Life Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Season And Year Of Evaluation In The Selection Of Brachiaria Humidicola Hybrids, Ulisses J. De Figueiredo, José A. R. Nunes, Cacilda B. Valle, Sanzio C. L. Barrios, Geovani F. Alves

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Brachiaria humidicola is well adapted to infertile and acid soils with poor drainage or temporary flooding (Keller-Grein et al. 1996). It is widely used in Brazil in wetlands and areas of marginal land characterised by waterlogged soils. During the evaluation stages of the breeding program of this species, genotypes are generally tested using consecutive cuts within different seasons for at least 2 years. The ‘Cerrado’ region, where most animal production takes place in Brazil, has 2 well defined seasons: spring-summer with warm weather and rain; and autumn-winter with cooler, dry weather. Thus, owing to environmental variation, especially related to …

Effects Of Irrigation And Season On Performance Of Grazed Pastures Of Brachiaria Brizantha Cv. Mg5, Rita De C. R. Carvalho, Wellington W. Rocha, Bruno S. Pires, César T. Piza, Luziney D. Silva, Paulo R. V. Leite, Eliel A. Ferreira

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Brazil, livestock production is based primarily on systems with continuously grazed natural or cultivated pastures (FAO 2009). Intensifying animal breeding, handling and knowledge strategies is necessary to obtain improvements in production indices for economically feasible and sustainable grazing systems (Cedeño et al. 2003). Beef cattle breeding on irrigated pasture, like all forms of intensive grazing, requires the use of forage species with high potential for production and quality, and Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG5 is considered a good option. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of irrigation on the performance of B. brizantha cv. MG5 grazed rotationally by …

Development Of Leucaena Mimosine-Degrading Bacteria In The Rumen Of Sheep In Myanmar, Aung Aung, Moe Thida Htun, Lwin Naing Oo, Mar Mar Kyi, Tin Ngwe

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Myanmar has an agricultural base, and about 70% of people reside in rural areas. They depend for survival on agriculture and small-scale crop production, with ruminant livestock consuming fibrous agricultural residues. For optimal ruminant production, concentrates are needed as supplements to these residues. As concentrates are expensive, researchers are testing alternative protein sources like legumes, including foliage from leguminous trees such as leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala). Leucaena is the most widely used leguminous tree as a ruminant feed because it is rich in protein (~ 22%) and contains easily digestible fibre (23% neutral detergent fibre, 16.6% acid detergent fibre; …

Development, Isolation And Characterisation Of A New Non-Virulent Mimosine-Degrading Klebsiella Pneumoniae Strain From The Rumen Liquor Of German Steers By Using Ibt-Goettinger Bioreactor, Aung Aung, U. Ter Meulen, F. Gessler, H. Böhnel

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The tropical legume Leucaena leucocephala (leucaena) has many uses, including: a potential source of firewood and timber; for soil erosion control (Dijkman 1950); to provide shade; to enhance soil fertility; and as a nutritious forage for animal feed (Ruskin 1977). It is widely used as forage for cattle in tropical agriculture (Shelton 1998). In Myanmar, leucaena is used as a protein source in urea-molasses multi-nutrient blocks for ruminants (Ni Ni Maw et al. 2004). However, the use of leucaena as ruminant feed is not without problems, because it contains mimosine, a toxic anti-nutritional factor limiting its use as animal …

Brs Paiaguás: A New Brachiaria (Urochloa) Cultivar For Tropical Pastures In Brazil, Cacilda B. Valle, Valéria P. B. Euclides, Denise B. Montagner, José R. Valério, Celso D. Fernandes, Manuel C. M. Macedo, Jaqueline R. Verzignassi, Luis A. Machado

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Approximately half the world’s beef is produced in the tropics and subtropics, almost exclusively on pasture. While the world production of beef and veal increased 91% over the past 40 years, the increase in the tropics was 200%. Brazil has today the largest commercial cattle herd in the world (about 190 M head) and is the world's largest exporter of beef. The area of cultivated pasture increased from 30 to 100 Mha between 1970 and 1995 (IBGE 2006). This area has now stabilised or decreased despite the increase in beef production, which reflects the gain in area productivity. Part of …

Performance Of Nelore Cattle On Panicum Maximum Pastures In The Brazilian Cerrado, Giovana A. Maciel, Gustavo J. Braga, Roberto Guimarães Jr., Hélio A. De Araújo, Allan K. B. Ramos, Marcelo A. Carvalho, Lourival Vilela, Liana Jank

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

With the increased demand for meat products, associated with environmental concerns due to global climatic and land use changes, the need to efficiently use pasture and forage resources will increase (Boval and Dixon 2012). Efforts to breed and release new forage cultivars must incorporate these concerns, ensuring that introduced material is of high quality, especially under grazing (Euclides et al. 2008).

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the average daily weight gain and stocking rate of Nelore beef cattle grazing new genotypes of Panicum maximum during the rainy season in the Brazilian Cerrado.

Morphological Divergence Among Progeny Of Macroptilium Lathyroides Accessions From The Semi-Arid Region Of Pernambuco, Brazil, Mércia V. F. Dos Santos, Gabriella P. De Albuquerque, Márcio V. Da Cunha, Mário De A. Lira Jr., José C. B. Dubeux Jr., Marta G. S. Da Silva, Mário De A. Lira, Alexandre C. L. De Mello

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Macroptilium is a legume genus with approximately 20 species, usually annual or biennial, herbaceous and distributed mainly in the Americas. It is widely used as a forage resource in grasslands and usually fixes atmospheric N. Martins et al. (2001) indicated that half-sib family selection with progeny testing is the most common plant breeding method used in Brazil. In the scientific literature, however, there are few studies dedicated to Macroptilium spp.

This study evaluated morphological divergence among Macroptilium spp. progeny from accessions collected in 4 counties located in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco State, NE Brazil.

Selecting New Brachiaria Humidicola Hybrids For Western Brazilian Amazon, Giselle M. L. De Assis, Cacilda B. Valle, Carlos M. S. De Andrade, Judson F. Valentim

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Brachiaria humidicola is a perennial and stoloniferous forage grass, with excellent adaptation to infertile soils and waterlogging. Producers in northern Brazil have become interested in this species, especially after the degradation of large areas of lowly permeable soils sown with B. brizantha cv. Marandu, which is highly intolerant of soil waterlogging (Andrade and Valentim 2006). However, since only 3 cultivars of B. humidicola are registered in Brazil (Mapa 2013), there is a need to develop new cultivars adapted to the range of environmental conditions experienced. Recently, Embrapa Beef Cattle obtained intraspecific hybrids of B. humidicola that need to be evaluated …

Brs Mandobi: A New Forage Peanut Cultivar Propagated By Seeds For The Tropics, Giselle M. L. De Assis, Judson F. Valentim, Carlos M. S. De Andrade

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Forage peanut (Arachis pintoi) is a forage legume of relatively recent use in beef and dairy cattle feeding. Although it is native exclusively to Brazil, the first cultivar, Amarillo, was released in Australia in 1987. Forage peanut has a great number of favourable attributes for establishing grass-legume mixtures, which guarantee the persistence and high yields of high quality forage in cultivated pastures. Therefore, studies with this species have intensified in many tropical regions of the world (Assis and Valentim 2009). In the state of Acre, western Brazilian Amazon, 137,000 ha are cultivated with forage peanut, cv. Belmonte, benefiting …

Nanomaterials For Biosensing Lipopolysaccharide, Palak Sondhi, Helal Maruf, Keith Stine

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are endotoxins, hazardous and toxic inflammatory stimulators released from the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, and are the major cause of septic shock giving rise to millions of fatal illnesses worldwide. There is an urgent need to identify and detect these molecules selectively and rapidly. Pathogen detection has been done by traditional as well as biosensor-based methods. Nanomaterial based biosensors can assist in achieving these goals and have tremendous potential. The biosensing techniques developed are low-cost, easy to operate, and give a fast response. Due to extremely small size, large surface area, and scope for surface modification, nanomaterials …

Peroxiredoxin 6 And Inflammation In Alzheimer's Disease, Jared Ferrell-Penniman

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is known for its debilitating symptoms and poor prognosis. However, despite intense research into neurodegenerative diseases, there are few therapies targeted at the underlying mechanisms of the disease. Oxidative stress (OS) and inflammation are cellular phenomena thought to be key to the progression of the disease. Critically, peroxiredoxin 6 (Prx6), an antioxidant protein with multiple functions, has been identified from mammalian studies as a potential regulator of both OS and inflammation that may have a specific effect on AD. This project seeks to elucidate the role of Prx6 in AD as well as the underlying mechanisms. Drosophila …

Urbanization And Population Growth: Projected Impacts Of Growth On Ecological Resources In Ontario1, Laura J. Bozzelli

International ResearchScape Journal

No abstract provided.

Long-Lasting Insecticide Netting For Protecting Tree Stems From Attack By Ambrosia Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), Christopher M. Ranger, Christopher T. Werle, Peter B. Schultz, Karla M. Addesso, Jason B. Oliver, Michael E. Reding

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are destructive wood-boring insects of horticultural trees. We evaluated long-lasting insecticide netting for protecting stems against ambrosia beetles. Container-grown eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis, trees were flood-stressed to induce ambrosia beetle attacks, and deltamethrin-treated netting was wrapped from the base of the stem vertically to the branch junction. Trees were deployed under field conditions in Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, and Mississippi with the following treatments: (1) flooded tree; (2) flooded tree with untreated netting; (3) flooded tree with treated ‘standard mesh’ netting of 24 holes/cm²; (4) flooded tree with treated ‘fine mesh’ netting of 28 …

Diel Temperature And Ph Variability Scale With Depth Across Diverse Coral Reef Habitats, Tyler Cyronak, Yuichiro Takeshita, Travis A. Courtney, Eric H. Decarlo, Bradley D. Eyre, David I. Kline, Todd R. Martz, Heather Page, Nichole Price, Jennifer Smith, Laura Stoltenberg, Martin Tresguerres, Andreas J. Andersson

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral reefs are facing intensifying stressors, largely due to global increases in seawater temperature and decreases in pH. However, there is extensive environmental variability within coral reef ecosystems, which can impact how organisms respond to global trends. We deployed spatial arrays of autonomous sensors across distinct shallow coral reef habitats to determine patterns of spatiotemporal variability in seawater physicochemical parameters. Temperature and pH were positively correlated over the course of a day due to solar heating and light‐driven metabolism. The mean temporal and spatial ranges of temperature and pH were positively correlated across all sites, with different regimes of variability …

Zika Virus Infection Causes Temporary Paralysis In Adult Mice With Motor Neuron Synaptic Retraction And Evidence For Proximal Peripheral Neuropathy, John D. Morrey, Alexandre L. R. Oliveira, Hong Wang, Katherine Zukor, Mateus Vidigal De Castro, Venkatraman Siddharthan

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Clinical evidence is mounting that Zika virus can contribute to Guillain-Barré syndrome which causes temporary paralysis, yet the mechanism is unknown. We investigated the mechanism of temporary acute flaccid paralysis caused by Zika virus infection in aged interferon αβ-receptor knockout mice used for their susceptibility to infection. Twenty-five to thirty-five percent of mice infected subcutaneously with Zika virus developed motor deficits including acute flaccid paralysis that peaked 8-10 days after viral challenge. These mice recovered within a week. Despite Zika virus infection in the spinal cord, motor neurons were not destroyed. We examined ultrastructures of motor neurons and synapses by …

The Effect Of Invasive Plants On Soil Microbial Activity In A Ny Temperate Forest, Victoria Dawn Hull

Theses - ALL

Invasive woody plants are often strong competitors that can have large effects on ecosystem function. While there is evidence that Northeastern invasive species can increase nitrogen cycling in monocultures, little is known about how invasive plants alter biogeochemistry in the field. I hypothesized that the high-quality leaf and root litter of invaders would enhance the quality of soil organic matter, leading to greater belowground microbial activity and faster rates of nitrogen mineralization. In the summer of 2017, I conducted a field survey of invasive and native understory shrubs to see how invasive woody plants influence microbial activity in central New …

Variation In Herbivore Effects On Grassland Primary Production: A Test Of Three Models, Jacob Penner

Theses - ALL

Grazing animals influence a wide range of plant and soil processes in the world’s grasslands. Ecologists have long understood that grazing can stimulate aboveground net primary production (ANPP), although this phenomenon has not been broadly generalizable across grasslands and grazing regimes. The mechanisms underlying grazer stimulation of ANPP are therefore of interest to a wide variety of stakeholders from ecologists to land managers. Three data-supported hypotheses offer differing explanations for the ways in which grazing interacts with resource availability to drive ANPP: the compensatory continuum hypothesis (CCH) implicates background resource availability, the limiting resource model (LRM) considers the direct effects …

There Must Be Something In The Water: Understanding Pfas Contamination Of Groundwater As A National Security Issue, Kylie N. Ford

Student Theses 2015-Present

This report addresses the widespread pollution of domestic groundwater resources with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) caused by firefighting activities performed at military installations across the United States. Two former military bases in Southeastern Pennsylvania are used as a single case study: the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) in Warminster and the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NASJRB) in Horsham. Chapter 1 gives a history of domestic military bases from the perspective of the infrastructure buildup and downsizing that occurred over the 20th Century, along with the environmental degradation revealed during brownfield redevelopment. The chapter then gives specifics about …

Functional Implications Of Nlrp1 Variants For Autoimmune Disease, Laura J. Westhoff

Undergraduate Honors Theses

NLRP1 is a protein-coding human gene that plays a crucial role in the NLRP1 inflammasome. Variants to the NLRP1 gene have been associated with autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. We examined the effects of polymorphisms at two SNPs on cytokine levels and NLRP1 gene expression in 50 human volunteers without diagnosed autoimmune disease. NLRP1 was genotyped at SNPs rs2670660 and rs12150220 and individuals who were homozygous at one or more SNP were selected for further analysis. Serum IL-18 and IL-1β levels were quantified using ELISA. NLRP1 gene expression was measured using real-time PCR. A strong linkage was found between genotypes of …

The Effects Of Replacement Of Fish Meal Protein With A Mixture Of Poultry By-Product Meal, Fish Silage And Fish Protein Hydrolysate On The Growth Performances Of Asian Sea Bass (Lates Calcarifer), Yu-Cong Hong, Angela Chien, Shyn-Shin Sheen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of replacement of dietary fishmeal (FM) with a mixture of poultry by-product meal (PBM), fish silage (FS) and fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) on the growth performances of the Asian sea bass Lates calcarifer. Five isonitrogenous (46% crude protein) and isolipidic (12% crude lipid) diets were formulated to replace 0 (CON), 25 (FM 25), 50 (FM 50), 75 (FM 75) and 100% (FM 100) of fishmeal protein with the protein mixture (78% PBM, 11% FS, and 11% FPH). One additional diet, namely POM was designed to completely replace FM protein with PBM. …

Hdac1 Is A Required Cofactor Of Cbfβ-Smmhc And A Therapeutic Target In Inversion 16 Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Lisa E. Richter

Theses & Dissertations

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a neoplastic disease characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation and accumulation of immature myeloid cells. A common mutation in AML is the inversion of chromosome 16 [inv(16)], which generates a fusion between the genes for core binding factor beta (CBFB) and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (MYH11), forming the oncogene CBFB-MYH11. The expressed protein, CBFβ-SMMHC, forms a heterodimer with the key hematopoietic transcription factor RUNX1. Although CBFβ-SMMHC was previously thought to dominantly repress RUNX1, recent work suggests that CBFβ-SMMHC functions together with RUNX1 to activate transcription of specific target genes.

Targeting the …

Seed Mix Experiments And Analysis Of Native Seed Supply For The Pollinator Habitat Initiative, Laura Jackson, Justin Meissen

Tallgrass Prairie Publications and Reports

We examined the relationship between seed mix design, native seed supply, and delivery of ecosystem services by the Conservation Reserve Program, using the CP-42 Pollinator Initiative in Iowa from 2015 to 2019 as a test case. Iowa farmers enrolled over 237,000 acres into this program over a short time, an achievement that is noticeable on the Iowan landscape.

Delivery Of Small Molecule And Rna Using Synthetic Polymeric Micelles And Multifunctional Exosomes For The Treatment Of Type 1 Diabetes, Yang Peng

Theses & Dissertations

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most challenging chronic autoimmune diseases. The destruction and dysfunction of insulin-secreting β cells are the results of inflammatory infiltration and the synergistic effect of multiple immune cells. The aim of this dissertation is to develop novel and reliable therapeutic approaches to advance the treatment of T1D: including chemical modification of a broad-spectrum immunosuppressant, co-application of small molecule based immune intervention and siRNA based β cell preservative therapy, and administration of a PI3K-δ/γ dual inhibitor to specifically target immune cells, utilizing synthetic polymeric micelles or natural produced multi-functional exosomes derived from human bone marrow …

The Role Of Histone Chaperone Fact Complex In Base Excision Repair Pathway And Its Therapeutic Potential In Colon Cancer And Medulloblastoma, Heyu Song

Theses & Dissertations

Base excision repair (BER) pathway is required for the removal of damaged bases caused by alkylation, oxidation and ring-saturation. Human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) plays a central role in BER pathway. Although repair of damaged bases by recombinant APE1 has been well investigated in vitro, how APE1 gains access to damaged bases in the context of chromatin is largely unknown. A prominent member of the histone chaperone family, FACT (Facilitates Chromatin Transcription) is thought to reorganize nucleosomes through the destabilization of multiple intra-nucleosome contacts. FACT complex is composed of two polypeptides identified as SPT16 (Suppressor of Ty 16) and SSRP1 …

Molecular Insights Into Major Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma Entities With Advances In A Representative Model System, Tayla B. Heavican

Theses & Dissertations

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) is a group of complex clinicopathological entities associated with an aggressive clinical course. Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) and PTCL-not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) are the two most frequent categories accounting for more than 50% of PTCLs. Gene expression profiling (GEP) defined molecular signatures for AITL and delineated biological and prognostic subgroups within PTCL-NOS (PTCL-GATA3 and PTCL-TBX21). Genomic copy number analysis and targeted sequencing revealed unique genomic abnormalities and oncogenic pathways, indicating distinct oncogenic evolution. PTCL-GATA3 exhibited higher genomic complexity characterized by frequent loss or mutation of tumor suppressor genes targeting the CDKN2A/B-TP53 axis and PTEN-PI3K pathways. …

Computational Studies And Design Of Pparγ And Glut1 Inhibitors, Suliman Almahmoud

Theses & Dissertations

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor of the nuclear receptor superfamily that controls the expression of a variety of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism, adipogenesis, and insulin sensitivity. PPARγ is a target for insulin-sensitizing drugs, and it plays a significant function in prostate cancer. PPARγ antagonists have anti-proliferative effects in a broad range of hematopoietic and epithelial cell lines. The ligand binding domain (LBD) of PPARγ is large and has orthosteric and allosteric binding sites. Several PPARγ-ligand co-crystal structures show two bound molecules, one to the orthosteric pocket and a second to the allosteric …

Mechanism Of Bax/Bak Activation In Apoptotic Signaling, Kai Huang

Theses & Dissertations

The Bcl-2 family proteins, including the anti-apoptotic members, pro-apoptotic effectors Bax/Bak, and the BH3-only proteins, are key components of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. The BH3-only protein Bid is critical for the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis after TRAIL-induced death receptor activation. However, the mechanism of Bid activation during TRAIL-induced apoptosis is unclear. By putting back wild-type and mutants of Bid in Bid deficient (Bid KO) and Bid/Bax/Bak TKO colon cancer cells, we demonstrated that cleavage by caspase 8 and mitochondrial targeting are critical events for Bid activation. One of the biggest mysteries in apoptosis is how Bax/Bak was activated by BH3-only …

Brca1 & Ctdp1 Brct Domainomics In The Dna Damage Response, Kimiko L. Krieger

Theses & Dissertations

Genomic instability is one of the enabling characteristics of cancer. DNA damage response pathways are important for genomic integrity and cell cycle progression. Defects in DNA damage repair can often lead to cell cycle arrest, cell death, or tumorigenesis. The activation of the DNA damage response includes tightly regulated signaling cascades that involve kinase phosphorylation and modular domains that scaffold phosphorylated motifs to coordinate recruitment of DNA repair proteins. Modular domains are conserved tertiary structures of a protein that can fold, function, and evolve independently from an intact protein. One of the most common modular domains involved in DNA damage …

The Role Of E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Fbxo9 In Normal And Malignant Hematopoiesis, R. Willow Hynes-Smith

Theses & Dissertations

Hematopoiesis is a critical system that provides blood cells necessary for nutrient and oxygen transfer throughout an organism and for protection from harmful agents. It is maintained throughout life by the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that reside within the bone marrow (BM) and are responsible for providing billions of new cells each day. HSCs maintain a careful balance between a quiescent state, that sustains the integrity of the stem cells, and a proliferative state, that provides new cells to replenish those that undergo apoptosis. Hematopoiesis is regulated by a variety of intrinsic pathways and extrinsic signals such as cytokine signaling, …

Theranostics For Antiretroviral Biodistribution And Pharmacokinetics, Brendan M. Ottemann

Theses & Dissertations

RATIONALE: Our laboratories birthed the field of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) theranostics. The new field allows simultaneous detection (diagnostics) and treatment (therapeutic) for the identification, treatment and inevitable elimination of virus in cell and tissue compartments. By employing theranostics, antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) can be tracked in lymph nodes, gut, spleen and liver. Cellular viral reservoirs including CD4+ T cell populations and mononuclear phagocytes (MP; monocytes, macrophages, microglia and dendritic cells) along with subcellular endosomal structures can now be targeted for drug delivery bringing therapeutics to areas where virus replicates. The overarching idea rests in improving precision targeted ARV delivery. …