Animal Sciences Commons^™

Conjugated Linoleic Acids Alter Body Composition Differently According To Physiological Age In Moulard Ducks, Jeffrey Allen Fesler, Daniel G. Peterson

Animal Science

Recent developments in the field of lipid biology have shown conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) to have remarkable yet inconsistent metabolic effects in mice, rats, hamsters, chickens, cows, and humans. In particular, effects on lipogenesis vary with tissue, physiological state, and specie. In this study, sub-adult (7 wk) and adult (11 wk) moulard ducks were grouped by age and fed a standard corn-soy based diet supplemented with either 5% soybean oil (control) or 5% CLA isomer mixture (30% 9c,11t, 30% 10t,12c; CLA). Animals were harvested after 3 wk or 6 wk for assessment of body composition including liver, adipose, viscera, and …

Heifer Tanzania’S Alternate Training Methods: A Study Comparing The Dairy Cow Husbandry Practices Of Farmers Trained In Their Villages By Project Supervisors To Those Of Farmers Trained By The Liti Tengeru Animal Husbandry Training Center, Ciara Lowery

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study was conducted in nine villages near Mount Meru, Tanzania between 14 April 2008 and 1 May 2008. The study question and methods were developed in conjunction with Heifer Tanzania. Heifer is a non-profit organization that provides dairy-cattle and other livestock to farmers in need. Heifer’s agents also provide training in sustainable farming techniques, such as zero-grazing livestock husbandry, and building contours. Some farmers receive this training in their village from a project supervisor, and other farmers are sent to a government facility, Liti Tengeru Animal Husbandry Training Center. The aim of this study was to determine what differences …

Biomechanical Modeling Of Forelimb Adduction In The Eastern Mole, Scalopusaquaticus, Mark Sandefur

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The hypertrophied musculoskeletal system driving adduction of Sealopus aquatieus's forelimb supports the locomotion of these burrowing subterranean mammals. Due to the excessive bulk of the major muscles contributing to this action, it was thought that this particular species may represent a rare case of a mammalian species with a greatly enhanced force contribution from each muscle, correlating with a reduction in the potential for the forelimb to adduct at a high velocity. By assessing the lever ratios of five significant muscles contributing to forelimb adduction, combined with vector analyses for the angles of these muscles' insertions, a model was established …

Lpe Center News, April 2008

Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center: Newsletters

In this issue:

• Making Money and Helping the Environment

• How Do I View Archived Webcasts?

. • Manure Entrepeneurs: Turning Brown to Green

• Iowa Releases Final Rule on Manure Application to Soybean Cropland

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.

Hatchability Of End Of Lay Egg Production Broiler Breeder Eggs As Influenced By Prestorage Warming, Kyle Homan

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Gregariousness, Conspicuousness, And Novelty On Blue Jay (Cyanocitta Cristata) Learned Avoidance And Stimulus Generalization Of Unpalatable Prey, Joyce M. Dykema

Avian Cognition Papers

I examined a variety of factors hypothesized to be important in the evolution and maintenance of aposematism. Aposematism occurs when prey individuals advertise their toxic or otherwise aversive nature to potential predators via evolved conspicuous signals. I conducted three experiments in which blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) were allowed to search a printed grayscale pixilated background for grayscale pixilated moths in an open room. I manipulated moth appearance and food reward, and recorded jay predation on the varying moth stimuli. In my first experiment, I repeated Alatalo & Mappes’ (1996) study examining the effects of prey gregariousness, or grouping, …

Community Response To Habitat Restoration In Sickle And Bear Creeks, With Emphasis On Mottled Sculpin In Sickle Creek, Jason Andrew Deboer

Masters Theses

Habitat restoration is employed by biologists and managers to improve the natural functionality and value of aquatic resources. Systems suffer impairment from many sources, including excessive fine sediment, which negatively affects substrate composition, channel morphology, aquatic invertebrate habitat, and fish reproduction and recruitment. Primary objectives included monitoring the biophysical response to sediment abatement in the Big Manistee River watershed. Secondary objectives included (1) placing the biophysical response to the restoration in the context of a much larger watershed plan, (2) quantifying seasonal mottled sculpin movement and habitat use in Sickle Creek for 1-year, and (3) determining habitat variables which may …

Review: Peachtree Creek: A Natural And Unnatural History Of Atlanta’S Watershed, Kim Tomblin

Georgia Library Quarterly

Review of the non-fiction book "Peachtree Creek: A Natural and Unnatural History of Atlanta’s Watershed," by David R. Kaufman.

A New Reproductive Mode In The Genus Melanzophryniscus Gallardo, 1961 (Anura: Bufonidae) With Description Of A New Species From The State Of Paraná, Brazil, José A. Langone, Magno V. Segallo, Marcos Bornschein, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

A new species of bufonid toad of the genus Melanophryniscus is described from a mountaintop that is part of the Serra do Mar in the northeastern State of Paraná, Brazil. Melanophryniscus alipioi sp. nov. is distinguished from other known species by its uniformly dark brown dorsal color and a unique breeding site. The new species reproduces in bromeliads, a reproductive mode previously unknown for this genus. This species might be susceptible to current habitat lost.

Prey Selectivity Of Planktivorous Fish: Analysis Of Stomach Contents In Four Pomacentrids At Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, James O'Hare

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Coral reef planktivores are important to coral reefs by concentrating and delivering nutrients and allochthonous carbon from the plankton to reef building corals. In an otherwise very oligotrophic system this function may be of major importance. Planktivorous Damselfish (Pomicentridae) were analysed for prey selectivity through enumeration of stomach contents. Simultaneous plankton tows were conducted to establish the plankton community composition of the waters they were taken from. There was a statistically significant variation between the stomach composition and that of the water column. While there was not a significant difference among Simpson’s diversity indices of the stomach contents, there was …

Aquatic And Terrestrial Habitat Use Of The Australian Freshwater Turtle, Chelodina Expansa, Ellyn Ercolano

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Organisms select habitats that provide the best possible resources necessary to their survival. Organisms may occupy and utilize a home range which requires specific selection of components in their available habitat. Monitoring the threats to a species within their habitats is a crucial tool in conservation and management practices. The Murray-Darling Basin of south-eastern Australia has suffered alterations to its hydrology, flow regime, catchment size and usage, flooding cycles, as well as from vast removal of vegetation in the floodplains since European settlement in Australia in the mid-nineteenth century. Knowledge of the habitat use of a focal species can guide …

Measuring Bite Force In Small Mammals With A Piezo-Resistive Sensor, Patricia W. Freeman, Cliff A. Lemen

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

We tested the use of piezo-resistive force sensors to measure bite force in small mammals. These force sensors are thin (less than 1 mm) and can be used to measure forces up to 4,500 N. A battery-operated unit, ideal for field research, can be built easily and inexpensively. We tested this sensor in the laboratory and in the field on a variety of small mammals. Although our results indicate that the sensor is somewhat less accurate (coefficient of variation = 4%) than a conventional load cell, the small size and ease of use of the piezo-resistive detector is highly desirable. …

Neurologic Equine Herpes Virus (Ehv-1), L. Earl Rogers, Kerry A. Rood

All Current Publications

This publication provides background information and describes clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment, vaccination and preventive measures.

Law, Biology Professor Val Nolan Dies

Val Nolan Jr. (1976 Acting; 1980 Acting)

No abstract provided.

The Maya Footprint: Soil Resources Of Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico, Ryan V. Sweetwood

Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural yields in Northwest Yucatán are constrained by climate, thin soils, and low fertility. Despite this, the ancient Maya city of Chunchucmil Yucatán, Mexico, boasted an immense, dense, and wealthy population during the Middle Classic period (ca A.D. 400-700). Soil physical and chemical properties were explored to determine how the ancient Maya of Chunchucmil fed themselves. Soil profiles were collected from various locations within ancient Chunchucmil's suspected sustaining area. The physical and chemical properties, carbon isotopes, black carbon, and coprostanols of soil profiles sampled were compared to ancient rural settlement and remotely sensed images, such as AIRSAR (airborne synthetic aperture …

Eco-Social Analysis Of An East African Agro-Pastoral System: Management Of Tsetse And Bovine Trypanosomiasis, Johann Baumgärtner, Gianni Gilioli, Getachew Tikubet, Andrew Paul Gutierrez

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

A key constraint for development of many East African agro-pastoral communities is African animal trypanosomiasis or nagana caused by Trypanosoma spp. and vectored by species of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.). Suppression of trypanosomiasis through trapping of tsetse fly populations was conducted from 1995 to 2005 at and near Luke, Southwest Ethiopia. Odor baited mass trapping technology was used to suppress adult fly populations to very low levels while tryponocidal drugs were used to treat trypanosome infections in cattle. Data on ecological, economic and social variables were collected and analyzed in the context of eco-social dynamics in the community. The bio-economic …

Functions, Structure, And Read-Through Alternative Splicing Of Feline Apobec3 Genes, Carsten Munk, Thomas W. Beck, Jorg Zielonka, Agnes Hotz-Wagenblatt, Sarah Chareza, Marion Battenberg, Jens Thielebein, Klaus Cichutek, Ignacio G. Bravo, Stephen J. O'Brien, Martin Lochelt, Naoya Yuhki

Biology Faculty Articles

Background:

Over the past years a variety of host restriction genes have been identified in human and mammals that modulate retrovirus infectivity, replication, assembly, and/or cross-species transmission. Among these host-encoded restriction factors, the APOBEC3 (A3; apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide 3) proteins are potent inhibitors of retroviruses and retrotransposons. While primates encode seven of these genes (A3A to A3H), rodents carry only a single A3 gene.

Results:

Here we identified and characterized several A3 genes in the genome of domestic cat (Felis catus) by analyzing the genomic A3 locus. The cat genome presents one A3H gene and three …

Moderate Zinc Restriction Affects Intestinal Health And Immune Function In Lipopolysaccharide-Challenged Mice, Daniel G. Peterson, Angus G. Scrimgeour, James P. Mcclung, Elizabeth A. Koutsos

Animal Science

Zinc (Zn) is an essential nutrient that affects immune function, especially within the digestive system, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This study examined the effects of short-term moderate Zn restriction on intestinal health and immune function in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged mice through plasma cytokine profiling and histological evaluation of intestinal tissue sections. Adult male mice were fed with a Zn-adequate (40 ppm) or a Zn-marginal (4 ppm) diet for 4 weeks, and then a bacterial challenge was simulated by intraperitoneal injection of LPS (10 μg/g body weight [BW]) or saline (control). BW was recorded weekly, and feed intake …

Fisheries Research Report No. 170 - Biomass And Commercial Catch Estimates For Abalone Stocks In Areas Proposed As Sanctuary Zones For The Capes Marine Park, A. Hesp, Neil R. Loneragan, Norman G. Hall, H T. Kobryn, A.M. Hart, Frank Fabris, Jeremy Prince

Fisheries Research Reports

This study was undertaken to estimate the biomasses, biologically sustainable catches and current average annual commercial catches of three fished species of abalone, Haliotis roei (Roei), Haliotis laevigata (Greenlip) and Haliotis conicopora (Brownlip) in the proposed sanctuaries of the Capes Marine Park, south-western Australia. The current annual, catch estimates represent the catches that would be foregone by commercial fishers if the sanctuaries are implemented and will be used to evaluate the potential compensation to fishers (not part of this study). The biomass and catch estimates for each species in the proposed sanctuaries were estimated from a combination of scientific survey …

A Strategy For Managing The Recreational Catch Of Demersal Scalefish In The West Coast Bioregion., Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Management Papers

The recreational management proposals that follow have been developed to deliver the required reduction in catches, while still allowing an enjoyable fishing experience for the majority of West Australians. If only a single management tool was used (e.g. a boat limit or closed season) the impact on recreational fishing would be huge. Therefore, the proposed management package has been carefully developed so that each management measure adds to the reduction required, while minimising the social and economic impacts as much as possible.

Fisheries Research Report No. 173 - Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Reducing Dolphin Catches With Pingers And Exclusion Grids In The Pilbara Trawl Fishery, Peter Stephenson, S. Wells

Fisheries Research Reports

Final FRDC Report – Project 2004/068

“Savewave” acoustic pingers were trialed on one vessel to determine if they would deter dolphins entering the trawl net. During daylight hours, the pingers were deployed on alternate shots in the configuration recommended by the manufacturer. On the other alternate shots, no pingers were deployed. A video camera in an underwater housing was attached to the headrope facing downstream for 18 trawl shots. On the 14 shots where usable video footage was obtained (11 with pingers deployed and 7 with pingers not deployed) the number of dolphins viewed in the camera frame was counted …

Lpe Center News, March 2008

Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center: Newsletters

In this issue:

• Managing Potential Risks from Antibiotics and Hormones in Animal Manure Is the April Webcast Topic

• New LPE Learning Center Website is Now Live

• California Panel to Evaluate Manure Treatment Technologies for Dairies

• University of Missouri Professor Remembered as a Mentor

•Impact on Manure Management from Feeding Ethanol Co-Products

Nebraska Ornithologists' Union Treasurer's Report, December 31, 2007

Nebraska Bird Review

One-page spreadsheet constituting the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union treasurer's report at year end (December 31) of 2007. The grand total is $56,601.74.

Nebraska Bird Review (March 2008) 76(1), Whole Issue

Nebraska Bird Review

Editor's Note ... 2

Winter Field Report, Dec. 2007-Feb. 2008 by W. Ross Silcock ... 2

2007-2008 Christmas Bird Counts in Nebraska ... 16

First Report of Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) Breeding in the Nebraska Panhandle Region by Wayne J. Mollhoff, Joseph Gubanyi, and Mark A. Brogie ... 32

[Photographs page: Least Bittern, Pomarine Jaeger, Wood Stork, and White-winged Dove] ... 38

First Nebraska Record for the Royal Tern (Sterna maxima) and a Review of Regional Records by Sarah E. Rehme, Thomas E. Labedz, Don and Janis Paseka ... 39

NOU Annual Treasurer's Report for 2007 …

First Nebraska Record For The Royal Tern (Sterna Maxima) And A Review Of Regional Records, Sarah E. Rehme, Thomas E. Labedz, Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

On the afternoon of 8 Sept 2007, Don and Janis Paseka discovered a large tern on the causeway that separates Lake North from Lake Babcock, north of Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska. The causeway consists of a road next to Lake North and a low cement wall next to Lake Babcock. They observed the tern at approximately 1630 CDT standing on the low wall, on the west side of the causeway. The tern remained standing on the wall as they drove to within 15 feet and photographed it. The tern was standing with its wings drooping (Photo 1), and the fact …

Winter Field Report, December 2007 To February 2008, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

This winter in Nebraska was much colder on average than the few previous winters, not so much because of low temperatures, but a lack of warmer days. This kept water bodies frozen most of the winter, with far fewer than usual midwinter water-bird records. Surprisingly, though, passerines, including some surprises, were able to brave the coolness. Notable were three species of wood-warblers; although Yellow-rumped Warblers winter to some extent in the southeast, 9 of the 21 total February records for the species have come in the last two winters. The others were not unprecedented for Nebraska, and are known to …

2007–2008 Christmas Bird Counts In Nebraska

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2007-08 Christmas Bird Count (CBC) period will be remembered for snow cover and cold temperatures. More counts than usual were postponed due to weather. The average high temperature on count day this year was 28°F and the low was 12°F, both of which are 5-10° colder than any count day average since 2000-01. Only three counts made it above freezing during the course of the day. Snow was also a problem, and although only two circles recorded precipitation on the day of the count, snow cover and ice from earlier storms resulted in stuck vehicles, arduous walking, and inaccessible …

Subscription And Organization Information [March 2008]

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada, and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Editor's Note

Nebraska Bird Review

With this issue we step into a new era: this is the first issue in the history of The Nebraska Bird Review to feature full color pages. Thanks are due to Wayne Mollhoff, who instigated this change and underwrote the bulk of the cost for the color printing, and to others who contributed financially, photographically, and with much-appreciated advice and encouragement.