Biology Commons^™

Anti-Apoptotic Effects Of Human Placental Hydrolysate Against Hepatocyte Toxicity In Vivo And In Vitro, Dong Ho Bak, Jungtae Na, Mi Ji Choi, Byung Chul Lee, Chang Taek Oh, Jeom Yong Kim, Hae Jung Han, Moo Joong Kim, Tae Ho Kim, Beom Joon Kim

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Apoptosis and oxidative stress are essential for the pathogenesis of acute liver failure and fulminant hepatic failure. Human placental hydrolysate (hPH) has been reported to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In the present study, the protective effects of hPH against D-galactosamine (D-GalN)- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced hepatocyte apoptosis were investigated in vivo. In addition, the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-apoptotic activities of hPH against D-GalN-induced cell death in vitro were examined. Male Sprague-D awley rats were injected with D-GaIN/LPS with or without the administration of hPH. Rats were sacrificed 24 h after D-GaIN/LPS intraperitoneal injection, and the blood and liver samples …

Urban Re-Greening: A Case Study In Multi-Trophic Biodiversity And Ecosystem Functioning In A Post-Industrial Landscape, Frank Gallagher, Nina M. Goodey, Diane Hagmann, Jay Prakash Singh, Claus Holzapfel, Megan Litwhiler, Jennifer Adams Krumins

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The biodiversity of urban and post-industrial ecosystems is a highly relevant and growing new frontier in ecological research. Even so, the functionality of these ecosystems may not always be successfully predicted based on prior biodiversity and ecosystem functioning theory. Indeed, evidence suggests that the general biological impoverishment within the urban context envisioned thirty years ago was overstated. Many of the world’s urban centers support some degree of biodiversity that is indigenous, as well as a complex array of non-native species, resulting in highly functional, and often, novel communities. For over two decades, a multi-disciplinary team has examined the sub-lethal impact …

Mechanisms Underlying Insect Freeze Tolerance., Jantina Toxopeus, Brent J Sinclair

Biology Publications

Freeze tolerance - the ability to survive internal ice formation - has evolved repeatedly in insects, facilitating survival in environments with low temperatures and/or high risk of freezing. Surviving internal ice formation poses several challenges because freezing can cause cellular dehydration and mechanical damage, and restricts the opportunity to metabolise and respond to environmental challenges. While freeze-tolerant insects accumulate many potentially protective molecules, there is no apparent 'magic bullet' - a molecule or class of molecules that appears to be necessary or sufficient to support this cold-tolerance strategy. In addition, the mechanisms underlying freeze tolerance have been minimally explored. Herein, …

Cell Specific Control Of The Pallidostriatal Pathway, Shubha Verma '19

Student Publications & Research

Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder of the basal ganglia. The main cause for Parkinson’s Disease is the depletion of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. The basal ganglia contains four major nuclei: the substantia nigra, the subthalamic nucleus, the external globus pallidus, and the striatum. These nuclei communicate with each other by the use of neurons.

Modeling Effects Of Ecological Factors On Evolution Of Polygenic Pesticide Resistance, C. V. Haridas, Brigitte Tenhumberg

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Widespread use of pesticides has resulted in the evolution of resistance in many insect pests worldwide, limiting their use in pest control. Effective pest and resistance management practices require understanding of the genetics of resistance and the life history of the pest. Most models for pesticide resistance assume that resistance is monogenic, conferred by a single gene. However, resistance could evolve as a polygenic quantitative trait resulting from the action of several genes, especially when pesticide dose is low. Further, fitness of the pest could be density dependent and might depend upon abiotic factors such as temperature. It is not …

Estimating The Elimination Feasibility In The 'End Game' Of Control Efforts For Parasites Subjected To Regular Mass Drug Administration: Methods And Their Application To Schistosomiasis, Arathi Arakala, Christopher M. Hoover, John M. Marshall, Susanne H. Sokolow, Guilio A. De Leo, Jason R. Rohr, Justin V. Remais, Manoj Gambhir

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Progress towards controlling and eliminating parasitic worms, including schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, and lymphatic filariasis, is advancing rapidly as national governments, multinational NGOs, and pharmaceutical companies launch collaborative chemotherapeutic control campaigns. Critical questions remain regarding the potential for achieving elimination of these infections, and analytical methods can help to quickly estimate progress towards—and the probability of achieving—elimination over specific timeframes. Here, we propose the effective reproduction number, R_eff, as a proxy of elimination potential for sexually reproducing worms that are subject to poor mating success at very low abundance (positive density dependence, or Allee effects). R_eff is the …

Modeling How Land Use Legacy Affects The Provision Of Ecosystem Services In Mediterranean Southern Spain, Juan Miguel Requena-Mullor, Cristina Quintas-Soriano, Jodi Brandt, Javier Cabello, Antonio J. Castro

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Land use decisions induce legacies that affect the welfare of future generations. Here, we present a spatial modeling approach for quantifying how past land use decisions influence provision of multiple ecosystem services(ESs) based on different land use trajectories. We modeled the effect of past land use changes on water regulation, soil protection and habitat quality in southern Spain, one of the most transformed areas of the Mediterranean region. We demonstrate a measurable influence of antecedent land use changes on the capacity of a given land use to provide ESs, and that the effect size can vary among different services and …

Physiological And Genomic Characterization Of Novel Isolate From Om252 Clade Of The Gammaproteobacteria, Emily Nall

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Intestinal Microbiome Composition Of An Acute In Vivo Alzheimer’S Disease Rat Model, Jimmy Saravia

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Examining Patterns In Nest Predation Using Artificial Nests, Victoria L. Simonsen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The use of artificial nests to study the predation of avian nests has faced disregard by ecologists due to inconsistencies found between the survival rates of real and artificial nests across studies and reviews. The negative perception of artificial nests providing an inconsistent assessment of survival has thus fostered the perception that artificial nests are a secondary option to be used to overcome logistical hurdles associated with achieving sufficient sample sizes in systems where study species are rare or elusive, or as merely a preliminary method to study predation across gradients. We argue that the greatest mistake ecologists have made …

Emerging Roles Of The Membrane Potential: Action Beyond The Action Potential, Lina Abdul Kadir, Michael Stacey, Richard Barrett-Jolley

Bioelectrics Publications

Whilst the phenomenon of an electrical resting membrane potential (RMP) is a central tenet of biology, it is nearly always discussed as a phenomenon that facilitates the propagation of action potentials in excitable tissue, muscle, and nerve. However, as ion channel research shifts beyond these tissues, it became clear that the RMP is a feature of virtually all cells studied. The RMP is maintained by the cell's compliment of ion channels. Transcriptome sequencing is increasingly revealing that equally rich compliments of ion channels exist in both excitable and non-excitable tissue. In this review, we discuss a range of critical roles …

Population Genetics Of The Eastern Subterranean Termite, Reticulitermes Flavipes, In The Southern Appalachian Mountains, Lee Ann Passarella

Honors Theses

As an area rich in biodiversity, the Appalachian Mountains are an ideal place for biological research. The pronounced impacts of Pleistocene climatic cycles on forest distributions over time have shaped the evolutionary history of animals that depend on these habitats, underpinning the research that is presented here. The present study on the eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, was conducted to better understand the spatial distribution of genetic diversity within and among populations of this species in the context of the aforementioned historical climatic changes in the southern Appalachian Mountain region. I hypothesized that there would be geographically localized, distinct genetic …

Identification And Characterisation Of Novel Phages Of Pectobacterium And Erwinia, Colin Buttimer

PhDs

Losses in crop yields due to disease need to be reduced to meet increasing global food demands associated with growth in the human population. There is a well-recognised need to develop new environmentally-friendly control strategies to combat bacterial crop diseases. There are several crop diseases for which no effective bactericidal agents are currently available, such as potato blackleg and soft rot disease caused by Pectobacterium atrosepticum and other members of soft rot Enterobacteriaceae (Czajkowski et al., 2011). Furthermore, current control measures involving the use of traditional chemicals or antibiotics are losing their efficacy due to the natural development of bacterial …

In Vivo Assessment Of Safranal’S Novel Therapeutic Effects On Chemically Induced Hepatic Neoplasia, Ameera Ali M. Almansoori

Biology Theses

Chronic liver insult leads to fibrosis, which often ends up causing cirrhosis and most of the time that progresses into hepatic neoplasms (early Hepatocellular carcinoma; HCC). HCC is the fifth most common cancer, and the third cause of cancerrelated deaths. Chemotherapy is the most common treatment of cancer patients. HCC is however, chemo-resistant, and the side-effects of chemotherapy are typically exhausting to the patient. Sorafenib is the only anti-HCC drug approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. It is a multikinase inhibitor that blocks tumor cells proliferation and angiogenesis. Although sorafenib is successful treating early and mid HCC lesions, …

Transcriptional Profiling Identifies Potential Genes Associated With Multiple Biotic Stresses In Arabidopsis, Hibatullah Mustafa Al Ashram

Biology Theses

Plants are exposed to many environmental stresses that affect their growth and development. These stresses include biotic stresses (organisms) and abiotic stresses (drought and salinity). Plants respond to these stresses by transcriptional reprogramming and different signaling pathways. Arabidopsis thaliana had shown great sensitivity to the biotic stress: Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria brassicicola, Pseudomonas syringae and the herbivore insect Pieris rapae. The overall goal is to identify common regulated genes that respond to all these biotic stresses to ultimately improve plant stress tolerance in Arabidopsis. The specific aims are to: (1) determine the regulated genes in response to an …

Effect Of Stocking Density Using Tilapia Oreochromis Niloticuson Aquaponic System And Cultivation Of Cherry Tomato Solanum Lycopersicumunder Uae Condition, Adel Ibrahim Hussain Al Bloushi

Biology Theses

The present study was conducted to cultivate tomato plants in aquaponics system in the UAE climatic condition. The cherry tomato Solanum lycopersicum plants were cultivated with the Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fish effluent water. The tomatoes were cultivated with three different densities of fish, 100 fish/m3, 120 fish/m3and 140 fish/m3. Each greenhouse was 120 m2 plant cultivation areas and 15.5 m3 of the fish culture area and the total water stocking volume was 58 m3. Tomato plants were planted with the ratio of 3 plants/m2. The introduced fish are fed with 35% protein based commercial floating feed at the ratio of …

A Host–Parasite Model Explains Variation In Liana Infestation Among Co‐Occurring Tree Species, Marco D. Visser, Helene C. Muller-Laudau, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Hans De Kroon, Eelke Jongejans, S. Joseph Wright

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

1. Lianas are structural parasites of trees that reduce the growth, survival and reproduction of their hosts. Given that co‐occurring tree species differ strongly in the proportion of individuals that are infested by lianas (liana prevalence), lianas could differentially impact tree species and thereby influence tree community composition. Surprisingly, little is known about what governs variation in liana prevalence.
2. Here, we apply an approach inspired by disease ecology to investigate the dynamics of liana prevalence over 11 years on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. We followed the fate of 1,938 individual trees from 21 tree species, recording deaths and change in liana …

Prohibiting Pet Crayfish Does Not Consistently Reduce Their Availability Online, Zen Faulkes

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

The pet trade is a significant source of introductions of non-indigenous aquatic species, such as crayfish. To test whether legislation that regulates the ownership of ornamental animals for aquariums had the desired effect of reducing the availability of those pets, classified advertising websites were monitored for sales of crayfish in jurisdictions with and without legislation regulating the ownership of crayfish. Advertisements from Canadian provinces with legislation against owning crayfish were compared to provinces without such legislation. The population adjusted number of advertisements for crayfish, and number of distinct sellers of crayfish, was significantly lower in one of two provinces that …

Medical University Of Graz - Summer Internship 2018, Nada Belal

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• Assist a transplant team at Medical University of Graz for 6 weeks
• Mainly general surgery and transplantation procedures, but can observe and assist in other types of operations, as well.
• Great opportunity to apply all that you have learned in the classroom through hands-on experience.

The University Of Texas Md Anderson Cancer Center - Biology Summer Internship, Marla Fortoul

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• 10 week program
• MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas
• Students will be matched with a faculty mentor in any number of areas of biomedical research where a project will be assigned.
• Participants work alongside the mentor in a lab or clinic on projects designed by faculty to reflect current research.
• Workshops and lectures provide opportunities to connect with faculty, residents, postdoctoral and clinical fellows, and other participants.
• Through the program, students assess goals related to careers in oncology research and patient care.
• Symposium in which participants present talks and posters on their research projects to peers and …

Osteogenesis Of Dental Stem Cells, Jerry Ennolikara

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• This research lab is dedicated to the study of bioengineering bone tissue, an application of biology research within medicine known as "regenerative medicine," through a variety of in-vivo and in-vitro projects.
• The primary focus of our lab is to replace a lifetime of bone graft surgeries associated with cleft palate, a congenital disorder where the palatal process of the maxilla fails to fuse during development, with a noninvasive injectable treatment.
• The lab upholds the central motif of tissue engineering of "cells, scaffolds, and growth factors" with our research utilizing periodontal ligamental stem cells/human gingival mesenchymal stem cells; 3D …

Ussouthcom's Office Of The Command Surgeon - Pathway Internship Experience, Alexander Jakub Martinek

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview: The Office of the Command Surgeon enables and synchronizes health engagement activities utilizing the whole of government approach to enhance regional health preparedness and increase our partner nations’ military and security forces’ medical capabilities.

Practicum In Biology I: Gastroenterology Site, Roksana Hesari

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• Instructor - Dr. Mark Jaffe, DPM
• Didactic and experiential learning in applied settings
• Primary research literature exposure in field of interest
• Weekly face-to-face lectures for three hours
• Practicum site shifts for minimum 5 hours weekly
• Partnerships with Alvin Sherman Library and Career Services Department

Cleveland Clinic Florida - Summer Scholar Program, Marina Handal

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Summer Scholar Program is designed to allow students to gain shadowing experience in the medical field via the clinical and hospital settings.
• Students are assigned 3 rotations total within the 6-week span of the program; high school assignments run for a total of 3 weeks.
• Rotations include Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Neurosurgery, ICC, Emergency Medicine, and various other subspecialties.
• Students can expect to be at the Weston hospital Monday-Friday 8 am- 5 pm (varies based on rotation/clinic hours/surgery schedule).
• Attend weekly lectures that consist of discussion of the ethics of medicine, educational path to becoming a …

Cleveland Clinic Summer Scholars Program, Vanessa Cruise

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• Currently available to: High school juniors going into senior year and pre-med college freshmen that have completed their first year of college
• College freshman program is a 6 week program (3 rotations, 2 weeks long each). Rotations can be aligned with your preferred specialties if resources allow.

Science Alive, Allan Barraza, Ahjay Bhatia, Gwen Bui, Sophia Nguyen

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• Introduces STEM concepts to young students
• Encourage their pursuit of higher education
• Be role models
• Make friends

Cleveland Clinic Summer Scholar Program, Mahnoor Asif

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• The program lasts a total of 6 weeks, and you rotate through 3 different departments
• Dress code: Business professional attire + Cleveland Clinic white coat
• Every day will be different in terms of activity and length depending on your rotation site, if you have to do rounds, how early your first patient is coming into the clinic, etc. However, an average day will be from 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Protein Modeling, Alesa Chabbra

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

Program Overview:

• The program is designed to answer the question "How can modeling using protein visualization software and 3D printing best demonstrate links between protein structure and function?"
• Done in collaboration with CREST and Center for BioMolecular Modeling

Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Alignments For Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Shrimp Genus Farfantepenaeus, Laura Timm, S. Simon, Heather Bracken-Grissom Dr.

DEEPEND Datasets

This dataset includes 12S, 16S, and COI sequence data. Sequences were obtained from the eight recognized species of Farfantepenaeus: F. aztecus, F. brasiliensis, F. brevirostris, F. californiensis, F. duorarum, F. isabelae, F. notialis, and F. subtilis. Also included are several sequences from species of Litopenaeus, which serve as outgroup(s).

Clethrionomys Gapperi, Roger W. Barbour

Roger W. Barbour Slide Collection

Clethrionomys gapperi