Life Sciences Commons^™

The Length-Weight Relationship And Condition Factors Of Coastal Small-Sized Adult And Juvenile Fish Species Following Dense Mucilage In The Sea Of Marmara, Türkiye, Yusuf Şen, İsmail Burak Daban, Alkan Özteki̇n, Adnan Ayaz, Uğur Altınağaç, Ali İşmen, Ahsen Yüksek, Uğur Özeki̇nci̇, Fikret Çakır, Tekin Demi̇rkiran, Gençtan Erman Uğur, Oğuzhan Ayaz, Buminhan Burkay Selçuk

Turkish Journal of Zoology

To understand the ecosystem health of the Sea of Marmara following the dense mucilage event in 2021, growth indicators (length-weight relationships and condition factors) of coastal fish species were investigated. For this purpose, individuals were sampled during experimental fishing trials with beach seine nets between November 2021 and March 2022 from the Sea of Marmara, Türkiye. A total of 32 fish species belonging to 19 families were obtained. A total of 12 juvenile and 20 small-sized adult coastal fish species were identified, condition factors and length-weight relationships (LWRs) were calculated. The LWR results of this study reveal first findings as …

Highways For Red Wood Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): A New Method To Increase The Size Of Anthills, Stanislav Stukalyuk, Mykola Kozyr

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Red wood ants (RWA, Formica rufa group) play a key role in forest ecosystems as effective entomophages and participants in the circulation of organic matter. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficiency of using the highway method to accelerate the growth of anthills, specifically focusing on height, diameter, volume. The study was conducted in Kyiv, Ukraine, from May to October 2023. In the experimental group, highways were constructed on ant trails, totalling nine Formica polyctena Forster, 1850 anthills and eight Formica rufa Linnaeus, 1761 anthills. These highways consisted of a continuous line of logs ranging from 10 …

Inbreeding Tolerance In Two Isolated Populations Of Harting’S Vole Microtus Hartingi(Rodentia, Arvicolinae), Tanya Zorenko, Larisa Petra Kaija

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The adaptive effects of inbreeding are understudied, but accumulating evidence suggests that it plays a major adaptive role in speciation, as populations with a history of inbreeding are more prone to it. Differences in inbreeding tolerance in two populations of Microtus hartingi voles were studied through a series of experiments on reproductive behaviour and partner choice. Modelling an artificial polygyny via the formation of trios composed of a brother, sister, and an unrelated female has shown an uneven attitude towards inbreeding, which was closely linked to the reproduction strategy: voles of the Rhodopean population (RP) would reproduce communally with only …

Deep Learning Model For Personalized Prediction Of Positive Mrsa Culture Using Time-Series Electronic Health Records, Ziqian Xie, Degui Zhi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) poses significant morbidity and mortality in hospitals. Rapid, accurate risk stratification of MRSA is crucial for optimizing antibiotic therapy. Our study introduced a deep learning model, PyTorch_EHR, which leverages electronic health record (EHR) time-series data, including wide-variety patient specific data, to predict MRSA culture positivity within two weeks. 8,164 MRSA and 22,393 non-MRSA patient events from Memorial Hermann Hospital System, Houston, Texas are used for model development. PyTorch_EHR outperforms logistic regression (LR) and light gradient boost machine (LGBM) models in accuracy (AUROC

Value Of Gain In The Lamb Feeding Industry, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

Value of gain (VOG) is a term in the livestock feeding industry that refers to the average value of a pound of gain. It is the most appropriate revenue value to use in comparison to the cost of gain to determine profit margin.

Factors Impacting Genetic Test Result Recall And Adherence To Cancer Risk Management Recommendations Among Patients With Germline Pathogenic Variants, Karishma Prakash Bharwani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Only 20-60% of information from medical appointments is estimated to be retained of which about half is recalled accurately; however there remains limited information about recall following disclosure of inherited cancer genetic test results (GTR). We sought to evaluate recall of GTRs and the association of recall with adherence to recommended cancer risk management (CRM). Study participants were consented individuals with a confirmed germline pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant (GPV) in an inherited cancer predisposing genes for which there are CRM guidelines per the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Through information collected through self-reported surveys, adherence to CRM was defined …

Inhibition Of Mer Proto-Oncogene Tyrosine Kinase By An Antisense Oligonucleotide Enhances Treatment Efficacy Of Immunoradiotherapy, Yun Hu, Alexey Revenko, Hampartsoum Barsoumian, Genevieve Bertolet, Natalie Wall Fowlkes, Morgan Maureen Green, Duygu Sezen, Tiffany A Voss, Claudia S Kettlun Leyton, Fatemeh Masrorpour, Zahid Rafiq, Nahum Puebla-Osorio, Carola Leuschner, Robert Macleod, Maria Angelica Cortez, James W Welsh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy (immunoradiotherapy) has been increasingly used for treating a wide range of cancers. However, some tumors are resistant to immunoradiotherapy. We have previously shown that MER proto-oncogene tyrosine kinase (MerTK) expressed on macrophages mediates resistance to immunoradiotherapy. We therefore sought to develop therapeutics that can mitigate the negative impact of MerTK. We designed and developed a MerTK specific antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) and characterized its effects on eliciting an anti-tumor immune response in mice.

Methods: 344SQR cells were injected into the right legs on day 0 and the left legs on day 4 of 8-12 …

Neuronal Npr-15 Modulates Molecular And Behavioral Immune Responses Via The Amphid Sensory Neuron-Intestinal Axis In C Elegans, Benson Otarigho, Anna Frances Butts, Alejandro Aballay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The survival of hosts during infections relies on their ability to mount effective molecular and behavioral immune responses. Despite extensive research on these defense strategies in various species, including the model organism

Chimeric Oncolytic Adenovirus Evades Neutralizing Antibodies From Human Patients And Exhibits Enhanced Anti-Glioma Efficacy In Immunized Mice, Dong Ho Shin, Hong Jiang, Andrew G Gillard, Debora Kim, Xuejun Fan, Teresa T Nguyen, Andres R Lopez-Rivas, Akhila Parthasarathy, Chibawanye I Ene, Joy Gumin, Frederick F Lang, Marta M Alonso, Candelaria Gomez-Manzano, Juan Fueyo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Oncolytic viruses are a promising treatment for patients with high-grade gliomas, but neutralizing antibodies can limit their efficacy in patients with prior virus exposure or upon repeated virus injections. Data from a previous clinical trial using the oncolytic adenovirus Delta-24-RGD showed that generation of anti-viral neutralizing antibodies may affect the long-term survival of glioma patients. Past studies have examined the effects of neutralizing antibodies during systemic virus injections, but largely overlooked their impact during local virus injections into the brain. We found that immunoglobulins colocalized with viral proteins upon local oncolytic virotherapy of brain tumors, warranting a strategy to prevent …

Transcriptomic, Proteomic, And Genomic Mutational Fraction Differences Based On Hpv Status Observed In Patient-Derived Xenograft Models Of Penile Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Niki M Zacharias, Luis Segarra, Keiko Akagi, Natalie Wall Fowlkes, Huiqin Chen, Carolyn De La Cerda, Yuanxin Xi, Jing Wang, Jad Chahoud, Xin Lu, Priya Rao, Magaly Martinez-Ferrer, Curtis A Pettaway

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Simple Summary

Penile cancer is a rare but aggressive cancer. After it metastasizes, the median survival time is less than 12 months. The overall response rate to common first-line combination chemotherapy treatments is approximately 50%. There is an urgent need in advanced-penile-cancer treatment to find novel therapies that would generate better response rates than standard chemotherapy thus far and have less toxicity. Partially due to its rarity, there are few animal models and cell lines of penile cancer. We report on the generation of seven penile cancer animal models that were created by directly implanting human tumor tissue into immunocompromised …

Immuno-Molecular Targeted Therapy Use And Survival Benefit In Patients With Stage Ivb Cervical Carcinoma In Commission On Cancer, Collin A Sitler, Chunqiao Tian, Chad A Hamilton, Michael T Richardson, John K Chan, Charles A Leath, Christina Washington, Nicole P Chappell, Ann H Klopp, Craig D Shriver, Christopher M Tarney, Nicholas W Bateman, Thomas P Conrads, George Larry Maxwell, Neil T Phippen, Kathleen M Darcy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: To investigate IMT use and survival in real-world stage IVB cervical cancer patients outside randomized clinical trials.

METHODS: Patients diagnosed with stage IVB cervical cancer during 2013-2019 in the National Cancer Database and treated with chemotherapy (CT) ± external beam radiation (EBRT) ± intracavitary brachytherapy (ICBT) ± IMT were studied. The adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for risk of death were estimated in patients treated with vs. without IMT after applying propensity score analysis to balance the clinical covariates.

RESULTS: There were 3164 evaluable patients, including 969 (31%) who were treated with IMT. The use …

Single-Cell Cd4 And Cd8 T-Cell Secretome Profiling Reveals Temporal And Niche Differences In Acute Myeloid Leukemia Following Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy, Jessica L Root, Poonam N Desai, Christopher Ly, Bofei Wang, Fatima Zahra Jelloul, Sean Mackay, Jairo Matthews, Sherry Pierce, Patrick K Reville, Naval Daver, Hussein A Abbas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

UNLABELLED: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous malignancy of the blood primarily treated with intensive chemotherapy. The allogeneic T-cell antileukemic activity via donor lymphocyte infusions and stem cell transplantation suggests a potential role for checkpoint blockade therapy in AML. While clinical trials employing these treatments have fallen short of expected results, a deeper exploration into the functional states of T cells in AML could bridge this knowledge gap. In this study, we analyzed the polyfunctional activity of T cells in a cohort of patients with relapsed/refractory (RelRef) AML treated on the clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02397720) of combination therapy …

Reproductive Biology Of The Jellyfish Outbreak Along The Uae Coastal Waters, Amrutha Aravind

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Jellyfish are a ubiquitous occurrence in the world’s oceans. During the past decades, dramatic spatial increases and temporal shifts in jellyfish distributions have been reported around the world. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), coastal area also has experienced several blooms along with severe adverse impacts on its economic facilities. Few studies have been conducted within the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, to identify the blooming species and the environmental parameters that favor such breakout. The present study aimed to identify the jellyfish species found along the coastal area of UAE and trying to link their occurrence with seasonal …

Major Northeastward Range Extension For A Western Grasshopper Species: New State Record For Trimerotropis Pallidipennis (Burmeister) In Wisconsin, Mathew L. Brust

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Trimerotropis pallidipennis (Burmeister) mostly occurs in the southwestern U.S., but is known to migrate significant distances periodically. It appears that some individuals of this species occasionally migrate very long distances. Here I present an extreme record for this species, over 480 km northeast of any previously known records, including any others recorded from 2022. A single male specimen was collected and photographed in Price County in north-central Wisconsin in June 2022.

Adult Neurocolpus Nubilus And Plagiognathus Sp. Dispersal On Tropaeolum Majus, Elyse Malamud

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Neurocolpus nubilus (Say) (Hemiptera: Miridae), commonly known as the clouded plant bug, is a species of plant bug. Widespread primarily across eastern North America, N. nubilus is known to feed on many types of plants. At least 43 host plants spanning 34 plant families have been recorded for N. nubilus and more may be possible. Plagiognathus (Fieber) (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a genus of plant bugs that is widespread across the Holarctic region. Plagiognathus spp. are typically found on various woody host plants. This paper describes an instance of adult N. nubilus and Plagiognathus sp. feeding on a cultivar of Tropaeolum …

First Known Records Of The Specialist Bee, Colletes Aestivalis (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), In An Urban Area, Nina S. Fogel, Christine Kirmaier, Mike Arduser

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Here we report on the first known records of the Heuchera specialist bee Colletes aestivalis in an urban area. This bee was found by a participant in a citizen science project in a residential garden in a suburb that abuts St. Louis, Missouri. The females were found only visiting Heuchera richardsonii, and the males were seen scouting for females by hovering over the plants. This finding shows that urban areas can support uncommon specialist bees and the utility of engaging non-experts in cataloging biodiversity.

Willow Pollen Collection By A Blueberry Specialist Bee (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), James B. Watson, Keziah G. Bartel, Jason Gibbs

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Andrena (Conandrena) bradleyi Viereck (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) is widely regarded as a Ericaceae specialist bee due to its elongate head, plant records, and common collection in commercial blueberry fields. We provide evidence of A. bradleyi collecting pollen from willow (Salix, Salicaceae) L. in southeastern Manitoba. This indicates the bee is not obligately specialized on Ericaceae pollens and that early blooming plants may contribute to its early nutritional requirements.

Evidence Of Lilac Borer (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) Population On Mackinac Island, Mi, David Max Lowenstein

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Mackinac Island, Michigan, is a major tourism destination with its lilacs an important part of the local culture. Recently, the health of some lilacs has declined. It is uncertain if this is due to the lilac’s age, attack by lilac borer, Podosesia syringae (Harris) (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae), or a combination of environmental and biotic factors. The lilac borer is a clearwing moth whose larvae bore within ash and lilac, and there are minimal local records of the insect in Northern Michigan and none on Mackinac Island. This study deployed pheromone traps to identify the flight period of lilac borer, potential damage …

New Record Of The Pavement Ant, Tetramorium Immigrans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), In South Dakota With Notes On Its Thermal Tolerance And Geographic Distribution, Karl A. Roeder, Skylar Drey, Jesse D. Daniels, Diane V. Roeder, Jackson A. Helms Iv

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The pavement ant, Tetramorium immigrans, is an abundant and widespread species across large portions of the United States. Yet despite its current distribution in Northeastern, Midwestern, Pacific, and Western states, there is a surprising lack of records from the Great Plains. Here we present an updated county list of T. immigrans from museum collections and research grade observations (459 counties; ~15% of US counties), highlighting the first records from one Great Plains state—South Dakota. Observations on community science platforms since 2006 have undoubtedly increased the awareness of T. immigrans (+329 counties; ~72% of all county records), however we posit …

Bee (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) Richness In Eastern Ohio Pipeline Right Of Ways, Malisa Spring, Gabriel R. Karns

The Great Lakes Entomologist

It is relatively unknown which species of bees utilize pipeline Right of Ways. Most recent Right of Way research focuses on bees found on electrical transmission Right of Ways instead. Ohio is also relatively understudied in terms of bee richness. This project sought to document bees that are found in these pipeline Right of Ways in 4 heavily forested counties in eastern Ohio. A total of 3950 specimens were collected, accounting for 140 species across two years of sampling (2016 and 2018). Overall bee abundance peaked mid-season, with the highest abundance observed in July. The majority of bees collected were …

Reevaluating Abrupt Biological Discontinuity In A Small Michigan (Usa) Stream – Differences In The Organic Biomass Of Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Functional Feeding Groups Based On Benthic And Terrestrial Habitat, David C. Houghton, Danae Sollie, Daniel Votel, Elizabeth Potwardowski

The Great Lakes Entomologist

To examine the effects of habitat and benthic substrate differences on macroinvertebrate assemblages along a single continuum, we tested three sites along a small northern Lower Michigan stream over a four-year period. Terrestrial habitat along the stream abruptly changed from a cedar forest, to an open meadow, to a hardwood forest within a 1.4 km reach. Reflecting these changes, overhead canopy coverage and in-stream woody debris were higher at the two forested sites, whereas the organic biomass of periphyton was higher at the meadow site. The meadow site also had faster stream velocity and a greater volume of coarse benthic …

Observations On A Dendroctonus Simplex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) Outbreak In A Rangewide Tamarack (Larix Laricina) Provenance Plantation In Michigan, Robert A. Haack, Richard W. Blank

The Great Lakes Entomologist

A tamarack [Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch] provenance plantation, consisting of 33 seed sources from the United States and Canada, was established in 1969 in southern Michigan (Kalamazoo County). About half of the trees were removed in fall 1984 when the stand was thinned, with the cut trees piled on the edge of the stand. The stand then experienced a severe ice storm in January 1985. The eastern larch beetle, Dendroctonus simplex LeConte, colonized the cut logs in 1985 and also infested many of the standing trees. By the end of 1986, over half the remaining trees had …

Observations On The Oak Twig Pruner, Anelaphus Villosus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), In Michigan: Size Of Twigs Pruned, Insect Survival, And Seasonality Of Twig Drop, Robert A. Haack

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The oak twig pruner [OTP; Anelaphus villosus (Fabricius)] is likely a species complex, with A. parallelus (Newman) recently recognized as a synonym. The parallelus form of A. villosus is considered the subject of this paper. In Michigan, OTP has a 2-year life cycle, with twigs pruned primarily in even-numbered years and adults emerging from the fallen twigs in odd-numbered years. During 1990 to 2011, I studied various aspects of OTP life history in southern Michigan (Ingham County). Based on measurements from over 300 infested oak twigs, they averaged 43.1 cm long, 9.4 mm in diameter at the pruned end, …

Flies Associated With Floral Canopies Of The New Oilseed Crop, Pennycress, In The Midwestern U.S.A., Frank Forcella, Matt Petersen, William L. Perry, Samantha S. Wells, Alex Hard, Russ W. Gesch, Yesuf Mohammed, Cody Hoerning, Tad L. Wesley, Emma Ambrosi, Winthrop B. Phippen

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Flies are frequent visitors to flowers of many species of plants within the mustard family (Brassicaceae). They derive nutrition from these flowers, and some fly species are pollinators. Field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) is a mustard species that is being developed as a new “cash cover crop,” i.e., an autumn-sown cover crop whose oil-rich seeds can be harvested profitably in spring. Although pennycress is largely wind- and self-pollinated, its flowers also attract insect visitors. However, the extent of visitation to pennycress flowers by flies remains largely unknown, especially the identities of those flies. Thus, we examined flies associated with …

The Heteroptera (Hemiptera) Of North Dakota Ii: Enicocephalomorpha : Enicocephalidae, Alexander H. Knudson, Veronica Calles Torrez, David A. Rider

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The Enicocephalomorpha of North Dakota is documented with the report of the unique-headed bug, Systelloderes biceps (Say, 1832) from North Dakota for the first time. We also discuss the geographic distribution of S. biceps and Systelloderes culicis (Uhler, 1892), provide color photographs, provide diagnoses for the separation of these species from all other North American species, and designate a lectotype for S. culicis (Uhler).

Cover Art For Tgle Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Cover Art for TGLE Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

Cover Pages For Tgle Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Cover Pages for TGLE Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

Full Issue For Tgle Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Full Issue for TGLE Vol. 56 Nos 3 & 4

A Century Of Exercise Physiology: Key Concepts In Neural Control Of The Circulation., Kevin Shoemaker, Robert Gros

Kinesiology Publications

Early in the twentieth century, Walter B. Cannon (1871-1945) introduced his overarching hypothesis of "homeostasis" (Cannon 1932)-the ability to sustain physiological values within a narrow range necessary for life during periods of stress. Physical exercise represents a stress in which motor, respiratory and cardiovascular systems must be integrated across a range of metabolic stress to match oxygen delivery to oxygen need at the cellular level, together with appropriate thermoregulatory control, blood pressure adjustments and energy provision. Of these, blood pressure regulation is a complex but controlled variable, being the function of cardiac output and vascular resistance (or conductance). Key in …

Effects Of Supplementing Selenium-Enriched Cardamine Violifolia To Laying Hens On Egg Quality And Yolk Antioxidant Capacity During Storage At 4 °C And 25 °C, Hubei Key, Xin Cong, Hui Wang, Mengke Yan, Xianfeng Xu, Mingkang Liu, Fulong Song, Dan Wang, Xiao Xu, Jiangchao Zhao, Shuiyan Cheng, Yulan Liu, Huiling Zhu

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Oxidative stress occurs in the process of egg storage. Antioxidants as feed additives can enhance egg quality and extend the shelf life of eggs. Selenium-enriched Cardamine violifolia (SEC) has strongly antioxidant properties. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of dietary supplementation with SEC on egg quality and the yolk antioxidant capacity of eggs stored at 4 °C and 25 °C. Four hundred fifty 65-week-old, Roman hens that were similar in laying rate (90.79 ± 1.69%) and body weight (2.19 ± 0.23 kg) were divided into 5 groups. The birds were fed diets supplemented with 0 mg/kg …