Life Sciences Commons^™

Physical Fatigue Negatively Affects Decision-Making During A Closing-Gap Aperture Crossing Task When Using Joystick-Controlled Locomotion, Natalie Snyder

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Goal-direct locomotion is made possible through the integration of sensory input from the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory system. However, changes in collision avoidance behaviours and action capabilities (i.e., affordances) may occur when a sensory conflict is introduced (i.e., via incongruent input from a sensory system). Further, changes to the person (such as physical fatigue) may have negative implications on the cognitive abilities of an individual following physically fatiguing exercise. This in turn could affect an individual’s ability to avoid collisions with objects or other individuals in their environment. Thus, the objective of this thesis was to explore how physical fatigue …

Factors Influencing Zooplankton Communities In Small Arctic Lakes, Northwest Territories, Jasmina Vucic

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Canadian Arctic has been warming at an unprecedented rate, causing significant changes to the environment. At the same time, continued development in the north has increased the demand for gravel extraction used to construct and maintain infrastructure such as highways. The development of roadways and gradual loss of permafrost in Canada’s north has led to changes in water quality, including increased calcium, conductivity, and nutrients. In addition, gravel extraction has led to the formation of artificial gravel pit lakes. Research has yet to determine how physical and chemical changes associated with development and permafrost thaw might impact zooplankton, and …

Context Is Everything: An Investigation Of Spanish River Carbonatite And Its Effects On Soil-Plant-Microorganism Systems, James Mc Jones

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

With growing concerns about agricultural sustainability and food security, the use of rock fertilizers and agrominerals is receiving renewed interest. A wide variety of geological resources have been proposed as crop nutrient sources, with silicate rocks the predominant focus. Carbonatite rocks are known to weather more readily than silicate rocks; yet, they have received relatively little attention as it is thought their high Ca and Mg contents hinder effective nutrient release. However, there is strong evidence that the nutrients within carbonatite rocks are easily accessible to plants, and that these rocks have noticable effects on crop plant growth. Here I …

Competition Or Facilitation: Examination Of Interactions Between Endangered Sida Hermaphrodita And Invasive Phragmites Australis, Samantha N. Mulholland

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Virginia Mallow (Sida hermaphrodita) is a perennial herb of the Malvaceae family that is native to riparian habitats in northeastern North America. Throughout most of its geographical distribution however, it is considered threatened and only two populations are known from Canada. The biology and ecology of S. hermaphrodita are still poorly understood and although few studies have been performed to determine the factors that contribute to the species rarity, it is considered threatened potentially due to the loss of habitat caused by exotic European Common reed (Phragmites australis subsp. australis) invasion. Allelopathic and phytotoxic conditioning of …

Incidence Of Responders Vs Non-Responders With Sprint Interval Training, Kyle Schulhauser

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current study examined the incidence of non-response to a traditional 30:240 s sprint interval training (SIT) protocol, as well as for 2 modified SIT protocols of 15:120 s, and 5:40 s over 4 wk of training in 84 recreationally active males and females (52m, 32f). Pre- and post- testing measures included: aerobic capacity (V̇O_2max), aerobic performance (5-km time trial), and anaerobic capacity (30 s sprint). Non-response was determined using 2x typical error for each variable. Chi square analysis indicated a significant difference (P = 0.032) in the frequency of non-responders for aerobic performance where the 30:240 group …

Investigating The Antiviral Effects Of Vig-3 From Rainbow Trout, Shanee Herrington-Krause

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Rainbow trout is the most farmed fish in Ontario, and thus is economically important to the province. Despite this, there is a lack of understanding regarding fish innate immunity, specifically with regards to interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) and their antiviral effector functions. ISGs are the workhorses of the innate antiviral response, operating together to limit each step of virus replication. The Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (VHSV) induced gene (Vig)-3 is a newly identified ISG within many fish species and is homologous to ISG-15 in mammals. It is a small ubiquitin-like protein inducible by type I interferon (IFN-I), and is suggested to …

Expression, Purification, Functional Characterization And Crystallization Of Three Porphyromonas Gingivalis Gene Products, Katarina Mandic

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Dental biofilms are coupled polymicrobial aggregates that have attached to solid surfaces in the oral cavity. These collections of microorganisms are known to cause periodontal diseases that commence as localized inflammation of the gingiva and if untreated, eventually lead to irreversible alveolar bone resorption and tooth loss. Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of three periodontal pathogens that make up the “Red Complex”; a bacterial consortium responsible for the production of polysaccharide-rich biofilms that are essential to the inception and progression of periodontal disease. The dysbiosis and destructive inflammation caused by these organisms propel a self-sustained feed-forward loop that perpetuates periodontal disease. …

Environmental Factors Associated With Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities In Arctic Lakes, Northwest Territories, Rachel Cohen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Lake water quality and the macroinvertebrate communities in Arctic regions are threatened by increased development and climate change. In order to understand how macroinvertebrate communities may respond to their changing environment, I performed a biological and water quality survey of 46 Arctic lakes located in the Gwich’in Settlement Area and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories. Using these survey data, I performed two interrelated studies that asked: 1) how artificial pit lakes associated with gravel extraction for road development compared with natural lakes in terms of their water quality, morphometry, and macroinvertebrate communities; and 2) how water quality …

Halogenated Flame Retardants And Organophosphate Esters In The Air Of Electronic Waste Recycling Facilities: Evidence Of High Concentrations And Multiple Exposures, Sabrina Gravel, Jérôme Lavoué, Bouchra Bakhiyi, Miriam L. Diamond, Liisa M. Jantunen, Jacques Lavoie, Brigitte Roberge, Marc-André Verner, Joseph Zayed, France Labrèche

Études primaires

Background

In response to a worldwide increase in production of electronic waste, the e-recycling industry is rapidly rowing. E-recycling workers are exposed to many potentially toxic contaminants, among which flame retardants (FRs), mainly suspected of being endocrine disruptors, are thought to be the most prevalent.

Objective

To conduct an exposure assessment of four chemical groups of FRs in Canadian e-recycling facilities, and to identify the main cofactors of exposure.

Methods

Personal air samples were collected over a workday for 85 workers in six e-recycling facilities, grouped into three facility sizes, and for 15 workers in control commercial waste facilities. Total …

Revisiting The Effect Of Manipulating Lumbar Stability With Load Magnitudes And Positions: The Effect Of Sex On Trunk Muscle Activation, Christian Larivière, Ali Shahvarpour, Christina Gravel, Myriam Gauvin, Anne-Marie Jean, Ariane Viau, Hakim Mecheri

Études primaires

Background

Lumbar spine stability is regularly studied by positioning different loads at different heights and distance and measuring trunk muscle activation changes. Some of these studies have reported sex differences, but this needs to be revisited while controlling for confounding factors.

Method

20 males and 20 females sustained three static standing postures, with various loads (0, 5 and 10% of body weight), to evaluate the effect of height and distance. Activation of 12 trunk muscles was recorded with surface electromyography (EMG).

Results

Females activated their external obliques a little more than males, with increases ranging between 1.5 and 2.3% of …

Ultrasound Measures Of The Abdominal Wall In Patients With Low Back Pain Before And After An 8-Week Lumbar Stabilization Exercise Program, And Their Association With Clinical Outcomes, Christian Larivière, Sharon M. Henry, Dany H. Gagnon, Richard Preuss, Jean-Pierre Dumas

Études primaires

Background

Lumbar stabilization exercise programs (LSEPs) act positively on clinical outcome measures in patients with low back pain (LBP), but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Among the various neuromuscular mechanisms, a good candidate is better activation of the abdominal wall, as measured with rehabilitative ultrasound imaging (RUSI).

Objectives

To determine whether RUSI measures are (1) sensitive to LBP status and treatment (LSEP) and (2) correlate with clinical outcomes following the LSEP.

Design

An exploratory one-arm clinical trial with healthy participants as a control group.

Setting

LSEP was delivered in a clinical setting; outcomes were measured in a laboratory …

Autonomic And Redox Imbalance Correlates With T-Lymphocyte Inflammation In A Model Of Chronic Social Defeat Stress, Cassandra M. Moshfegh, Safwan K. Elkhatib, Christopher W. Collins, Allison J. Kohl, Adam J. Case

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at a significantly elevated risk of developing comorbid inflammatory conditions, but the mechanisms underlying this predilection remain unclear. Our previous work has shown that T-lymphocytes exposed to elevated levels of norepinephrine (NE) displayed a pro-inflammatory signature reminiscent of an autoreactive phenotype. With this, we hypothesized that the increased sympathetic tone observed during psychological trauma may be promoting pro-inflammatory T-lymphocytes, which causes a predisposition to comorbid inflammatory conditions. Here, we examined the consequences of psychological trauma on splenic T-lymphocytes using a mouse model of repeated social defeat stress. Social defeat led to anxiety-like …

Redox-Sensitive Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Iiα In Angiotensin Ii Intra-Neuronal Signaling And Hypertension, Urmi Basu, Adam J. Case, Jinxu Liu, Jun Tian, Yulong Li, Matthew C. Zimmerman

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Dysregulation of brain angiotensin II (AngII) signaling results in modulation of neuronal ion channel activity, an increase in neuronal firing, enhanced sympathoexcitation, and subsequently elevated blood pressure. Studies over the past two decades have shown that these AngII responses are mediated, in part, by reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the redox-sensitive target(s) that are directly acted upon by these ROS to execute the AngII pathophysiological responses in neurons remain unclear. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is an AngII-activated intra-neuronal signaling protein, which has been suggested to be redox sensitive as overexpressing the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase attenuates AngII-induced activation of …

Malate Dehydrogenase Allele Frequencies In Honeybee Populations And Its Correlation With Temperature, Thitipan Meemongkolkiat

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Temperature is one of the major factors that affect on the variation in honeybee in term of DNA and protein variants. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the three structural variants of the cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (cMDH) protein of the honeybee can explain clinal variation in allele frequencies. To test the hypothesis that there is a molecular basis to the temperature-dependent fitness of cMDH variation, the enzymic activity was determined across a range of temperatures in vitro. The F and S alleles have higher activity and are less sensitive to high temperatures than the M allele. Next, …

The Effect Of Estrogen And Chronic Mild Stress On Gabaergic System And Anxiety- Like Behavior In Ovariectomized Rat, Sushawadee Tongta

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Stress in daily life and estrogen deprivation are known factors contributed to anxiety and depression. In animal models, anxiety-liked behaviors were demonstrated in ovariectomized or stress-exposed subjects. However, it was not clarified whether anxiety-liked behavior would be worsen when ovariectomized animals were exposed to mild stressors. The aims of this study were then designed to investigate (1) the effect of estrogen deprivation and chronic mild stresses (CMS) on anxiety- and depressive-liked behaviors and (2) the effect of estrogen receptor activation i.e. ERβ or GPR30 in estrogen deprivation exposed to CMS on anxiety-liked behavior. The alterations of GABAergic transmission in the …

Deep Patient Representation Of Clinical Notes Via Multi-Task Learning For Mortality Prediction, Yuqi Si, Kirk Roberts

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We propose a deep learning-based multi-task learning (MTL) architecture focusing on patient mortality predictions from clinical notes. The MTL framework enables the model to learn a patient representation that generalizes to a variety of clinical prediction tasks. Moreover, we demonstrate how MTL enables small but consistent gains on a single classification task (e.g., in-hospital mortality prediction) simply by incorporating related tasks (e.g., 30-day and 1-year mortality prediction) into the MTL framework. To accomplish this, we utilize a multi-level Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) associated with a MTL loss component. The model is evaluated with 3, 5, and 20 tasks and is …

การพัฒนาแผ่นปรุงรสน้ำจิ้มแจ่วลดปริมาณโซเดียมโดยการเสริมความเค็มด้วยกลิ่น, กรคณา ธนารุ่งโรจน์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อลดเกลือโซเดียมคลอไรด์ (โดยลดปริมาณน้ำปลา) ในผลิตภัณฑ์แผ่นปรุงรสน้ำจิ้มแจ่วโดยการเสริมความเค็มด้วยกลิ่น การทดลองส่วนแรกเพื่อหากลิ่นที่เหมาะสม โดยศึกษาโพรไฟล์กลิ่นรสและทดสอบการยอมรับของน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว ในการศึกษาโพรไฟล์กลิ่นรสของน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว 11 สูตร ได้แก่ น้ำจิ้มแจ่วสูตรควบคุมที่ไม่ลดเกลือโซเดียมคลอไรด์ (N100) น้ำจิ้มแจ่วสูตรลดเกลือโซเดียมคลอไรด์สูตรที่ใช้น้ำปลาและน้ำเกลือที่ลดเกลือในสูตรลง 40% (N60 และ S60) และน้ำจิ้มแจ่วสูตรลดเกลือโซเดียมคลอไรด์ที่ใช้กลิ่นเสริมความเค็ม 8 สูตร ซึ่งแปรชนิดสารให้รสเค็ม 2 ชนิด (น้ำปลาและน้ำเกลือ) ชนิดกลิ่น 2 กลิ่น (กลิ่นหมูย่างและกลิ่นน้ำปลา) และความเข้มข้นของกลิ่น 2 ระดับ จากการทดลองพบว่าน้ำจิ้มแจ่วสูตร N60 ที่เติมกลิ่นหมูย่างความเข้มข้น 0.1%v/w (N60P0.1) มีโพรไฟล์กลิ่นรสใกล้เคียงกับน้ำจิ้มแจ่วสูตร N100 มากที่สุด และได้รับคะแนนความชอบมากที่สุดจากการทดสอบการยอมรับทางประสาทสัมผัส การทดลองส่วนที่ 2 เพื่อคัดเลือกสูตรที่เหมาะสมในการขึ้นรูปแผ่นปรุงรส จึงศึกษาอิทธิพลของปริมาณเกลือโซเดียมคลอไรด์ (น้ำปลา) ชนิดของกรดในน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว และอิทธิพลของชนิดสารก่อฟิล์มต่อสมบัติทางกายภาพและเคมีของของแผ่นปรุงรสน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว 12 สูตร ซึ่งเตรียมจากน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว ที่แปรปริมาณน้ำปลาเพื่อให้มีเกลือโซเดียมคลอไรด์ในสูตร 3 ระดับ คือ 60% 80% และ 100% และแปรชนิดของกรด 2 ชนิดในน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว คือ น้ำมะนาวผสมน้ำมะขามเปียก (LT) และน้ำมะขามเปียกล้วน (T) ผสมกับสารก่อฟิล์ม 2 ชนิด ได้แก่ มอลโทเดกซ์ทรินผสมแซนแทนกัม (X) หรือมอลโทเดกซ์ทรินผสม GelproTM (G) จากการทดลองพบว่าแผ่นปรุงรสน้ำจิ้มแจ่วจากสารก่อฟิล์ม X สูตรน้ำมะนาวผสมน้ำมะขามเปียกที่ลดเกลือโซเดียมคลอไรด์เหลือ 60% (X-LT60) มีสมบัติเชิงกลที่ดี คือ สามารถฉีกขาดได้ง่าย แต่ไม่เปราะจนเกินไป และสามารถละลายน้ำได้มากกว่า 90% ภายในเวลา 3 นาที จึงเลือกแผ่นฟิล์มปรุงรสน้ำจิ้มแจ่วสูตร X-LT60 และกลิ่นหมูย่างเพื่อพัฒนาเป็นผลิตภัณฑ์แผ่นปรุงรสน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว ในการทดลองส่วนที่ 3 เพื่อหาเวลาในการอบแห้ง และศึกษาสมบัติด้านต่าง ๆ เมื่อโรยข้าวคั่ว และพริกป่นลงบนผลิตภัณฑ์แผ่นปรุงรสน้ำจิ้มแจ่ว พบว่า เมื่ออบที่ …

การตรึงยีสต์จากน้ำทะเลย่อยสลายดีเซลบนเปลือกหอยแครงและการประยุกต์, สุรสิทธิ์ พฤกษวานิช

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

จุลินทรีย์สายพันธุ์ SP21 ที่คัดแยกได้จากน้ำทะเลปนเปื้อนน้ำมัน จากอำเภอดอนสัก จังหวัดสุราษฎร์ธานี ลักษณะทางสัณฐานวิทยาและการเปรียบเทียบลำดับนิวคลิโอไทด์ 26s rDNA พบว่าสายพันธุ์ SP21 มีความใกล้เคียงกับยีสต์ Candida viswanathii 100% C. viswanathii สายพันธุ์ SP21 สามารถย่อยสลาย 1% ดีเซล ในน้ำทะเลสังเคราะห์ (SSW) ได้ 96.18 ± 1.2% ใน 7 วัน ในขณะที่ชุดควบคุมที่ไม่เติมยีสต์ดีเซลลดลงเพียง 11.80 ± 6.13% เมื่อตรึง C. viswanathii สายพันธุ์ SP21 บนเปลือกหอยแครง พบว่าสามารถตรึงเซลล์ได้ 5.70 log CFU/กรัม เมื่อบ่มเซลล์ร่วมกับเปลือกหอย 1 ชั่วโมง และสามารถตรวจพบเซลล์ตรึงโดยกล้องจุลทรรศน์อิเล็กตรอนแบบส่องกราด เซลล์ตรึงสามารถย่อยสลาย 1% ดีเซล ในอาหารน้ำทะเลสังเคราะห์ (SSW) ได้ 98.70 ± 0.57% ในขณะที่ชุดทดลองเปลือกหอยแครงที่ไม่ตรึงเชื้อดีเซลลดลงเพียง 1.65 ± 7.34% การตรึงเซลล์ช่วยเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพการย่อยสลายดีเซลที่ความเข้มข้นสูง 3% และ 5% ได้ 94.06 ± 5.94% และ 86.50 ± 13.70% ในเวลา 7 วัน ตามลำดับ ในขณะที่เซลล์อิสระสามารถย่อยสลายได้เพียง 85.12 ± 1.67% และ 51.69 ± 1.79% เซลล์ตรึงยังสามารถย่อยสลาย 1% ดีเซล ในน้ำกร่อยสังเคราะห์ (SBW) และน้ำจืดสังเคราะห์ (CFMM) ได้ 93.21 ± 0.76% และ 90.25 ± 6.93% …

Potential Of Nanoscale Elements To Control Fusarium Wilt Disease In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum), Enhance Macronutrient Use Efficiency, And Increase Its Yield, Ishaq Olarewaju Adisa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nanotechnology has a great potential in ensuring food production, security and safety globally. Over the past decade, research on the use of nanomaterials to supply nutrient elements and protect plants from pest and diseases has significantly increased. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most consumed vegetables in the world and United State is one of its largest producers globally generating billions of dollars annually in revenue.. Tomato plants are affected worldwide by Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Lycopersici. There is growing concern about excessive use of conventional pesticides in controlling Fusarium and other diseases in tomato …

Naturally Derived Compounds As Preventatives Of Proteinopathies, Lois Mendez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), afflict millions worldwide. Of greater concern is the fact that a main risk factor this disease is aging and the baby boomer population is now reaching a geriatric age. Despite the active research in this area, little progress has been made in the development of therapeutic strategies and furthering of our understanding in pinpointing the causal events that onset these disease processes. Our lab has focused on studying the protein homeostasis of key biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases and examining whether natural compounds can act as neuro-protectants and, thus, attenuate the pathology that ensues …

Prediction Of O-Glycosylation In Proteins For Different Polypeptide Galnac-Transferases, Jonathon Edward Mohl

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mucin-type O-Glycosylation is a posttranslational modification of proteins found on secreted and cell surface proteins in most animals which serves multiple important biological functions. Â In humans, mutations and changes in the expression levels of O-glycosylating polypeptide GalNac-transferases (GALNTs) have been linked to diabetes and multiple cancers. In most animals the GALNTs are compose a large family of isoforms with humans having 20 isoforms. Presently, the prediction of the sites that will be O-glycosylated is a difficult task due to each isoforms different substrate preference. In this work ISOGlyP, an isoform specific O-glycosylation prediction program, was redesigned and expanded to …

Fishers' Ecological Knowledge And Stable Isotope Analysis: A Social-Ecological Systems Approach To Endangered Species Conservation, Kathryn Rose Wedemeyer-Strombel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Identifying developmental habitat is essential for understanding population structure and species resiliency, especially for critically endangered species. In long-lived, oceanic, migratory animals such as sea turtles, elucidating developmental grounds is particularly difficult. When data are deficient or challenging to acquire, scientists often lean towards traditional quantitative methods when a social-ecological systems approach could better provide crucial baseline data and guiding information. Fishers’ ecological knowledge (FEK), the combination of experiential and culturally transmitted knowledge, is expert knowledge and should be treated as such. In 2008, FEK led to the “rediscovery” of the critically endangered eastern Pacific (EP) population of hawksbill sea …

Large Pelvic Tubercle In Orangutans Relates To The Adductor Longus Muscle, Brian M. Shearer, Magdalena Muchlinski, Ashley S. Hammond

Publications and Research

Orangutan pelves commonly exhibit a large, projecting tubercle in the iliopubic region, historically assumed to homologous to the pubic tubercle in humans. However, it is not clear whether this tubercle is a unique feature of Pongo, or if it is anatomically homologous with the human pubic tubercle when considered as a soft tissue attachment point. To clarify this issue, we dissected orangutan and other ape cadaveric specimens to evaluate the pelvic brim soft tissues and how they may relate to the tubercle (when present). We additionally conducted a broad osteological survey of pelvic brim morphology across 28 primate genera …

Determination Of Residue Levels Of The Avicide 3-Chloro-4-Methylaniline Hydrochloride In Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius Phoeniceus) By Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry, David A. Goldade, Kirsten R. Kim, James C. Carlson, Steven F. Volker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The avicide 3‑chloro‑4‑methylanaline hydrochloride (chloro‑p‑toluidine hydrochloride, CPTH, DRC-1339) is used to control pest bird species that damage agricultural crops. A specific and sensitive gas chromatographytandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the determination of CPTH in avian breast muscle, GI tract, kidney, and liver. Tissue samples were extracted with a solution of acidified water and acetonitrile. The sample was made basic and cleaned up with a combination of liquid-liquid partitioning and solid phase extraction. Separation was achieved using a HP-5 ultra-inert GC column (15 M, 0.25 μm film) with detection on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer …

Macroeconomic Impact Of Foot‐And‐Mouth Disease Vaccination Strategies For An Outbreak In The Midwestern United States: A Computable General Equilibrium, Maryfrances Miller, Lirong Liu, Steven Shwiff, Stephanie Shwiff

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The impacts of alternative responses to a hypothetical foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) outbreak occurring in the Midwestern United States are estimated using the Regional Economic Modelling Incorporated Policy Insight + (REMI) computable general equilibrium model, with particular attention paid to the employment impact estimates. The impact on employment and GDP is estimated using forecasts of a 10‐ year period with disease outbreak duration up to 2 years. Fifteen different vaccination protocols are compared to a disease control protocol that relies on animal depopulation with no vaccination. Results show that over the 10‐year study period, the strictly depopulation strategy that made no …

The Intrepid Urban Coyote: A Comparison Of Bold And Exploratory Behavior In Coyotes From Urban And Rural Environments, Stewart W. Breck, Sharon A. Poessel, Peter Mahoney, Julie K. Young

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are highly adaptable, medium-sized carnivores that now inhabit nearly every large city in the United States and Canada. To help understand how coyotes have adapted to living in urban environments, we compared two ecologically and evolutionarily important behavioral traits (i.e., bold-shy and exploration-avoidance behavior) in two contrasting environments (i.e., rural and urban).

Boldness is an individual’s reaction to a risky situation and exploration is an individual’s willingness to explore novel situations. Our results from both tests indicate that urban coyotes are bolder and more exploratory than rural coyotes and that within both populations there are …

The Conundrum Of Agenda-Driven Science In Conservation, M. Zachariah Peery, Gavin M. Jones, R. J. Gutierrez, Steve M. Redpath, Alan B. Franklin, Daniel Simberloff, Monica G. Turner, Volker C. Radeloff, Gary C. White

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Conservation biology is a value-laden discipline predicated on conserving biodiversity (Soulé 1985), a mission that does not always sit easily with objective science (Lackey 2007; Pielke 2007; Scott et al. 2007). While some encourage scientists to be responsible advocates for conservation (Garrard et al. 2016), others worry that objectivity in conservation research may suffer (Lackey 2007). At this time, we believe advocacy by scientists is essential for environmental conservation and, indeed, humanity. It is difficult to envision the state of our environment had scientists failed to encourage policy makers and the public to address emerging conservation problems. Nevertheless, conservation scientists …

Group Effects Of A Non-Native Plant Invasion On Rodent Abundance, Bryan M. Kluever, Trinity N. Smith, Eric M. Gese

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is the most prolific invading plant in western North America. Investigations determining the impact of this invasion on population state variables and community dynamics of rodents have largely occurred at the community or species level, creating a knowledge gap as to whether rodents affiliated by a shared taxonomy or other grouping are differentially affected by cheatgrass invasion. We examined rodent abundance along a gradient of cheatgrass cover using various groupings of two nocturnal rodent taxa comprising the majority of the rodent community in the Great Basin Desert. In the summers of 2010–2013, rodents were sampled …

Parasitism, Host Behavior, And Invasive Species, Sarah N. Bevins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Animal behavior and parasitism are inextricable linked. In many cases, host behavior can affect what parasites are encountered. In other cases, parasites can manipulate the behavior of the host in an attempt to maximize their own transmission. These long-standing interactions are now further complicated by species movement around the globe. The list of introduced species that have become invasive includes parasites that have adapted to new hosts in areas of introduction, as well as invasive hosts that alter the association between existing parasite–host assemblages. Researchers have documented differences in rates of parasitism and in the consequences of parasite infection between …

The Effect Of High Density Oral Rabies Vaccine Baiting On Rabies Virus Neutralizing Antibody Response In Raccoons (Procyon Lotor), Kerri Pedersen, Amy Gilbert, Eric S. Wilhelm, Kathleen M. Nelson, Amy J. Davis, Jordona D. Kirby, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Shylo Johnson, Richard B. Chipman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

From 2014 to 2016, we examined the effect of distributing oral rabies vaccine baits at high density (150 baits/km2) in an area of Virginia, US that was na¨ıve to oral rabies vaccination prior to the study. We also compared the effect of baiting at high density in a na¨ıve area to baiting at standard density (75 baits/km2) in an area that had been baited annually for 12 yr. Our results suggested that rabies virus seroconversion in raccoons (Procyon lotor) gradually increased each year under the high density bait treatment. However, we did not detect a difference in seroconversion between bait …