Life Sciences Commons^™

Table Of Contents, Annals Of Health Law And Life Sciences

Annals of Health Law and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Pandemic Response Through Whole Person Care: The Intersection Of Physical And Mental Health And The Law, Jennifer Kinsley Smith, Esq., Elizabeth J. Lattner, Ma, Allison Kreiner, Md, Edward J. Kilbane, Md, Ma, Keyvan Ravakhah, Md, Mba

Annals of Health Law and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.

Notch3 Expression In Zebrafish With Inherited Degeneration Vs. Inflicted Damage, Meghan Graeca

Senior Honors Projects

Some mammalian species demonstrate the ability to regenerate functional photoreceptors after retinal injury, including those with mutations that result in non-syndromic diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa. Previous research has shown that regenerative capability exists in non-mutated animals following injury inflicted by light damage. Studies have suggested that, in mutated animals with inherited degeneration, regeneration does not occur spontaneously. However, mutated animals have exhibited regeneration following inflicted damage. Regenerative capabilities have been shown to be linked to the highly conserved Notch signaling pathway. To determine if differences in Notch signaling play a role in the lack of regeneration in zebrafish with …

The Isolation And Characterization Of Bacteriophage Hasitha, Gillian Brown

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Microbacteriophage Hasitha is a virus that infects Microbacterium foliorum, a bacterium associated with grasses that was first discovered in Germany. Hasitha was isolated from an enriched compost sample and is of particular interest due to its unusual growth pattern. Most bacteriophages require actively growing host cells to produce new phage progeny. However, Hasitha can infect and kill stationary (non-replicating) bacterial cells. We discovered this unusual characteristic through a fortuitous observation of infected lawns that were allowed to incubate in the lab workspace for approximately one month. During this time, a noticeable “halo” grew around the initial site of infection …

Towards Mapping Biodiversity From Above: Can Fusing Lidar And Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Predict Taxonomic, Functional, And Phylogenetic Tree Diversity In Temperate Forests?, Aaron G. Kamoske, Kyla M. Dahlin, Quentin D. Read, Sydne Record, Scott C. Stark, Shawn P. Serbin, Phoebe L. Zarnetske

Biology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Aim: Rapid global change is impacting the diversity of tree species and essential ecosystem functions and services of forests. It is therefore critical to understand and predict how the diversity of tree species is spatially distributed within and among forest biomes. Satellite remote sensing platforms have been used for decades to map forest structure and function but are limited in their capacity to monitor change by their relatively coarse spatial resolution and the complexity of scales at which different dimensions of biodiversity are observed in the field. Recently, airborne remote sensing platforms making use of passive high spectral resolution (i.e., …

Editorial: Genetic Basis Of Tolerance Induction Defects Underlying The Development Of Autoimmune Pathologies., Jeremy Racine, Laurence Morel, Yi-Guang Chen, David V. Serreze

Faculty Research 2022

No abstract provided.

Causes Of Death And Conditional Survival Estimates Of Long-Term Lung Cancer Survivors., Qun Zhang, Yuan Dai, Hongda Liu, Wenkui Sun, Yuming Huang, Zheng Gong, Shanlin Dai, Hui Kong, Weiping Xie

Faculty Research 2022

INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer ranks the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. This retrospective cohort study was designed to determine time-dependent death hazards of diverse causes and conditional survival of lung cancer.

METHODS: We collected 816,436 lung cancer cases during 2000-2015 in the SEER database, after exclusion, 612,100 cases were enrolled for data analyses. Cancer-specific survival, overall survival and dynamic death hazard were assessed in this study. Additionally, based on the FDA approval time of Nivolumab in 2015, we evaluated the effect of immunotherapy on metastatic patients' survival by comparing cases in 2016-2018 (immunotherapy era, n=7135) and those in 2013-2016 (non-immunotherapy …

Provoking The Desire, Taking Away The Performance: Toxic Effects From An Erectile Dysfunction Supplement, Jenna Betz, Md, Anjali Das, Md Ms

Poster Presentations

No abstract provided.

One Shell Of A Problem: Cumulative Threat Analysis Of Male Sea Turtles Indicates High Anthropogenic Threat For Migratory Individuals And Gulf Of Mexico Residents, Micah Ashford

Masters Theses

Human use of oceans has dramatically increased in the 21st century, with some of the highest rates of change found within the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Sea turtles are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic stressors in the marine environment as they make lengthy migrations between foraging and breeding sites often along coastal migration corridors. Sea turtles face severe population pressure from humans, yet little is known about how movement and threats interact specifically for male sea turtles. To better understand male sea turtle movement, and the threats they encounter within their expansive ranges, we tagged 40, adult male sea turtles …

Assessment Of Repeatability And Behavioral Syndromes In Genetically Distinct Clades Of Eastern Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus), Kelsey Garner

Masters Theses

Animal personality implies limited behavioral plasticity and behavioral traits which are correlated across contexts. Correlated behaviors, sometimes referred to as behavioral syndromes, have the potential to inhibit behavioral traits from evolving independently. Limits on behavioral variation can influence a population’s ability to invade new geographic areas and exploit new niches. One way to explore such variation is to examine behavioral syndromes in genetically distinct populations of wide-ranging species that exhibit different dispersal pathways and distances. The personality-dependent dispersal syndrome suggests that certain traits, such as exploratory and risk-taking behavior, are correlated with dispersal success. The Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon …

Survey Of Diatom Periphyton Assemblages In Lake George, Joy Jackson

Masters Theses

Lake George is an oligotrophic lake that has been monitored by the International Biological Monitoring Program (IBM) since the 1960s. The 51 km long lake is separated into two deep basins, one in the south where the major stream inputs are located, and one in the north where the lake feeds the La Chute River, which empties into Lake Champlain. The two basins are separated by a shallow channel named the “Narrows.” The southern basin has experienced a higher level of development than the northern basin. The aim of this study is to characterize the diatom assemblages in the northern …

Validation Of Prmr Equations In A Non-Caucasian Sample – Ethnicity As A Variable In Predicting Resting Metabolic Rate, Erin N. Bannister

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study intends to identify a predictive resting metabolic rate (pRMR) equation that is predictive of the measured resting metabolic rate (mRMR) in a sample that includes a group of Black Americans. The handful of commonly used pRMR equations, such as the Mifflin- St. Jeor or Harris-Benedict equations, were created without defining the demographics of their populations, while validation of these equations is typically done with almost exclusively Caucasian subjects. Black and brown Americans require the same evidence of precision in predictions of daily energy needs as Caucasian Americans. When applied to non-Caucasian samples, these equations appear in the literature …

Comparing The Effectiveness And Appeal Of Delivering A Pilot Text Message And An In-Person Whole Body Approach (Wba) Program To Northern Illinois Food Bank Clients., Ashley Rae Werner

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: The Whole-Body Approach (WBA) is a program created by Northern Illinois Food Bank in partnership with Northern Illinois University (NIU) Nutrition and Dietetics Graduate students and faculty. This program has been delivered over the course of six years to various food pantries around the Northern Illinois area and modified in response to participants’ feedback. The topics that are discussed throughout the program include stress management, relationship with food, mindful eating, healthy body image, and enjoyable movement. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was adapted to a delivered via text messages for Northern Illinois Food Bank My Pantry …

Control Del Barren Ador De Cabeza Plana En Viveros, Con Cultivos De Cubiertas Invernales Flatheaded Borer Management In Nurseries With Winter Cover Crops, Karla Addesso, Axel Gonzalez, Jason Oliver, Anthony Witcher

Extension Publications in Spanish

No abstract provided.

Translocation Of Timber Rattlesnakes At Two West Virginia State Forests, Elizabeth Morgan Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In wildlife management, translocation is defined as the purposeful movement of an individual(s) from one place to another with a wildlife management goal. Translocation has become a common tool for mitigating negative human-wildlife interactions. We conducted a translocation study on timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) in response to numerous human-rattlesnake encounters with the goal of developing a translocation protocol that would allow natural resources personnel to mitigate negative encounters between the public and rattlesnakes and reduce impacts to local timber rattlesnake populations. In this study, we scaled translocation distance to site-specific home range characteristics to assess whether translocation outcomes …

Antioxidant Biomarkers And Nutraceutical Therapeutics In Neurodegeneration And Neurotrauma, Lilia A. Koza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), yielding a Glascow Coma Scale of 13-15, is the most commonly occurring severity of TBI. Pathology from mTBI consists of blood brain barrier disruption, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, protein aggregation, axonal degeneration, and resulting neuronal death. These processes deplete the body’s endogenous antioxidant system. We report a retrospective analysis of antioxidant blood biomarkers in patients with a history of mTBI from a local sports medicine clinic, Resilience Code. We found persistent sex-specific antioxidant depletions in mTBI patients associated with worsened symptomology.

Certain populations, such as athletes, are at high risk for repetitive mTBI …

Morphological Variation And Community Science In Orthoptera, Amy Byerly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Patterns of morphological divergence across species’ ranges provide insight into local adaptation and speciation. Here, we compare phenotypic divergence among 4,221 crickets from 337 populations of two related species of field cricket, Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus and their hybrids. We find that these species differ across their geographic range in key morphological traits, such as body size and ovipositor length, and we directly compare phenotype with genotype for a subset of crickets demonstrating nuclear genetic introgression, phenotypic intermediacy of hybrids, and essentially unidirectional mitochondrial introgression. We discuss how these morphological traits relate to life history differences between the species. …

Organellar Zn2+ Homeostasis And The Role Of Trpml Channels In Neuronal Lysosome Physiology And Axonal Transport, Taylor Franklin Minckley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Zinc (Zn²⁺) is crucial for proper cellular function, and as such it is important to measure and track Zn²⁺ dynamics in living cells. Fluorescent sensors have been used to estimate Zn²⁺ content of subcellular compartments, but little is known about endolysosomal Zn2+ homeostasis. Similarly, although numerous sensors have been reported, it is unclear whether and how Zn²⁺ can be released from intracellular compartments into the cytosol due to a lack of probes that can detect physiological dynamics of cytosolic Zn²⁺. My dissertation started with comparing and characterizing different Zn²⁺ sensors including the …

Testing The Drosophila Maternal Haploid Gene For Functional Divergence And A Role In Hybrid Incompatibility, Dean M. Castillo, Benjamin Mccormick, Connor M. Kean, Sahana Natesan, Daniel A. Barbash

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

Crosses between Drosophila simulans females and Drosophila melanogaster males produce viable F1 sons and poorly viable F1 daughters. Unlike most hybrid incompatibilities, this hybrid incompatibility violates Haldane’s rule, the observation that incompatibilities preferentially affect the heterogametic sex. Furthermore, it has a different genetic basis than hybrid lethality in the reciprocal cross, with the causal allele in Drosophila melanogaster being a large species-specific block of complex satellite DNA on its X chromosome known as the 359-bp satellite, rather than a protein-coding locus. The causal allele(s) in Drosophila simulans are unknown but likely involve maternally expressed genes or factors since the F1 …

Incorporating Chokeberry (Aronia) Into A Home Landscape, Claude J. Jean, Paul E. Read, Ellen T. Paparozzi

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

Chokeberry (Aronia) is an ornamental plant that has found use in the home landscape, providing colorful displays and annually producing berries for the enjoyment of the homeowner and wildlife alike. With careful placement, this durable plant needs minimal care and has few pest problems. It is gaining attention for its timeless beauty.

Floral Inventory And Phenology At Flat Iron Lake Preserve, Taylor Smelker

Summer Research

This study was conducted at the Flat Iron Lake preserve located in Greenville, Michigan. Since around 2008. students have been on the preserve to study the blooming season of flowers and how they are affected by climate change. The property consists of habitats such as a prairie, woody forests, a vernal pool, a ravine and two swamps

Clypeasteroida Sp., Sand Dollar Test, Delaney Deinlein, Sarah Gerega, Amy Hirons

Hirons Field Techniques

Test from Clypeasteroida sp. Collected from Sanibel Island, Florida just before Hurricane Ian (before Sep 28, 2022) by Sarah Gerega.

Macroptilium Atropurpureum - Environmental Weed Risk Assessment 2022, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Environmental Weed Risk Assessments

Introducing new plants to an area may have both positive and negative effects on the environment, economy and community. To minimise the negative environmental impact of introducing new agricultural species, DPIRD conducts a risk assessment procedure based on widely accepted scientific standards. This report assesses Siratro, Atro (Macroptilium atropurpureum). Siratro (Atro) is a twining and climbing, perennial tropical legume.

Phoenix Dactylifera - Environmental Weed Risk Assessment 2022, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Environmental Weed Risk Assessments

Introducing new plants to an area may have both positive and negative effects on the environment, economy and community. To minimise the negative environmental impact of introducing new agricultural species, DPIRD conducts a risk assessment procedure based on widely accepted scientific standards. This report assesses Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). The date Phoenix dactylifera is one of the oldest cultivated tree crops, thought to have been domesticated in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) more than 5000 years ago. The chief commercial production areas are in the Middle East and northern Africa. Date palm plants are diecious (i.e. either male or female), with only …

The Effects Of Neuronal Growth Factors On Lps-Activated Schwann Cells, Caitlyn E. Henry, Peyton Kimmel, Angela Asirvatham Ph.D.

Student Research Poster Presentations 2022

Schwann cells (SCs) are the principal support cells of neurons in the peripheral nervous system, that both myelinate axons for the rapid conduction of electrical impulses as well as assist in axonal repair during nerve injury. During nerve injury, SCs secrete tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)^1,5,6 and other proinflammatory mediators^1,6, attracting macrophages to the site of injury to induce inflammation and clear myelin debris.^1,6 Once the debris is cleared, the neuron stimulates SC proliferation by secreting neuronal mitogens, such as heregulin^3,4, and an unknown factor that activates the cAMP pathway³, an important …

An Analysis Of Different Treatment Options For Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Ariella Shifteh

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus is a highly dangerous autoimmune disease. Type 1 diabetes is most commonly seen in children and young adults as pancreatic Beta (B) cell destruction is highest at this age. Patients with Type 1 Diabetes are required to take insulin injections to compensate for their lack of insulin, but many patients still have episodes of hyperglycemia. This paper analyzes and compares the effectiveness of different treatment options. The standard approach is to prescribe insulin injections, but this analysis finds insulin injections in conjunction with oral medications such as Metformin and Sodium-glucose co-transporter (SGLT) inhibitors has a positive …

Cerebral Organoids As Models For Neurological Disorders, Esther Karman

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Despite the devastating effects of neurological disorders on millions of people each year, for decades, brain research remained stagnant in the face of scientific advancement in other areas. Ethical concerns, debilitating costs, and a lack of suitable models created an unfriendly environment for the study of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and gliomas. Recent developments in the field of stem cells, including Yamanaka’s discovery of the four transcription factors necessary to induce pluripotency, and the subsequent culturing of induced pluripotent stem cell models known as organoids, opened …

The Effect Of Creatine On Immortalized Schwann Cell Proliferation, Peyton Kimmel, Caitlyn Henry, Angela Asirvatham

Student Research Poster Presentations 2022

Creatine is an important component of the high-energy phosphate transfer to regulate cellular levels of ATP. The functions of creatine supplementation are well studied in the muscular and skeletal system, however the impact of creatine in the nervous system, specifically Schwann cells, is relatively unknown. Schwann cell growth in vitro is facilitated by heregulin, a neuron secreted growth factor, and forskolin, a pharmacological agent that activates cAMP. In peripheral nervous system injuries, recovery time is based around Schwann cell’s ability to proliferate and differentiate, and it is unknown what role creatine plays in this process. It was hypothesized that increasing …

Simulation Of An Inflammatory Model Using Schwann Cells, Caitlyn Henry, Peyton Kimmel, Angela Asirvatham

Student Research Poster Presentations 2022

During peripheral nerve injury, the myelin surrounding the neuronal axons is damaged, initiating an inflammatory response to remove myelin debris. Once myelin debris is cleared, Schwann cells acquire a proliferating phenotype which allows them to grow and divide so that remyelination can occur. The neuron stimulates Schwann cell division by secreting growth factors, like heregulin, and an unknown growth factor that activates the cAMP pathway. Although the role of cAMP in axonal regeneration is well-known, not much has been explored about its function in Schwann cells during nerve injury and inflammation. To simulate an inflammatory environment, the S16 Schwann cell …

Sure 2022 Undergraduate Science Conference Booklet, Sure Network

Group Reports

The SURE 2022 Conference was the fifth series of Science Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Conferences. The conference took place on Friday, 14th October, 2022, co-hosted by SETU – Carlow campus and TU Dublin as a live Face2Face event running simultaneously in both venues on the same day. Students from throughout Ireland completing their Final Year Project in a science discipline in 2021-22 presented their undergraduate research work to this conference.

The aims of each of the SURE conferences are to:

• Provide current students with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the work which has been undertaken by recent graduates, …