Life Sciences Commons^™

Determining The Effects Of The Think Risk Initiative As Implemented By The Southern Nevada Health District, Karalin Nichole Cronkhite

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the United States, someone becomes infected with a foodborne illness every 2 seconds, is hospitalized by a foodborne illness every 4 minutes and dies due to a foodborne illness every 3 hours. Foodborne illness is preventable, yet each year, 1 in 6 Americans is affected by it from contaminated foods or beverages. There are over 250 different foodborne diseases, and in 2015, there were 73 confirmed cases of Salmonella infection in Southern Nevada alone. Since the emergence of public health, food establishment inspections have been an important part of the regulation of food safety. Risk-based inspections were developed by …

Sexual Determination From Frontal Sinus Analysis In A Subadult Population Using Archival Radiographic Records, Erica Crosta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this study is to use the improved imaging capability of cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) to investigate the development and sexual dimorphism of the frontal sinus and surrounding supraorbital region in the subadult population of urban Southern Nevada. CBCT radiographs were obtained from the UNLV School of Dental Medicine archival dental records. Five hundred and fifty six of these radiographs were reviewed for the study. Two hundred and sixteen patients (92 males, 124 females) between the ages of 7 and 20 years were included based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. Samples were categorized into 3 subadult age groups for analysis: …

Development Of The K-State (Competence) And Mutagenesis In Stressed Bacillus Subtillis Cells, Amanda Kidman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mutagenesis is central to the evolutionary process. We currently view evolution as a gradual process affecting all cells within a population. However, my project studied an underestimated part of the evolutionary process: mutations generated during stationary phase (caused by nutritional stress or growth arrest) within a subpopulation of cells. I used Bacillus subtilis, a bacterial model for cell growth and differentiation. Stationary-phase cultures of B. subtilis differentiate subpopulations that exhibit different survival strategies including competence, secondary metabolite production, biofilm formation, cannibalism, and endospore formation. The development of competence permits cells to uptake exogenous DNA and incorporate it into their genome. …

An Investigation Of The Testing Effect On Motor Learning, Aaron Leonard Pauls

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Optimization of learning processes is the goal many educators strive to achieve with their students. One of the potential methods used towards optimizing this process is what’s known as the testing effect. The testing effect is the improved performance on a retention test as a result of prior testing during some period of practice. Previously, the testing effect was investigated using mostly cognitive tasks such as the learning of a number of words. In this paper, we examine the impact the testing effect has on learning the motor skill of putting. The study used a 2 x 2 mixed design, …

The Effects Of An Inclined And Declined Slope On Backward Locomotion: A Kinematic And Electromyographic Analysis Of Retrowalking, Song Dan Vo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an inclined and declined slopeon kinematic properties and muscle activation magnitudes. This purpose was achieved by using a +10% grade for inclined backward walking (IBW) and -10% grade for declined backwardwalking (DBW) on a treadmill. Eleven participants (24.6 ± 4.1 yrs, 68.5 ± 14.6 kg, 1.7 ± 0.1 m) were recruited from the UNLV student body and were subject to a three day adaptation protocol to allow them to choose a preferred walking speed and to familiarize themselves with such a novel task. Two consecutive practice days included a …

Georgia’S Rapid Expansion Of Mosquito Surveillance In Response To Zika Virus, R. Christopher Rustin, Deonte Martin, Rosmarie Kelly

Environmental Health Sciences: Faculty Presentations (2010-2017)

Objective: To describe the Georgia Department of Public Health’s (DPH) mosquito surveillance capacity before and after Zika virus was declared a public health emergency, review and compare mosquito surveillance results from 2015 to 2016, and evaluate the risk of autochthonous vector transmission of Zika virus based on 2016 surveillance data of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.

Introduction: Zika virus was declared an international public health emergency by the World Health Organization on February 1, 2016. With Georgia hosting the world’s busiest international airport and a sub-tropical climate that can support the primary Zika virus vector, Aedes aegypti, and secondary …

Nucelotide Substitution Rates In Hantavirus Cd8+ T-Cell Epitopes, Brian Gerald Sikes

Graduate Theses

Hantaviruses pathogenic to humans are exclusive to rodents. Typically each hantavirus is associated with only one host species. Due to their close association, the geographical distributions are the same. Old World species, such as Hantaan hantavirus and Puumala hantavirus, induce symptoms described as the Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS). The New World hantaviruses, such as Andes hantavirus and Sin Nombre hantavirus, share a suite of symptoms that have been described as Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS). In this study, 16 well-characterized cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes of the nucleocapsid (N) protein were identified from the literature.

These 16 …

Establishing A Novel Culture System Using 3d Printing To Induce Osteogenesis In Mc3t3-E! Osteoblasts, Lisa Carder

Graduate Theses

Whole organ tissue engineering represents a potential solution to the problem of organ shortage and host rejection; however, the process of producing a three-dimensional, functional organ is extremely complex. Research has used three-dimensional printing in order to combat the cost and time constraints that come with whole organ studies. This project created 3D scaffolds based on the trabecular portion of a sheep talus. Using these raw materials, pre-osteoblasts were injected onto the scaffold to test their proliferation within the 3D space. The purpose of this study was to create a three dimensional environment that was able to be coated and …

Lower Prairie Creek Project Redwood National Park "Forest Owners", Susie Van Kirk

Susie Van Kirk Papers

"This file addresses forest ownerships, using deeds, patents, and maps in the Humboldt County Recorder’s Office, Eureka Courthouse. Pretty boring to wade through, these records, nonetheless, document how the public domain of northwestern California—the ancient redwood forests—came to be concentrated in the hands of timber companies. ... Land in the Lower Prairie Creek Project area (plus much, much other forest lands) was obtained through fraudulent patents and deed transactions involving David Evans and his associates for transfer to Scottish investors and eventually to “legitimate” timber companies. The end result, of course, is that what once belonged to indigenous people and …

On-Farm Maize Storage Systems And Rodent Postharvest Losses In Six Maize Growing Agro-Ecological Zones Of Kenya, Kukom Edoh Ognakossan, Hippolyte D. Affognon, Christopher M. Mutungi, Daniel N. Sila, Soul Kifouly G. Midingoyi, Willis O. Owino

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Rodents are one of the major postharvest pests that affect food security by impacting on both food availability and safety. However, knowledge of the impact of rodents in on-farm maize storage systems in Kenya is limited. A survey was conducted in 2014 to assess magnitudes of postharvest losses in on-farm maize storage systems in Kenya, and the contribution of rodents to the losses. A total of 630 farmers spread across six maize growing agro-ecological zones (AEZs) were interviewed. Insects, rodents and moulds were the main storage problems reported by farmers. Storage losses were highest in the moist transitional and moist …

Minority Middle And High School Students' Interest In Science: An Exploration Of Teachers' Perceptions, Caroline Makere

Dissertations

A high school teacher conducted a study about minority middle and high school students’ interest in science. The problem was to find out why African American and Hispanic students were showing very little interest in science. The researcher used four middle school science teachers and nine high school science teachers, all from inner city schools in a big city of the Midwest United States except for one middle school teacher from a nearby suburb. The participants answered a survey questionnaire followed with a face-to-face recorded interview. The findings of the study confirmed that students showed little interest in science due …

Subspecific And Breeding Status Of The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis Trichas) At Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Hidalgo County, Texas, Timothy Brush, Mark H. Conway

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

ABSTRACT—We confirmed the breeding of the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) during 2008–2015 at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and presented measurement evidence that individuals belong to the Brownsville Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas insperata. This expands the known breeding distribution for this rare and local subspecies.

RESUMEN—Se confirm´o la reproducci´on de la mascarita com´un (Geothlypis trichas) durante 2008-2015 en Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge y se presentaron pruebas de medici ´on que indican que los individuos pertenecen a la subespecie de mascarita com´un, Geothlypis trichas insperata. Esta informaci´on expande la distribuci´on de reproducci´on conocida de esta subespecie rara y local.

Mechanism Of Resistance, Gene Flow, And Integrated Management Of Ragweeds (Ambrosia) In Nebraska, Zahoor Ahmad Ganie

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

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) and giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida L.) are native annual broadleaf weeds in the United States found in diverse agroecosystems, roadsides, and wastelands. They are economically important weed species in the Midwest and sources of pollen allergies. Confirmation of glyphosate-resistant (GR) common and giant ragweed in Nebraska justified the need to determine the mechanism of resistance, dispersal of resistance genes via pollen, and to develop an integrated management program. The objectives of this research were to: 1) determine the mechanism of glyphosate resistance in a common ragweed biotype from Nebraska; 2) evaluate the effect …

Review Of Estimation Of Parameters For Animal Populations: A Primer For The Rest Of Us By Larkin A. Powell And George A. Gale, Max Post Van Der Burg

The Prairie Naturalist

“Me? A modeler? Never!” This is the opening challenge of the book, Estimation of Parameters for Animal Populations: A Primer for the Rest of Us, by Larkin Powell and George Gale. I say “challenge” because I think this book attempts to challenge the misconception that quantitative methods are out of reach for most biologists and wildlife scientists. When many of us attend college or graduate school to study wildlife science there’s a sense that, at some point, there will be math. But it appears that the attitude of many students toward this reality is to simply suffer through the …

Fall Field Report, August–November 2016, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

As usual, there was quite a bit to chew over in the Fall Seasonal Report, although it was generally a pretty uneventful season, especially among waterfowl and shorebirds. The mild fall allowed some good counts to occur, such as the 20+ Surf Scoters, 465 meadowlarks in Garfield Co, and at least 11 White-winged Doves.

First State Records are hard to come by; amazing was an Anna's Hummingbird that showed up in the Manning Family's central Omaha yard. How many pass through the yards of non-birders undetected? Always a mind-boggling thought. A 3rd state record Costa's Hummingbird came to light from …

In Memory Of Elizabeth Grenon, Neal Ratzlaff

Nebraska Bird Review

On November 11, 2016 cancer claimed the life of longtime member and friend of NOU Betty Grenon, perhaps best remembered as our very intelligent, personable, meticulous treasurer and tenacious guardian of organization funds. Our records indicate Betty became a member in 1991. Her talents and qualifications (CPA and Nebraska's first female Certified Management Accountant) were soon recognized. She became NOU Treasurer in 1994, a position held until her death, except for a 3-year hiatus when her employment with Enron took her to Houston, Texas. NOU has benefited in a number of other ways from Betty's organizational skills and attention to …

Edible Insects As A Source Of Food Allergens, Lee Palmer

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increasing global population increasingly limited by resources has spurred interest in novel food sources. Insects may be an alternative food source in the near future, but consideration of insects as a food requires scrutiny due to risk of allergens. Currently, the insect Dactylopius coccus, known as cochineal, is used to produce carmine, a natural red pigment used in food, which has caused allergic reactions. This study investigated allergens of cochineal focusing on purification from the pigment. Mass spectrometry identified a previously described major allergen of cochineal and a tropomyosin, although further work is required.

Tropomyosin is a major cross-reactive allergen …

Formation Of Bioactive-Carrier Hollow Solid Lipid Micro- And Nanoparticles, Junsi Yang

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent years, bioactive lipids (e.g., carotenoids, phytosterols, and tocopherols) have attracted a lot of interest to develop health and wellness promoting foods and beverages. However, bioactive lipids are water-insoluble and degrade easily during processing and storage, making their addition into foods and beverages challenging.

The main objective of this thesis was to develop a novel green process to form bioactive lipid-carrier hollow solid lipid micro- and nanoparticles using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂). Specific objectives were to develop hollow solid lipid micro- and nanoparticles using SC-CO₂ technology, and to load the hollow solid lipid micro- and nanoparticles …

Characterization Of Molecular Communication Based On Cell Metabolism Through Mutual Information And Flux Balance Analysis, Zahmeeth Sayed Sakkaff

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Synthetic biology is providing novel tools to engineer cells and access the basis of their molecular information processing, including their communication channels based on chemical reactions and molecule exchange. Molecular communication is a discipline in communication engineering that studies these types of communications and ways to exploit them for novel purposes, such as the development of ubiquitous and heterogeneous communication networks to interconnect biological cells with nano and biotechnology-enabled devices, i.e., the Internet of Bio-Nano Things. One major problem in realizing these goals stands in the development of reliable techniques to control the engineered cells and their behavior from the …

Testing The Independence Hypothesis Of Accepted Mutations For Pairs Of Adjacent Amino Acids In Protein Sequences, Jyotsna Ramanan

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Evolutionary studies usually assume that the genetic mutations are independent of each other. However, that does not imply that the observed mutations are independent of each other because it is possible that when a nucleotide is mutated, then it may be biologically beneficial if an adjacent nucleotide mutates too.

With a number of decoded genes currently available in various genome libraries and online databases, it is now possible to have a large-scale computer-based study to test whether the independence assumption holds for pairs of adjacent amino acids. Hence the independence question also arises for pairs of adjacent amino acids within …

Using A Mouse Model To Investigate Male Bias In Autism Spectrum Disorder Incidence., Elizabeth Ann Gordon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The review (Chapter 1) overviews our current understanding of the sex bias in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), whereby males are 4 times more likely to develop the condition. The longstanding uncertainty surrounding the etiology of autism can be informed by inclusion of both sexes in future research to better understand the mechanism responsible for this sex bias. Both clinical studies and animal models are useful tools to elucidate the underlying cause(s) of sexual dimorphic morphological, physiological, and behavioral differences in the ASD phenotype. Sex differences in social behaviors are common across species, underscoring the importance of assessing baseline sex differences …

Dietary Resource Utilization Patterns And Head Morphology Among Three Sympatric Watersnake Species., Micah Warren Perkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The coexistence of similar species may be related to a variety of resource utilization differences. Dietary resource utilization variation may be the most important difference allowing for the coexistence of sympatric snake species. Many watersnakes (Nerodia spp.) live in sympatry and use similar aquatic habitats feeding on similar prey. While these sympatric watersnakes may have different general foraging patterns, snake diet may be affected by a variety of factors. Therefore, I initiated an investigation to understand the coexistence of sympatric plain-bellied (N. erythrogaster), diamondback (N. rhombifer) and northern (N. sipedon) watersnakes by addressing …

Plant Community Responses To The Removal Of Lonicera Maackii From An Urban Woodland Park., Elihu H. Levine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Impacts of Lonicera maackii on native forest communities have been widely researched, but long-term responses of plant communities to the removal of this exotic shrub have not been extensively evaluated. The Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy removes exotic shrubs and vines to restore ecological processes and native species in the woodlands of Cherokee Park. Paired-plots were established in 2008 to gather baseline herb, vine, tree, and shrub community data. Honeysuckle was removed from one plot of each pair in 2009 and community data were gathered again in 2013. Native herb cover and richness, vine cover, and tree sapling abundance increased where …

Tnf-Like Weak Inducer Of Apoptosis (Tweak) : Not So Weak After All., Joseph Dekward Mcmillan Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a proinflammatory cytokine belonging to the TNF super family. TWEAK produces a variety of cellular responses through the binding to fibroblast growth factor inducible 14 (Fn14), a member of TNF receptor superfamily. Although Fn14 lacks a death domain, TWEAK has been found to induce apoptosis in some cell types by perturbing the activity of certain pathways such as TNF-receptor signaling. TWEAK is also known to regulate proliferation and differentiation of myogenic cells. We have previously reported that the TWEAK-Fn14 system causes skeletal muscle wasting both in vitro and in …

Approaches To Arthropod Conservation : Landscape Genetics, Community Assessment, And Prediction Of Extinction Risk., Victoria Annette Prescott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although urbanization is a leading cause of species extinction throughout the world, the impact of urban development on arthropods is little studied and, as a result, poorly understood. I used three distinct approaches to studying arthropod conservation in North America. First, I used landscape genetics techniques to study the impact of urbanization on gene flow among populations of Rabidosa rabida, the rabid wolf spider. While gene flow was not detrimentally reduced, urban development correlated with a reduction in migration rates among populations, and to my knowledge, this is the first study to document isolation by resistance in spiders. Next, …

Identification Of Residual Descending Pathways After Human Spinal Cord Injury., Darryn A. Atkinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) in humans is a heterogeneous diagnosis, resulting in variable paralysis and paresthesia based on the mechanism, rostro-caudal location, and severity of injury. Both neurophysiological and anatomical studies have suggested that subclinical residual supraspinal-spinal connectivity exists in a subset of individuals deemed to have motor and sensory complete injuries. Recent reports of volitional movement in chronic, motor complete individuals during epidural spinal stimulation have provided compelling evidence that these residual projections may be capable of mediating volitional movement when the functional state of spinal circuitry is electrically modulated. It was the goal of this project to identify …

Enhancing Vegetable Intake In Infants And Toddlers Through Parental Complementary Feeding Education, Sophia Testa

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research project investigated the outcomes of educating parents of infants between the ages of 6 months and 12 months on the importance of including vegetables in complementary feedings on the infant’s vegetable consumption. The efficiency of teaching was measured by comparing physical measurements and quantity of vegetables consumed by infants whose parents received education with the same data from infants whose parents did not receive education on inclusion of vegetable in complementary feedings. The results found contributed to Dr. Shreve’s research on childhood obesity in the Northwest Arkansas population and to the knowledge of parental education with regard to …

Characterization Of Wy 14,643 And Its Complex With Aldose Reductase, Michael Sawaya, Malkhey Verma, Vaishnavi Balendiran, Nigam Rath, Duilio Cascio, Ganesaratnam Balendiran

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

The peroxisome proliferator, WY 14,643 exhibits a pure non-competitive inhibition pattern in the aldehyde reduction and in alcohol oxidation activities of human Aldose reductase (hAR). Fluorescence emission measurements of the equilibrium dissociation constants, Kd, of oxidized (hAR•NADP+) and reduced (hAR•NADPH) holoenzyme complexes display a 2-fold difference between them. Kd values for the dissociation of WY 14,643 from the oxidized (hAR•NADP+•WY 14,643) and reduced (hAR•NADPH•WY 14,643) ternary complexes are comparable to each other. The ternary complex structure of hAR•NADP+•WY 14,643 reveals the first structural evidence of a fibrate class drug binding to hAR. These observations demonstrate how fibrate molecules such as …

Peering Below The Diffraction Limit: Robust And Specific Sorting Of Viruses With Flow Cytometry, Shea T. Lance, David J. Sukovich, Kenneth M. Stedman, Adam R. Abate

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Viruses are incredibly diverse organisms and impact all forms of life on Earth; however, individual virions are challenging to study due to their small size and mass, precluding almost all direct imaging or molecular analysis. Moreover, like microbes, the overwhelming majority of viruses cannot be cultured, impeding isolation, replication, and study of interesting new species. Here, we introduce PCR-activated virus sorting, a method to isolate specific viruses from a heterogeneous population. Specific sorting opens new avenues in the study of uncultivable viruses, including recovering the full genomes of viruses based on genetic fragments in metagenomes, or identifying the …

Physiology And Genetics Shape The Microbiome Of A Seabird Species (Oceanodroma Leucorhoa) More Than Environmental And Social Factors, Douglas Steven Pearce

Masters Theses

The microbiome provides multiple benefits to animal hosts that can profoundly impact health and behavior. Microbiomes are well-characterized in humans and animals in controlled settings, yet assessments of wild bird microbial communities remain vastly understudied. This study examines the multiple factors that affect the microbiome of a burrow-nesting Procellariiform bird species, Leach’s storm-petrel. 16S rRNA-based Illumina Mi-Seq analyses are used to assess the composition and structure of bird and burrow-associated bacterial communities. Results indicate that sex and skin site contribute to bird-associated bacterial community variation, and MHC heterozygosity impacts these bacterial assemblages in a sex and site-specific manner, potentially having …