Life Sciences Commons^™

Winners And Losers: Emotional Shifts Across Elections Are Conveyed By A Politician’S Smile, Carl Senior, Patrick A. Stewart, Erik Bucy, Nick Lee

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The human smile can convey both rewarding and affiliative social intent and thus has significant utility in politics, where the ability to bond with and reassure voters is vital to electoral success. We examine experimental evidence from the 2019 UK general election to investigate the influence of a politician’s reward or affiliative smile on voter emotions. It was hypothesised that the winner’s affiliative smile would engender positive affect across all partisan groups compared to the winner’s reward smile display. Participants from a nationally representative sample were shown campaign footage containing both types of smiles from the leaders of the main …

Parasite Diversity Of The King Cobra (Ophiophagus Hannah), Indian Rat Snake (Ptyas Mucosa), And Spectacled Cobra (Naja Naja), Bailey Tator

ALL - Honors Theses

Thus far, there has been little research on the parasitic biodiversity in wild reptiles, particularly in India. Research has been done on the parasite diversity of certain species, such as the King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) and the Spectacled cobra (Naja naja), however these samples were purely from captive animals (Rajesh, 2015). This gap in knowledge is important to address because of how critical parasites are to the ecosystem and understanding their host population (Hudson, 2006). Parasites are some of the most biodiverse organisms, yet there is little work done to describe them in biodiversity hotspots such as the Western Ghats …

An Analysis Of Novel Yeasts And Their Brewing Potential, Hannah Murray

Research Honors

Within the brewing community, there is a race to discover new ways to brew beers to create new flavor and smell profiles. Scientists across the globe are searching for novel species of yeasts which have the potential to enhance the flavor and smell of their beer. While most beers are brewed using one of a handful of domesticated yeast strains -- also known as pitching yeasts -- finding “wild” yeasts is one way to change fermentation products. Experimentation has been started on this front due to the wide array of properties that a wild yeast can change in a brew. …

In-Silico Analysis For Structural And Functional Characterization Of Phosphorus-Starvation Tolerance 1 (Pstol1) Gene, Quratulain Mehdi Khan, Muhammad Aqeel, Maryam Murtaza, Wajya Ajmal, Muhammad Uzair, Sajid Fiaz, Kotb A. Attia, Asmaa M. Abushady, Itoh Kimiko, Muhammad Ramzan Khan, Ghulam Muhammad Ali

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

As an important macro element for all living cells, phosphorus is essential in agricultural production systems as well and is required in large quantities by elite varieties of crops to maintain yields. Approximately 70% of worldwide cultivated land suffers from phosphorous deficiency, and it has recently been estimated that worldwide phosphorous resources will be shattered by the end of this century thus increasing the demand for crops to be more efficient in their P usage. A greater understanding of how plants can maintain yield with lower phosphorous availability is highly desirable to both breeders and farmers, therefore, significant to develop …

Unraveling The Impact Of Seed Fatty Acid Profiles On Spinach Seed Germination Under Temperature Stress, Mustafa Kaşka, Haluk Çağlar Kaymak

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Limited knowledge exists regarding the fatty acid profiles of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) seeds and their correlation with germination. This study aims to address this gap by thoroughly investigating these profiles and their relationship with seed germination. Therefore, the objectives include assessing how different temperatures influence seed germination in spinach cultivars, identifying tolerant cultivar(s) to temperature stress during germination, and exploring the relationship between fatty acid profiles and seed germination under varying temperature conditions. Nine spinach cultivars (‘Matador-1, 2, and 3’, ‘Ranchero F1’, ‘Aras F1’, ‘El Tajin’, ‘El Real’, ‘Catrina F1’ and ‘Poyraz F1’) were used as seed material. The …

Effect And Mechanisms Of Conifer And Broadleaf Mixtures On The Soil Characteristics In Limestone Mountains, Xueping Zhang, Yuhua Ma, Songling Fu, Jingjing Qian, Qi Zhu, Chun Feng, Zihao Li, Wenhao Zhu, Han Chen

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

In the restoration process of limestone mountain ecosystem, the interaction mechanism, between vegetation and soil are the core scientific issues for a better understanding of ecological restoration and ecosystem stability. Based on this, four types of 30 year old artificial forest communities with different coniferous and broad-leaved mixed ratios (0-20 %, 20 - 50 %, 50 – 80 %, 80 – 100 %) in typical limestone mountainous areas of the northern subtropical region are used as research objects to measure understory vegetation diversity, litter, and fine root characteristics. The impact of different mixing ratios on understory vegetation restoration and soil …

A Guide For The Breeding Of The Blue Death Feigning Beetle, Joe Maloney

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Purpose

Asbolus verrucosus, often referred to as the Blue Death Feigning beetle (BDFB) is a species commonly exhibited by zoos, museums, and private individuals due to its beautiful blue color, long life, and fascinating death-feigning behavior. Despite being a very popular species, it is difficult to find specific information regarding breeding requirements and larval care. This is largely due to relatively little being known about the various stages of the BDFB life cycle. My intention in doing this project was to document verified information about the BDFB life cycle from reputable sources and use that information to develop a …

Preliminary Assessment Of Boat-Generated Wake Influence On The Ecological Structure Of A Seagrass Meadow, Noah Alexander Gorman

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2020 - Present

Seagrass meadows are crucial ecosystems for countless marine fauna and flora. With the decline of these ecosystems globally, understanding the threats they face represents the first step in mitigating further destruction and establishing effective restoration efforts. The purpose of this thesis was to provide a preliminary assessment of the scale and intensity of boat-generated wakes on a severely reduced shallow-water seagrass meadow located in the southernmost portion of the Indian River Lagoon along a high-traffic recreational boating area. Wake intensity and seagrass structure (species composition, distribution, and abundance) was measured within Coral Cove Park, Jupiter, Florida. Results showed that the …

Decoding Disease Mechanisms: Unraveling Large-Scale Biological Data For Novel Therapeutic Target Discovery, Yuntao Yang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

This dissertation leverages large biological datasets and data-driven research to enhance our understanding of complex human diseases, deploying a unified narrative across three interconnected bioinformatics studies. Each study targets a different biological level, including genes, proteins, cells, and tissues, to uncover disease mechanisms and speed up the discovery of potential therapeutic targets.

The first study addresses gene-level analysis in the context of bladder cancer. It integrates gene expression data from lab models with clinical survival data to identify new therapeutic targets. This research pinpoints the IL6/JAK/STAT3 signaling pathway as a promising target for treating SMARCB1-deficient bladder cancer, demonstrating how combining …

Intercellular Communication Via Gap Junctions Influences Stem Cell Therapy, Madison Bohatuk, Megan Bohatuk, Lauren Harmon

Honors Projects

Adult somatic stem cell therapy can be beneficial for cardiac muscle recovery following injury to the heart. However, a common problem with various approaches to this therapy has been the early (< 24 hrs) loss of a large percentage of the implanted stem cells, which decreases their therapeutic potential. We have demonstrated that cell coupling occurs between stem and cardiac cells through Cx43 gap junctions.Thus, we hypothesize that gap junctions may act as conduits for molecular apoptotic signals from injured cardiac muscle cells that impair the viability of implanted stem cells ('Bystander Effect' ). In our initial experiments, we will use a fluorescently-tagged RNAi control oligo to transfect mouse bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (mBM- MSCs) and measure transfection efficiency with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Additional studies will determine mBM-MSC Cx43 protein expression and the level of Cx43 protein down-regulation in the mBM-MSCs.

Exploring The Intestinal Microbial Community Of Lantang Pigs Through Metagenome-Assembled Genomes And Carbohydrate Degradation Genes, Jianbo Yang, Ying Fan, Rui Jin, Yunjuan Peng, Jianmin Chai, Xiaoyuan Wei, Yunxiang Zhao, Feilong Deng, Jiangchao Zhao, Ying Li

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

High-fiber, low-cost agricultural byproducts offer a sustainable alternative for mitigating the competition for crops between humans and livestock. Pigs predominantly utilize dietary fibers through the process of microbial fermentation within the gut. This study explored the gut microbiota and the capacity for carbohydrate degradation in 30 individual Lantang pigs, a breed indigenous to China. Through metagenomic analysis, a total of 671 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were assembled and assigned into 14 bacterial and 1 archaeal phylum, including 97 species from uncultured microbes. The phylum with the highest abundance were identified as Bacillota_A, Bacteroidota, and Bacillota. Remarkably, the investigation revealed nearly 10,000 …

Phenotypic And Functional Characterization Of Bovine Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells, Vitali V. Maldonado, Sriya Pokharel, Jeremy G. Powell, Rebekah M. Samsonraj Dr.

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are increasingly trialed in cellular therapy applications in humans. They can also be applied to treat a range of diseases in animals, particularly in cattle to combat inflammatory conditions and aging-associated degenerative disorders. We sought to demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining MSCs from adipose tissue and characterizing them using established assays. Methods: Bovine adipose MSCs (BvAdMSCs) were isolated using in-house optimized tissue digestion protocols and characterized by performing a colony formation assay, cell growth assessments, cell surface marker analysis by immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation, and secretion of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenease (IDO). Results: …

Evaluating Supplementation Programs For Growing Calves Grazing Bermudagrass Pastures, A. M. Womack, Beth Kegley, Shane Gadberry, T. Hess, D. Hubbell, P. A. Beck

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective

Materials and Methods

Effects Of Wind Turbine Noise On Songbird Behavior During Nonbreeding Season, Yael Lehnardt, Jesse R. Barber, Oded Berger-Tal

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Anthropogenic noise is one of the fastest growing, globally widespread pollutants, affecting countless species worldwide. Despite accumulating evidence of the negative impacts of wind turbines on wildlife, little is known about how the noise they generate affects ecological systems. Songbirds may be susceptible to noise pollution due to their reliance on vocal communication and thus, in this field study, we examined how songbirds are affected by wind turbine noise. We broadcasted noise produced by one wind turbine in a migratory stopover site during the nonbreeding season. Throughout the study, we repeatedly monitored the acoustic environment and songbird community before, during, …

Documenting The Southern Range Terminus Of The Wood Frog (Lithobates Sylvaticus) In North America, Christian Braswell

Theses

The Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) holds a remarkable position in North American amphibian biology, with its range extending from the Arctic Circle down to the near sub-tropical southeastern United States. This thesis presents a novel quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis (qPCR) primer specific to L. sylvaticus and a survey effort regarding the southernmost distribution and detection of this species in Alabama through the application of environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling techniques. By investigating historical data and employing advanced genetic methodologies, this research provides insights into the contemporary status and distribution of the Wood Frog. This research is important to …

Introduction To The Special Centennial Issue, Woodward S. Bousquet, Christopher Osgood

Virginia Journal of Science

This special issue of the Virginia Journal of Science (VJS) is dedicated to the 2023 Centennial of the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS). It includes congratulations from Commonwealth leaders, a proclamation by the Virginia General Assembly Senate, Academy members’ personal reflections, several historical papers and summaries, and portions of the program for the May 25-26, 2023 Annual Meeting in Williamsburg on the William & Mary campus.

Reflections About The Academy And Its Centennial, Marco Aldi, Woodward S. Bousquet

Virginia Journal of Science

Brief reflective essays from members of the Virginia Academy of Science were solicited as part of the Academy's centennial commemoration in 2023. The essays received demonstrate the many and varied ways in which the Academy has fostered collegiality, encouraged research, supported science education, and shaped the course of science in Virginia during the organization's 100-year history.

The Virginia Academy Of Science: A Scholarly Forum Over Decades For Students Of A Plant Ecologist, Stewart Ware

Virginia Journal of Science

As a newcomer to Virginia in 1968, I learned that annual meetings of the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) were regarded as an excellent place for students to have their first experience giving a talk about their research to fellow scientists, and a place for faculty to get to know other Virginia scientists in their fields. Over the next four decades William and Mary students (undergraduate and graduate) and I were presenters or co-authors of 42 talks or posters at VAS annual meetings, 29 of them based on studies of plant ecology across Virginia. Two were talks by colleagues with …

Investigating Sk-3-Based Spore Killing Through Dna Deletion In Neurospora Crassa, Sophie Krivograd

Senior Theses – Biological Sciences

Meiotic drive describes a process in which selfish alleles are recovered in more than half of a progeny generation. It is a type of gene drive and it has been discovered in strains of Neurospora, a filamentous fungus, through its spore killing mechanism. One of the most studied meiotic drive elements within N. crassa is Spore killer-3 (Sk-3). Previous studies have indicated that there is a genomic region within Sk-3 that encodes resistance to spore killing and another that encodes an element that is required for spore killing. Sk-3’s resistance gene, rsk, has been identified. However, …

Investigating The Role Of Dna Interval V377 In Spore Killing By Neurospora Crassa Sk-3, Carolina Okleiteris

Senior Theses – Biological Sciences

Neurospora crassa is a fungus that serves as a model organism for genetic research. N. crassa Spore killer-3 (Sk-3) is a genetic element transmitted to offspring through spore killing. Sk-3 is located on Chromosome III and it is thought to require two genes for spore killing. These two genes are the poison gene, for killing, and the antidote gene, for resistance to killing. While the Sk-3 resistance gene has been identified (rsk), the Sk-3 killer gene has not. The primary goal of this study is to help identify the killer gene by investigating the role of …

Hilling As A Management Tactic And Tool For Understanding Soybean Gall Midge (Resseliella Maxima Gagné), Pragya Gupta

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soybean gall midge (Resseliella maxima Gagné, SGM) emerged as a new species in the United States Midwest in 2019, causing injury to soybean (Glycine max L.) Infestation of R. maxima starts with females laying eggs in the fissures or cracks that develop at the base of soybean during the V2-V3 growth stage. The emerged larvae feed on the stem internally, leading to wilting and death of the plants. With knowledge gaps in biology and behavior, management strategies for this pest are challenging. Hilling is a cultural practice causing soil to cover the base of stems and is …

Interacting Effects Of Nutrient Availability And Environmental Change On Grassland Plant Communities, George Robert Wheeler

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The availability of nutrients plays an important role in shaping the composition, productivity and diversity of plant communities. Such effects are particularly well documented in grassland ecosystems, where both independent studies and collaborations such as the Nutrient Network consistently show increasing productivity and decreasing diversity with the addition of limiting nutrients. The specifics of this pattern, however, vary widely from site to site, and within a single site, they may shift with changes in environmental conditions and disturbance regimes.

My research at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve (Minnesota, USA), documents such a pattern through resampling of a long-term experiment on …

Demographic Consequences Of Off-River Nesting For Piping Plover (Charadrius Melodus) And Interior Least Tern (Sternula Antillarum Athalassos) In The Lower Platte River System, Nebraska, Elsa M. Forsberg

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; hereafter, plovers) and interior least terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos; hereafter, terns) are two avian species that nest along the Lower Platte River system (LPRS) in Nebraska. In the LPRS, river sandbars provide natural nesting habitat, but off-river sites provide substantial nesting habitat especially when sandbar habitat is scarce. Although presumed to be important for the persistence of plovers and terns, off-river habitat is not self-sustaining and predicted to decline. Understanding the vital rates of plovers and terns in the LPRS will inform the role of off- river sites in the future conservation …

The Effect Of Sample Grinding On Color-Based Predictions Of Soil Organic Carbon, Mason Rutgers

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Measurements of soil color are widely accessible and can be used as indirect measures of soil organic carbon (SOC). Sensor-based soil color measurements, frequently used in quantitative studies to predict SOC, often use ground and sieved soil samples for color analysis. However, it is unknown whether the extra steps of drying, crushing, and sieving a sample improve the quantitative relationship between color and SOC. This study was conducted to evaluate color-based predictions of SOC using intact, sieved (<2 mm), and fine-ground soil samples from northwest Oklahoma. Moist soil color was measured using Munsell color charts (MCCs) and a Nix Mini 3™ portable color sensor (PCS). The color of the soil samples was measured before processing, after crushing to pass through a 2-mm sieve, and after mechanical grinding to less than 0.25-mm. Using Munsell value (from the MCC) and CIEL* (from the PCS) as predictor variables, regression analyses were conducted to develop SOC predictive functions for each physical state. The resulting coefficients of determination (R2) and root mean squared errors (RMSE) were used to assess model fits for predicting SOC. Model contrasts were calculated to evaluate significant differences between each predictive model. All models exhibited strong relationships (0.56 < R2 < 0.70, 0.20 < RMSE < 0.25) between soil lightness and predicted SOC. Models built using aggregated samples measured with both MCCs (R2= 0.70, RMSE= 0.20) and the PCS (R2= 0.69, RMSE= 0.21) produced the best results. Models built using intact samples measured using the PCS did perform significantly better on samples dark in color (CIEL* < 30). These results suggest that grinding soil samples does not improve color-based predictions of SOC using MCCs and the PCS.

Lingnan Gardeners Newsletter (No. 70) = 彩園通訊 (第70期), Lingnan Gardeners, Centre For Cultural Research And Development, Lingnan University

Lingnan Gardeners Newsletter 嶺南彩園通訊

No abstract provided.

Life Line Spring 2024, Otterbein Biology And Earth Science Department

Life Line - The Biology Department Newsletter

In this Issue:

The Department Welcomes Dr. Grooms; Otterbein's New Pollinator/Rain Garden; Alumni Return to Share Research; Svitana Serves on Ohio EPA VAP Rules Review Advisory Committee; Field Geology Students Explore Death Valley and the Grand Canyon; Students Volunteer at Remote Area Medical Clinic; The Mussels of the Stillwater River and Greenville Creek; More Than "Just" a Chickadee; An Enriching Time at the Zoo; Human Reaction Times; Using Computer Models to Inform Real World Control Methods in Street Dogs; Svitana Continues Work with NGWA; DIY Microbial Fuel Cell Challenge; Birds of a Feather...; Students Research Impact of Sunscreens on Corals; …

Lac-Phe Mediates The Effects Of Metformin On Food Intake And Body Weight, Shuke Xiao, Veronica L Li, Xuchao Lyu, Xudong Chen, Wei Wei, Fahim Abbasi, Joshua W Knowles, Alan Sheng-Hwa Tung, Shuliang Deng, Gaurav Tiwari, Xu Shi, Shuning Zheng, Laurie Farrell, Zsu-Zsu Chen, Kent D Taylor, Xiuqing Guo, Mark O Goodarzi, Alexis C Wood, Yii-Der Ida Chen, Leslie A Lange, Stephen S Rich, Jerome I Rotter, Clary B Clish, Usman A Tahir, Robert E Gerszten, Mark D Benson, Jonathan Z Long

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Metformin is a widely prescribed anti-diabetic medicine that also reduces body weight. There is ongoing debate about the mechanisms that mediate metformin’s effects on energy balance. Here, we show that metformin is a powerful pharmacological inducer of the anorexigenic metabolite N-lactoyl-phenylalanine (Lac-Phe) in cells, in mice and two independent human cohorts. Metformin drives Lac-Phe biosynthesis through the inhibition of complex I, increased glycolytic flux and intracellular lactate mass action. Intestinal epithelial CNDP2+ cells, not macrophages, are the principal in vivo source of basal and metformin-inducible Lac-Phe. Genetic ablation of Lac-Phe biosynthesis in male mice renders animals resistant to the …

Characterization Of Rna Binding Proteins Regulating Axonal Localization Of Prenyl-Cdc42 Mrna, Ashley I. Loomis

Senior Theses

Following traumatic injury, axons in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) can spontaneously regenerate, albeit rather slowly. This regeneration requires messenger RNA (mRNA)-localization into and translation within the axons. One such mRNA originates from the CDC42 gene, which produces two mRNA splice variants: Prenyl-CDC42 and Palm-CDC42 encoding mRNAs. CDC42 promotes axon growth and regeneration by regulating actin filament polymerization in growth cones of axons. This plays an important role to support nerve regeneration in humans. The prenyl-Cdc42 mRNA is found in both central nervous system (CNS) and PNS axons, where it can be locally translated into CDC42 protein, which is subsequently …

Adherent-Invasive Escherichia Coli (Aiec) Promotes Mild Colitis In The C57bl/6 Il-10 Ko Mouse Model Of Crohn's Disease, Sarah Sm Zaw

Senior Theses

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Interleukin-10 knockout (IL-10 KO) mice are crucial in CD research. Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) is a subgroup of E. coli. In one study, IL-10 KO mice colonized with AIEC developed colitis in the distal colon compared to wild-type (WT) mice. I investigated how AIEC NC101 WT affects colitis severity in IL-10 KO mice of the C57BL/6 genetic background. Similar results in both genotypes would enhance mouse strain accessibility. Germ-free C57BL6 IL-10 KO mice were divided into groups: colonized with AIEC NC101 for 12, 15, or 18 weeks, or kept germ-free. Histopathological …

Clonal Selection In Mincane Hazelnut (Coryllus Avellana L.) Cultivar In Akçakoca District Of Düzce Province, Hülya Ünver

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Türkiye has dominated world hazelnut production for a long time and one of the most important hazelnut growing areas in the Black Sea region is Düzce province. Agriculture plays an important role in Düzce economy and hazelnut orchards occupy 45% of total agricultural areas. Mincane hazelnut cultivar widely grown in Akçakoca and shows variability particularly for nut characteristics. Thus, this study was aimed to select promising clones with superior features from the population of the Mincane hazelnut cultivar. In the selection study, some important nut characteristics were examined. According to a modified weighted ranking method results, 7 Mincane hazelnut clones …