Life Sciences Commons^™

The Arabidopsis Kinesin-4, Fra1, Requires A High Level Of Processive Motility To Function Correctly, Anindya Ganguly, Logan Demott, Ram Dixit

Biology Faculty Research

Processivity is important for kinesins that mediate intracellular transport. Structure–function analyses of N-terminal kinesins (i.e. kinesins comprising their motor domains at the N-terminus) have identified several non-motor regions that affect processivity in vitro. However, whether these structural elements affect kinesin processivity and function in vivo is not known. Here, we used an Arabidopsis thaliana kinesin-4, called Fragile Fiber 1 (FRA1, also known as KIN4A), which is thought to mediate vesicle transport, to test whether mutations that alter processivity in vitro lead to similar changes in behavior in vivo and whether processivity is important for the function of FRA1. We …

An Erythristic Morph Of Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon Cinereus) Collected In Virginia, Trevor L. Chapman, Brian G. Gall, Kari L. Spivey

Virginia Journal of Science

Eight different color polymorphisms of the Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) have been described throughout its range. Among them, the erythristic phenotype is a mimetic morph with coloration patterns similar to that of toxic Eastern Newt efts (Notophthalmus viridescens). We describe an erythristic morph of P. cinereus collected at Mountain Lake Biological Station, Virginia. To our knowledge, there are no prior published records of this morph in Virginia.

Bacterial Diversity Of An Abandoned Mine Land Soil In Southeast Kansas, Rachel Bechtold

Paper and Posters Presentations

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is found near abandoned coal mines in southeast Kansas as a result of mine waste runoff resulting in low pH. Soil bacteria may be used as an indicator of ecosystem health in these human-perturbed areas. The goal of the present study was to assess the microbial diversity of an AMD site. In fall (2015) and summer (2016), soil samples were aseptically collected from five distant sites representing diverse topography. Soil texture and physico-chemical characters were evaluated. A total of 58 morphologically different colonies were characterized using physiological and biochemical tests and were identified at the species …

Functional Analysis Of Phasirna In Soybean Anther, Hannah Thomas

Paper and Posters Presentations

Many phasiRNA have been discovered but the targets and functions of these molecules remains largely unknown. The function of phasiRNA produced by miR4392, which are expressed highly in the anthers of soybeans were compared to similar ones found in maize. A short tandem target mimic (STTM) was designed to knock out the production of phasiRNA at different points of biogenesis. The resulting constructs were examined for varying phenotypes and molecular variations through RT-qPCR and sRNA library sequencing. Constructs where phasiRNA production was halted developed fewer beans. Failure to produce phasiRNAs in reproductive tissues can lead to important crop yield changes …

Precipitation Drivers Of Cropping Frequency In The Brazilian Cerrado: Evidence And Implications For Decision-Making, Keith R. Spangler, Amanda H. Lynch, Stephanie A. Spera

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

The Amazon basin has been subjected to unprecedented rates of land-use change over the past several decades, primarily as a result of the expansion of agriculture. Enhanced rain forest conservation efforts toward the end of the twentieth century slowed deforestation of the Amazon but, in turn, increased demand for land repurposing in the adjacent Cerrado (savanna) region, where conservation regulations are less strict. To maintain or increase yields while minimizing the need for additional land, agricultural producers adopted a form of intensification in which two rain-fed crops are planted within a single growing season (double cropping). Using 10 years (August …

Impact Of Student Fees On Winning In The Ncaa, James T. Morton

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

The financial picture for most intercollegiate athletic departments involves the use of student fees to help offset the costs of running the department. Students were charged more than $795 million to support sports programs at 222 Division I public schools during the 2008-09 school year (Berkowitz, Upton, McCarthy, & Gillum, 2010). With that level of investment it is prudent to ask what effect on winning these funds may have. Many presidents have cited the indirect benefits athletics brings to a campus as a justification for allocating student fees to athletics. However, while much research has been done on the subject, …

Detecting, Cloning, And Screening For Suppressors Of Rna Silencing In Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus And Sugarcane Mosaic Virus, Nicole E. Bacheller

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

Maize lethal necrosis disease (MLND) is one of the most important viral diseases of maize. MLND occurs when Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) co-infects the same plant with one of several potyviruses, including Sugarcane mosaic virus, Wheat streak mosaic virus or Maize dwarf mosaic virus. Originally prevalent in the Midwest and Peru in the 1970s, the disease was called corn lethal necrosis (CLN) and was controlled through breeding and sanitation. Recently, the disease has re-emerged in East Africa and is rapidly spreading and threatening the food sources of subsistence-farming populations. This re-emergence has raised several questions about the unknown …

A Web Based Real Time Nitrogen Leaching Calculator, Saeideh Samani, Babak Samani, Haishun Yang

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

While nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient for corn, its leaching to ground water is an serious environmental issue and a hazard to public health. N leaching is closely linked to weather factors, especially rainfall. Prediction of N leaching in cropping systems is critical to improvement of crop management and reduction of N leaching. The objective of this project is to develop a web app that predicts in real-time mode N leaching across Nebraska using real-time weather data.

We are in the processing of developing the web app and expect a prototype to be running in 2017 cropping season. Field …

Genomic Regions Involved In Seed Protein, Oil, And Carbohydrate Concentration In Soybean, Samantha J. Mcconaughy

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

Soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] are processed for their high-quality vegetable oil and protein meal for feed, food, and industrial applications but, because of the high negative correlations between seed protein and oil concentration, it has been difficult to develop soybean lines with concomitant increases in both protein and oil. Previous studies considered only seed protein or oil concentration. This study is unique in that populations were developed using parental lines that differed in their protein, oil, and total carbohydrate concentrations in the mature seed. Two soybean populations were developed using soybean accession PI 547827 with lower total sugars as …

Surveying The Distributions Of Melaleuca Quinquenervia, Psidium Cattleianum, And Litsea Glutinosa At Analalava Special Reserve, Hanusia Higgins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study surveyed the distributions of three invasive plant species, Melaleuca quinquenervia, Psidium cattleianum, and Litsea glutinosa at the Analalava Special Reserve in Mahavelona, Madagascar. Analalava is a 229-hectare degraded patch of low-elevation humid forest on the northeast coast of Madagascar, and one of the last forest fragments remaining in the region. It is a haven for biodiversity, containing 343 recorded species of plants, 12 of which are locally endemic. Invasive species are considered the second-most significant threat to biodiversity, both worldwide and specifically at Analalava. Based on a systematic transect survey of these three targeted invasive species, their distributions …

The Methane-Oxidizing Capability Of Pumice Biocovers On Icelandic Landfills, Mitchell P. Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Pumice has been shown in laboratory biofilter experiments to improve the oxidation of methane (Pratt et al. 2012, Pratt, Tate, & Deslippe 2012). Pumice biocovers were tested on two Icelandic landfills, Kirkjuferjuhjáleiga and Álfsnes. Seven biocover plots were dug and filled with a 50:50 blend of pumice and native soil. CH4 and CO2 were measured using the static chamber method before and after biocover placement. After one week, the CH4:CO2 ratio was reduced on four of the seven plots, weakly indicating that pumice biocovers may be an effective way to better oxidize landfill methane.

Development Of A Wild Infant Woolly Monkey Social Interactions, Time Allocation And Behavior Of A Wild Lagothrix Lagotricha Poeppigii Infant And Her Mother, Saba Zewdie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The lowland woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii), like all species of woolly monkey, is extremely threatened due to anthropologic activities such as deforestation, petroleum drilling and commercial hunting across their habitat. Due to their low reproductive rate and low reproductive success in captivity, the captive population is decreasing every year as habitat loss increases. In late February of 2017 an infant female was born on the island of Sumak Allpa, a monkey rehabilitation organization and reserve in the western Ecuadorian Amazon. The woolly monkeys are completely independent on the reserve; and as such her birth marks the first …

The Roles Of Activism And Citizen Science In The Area Covered By The East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement, Ian Corbet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For this Independent Study Project, I have examined the roles of activism and citizen science under the East Gippsland Regional Forestry Act. I conducted the study in the hopes of understanding better how activists have contributed to the overall conservation of the forests of East Gippsland. As the government has recently extended the twenty year agreement for another year, I wanted to determine if the real stakeholders of the conservation movement were taken into account. I sought the perspectives of people involved in the either the administration, implementation or opposition to the RFA. This ended up being eight people in …

Decadal Vegetation Succession Along A Chronosequence Within Eucalyptus Obliqua Wet Forest, Southern Tasmania, Christine Dobbin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Southern Tasmania is home to fire dependent mixed forests, which, if not maintained, will eventually be replaced by the rainforest understorey. Wet eucalypt forest succession after disturbance events was investigated through floristic and vertical measurements of four north facing chronosequence plots with labels describing the age class of each, from regrowth to mature sites. This study was possible due to the establishment of permanent 50m x 50m plots in 2007 for longitudinal monitoring and subsequent illustration of forest dynamics following disturbance, including clearfell burns and wildfire. The contents of this report are the comparative analyses of the findings from the …

What, Where, Why: A Survey Of Felidae Populations At Enashiva Nature Refuge, Tanzania, Lucrecia Aguilar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As felid populations worldwide continue to deteriorate due to human activities, understanding how felid species utilize various landscapes, along with what factors affect such use or disuse, becomes essential to the preservation of these species. While previous research has examined felid populations around the world, many species and locations remain understudied. This study surveyed felid species at Enashiva Nature Refuge (ENR) in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem to determine (1) what felid species are present at ENR, (2) where these species generally occur, and (3) why felids reside at ENR in low or high numbers. Through the use of opportunistic camera trapping, …

The Taxonomy, Reproduction, And Distribution Of Rare Plants: A Study Of Magnolia Sp. In The Río Zuñac Reserve, Ecuador, Alyssa Kullberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ecuadorian cloud forests are biodiversity hotspots and centers of unprecedented levels of endemism, but they are also under-researched and under-protected. This study took place in the Río Zuñac Reserve, which is a reserve of about 850 ha located in the Tungurahua province of Ecuador, and is home to at least 20 endemic plant species. Three new species of Magnolia have been discovered in this reserve in the past five years: Magnolia llanganates, Magnolia vargasiana, and one species that has yet to be formally described. This study dealt with accurately locating and describing new individuals of these species over the …

Investigation De Regeneración Natural De Plantas Vasculares En La Reserva Madrigal Del Podocarpus / Investigation Of Natural Regeneration Of Vascular Plants In The Madrigal Reserve Of The Podocarpus, Sy Baker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En el Sur de Ecuador, hay una historia larga de incendio que está asociada con la historia de la agricultura y ganadería a causa de las técnicas de tala y quema para despejar áreas para campos y también quemaduras intencionales para fertilizar los suelos y mejorar productividad agrícola (Fernandez et al 2015). En los últimos días de Noviembre de 2016, un incendio quemó campos, la Reserva Madrigal de Podocarpus, y parte del Parque Nacional Podocarpus en Loja, Ecuador—el enfoque de este estudio. En este estudio: (1) se registraron las especies y distribución de plantas pioneras y sobrevivientes, (2) la se …

Avian Species And Family Composition Along Elevational And Disturbance Gradients In Santa Fe National Park, Veraguas Province, Panamá, Benjamin Shipley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Elevational gradients are some of the most well-known and researched biological trends. However, how species diversity varies with elevation differs by taxa and location. One hypothesis suggests that bird diversity decreases with increasing elevation in the tropics. In addition, bird diversity may decrease along the forest edge and in areas of increasing disturbance. Therefore, in this study I surveyed avian diversity along an elevational gradient in Santa Fe National Park, Veraguas, Panamá using point-count observations. Thirty-six point-count locations in 3 elevation zones were surveyed between 19 Apr and 29 Apr 2017. Shannon diversity, richness, and evenness were calculated for both …

Factors That Determine Civil Action In Opposition To Hydroelectric Development Along The Chiriquí Viejo River In The Chiriquí Province Of Panamá, Nora Sawyer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Hydroelectric development has increased rapidly throughout Latin America in the late 20th and early 21st centuries (del Mar Rubio et al. 2014). In 2014, Latin America represented 20 percent of the world’s hydropower (del Mar Rubio et al. 2014). It is also the main source of power generation throughout Latin America, accounting for roughly 65 percent of all electricity generated (Wheeler 2012). Within Panamá, significant hydroelectric development has been happening in the Chiriquí province. Local peoples’ dissatisfaction with the actions of the hydropower companies has increased with time, resulting in civilians and organizations taking action in opposition to these companies …

Fish Community Assessment Of The Bonyic And Teribe Rivers Within The Naso-Teribe Territory Bocas Del Toro, Panama: Possible Implications Of Bonyic Dam., Shaylyn Austin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the Changuinola/Teribe watershed of Bocas Del Toro, Panama, changes to the fluvial system due to the recently constructed Bonyic Dam have implications connected to the biodiversity of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and the livelihoods of thousands of people of the Naso-Teribe indigenous group. This study investigated the composition of fish communities in 6 study sites in 3 different areas in relation to the Bonyic Dam. A total of 318 individual fish were captured, representing 5 families and 10 species, using the cast net sampling method. The biodiversity was analyzed using Simpson’s Diversity Index, Evenness Index, species richness, and species …

Phylogenetic Studies Of The Madagascan Freshwater Crabs (Potamoidea, Potamonautidae, Deckeniinae), Rainee Stevens

All NMU Master's Theses

Relationships within the Madagascan freshwater crab fauna were examined based on unstudied specimens from all parts of Madagascar. This study allowed the examination of the validity of existing genera and species, and identified potential new taxa. The new specimens provided phylogenetic and evolutionary data, as well as new insights into the distribution patterns of the Malagasy freshwater crab fauna. In addition, the large number of new localities from previously unsurveyed areas of Madagascar allowed the construction of updated distribution maps.

The present analysis included 62 unidentified specimens plus 13 identified species of Malagasy freshwater crab taxa that had already been …

Comparative Biogeography Of North American Pika Parasites: Unraveling A History Driven By Climate Change, Heather M. Toman

All NMU Master's Theses

Parasites are an understudied group that can provide important information on ecosystem dynamics and climate change as well as host biogeographic history. I performed a comparative biogeographic study on two endoparasitic helminth lineages associated with pikas (Ochotona) -the tapeworm genus Schizorchis and the pinworm subgenus Labiostomum (Eugenuris). Colonization history across Beringia was assessed using analyses of historical range estimation and tests for simultaneous divergence. Analysis results allow me reject the hypothesis that these parasites colonized the Nearctic during a single glacial cycle, as evidenced by multiple Nearctic and Palearctic lineage pairs that did not diverge simultaneously. This …

A Review Of The Role Of Interleukin-6 On Disease Progression In Epithelial Ovarian Cancer, Urmimala Chaudhuri

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer is one of the most harmful gynecological cancers and has one of the highest mortality rates. As ovarian cancer progresses, the patient has changes to the immune system and energy metabolism with symptoms being weight loss, nausea, and fatigue. Changes to the immune system include overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines. One such cytokine is Interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is a useful prognostic marker to measure disease progression. IL-6 is thought to promote cancer cell proliferation by upregulating apoptosis inhibitory proteins. IL-6 also plays a role in ascites formation. While tumors may initially respond to chemotherapy treatment, most patients will have …

Reductions In Mesolimbic Dopamine Signaling And Aversion: Implications For Relapse And Learned Avoidance, Mykel A. Robble

Dissertations (1934 -)

The ability to adjust behavior appropriately following an aversive experience is essential for survival, yet variability in this process contributes to a wide range of disorders, including drug addiction. It is clear that proper approach and avoidance is regulated, in part, by the activity of the mesolimbic dopamine system. While the importance of this system as a critical modulator of reward learning has been extensively characterized, its involvement in directing aversion-related behaviors and learning is still poorly understood. Recent studies have revealed that aversive stimuli and their predictors cause rapid reductions in nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine concentrations. Furthermore, a normally …

Identifying Regulators From Multiple Types Of Biological Data In Cancer, Brittany Baur

Dissertations (1934 -)

Cancer genomes accumulate alterations that promote cancer cell proliferation and survival. Structural, genetic and epigenetic alterations that have a selective advantage for tumorigenesis affect key regulatory genes and microRNAs that in turn regulate the expression of many target genes. The goal of this dissertation is to leverage the alteration-rich landscape of cancer genomes to detect key regulatory genes and microRNAs. To this end, we designed a feature selection algorithm to identify DNA methylation signals around a gene that would highly predict its expression. We found that genes whose expression could be predicted by DNA methylation accurately were enriched in Gene …

An Integrated Transcriptomics-Guided Genome-Wide Promoter Analysis And Next-Generation Proteomics Approach To Mine Factor(S) Regulating Cellular Differentiation., Kamal Mandal, Samuel L Bader, Pankaj Kumar, Dipankar Malakar, David S Campbell, Bhola Shankar Pradhan, Rajesh K Sarkar, Neerja Wadhwa, Souvik Sensharma, Vaibhav Jain, Robert L Moritz, Subeer S Majumdar

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Differential next-generation-omics approaches aid in the visualization of biological processes and pave the way for divulging important events and/or interactions leading to a functional output at cellular or systems level. To this end, we undertook an integrated Nextgen transcriptomics and proteomics approach to divulge differential gene expression of infant and pubertal rat Sertoli cells (Sc).Unlike, pubertal Sc, infant Sc are immature and fail to support spermatogenesis. We found exclusive association of 14 and 19 transcription factor binding sites to infantile and pubertal states of Sc, respectively, using differential transcriptomics-guided genome-wide computational analysis of relevant promoters employing 220 Positional Weight Matrices …

Selecting Habitat To What Purpose? The Advantage Of Exploring The Habitat-Fitness Relationship, Alessia Uboni, Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Stahler, John A. Vucetich

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Measures of reproductive success have been recognized in many fields as essential tools to assess the status of populations, species, and communities. However, difficulties in gathering data on reproductive success often prevent researchers from taking advantage of the information offered by those measures. For example, most of habitat selection studies do not include reproductive success in their analysis even though doing so would highly improve our understanding of the habitat selection process. In our study, we aimed to assess to what extent habitat selection choices made by adult individuals are directed to increase their annual reproductive success. We tested this …

Wsq: At Sea Editors' Note, Cynthia Chris, Matt Brim

Publications and Research

This Editor's Note introduces the WSQ issue "At Sea" co-edited by Terri Gordon-Zolov and Amy Sodaro and Shefali Chandra, which explores the sea as a gendered and radicalized site of violence.

Enterobius Vermicularis In Tubo-Ovarian Abscess: A Rare And Interesting Incidental Finding - A Case Report, Faryal Saleem, Faizan Malik, Saira Fatima

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Enterobius vermicularis is a common intestinal nematode; however, rare extraintestinal Enterobius infections have been reported from different parts of the world. Here, we present a case of tubo-ovarian abscess in an otherwise healthy young sexually active female with no known comorbids with history of on and off lower abdominal pain for one year and high grade fever for one month. On the basis of further workup and radiological evaluation, a preoperative diagnosis of right sided tubo-ovarian abscess was made and salpingo-oophorectomy was performed laproscopically in July 2015. Histopathology of the resected tissue revealed necrosis and in one area Enterobius vermicularis …

Selective Screening For Organic Acidurias And Amino Acidopathies In Pakistani Children, Noreen Abbas Sherazi, Aysha Habib Khan, Lena Jafri, Azeema Jamil, Nasir Ali Khan, Bushra Afroze

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Objective: To determine the frequency of organic acidurais (OA) and amino acidopathies (AA) in selected high-risk patients screened in two years.
Study Design: Retrospective Observational study.
Place and Duration of Study: The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi, from January 2013 to December 2014.
Methodology: Patients with OA and AA were included in the study and patients with IMDs other than OA and AA were excluded. Amino acids and organic acids were analyzed on high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry respectively. Clinical data and chromatograms of patients screened for IMDs were reviewed by chemical pathologist and metabolic physician. …