Life Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Long-Term Exposure To Lip Cosmetics On The Fertility Of Female Drosophila Melanogaster, Neeka Oghli

Holster Scholar Projects

Are products marketed as safe to use, truly safe to use? Inspired by an article exposing the dangers of Tampax tampons, this study examines potential reproductive risks from consumer lip products marketed as natural and safe18. Drosophila melanogaster, a model organism with genetic and reproductive similarities to humans, was utilized to test the impacts of Rhode and Avène lip cosmetics. Avène’s Cicalfate + Lips Repair Lip Balm is the closest alternative to Rhode’s unscented peptide lip treatment, which was mindfully chosen to test if affordability comes at the expense of safety. Various concentrations of these products will be exposed to …

Investigating The Presence Of R-Loops At The Centromeres Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Daniel D'Souza

Holster Scholar Projects

This study investigates the presence and localization of R-loops at the centromeres of Drosophila melanogaster. R-loops are non-canonical nucleic acid structures that have been implicated in various cellular processes, including genomic instability and accurate chromosome segregation. Although previous research has found R-loops at Drosophila satellite sequences and LTR retrotransposons, their presence and function at the centromeres of a whole organism remain largely unknown. Using IF-FISH (immunofluorescence-fluorescence in situ hybridization), we stained R-loops with the S9.6 antibody. A UAS-rnh1 overexpression line was used to induce the overexpression of RNase H1, an enzyme that resolves R-loops, to confirm the specificity of …

The Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Bdnf) And Its Importance To Organism Survival And Development, Christopher Monnett Smith

Holster Scholar Projects

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) has been the subject of numerous studies regarding the functioning of the brain in relation to topics such as neural plasticity and neural survival. However, BDNF has also been implicated in the induction of changes not only in neural tissue but multiple other tissue types across the human body. The aim of this literature review is to provide a comprehensive, yet brief, overview of BDNF’s influence on the functioning of the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular, and immune systems.

Search, The Jackson Laboratory

Search Magazine

No abstract provided.

Course Syllabus For Entomology: Introduction To Acarology, Andrew Prescott

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Includes an outline and syllabus for an introductory college-level class on acarology, covering both ticks and mites.

Mini Movie Master Of Science Project, Nicole Pruess

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Contents

Educational Video Creative Process

Host Plants

Fruit Trays/Nectar Plants

Butterfly vs Moth

Longevity/Lifespan

Includes videos:
Butterfly vs Moth.mp4 (2623912 kB)
Fruit Trays and Nectar Plants.mp4 (1742827 kB)
Host Plants.mp4 (1721714 kB)
Lifespan and Longevity.mp4 (2528704 kB)

The Adventures Of Pip! The Culex Pipiens: An Educational Mosquito Comic Book For Kids, Victoria Garziano

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

“The Adventures of Pip! The Culex pipiens” is an educational comic book series designed to engage a younger audience (4th grade – 5th grade) while introducing them to key topics related to mosquitoes. Although mosquitoes are often viewed solely as a nuisance, they are also fascinating creatures. A better understanding of their life cycle and behavior can improve our ability to manage them effectively. Early education on these topics can raise long-term awareness and behaviors that continue into adulthood. This comic book series offers an accessible and enjoyable format for a science lesson and can be effectively integrated into a …

Designing Portugal’S Voluntary Carbon Market: Insights From Key Stakeholders, Mahika Shergill

Portugal: Sustainability and Environmental Justice

This project examines the design, integrity, and early implementation challenges of Portugal’s newly established Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), created through Decree-Law 4/2024 as part of the country’s broader climate-mitigation strategy. The objective of the study is to evaluate whether the market’s regulatory architecture—particularly its treatment of additionality, permanence, methodologies, and co-benefit mechanisms—positions it to function as a credible and viable national carbon-governance instrument. The analysis draws on a mixed-methods approach combining legal and policy review with four semi-structured interviews conducted with policymakers, methodological designers, ecological practitioners, and environmental-law specialists. These interviews reveal that Portugal’s VCM is characterized by strong integrity …

Motives And Community Energy: What Determines Participation In The U.S. And E.U., Belinda Litchtenfeld

Portugal: Sustainability and Environmental Justice

The shift to renewable energies has become a critical means of addressing the climate crisis. Community Energy (CE) has emerged as a ‘bottom-up’ transition to achieve decarbonization within a localized environment. The aim of this paper is to compare the motivations and framings of rural CE projects in the United States and European Union. The paper will compare the case of Loess Wind Farm, located in Rock Port, Missouri, with the Cedillo Solar Community in Caceres, Spain to determine how sociotechnical visions are shaped by the challenges facing communities. The elements of sociotechnical visions- meanings, knowings, doings, and organizings- as …

When The Water Runs Out: Modelling Portuguese Pumped Hydro Storage Adequacy In Multi-Year Extreme Drought Conditions, Meg Gillies

Portugal: Sustainability and Environmental Justice

Portugal’s reliance on Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS) to support grid stability poses increasing risks as the share of renewables in the national energy mix approaches the 2030 goal of 85%, and droughts intensify across the Iberian Peninsula (Silva, 2024). Because simulation tools like EnergyPLAN model only one year at a time, they overlook the cumulative effects of prolonged hydrological stress (Lund, 2024). This research addresses that gap by implementing an iterative multi-year approach in EnergyPLAN, linking yearly simulations to assess how extended drought conditions impact PHS performance. Using a detailed 2024 model of Portugal’s power system and applying dry year …

Save The Bees And The Land: A Framework To Connect The Wildfires In Portugal To The Change In Bee Populations, Lacy Creswell

Portugal: Sustainability and Environmental Justice

Wildfire is an ecological process that is important to ecosystems around the world. Fire is naturally occurring and is also used as a forest management technique to promote biodiversity. While previous studies have analyzed how wildfires affect insects, none of the studies have been based in Portugal about native bees or insects. Additionally, previous studies have addressed the impact wildfire has on land and forests; however, the gap in knowledge is how wildfire directly influences native bee species’ populations. This study assesses how wildfires in Portugal impact the native bee populations and how the lack of pollen and nectar post-fire, …

Urban Green Spaces, Sustainability Discourse, And Environmental Inequality In Agadir, Morocco, Julia Card

Morocco: Human Rights, Social Justice, and Cultural Transformation

As Moroccan cities experience rising temperatures, increased drought, and rapid urban development, urban green spaces have become central to sustainability and climate adaptation agendas. However, the social, ecological, and political implications of urban greening remain unevenly examined in semi-arid contexts. This paper investigates how green spaces are envisioned, implemented, and experienced in Agadir, a coastal city shaped by colonial planning legacies, post-earthquake reconstruction, water scarcity, and event-driven redevelopment. Using a qualitative methodology combining a visual content analysis of the 2022–2027 Agadir Communal Action Plan with semi-structured interviews with local experts in agronomy, landscape architecture, geography, and regional planning, this study …

El Contexto Socioambiental De Los Resultados De Salud Materno-Infantil: Pasantía En El Hospital Simplemente Evita, González Catán, Athmika Krishnan

Argentina: Public Health in Urban Environments

La Matanza, especialmente el área de González Catán es una de las zonas más pobres en la provincia de Buenos Aires. Este portafolio investiga cómo el contexto socioambiental de un centro de cuidado público como el Hospital Simplemente Evita se manifiesta tanto a través del perfil de la paciente como las capacidades del hospital, en la recuperación de la enfermedad y la reforma social para resultados de salud materno-infantil.

From Deforestation To Regeneration: Modeling The Potential Of Chakra Agroforestry To Restore Edaphic Invertebrates And Soil Health In The Ecuadorian Amazon, Annika Vikstrom

Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Tropical edaphic invertebrates lie at the intersection of three historically understudied domains: tropical habitats, soil ecosystems, and terrestrial invertebrate biodiversity (Boyle et al. 2024; Lugo et al., 2024). Approximately 80% of tropical invertebrates remain undescribed, leaving major gaps in the understanding of how land-use change and climate change may affect their diversity and ecological function. The Amazon Basin, one of the world’s most biologically and culturally diverse regions, is increasingly threatened by land use change and deforestation. While agriculture is the second main driver of forest conversion in the basin, Indigenous Agroforestry systems such as Kichwa Chakras in the Ecuadorian …

Size Matters: Linkage Between Bromeliad Traits And The Spider Communities They Host In A Disturbed Habitat, Alesandra Fairchild

Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Bromeliads are a plant group that have been praised for their ability to create unique microhabitats, hosting an abundant and diverse faunal community due to their unique structural characteristics. Unfortunately, as deforestation rates rise, this plant group is at risk of decreasing in both abundance and diversity, which puts their associated organisms at risk of losing essential habitat (e.g. spiders). In this study, the effect of bromeliad structural characteristics and forest disturbance was assessed in a mature and secondary forest by classifying bromeliad abundance by forest type, characterizing forest structure, and by analyzing spider abundance and diversity based on these …

The Price Of Gold: Macroinvertebrate Responses To Mining In The Upper Jatunyacu River, Clara Chae

Ecuador: Comparative Ecology and Conservation

Gold mining is rapidly expanding in the upper Jatunyacu River basin of the Ecuadorian Amazon, an ecologically and culturally important region where Indigenous Kichwa communities depend on streams for drinking water, agriculture, and fisheries. This study assessed the ecological condition of five tributary streams across a variety of land uses: primary forest, chakra agroforestry, a stream recovering from historical mining, and a stream downstream of active small-scale gold mining. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected and identified to morphospecies, and hydromorphological parameters, biodiversity indices, beta diversity metrics, and two biotic indices (AAMBI and BMWP/Col) were used to evaluate ecological integrity. Results showed …

What Do Rural Caregivers Need? Implications Of Formal Service Usage And The Role Of Cooperative Extension Systems, Naomi R. Meinertz, Jeong Eun Lee, Erin L. Martinez, Leacey Brown, Chelsey Byers, Sara Richie, Kathy Tutt

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

The well-being of caregivers in the U.S. is a public health crisis. Caregivers experience greater rates of depression, chronic disease, and social isolation; however, the context of rural and urban living experiences creates different caregiving realities. Using two representative datasets of caregivers in the North Central and Northeast regions of the U.S., this paper examined the experiences of rural and urban caregivers in using formal support services. Rurality was negatively related to formal support service usage. Results from a multiple regression revealed a positive association between formal service utilization and caregiver well-being. These findings suggested that formal services can play …

A Comprehensive Nutrition Education Program Promotes Behavior Change And Perception Of Food Access Across The Older Adult Age Span, Sarah Misyak, Camille Mcguire, Victor Olayemi, Maria Denunzio, Paige Harrigan, Elena Serrano

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Strategies to promote healthy behaviors among older adults are needed to mitigate vulnerabilities to negative health outcomes, especially for those with low income. Healthy Eating and Staying Active as We Age (HESA), a nine-lesson educational series for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-eligible older adults, was created to promote health among aging audiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior change of older adults following participation in HESA, which covers food resource management, nutrition, food safety, and physical activity behaviors, as well as perceived food affordability and accessibility, and to determine if HESA is appropriate across the age span …

Creating Intergenerational Connections: A Multilevel Approach For Enriching Lives And Addressing Vital Community Issues, Matthew S. Kaplan, Nancy Z. Henkin

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

This article presents an overview of intergenerational programs and practices as an interdisciplinary field of inquiry and practice that fosters open communication, support, and civic engagement across generations. Numerous examples of how intergenerational programs and practices harness age diversity to improve the human condition are presented. This includes initiatives to promote healthier lifestyles, reduce social isolation and loneliness, strengthen families, enrich education and lifelong learning, enhance community quality of life, and transmit cherished cultural traditions and values. This article highlights Extension’s longstanding contributions to intergenerational programming, showcasing notable examples across program areas and exploring opportunities for deeper engagement, co-leadership, and …

Intergenerational Creative Movement Program: A Social Connection Intervention To Foster Health And Well-Being, Claire M. Reardon, Mohammad Khalilian, Amy F. Kostelic, Susan Thiel, Anthony R. Bardo

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

A sense of connection and belonging is widely recognized to be essential for mental health. Yet, since the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness, social isolation, and mental health problems have remained elevated across America. Transitions into young adulthood and older age, while distinct, similarly challenge social connectedness, especially among women. Our multi-lesson education program connected first-generation female college students with college-educated forty-plus women to foster belonging and improve mental health. The program integrated dance as a creative physical activity, promoted intergenerational engagement through a humanistic focus on generativity, and used a social network approach to gauge the development of connections among participants …

Empowering Public Employees For Retirement Security: Evidence From A Pre-Retirement Financial Education Program, Suzanne Bartholomae, Mengya Wang

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

The United States is facing a retirement crisis, with eight in ten older adult households experiencing or at risk of financial insecurity (Tavares et al., 2024). National data shows 60% of Americans regularly contribute to retirement accounts, and just 40% have estimated their retirement savings needs (Lin et al., 2022). With approximately 5,900 Baby Boomers retiring daily (Fry, 2019), there is considerable interest in identifying effective strategies and policies to address retirement preparedness. This paper presents evaluation findings from a retirement planning financial education program delivered to 750 public employees by Iowa’s public employee retirement system and Cooperative Extension educators. …

You’Re Only Old Once: And Other Truths About The Extension Work We Do In Aging, James S. Bates, Erin L. Martinez

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

No abstract provided.

Mhc Gene Analysis And Immune Variation In Lepidodactylus Lugubris (The Mourning Gecko), Helen T. Vu

2025 Fall Honors Capstones Projects - Archive

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) plays a central role in vertebrate immune defense by enabling pathogen recognition and initiating adaptive immune responses. While MHC diversity has been extensively studied in sexually reproducing species, comparatively little is known about its evolution in asexual lineages. The parthenogenetic gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris provides a unique opportunity to investigate how clonality and hybrid origins influence immune gene diversity. By leveraging whole-genome data, this study overcomes the limitations of previous transcriptome-based analyses and provides a more comprehensive view of MHC diversity in a clonal vertebrate. As the first step towards understanding MHC evolution in parthenogenetic lizards, …

Dna Methylation Correlates With Transcriptional Noise In Response To Elevated Pco2 In The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica), Yaamini R. Venkataraman, Ariana S. Huffmyer, Samuel J. White, Alan Downey-Wall, Jill Ashey, Danielle M. Becker, Zachary Bengtsson, Hollie M. Putnam, Emma Strand, Javier A. Rodríguez-Casariego, Shelly A. Wanamaker, Katie E. Lotterhos, Steven B. Roberts

Biology

Ocean acidification significantly affects marine calcifiers like oysters, warranting the study of molecular mechanisms like DNA methylation that contribute to adaptive plasticity in response to environmental change. However, a consensus has not been reached on the extent to which methylation modules gene expression, and in turn plasticity, in marine invertebrates. In this study, we investigated the impact of pCO₂ on gene expression and DNA methylation in the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. After a 30-day exposure to control (572 ppm) or elevated pCO₂ (2827 ppm), whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and RNA-seq data were generated from adult female gonad tissue …

U-Shaped Relationship Between White Blood Cell Counts And Incident Hypertension In Military Young Adults: The Chief Study, 2014–2020, Kun-Zhe Tsai, Chia-Wei Hong, Yun-Chen Chang, Wei-Chun Huang, Xuemei Sui, Carl J. Lavie, Gen-Min Lin

Faculty Publications

Background

Systemic low-grade inflammation, which is characterized by increased counts of blood leukocytes (white blood cells, WBCs), can lead to hypertension, while reduced WBC counts caused by the use of some substances, e.g., alcohol, can also lead to hypertension. However, there have been no studies on the association between WBC counts and the risk of hypertension in young adults.

Methods

This cohort study conducted in Taiwan included a total of 2351 military personnel who were aged 18–39 years, were free of baseline hypertension and were followed up for incident hypertension from 2014 to the end of 2020. Resting blood pressure …

Growing South Dakota (Fall 2025), College Of Agriculture, Food And Environmental Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 2 Mesonet at SDState: A benefit to every South Dakotan
[Page] 6 Governor’s Ag Ambassador — Glenn Muller
[Page] 8 Precision agriculture cooperative agreement signed with University of Debrecen
[Page] 10 Students experience international agriculture, culture in Vietnam, New Zealand
[Page] 12 Legen-dairy! SDSU students claim national judging awards
[Page] 13 SDSU Rodeo Team continues storied rodeo tradition at nationals
[Page] 14 SDSU wheat breeders helping feed the world
[Page] 20 SDSU drone holds promise for soil, leaf sampling
[Page] 22 Don't be a fish out of water
[Page] 24 A passion for academic advising
[Page] 25 One takeaway …

Carbon Footprint Of Carrots In Western Australia, Christophe D'Abbadie, Saloomeh Akbari, Sang Ravindran

Horticulture research reports

This report presents the findings of a comprehensive carbon accounting study conducted on carrot production in the Myalup area of Western Australia.

The study reveals that carrot emissions are approximately 81 kg CO2e per tonne of carrot sold from the April harvest and 76 kg CO2e per tonne from the October harvest, when using rejected carrots for other economic uses. These figures represent competitive emissions intensities compared to international benchmarks.

Key findings include:

• Yield improvement is the primary driver for emissions reduction: Increasing productivity, without proportional input increases, offers the most effective pathway to lower emissions’ intensity while improving economic …

Bioinformatic Analysis Of Pogz Variants In Relation To White Sutton Syndrome, Hannah Rollins

Theses

White-Sutton syndrome (WHSUS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the Pogo Transposable Element with ZNF Domain (POGZ) gene, which encodes pogo-transposable element with ZNF domain, a chromatin regulator essential for proper mitotic progression and DNA repair. This study uses a bioinformatic framework to evaluate the structural and functional impact of missense mutations in the conserved amino acid region (positions 500–800) of the POGZ protein. Protein modeling, variant effect prediction, conservation analysis, and molecular dynamics simulations were employed to gain an understanding of the effects of POGZ missense mutations on protein structure and movement with specific emphasis on …

Genetic Entropy: A Critical Examination, Sarah Hunter

Science, Faith, and Origins

Genetic entropy is a hypothesis proposing that genomes deteriorate over time due to the gradual accumulation of slightly harmful mutations that natural selection cannot effectively remove. This paper explores the scientific debate surrounding this claim by examining differing perspectives on the theory of genetic entropy. Proponents of genetic entropy, such as John Sanford, argue that most mutations are deleterious and fall within a “near-neutral” range, allowing them to accumulate since their effects are too small for natural selection to detect. Evidence to support this claim includes Robert Carter and John Sanford’s research on the deterioration of the H1N1 viral genome …

Science, Sand, And Faith: Exploring Competing Explanations Of Coconino Sandstone, Emily Schneider

Science, Faith, and Origins

The Coconino Sandstone, a Permian rock layer found in the western United States, is a topic of debate among standard geologists and flood geologists. The conventional geological interpretation claims the sandstone is an eolian deposit, meaning the sediments were deposited by wind (McKee, 1979; Selley, 1968). In their view, key elements of the sandstone, like the cross-stratified beds, high degree of frosting, and the animal trackways, confirm the Coconino’s similarity to modern eolian dunes (McKee, 1979). As this rock layer is sandwiched between layers typically interpreted by flood geologists as being deposited during the flood, the idea that the Coconino …