Life Sciences Commons^™

Alternative Functions For The Multifarious Inflammasome, J. Martel, H. C. Lai, Y. F. Ko, J. D. Young, David M. Ojcius

All Dugoni School of Dentistry Faculty Articles

The inflammasome has been mainly studied in innate immune cells in which it senses microbes and cellular damage, and induces secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This process induces an inflammatory response that is critical for the resolution of infections and repair of tissue damage following injury. Recent studies indicate that inflammasome complex formation also participates in many other cellular and physiological processes beyond modulation of inflammation, such as autophagy, metabolism, eicosanoids production, and phagosome maturation.

Mechanism Of Lysine 48 Selectivity During Polyubiquitin Chain Formation By The Ube2r1/2 Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme, Spencer Hill, Joseph S. Harrison, Steven M. Lewis, Brian Kuhlman, Gary Kleiger

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

Lysine selectivity is of critical importance during polyubiquitin chain formation because the identity of the lysine controls the biological outcome. Ubiquitins are covalently linked in polyubiquitin chains through one of seven lysine residues on its surface and the C terminus of adjacent protomers. Lys 48-linked polyubiquitin chains signal for protein degradation; however, the structural basis for Lys 48 selectivity remains largely unknown. The ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Ube2R1/2 has exquisite specificity for Lys 48, and computational docking of Ube2R1/2 and ubiquitin predicts that Lys 48 is guided to the active site through a key electrostatic interaction between Arg 54 on ubiquitin and …

The Use Of Lactic Acid Bacteria To Control The Growth Of Foodborne Pathogens On Fresh-Cut Fruits And Sprout Vegetables, Franca Gabriela Rossi

Master's Theses

Growing consumer awareness of the health benefits associated with fruits and vegetables and demand for easy to prepare products has prompted the development of a wide variety of minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Minimally processed fruits and vegetables are often peeled, cut, or diced which compromise the produces’ natural protective barriers, exposing a nutrient rich medium and providing an ideal environment for the growth of microorganisms, including foodborne pathogens. The germination conditions of sprout vegetables consisting of relatively high temperatures and humidity, low light and abundance of nutrients are also conducive to the proliferation of foodborne pathogens. Recent outbreaks and …

Forage News [2016-06], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• National Forage Week is June 19-25, 2016
• AFGC New Zealand Tour Itinerary Available Online
• Eden Shale Farm Forage Establishment Field Day - June 16, 2016
• Annual Forage Workers Tour a chance for Forage researchers to collaborate, learn and share
• Heart of America Grazing Conference Highlight: Reduced or Low Lignin Alfalfa: Advantages for Hay and Grazing
• Toxic Topic: Johnsongrass Poisoning in Horses
• Featured Publication: Producer's Guide to Pasture-Based Beef Finishing ID-224
• Forage News Quote of the Month: "Hay Moisture Can Be a Burning Issue"

Enhancing Digestibility And Ethanol Yield Of Populus Wood Via Expression Of An Engineered Monolignol 4-O-Methyltransferase, Yuanheng Cai, Kewei Zhang, Hoon Kim, Guichuan Hou, Xuebin Zhang, Huijun Yang, Huan Feng, Lisa Miller, John Ralph, Chang-Jun Liu

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Producing cellulosic biofuels and bio-based chemicals from woody biomass is impeded by the presence of lignin polymer in the plant cell wall. Manipulating the monolignol biosynthetic pathway offers a promising approach to improved processability, but often impairs plant growth and development. Here, we show that expressing an engineered 4-O-methyltransferase that chemically modifies the phenolic moiety of lignin monomeric precursors, thus preventing their incorporation into the lignin polymer, substantially alters hybrid aspens’ lignin content and structure. Woody biomass derived from the transgenic aspens shows a 62% increase in the release of simple sugars and up to a 49% increase in the …

Converging On Nutrition Education Competencies: Aligning Library Instruction With Undergraduate Pre-Professional Program Requirements, Lee Ann Fullington, Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky, Susan Jakuboski

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Answers To The Photo Quiz (The Nebraska Bird Review, March 2016, Page 29), Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

These four photos were published in color in the previous issue of The Nebraska Bird Review without identification. All are birds commonly found in Nebraska, and they are identified and described here.

The Mute Swan In Nebraska: History And Current Status, Mark A. Brogie

Nebraska Bird Review

Mute Swans (Cygnus alar) were introduced into North America during the late 1800s as decorative waterfowl and have established feral populations (Ciaranca et al. 1997). Currently, the range of wild populations of Mute Swans in North America includes the Atlantic Coast from Maine to South Carolina and the Great Lakes, with the exception of Lake Superior where it is not established (Baldassarre 2014). The current total North American population is estimated to be 22,000–25,000 (Baldassarre 2014), and populations continue to increase (Petrie and Francis 2003). Indeed, the growing concern over burgeoning numbers has resulted in many states and …

Gyrfalcon In Boyd County, Nebraska, Mark A. Brogie, David Heidt

Nebraska Bird Review

Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) is considered in Nebraska to be a "rare casual winter visitor statewide" (Sharpe et al. 2001). Since 1990, there has been only one NOURC (Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Records Committee) accepted record (Class III) for Gyrfalcon in Nebraska (Jorgensen 2003). This bird was a gray morph adult observed below Keystone Dam, Keith Co., 01 January 2001 (Silcock 2001). Nebraska has no April dates for Gyrfalcon, although South Dakota has several April records: 10 Apr 2001, Jones Co., and 23 Apr 1955, Pennington Co., (Tallman et al. 2002). Additionally, an immature Gyrfalcon was photographed 5 April 2010 …

Subscription And Organization Information [June 2016]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $25 in the United States and $35 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $7 each, postpaid, in the United States and $9 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Anita Breckbill, NOU Librarian, c/o Music Library, WMB 30, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588-0101.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): Active Household (one or more people) $25; Sustaining …

The Second Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas, Wayne J. Mollhoff, Bulletin Of The University Of Nebraska State Museum, Vol. 29, 2016 [Book Review], W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

As suggested by its title, this book (“Second Atlas”) presents the results of a follow-up to the first Nebraska breeding bird atlas, The Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas 1984–89 (“First Atlas”), also authored by Wayne Mollhoff. In this Second Atlas, Mollhoff acknowledges the foresight of John J. Dinan, Nongame Bird Program Manager at Nebraska Game and Parks Commission during the time of the First Atlas, in working toward a “follow-up project.” As Mollhoff says in the foreword to the Second Atlas, "His persistence in pursuing that goal ultimately led to the current project.”

The best feature of the Second Atlas is …

Book Reviews: A Chorus Of Cranes: The Cranes Of North America And The World. Paul A. Johnsgard (With Photographs By Thomas D. Mangelsen, And Drawings And Maps By Paul A. Johnsgard)., John G. Sidle

The Prairie Naturalist

Once again, naturalist and author Paul A. Johnsgard invites us to dance and chorus with cranes, and to appreciate their beauty and links to another species, Homo sapiens. A Chorus of Cranes is about natural history but also is a plea for conservation, which is a common foreword, prologue, preface, and/or epilogue of many wildlife books. It is vintage Paul Johnsgard text from preface to epilogue, words that emerge after a long wade through countless papers and reports, and a prolonged career of observation and reflection in the field. He has beckoned us before to cherish cranes and the natural …

Resource Selection By Black-Backed Woodpeckers (Picoides Arcticus) And American Three-Toed Woodpeckers (P. Dorsalis) In South Dakota And Wyoming, Sean R. Mohren, Mark A. Rumble, Chadwick P. Lehman, Stanley H. Anderson

The Prairie Naturalist

Black-backed woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus, [BBWO]) and American three-toed woodpeckers (P. dorsalis, [ATTW]) are uncommon inhabitants of conifer forests and are sympatric in some areas, including the Black Hills. Both species exhibit genetic characteristics associated with isolated populations, are species of special management concern, and for which data are lacking concerning populations and habitats. We developed resource selection models of forest vegetation within 500 m radius plots (78.5 ha) for BBWOs and ATTWs to provide forest managers with stand-level information to estimate how forest management might affect habitat for these species in the Black Hills. Relative probability of selection by BBWOs …

Missing The Point, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! I hope summer finds you well and enjoying the Great Plains in some way, whether that be getting your hands dirty with field work, a reprieve from the office, anxiously awaiting the crappie bite at your favorite lake, or taking a much needed vacation. For those who enjoy cooler temperatures, summer heat and humidity are challenging and even the most seasoned field biologists among us are tested when fighting the conditions doing what we are passionate about. I personally prefer the fall and winter seasons, though also look forward to summer because it offers me a break …

The Science Of Open Spaces: Theory And Practice For Conserving Large, Complex Systems. Charles G. Curtin., Michelle L. Hellman, Caleb P. Roberts, Hannah Birge, Zachary Warren, Craig R. Allen

The Prairie Naturalist

The phrase “open spaces,” may bring to mind expansive tracts of prairie, rangeland, or even desert, stretching lonely and unchanged to the horizon. Open spaces also could conjure open oceans or interstitial rural lands between urbanized hubs, dotted with farms, fields, and woodlands. In an abstract sense, open spaces could represent gaps in human understanding or blank spaces on a map. In his book The Science of Open Spaces, landscape ecologist Charles Curtin combines all these perspectives, expanding the definition of “open spaces” to multi-layered and multi-scaled complex systems that are “greater than the sum of their parts.” He populates …

Book Review: Better Birding: Tips, Tools, And Concepts For The Field. George L. Armistead And Brian L. Sullivan., Stephen J. Dinsmore

The Prairie Naturalist

George Armistead and Brian Sullivan have written a book whose aim is to provide birders with a solid foundation upon which to develop better birding skills. They advocate a more holistic approach to bird identification than simply looking at a set of predetermined field marks. To that end, their approach combines traditional field identification approaches with behavioral and habitat cues, as well as natural history, to broaden bird identification skills. This is not the first book to make a case for looking at bird identification more broadly, although their specific approach seems unique. The authors offer constructive criticism of “traditional” …

Mink Predation Of Brown Trout In A Black Hills Stream, Jake Davis, Jerry W. Wilhite, Steven R. Chipps

The Prairie Naturalist

In the early 2000’s, declines in the brown trout (Salmo trutta) fishery in Rapid Creek, South Dakota, caused concern for anglers and fisheries managers. We conducted a radio telemetry study in 2010 and 2011 to identify predation mortality associated with mink, using hatchery-reared (2010) or wild (2011) brown trout. Estimated predation rates by mink (Mustela vison) on radio-tagged brown trout were 30% for hatchery fish and 32% for wild fish. Size frequency analysis revealed that the size distribution of brown trout lost to predation was similar to that of other, radio-tagged brown trout. In both years, a higher proportion of …

The Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera): Phylogeny, Origins, And Leaf-Like Crypsis, Joseph D. Mugleston

Theses and Dissertations

Tettigoniidae (katydids) has more than 7200 species and is the largest family within the insect order Orthoptera. Their unique biology including leaf-like crypsis, acoustic signaling, and courtship rituals garners much of their academic attention. However, the taxonomy of katydids is chaotic and previous to these studies, little work had been done to decipher the phylogenetic relationships within this family. Without a robust phylogenetic framework, questions regarding the evolution of katydid disguises including the leaf-like crypsis cannot be addressed. This dissertation contains three chapters. Chapter 1 provides the first phylogenetic hypothesis focusing on Tettigoniidae. In this chapter we show a character …

Using Hadoop To Identify False Positives In Bacterial Strain Typing From Dna Fingerprints, Colin C. Adams

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Pyroprinting is a novel technique used by the Department of Biological Sciences to obtain “fingerprints” from the DNA of E. coli isolates in order to categorize them into strains. To determine the number of false positives that occur in the pyroprinting process, isolates with the same pyroprints needed to be sequenced to see if their underlying alleles match. If they do match, this shows they are indeed the same strain and are a true positive. If the alleles don’t match, they are different strains and are a false positive. To do this 100 isolates with nucleotide identifiers were sequenced. Over …

Building A Freshwater Bacterial Flora Database For Remote Sensing Applications, Daniel Zimmerman, Laura Moore, J. A. Concha, N. Raqueño, Maryann Herman, Fernando Ontiveros

Undergraduate External Publications

The identification and classification of microbial flora in bodies of fresh water has the potential of enhancing our understanding of this ecosystem and improving water management and bioremediation. This effort may be facilitated by the use of remote sensing technologies. For the last 3 years our undergraduate students have collected water samples in the Lake Ontario Rochester Embayment and Irondequoit Bay with the goal of constructing a database of bacterial species and water parameters (e.g. organic matter and chlorophyl content). Such a database is necessary to establish potential correlations between the presence of certain bacterial species and water parameters that …

A Novel Caloric Restriction-Like Mimetic Affects Longevity In Yeast By Reprogramming Core Metabolic Pathways, Jonathan I. Millen, Gregory Tombline, Bogdan Polevoda, Matan Rapaport, Bonnie Baxter, Andy Cannon, David S. Goldfarb

Biology Faculty/Staff Publications

Glucose limitation is a simple intervention that extends yeast replicative lifespan (RLS) via the same pathway(s) thought to mediate the benefits of caloric restriction (CR) in mammals. Here we report on “C1”, a small molecule that mimics key aspects of CR. C1 was identified in a high throughput screen for drug-like molecules that reverse the RLS shortening effect of the sirtuin inhibitor and NAD+ precursor nicotinamide. C1 reduces the cellular dependence on glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, even in the presence of glucose, and compensates by elevating fatty acid -oxidation to maintain acetyl-CoA levels. C1 acts either downstream of …

Characterization Of Nuclear Factor-Kappab Binding Sites In The Freshwater Snail, Biomphalaria Glabrata, Laura E. Deneckere

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Biomphalaria glabrata is an intermediate snail host for the digenean trematode, Schistosoma mansoni, which causes the human disease schistosomiasis. A lot of research has focused on the snail-schistosome interaction, especially in regards to the immune response of the snail. The nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) pathway, which is involved in regulating the immune response, can be triggered by the Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathway. However, not much is known about the specific molecular mechanisms regulating these responses. Both NF-κB and TLR homologues have recently been reported in B. glabrata so it is of great interest to determine if BgNF-κB can regulate …

Heterologous Expression Of A Rice Mir395 Gene In Nicotiana Tabacum Impairs Sulfate Homeostasis, Ning Yuan, Shuangrong Yuan, Zhigang Li, Dayong Li, Hong Luo

Publications

Sulfur participates in many important mechanisms and pathways of plant development. The most common source of sulfur in soil –SO42−– is absorbed into root tissue and distributed into aerial part through vasculature system, where it is reduced into sulfite and finally sulfide within the subcellular organs such as chloroplasts and mitochondria and used for cysteine and methionine biosynthesis. MicroRNAs are involved in many regulation pathways by repressing the expression of their target genes. MiR395 family in Arabidopsis thaliana has been reported to be an important regulator involved in sulfate transport and assimilation, and a high-affinity sulphate transporter and three ATP …

Farmstead Planning: Old Farm Buildings Repurposed For Better Farming: How To Develop A Complex, Stephen F. Higgins, Lee Moser

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Farming is probably one of the most complex means of earning a living that has been devised. The many components of a farming operation that have to be managed would create an extensive list. Many beef cattle producers might focus on reproduction, nutrition, forages, health, and handling. However, there are many others operational considerations that are just as important.

Physical Testing Of Potential Football Helmet Design Enhancements, Michael Jeremy Schuster

Master's Theses

Football is a much loved sport in the United States. Unfortunately, it is also hard on the players and puts them at very high risk of concussion. To combat this an inventor in Santa Barbara brought a new design to Cal Poly to be tested.

The design was tested in small scale first in order to make some preliminary conclusions about the design. In order to fully test the helmet design; however, full scale testing was required. In order to carry out this testing a drop tower was built based on National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, NOCSAE, …

The Influence Of Exclusive Breastfeeding On Growth Trajectory From Birth To Year 5 In A Wic Cohort, Lindsey Arevalos

Master's Theses

OBJECTIVE. The impact of exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) on child body mass index (BMI) from birth through 60 months of age was investigated.

METHODS. 60,190 mothers and children attending Women, Infant and Children (WIC) clinics in the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties of California provided data on breastfeeding duration, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, and child weight-for-length (WL) was measured at 3 month intervals until 5 years of age. Missing time points were interpolated in determining child BMI/WL z-score trajectories plotted on the Center of Disease Control (CDC) infant and child growth curves. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to contrast …

A Pan-Dengue Virus Reverse Transcription-Insulated Isothermal Pcr Assay Intended For Point-Of-Need Diagnosis Of Dengue Virus Infection By Use Of The Pockit Nucleic Acid Analyzer, Yun Young Go, R. P. V. Jayanthe Rajapakse, Senanayake A. M. Kularatne, Pei-Yu Alison Lee, Keun Bon Ku, Sangwoo Nam, Pin-Hsing Chou, Yun-Long Tsai, Yu-Lun Liu, Hsiao-Fen Grace Chang, Hwa-Tang Thomas Wang, Udeni B. R. Balasuriya

Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center Faculty Publications

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is considered a major public health problem in developing tropical countries where the virus is endemic and continues to cause major disease outbreaks every year. Here, we describe the development of a novel, inexpensive, and user-friendly diagnostic assay based on a reverse transcription-insulated isothermal PCR (RT-iiPCR) method for the detection of all four serotypes of DENV in clinical samples. The diagnostic performance of the newly established pan-DENV RT-iiPCR assay targeting a conserved 3′ untranslated region of the viral genome was evaluated. The limit of detection with a 95% confidence was estimated to be 10 copies of …

Evaluating The Myth Of Allelopathy In California Blue Gum Plantations, Kristen Marie Nelson

Master's Theses

It is widely accepted that allelopathy is not only significant, but more or less singular, in the inhibition of understory vegetation in California Eucalyptus globulus (blue gum) plantations. However, there is no published documentation of allelopathy by blue gums against California native species. Here, we present evidence that germination and early seedling growth of five California native species are not inhibited by chemical extracts of blue gum foliage, either at naturally-occurring or artificially concentrated levels. In the greenhouse, seeds were germinated in field-collected soil from mature blue gum plantations and the adjacent native, coastal scrub communities. In petri plates, seeds …

Upper, Lower Solutions And Analytic Semigroups For A Model With Diffusion, Yannick T. Kouakep

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this discussion we consider an autonomous parabolic epidemic 2-dimensional system modelling the dynamics of transmission of immunizing diseases for a closed population into bounded regular domain. Our model takes into account diffusion of population with external influx as well as one class of infected individuals. We study the well-posedness two-component diffusion equations including external supplies with Neumann conditions using upper/lower solutions and analytic semigroups. In case of constant population or not, with non-oscillatory solution and constant diffusion, this problem admits travelling wave solutions whose minimum wave speed is surveyed here.

Improved Student Learning Through A Faculty Learning Community: How Faculty Collaboration Transformed A Large-Enrollment Course From Lecture To Student Centered, Emily R. Elliott, Robert D. Reason, Clark R. Coffman, Eric J. Gangloff, Jeffrey R Raker, Jo Anne Powell-Coffman, Craig A. Ogilvie

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Undergraduate introductory biology courses are changing based on our growing understanding of how students learn and rapid scientific advancement in the biological sciences. At Iowa State University, faculty instructors are transforming a second-semester large-enrollment introductory biology course to include active learning within the lecture setting. To support this change, we set up a faculty learning community (FLC) in which instructors develop new pedagogies, adapt active-learning strategies to large courses, discuss challenges and progress, critique and revise classroom interventions, and share materials. We present data on how the collaborative work of the FLC led to increased implementation of active-learning strategies and …