Life Sciences Commons^™

The Response Of Beef Cattle To Disturbances From Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uavs), Gabriel Abdulai

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly becoming common in animal agriculture. However, research regarding the impact of UAV disturbance on animal wellbeing is lacking or limited. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of UAV flights on beef cattle by measuring cattle heart and movement rate when introduced to single or multiple UAV flights. A total of 16 -18 crossbred beef heifers were introduced to different flights patterns at between 5 and 9 m above ground level (AGL) at approximately 1 to 2 m/s horizontal velocity for 4 weeks with flights repeated 3 days per week. Results …

Exploration Of Lignin-Based Superabsorbent Polymers (Hydrogels) For Soil Water Management And As A Carrier For Delivering Rhizobium Spp., Toby Adjuik

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Superabsorbent polymers (hydrogels) as soil amendments may improve soil hydraulic properties and act as carrier materials beneficial to soil microorganisms. Researchers have mostly explored synthetic hydrogels which may not be environmentally sustainable. This dissertation focused on the development and application of lignin-based hydrogels as sustainable soil amendments. This dissertation also explores the development of pedotransfer transfer functions (PTFs) for predicting saturated hydraulic conductivity using statistical and machine learning methods with a publicly available large data set. A lignin-based hydrogel was synthesized, and its impact on soil water retention was determined in silt loam and loamy fine sand soils. Hydrogel treatment …

Effects Of Physiological Stage And Diet On Drosophila Suzukii Olfaction, Aerianna Shindindowi Littler

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Massive economic damage by spotted-wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, results from their unique egg laying behavior. Gravid SWD flies employ a complex suite of behaviors to find fruit with the optimum firmness and chemistry. We tested for SWD attraction to various fruits and found overripe raspberries to be most attractive to gravid flies which was unexpected since they oviposit in ripe fruit. We next tested the same choice assay in a T-maze and found that the results were comparable. We also found discrete odor profiles among the ripening stages. When testing for sugars and CO2 concentrations from field-collections, overripe …

Net Effects Of Wild And Managed Birds In Agroecosystems, Karina Garcia

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Agricultural intensification and expansion have reduced biodiversity in agroecosystems, jeopardizing the ecosystem services that nature provides to humans in these landscapes including wildlife-mediated pest control. Among these purveyors of ecosystem services are birds, who can provide services to agroecosystems by consuming arthropod pests. Yet some bird species also act as pests by consuming crops. Herein, I use molecular diet analysis through high-throughput sequencing on DNA extracted from bird fecal samples to examine birds’ diet and classify bird species as consumers of major strawberry pests (Lygus spp.). Additionally, I use targeted PCR approaches to determine which bird species consumed strawberries. …

Midgut Metamorphosis In The Yellow Fever Mosquito, Aedes Aegypti, Najla Mohammed Albishi

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Remodeling of larval tissues including the midgut is essential for the completion of metamorphosis in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). The midgut structure and function have been extensively studied in adult Ae. aegypti, because adult females need to blood feed to reproduce, and the alimentary canal is the first barrier that encounters pathogens ingested through the blood meal. The midgut of Ae. aegypti undergoes remodeling during the larval-pupal metamorphosis. The degeneration of larval cells and the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells to form pupal-adult midgut are the major events that take place during metamorphosis. …

Rna Interference For Emerald Ash Borer Suppression: Ecotoxicological Assessment And Delivery Methods, Flavia Pampolini

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), is a highly invasive phloem-feeding insect native to Asia. It has killed millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) since its accidental introduction into North America, causing profound economic and ecological impacts. RNA interference (RNAi) or double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-mediated gene silencing is an emerging biotechnology that is developing as an innovative tool for pest management. Exogenous dsRNA triggers the RNAi pathway, silences genes, and disrupts protein function, causing insect mortality. RNAi has proven effective in reducing target gene expression and causing mortality in EAB; however, two aspects stand as barriers …

Gene Silencing Provides Insights Into Bark Beetle Biology And Creates Potential For Broad Scale Forest Protection, Beth R. Kyre

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Dendroctonus bark beetles are among the most economically and ecologically significant forest pests in North America and play a critical role in the overall health of conifer forest ecosystems. Dendroctonus bark beetles influence ecosystem benefits and biodiversity and drive forest succession, and adversely affect timber production, forest management, and recreation. As temperatures surge and climatic fluctuations become more extreme, catastrophic bark beetle outbreaks are increasing in frequency, escalating pressures on highly vulnerable conifer forests already compromised by heat and drought. Eruptive outbreaks of Dendroctonus beetles are largely unhindered by traditional silvicultural management; these practices further disrupt forest ecosystem services, including …

A Functional Genomics Approach To Overwintering Mechanisms In Insects, Emily Allison Wheeler Nadeau

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Insects living in temperate and polar environments have developed numerous adaptations to increase survival at low temperatures. A majority of insects are freeze-intolerant and die from internal ice formation, but some are freeze-tolerant and can survive ice formation in extracellular spaces. Both categories of insects prepare for winter with a combination of seasonal and rapid acclimation responses, which differ both in time course and in underlying mechanisms. In this dissertation, I examine adaptations for winter survival in several insect species with a specific focus on molecular mechanisms. To better understand the underpinning mechanisms of these adaptations, I leverage functional genomics …

Pilot Study: The Role Of Online Grocery Shopping In Meal Planning & Prepartion: Utilizing Text Message Based Behavioral Nudges, Brittany Nikole Cox

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Purpose: To examine if an online grocery shopping intervention improves meal planning and preparation and subsequent dietary intake. The primary hypothesis was that online shopping can improve meal planning and meal preparation habits while also improving dietary intake.

Method: Participants were randomized to either online only (O), online plus nutritional nudges (O+I), or standard brick and mortar (BM). Those in the O+I arm received behavioral nudges three (3) times per week and were part of a Facebook group assisting them with meal planning, nutrition education, and reminders to shop online. The O arm only received reminders to shop online, and …

Callery Pear Removal Experiment: Trees-Intact (Medlar Conservation Area), Margaret E. Maloney, Eric B. Borth, Grace Dietsch, Mary C. Lloyd, Ryan W. Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

The invasive tree Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is problematic in open habitats in the American Midwest. We investigated the efficacy of various control techniques on P. calleryana invasion in grasslands. Treatments were applied to P. calleryana stems that were single-stemmed trees (around 7 years; n = 40 stems), and response of those stems was measured.

Callery Pear Removal Experiment: Trees-Sprouting (Stillwater Conservation Area), Margaret E. Maloney, Eric B. Borth, Grace Dietsch, Mary C. Lloyd, Ryan W. Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

The invasive tree Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is problematic in open habitats in the American Midwest. We investigated the efficacy of various control techniques on P. calleryana invasion in grasslands. Treatments were applied to P. calleryana stems that had experienced mowing annually for several years and were sprouting (n = 100 stems) and response of those stems was measured.

Geospatial Data Permanent Plot, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Permanent plot GIS shapefile that measures 100m x 105m and consists of 420 contiguous 5m x 5m subplots. There are 21 transects that run from south to north and 20 subplots per transect that run east to west. This downloadable data is a zipped file containing 8 shapefile building blocks. Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983. Projected Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Ohio_South_FIPS_3402 (meters).

Field Maps 2022, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Historical field map scans (2022) for the permanent 100m x 105m research plot in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve.

Geospatial Data Trees 1994, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Location and demographic data collected for each individual tree in 1994 in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve. These maps were digitized from the historical field maps to a GIS shapefile for each sampling year. Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983. Projected Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Ohio_South_FIPS_3402 (meters).

Geospatial Data Trees 2000, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Location and demographic data collected for each individual tree in 2000 in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve. These maps were digitized from the historical field maps to a GIS shapefile for each sampling year. Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983. Projected Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Ohio_South_FIPS_3402 (meters).

Geospatial Data Trees 2022, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Location and demographic data collected for each individual tree in 2022 in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve. These maps were digitized to a GIS shapefile for each sampling year. Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983. Projected Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Ohio_South_FIPS_3402 (meters).

Geospatial Data Trees 1988, Grace K. Attea, Ryan W. Mcewan, John L. Vankat

Data Files for Old-Growth Deciduous Forest Dynamics Archive: Hueston Woods

Location and demographic data collected for each individual tree in 1988 in Hueston Woods State Nature Preserve. These maps were digitized from the historical field maps to a GIS shapefile for each sampling year. Geographic Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983. Projected Coordinate System: NAD_1983_StatePlane_Ohio_South_FIPS_3402 (meters).

Largemouth Bass In The Upper Mississippi River: An Evaluation Of Management Strategies And Understanding Potential Factors Influencing Dynamic Rate Functions, Kylie Beth Sterling

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) supports ecologically and economically important commercial and recreational fisheries. One recreational fishery in the UMR is the Largemouth Bass fishery. Recreational fisheries can be effectively managed using information on population dynamics, though little is known about Largemouth Bass population dynamics in large river ecosystems. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to 1) evaluate recruitment, growth, and mortality of three Largemouth Bass populations in the UMR, specifically within Pools 4, 8, and 13, and 2) to use those estimates of recruitment, growth and mortality to inform exploitation models to evaluate best management practices for each …

Anatomical Characterization Of Descending Projections Of Lateral Hypothalamic Glutamatergic And Gabaergic Neurons, Jeremy Lesser

Holster Scholar Projects

Important innate behaviors in mammals, such as sleep-wake regulation, arousal, eating, drinking, and stress, are associated with the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA). The LHA is a complex brain region consisting of broad populations of either excitatory glutamatergic neurons or inhibitory GABAergic neurons. Recent studies have revealed dense and heterogeneous fibers from both LHA populations projecting to neuromodulatory regions in the midbrain and brainstem, including the tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN), ventral tegmental area (VTA), dorsal raphe (DR), and locus coeruleus (LC). Viral tracing and immunohistochemistry were utilized to characterize the anatomy of LHAVGLUT2 and LHAVGAT projections to the aforementioned regions in an …

Examining Behavioral Defenses Of The Fungus-Growing Ant Trachymyrmex Septentrionalis Against Trichoderma-Derived Metabolites, Darren Lee

Holster Scholar Projects

Fungus-growing ants defend their fungal mutualist against pathogens through a number of chemical and behavioral mechanisms. Work by Dr. Jonathan Klassen’s lab has found that Trachymyrmex septentrionalis ants maintain their fungal symbionts’ health through physical removal (“weeding”) upon infection with pathogenic fungi in the genus Trichoderma. Ants also exhibited weeding behavior when the fungus was inoculated with peptaibols, a class of secondary metabolites produced by Trichoderma, suggesting that these molecules act as chemical cues that induce ant weeding. However, the mechanisms by which weeding behaviors are communicated between the ants and their fungal symbiont are unknown. Behavioral experiments demonstrated that …

The Influence Of Political Party Affiliation And Park Accessibility On Covid-19 Case Incidence, Sascha Wolf-Sorokin

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the joint effect of political party affiliation and the urban landscape, as measured by access to parks, on case rates during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The 2016 and 2020 U.S. Presidential Election returns are used as a proxy for a county’s political party affiliation prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A county population’s spatial relationship to its parks encapsulates the green open space within an urban environment. The data set controls for features of the built environment, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics (race, gender, income, education), COVID-19 government regulations, and presidential election returns. Using …

Quantifying Genomic Diversity And Growth In Iowa Bluegill, Jeremy Raymond Abels

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) is one of the most fished species in Iowa. However, after an initial stocking event, lakes rarely receive additional stockings owing to a high rate of natural reproduction. For this reason, the genetic diversity of Bluegill populations remains understudied in the context of fisheries and natural resource management. Additionally, the extent to which genetics influences the growth rate of Bluegill on a population level has not yet been extensively examined. The goal of this study was to understand the diversity of Iowa’s Bluegill population and to determine if there is a genetic association with growth …

Changes In The Barley Stem Proteome In Response To Drought During Grain Filling, Mohammed Al Slamh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Drought is the major environmental factor that limits crop yield worldwide. Crops are particularly vulnerable to drought at the reproductive stage. In cereals, grain filling during drought depends on the contribution of current photosynthesis products from the leaf and spike and carbohydrates stored mainly in the stem and remobilized to the grain. Even though stem reserve is an important source for grain filling, changes in the proteome of barley stem under drought have not been studied. Also, the molecular events associated with differential stem reserve remobilization under drought are not well understood. In this study, barley plants were exposed to …

Association Between Habitat And The Genetic Diversity Of The Brown-Belted Bumblebee (Bombus Griseocollis) In The Agricultural Landscape Across Northeast Iowa, Clarissa Elizabeth Bruns

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Wild bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) are key pollinators in natural ecosystems and major contributors to pollination in agriculture. Despite this, numerous bee species are in decline from introduced pathogens, pesticides, and habitat fragmentation. In the Midwestern United States, the land is dominated by agricultural landscape, and farming practices result in limited floral resources and frequently disturbed nesting grounds for bee species. In this thesis, I examine the genetic diversity between and within populations of brown-belted bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis) across northeast Iowa and test for population genetic structure between reconstructed prairies within 3 years of establishment and prairies >10 years …

A Framework For Near-Real Time Monitoring Of Diversity Patterns Based On Indirect Remote Sensing, With An Application In The Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, Andrea Paz, Thiago S. Silva, Ana C. Carnaval

Publications and Research

Monitoring biodiversity change is key to effective conservation policy. While it is difficult to establish in situ biodiversity monitoring programs at broad geographical scales, remote sensing advances allow for near-real time Earth observations that may help with this goal. We combine periodical and freely available remote sensing information describing temperature and precipitation with curated biological information from several groups of animals and plants in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest to design an indirect remote sensing framework that monitors potential loss and gain of biodiversity in near-real time. Using data from biological collections and information from repeated field inventories, we demonstrate that …

2022 High Tunnel Fresh Market Determinate Tomato Cultivar Trial For Southern Illinois, Bronwyn Aly

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

A determinate tomato cultivar trial was conducted at the University of Illinois Dixon Springs Agricultural Center (DSAC) located in southern Illinois (Pope County) during the 2022 growing season. The objective of this trial was to compare performance of thirteen fresh market determinate tomato cultivars in a high tunnel production system.

2022 Dsac High Tunnel Bell Pepper Variety Trial, Bronwyn Aly

Midwest Vegetable Trial Reports

This paper reports on seven bell pepper cultivar entries evaluated in a high tunnel production system during the 2022 growing season at the University of Illinois Dixon Springs Agricultural Center (DSAC) located in southern Illinois (Pope County).

Stress And The City: The Impacts Of City Living And Urbanization On Mental Health, Natalie Akins

Scripps Senior Theses

Urbanization is causing a demographic and cultural shift to the landscape of cities across the globe. Although urban living can be advantageous for both individual and societal growth, it can negatively affect mental health and wellbeing. Individuals living in urban environments have an increased risk for mental disorders like depression and schizophrenia. Certain challenges common in urban environments and associated with increased stress, may be causing the increase with mental illness. Chronic stress and the subsequent hyperactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sustained synthesis of glucocorticoids is detrimental to metabolic, endocrine, and immunologic processes. The overexposure to glucocorticoids can lead …

Here, There, And Everywhere: Probing Ubiquitin-Cavitand Binding Via 15n-1h Hsqc, Julia Didziulis

Scripps Senior Theses

Ubiquitination and other post-translational modifications play a major role in the proliferation of many neurodegenerative diseases, developmental disorders, and cancers, and as such are subjects of recently increased biochemical interest. Expanding upon such research, this study confirmed a robust method of ubiquitin expression and purification, then used 15N-1H HSQC to analyze ubiquitin samples containing varying concentrations of a deep cavitand with affinity for lysine and arginine side chains. In the pure ubiquitin spectrum, arginine side chain chemical shifts were detected in the nitrogen 80-85 ppm range and lysine side chain signals were undetected. However, upon introduction of the cavitand, collection …

The Writing Brain: Writing As An Exercise Of Functional Network Optimization To Facilitate Psychologically Healing Effects, Isabelle Antolin

Scripps Senior Theses

James Baldwin wrote, “When you’re writing, you’re trying to find out something which you don’t know” (as cited in Plimpton 1989). Writers, like James Baldwin, have for a long time acknowledged that writing has some psychological effect. However, the neural basis of this effect has yet to be understood. Neuroimaging studies have examined writing as a creative process, identifying a predominantly left fronto-parieto-temporal network activation during writing tasks (including brainstorming, drafting, and revising). Importantly, one study examining poetry composition found that a generative phase of writing was associated with a significant anti-correlative activation pattern between the dorsal attention network (DAN) …