Biology Commons^™

Mathematical Models Of Covid-19, Kate Faria

Honors Program Theses and Projects

For more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major public health issue, affecting the lives of most people around the world. With both people’s health and the economy at great risks, governments rushed to control the spread of the virus. Containment measures were heavily enforced worldwide until a vaccine was developed and distributed. Although researchers today know more about the characteristics of the virus, a lot of work still needs to be done in order to completely remove the disease from the population. However, this is true for most of the infectious diseases in existence, including Influenza, …

Pectin And Alginate Extraction To Treat Liquid Cafo Manure, Clare Sunderman

Honors Projects

For this project, various extraction methods were used to extract pectin from Pastinaca Sativa and alginate from Macrocystis. These extractions were then dried and used in treating 250mL of manure along with a CaCl₂ or FeCl₃ coagulant. It was found that CaCl₂ was not as effective as FeCl₃ in coagulating manure. But the results obtained suggest that pectin and alginate obtained with a simpler extraction method is just as effective as the highly purified and refined pectin and alginate produced for the food industry, in the treatment of CAFO manure. The liquid portion of the …

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, May 2021, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 2, Issue 5.

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 - 3 Awards & Recognition
Page 4 Research Spotlight: Dr. Xiaoyang Zhang
Page 5 Upcoming Retirements
Page 6 - 7 Geography Alumni Social, Recent Media Coverage
Page 8 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 9 - 11 Spring 2021 Dean's List and Academic Recognitions

New Applications For The Kinetic Exclusion Assay (Kinexa), Mark Harrison Smith

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the fundamental principles and applicability of the kinetic exclusion assay (KinExA), developed and marketed by Sapidyne Instruments of Boise, Idaho, since 1995. Chapter One reviews and consolidates the manufacturer’s guidance and many early papers that delineate the practical and theoretical aspects of the technology. In brief, KinExA is a two stage analytical system. In stage one, a number of solutions are prepared, whereby one of the partners is kept constant (the constant binding partner, or CBP), while the other (the titrant) is varied, usually in serial dilution. As the titrant is increased, the free CBP decreases, and …

Biases And Blind-Spots In Genome-Wide Crispr-Cas9 Knockout Screens, Merve Dede

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Adaptation of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 system to mammalian cells revolutionized the field of functional genomics, enabling genome-scale genetic perturbations to study essential genes, whose loss of function results in a severe fitness defect. There are two types of essential genes in a cell. Core essential genes are absolutely required for growth and proliferation in every cell type. On the other hand, context-dependent essential genes become essential in an environmental or genetic context. The concept of context-dependent gene essentiality is particularly important in cancer, since killing cancer cells selectively without harming surrounding healthy tissue remains a major challenge. The toxicity of …

Linking Extreme High Air Temperature Events To Wildfire And Environmental Variation To Water Balance Partitioning In The Western Us, Neil Savage

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Chapter 1

Wildfire activity has increased across the western United States in recent decades, causing significant damage to ecosystem services and human communities. The Sierra Nevada region, in particular, has experienced substantial increases in the ignition frequency, severity, and extent of large wildfires. To partly disentangle the complex processes underlying wildfire risk, I developed a simple approach to link natural wildfire ignition patterns to changing seasonal temperatures and extreme high and low air temperature events across the Sierra Nevada region from 1992—2015. Extreme event analyses focused on the association between the magnitude and frequency of occurrence of extreme temperature events …

Distributions And Habitat Associations Of Blue Point Pyrgulopsis And Blue Point Tryonia, Chenoa Janine Wilcox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Springsnails and other crenophilic species are often of conservation concern due to endemism, narrow habitat requirements, and susceptibility to habitat degradation. Because there is a distinct lack of natural history information for many of these organisms, management of species that are of concern is often based on data from non-target species related to the species of interest. In this thesis, I provide background information regarding springsnails in western North America (Chapter 1), describe a study investigating the distribution and habitat associations of two springsnails endemic to a single spring (Chapter 2), and provide supplemental information on habitat characteristics associated with …

Climate-Driven Impacts On Himalayan Aquatic Biodiversity: A Case Study Involving Snowtrout (Cyprinidae: Schizothorax), Riri Wiyanti Retnaningtyas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring biodiversity, to include its relative dispersal and contraction, has become a conservation task of great importance, particularly given the catastrophic and ongoing loss of habitat due to climate change. However, the timing, direction, and magnitude of these rates vary across taxa and ecosystems. Predicting specific impacts of climate change can thus be difficult and this, in turn, hampers management action. Metrics are needed to not only quantify contemporary requirements of species, but also predict potential distributions that fluctuate in lockstep with climate.

Montane ecosystems in the Himalayas are highly impacted by climate change, yet remain largely understudied due to …

The Hybridizing Ions Treatment (Hit) Method Development And Computational Study On Sars-Cov-2 E Protein., Shengjie Sun

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Fast and accurate calculations of the electrostatic features for highly charged biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, highly charged proteins, are crucial but challenging tasks. Traditional implicit solvent methods calculate the electrostatic features fast, but they are not able to balance the high net charges in the biomolecules effectively. Explicit solvent methods add unbalanced ions to neutralize the highly charged biomolecules in molecular dynamic simulations, which require more expensive computing resources. Here we developed a novel method, the Hybridizing Ions Treatment (HIT) method, which hybridizes the implicit solvent method with the explicit method to realistically calculate the electrostatic potential for highly …

Infectious Diseases In A Warming World: Using A Modified Sir Model To Investigate The Incidence Rates Of Lyme Disease In The New England Area, Carly Sullivan

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

The effects of climate change are global and unprecedented in scale. Public health is likely to suffer as a result of the warming climate, and one particular risk is the increase in the occurrence of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) in different regions across the world. The purpose of this project is to investigate the impact of rising temperatures on the incidence rates of Lyme disease in the New England area. Following a review of the existing literature relating to the impact of climate factors on VBDs, an SIR model modified for temperature conditions will be utilized to produce several simulated scenarios. …

Modeling The Problem Of Integral Geometry On A Family Of Hyperbolic And Spherical Curves, Azamat Pirimbetov, N. Uteuliev, G. Djaykov

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

The problems of integral geometry in a strip on a family of curves of hyperbolic and spherical type are considered which have numerous applications in problems of geophysics, thermoacoustic and photoacoustic tomography. Explicit formulas are obtained for the Fourier image of the solution of integral geometry problems in the class of smooth compactly supported functions. Further, the obtained formulas are investigated for stability using numerical methods. To solve the problems, algorithms are constructed. Numerical and graphical results of applying these algorithms to solving the problems are presented.

Unsupervised And Supervised Learning For Rna-Protein Interactions And Annotations, Kateland Sipe

Honors Projects

This project analyzed the base and amino acid interactions and annotations through the use of unsupervised and supervised learning techniques. For unsupervised learning, clustering found the data was not able to be distinguished into clear groups which matched the original annotations through kmeans clustering and hierarchical clustering. For supervised learning, the use of random forest, glmnet, and deep learning neural networks were successful in creating accurate predictions. However, machine learning likely will not be able to replace the original complex program, but could be used for possible simplification.

Optimization Of Grow-Out Of Bouldering Coral Microfragments: Land Vs. Offshore Nursery, Ashlee A. Steinberg

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Corals along the Florida Reef Tract and the wider Caribbean have been declining for decades. Low densities of adult colonies hinder the ability of corals to replenish themselves through sexual reproduction, thus reef managers are focusing on restoration actions that increase coral biomass. Microfragmentation is a way to quickly increase the biomass of bouldering corals by cutting the coral into small pieces which forces the coral to allocate its resources away from reproduction and back into growth, increasing its growth rate. This study assessed the optimal location for grow-out (land vs. offshore nursery) and its synergy with size of fragment …

The Interconnectivity Of Parkinson's Disease And Type Two Diabetes Mellitus, Erica Olfson

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

This thesis is about the biochemical connection between Parkinson's disease and Type II Diabetes Mellitus.

The Malina Oceanographic Expedition: How Do Changes In Ice Cover, Permafrost And Uv Radiation Impact Biodiversity And Biogeochemical Fluxes In The Arctic Ocean?, Philippe Massicotte, Rainer M.W. Amon, Antoine David, Sergio Balzano, Simon Bélanger, Ronald Benner, Dominique Boeuf, Annick Bricaud, Flavienne Bruyant, Gwenaëlle Chaillou, Malik Chami, Bruno Charrière, Jing Chen, Hervé Claustre, Pierre Coupel, Nicole Delsaut, David Doxaran, Jens Ehn, Cédric Fichot, Marie-Hélène Forget, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

The MALINA oceanographic campaign was conducted during summer 2009 to investigate the carbon stocks and the processes controlling the carbon fluxes in the Mackenzie River estuary and the Beaufort Sea. During the campaign, an extensive suite of physical, chemical and biological variables were measured across seven shelf-basin transects (south-north) to capture the meridional gradient between the estuary and the open ocean. Key variables such as temperature, absolute salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, and carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured onboard the Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen and from a …

Determination Of The Traits In Leguminous Crops Under Saline Condition, Tojiddin Kuliev, Karomat Ismailova

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

In this study, the variability and determination of genetic traits for winter legume crop varieties the Vostok-55 (Pisum arvense L) and Mirzachul-1 (Vicia villoza Roth L) were investigated under moderate saline soil condition. Results show that the weight of the bean was marked as variable and highly deterministic, and the height of the plants was the most stable. The selection of plants based on these traits is the most effective way of salinity. Both variety the forage pea Vostok-55 and vetch Mirzachul-1 is highly recommended as a sideration and forage crop in saline lands.

Selfish Gene Theory Explains Oedipus Complex, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Sigmund Freud famously placed what he called Oedipus complex at the center of his explanation of psychological and psychiatric problems. Freund's analysis was based on anecdotal evidence and intuition, not on solid experiments -- as a result, for a long time, many psychologists dismissed the universality of Freud's findings. However, lately, experiments seem to confirm that indeed men, on average, select wives who resemble their mothers, and women select husbands who resemble their mothers. In this paper, we provide a possible biological explanation for this observational phenomenon.

College Of Natural Sciences Newsletter, April 2021, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

Volume 2, Issue 4

Page 1 Dean's Message
Page 2 & 3 Awards & Recognition
Page 4 Student Spotlight: Allsion Bjornstad
Page 5 Research Spotlight: Dr. Vondruska & Students
Page 6 Department Head Interviews
Page 7 Media Coverage of CNS
Page 8 Open PRAIRIE Data
Page 9 Student Club Spotlight: BMGSA
Page 10 Then & Now: Urban Geography

Which Weather And Water Conditions Affect The Biodiversity And Abundance Of Macroinvertebrates The Most?, Alyssa Oppedisano, Phil Anderson, Val Phillips

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Macroinvertebrates are important biological monitors that play a valuable role in the metabolism of freshwater food chains. Previous studies have suggested that conditions such as dissolved oxygen, pH, water temperature, precipitation, and air temperature can affect the abundance of macroinvertebrates which can in turn affect the health of freshwater ecosystems. This research aimed to find the relationship between macroinvertebrate biodiversity and various environmental conditions in freshwater ecosystems. Weather data was taken from a weather station at Lancer Park and water data was taken on-site at Wilson stream, both locations in Farmville, Virginia. Sample collection and identification occurred twice a week …

The Abundance Of Soil Microbes In Relationship To Proximity To The Urban Area Of Lancer Park In Farmville, Virginia, Christian Michael, Callie Cutrell, Miguel Diaz-Montealegre

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Soil microbes are microorganisms found in soil that serve various critical roles and functions in the environment, such as decomposition and the cycling of nutrients in ecosystems. Natural and human-caused factors can have positive and/or negative impacts on soil microbes. The objective of this study is to examine the abundance of soil microbes in relationship to proximity to the urban area of Lancer Park in Farmville, Virginia. Soil samples were taken from four locations within Lancer Park: the upper and lower floodplain of Buffalo Creek, the bottom of a large stormwater detention pond, and adjacent to an ephemeral channel connecting …

Combined Effects Of Allelochemical And Pesticide Treatment On The Growth Of Cucumber Plants, Samue Morgan

Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Allelochemicals are biochemicals produced by one plant that inhibits the success of other plants in its vicinity. These allelochemicals are sometimes produced naturally or as a result of stimulus or stress. Ferulic acid is a widespread allelochemical found in cucumbers (Cucumis sativus). Artificial inhibitory chemicals such as the pesticide zeta cypermethrin may create new interactions with ferulic acid. We found that cucumbers acclimate to ferulic acid over time while the inhibitory effects of pesticide remained relatively constant over 14 days.

What Is Refractory Organic Matter In The Ocean?, Federico Baltar, Xosé A. Alvarez-Salgado, Javier Arístegui, Ronald Benner, Dennis A. Hansell, Gerhard J. Herndl, Christian Lønborg

Faculty Publications

About 20% of the organic carbon produced in the sunlit surface ocean is transported into the ocean’s interior as dissolved, suspended and sinking particles to be mineralized and sequestered as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), sedimentary particulate organic carbon (POC) or “refractory” dissolved organic carbon (rDOC). Recently, the physical and biological mechanisms associated with the particle pumps have been revisited, suggesting that accepted fluxes might be severely underestimated (Boyd et al., 2019; Buesseler et al., 2020). Perhaps even more poorly understood are the mechanisms driving rDOC production and its potential accumulation in the ocean. On the basis of …

Food Security As A Factor Of Sustainable Development Of The Country, Timur Nurimbetov

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

The article examines the state of the food market and the trends in ensuring the country’s food security. The article also analyzes the regional characteristics of the agricultural products market in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The saturation level of regional food markets has been studied. Scientific conclusions and practical recommendations on the supply of food to the population have been made.

Influence Of Laterial State Of Pair Impurity Complex On Recombination Processes In Semiconductors, L Yu Leyderman, R A. Ayukhanov, Abat Uteniyazov, E S. Esenbaeva, Sh X. Annayeva

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

The paper analyzes the question of the possible influence of the lateral state of a paired impurity complex on the recombination processes. It is shown that the lateral state of the paired impurity complex does not affect the recombination processes of nonequilibrium carriers - they go through that component of the impurity complex that exchanges carriers with both bands (in this particular case, through the component). The second component of the complex () can apparently play some role in the processes of carrier attachment.

Organization Of Compact Spinning Technology In Textile Clusters, Baxtiyar Aralbaevich Paluanov, Abdimalik Pirmatovich Pirmatov

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

The article proposes a system of continuous supply of raw cotton in continuous spinning technology and methods of maximizing the preservation of the natural properties of the fiber and obtaining high-quality yarn.

Non-Breeding Ecology Of Loggerhead Shrikes In An Intensive Agricultural Region, Emily Rose Donahue

Student Theses and Dissertations

As intensive agriculture has transformed much of the landscape across central North America, many grassland species have had to learn to adjust these new, highly homogeneous habitats while facing steep population declines. The Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus; hereinafter shrike) is one such declining species that persists in these agricultural landscapes. However, we lack information on the sustainability of these populations, and shrike non-breeding ecology, as for most passerines, remains understudied. Specifically, little is known about non-breeding behavior, diet, survival, site fidelity, and habitat selection. If survival, space use, and habitat selection metrics differ between demographic groups within non-breeding populations also …

A Computational Investigation Of The Biophysical Mechanisms Underlying Thermotaxis In The Afd Neurons Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Zachary Mobille

Theses and Dissertations

Thermotaxis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is studied at the cellular scale of the amphid finger-like ciliated (AFD) neurons, which have previously been shown to be essential for thermoreception. The voltage and calcium signals of AFD during temperature stimuli are described with ordinary differential equations. The primary calcium model is a modified version of that published by Kuramochi and Doi in 2017 to explain the calcium responses of the chemosensitive amphid single-ciliated right (ASER) neuron to fluctuations in extracellular salt concentration. To account for the effects of temperature, changes to the stimuli conditions under which inactivation takes place …

Anticancer And Antiangiogenic Activities Of Alkaloids Isolated From Lantana Camara By Adsorption On The Magnetic Nanoparticles, Hussein Kadhem Al-Hakeim, Rahman Sahib Al-Zabibah, Huda Falah Alzihari, Ali Khudhair Almensoori, Hazim A. Al-Zubaidi, Loiy Elsir Ahmed Hassan Hassan

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Lantana camara L. (L. camara) is a perennial shrub that contains low amounts of alkaloids. In the present study, the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were used to isolate positively charged alkaloids from the methanolic extract of L. camara leaves. The crude alkaloid was fractionated using HPLC to separate the highest peak of the alkaloid fraction (HPAF). The crude alkaloids (CA) and HPAF were tested for their antiproliferative effect against cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HCT-116, and HeLa) and endothelial cells line (EA.hy926) as a standard cell line. Antiangiogenic properties were examined using rat aortic ring assay. …

Mach-Zehnder Quantum Interference Rules In Hydrocarbons With Substituents, Alaa Al-Jobory, Zainelabideen Y. Mijbil

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

We have investigated the conditions of quantum interferences in hydrocarbons with substituents using density functional theory and tight binding approximation combined with non-equilibrium Green’s function technique. The chosen model systems, namely benzene and tripyridyl–triazine molecules, have elucidated three prominent rules. The ‘first rule’ is the occurrence of inevitable, destructive quantum interference when 1,3-benzene ring incorporates single substituent at the fifth site. The ‘second rule’ is the chaotic occurrence of quantum interferences due the position and/or type of the substituents. The ‘third rule’: the substituents decrease (increase) the probability of destructive (constructive) interferences

Physical-Chemical Characterization And Heavy Metals Assessment Of Waters And Sediments Of Sebou Watershed (Top Sebou, Morocco), Mohamed Kabriti, Eda Mahougnon Léonce, Chaimaa Merbouh, Bensaber Abdelfattah, Abdelmajid Achkir, Abdlhakim Aouragh, Iounes Nadia

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of human activities, geochemical background and seasons on pollutant pathway. Surface water, groundwater and sediments were assessed to highlight and confirm those impacts. Sixteen physico-chemical parameters were measured (T°, pH, O2, salinity, conductivity, BOD5, COD, SM, Cl-, NO2-, NO3-, NH4+, TAC, TH, SO₄²- and PO43-) and twelve metallic trace elements were analyzed (Ar, Cr, Zn, Mn, Ni, Fe, Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, K and Na). Five sampling campaigns were carried out in 18 sampling points for over one year, between July 2018 and July 2019 in the upstream part …