Life Sciences Commons^™

Halluiclluistnrataed Tbyi Eovelnyn L Aozenr Medical Revolution: Using Psychedelics As A New Treatment For Disorders, Asha Shukla

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Using Nature To Protect Nature: How Environmental Arts Sheds Light On Environmental Issues, Khanh Do

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Harnessing Cosmic Power To Fuel Earth: Nuclear Fusion’S Rise As The Promising Renewable Energy, Tara Sefchick

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

The Hidden Powers Of Plants: The Fascinating Ways Plants Express Themselves, Saurav Chakraborty

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

A Walk In The Woods: The Science Of Forest Bathing, Sionainn Rudek

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

How Social Media Controls Your Gut: The Internet, Health Misinformation, And The Human Gut Microbe, Maggie Willis

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

The Mystery Of Superagers: Are Superagers Simply An Example Of Winning The Genetic Lottery, Or Something, Barbara Asantewaa-Boadi

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

County-Level Societal Predictors Of Covid-19 Cases And Deaths Changed Through Time In The United States: A Longitudinal Ecological Study, Philip J. Bergmann, Nathan A. Ahlgren, Rosalie A. Torres Stone

Biology

People of different racial/ethnic backgrounds, demographics, health, and socioeconomic characteristics have experienced disproportionate rates of infection and death due to COVID-19. This study tests if and how county-level rates of infection and death have changed in relation to societal county characteristics through time as the pandemic progressed. This longitudinal study sampled monthly county-level COVID-19 case and death data per 100,000 residents from April 2020 to March 2022, and studied the relationships of these variables with racial/ethnic, demographic, health, and socioeconomic characteristics for 3125 or 97.0% of U.S. counties, accounting for 96.4% of the U.S. population. The association of all county-level …

Oregon State Rank Assessment For Cascades Frog (Rana Cascadae), Eleanor P. Gaines

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Oregon state conservation status assessment for Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) using NatureServe methodology, 2022.

Impact Of A Digital Educational Program On The Health Literacy And Perceived Drug Teratogenic Risk Of Diabetic Pregnant Women Attending A Malaysian Teaching Hospital, Sami Al-Shakhshir, Syed Azhar Sulaiman, Mohd Pazudin Ismail, Mahmoud S. Alhaddad, Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi, Islam M. Ashram

The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

ABSTRACTObjectives: The study aimed to identify the impact of clinical pharmacist’s digital educational program on health literacy and drug teratogenicity risk among Malaysian diabetic pregnant women. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was undertaken at the antenatal clinic at Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM) in Malaysia. The study was carried out with 138 diabetic pregnant women who were conveniently interviewed to measure their health literacy and teratogenic risk perceptions before and after educational program which was conducted using WhatsApp application. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using SPSS version 22. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: Most participants had …

Citrus Aurantium Peels Secondary Metabolites Prevents Cell Senescence On Human Fibroblasts Cells By In Vitro And Bioinformatics Studies, Nur Dina Amalina, Sri Wahyuni, Harjito H, Meiny Suzery, Bambang Cahyono

The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Aging is a medical problem affecting about 800 million people worldwide. However, the molecular mechanism of aging and aging-related disease has not yet been explored. Skin aging is a complex biological process primarily due to cellular senescence. Cellular senescence is an irreversible growth arrest that caused tissue to lose their cell-specific functionality, secreting pro-tumorigenic and pro-inflammatory cytokines, which eventually causes cancer. Citrus aurantium-derived secondary metabolites, including hesperidin, hesperetin, tangeretin, naringenin, nobiletin, and quercetin, are of vital importance to inhibiting aging due to their active properties. However, the effect of C. aurantium-derived secondary metabolites on the cells senescence and its molecular …

Synthesis, Docking Studies, Admet Prediction, And Antimicrobial Evaluation Of Coumarin-Oxadiazole Hybrids, Fabin Asmath Maziyuna, Abhishek Kumar, Pankaj Kumar

The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

The overuse and misuse of marketed antimicrobial agents developed drug resistance, which has become a significant problem worldwide. A series of new coumarinyl-oxadiazole Schiff base derivatives were designed and synthesized. These synthesized molecules synthesis of coumarinyl-oxadiazole schiff base derivatives (FP1-FP7) were characterized using Infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy and evaluated for their antibacterial potential against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial strain by measuring minimum inhibitory concentration values. Among the synthesized compounds, FP6 was found to be the best antibacterial agent having concentration values of 3.12 and 6.25 μg/ml against …

The Synergistic Antitumor Effects Of Curcuma Longa And Phyllanthus Niruri Extracts On Promoting Apoptotic Pathways In Breast Cancer Stem Cells, Dedy Hermansyah, Delfitri Munir, Aznan Lelo, Agung Putra, Nur Dina Amalina, Iffan Alif

The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) develop apoptosis resistance by expressing pro- and anti-apoptotic protein including caspase-3, p53, and survivin. However, the induction of apoptosis is an important mechanism of action for many anticancer agents. Therefore, treatment using combination therapy was supposed to inhibit apoptosis resistance and increase the possibility of cancer apoptosis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the combination Curcuma longa (CL) and Phyllanthus niruri (PN) extract on apoptosis induction. The single and combination cytotoxicity was analyzed using MTT assay. Apoptosis was measured by Annexin V-Propidium Iodide under flow cytometry. Caspase 3 expression was assessed by flow …

Viewing Animal Migration Through A Social Lens, Ellen O. Aikens, Iris D. Bontekoe, Lara Blumenstiel, Anna Schlicksupp, Andrea Flick

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Evidence of social learning is growing across the animal kingdom. Researchers have long hypothesized that social interactions play a key role in many animal migrations, but strong empirical support is scarce except in a few unique systems and species. In this review, we aim to catalyze advances in the study of social migrations by synthesizing research across disciplines and providing a framework for understanding when, how, and why social influences shape the decisions animals make during migration. Integrating research across the fields of social learning and migration ecology will advance our understanding of the complex behavioral phenomena of animal migration …

Removal Of Redox-Sensitive Rubisco Activase Does Not Alter Rubisco Regulation In Soybean, Christopher M. Harvey, Amanda P. Cavanagh, Sang Yeol Kim, David A. Wright, Ron G. Edquilang, Kayla S. Shreeves, Juan Alejandro Perdomo, Martin H. Spalding, Donald R. Ort, Carl J. Bernacchi, Steven C. Huber

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Rubisco activase (Rca) facilitates the catalytic repair of Rubisco, the CO2-fixing enzyme of photosynthesis, following periods of darkness, low to high light transitions or stress. Removal of the redox-regulated isoform of Rubisco activase, Rca-α, enhances photosynthetic induction in Arabidopsis and has been suggested as a strategy for the improvement of crops, which may experience frequent light transitions in the field; however, this has never been tested in a crop species. Therefore, we used RNAi to reduce the Rca-α content of soybean (Glycine max cv. Williams 82) below detectable levels and then characterized the growth, photosynthesis, and Rubisco activity of the …

Simple Organic Fertilizer Amendments For Farming In Degraded Soils: Effects On Plant-Microbe Interactions, Andrew Adamski

All NMU Master's Theses

The rapid loss of topsoil, biodiversity, and water quality across agricultural land in the United States and the industrialized world poses some of the most important risks to the future of global and domestic food security. Not only is arable land being lost at an unsustainable pace, but the average age of farmers has also steadily been rising due to a myriad of barriers young, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), and beginning farmers face. In an attempt to address these issues, worm castings, bokashi tea, fish hydrolysate, and biochar were applied alone and in combination to an extremely …

Determinants Of Entrepreneurial Risk Among Young Emiratis, Linda Smail, Mouawiya Alawad, Aleciane Da Silva Moreira Ferreira, Jorge López Puga, Ana María Ruiz Ruano García

All Works

This work aimed to investigate the determinants of entrepreneurial risk among Emirati youth enrolled in a university in the United Arab Emirates. This was a quantitative study, which used a survey of 324 university students with an average age of 20.7 years and a standard deviation of 3.1 years. The collected data were analyzed using two methods—Ordinal Probit Regression Estimation and Structural Equation Modeling—to identify the factors that may determine entrepreneurial risk and assess the research hypotheses among this group of Emirati youth. The results showed that Emirati youth are risk-averse when (a) they do not receive government support, (b) …

Acute Toxicity Of Atrazine, Alachlor, And Chlorpyrifos Mixtures To Honey Bees, Christopher J. Fellows, Troy D. Anderson, Daniel R. Swale

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-oxon (organophosphorothioate insecticides) was examined alone and in combination with atrazine (triazine herbicide) and alachlor (chloroacetanilide herbicide) to honey bees (Apis mellifera). Atrazine and alachlor were observed to not be acutely toxic to bees at doses up to 10 and 4 μg per bee, respectively. However, atrazine significantly increased chlorpyrifos toxicity by 3-fold while reducing chlorpyrifos-oxon toxicity by 1.8-fold. These changes in toxicity are correlated with significant 1.3- and 1.2-fold inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in bees exposed to chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-oxon, respectively. Atrazine significantly increased cytochrome P450, general esterase, and glutathione …

Evaluation Of Sedimentary Bacterial Community Dynamics And Contamination Assessment Of Lower Des Plaines River, Philips O. Akinwole, Madeline C. Draper, Amerti Guta, Mahaila J. Martin

Biology Faculty publications

Urban rivers often contain elevated concentrations of contaminants such as organic pollutants and heavy metals which can be amplified in lotic ecosystems receiving effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). However, the impact of WWTPs on the microbial parameters of the urban river sediments has not been well documented compared to urban surface water. Collecting sediment samples at five different locations over a 9,000 m transect during four sampling periods, we investigated spatiotemporal variations of microbial parameters in sediments of lower Des Plaines River; the largest effluent-dominated stream in the United States and the effects of sediment physicochemical properties on the …

Agr2-Associated Er Stress Promotes Adherent-Invasive E. Coli Dysbiosis And Triggers Cd103+ Dendritic Cell Il-23-Dependent Ileocolitis, Monica Viladomiu, Manirath Khounlotham, Belgin Dogan, Svetlana F. Lima, Ahmed Elsaadi, Emre Cardakli, Jim G. Castellanos, Charles Ng, Jeremy Herzog, Alexi A. Schoenborn, Melissa Ellermann, Bo Liu, Shiying Zhang, Ajay S. Gulati, R. Balfour Sartor, Kenneth W. Simpson, Steven M. Lipkin, Randy S. Longman

Faculty Publications

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is associated with Crohn’s disease (CD), but its impact on host-microbe interaction in disease pathogenesis is not well defined. Functional deficiency in the protein disulfide isomerase anterior gradient 2 (AGR2) has been linked with CD and leads to epithelial cell ER stress and ileocolitis in mice and humans. Here, we show that ileal expression of AGR2 correlates with mucosal Enterobactericeae abundance in human inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and that Agr2 deletion leads to ER-stress-dependent expansion of mucosal-associated adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC), which drives Th17 cell ileocolitis in mice. Mechanistically, our data reveal that AIEC-induced epithelial cell …

Stability Of Fishes Assemblage Structure Over A Lustrum In Coastal Wetlands Under Different Disturbances In An Industrial Zone Of The Central Gulf Of Mexico Coast, Carlos E. Cintra-Buenrostro, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Shallow coastal wetlands within the territory of an industrial port in southern Tamaulipas, Mexico, were monitored seasonally over a lustrum, focusing on their fishes assemblage and water parameters. The purpose was to characterize these ecosystems that are affected by different disturbances of industrial origin, document changes, and assess potentially degrading terms as the affectations prevailed over the period of study. The wetlands are differentially affected by impacting land uses in their immediate surroundings, by crude oil leaks, and/or by diverse industrial wastewater discharges. Water parameters varied only slightly over time for most sites, and relative disparities among sites remained. The …

Participatory Mapping To Address Neighborhood Level Data Deficiencies For Food Security Assessment In Southeastern Virginia, Usa, Nicole S. Hutton, George Mcleod, Thomas R. Allen, Christopher Davis, Alexander Garnand, Heather Richter, Prachi P. Chaven, Leslie Hoglund, Jill Comess, Matthew Herman, Brian Martin, Cynthia Romero

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Background: Food is not equitably available. Deficiencies and generalizations limit national datasets, food security assessments, and interventions. Additional neighborhood level studies are needed to develop a scalable and transferable process to complement national and internationally comparative data sets with timely, granular, nuanced data. Participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) offer a means to address these issues by digitizing local knowledge.

Methods: The objectives of this study were two-fold: (i) identify granular locations missing from food source and risk datasets and (ii) examine the relation between the spatial, socio-economic, and agency contributors to food security. Twenty-nine subject matter experts from three cities …

Carbon Dots: An Updated Overview On Their Synthesis, Properties, And Applications In Pharmaceutical And Biomedical Sciences, Earle Radha Rani, Majji Usharani, A. Lakshmi Usha

The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Nowadays, carbon-based materials have acquired more attention in numerous fields including engineering, medicine, and pharmaceutics. As a new class of small carbon nanomaterials, carbon dots are developed due to their excellent physicochemical properties such as spherical shape, non-toxicity, cost effectiveness, facile, biocompatibility, and discrete particles <10 nm in diameter. In 2004, these carbon dots were first discovered accidentally during processing of single walled carbon nanotubes. Carbon dots have created huge excitement due to their advantages such as high water solubility, excellent biocompatibility, and resistance to photo bleaching. Carbon dots show unique properties such as photo stability, low toxicity, fluorescence, photo chemiluminescence, and electrochemiluminescence. Due to these properties, they have a wide range of applications in the field of bioimaging and drug delivery. Carbon dots are classified into two groups: Amorphous based carbon dots and graphene-based quantum dots with sp2 hybridization. The synthesis methods of carbon dots were reviewed along with their advantages and disadvantages. The applications of carbon dots in drug delivery, gene delivery, targeted drug delivery, crossing blood–brain barrier, and bio imaging were discussed.

Spectrophotometric Methods For Measurement Of Antioxidant Activity In Food And Pharmaceuticals, Marios C. Christodoulou, Jose C. Orellana Palacios, Golnaz Hesami, Shima Jafarzadeh, José M. Lorenzo, Rubén Domínguez, Andres Moreno, Milad Hadidi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the application of antioxidants in food and pharmaceuticals due to their association with beneficial health effects against numerous oxidative-related human diseases. The antioxidant potential can be measured by various assays with specific mechanisms of action, including hydrogen atom transfer, single electron transfer, and targeted scavenging activities. Understanding the chemistry of mechanisms, advantages, and limitations of the methods is critical for the proper selection of techniques for the valid assessment of antioxidant activity in specific samples or conditions. There are various analytical techniques available for determining the antioxidant activity of biological …

Experimental And Observational Evidence Of Negative Conspecific Density Dependence In Temperate Extomycorrhizal Trees, Fiona V. Jevon, Dayna De La Cruz, Joseph A. Lamanna, Ashley K. Lang, David A. Orwig, Sydne Record, Paige V. Kouba, Matthew P. Ayres, Jaclyn H. Matthes

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) promotes tree species diversity by reducing recruitment near conspecific adults due to biotic feedbacks from herbivores, pathogens, or competitors. While this process is well-described in tropical forests, tests of temperate tree species range from strong positive to strong negative density dependence. To explain this, several studies have suggested that tree species traits may help predict the strength and direction of density dependence: for example, ectomycorrhizal-associated tree species typically exhibit either positive or weaker negative conspecific density dependence. More generally, the strength of density dependence may be predictably related to other species-specific ecological attributes such as …

Impact Of Agricultural Practices On The Consumptive Water Use Of Irrigated Annual And Perennial Crops Of Northern Mexico And The U. S. Southwest., Orlando Ramirez-Valle

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In drylands, crop water use varies considerably where high temperatures and limited water availability constraints farming activities, and irrigation planning is essential for the efficient water use and long-term sustainability of agriculture. However, despite dwindling water supplies and the looming threat of more frequent and intense droughts, low-efficient irrigation (e.g., furrow and flooding) continues to be the most widely used method for water delivery into agricultural parcels. Transitioning into more sustainable agriculture requires knowledge of the period of productive vs. unproductive crop water use during the agricultural cycle. I developed a method using satellite images for partitioning evapotranspiration (ETa) into …

Identifying Early-Life Behavior To Predict Mothering Ability In Swine Utilizing NuTrack System, Savannah Gabrielle Millburn

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Early recognition of indicator traits for swine reproduction and longevity supports economical selection decision making. Gilt activity is a key variable impacting a sow’s herd life and productivity. The purpose of this study was to examine early- life behaviors contributing to farrowing traits including gestation length (GL), number born alive (NBA), number weaned (NW), and herd life (HL). Herd life was a binary trait representing if a gilt was culled after one parity. Beginning at approximately 20 weeks of age, video recordings were taken on 480 gilts for 7 consecutive days and processed using the NUtrack system. Activity traits …

Evolution Of Immune Function In Response To Dietary Macronutrients In Male And Female Decorated Crickets, Corinne Letendre, Alejandro Rios-Villamil, Alexandria Williams, James Rapkin, Scott K. Sakaluk, Clarissa M. House, John Hunt

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Although dietary macronutrients are known to regulate insect immunity, few studies have examined their evolutionary effects. Here, we evaluate this relationship in the cricket Gryllodes sigillatus by maintaining replicate populations on four diets differing in protein (P) to carbohydrate (C) ratio (P‐ or C‐biased) and nutritional content (low‐ or high‐nutrition) for >37 generations. We split each population into two; one maintained on their evolution diet and the other switched to their ancestral diet. We also maintained populations exclusively on the ancestral diet (baseline). After three generations, we measured three immune parameters in males and females from each population. Immunity was …

Modifications Of Cellulose-Based Biomaterials For Biomedical Applications, Nour Fatema, Ruben Michael Ceballos, Chenguang Fan

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cellulose is one of the most abundant organic compounds in nature and is available from diverse sources. Cellulose features tunable properties, making it a promising substrate for biomaterial development. In this review, we highlight advances in the physical processes and chemical modifications of cellulose that enhance its properties for use as a biomaterial. Three cellulosic products are discussed, including nanofibrillated, nanocrystalline, and bacterial cellulose, with a focus on how each may serve as a platform for the development of advanced cellulose-based biomaterials for Biomedical applications. In addition to associating mechanical and chemical properties of cellulosic materials to specific applications, a …

Front Matter

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.