threat to public health. Monitoring the efficacy of these medicines and screening for new drugs has been hindered by the lack of objective, high-throughput approaches. Several cell monitoring technologies have been adapted for parasitic worms, including video-, fluorescence-, metabolism enzyme- and impedance-based tools that minimize the screening bottleneck. Using the xCELLigence impedance-based system we previously developed a motility-viability assay that is applicable for a range of helminth parasites. …

Survey For Spotted-Wing Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) In The Five-County Nursery Production Region Of Middle Tennessee, Usa, Karla M. Addesso, Jason B. Oliver, Paul A. O'Neal

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Through global trade, spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), a native of Southeast Asia, has spread to at least 3 other continents since 2008. Initial reports of the fly in new regions often are associated with damage in agriculture fields, but the fly may be present in the landscape for years before populations reach a level at which they become a pest in fruit production. In 2012, spotted wing drosophila was reported in blueberry fields in eastern Tennessee, USA, for the first time. In order to determine whether the fly was established in middle Tennessee, we conducted landscape surveys …

Buddy Study: Partners For Better Health In Adolescents With Type 2 Diabetes, Allison C. Sylvetsky, Randa Nandagopal, Tammy T. Nguyen, Marisa R. Abegg, Mahathi Nagarur, Paul Kaplowitz, Kristina I. Rother

Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Faculty Publications

AIM: To investigate whether assigning young, healthy and motivated lay volunteer partners (“buddies”) to adolescents with type 2 diabetes improves hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).

METHODS: Adolescents with type 2 diabetes were randomized to partnering with a “buddy” or to conventional treatment. During the initial screening visit, which coincided with a routine outpatient diabetes clinic visit, patients with type 2 diabetes underwent a physical examination, detailed medical history, laboratory measurement of HbA1c, and completed two questionnaires (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory and Children’s Depression Inventory) to assess their overall quality of life and the presence of depressive symptoms. Patients were …

Habitat Utilization And Vertical Distribution Of The Great Barracuda Sphyraena Barracuda (Edwards 1771) In The Western North Atlantic Using Electronic Archival Tags, Noah R. Hansen, David W. Kerstetter

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The Great Barracuda Sphyraena barracuda is a large predatory teleost commonly seen in the tropics of the Western North Atlantic. Using pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs), two large Great Barracuda (101 and 104 cm FL) were tagged off South Florida for a 15-day deployment period. Great Barracuda 88094 traveled 471 km minimum straight-line distance (MSLD) over the deployment duration, while Great Barracuda 88095 traveled 1231 km MSLD. Great barracuda 88094 achieved a maximum depth of 145.2 m, while 88095 to a maximum depth of 186.9 m, although such movements were for short time durations. The data obtained indicate significant differences …

Why Add Edible And Floral Plants To Riparian Forest Buffers?

Working Trees (USDA-NAC)

Why add edible and floral plants to riparian forest buffers?

Multifunctional riparian forest buffers (MRFBs) offer the opportunity to produce perennial crops of native fruits and nuts, as well as floral trees and shrubs.

Progression Magazine, 2015 Winter, Coastal Carolina University

Progression Magazine

Magazine of the College of Science at Coastal Carolina University.

Multiple Sclerosis And The Benefits Of Exercise, Sydney P. Lovelace

University Honors Program

In this report, the effects that exercise has on multiple sclerosis are presented. Types, symptoms, and treatment options are described in order to give a clear understanding of the disease. The modes of exercise and the benefits that each mode holds will be explained and applied to the life of one living with multiple sclerosis. There will more attention toward resistance exercise, yoga, and tai chi as forms of exercise. Along with the benefits, the ways that poor posture and balance will be identified. With this information, the reader will gain an understanding about how identifying issues in posture and …

Nursing: The Career That Saves Lives [Career Paper], Maggie Flanagan

Undergraduate Research Award

No abstract provided.

Lead Exposure In Children Through Water And Soil, Sravya Maru

Environmental Management & Risk Assessment (PH 560)

Lead is a metal which has the ability to spread in the earth’s crust and has corrosive property. It is a naturally occurring metal which is soft in nature. Lead exposure in children is through various pathways and the major concentrated sources are the soil and drinking water. Children are most susceptible to lead exposure is due to their growing/developing bodies which are very sensitive to lead. Lead poisoning in children is a preventable environmental disease affecting many children around the world. This paper discusses how soil and water plays a major role in lead exposure to children’s routine life. …

Intent Classification Of Short-Text On Social Media, Hemant Purohit, Guozhu Dong, Valerie L. Shalin, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Social media platforms facilitate the emergence of citizen communities that discuss real-world events. Their content reflects a variety of intent ranging from social good (e.g., volunteering to help) to commercial interest (e.g., criticizing product features). Hence, mining intent from social data can aid in filtering social media to support organizations, such as an emergency management unit for resource planning. However, effective intent mining is inherently challenging due to ambiguity in interpretation, and sparsity of relevant behaviors in social data. In this paper, we address the problem of multiclass classification of intent with a use-case of social data generated during crisis …

Ecological Niche Modeling Of Pteronotropis Hubbsi, The Bluehead Shiner: Evaluating The Effects Of Spatial Filtering And Maxent Features Across Various Spacial Extents, Justin Matthew Hernandez

Biology Theses

Ecological niche modeling (ENM) has been extensively applied as a reliable tool in conservation biology. Still, challenges abound in generating optimal models, especially when using limited occurrence data. The bluehead shiner, Pteronotropis hubbsi, a threatened species of concern, was modeled throughout its range within the U.S. South Central Plains Ecoregion. The portions of states that overlap this region include Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. I used the Maxent software package (Phillips et al., 2006), as the ENM algorithm for this project. A maximum of 14 geospatial environmental layers (climatic, hydrologic, and geologic) were chosen to determine the species' association with …

The Development Of A Platform For Expression And Purification Of The Mammalian Transmembrane Transporter Abca4, Amaryllis Ortiz

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Purpose- ABCA4 is an ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) protein localized at cone and rod photoreceptor outer segments of the retina. Though mutations in ABCA4 have been found to cause a broad spectrum of disorders, ABCA4's high molecular weight (~210 kDa) and biochemical transmembrane properties have made ABCA4 functional studies unsuccessful. Identifying how ABCA4 functions might have significant clinical impact and open unanticipated avenues for therapeutic interventions. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop a new expression system able to produce the full-length, correctly folded and fully functional ABCA4 protein.

Methods- the ABCA4 gene was amplified from the PCMV6-ABCA4 …

Avs Corner, December 2015, Casey Wheeler, Emily Cook, Alexandra Johnson, Jamison Lynch, Kim Hill, Hayley Boyd, April Jeffcoat, Johanna Johnson

AVS Corner

No abstract provided.

Genome Sequences Of Three Phytopathogenic Species Of The Magnaporthaceae Family Of Fungi, Laura H. Okagaki, Cristiano C. Nunes, Joshua Sailsbery, Brent Clay, Doug Brown, Titus John, Yeonyee Oh, Nelson Young, Michael Fitzgerald, Brian J. Haas, Qiandong Zeng, Sarah Young, Xian Adiconis, Lin Fan, Joshua Z. Levin, Thomas K. Mitchell, Patricia A. Okubara, Mark L. Farman, Linda M. Kohn, Bruce Birren, Li-Jun Ma, Ralph A. Dean

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Magnaporthaceae is a family of ascomycetes that includes three fungi of great economic importance: Magnaporthe oryzae, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, and Magnaporthe poae. These three fungi cause widespread disease and loss in cereal and grass crops, including rice blast disease (M. oryzae), take-all disease in wheat and other grasses (G. graminis), and summer patch disease in turf grasses (M. poae). Here, we present the finished genome sequence for M. oryzae and draft sequences for M. poae and G. graminis var. tritici. We used multiple technologies to sequence and annotate the …

Influence Of Rock-Pool Characteristics On The Distribution And Abundance Of Inter-Tidal Fishes, Gemma E. White, Grant C. Hose, Culum Brown

Ecology Collection

Rock pools can be found in inter-tidal marine environments worldwide; however, there have been few studies exploring what drives their, fish species composition, especially in Australia. The rock-pool environment is highly dynamic and offers a unique natural laboratory to study the habitat choices, physiological limitations and adaptations of inter-tidal fish species. In this study rock pools of the Sydney region were sampled to determine how the physical (volume, depth, rock cover and vertical position) and biological (algal cover and predator presence) parameters of pools influence fish distribution and abundance. A total of 27 fish species representing 14 families was observed …

Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity In A Free-Ranging Mammal: Effects Of Dominance Rank And Personality, Elodie F. Briefer, James A. Oxley, Alan G. Mcelligott

Ethology Collection

Modulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity allows animals to effectively respond to internal and external stimuli in everyday challenges via changes in, for example, heart and respiration rate. Various factors, ranging from social such as dominance rank to internal such as personality or affective states can impact animal physiology. Our knowledge of the combinatory effects of social and internal factors on ANS basal activity and reactivity, and of the importance that each factor has in determining physiological parameters, is limited, particularly in nonhuman, free-ranging animals. In this study, we tested the effects of dominance rank and personality (assessed …