Life Sciences Commons^™

Short-Interval Cortical Inhibition And Intracortical Facilitation During Submaximal Voluntary Contractions Changes With Fatigue, Sandra K. Hunter, Chris J. Mcneil, Jane E. Butler, Simon C. Gandevia, Janet L. Taylor

Exercise Science Faculty Research and Publications

This study determined whether short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) and intracortical facilitation (ICF) change during a sustained submaximal isometric contraction. On 2 days, 12 participants (6 men, 6 women) performed brief (7-s) elbow flexor contractions before and after a 10-min fatiguing contraction; all contractions were performed at the level of integrated electromyographic activity (EMG) which produced 25 % maximal unfatigued torque. During the brief 7-s and 10-min submaximal contractions, single (test) and paired (conditioning–test) transcranial magnetic stimuli were applied over the motor cortex (5 s apart) to elicit motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) in biceps brachii. SICI and ICF were elicited on separate …

Establishing Birdsfoot Trefoil In The Mountain West, Joe E. Brummer, Jennifer W. Macadam, Glenn Shewmaker, M. Anowarul Isllam

All Current Publications

This bulletin describes birdsfoot trefoil in the Mountain West, and why it should be considered for planting. It includes cultivar selection and seeding rate, establishment considerations, and interseeding methods. Its high nutritive value and ruminant-friendly tannins will support livestock production without risk of bloat, while it fixes nitrogen to increase production in the entire pasture.

Voles [Microtus Spp.], Ryan Davis

All Current Publications

This fact sheet focuses on the meadow vole and includes a description, how to identify voles, their biology, activity and damage, and how to manage them.

Summaries Of Arkansas Cotton Research 2015, Derrick M. Oosterhuis

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

No abstract provided.

Hydrodynamic Performance Of Aquatic Flapping: Efficiency Of Underwater Flight In The Manta, Frank E. Fish, Christian M. Schreiber, Keith W. Moored, Geng Liu, Haibo Dong, Hilary Bart-Smith

Biology Faculty Publications

The manta is the largest marine organism to swim by dorsoventral oscillation (flapping) of the pectoral fins. The manta has been considered to swim with a high efficiency stroke, but this assertion has not been previously examined. The oscillatory swimming strokes of the manta were examined by detailing the kinematics of the pectoral fin movements swimming over a range of speeds and by analyzing simulations based on computational fluid dynamic potential flow and viscous models. These analyses showed that the fin movements are asymmetrical up- and downstrokes with both spanwise and chordwise waves interposed into the flapping motions. These motions …

Deidamia Inscriptum (Lettered Sphinx Moth) Caterpillars Feeding On Oxydendrum Arboreum (Sourwood) And Their Predation By Black Bears In Northeast Tennessee, Foster Levy, David L. Wagner, Elaine S. Walker

ETSU Faculty Works

An outbreak of Deidamia inscriptum (Lettered Sphinx Moth) caterpillars was noted in northeast Tennessee where Oxydendrum arboreum (Sourwood) trees were defoliated. Nearly all published literature and online resources list only plants in the grape family (Vitaceae) as larval food plants. Food-plant preference trials using fresh leaves of 3 woody plant species showed that Deidamiacaterpillars from this region had a preference for Sourwood over Parthenocissus quinquefolia(Virginia Creeper), and rejected Acer rubrum (Red Maple), a non-host species. Ursus americanus(Black Bear) were feeding on the caterpillars as evidenced by bent and broken Sourwood saplings bearing claw marks and by abundant …

Consequences Of Hatch Phenology On Stages Of Fish Recruitment, David M. Bogner, Mark A. Kaemingk, Melissa R. Wuellner

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Little is known about how hatch phenology (e.g., the start, peak, and duration of hatching) could influence subsequent recruitment of freshwater fishes into a population. We used two commonly sympatric fish species that exhibit different hatching phenologies to examine recruitment across multiple life stages. Nine yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) annual cohorts were sampled from 2004 through 2013 across larval, age-0, age-1, and age-2 life stages in a Nebraska (U.S.A.) Sandhill lake. Yellow perch hatched earlier in the season and displayed a more truncated hatch duration compared to bluegill. The timing of hatch influenced recruitment dynamics for …

Bibliography To Current Knowledge Of Studies Of Pathogens In Colombian Mammals, Viviana Gonzalez-Astudillo, Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves, Joerg Henning, Thomas R. Gillespie

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

Mammals provide an important ecological habitat or niche space to microbial diversity, protistans (or protozoans) and metazoan parasites that can have profound effects on both human and animal health. Thus, understanding the status of mammalian species as hosts for pathogens holds relevance, especially during this time of anthropogenic environmental change. Despite the great diversity in the mammal fauna of Colombia, data in the literature on the occurrence of parasites and pathogens in these mammals are scarce and widely scattered. In order to understand the state of the knowledge of pathogens carried by wild mammals in Colombia, a systematic review of …

Eye Tracking Food Cues In Subjects Who Are Overweight/Obese, Weight Loss Maintainers, And Normal Weight, Carrie A. Petro

Master's Theses

Adult obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Increasing success in weight loss maintenance will decrease the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and therefore help control the adverse health effects of excess weight. Much is known about the behavioral characteristics of successful long-term weight loss maintenance, but less is known about the cognitive processes behind weight loss maintenance. The purposes of this study were to (1) identify differences in visual attention to high-energy dense foods between individuals who are normal weight, weight loss maintainers, and overweight/obese in a high-risk (food-buffet) situation; (2) to evaluate differences in food choices from …

A Pilot Study Of Sheep Disease Surveillance In Western Australia, Roy Butler

Conference papers and presentations

A pilot study of sheep disease surveillance was conducted in 2014-2015 on four farms in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia. The participants observed their sheep, sufficiently closely to notice disease, at least every second day. Most of the disease syndrome reports related to fewer than five sheep, demonstrating that farmers noticed problems in individual sheep, and not only in groups of sheep. Of a total of 66 disease syndrome observations reported over 12 months, the three most frequently occurring syndromes were found dead + sudden death (combined), skin lesions, and lameness.

Conversion Of Glycerol To 1,3-Propanediol Under Haloalkaline Conditions, Melanie R. Mormile, Daniel William Roush, Dwayne A. Elias, Oliver C. Sitton

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

A method of producing 1,3-propanediol. The method comprises fermenting a haloalkaliphilic species of Halanaerobium with a source of glycerol into 1,3-propanediol, at a pH of greater than about 10 and at a salt concentration of greater than about 5% w/v. Furthermore, with supplementation of vitamin B₁₂, the yield of 1,3-propanediol to glycerol can be increased.

Multiple Lines Of Evidence From Mitochondrial Genomes Resolve Phylogenetic Relationships Of Parasitic Wasps In Braconidae, Qian Li, Shu-Jun Wei, Pu Tang, Qiong Wu, Min Shi, Michael J. Sharkey, Xue-Xin Chen

Entomology Faculty Publications

The rapid increase in the number of mitochondrial genomes in public databases provides opportunities for insect phylogenetic studies; but it also provides challenges because of gene rearrangements and variable substitution rates among both lineages and sites. Typically, phylogenetic studies use mitochondrial sequence data but exclude other features of the mitochondrial genome from analyses. Here, we undertook large-scale sequencing of mitochondrial genomes from a worldwide collection of specimens belonging to Braconidae, one of the largest families of Metazoa. The strand-asymmetry of base composition in the mitochondrial genomes of braconids is reversed, providing evidence for monophyly of the Braconidae. We have reconstructed …

Positive Selection Linked With Generation Of Novel Mammalian Dentition Patterns, Joao P. Machado, Siby Philip, Emanuel Maldonado, Stephen J. O'Brien, Warren E. Johnson

Biology Faculty Articles

A diverse group of genes are involved in the tooth development of mammals. Several studies, focused mainly on mice and rats, have provided a detailed depiction of the processes coordinating tooth formation and shape. Here we surveyed 236 tooth-associated genes in 39 mammalian genomes and tested for signatures of selection to assess patterns of molecular adaptation in genes regulating mammalian dentition. Of the 236 genes, 31 (∼13.1%) showed strong signatures of positive selection that may be responsible for the phenotypic diversity observed in mammalian dentition. Mammalian-specific tooth-associated genes had accelerated mutation rates compared with older genes found across all vertebrates. …

The Genome-Wide Analysis Of Carcinoembryonic Antigen Signaling By Colorectal Cancer Cells Using Rna Sequencing, Olga Bajenova, Anna Gorbunova, Igor Evsyukov, Michael Rayko, Svetlana Gapon, Ekaterina Bozhokina, Alexander Shishkin, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA, CEACAM5, CD66) is a promoter of metastasis in epithelial cancers that is widely used as a prognostic clinical marker of metastasis. The aim of this study is to identify the network of genes that are associated with CEA-induced colorectal cancer liver metastasis. We compared the genome-wide transcriptomic profiles of CEA positive (MIP101 clone 8) and CEA negative (MIP 101) colorectal cancer cell lines with different metastatic potential in vivo. The CEA-producing cells displayed quantitative changes in the level of expression for 100 genes (over-expressed or down-regulated). They were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR. The KEGG pathway analysis identified …

The Use Of A Fractional Factorial Design To Determine The Factors That Impact 1,3-Propanediol Production From Glycerol By Halanaerobium Hydrogeniformans, Shivani Kalia, Jordan Trager, Oliver C. Sitton, Melanie R. Mormile

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

In recent years, biodiesel, a substitute for fossil fuels, has led to the excessive production of crude glycerol. The resulting crude glycerol can possess a high concentration of salts and an alkaline pH. Moreover, current crude glycerol purification methods are expensive, rendering this former commodity a waste product. However, Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans, a haloalkaliphilic bacterium, possesses the metabolic capability to convert glycerol into 1,3-propanediol, a valuable commodity compound, without the need for salt dilution or adjusting pH when grown on this waste. Experiments were performed with different combinations of 24 medium components to determine their impact on the production of …

Characterizing Interaction Between Pask And Pbp1/ Atxn2 To Regulate Cell Growth And Proliferation, Nidhi Rajan Choksi

Theses and Dissertations

Pbp1 is a component of glucose deprivation induced stress granules and is involved in P-body-dependent granule assembly. We have recently shown that Pbp1 plays an important role in the interplay between three sensory protein kinases in yeast: AMP-regulated kinase (Snf1 in yeast), PAS kinase 1 (Psk1 in yeast), and the target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1), to regulate glucose allocation during nutrient depletion. This signaling cascade occurs through the SNF1-dependent phosphorylation and activation of Psk1, which phosphorylates and activates poly(A)- binding protein binding protein 1 (Pbp1), which then inhibits TORC1 through sequestration at stress granules. In this study we further …

The Β-Isoform Of Bccip Promotes Adp Release From The Rad51 Presynaptic Filament And Enhances Homologous Dna Pairing, Andrew A. Kelso, Steven D. Goodson, Leah E. Watts, Leanna L. Ledford, Sarah M. Waldvogel, J. Nathaniel Diehl, Shivani B. Shah, Amanda F. Say, Julie D. White, Michael G. Sehorn

Publications

Homologous recombination (HR) is a template-driven repair pathway that mends DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs), and thus helps to maintain genome stability. The RAD51 recombinase facilitates DNA joint formation during HR, but to accomplish this task, RAD51 must be loaded onto the single-stranded DNA. DSS1, a candidate gene for split hand/split foot syndrome, provides the ability to recognize RPA-coated ssDNA to the tumor suppressor BRCA2, which is complexed with RAD51. Together BRCA2-DSS1 displace RPA and load RAD51 onto the ssDNA. In addition, the BRCA2 interacting protein BCCIP normally colocalizes with chromatin bound BRCA2, and upon DSB induction, RAD51 colocalizes with BRCA2-BCCIP …

Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci For Resistance To Goss’S Bacterial Wilt And Leaf Blight In North American Maize By Joint Linkage Analysis, Amritpal Singh, Aaron P. Andersen, Tamra A. Jackson-Ziems, Aaron J. Lorenz

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Goss’s wilt and leaf blight is a bacterial disease of maize (Zea mays L.) caused by the Gram-positive bacterium Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis. Goss’s wilt has reemerged as an important disease in the western United States and is spreading to other areas. Although the reasons for this reemergence are not completely known, it is important to understand the genetic basis of resistance to Goss’s wilt. The objective of this study was to map the quantitative trait loci (QTL) underlying resistance to Goss’s wilt. To achieve this objective, joint linkage and linkage mapping in 3 of the 25 nested …

Physically Effective Fiber Threshold, Apparent Digestibility, And Novel Fecal Microbiome Identification Of The Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys Pardalis), Breanna Paige Modica

Master's Theses

Particle size distribution of diet, feces, and change from diet to feces, as well as apparent digestibility (aDig, %) of selected nutrients, and novel fecal microbiome identification of mature female leopard tortoises (Stigmochelys pardalis, n = 16) fed exclusively one of three, nutritionally complete, pelleted diets were evaluated in a blind, complete randomized design study. Two diets included insoluble fiber (powdered cellulose) consisting of either 2.0 mm or 0.2 mm length. Insoluble fiber provides nutritional and physical benefits to both the animal host and the microorganisms that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Insoluble fiber length was used as a …

Current Knowledge Of Studies Of Pathogens In Colombian Mammals, Viviana Gonzalez-Astudillo, Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves, Joerg Henning, Thomas R. Gillespie

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

Mammals provide an important ecological habitat or niche space to microbial diversity, protistans (or protozoans) and metazoan parasites that can have profound effects on both human and animal health. Thus, understanding the status of mammalian species as hosts for pathogens holds relevance, especially during this time of anthropogenic environmental change. Despite the great diversity in the mammal fauna of Colombia, data in the literature on the occurrence of parasites and pathogens in these mammals are scarce and widely scattered. In order to understand the state of the knowledge of pathogens carried by wild mammals in Colombia, a systematic review of …

Role Of Phosphorylation In The Regulation Of Prmt5, Alexsandra B. Espejo

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

PRMT5 is a member of a group of proteins that mediate arginine methylation. It is involved in diverse cellular processes, including cell differentiation, splicing, transcription elongation and epigenetic silencing, and its expression is dysregulated in many cancers. Due to its pleiotropic functions, PRMT5 is subject to multi-level regulation. Post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins can modulate an array of cellular processes by regulating both protein interactions and protein structural changes. PRMT5 is commonly found associated with other proteins; these interactions seem to control both its catalytic activity and its substrate specificity. Recently, it became clear that PRMT5 is phosphorylated at a …

Active Learning Outside The Classroom: Implementation And Outcomes Of Peer-Led Team-Learning Workshops In Introductory Biology, Philip Kudish, Robin Shores, A. Mcclung, Lisa Smulyan , '76, Elizabeth Ann Vallen, Kathleen King Siwicki

Biology Faculty Works

Study group meetings (SGMs) are voluntary-attendance peer-led team-learning workshops that supplement introductory biology lectures at a selective liberal arts college. While supporting all students’ engagement with lecture material, specific aims are to improve the success of underrepresented minority (URM) students and those with weaker backgrounds in biology. Peer leaders with experience in biology courses and training in science pedagogy facilitate work on faculty-generated challenge problems. During the eight semesters assessed in this study, URM students and those with less preparation attended SGMs with equal or greater frequency than their counterparts. Most agreed that SGMs enhanced their comprehension of biology and …

Measures Of Relative Dentary Strength In Rancho La Brea Smilodon Fatalis Over Time, Wendy J. Binder, Kassaundra S. Cervantes, Julie A. Meachen

Biology Faculty Works

The late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction of approximately 12,000 years ago, included the demise of Smilodon fatalis, a hypercarnivore from the Rancho La Brea deposits, which has been studied across time by looking at different deposits or pits to determine morphological size and shape changes and trends during this time. To better understand functional aspects of these changes, this study focused on a measure of jaw strength over time, which can give an indication of morphological changes within the jaw that cannot be seen using surface morphometrics. By radiographing dentaries, cortical bone can be seen, which provides an estimate of resistance …

Genetic Diversity Among Eight Dendrolimus Species In Eurasia (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) Inferred From Mitochondrial Coi And Coii, And Nuclear Its2 Markers, Alexander Kononov, Kirill Ustyantsev, Baode Wang, Victor C. Mastro, Victor Fet, Alexander Blinov, Yuri Baranchikov

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Background: Moths of genus Dendrolimus (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) are among the major pests of coniferous forests worldwide. Taxonomy and nomenclature of this genus are not entirely established, and there are many species with a controversial taxonomic position. We present a comparative evolutionary analysis of the most economically important Dendrolimus species in Eurasia.

Results: Our analysis was based on the nucleotide sequences of COI and COII mitochondrial genes and ITS2 spacer of nuclear ribosomal genes. All known sequences were extracted from GenBank. Additional 112 new sequences were identified for 28 specimens of D. sibiricus, D. pini, and D. superans from five …

Dna Methylation-Based Measures Of Biological Age: Meta-Analysis Predicting Time To Death., B. Chen, R. Marioni, E. Colicino, M. Peters, C. Ward-Caviness, Cara L. Carty, +Several Additional Authors

Clinical Research and Leadership Faculty Publications

Estimates of biological age based on DNA methylation patterns, often referred to as "epigenetic age", "DNAm age", have been shown to be robust biomarkers of age in humans. We previously demonstrated that independent of chronological age, epigenetic age assessed in blood predicted all-cause mortality in four human cohorts. Here, we expanded our original observation to 13 different cohorts for a total sample size of 13,089 individuals, including three racial/ethnic groups. In addition, we examined whether incorporating information on blood cell composition into the epigenetic age metrics improves their predictive power for mortality. All considered measures of epigenetic age acceleration were …

Local Fruit And Vegetable Availability Along The Wasatch Front, Britney Hunter, Shawn Olsen, Dan Drost, Brent Black, Jaydee Gunnell

All Current Publications

This fact sheet tells where to find local produce along the Wasatch Front, and when the produce is available.

Paternal Mitochondrial Transmission In Intra-Species Caenorhabditis Briggsae Hybrids, Joseph A. Ross, Dana K. Howe, Anna Luella Coleman-Hulbert, Dee R. Denver, Suzanne Estes

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

To study mitochondrial-nuclear genetic interactions in the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae, our three laboratories independently created 38 intra-species cytoplasmic-nuclear hybrid (cybrid) lines. Although the cross design combines maternal mitotypes with paternal nuclear genotypes, eight lines (21%) unexpectedly contained paternal mitotypes. All eight share in common ancestry of one of two genetically related strains. This unexpected parallel observation of paternal mitochondrial transmission, undesirable given our intent of creating cybrids, provides a serendipitous experimental model and framework to study the molecular and evolutionary basis of uniparental mitochondrial inheritance.

Using Rare Earth Elements To Constrain Particulate Organic Carbon Flux In The East China Sea, Chin-Chang Hung, Ya-Feng Chen, Shih-Chieh Hsu, Kui Wang, Jianfang Chen, David J. Burdige

OES Faculty Publications

Fluxes of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the East China Sea (ECS) have been reported to decrease from the inner continental shelf towards the outer continental shelf. Recent research has shown that POC fluxes in the ECS may be overestimated due to active sediment resuspension. To better characterize the effect of sediment resuspension on particle fluxes in the ECS, rare earth elements (REEs) and organic carbon (OC) were used in separate two-member mixing models to evaluate trap-collected POC fluxes. The ratio of resuspended particles from sediments to total trap-collected particles in the ECS ranged from 82-94% using the OC mixing …

Rickettsiologist Pavel F. Zdrodovskii: Larger Than Life, And Not Just For His Famous Book, Marina E. Eremeeva, S. N. Shpynov, I. V. Tarasevich

Environmental Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

This article highlights the biography and scientific accomplishments of Pavel F. Zdrodovskii and his contributions to understanding the biology, pathogenesis, treatment, prevention and epidemiology of brucellosis, rickettsioses and many other infectious diseases.

Farmers' Knowledge And Perception Of Grain Legume Pests And Their Management In The Eastern Province Of Kenya, Andnet Abtew, Saliou Niassy, Hippolyte Affognon, Sevgan Subramanian, Serge Kreiter, Giovanna Tropea Garzia, Thibaud Martin

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Grain legumes play an important role in community livelihood and in the national economy in Kenya. Unfortunately, in many African countries, production doesn't satisfy the demand in grains due to various constrains. Understanding farmers practices and behavior in the management of grain legume pests is a crucial step in the development of sustainable management strategies. A total of 216 farmers were surveyed in eight districts of eastern Kenya to evaluate farmers' knowledge and perceptions of grain legume pests; to examine current pest management practices, and to identify other production constraints. Grain legumes are grown by a wide age-group of farmers, …