Life Sciences Commons^™

Infection Prevalence In A Novel Ixodes Scapularis Population In Northern Wisconsin, Mary Lynn Westwood

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Ixodes scapularis (i.e. the blacklegged or deer tick) is an important vector of emerging human pathogens. Over the past few decades, the incidence of blacklegged tick-associated zoonotic diseases have increased in accordance with an expansion of the blacklegged tick geographic range. Data concerning the infection prevalence of blacklegged ticks in this region is highly variable and fragmentary. Using a novel population of these ticks, constituting part of the invasion front in Vilas County, Wisconsin, I examined infection prevalence and vector aspects of their ecology. During the summer of 2016, I collected 461 blacklegged ticks and screened them using a standard …

The Effect Of Nullomer-Derived Peptides 9r, 9s1r And 124r On The Nci-60 Panel And Normal Cell Lines, Abdelkrim Alileche, Greg Hampikian

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Nullomer peptides are the smallest sequences absent from databases of natural proteins. We first began compiling a list of absent 5-amino acid strings in 2006 (1). We report here the effects of Nullomer-derived peptides 9R, 9S1R and 124R on the NCI-60 panel, derived from human cancers of 9 organs (kidney, ovary, skin melanoma, lung, brain, lung, colon, prostate and the hematopoietic system), and four normal cell lines (endothelial HUVEC, skin fibroblasts BJ, colon epithelial FHC and normal prostate RWPE-1).

Methods: NCI-60 cancer cell panel and four normal cell lines were cultured in vitro in RPMI1640 supplemented with 10% Hyclone …

Insights Into The Ecology, Genetics And Distribution Of Lucanus Elaphus Fabricius (Coleoptera: Lucanidae), North America's Giant Stag Beetle, Michael D. Ulyshen, Louis G. Zachos, John O. Stireman Iii, Thomas N. Sheehan, Ryan C. Garrick

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

1. Little is known about the biology or conservation status of Lucanus elaphus Fabricius in North America despite well-documented declines of a related species, Lucanus cervus (L.), in Europe. This study provides information critical to developing conservation plans for L. elaphus including the species’ larval substrate requirements, genetic data and range-wide estimates of habitat suitability. 2. In Mississippi floodplain forests, larval L. elaphus were recovered from a wide range of log sizes and rot types and were either found tunnelling within the wood or feeding beneath logs at the soil–wood interface. The species appears to require 1–2 years to complete …

A Semantics-Based Measure Of Emoji Similarity, Sanjaya Wijeratne, Lakshika Balasuriya, Amit Sheth, Derek Doran

Kno.e.sis Publications

Emoji have grown to become one of the most important forms of communication on the web. With its widespread use, measuring the similarity of emoji has become an important problem for contemporary text processing since it lies at the heart of sentiment analysis, search, and interface design tasks. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the semantic similarity of emoji through embedding models that are learned over machine-readable emoji meanings in the EmojiNet knowledge base. Using emoji descriptions, emoji sense labels and emoji sense definitions, and with different training corpora obtained from Twitter and Google News, we develop and test …

Identifying Depressive Disorder In The Twitter Population, Goonmeet Bajaj, Amir Hossein Yazdavar, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Depression is a highly prevalent public health challenge and a major cause of disability across the globe.

• Annually 6.7% of Americans (that is, more than 16 million).
• Traditional approaches to curb depression involve survey·based methods via phone or online questionnaires.
• Large temporal gaps and cognitive bias.

Social media provides a method for learning users' feelings, emotions, behaviors, and decisions in real-time.

Possible Mechanisms That Protect The Fetus From Maternal Rejection, Adina Ziemba-Goldfarb

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

There is no other foreign tissue transplant that has such a strongly parasitic relationship with its human host as the fetus. Although the fetus contains paternal genes, is completely tolerized by its maternal host in almost all pregnancies. This presents an immunological paradox and has generated a lot of attention from leading researchers in the reproductive and immunology fields. This paper reviews the leading explanations for this paradox; that it is attributed to a detailed mechanism of the maternal and fetal immune system in which tryptophan suppresses T-cells from attacking specific paternal cells, while maintaining a strong immune response against …

Full Issue: Volume 11, Number 1

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

The U.S. Culture Collection Network Responding To The Requirements Of The Nagoya Protocol On Access And Benefit Sharing, Kevin Mccluskey, Katharine B. Barker, Hazel A. Barton, Kyria Boundy-Mills, Daniel R. Brown, Jonathan A. Coddington, Kevin Cook, Philippe Desmeth, David Geiser, Jessie A. Glaeser, Stephanie Greene, Seogchan Kang, Michael W. Lomas, Ulrich Melcher, Scott E. Miller, David R. Nobles Jr., Kristina J. Owens, Jerome H. Reichman, Manuela Da Silva, John Wertz, Cale Whitworth, David Smith

Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. Culture Collection Network held a meeting to share information about how culture collections are responding to the requirements of the recently enacted Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The meeting included representatives of many culture collections and other biological collections, the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Secretariat of the CBD, interested scientific societies, and collection groups, including Scientific Collections International and the Global Genome Biodiversity Network. The participants learned about the policies of the United …

Investigating The Sources And Dynamics Of Escherichia Coli In A Missouri Ozarks Watershed, Kaleb Bassett

Masters Theses

"Escherichia coli, an intestinal bacterium, can serve as an indication of the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in water systems used by humans for recreation, agriculture, or drinking water. Many aquatic systems in the United States exceed the E. coli standard, set by the Environmental Protection Agency, for safe drinking water and recreational use. During 2016, a water sampling program was established in the Mill Creek watershed, a rural watershed located near the city of Newburg in Phelps County, Missouri. Water samples were collected before, during, and after storms throughout the year to examine the relationship between E. coli …

A Macroinvertebrate Bioassessment Of Two Streams On Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (Tnwr), Sultan Mohammad Areshi

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

This project focused on highly impacted streams at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Cheney, WA to evaluate the health status and ecosystem integrity of the water bodies. Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge contains over 3,000 acres of wetlands, and provides high quality habitat for migrating and breeding waterfowl. However, these wetlands are impacted by both high nutrient levels (Davidson and Rule 2006) and invasive fish (Scholz et al. 2003). This project focused on stream sections of the Company Ditch (CD) and Pine Draw (PD) watersheds. Company Ditch historically had very high nutrient levels and low water quality. Water quality may be improving …

Acoustic Tracking Of Redband Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Myskiss Gairdneri) In Lake Roosevelt (2015-2016), Evaluation Of An Acoustic Receiver Array, And Low-Voltage Electroanesthesia For Tag Implantation., Bryan T. Witte

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Chapter 1. Telemetry methods are able to acquire knowledge of fish movements which are used for a variety of management decisions. Implanting tags for telemetry requires minor surgery and anesthesia. Anesthesia for tag implantation is typically achieved with chemicals. However, chemicals are inherently variable and have restrictions on their use. This has led to the use of alternative methods for achieving anesthesia such as low voltage electroanesthesia (LVEA). LVEA subjects fish to a continuous non-pulsed direct current to achieve anesthesia appropriate for tag implantation. Unlike chemicals fish are quickly anesthetized and recover from anesthesia instantaneously. My objectives were to subject …

Impact Of Prophylactic Intranasal Oxytocin Administration On Symptoms Of Post-Traumatic Stress, Morgan A. Thomas

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that affects people after instances of severe emotional trauma. Research suggests that oxytocin treatment decreases PTSD symptoms. This study served to evaluate the efficacy of intranasal oxytocin pre-treatment on symptoms related to PTSD. The hypotheses are that oxytocin will decrease fear and anxiety, and increase reward-seeking behaviors. Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to three groups (Control, Stress, Oxytocin, and Oxytocin+Stress; n=6 per group) to conduct this experiment. Prior to foot shock treatment, rats were trained to expect a food reward (Kellogg’s Froot Loops) in an open field enclosure. Subsequently, the Oxytocin …

Invasion Routes And Evolution Of Brook Stickleback (Culaea Inconstans) In Eastern Washington, Samuel Gunselman

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Chapter 1. Invasive species pose a serious threat to native ecosystems. In eastern Washington brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) is an important invasive species, especially at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, where they compete with waterfowl for food resources and are associated with declines in habitat quality. Understanding the invasion routes of this invasive species may help managers implement strategies to prevent further spread and mitigate damages caused by these fish. The objectives of this study were to identify the most likely point of brook stickleback invasion, to determine their most likely invasion routes, and to investigate landscape features and processes that …

The Acute Effect Vibrating Foam Rollers Have On The Lower Extremities' Ability To Produce Power, Jared L. Klingenberg

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that vibration through self-myofascial release in combination with a dynamic stretch routine had on maximum power output. Twenty-one collegiate volleyball athletes agreed to participate in the study. The design was a randomized cross-over design in which all participants served as their own control by participating in all three interventions, which consisted of; a) dynamic stretch routine (DS), b) non-vibrating foam rolling combined with dynamic stretch routine (NVFR), and c) vibrating foam rolling combined with dynamic stretch routine (VFR). The foam rolling protocol consisted of rolling each limb bilaterally for 30 …

Interactions Between Lake Trout And Bull Trout In The Priest Lake System, Idaho, Derek C. Entz

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Seasonal and directional movements, and distributions of Bull Trout and Lake Trout between Priest Lake and Upper Priest Lake, Idaho, were studied from May 2015 to April 2017. Lake Trout (n=220) and Bull Trout (n=40) movements were monitored using Lotek JSATS transmitters and hydrophones both passively, using gate formations at either end of the Thorofare, and actively in both lakes. No significant difference was found between directional or seasonal movements of either species (P>0.05) and all movements were observed when water surface temperatures were below 15oC. Poisson regression analysis indicated that there were significantly more detections by the Upper …

Can Amphipods Be Used To Monitor Mining-Impacted Lakes?, Chantilly S. Higbee

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Metal pollution in aquatic systems is complicated and expensive to manage; establishing a sentinel species for contaminated habitats, rather than measuring abiotic parameters, can provide a more complete perspective of the impacts of pollutants. I conducted a dual field/laboratory study to determine whether an amphipod (Hyalella azteca) can serve as a sentinel in a mining-impacted area in Northern Idaho, the Coeur d’Alene (CDA) River Basin. My objectives in the field study were to (1) determine seasonal abundance and metal burden of amphipods in nine chain lakes and a reference lake (Benewah L.) and (2) compare aqueous trace metal levels and …

Age Differences In Dynamic Fatigability And Variability Of Arm And Leg Muscles: Associations With Physical Function, Jonathon Senefeld, Tejin Yoon, Sandra K. Hunter

Exercise Science Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction

It is not known whether the age-related increase in fatigability of fast dynamic contractions in lower limb muscles also occurs in upper limb muscles. We compared age-related fatigability and variability of maximal-effort repeated dynamic contractions in the knee extensor and elbow flexor muscles; and determined associations between fatigability, variability of velocity between contractions and functional performance.

Methods

35 young (16 males; 21.0 ± 2.6 years) and 32 old (18 males; 71.3 ± 6.2 years) adults performed a dynamic fatiguing task involving 90 maximal-effort, fast, concentric, isotonic contractions (1 contraction/3 s) with a load equivalent to 20% maximal voluntary isometric …

Family-Based Association Studies Of Autism In Boys Via Facial-Feature Clusters, Luke Andrew Settles

Masters Theses

"Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a set of developmental disorders with varied attributes. Due to its substantial heterogeneity in terms of behavioral and clinical phenotypes, it is challenging to discern the genetic biomarkers behind ASD, even though the disease is known to be genetic in nature. This serves as a motivation to detect relationships between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a causal autism disease susceptibility locus (DSL) within more homogeneous subgroups. Recently, clinically meaningful subclassifications of ASD have been discovered utilizing facial features of prepubescent boys. Therefore, through the employment of data from 44 prepubertal Caucasian boys with ASD …

Peripheral Visual Motion Sensitivity In Previously Concussed, Asymptomatic Individuals, Alyssa Prangley

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Background: Individuals acquire information about self-motion from the environment which specifies actions necessary to be successful (Fajen & Matthis, 2011). However, concussed individuals demonstrate residual disturbance in execution of postural movement at 30 days post injury, depicting an impaired ability to perceive self-motion in a visually conflicting environment (Slobounov et al. 2006). The objective of this thesis was to investigate the extent to which one’s behaviours on a central field of view task are influenced by the amount and type of peripheral visual movement during a collision avoidance task, as well as to determine the additive effects of changes to …

The Effect Of Temporary Anosmia On Olfactory Bulb Glomerular Neuron Activation, Kelsey E. Zuk

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Neuroplasticity refers to changes in signaling and circuitry throughout the nervous system. The olfactory system is well known for its ability to induce neuroplasticity throughout the lifespan of the organism. Changes in olfactory sensory input are known to induce neuroplasticity. Neuron activation, due to olfactory sensory input, activates the immediate early gene c-fos in the olfactory bulb (OB). The presence of fos, the protein derived from c-fos gene expression, can be used to measure changes in OB circuit activity. In the present study, olfactory sensory input was disrupted in mice by intranasal irrigation with the detergent Triton X-100. This induces …

Behavioral And Vocal Responses Of The American Goldfinch (Carduelis Tristis) To Predatory Bird Calls, Kate Marsh

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

A particular reaction to a given predator is dependent on the level of danger perceived by an animal. American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) are preyed upon by highly threatening predators that commonly attack songbirds at feeders (feeder predator) and less threatening predators that rarely attack songbirds at feeders (non-feeder predators). This study measured the behavioral and vocal reactions of American goldfinches to these different levels of predatory threat and examined the effect of threat level on the trade-off between foraging and anti-predatory behaviors (vigilance). We hypothesized that if goldfinches respond to predatory cues based on the level of threat …

Effect Of Cd40 Silencing In Mav-1 Infected Mh-S Cells, Andre Obua

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The murine alveolar macrophage cell line, MH-S, constitutively expresses the immunoregulatory antigen CD40. Previous experiments have demonstrated that CD40 expression is upregulated following infection with the DNA virus, mouse adenovirus 1 1 Obua (MA V-1 ), suggesting a role for CD40 in MA V-1 infection. The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the effect ofCD40 silencing on MA V-1 replication in MH-S cells. To elucidate the importance ofCD40 signaling in MA V-1 replication, CD40 expression was reduced using a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) RNAi system. Five CD40-silenced lines were generated using shRNA and showed between 26-79 percent reduction in …

The Effects Of Unpredictable Food On Corticosterone And Social Learning In Red Crossbills (Loxia Curvirostra), Megan Catharine Wurtz

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Foraging success can limit fitness if resources are unpredictable and strongly favor those that learn socially. Unpredictability can be a stressor and trigger elevations of stress hormones, that coordinate whole body responses to challenging environmental conditions. We explored the effects of unpredictable food on behavior, physiology, and receptiveness to social information using an observer/demonstrator paradigm in red crossbills, a highly social species that are adapted to cope with high degrees of resource unpredictability. Unpredictable food limited food intake (X²₁ = 10, p = 0.0012), caused a decline in body condition (X²₁ = 5.9, p …

Media Optimization, Scale-Up And Repeated Fed-Batch Operations For The Production Of 1,3-Propanediol From Glycerol By Halanaerobium Hydrogeniformans, Shivani Kalia

Masters Theses

"The development of renewable energy sources, such as biofuels, is of great interest in today's world due to depletion of fossil fuels and concerns about climate change. The production of the main by-product, crude glycerol, in biodiesel production presents an opportunity for the production of industrially relevant commodities. Crude glycerol in biodiesel waste is highly impure and possesses high salt concentrations and alkalinity, making it infeasible for direct industrial utilization. Moreover, current glycerol purification methods are highly cost-intensive, necessitating a search for cost-effective approaches that are feasible to employ. Genome data analysis of Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans, revealed the metabolic capability …

Spatial Sequestration And Oligomer Remodeling During De Novo [Psi+] Formation, Douglas Lyke, Anita L. Manogaran

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Prions are misfolded, aggregated, infectious proteins found in a range of organisms from mammals to bacteria. In mammals, prion formation is difficult to study because misfolding and aggregation take place prior to symptom presentation. The study of the yeast prion [PSI⁺], which is the misfolded infectious form of Sup35p, provides a tractable system to monitor prion formation in real time. Recently, we showed that the de novo formation of prion aggregates begins with the appearance of highly mobile cytoplasmic foci, called early foci, which assemble into larger ring or dot structures. We also observed SDS-resistant oligomers during …

Synthesis Of N-Acetyl-ᴅ-Quinovosamine In Rhizobium Etli Ce3 Is Completed After Its 4-Keto-Precursor Is Linked To A Carrier Lipid, Tiezheng Li, K. Dale Noel

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Bacterial O-antigens are synthesized on lipid carriers before being transferred to lipopolysaccharide core structures. Rhizobium etli CE3 lipopolysaccharide is a model for understanding O-antigen biological function. CE3 O-antigen structure and genetics are known. However, proposed enzymology for CE3 O-antigen synthesis has been examined very little in vitro, and even the sugar added to begin the synthesis is uncertain. A model based on mutagenesis studies predicts that 2-acetamido-2,6-dideoxy-d-glucose (QuiNAc) is the first O-antigen sugar and that genes wreV, wreQ and wreU direct QuiNAc synthesis and O-antigen initiation. Previously, synthesis of UDP-QuiNAc was shown to occur in vitro with a WreV …

H+- And Na+- Elicited Rapid Changes Of The Microtubule Cytoskeleton In The Biflagellated Green Alga Chlamydomonas, Yi Liu, Mike Visetsouk, Michelle Mynlieff, Hongmin Qin, Karl F. Lechtreck, Pinfen Yang

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Although microtubules are known for dynamic instability, the dynamicity is considered to be tightly controlled to support a variety of cellular processes. Yet diverse evidence suggests that this is not applicable to Chlamydomonas, a biflagellate fresh water green alga, but intense autofluorescence from photosynthesis pigments has hindered the investigation. By expressing a bright fluorescent reporter protein at the endogenous level, we demonstrate in real time discreet sweeping changes in algal microtubules elicited by rises of intracellular H⁺ and Na⁺. These results from this model organism with characteristics of animal and plant cells provide novel explanations regarding …

Do Belugas (Delphinapterus Leucas), Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), & Pacific White-Sided Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus Obliquidens) Display Lateralized Eye Preference When Presented With Familiar Or Novel Objects?, Deirdre Yeater, Sara Guarino, Steve Lacy, Tricia Dees, Healther Hill

Psychology Faculty Publications

Lateralization of behaviors and information processing are common across species. Hypothesized to be crucial for more efficient responding to environmental stimuli, lateralization has been investigated for a number of topics. Cetaceans are proposed to be hemispheric specialists, given a small corpus callosum, complete decussation of the optic nerve, and the ability to respond to a different visual stimulus presented to each eye simultaneously. Research with cetaceans has shown strong biases in a number of behaviors, including swimming, foraging, social interactions, and responses to myriad visual stimuli. Given similar evolutionary pressures, different species of cetaceans should display similar lateralized preferences. Previous …

Menageries Multiple: An Introduction To Zoological Multiplicity In The Modern American Zoo, Emily D. Gratke

Scripps Senior Theses

American zoological parks have been sites of intense consumer and scholar interest since their origination in the 20th century. Today, zoos reside at a tenacious hub of ideologies, practices, and priorities contributed to by various stakeholder groups. I propose that the foundational cause of this tension is zoological multiplicity: the theory that through human practices and perceptions, animals can embody multiple identities. Via an exploration of zoological multiplicity in American zoos with specific focus on zoo management, zoogoer, and animal activist stakeholder groups, this project proposes the widespread acknowledgment and understanding of zoological multiplicity as a method to improve animal …

Innovation And Collaboration: Creating A Transdisciplinary Childhood Obesity Prevention Graduate Certificate Program, Becky Jensen, Mindy Anderson-Knott, Mary Bowne, Linda Boeckner, Suzanne Stluka, Kendra Kattelmann, Jessica Meendering

Health and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Preparing future professionals to work in transdisciplinary settings with a skill set to effectively foster collaborations and sustainable change requires a thoughtful and concerted interprofessional educational approach. Through an inter-university partnership in 2010 with name of university and the name of university, a group of faculty convened to propose the Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention (TOP) graduate certificate program. With funding supported by a United States (US) Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant in 2011, a team of faculty from name of university and name of university representing various disciplines (exercise science, nutrition, dietetics, health promotion, public …