Life Sciences Commons^™

Establishment Of Milkweed Seeds Under Different Conditions, Marvin E. Sibrian

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Milkweed is an important food source for many insects and the only food source for monarch caterpillars. Unfortunately, the abundance of milkweed plants has been decreasing over the years due to Roundup Ready® crops and increased herbicide use in agriculture, as well as milkweed habitats being plowed under for increased corn acreage. In hopes of restoring the monarch population, conservation organizations are joining forces to grow as much milkweed as they can and to increase the number of North American milkweed individuals by one billion. However, it is unclear how many seeds must be sown to add one billion milkweed …

Effects Of Whole Body Heating During Warm-Up On Strength, Power, And Flexibility, Trevor Krzyzanowski

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Background/Hypothesis: There has been little research investigating the use of external heat to enhance muscular performance. The purpose of this study is to compare the differences between warming up in a hot (H) and neutral (N) temperature environment on muscle performance. Methods: Seven (M:3/F:4) Division I collegiate athletes (age = 20 ± 1; weight = 78.8 ± 24.7 kg; height = 176.2 ± 7.6 cm; body fat 19.7 ± 11.3%) each completed 2-trials in a randomized, counter-balanced order. Subjects warmed up in a temperature and humidity controlled chamber at 20 °C (N) and 40 °C (H), both at 40% humidity, …

An Investigation In Muscle Activation During Load Carrying, Sidney Baudendistel

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Carrying items is essential to everyday living, but is often reported to be a functional limitation in individuals with respiratory dysfunction. The interaction between breathing and carrying a bimanual load (i.e., carrying an evenly distributed load in each hand) is not well understood and limits the capacity to derive interventions to address functional limitations. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of two bimanual loads, 10% and 5% of body weight, on gait. Fourteen healthy, young adults walked with and without a load on each wrist (2.5 and 5% of body weight) using wrist weights. The mean, …

Enhancing The Citizen Scientist Experience Through Responsive Web Design, Sydney Lintner, Douglas Stahlnecker

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Citizen science is currently employed in a variety of fields and has been enabling the collection of large swaths of data that would otherwise go uncollected. The Nebraska Watershed Network (NWN) utilizes citizen scientists to perform water tests, and currently, the results are written on postcards and then mailed to the NWN. We believe that using the proper technological tools will enhance the citizen scientist experience and the data collection process. We have developed a database and web application for the NWN that will allow citizen scientists to use their smartphones to enter their results immediately upon completing the tests …

Responses Of Appetite And Appetite Regulating Hormones To Acute Altitude Exposure, Morgan Busboom

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

PURPOSE: To determine the acute response of appetite and appetite regulating hormones after exposure to simulated altitude in resting conditions. METHODS: Seven male and six female recreationally active subjects (height 178±8.1cm, weight: 77.3±24.8kg, body fat: 18.4±5.7%) participated in two, three-hour trials in an environmental chamber with one trial simulating 5000 m altitude (hypoxic) and the other simulating 350 m altitude (control). Blood samples from the antecubital vein were collected prior to entering the environmental chamber and immediately following the three hours of seated rest. Blood samples were analyzed for serum leptin, adiponectin, and ghrelin concentrations via enzyme-linked immunosorbent …

Effects Of Normobaric And Hypobaric Hypoxia On Mitochondrial Related Gene Expression, Robert J. Shute

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Environmental stimuli such as temperature and hypoxia can influence cellular signaling in the skeletal muscle. Previously we have reported no changes in gene expression related to mitochondrial development with acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia. However, exposure to hypobaric hypoxia may elicit different physiological responses. Purpose: To determine the response of skeletal muscle mitochondrial related gene expression after 4 h of exposure to normobaric normoxia (NN), normobaric hypoxia (NH), and hypobaric hypoxia (HH) after exercise. Methods: Recreationally trained participants (8 male, 7 female) each completed three trials of 1-h cycling at 70% of W_max. Following exercise, participants sat in …

Spatial And Temporal High Processing Of Visual And Auditory Stimuli In Cervical Dystonia, Gaetana Chillemi, Alessandro Calamuneri, Francesca Morgante, Carmen Terranova, Vincenzo Rizzo, Paolo Girlanda, Maria Felice Ghilardi, Angelo Quartarone

Publications and Research

Objective: Investigation of spatial and temporal cognitive processing in idiopathic cervical dystonia (CD) by means of specific tasks based on perception in time and space domains of visual and auditory stimuli.

Background: Previous psychophysiological studies have investigated temporal and spatial characteristics of neural processing of sensory stimuli (mainly somatosensorial and visual), whereas the definition of such processing at higher cognitive level has not been sufficiently addressed. The impairment of time and space processing is likely driven by basal ganglia dysfunction. However, other cortical and subcortical areas, including cerebellum, may also be involved.

Methods: We tested 21 subjects with CD and …

Higher-Order Power Harmonics Of Pulsed Electrical Stimulation Modulates Corticospinal Contribution Of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation, Chiun-Fan Chen, Marom Bikson, Li-Wei Chou, Chunlei Shan, Niranjan Khadka, Wen-Shiang Chen, Felipe Fregni

Engineering Science Faculty Publications

It is well established that electrical-stimulation frequency is crucial to determining the scale of induced neuromodulation, particularly when attempting to modulate corticospinal excitability. However, the modulatory effects of stimulation frequency are not only determined by its absolute value but also by other parameters such as power at harmonics. The stimulus pulse shape further influences parameters such as excitation threshold and fiber selectivity. The explicit role of the power in these harmonics in determining the outcome of stimulation has not previously been analyzed. In this study, we adopted an animal model of peripheral electrical stimulation that includes an amplitude-adapted pulse train …

Higher-Order Power Harmonics Of Pulsed Electrical Stimulation Modulates Corticospinal Contribution Of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation, Chiun-Fan Chen, Marom Bikson, Li-Wei Chou, Chunlei Shan, Niranjan Khadka, Wen-Shiang Chen, Felipe Fregni

Publications and Research

It is well established that electrical-stimulation frequency is crucial to determining the scale of induced neuromodulation, particularly when attempting to modulate corticospinal excitability. However, the modulatory effects of stimulation frequency are not only determined by its absolute value but also by other parameters such as power at harmonics. The stimulus pulse shape further influences parameters such as excitation threshold and fiber selectivity. The explicit role of the power in these harmonics in determining the outcome of stimulation has not previously been analyzed. In this study, we adopted an animal model of peripheral electrical stimulation that includes an amplitude-adapted pulse train …

Zhx2 (Zinc Fingers And Homeoboxes 2) Regulates Major Urinary Protein Gene Expression In The Mouse Liver, Jieyun Jiang, Kate Townsend Creasy, Justin Purnell, Martha L. Peterson, Brett T. Spear

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

The mouse major urinary proteins (Mups) are encoded by a large family of highly related genes clustered on chromosome 4. Mups, synthesized primarily and abundantly in the liver and secreted through the kidneys, exhibit male-biased expression. Mups bind a variety of volatile ligands; these ligands, and Mup proteins themselves, influence numerous behavioral traits. Although urinary Mup protein levels vary between inbred mouse strains, this difference is most pronounced in BALB/cJ mice, which have dramatically low urinary Mup levels; this BALB/cJ trait had been mapped to a locus on chromosome 15. We previously identified Zhx2 (zinc fingers and homeoboxes 2) as …

Sequential Social Experiences Interact To Modulate Aggression But Not Brain Gene Expression In The Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera), Clare C. Rittschof

Entomology Faculty Publications

Background: In highly structured societies, individuals behave flexibly and cooperatively in order to achieve a particular group-level outcome. However, even in social species, environmental inputs can have long lasting effects on individual behavior, and variable experiences can even result in consistent individual differences and constrained behavioral flexibility. Despite the fact that such constraints on behavior could have implications for behavioral optimization at the social group level, few studies have explored how social experiences accumulate over time, and the mechanistic basis of these effects. In the current study, I evaluate how sequential social experiences affect individual and group level aggressive phenotypes, …

Comparison Of Whole-Body Cooling Techniques For Athletes And Military Personnel, Emma A. Nye, Lindsey E. Eberman, Kenneth E. Games, Colin Carriker

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(2): 294-300, 2017. The purpose of this study was to evaluate cooling rates of The Polar Life Pod®, a military protocol and cold water immersion. A randomized, repeated measures design was used to compare three treatment options. Participants exercised in an environmental chamber, where they followed a military march protocol on a treadmill, followed by the application of one of three treatments: Cold water immersion tub (5 – 10 °C), Polar Life Pod® (5 – 10 °C), Ice sheets at onset (5 – 10 °C). Mean cooling rate for CWI was 0.072 ºC/min, 0.046ºC/min for …

Orchard Sports Injury Classification System 10.1 Plus: An End-User Study, Ashley K. Crossway, Kenneth E. Games, Lindsey E. Eberman, Neil Fleming

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(2): 284-293, 2017. The purpose of this study was to establish the level of ease of use and effectiveness of the Orchard Sport Injury Classification System (OSICS) 10.1 Plus for recording injuries and interventions. Three hundred and forty-two (males=148, females=192, no response=2; age=30.9±9.5y; experience=9.1±10.5y) athletic trainers (ATs) in the United States completed the survey. Participants were primarily employed in the secondary school (n=135) or collegiate setting (n=171). Participants entered system includes the OSICS 10.1 to catalog injuries and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes to document interventions. Participants completed an 18-item end-user evaluation to assess the …

Efficacy Of Natural Plant Extracts In Antimicrobial Packaging Systems, Kofi Jocelyn Brobbey, Jarkko J. Saarinen Adj. Prof., Hanna-Leena Alakomi Dr., Baoru Yang Prof., Martti Toivakka Prof.

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Antimicrobial plant extracts used in food packaging provide a healthy packaging alternatives. They contain aromatic and phenolic compounds that are responsible for their antibacterial properties. In this study, we report the antibacterial effects of extracts obtained from sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides L.) leaves, and inner bark of pine trees (Pinus silvestris) that were applied as coatings on paper suitable for packaging application. Extracts from sea buckthorn leaves exhibited antibacterial effect both as a solvent extract and as a coating on paper against Pseudomonas aeruginosa as test bacteria. However, coatings of pine bark extract did not exhibit …

Weatherbird Ii Sediment Cruise Sample Data (2016), Patrick Schwing, Steven Murawski

C-IMAGE data

This dataset includes the locations and allotments of multicore sediment samples, water sample locations, and CTD data from cruises aboard the R/V Weatherbird II from 2016.

Ixtoc-I Oil Spill Footprints Derived From Coastal Zone Color Scanner And Landsat/Mss Imagery, Shaojie Sun

C-IMAGE data

This dataset contains Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) and Landsat/MSS images used to identify the surface oil footprints created by the Ixtoc-I oil spill in 1979. There are two periods of imagery: June 1979-March 1980 is the oil spill period; and Jan. 1981-Dec. 1982 is the reference period. Oil slick surface footprints derived from the images are also included in the dataset. They are either in the format of shapefile or ArcGIS personal geodatabase.

The Effect Of Lupinus Albus On Growth Performance, Body Composition And Satiety Hormones Of Male Pigs Immunized Against Gonadotrophin Releasing Factor, Karen Moore, Bruce Mullan, Jae Cheol Kim, Frank R. Dunshea

Animal production and livestock research articles

Two hundred and ninety four pigs were used with the aim to develop a dietary management strategy using Lupinus albus L. (albus lupins) to reduce the increase in feed intake and subsequent increase in carcass fatness in pigs immunized against gonadotrophin releasing factor (immunocastrates; IC males) and entire male pigs in the late finishing stage. From day (d) 0 to 28, IC males fed the control diet grew faster (p = 0.009) than entire males fed the control diet but there was no difference in growth rate between sexes for pigs fed albus lupins for 14 days pre-slaughter (Albus 14) …

Lomas De La Purificacion, Diseños 266, Santa Barbara County, And Associated Historical Documents.

Santa Barbara County

Diseños - Hand-drawn Spanish-Mexican map demonstrating the physical boundaries of land granted to Mexican citizens by the Spanish or Mexican.

Expediente – Hand-written Spanish-Mexican land grant document issued to Mexican citizens in Alta California for land in Alta-California.

Work Progress Administration Abstract (WPA Abstract) – A summary document prepared in 1938 under the Work Progress Administration program detailing the history of a rancho beginning with the Spanish-American land through the U.S. patenting process.

Hoffman Notes -- Summary of information concerning claims made for the Rancho lands from the Appendix containing the Table of Land Claims in the Reports of Land …

Roadmap To A Comprehensive Clinical Data Warehouse For Precision Medicine Applications In Oncology, David J. Foran, Wenjin Chen, Huiqi Chu, Evita Sadimin, Doreen Loh, Gregory Riedlinger, Lauri A. Goodell, Shridar Ganesan, Kim Hirshfield, Lorna Rodriguez, Robert S. Dipaola

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Leading institutions throughout the country have established Precision Medicine programs to support personalized treatment of patients. A cornerstone for these programs is the establishment of enterprise-wide Clinical Data Warehouses. Working shoulder-to-shoulder, a team of physicians, systems biologists, engineers, and scientists at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey have designed, developed, and implemented the Warehouse with information originating from data sources, including Electronic Medical Records, Clinical Trial Management Systems, Tumor Registries, Biospecimen Repositories, Radiology and Pathology archives, and Next Generation Sequencing services. Innovative solutions were implemented to detect and extract unstructured clinical information that was embedded in paper/text documents, including synoptic …

Unity In Defence: Honeybee Workers Exhibit Conserved Molecular Responses To Diverse Pathogens, Vincent Doublet, Yvonne Poeschl, Andreas Gogol-Döring, Cédric Alaux, Desiderato Annoscia, Christian Aurori, Seth M. Barribeau, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Mark J.F. Brown, James C. Bull, Michelle L. Flenniken, David A. Galbraith, Elke Genersch, Sebastian Gisder, Ivo Grosse, Holly L. Holt, Dan Hultmark, H. Michael G. Lattorff, Yves Le Conte, Fabio Manfredini, Dino P. Mcmahon, Robin F.A. Moritz, Francesco Nazzi, Elina L. Niño, Katja Nowick, Ronald P. Van Rij, Robert J. Paxton, Christina M. Grozinger

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Background: Organisms typically face infection by diverse pathogens, and hosts are thought to have developed specific responses to each type of pathogen they encounter. The advent of transcriptomics now makes it possible to test this hypothesis and compare host gene expression responses to multiple pathogens at a genome-wide scale. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of multiple published and new transcriptomes using a newly developed bioinformatics approach that filters genes based on their expression profile across datasets. Thereby, we identified common and unique molecular responses of a model host species, the honey bee (Apis mellifera), to its major pathogens and parasites: …

Effect Of Wet Brewer's Grain Inclusion On The Growth Performance, Carcass Performance, And Meat Quality Of Finishing Cattle, Riley T. Parmenter

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Wet Brewer’s Grains (WBG) on the growth performance, carcass performance, and meat quality of finishing cattle. Twenty-four (n=24; 12 heifers – 303kg, 12 steers – 346kg) calves of Simmental-Angus genetics were utilized. Calves were paired by sex, blocked by BW within sex in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement with three replications per treatment, and fed for 140d. Control diets were a conventional corn silage – shelled corn finishing-diet. Experimental diets modeled the control diet with the inclusion of WBG on a thirty-percent DM basis. Cattle were visually appraised …

A 15-Week Vitamin D Supplementation And Indoor Cycling Intervention Reduces Exercising Heart Rate, With No Effect On Glycaemic Control In Healthy Adults: A Pilot Investigation., Ffion Curtis, Rhys Thatcher, Sam Rice, Glen Davison

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(2): 274-283, 2017 Significant positive correlations are often observed between vitamin D concentrations and physical activity levels. Whilst this may be due to individuals who are physically active spending time outdoors (i.e. increased opportunity for vitamin D synthesis), there is growing evidence to suggest a more complex relationship between vitamin D status, physical fitness and health outcomes. To explore this further thirty-nine healthy adults were randomly allocated to 15 weeks of exercise training (Ex), no training (NoEx), 2000 IU/day vitamin D (VitD) and/or placebo (Pla) supplementation (giving four possible allocations: NoEx+VitD; NoEx+Pla; Ex+VitD; Ex+Pla). Vitamin …

Effect Of Caffeine On Near Maximal Blood Pressure And Blood Pressure Recovery In Physically-Active, College-Aged Females, Laura E. Connahan, Christopher A. Ott, Vaughn W. Barry

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(2): 266-273, 2017 The purpose of this study is to determine how caffeine affects exercise blood pressure (BP) and active and passive recovery BP after vigorous intensity exercise in physically active college-aged females. Fifteen physically active, ACSM stratified low-risk females (age (y): 23.53 ± 4.07, weight (kg): 60.34 ± 3.67, height (cm): 165.14 ± 7.20, BMI (kg/m²): 22.18 ± 1.55) participated in two Bruce protocol exercise tests. Before each test participants consumed 1) a placebo or 2) 3.3 mg·kg^-1 of caffeine at least one hour before exercise in a counterbalanced double-blinded fashion. …

Effect Of Swedish Massage On Doms After Strenuous Exercise, Cathleen Holub, John D. Smith

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(2): 258-265, 2017. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) can occur after intense exercise and remain for several days. Massage is one means by which DOMS can be reduced; however, the timing of exercise, techniques applied, and timing of application produces differing outcomes. Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a 20-minute Swedish massage immediately after strenuous exercise on DOMS. Procedures: Twenty college students engaged in two sets of a squatting exercise to fatigue and then the right or the left leg was immediately massaged. Effleurage, petrissage, friction and compression manual techniques were used for 10 minutes …

Adherence To Exercise Prescription And Improvements In The Clinical And Vascular Health Of African Americans, Dianne Babbitt

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(2): 246-257, 2017. Improvements in indices of vascular health and endothelial function have been inversely associated with hypertension, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (e.g., myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure), renal failure, and mortality. Aerobic exercise training (AEXT) has been positively associated with improvements in clinical health values, as well as vascular health biomarkers, and endothelial function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether measures of exercise adherence were related to clinical outcome measures and indices of vascular health subsequent to a 6-month AEXT intervention in a middle-to-older aged African American cohort. …

Wild Pig Hunting Outfitters In The Southeast, Charles T. Todd, Michael T. Mengak

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive nonnative species brought to the United States in the 1500s by Spanish explorers. Because wild pigs are habitat generalists and in combination with high fecundity rates, translocation by humans, dispersal from shooting preserves, and movement through populations, wild pigs can be found in 42 of the 50 states. They are considered the most abundant free-ranging exotic ungulate in the United States. Because wild pigs are expanding throughout the United States each year, there are more opportunities for landowners/outfitters to sell wild pig hunts on their property. The southeast holds the largest continuous distribution …

Foraging Behavior Of Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius Phoeniceus) On Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus) With Varying Coverage Of Anthraquinone-Based Repellent, Branson A. Kaiser, Mike Ostlie, Page E. Klug

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Animals attempt to maximize foraging efforts by making strategic foraging decisions. Foraging efforts can be influenced by chemically defended food. Food resources that are chemically defended force foragers to balance the nutritional gain with the toxic costs of foraging on a defended food resource. Chemical defense, in this case sunflower treated with chemical repellent, may be capable of deterring birds from foraging on treated crops. Blackbirds (Icteridae) cause significant damage to sunflower (Helianthus annuus) with damage estimates of $3.5 million annually in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, the largest sunflower producing state. Chemical repellents may be a cost-effective …

Field Evaluation Of Two External Attachment Location Of Radio Transmitters On Non-Venomous Rat Snakes (Elaphe Obsolete), Daryon Smith, Mckenzie Weisser, Danielle Creamer, Rebecca J. Mclarty, George R. Gallagher

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of external attachment of radio transmitters at one of two locations on mature rat snakes (Elaphe obsolete). Transmitters were attached to mature snakes (n = 10; 136.7cm ± 6.4) on either the ventral surface (n = 5) or dorsal-lateral surface of the rib cage (n = 5), approximately 25cm cranially to the cloaca. Transmitters (18mm × 8mm × 2mm) were attached by one drop of acrylamide gel glue to the adhering side of camouflage duct tape (20cm × 30mm), a single drop of glue on the exposed side of the …

Anatomy Of A Snake Fence Intended To Prevent Escape Of Non-Venomous Rat Snakes (Elaphe Obsolete) From An Enclosure, Mckenzie Weisser, Danielle Creamer, Daryon Smith, George R. Gallagher

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

We constructed a fence enclosure with the objective of preventing escape of rat snakes (Elaphe obsolete) as part of a repellent study. A 25cm trench was dug in a 30m × 30m square (0.1ha) in an unimproved pasture. Wood posts (8.9cm × 8.9cm × 2.0m) were secured on corners and at 15m intervals between each corner at an average height of 128.5cm ± 0.5 height with an inward slope of 17.1o ± 0.5. Steel T-posts (2.0m) were erected to a similar height and angle at 4m intervals between wood posts and fitted with plastic insulated caps. Three strands of 17-gauge …

Evaluating Blackbird Behavioral Response Toward Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uass) : Exploiting Antipredator Behavior To Enhance Avoidance, Conor C. Egan, Lucas Wandrie, Bradley F. Blackwell, Esteban Fernandez-Juricic, Page E. Klug

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Animals respond to nonlethal forms of human disturbance using behavior strategies adapted to detect, avoid, and evade natural predators. This phenomenon suggests antipredator behavior can be exploited to optimize efficacy of wildlife management tools such as visual deterrents. According to models of antipredator theory, wildlife managers could encourage animals to abandon a resource patch in zones of human-wildlife conflict by enhancing perceived predation risk associated with disturbance stimuli. One human-wildlife conflict of interest is the economic loss and human safety hazards caused by birds. For example, blackbirds (Icteridae) pose a significant risk to the commercial aviation industry through bird strikes …