Life Sciences Commons^™

Predictors Of Peak Elbow Valgus Torque In Collegiate Baseball Pitchers, Adam Richard Nebel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Context: The incidence of UCL tears in baseball is at an all-time high. ATs are in the position to identify those at risk and potentially prevent injury to the UCL. In baseball, research has associated elbow valgus torque as a potential predictor of injury risk. However, markerless analysis has not assessed possible predictors of injury to the UCL in baseball players. Objective: Identify the kinematic factors that influence peak elbow valgus torque through the sequence of a fastball pitch. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Field study performed in university’s pitching development center. Participants: Division 1 collegiate baseball pitchers (N=21; 17RHP, 4LHP; …

Efficacy Of Multivitamin-Mineral Supplementation On Measures Of Anxiety, Depression, Self-Esteem, Dysregulation, And Perceived Stress In Young Adults, Courtney Gorden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mental health in the United States is at an all-time low with 21% of adults 18+ suffering from depression or anxiety. When compared with other categories, emerging adults (18-25 years old) have the highest prevalence of mental health disorders at 30%. Young adults face an inordinate amount of stress given the COVID-19 pandemic, being in a unique developmental stage, experiencing new relationships, and transitioning from high school to their professional lives. Vitamins and minerals have roles in neurobiochemistry and have been investigated for effects on mental health with mixed results. Few studies factor in the unique emerging adult developmental stage …

Arkansas Fresh-Market Blackberries: Identifying Unique Attributes And Harvest Practices That Impact Marketability, Andrea Lea Myers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fresh-market blackberries (Rubus subgenus Rubus) are sold worldwide and have attributes that appeal to consumers. The delicate-nature of the fruit requires hand harvesting, and minimal handling of the fruit postharvest. Objectives of this research on Arkansas fresh-market blackberries was to 1) identify the unique attributes 2) determine the best handling practices to increase postharvest quality, and 3) evaluate the potential of soft robotic gripper for harvesting. For the first objective, blackberry genotypes were harvested from the University of Arkansas System (UA System) Division of Agriculture Fruit Research Station in Clarksville, AR. Nineteen genotypes were harvested in 2020, eight genotypes were …

Effects Of Cognitive Style On Food Perception And Eating Behavior, Thadeus Lyndon Beekman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the fields of psychology, notably cultural psychology, the analytic-holistic cognitive style theory has been introduced, developed, fine-tuned, and validated across a wide range of situations, stimuli, and populations. This research, combined with recent applications of the analytic-holistic theory, suggests that the differences in analytic or holistic tendencies of individuals in food, sensory, and consumer tests can impact food perception and associated behaviors. This dissertation aimed to investigate the impact of analytic-holistic cognitive styles of consumers in food situations. The first objective to accomplish this goal was to conduct exploratory research to identify if and where the analytic-holistic theory may …

Fluctuating Parasite Prevalence Is Not Linked To Patterns Of Mhc Class Ii-Ss Diversity In An Island Endemic Reptile, Gina Zwicky

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Few studies have explored the evolutionary mechanisms that maintain adaptive immunogenetic diversity in nature. We took advantage of museum samples to test for evidence of parasite-mediated fluctuating selection at MHC Class II-ß loci in an endemic island reptile. The Saban anole Anolis sabanus is commonly infected with three species of malaria (Plasmodium). Proportions of each parasite species detected in anole blood samples fluctuated over space and time, suggesting competitive interactions between parasites or differences in vector ecology. Our analyses of parasite prevalence and MHC Class II-ß allelic variation found that malaria infection was not associated with patterns of …

Initial Estuarine Response To Inorganic Nutrient Inputs From A Legacy Mining Facility Adjacent To Tampa Bay, Florida, Marcus W. Beck, Andrew Altieri, Christine Angelini, Maya C. Burke, Jing Chen, Diana W. Chin, Jayne Gardiner, Chuanmin Hu, Katherine A. Hubbard, Yonggang Liu, Cary Lopez, Miles Medina, Elise Morrison, Edward J. Phlips, Gary E. Raulerson, Sheila Scolaro, Edward T. Sherwood, David Tomasko, Robert H. Weisberg, Joseph Whalen

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Legacy mining facilities pose significant risks to aquatic resources. From March 30th to April 9th, 2021, 814 million liters of phosphate mining wastewater and marine dredge water from the Piney Point facility were released into lower Tampa Bay (Florida, USA). This resulted in an estimated addition of 186 metric tons of total nitrogen, exceeding typical annual external nitrogen load estimates to lower Tampa Bay in a matter of days. An initial phytoplankton bloom (non-harmful diatoms) was first observed in April. Filamentous cyanobacteria blooms (Dapis spp.) peaked in June, followed by a bloom of the red tide organism Karenia brevis …

Impact Of Delaying Irrigation On Wilting, Seed Yield, And Other Agronomic Traits Of Determinate Mg5 Soybean, Francia Ravelombola, Andrea Acuna, Liliana Florez-Palacios, Chengjun Wu, Derrick Harrison, Maria De Oliveira, Joshua Winter, Marcos Da Silva, Trenton Roberts, Christopher Henry, Fernando Grignola, Ehsanollah Shakiba, Leandro Mozzoni

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soybean production in the U.S. Mid-South relies heavily on irrigation with 85% of soybean surfaces irrigated in Arkansas. Reduction in irrigation due to water quantity restrictions will significantly affect soybean seed yield, making variety selection increasingly important. The objective of the study was to assess if irrigation onsets at different reproductive stages affect wilting, seed yield, and key agronomic traits on determinate maturity group 5 (MG 5) soybean. One-hundred sixty-five F₄-derived populations of recombinant inbred lines with determinate growth habit, similar maturity, and contrasting wilting potential were planted in an augmented strip-plot design in four environments as a …

Seasonal Trends In Adult Apparent Survival And Reproductive Trade-Offs Reveal Potential Constraints To Earlier Nesting In A Migratory Bird, Kathleen R. Callery, John A. Smallwood, Anjolene R. Hunt, Emilie R. Snyder, Julie A. Heath

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Birds aim to optimize resources for feeding young and self-maintenance by timing reproduction to coincide with peak food availability. When reproduction is mistimed, birds could incur costs that affect their survival. We studied whether nesting phenology correlated with the apparent survival of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) from two distinct populations and examined trends in clutch-initiation dates. We estimated apparent survival using multi-state mark-recapture models with nesting timing, nesting success, sex, age, and weather covariates. Nesting timing predicted the apparent survival of successful adults; however, the effect differed between populations. Early nesting kestrels had higher apparent survival than later nesters in …

Functional Role Of Ppal And Potential For Moss In Industrial Applications., Susana Perez Martinez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an examination and characterization of the functional roles of PPAL. PROTEIN PRENYLTRANSFERASE ALPHA SUBUNIT-LIKE (PPAL) is a recently discovered gene. PPAL homologs are present in all plants and many animals, where its function is largely unknown. It is possible that PPAL could participate in prenylation processes since it shares similarity to the α subunits of known prenylation enzymes. Prenylation is a post-translational modification of proteins that involves the addition of a lipid moiety to proteins to facilitate membrane targeting and association and promote protein-protein interactions. Prenylation has important roles in plant growth and development, including …

Lysosomal Evasion Of Legionella Pneumophilia The Effector., Bethany Vaughn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Legionella pneumophila is a Gram-negative facultative intracellular bacterium found in freshwater environments that has co-evolved to survive and proliferate in various amoeba and protozoan species, which serve as the natural host for the bacterium. Humans are an accidental host of L. pneumophila, where infection occurs upon inhalation of aerosolized water droplets that contain the bacteria. Intracellular proliferation of L. pneumophila in alveolar macrophages is essential for manifestation of pneumonia, designated as Legionnaires’ Disease. Biogenesis of the legionella containing vacuole (LCV) occurs via interception of ER-Golgi vesicle trafficking and avoids the default endosomal/lysosomal degradation pathway. Intracellular proliferation of L. pneumophila …

The Roles Of Pon2 In Mitochondrial Physiology, Lung Tumor Cell Proliferation, And Lung Tumorigenesis., Aaron Whitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Paraoxonase 2 (PON2) is an intracellular, multifunctional enzyme with near-ubiquitous tissue distribution. Within cells, PON2 is localized to mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), where it mitigates the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). PON2’s chief enzymatic function is its lactonase activity, through which it catalyzes the hydrolysis of a bacterial quorum-sensing molecule, N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone (C12), effectively disrupting bacterial intercellular communication and protecting against infection. C12 is produced by the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and has been shown to disrupt various aspects of eukaryotic host cell physiology and evoke apoptotic cell death through the activity of PON2. Additionally, PON2 has garnered …

Assessing The Role Of Biology Undergraduates' Metacognitive Calibration And Neural Activity During Model-Based Reasoning, Mei Grace Behrendt

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Metacognition refers to the critical awareness of or ability to monitor, regulate, control, and sequence of one's thoughts and performance. There is limited research that examines the relationship between metacognition and (a) academic performance and (b) general cognition among undergraduates. Moreover, there is an even greater paucity of literature that focuses more specifically on undergraduate biology students’ neural activity in relation to their metacognition.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between undergraduate life sciences students' metacognitive calibration, i.e., their capacity to self-evaluate their own performance, and their behavioral performance and brain activity during a biological error reasoning task. Thirty-four …

It Takes Brains: Cultivating The Learning Process For Effective Science Communication, Amy D. Hauver

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Learning is a complex, subjective process. An important perspective on learning is that anyone, regardless of their level of education, can participate in learning about science and contribute to their community. The public increasingly looks towards online resources to find answers to challenges, so it is necessary that people become empowered to take information about issues rooted in science and apply them to their own lives and communities. In my experiences as a learner and educator, understanding the learning process provides a framework to design successful learning environments.

Since the brain is the organ most closely associated with the process …

Site-Specific Pest Management In Nebraska Corn And Soybean Production Systems, Zachary D. Rystrom

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Site-specific management (SSM) is widely used by farm producers to fertilize their fields. However, whole field management is currently practiced in integrated pest management (IPM). Site-specific management and agricultural technology can improve IPM especially when precision application of inputs can reduce selection pressure on pest populations, benefit the environment, or save costs of inputs. There is potential for site-specific pest management (SSPM) where pests, or environments vary spatially, and recommended management practices can be applied with precision. Three case studies are evaluated for SSPM to be applied in Nebraska corn and soybean production systems including corn rootworm, preemergence herbicides, and …

First Line Of Defense: Role Of Surface Waxes In Sorghum Defense Against Aphids, Juan David Betancurt Cardona

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Since 2013, the sugarcane aphid (SCA; Melanaphis sacchari) has become a devastating pest in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in the United States. Efforts to mitigate this pest and contain its rapid population growth have increased recently. Host plant resistance (HPR) is an effective and environmentally friendly strategy to reduce aphid populations in this crop. Many factors make SCA a challenging pest to control. For example, SCA can overcome drastic climatic changes, which allows them to successfully colonize sorghum plants at different developmental stages.

Epicuticular waxes (EW) constitute the first point of contact between plants and their environment. EW …

Interactions Between Resistance Genes In Wheat Triticum Aestivum L. And Wheat Curl Mite Populations Aceria Tosichella Keifer (Eriophyidae), Tran Kim Ngan Luong

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wheat curl mite (WCM) (Aceria tosichella Keifer) is a major pest of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), being the only known vector of three damaging plant viruses, Wheat streak mosaic virus, Triticum mosaic virus, and High Plains wheat mosaic virus. This wheat-mite-virus complex causes significant yield loss globally. Management has been mostly through cultural practices to reduce mite build up in volunteer wheat, thereby reducing the spread of viruses. Host plant resistance to WCM has also been used as an important management strategy for this wheat-mite-virus complex. However, WCM is a cryptic species complex, resulting …

Monarch Butterflies: Rearing Methodologies And The Impact Of Fungicide And Insecticide Exposures, Matthew Greiner

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The North American migratory monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus L., populations has experienced a ca. 90% decline over the past two decades. The decline is attributed to climate change, loss and degradation of overwintering habitat, and the loss of milkweed plants in the midwestern United States. The remaining milkweed stands often occur close to agricultural fields, and efforts to establish additional milkweed on the landscape focus on agricultural systems. However, milkweed plants near agricultural fields are likely exposed to pesticides that could adversely impact monarch caterpillars. Effective management of milkweed habitat supporting monarch caterpillars requires knowledge about the toxicological impacts of …

Inactivation Of Salmonella In Black Peppercorn By Fluidization With Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor, Edel Summers

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) at inactivating Salmonella inoculated in whole black pepper when used as fluidizing gas media. HPV treatment was conducted at two different temperatures (45°C and 60°C) and two dwell times (30 min and 60 min). Microbial reduction and residual hydrogen peroxide were measured at three storage times: 0 h (immediately after treatment), 24 h and 48 h post-treatment. The effect of HPV on the quality of whole black peppercorn was evaluated 48 h post-treatment based on changes in piperine content, total phenolics, antioxidant activity, total …

Lingnan Gardeners Newsletter (No. 61) = 彩園通訊 (第61期), Lingnan Gardeners, Centre For Cultural Research And Development, Lingnan University

Lingnan Gardeners Newsletter 嶺南彩園通訊

No abstract provided.

Adjusting For Speaking Rate When Perceiving Speech In Background Noise., Dawson C Stephens

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Speech perception is a very relevant concept occurring every day. Acoustic context effects such as temporal contrast effects (TCEs) influence perception significantly. For instance, when a faster context sentence is spoken, the participant should perceive the following target word as slower and more like /t/ in “tier”; when a slower context sentence is spoken, the participant should perceive the following target sound as faster and more like /d/ in “deer”. Recent work by Bosker et al. (2020) concluded that selective attention (directing attention to a specific stimulus while ignoring surrounding stimuli) had no effect on TCEs, suggesting they were automatic …

Nitrogen Availability In Dune Systems And Its Effect On Root Fungal Endophyte Communities., Haley E. Sage

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

As global change persists, changes in resource availability can influence plant-microbe interactions. To understand how resource availability can influence these interactions and species diversity, I focused this research on how varying nitrogen (N) levels affect root endophyte communities in the plant species Ammophila breviligulata, an ecosystem engineer in the dune system. I analyzed the relationship between nitrogen addition and microbial community composition across 60 plots treated with three nitrogen addition levels (control, low, and high) in a long-term experimental field site in the Lake Michigan dunes. I identified Ammophila breviligulata's root endophyte community after creating a culture collection and …

Functional Characterization Of A Putative Alternative Oxidase In Sporisorium Reilianum F. Sp. Zeae., Emma A Lamb

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Sporisorium reilianum is a pathogenic basidiomycete fungus with two formae speciales, each capable of infecting corn (SRZ) or sorghum (SRS), respectively. This fungus is also a dimorphic variety, meaning it can switch between its haploid, yeast-like sporidia and diploid teliospore stages over the course of its life cycle (Schirawski). When S. reilianum is found in a haploid state and conditions are favorable, it will mate with a compatible non-self mating type to begin filamentous growth and proliferation in the plant host (Zhao). S. relianum, like most fungi, utilizes the four classical components of the electron transport chain to produce …

Effects Of Tannin-Free Grain Sorghum Varieties On The Metabolizable Energy, Performance, And Intestinal Health Of Poultry, Alissa Moritz

All Dissertations

The single largest cost of poultry production is the cost of feed, and it is favorable to seek more sustainable, alternative feed ingredients to reduce the competition between human, animal, and industrial users. Grain sorghum is a potential alternative feedstuff to minimize the dependence of corn by the poultry industry. Not only is it nutritionally similar to corn, but it is tolerant to dry, sandy soils, which allows it to grow successfully in arid climates. This is highly desirable because of its potential to alleviate the production pressure of growing other cereal grains like corn that are less tolerant to …

Incorporating Human Effects In Quantifying Mechanisms Of Stream Fish Community Structure Using Metacommunity Theory, Lauren E. Stoczynski

All Dissertations

Metacommunity theory incorporates local and regional factors to understand how biotic communities are structured across the landscape. Despite established knowledge of how humans impact aquatic systems, inclusion of anthropogenic factors in metacommunity studies have been largely ignored. Additionally, alpha, beta, and gamma diversity can all be explored at the metacommunity level to investigate mechanistic drivers of community structure. Beta diversity can be further partitioned into turnover and richness difference components, each with different mechanistic drivers. Streams provide an excellent study system for metacommunity research because of the dendritic structure of watersheds and the natural delineation that watershed boundaries provide. Large-extent …

Characterization Of Mef2c-Related Disorders: Genotype, Phenotype, And Gene Pathway Dysregulation, Jessica Ann Cooley Coleman

All Dissertations

MEF2C­-related disorders are characterized by intellectual disability, developmental delay, lack of speech, seizures, stereotypic movements, hypotonia, and brain abnormalities and are caused by pathogenic alterations involving the MEF2C gene. Despite published cases, MEF2C­-related disorders are difficult to recognize clinically. These studies sought to further characterize MEF2C­-related disorders by investigating the genotypes, phenotypes, and gene functions (or dysfunctions) associated with the disorder.

Tremors have been reported in some patients with MEF2C­-related disorders, but the concept of tremors has been complicated by vague definitions and numerous categorization methods. We performed a concept analysis following the Walker and Avant …

Teaching Programmable Microcontrollers To Novice Users In A College Of Agriculture: Effects On Attitude, Self-Efficacy, And Knowledge, Grant T. Hood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of two articles that examined an instructional treatment based on the use of Arduino UNO R3 programmable microcontrollers in a fundamentals of agriculture systems technology course at the University of Arkansas. The first article examined students’ breadboarding and programming self-efficacy and knowledge of Arduino. The treatment consisted of a three-class-period instructional treatment, starting with a pretest before instruction to measure students’ baseline interest, knowledge, and self-efficacy of breadboarding and programming Arduino. This was followed with a short 30-minute instructional video explaining basic Arduino programming and breadboarding. Next a hands-on laboratory activity requiring students to breadboard and program …

Managing Stress Tolerance On Warm-Season Putting Greens In The Transition Zone, Thomas Edward Walton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of warm-season putting greens in the transition zone has increased in recent years. Ultradwarf bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers x C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy) is the most prevalent warm-season putting green selection in the transition zone, however, newly developed greens-type zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) cultivars represent another potential selection for golf courses. The two major limitations of warm-season grasses in the transition zone are a general lack of cold- and shade-tolerance. Protective covers are essential to protect ultradwarf bermudagrass putting greens in the winter months. Unfortunately, golf courses can still experience winterkill underneath protective covers. Two field trials were conducted …

The Role Of Ccaat Binding Factor In The Regulation Of Catalase Gene Expression In Candida Albicans, Zahra Al-Rumaih

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Candida albicans is a fungal opportunistic human pathogen. Its infections range from surficial infections like skin rash to fatal systemic infections. Filamentation growth mode is associated with C. albicans virulence because it helps penetration of the host’s epithelial cells. The CCAAT-binding factor (CBF) is a conserved heterooligomeric transcription factor found in 30% of eukaryotes genes. In C. albicans it is composed of 4 major subunits, including Hap2, Hap3, Hap4, and Hap5. Hap2 and Hap5 are essential for DNA binding and function. Hap4 has 3 homologous subunits: Hap41 and Hap42 are putative subunits of CBP. Hap43 is the only Hap4 subunit …

Naphthalene And Anthracene Degrading Potentials Of Bacteria Isolated From Soil Samples With Evidence Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon(Pah) Contamination, Olatunde Clement Akinola

Theses (2016-Present)

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) from crude oil and other sources is one of the most serious environmental problems. PAH has an adverse effect on human health, water bodies and agricultural products. Removal of PAH through the physical and chemical methods are expensive and not environmentally friendly. Bioremediation, which is the use of microorganisms to degrade environmental pollutants like naphthalene and anthracene and render them less toxic, provides a cheaper and safer method. The objective of this research is to study the naphthalene and anthracene degrading potentials of bacteria isolated from soil samples with evidence of cude oil contamination. Another objective …

Identifying Genetic Differences Among African American And Caucasian Triple Negative Breast Cancer Genotypes, Christopher Jordan Dixon

Theses (2016-Present)

Triple negative breast cancers (TNBC) are closely related to basal-like cancers and classified based on their molecular signatures and their progenitor cell type. TNBCs lack the presence of three common types of receptors known to fuel breast cancer growth: estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptors 2 (HER2neu). TNBC represent 10-20% of all molecular breast cancer subtypes. Even though genomic and transcriptome analyses show that many of the molecular signatures associated with TNBC are not related to ethnicity, clinicians and researchers find that African American (AA) TNBC women have higher mortality rates compared to Caucasian …