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The ‘Law Of Environmental Dependence’ - Biology And Ethics In The Work Of Ernest Everett Just: + Found – Some 251 Mostly Typed Pages, Theodore Walker

Perkins Faculty Research and Special Events

Abstract-

“The Origin of Man’s Ethical Behavior” (circa October 1941) by Ernest Everett Just and Hedwig A. Schnetzler Just - is an unpublished book manuscript about the biological origins and evolution of ethical behavior, and about “the law of environmental dependence.” Missing since Just’s death in October 1941, it was found and identified in May 2018 among the collected papers of Ernest Everett Just preserved at the Howard University Moorland-Spingarn Research Center in Washington, DC. In addition to the 1996 US postage with the caption “Ernest E. Just, Biologist,” we now have reason to add two new postage stamps with …

Mixing It Up: The Impact Of Episodic Introgression On The Evolution Of High-Latitude Mesocarnivores, Jocelyn P. Colella

Biology ETDs

At high latitudes, climatic oscillations have triggered repeated episodes of organismal divergence by geographically isolating populations. For terrestrial species, extended isolation in glacial refugia – ice-free regions that enable terrestrial species persistence through glacial maxima – is hypothesized to stimulate allopatric divergence. Alternatively, upon glacial recession, divergent populations expanded from independent glacial refugia and often contacted other diverging populations. In the absence of reproductive isolating mechanisms, this biogeographic process may trigger hybridization and ultimately, gene flow between divergent taxa. My dissertation research aims to understand how these episodic periods of isolation and contact have impacted the evolution of high latitude …

Use Of Two-Replisome Plasmids To Characterize How Chromosome Replication Completes, Nicklas Alexander Hamilton

Dissertations and Theses

All living organisms need to accurately replicate their genome to survive. Genomic replication occurs in three phases; initiation, elongation, and completion. While initiation and elongation have been extensively characterized, less is known about how replication completes. In Escherichia coli completion occurs at sites where two replication forks converge and is proposed to involve the transiently bypass of the forks, before the overlapping sequences are resected and joined. The reaction requires RecBCD, and involves several other gene products including RecG, ExoI, and SbcDC but can occur independent of recombination or RecA. While several proteins are known to be involved, how they …

Mechanism Of Single-Stranded Dna Activation Of Recombinase Intein Splicing, Christopher W. Lennon, Matthew J. Stanger, Marlene Belfort

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Inteins, or intervening proteins, are mobile genetic elements translated within host polypeptides and removed through protein splicing. This self-catalyzed process breaks two peptide bonds and rejoins the flanking sequences, called N- and C-exteins, with the intein scarlessly escaping the host protein. As these elements have traditionally been viewed as purely selfish genetic elements, recent work has demonstrated that the conditional protein splicing (CPS) of several naturally occurring inteins can be regulated by a variety of environmental cues relevant to the survival of the host organism or crucial to the invading protein function. The RadA recombinase from the archaeon Pyrococcus horikoshii …

Using Instream Stationary Antennas To Monitor The Movements Of Warm Water Fishes In A Reach Of Stream Bisected By A Culvert, William Commins

Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses

In this study I investigated the differences in the non-migratory movement patterns of six fish species in a 280m reach of stream bisected by a culvert (impeded), and a 300m reach of stream with no movement barriers (unimpeded). This study took place between July 1, 2018 and November 14, 2018 in Raccoon Creek, Paulding County, Georgia. I used 12mm passive integrated transponder tags and four instream stationary antennas to monitor the movements 429 fishes. The antennas redetected 262 of the 429 individuals (61.1%), and 48% of fishes were redetected more than 10 times. The proportion of tagged individuals detected by …

Photosynthetic Response Of Pentagramma Triangularis To Summer Desiccation, Brandon R. Grinovich, Stephen D. Davis

Featured Research

Ferns are thought to have been some of the first vascular plants to develop, perhaps on the order of 390 million years ago. Since then, ferns have speciated and developed innovative methods of survival especially in relation to water stress. Research conducted in 2016 by Helen Holmlund showed that eight California fern species fell into four primary classes of survival strategies, one of those being resurrection. Pentagramma triangularis is one of the resurrection-type ferns and is endemic to the western coast of the United States. As P. triangularis desiccates during the summer it enacts a physiological response by which it …

Effects Of Invasive Species On Post-Fire Ceanothus Spinosus Seedling Establishment, Nina Duchild, Frank W. Ewers, Stephen D. Davis

Featured Research

This study compared seedling establishment of the native chaparral species Ceanothus spinosus in two different burn sites at Pepperdine University following the Woolsey Fire of November 2018. One site was a low-density fuel site, and experienced a “cool burn,” and the other site was a high-density fuel site and experienced a “hot burn.” In the low-density fuel site, fire type-conversion had occurred, resulting in a dominance of exotic species. The high-density fuel site was populated by many native fire-following species and chaparral shrubs, exemplifying pristine post-fire conditions. Initially, I hypothesized that seedling success in the cool burn site would be …

Seedling And Resprout Survival Of Three Chaparral Species Following Woolsey Wildfire, Karagan L. Smith, Stephen D. Davis

Featured Research

Fire is a common natural disaster that effects Southern California. Combined with recent chronic drought, there has been an increase in the damage and frequency of these fires in recent years. Three chaparral species are common to the Pepperdine campus: Malosma laurina, Ceanothus spinosus, and Ceanothus megacarpus. The survival of these native species is essential because they are indicators for the changes that are occurring in our local ecosystem and provide further implications of how our ecosystem responds to natural disaster. Seedling recruitment and resprouting are mechanisms these chaparral species use to reestablish postfire. Postfire data have been recorded …

The Impact Of The Woolsey Fire On The Fungus Botryosphaeria Dothidea, Juan Arguijo

Featured Research

Southern California suffered a six-year drought in 2012 through 2018 during which the laurel sumac, Malosma laurina, experienced water stress and the fungus Botryosphaeria dothidea began to kill this plant, causing a massive dieback of this keystone chaparral species in the Santa Monica Mountains. Botryosphaeria is an opportunistic endophytic fungus that invades the xylem of woody type plants and waits till the plant starts to experience stress to proliferate. In November of 2018, the Woolsey fire burned up to 96,000 acres of vegetation. I ran tests at two sites on the Pepperdine University campus, the Baxter Ridge Site which …

Post-Fire Soil Microbiome Recovery And Respiration In A Chaparral Ecosystem, Mari R. Irving, Stephen D. Davis

Featured Research

This study characterizes post-fire recovery of microbial and fungal populations adjacent to three keystone chaparral plant species affected by varying burn intensities via systematic measurement of soil respiration. The CO₂ released from soil surrounding Ceanothus spinosus, Heteromeles arbutifolia and Malasma laurina affected by mild, severe or no heat during the Woolsey Fire of November 2018 were monitored and used as an indicator of microbial, fungal, and root activity. We hypothesized that soil which experienced less intense heat would exhibit higher rates of respiration based on preliminary data taken in March 2019. However, the opposite was observed from May through …

Modeling The Impact Of Liana Infestation On The Demography And Carbon Cycle Of Tropical Forests, Manfredo Di Porcia E Brugnera, Félicien Meunier, Marcos Longo, Sruthi M. Krishna Moorthy, Hannes De Deurwaerder, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Damien Bonal, Boris Faybishenko, Hans Verbeeck

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

There is mounting empirical evidence that lianas affect the carbon cycle of tropical forests. However, no single vegetation model takes into account this growth form, although such efforts could greatly improve the predictions of carbon dynamics in tropical forests. In this study, we incorporated a novel mechanistic representation of lianas in a dynamic global vegetation model (the Ecosystem Demography Model). We developed a liana‐specific plant functional type and mechanisms representing liana–tree interactions (such as light competition, liana‐specific allometries, and attachment to host trees) and parameterized them according to a comprehensive literature meta‐analysis. We tested the model for an old‐growth forest …

Indirect Effects In A Planktonic Disease System, Zoi Rapti, Tara E. Stewart Merrill, Liam E. Mueller-Brennan, Jerry H. Kavouras, Carla E. Cáceres

Biology Department Faculty Articles

Indirect effects, both density- and trait-mediated, have been known to act in tandem with direct effects in the interactions of numerous species. They have been shown to affect populations embedded in competitive and mutualistic networks alike. In this work, we introduce a four-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations and investigate the interplay between direct density-effects and density- and trait-mediated indirect effects that take place in a yeast parasite–zooplankton host–incompetent competitor system embedded in a food web which also includes resources and predators. Among our main findings is the demonstration that indirect effects cause qualitative and quantitative changes almost indistinguishable from …

Role Of Host Cell Β-Catenin During Toxoplasma Gondii Infection, Cameron H. Ranken

Biology ETDs

The microbial pathogen Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan that actively invades host cells and simultaneously creates a specialized parasitophorous vacuole within which the parasite lives and replicates. The parasite molecular machinery that drives establishment of the intracellular niche is relatively well known. However, it is now emerging that Toxoplasma exploits less well-understood host cell components to enable successful infection. Here, we examined the role of host Wnt/β-catenin during T. gondii infection. Using human fibroblasts and a mouse dendritic cell line, we found that infection with Toxoplasma stimulated both upregulation and nuclear localization of β-catenin. Using a transwell experimental approach, …

Forty Years Of Change In Southwestern Bee Assemblages, Catherine Cumberland

Biology ETDs

Changes in a regional bee assemblage were investigated by repeating a 1970s study from the U.S. Southwest of bees visiting native sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Results showed declines in abundance and species richness of native bees and increases in non-native Apis mellifera. Climate data indicate drought increased over the 40-year period, favoring introduced and generalist species. Experimental placement of A. mellifera in an area of low A. mellifera density in New Mexico reduced native bee visitation, but improved reproduction in H. annuus plants. Meta-analytic models comparing pollination effectiveness in specialist versus generalist, native versus non-native, and native pollinators …

Ecological And Morphological Response Of Rodents To Environmental Change Over The Late Quaternary, Catalina Tomé

Biology ETDs

The rapid progression of modern climate change is already altering ecosystems worldwide. By employing the fossil record, we can investigate how animals responded to past climatic changes and biodiversity loss. The paleontological record of the late Quaternary (past ~22000 years) encompasses a period of considerable environmental change in North America. Rising temperatures and climatic fluctuations are coupled with the extinction of the majority of large bodied mammals on the landscape. The combination of climate and extinction events led to changes in vegetation and community structure which likely affected the resources available and interactions between the remaining mammals within communities. Here, …

Large And Small Data Blow-Up Solutions In The Trojan Y Chromosome Model, Rana D. Parshad, Matthew Beauregard, Eric M. Takyi, Thomas Griffin, Landrey Bobo

Faculty Publications

The Trojan Y Chromosome Strategy (TYC) is an extremely well investigated biological control method for controlling invasive populations with an XX-XY sex determinism. In [35, 36] various dynamical properties of the system are analyzed, including well posedness, boundedness of solutions, and conditions for extinction or recovery. These results are derived under the assumption of positive solutions. In the current manuscript, we show that if the introduction rate of trojan fish is zero, under certain large data assumptions, negative solutions are possible for the male population, which in turn can lead to finite time blow-up in the female and male populations. …

Do Genetic Differences Explain The Ability Of An Alkaline Shrub To Grow In Both Uplands And Wetlands?, Carol A. Rowe, Paul G. Wolf, Robert W. Lichvar

Biology Faculty Publications

The hydrophyte Allenrolfea occidentalis (S. Watson) Kuntze (iodinebush) is a halophytic shrub of the arid southwest that is listed as a facultative wetland species on the National Wetland Plant List. This rating means that the species is usually a hydrophyte but occasionally is found in uplands. We tested for genetic (ecotypic) differences between plants sampled from wetlands versus uplands. We used the technique of genotyping by sequencing to generate data from 132 plants from 30 locations representing both wetland and upland occurrences for over 1300 loci. Analyses indicated that the strongest genetic signal is from differences in geographic distribution: samples …

An Arduino-Based Rfid Platform For Animal Research, Eli S. Bridge, Jay Wilhelm, Darren S. Proppe, Charles Holwerda

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been broadly applied in the biological sciences to yield new insights into behavior, cognition, population biology, and distributions. RFID systems entail wireless communication between small tags that, when stimulated by an appropriate radio frequency transmission, emit a weak, short-range wireless signal that conveys a unique ID number. These tags, which often operate without a battery, can be attached to animals such that their presence at a particular location can be detected by an RFID reader. This paper describes an RFID data-logging system that can serve as the core for a wide variety of field …

Contextual Fear Learning And Memory Differ Between Stress Coping Styles In Zebrafish, Matthew R. Baker, Ryan Y. Wong

Biology Faculty Publications

Animals frequently overcome stressors and the ability to learn and recall these salient experiences is essential to an individual’s survival. As part of an animal’s stress coping style, behavioral and physiological responses to stressors are often consistent across contexts and time. However, we are only beginning to understand how cognitive traits can be biased by different coping styles. Here we investigate learning and memory differences in zebrafish (Danio rerio) displaying proactive and reactive stress coping styles. We assessed learning rate and memory duration using an associative fear conditioning paradigm that trained zebrafish to associate a context with exposure to a …

Contributions Of Fire Refugia To Resilient Ponderosa Pine And Dry Mixed‐Conifer Forest Landscapes, Jonathan D. Coop, Timothy J. Delory, William M. Downing, Sandra L. Haire, Meg A. Krawchuk, Carol Miller, Marc-André Parisien, Ryan B. Walker

Biology Faculty Publications

Altered fire regimes can drive major and enduring compositional shifts or losses of forest ecosystems. In western North America, ponderosa pine and dry mixed‐conifer forest types appear increasingly vulnerable to uncharacteristically extensive, high‐severity wildfire. However, unburned or only lightly impacted forest stands that persist within burn mosaics—termed fire refugia—may serve as tree seed sources and promote landscape recovery. We sampled tree regeneration along gradients of fire refugia proximity and density at 686 sites within the perimeters of 12 large wildfires that occurred between 2000 and 2005 in the interior western United States. We used generalized linear mixed‐effects models to elucidate …

Novel Salicylic Acid Analogs Induce A Potent Defense Response In Arabidopsis, Ian Arthur Palmer, Huan Chen, Jian Chen, Ming Chang, Min Li, Fengquan Liu, Zheng Qing Fu

Faculty Publications

The master regulator of salicylic acid (SA)-mediated plant defense, NPR1 (NONEXPRESSER OF PR GENES 1) and its paralogs NPR3 and NPR4, act as SA receptors. After the perception of a pathogen, plant cells produce SA in the chloroplast. In the presence of SA, NPR1 protein is reduced from oligomers to monomers, and translocated into the nucleus. There, NPR1 binds to TGA, TCP, and WRKY transcription factors to induce expression of plant defense genes. A list of compounds structurally similar to SA was generated using ChemMine Tools and its Clustering Toolbox. Several of these analogs can induce SA-mediated defense and inhibit …

Connecting The Dots: Exploring The Relationship Between Avian Eggshell Pigmentation And Paternal Provisioning Effort, Kara E. Hodges

Theses and Dissertations

In a number of bird species, eggs laid by females breeding in the same population can vary extensively in the extent of their eggshell pigmentation, but the adaptive significance of this intraspecific variation remains unknown. One hypothesis posits that shell pigmentation is an honest signal of female quality that reflects her level of oxidative stress, one that is used by males to inform their subsequent paternal investment. We employed a reciprocal clutch cross-fostering design to test whether provisioning by male house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) responds to the clutch pigmentation of their mates. In experimental replicates, dark clutches were swapped with …

Life History Of A Clear Stream Minnow: Growth, Reproduction, Habitat Use, And Diet Of Notropis Boops (Bigeye Shiner) In Triplett Creek, Matthew T. Fossett

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Matthew T. Fossett on July 6, 2019.

A New Approach To The Potential Energy Of Solids, Radhika Chauhan, Sanjeev K. Verma, Anushri Gupta, Anita Kumari, B. D. Indu

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

A general theory is developed to investigate the expression for potential energy without using (i) empirical results and (ii) process of parameterizing. The simple approach of thermodynamics is adopted to obtain the expressions for the interaction energy of solids in terms of interatomic separation and crystal volume. The new findings have been applied to obtain the expressions for bulk modulus and pressure. The variation of the potential energy function, which provides a means to understand the stability of a crystal has been found in excellent agreements to the earlier results. The use of obtained harmonic and anharmonic force constants may …

Kinetic Study For The Effect Of New Inhibitors On The Activity Of Purified Gpt From Blood Of Cardiovascular Patients, Firas Maher

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

In this study several biochemical parameters for cardiovascular patients have been measured CK-MB ,LDH ,GPT and GOT in addition to lipid profile , MDA ,Vitamin C and Vitamin E . New derivatives of ascorbic acid have been synthesized and tested to inhibit the purified GPT from the blood of cardiovascular patients Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) was purified from cardiovascular patients using ammonium sulphate salt for precipitation then dialysed using 0.1 M Tris-HCL buffer pH7.8 , then filtrated by gel filtration chromatography using Sephadex G-100 , followed by electrophoresis using poly acrylamide – bis acrylamide and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). Derivatives …

Neighborhoods And Partial Sums Of A New Class Of Meromorphic Multivalent Functions Defined By Fractional Calculus, Aqeel Ketab Al-Khafaji, Waggas Galib Atshan, Salwa Salman Abed

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

In this paper, we introduce and study a new class A^* (λ,μ,ν,η,p,ζ,τ) of meromorphic multivalent functions defined by fractional calculus operator of the punctured unit disc U^*. On this class we obtain several results like, coefficient inequality, modified Hadamard product, (N,δ)- neighborhood, partial sums, convex linear combination and integral operator.

Biomedical Applications Of Chasmanthera Dependens Stem Extract Mediated Silver Nanoparticles As Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Anticoagulant, Thrombolytic, And Larvicidal Agents, Daniel Ayandiran Aina, Oluwafayoke Owolo, Agbaje Lateef, Folasade O. Aina, Abbas Saeed Hakeem, Morenike Adeoye-Isijola, Victor Okon, Tesleem B. Asafa, Joseph Adetunji Elegbede, Olumide D. Olukanni, Isaac Adediji

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The stem extract of Chasmanthera dependens was used in the biofabrication of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in this study. The AgNPs was characterised using UV-visible spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), EDX, and the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Antibacterial, antioxidant, anticoagulant, thrombolytic and larvicidal activities of the biosynthesised nanoparticles were carried out. There was a peak at 418 nm with a strong silver peak observed around 2.7KeV when the EDX analysis was carried out. The FESEM showed a large number of cubically shaped nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 24.53 to 92.38 nm. CDE-AgNPs was effective against Klebsiella pneumoniae at …

Editorial Board

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

No abstract provided.

Intraspecific Variation In Worker Body Size Makes North American Bumble Bees (Bombus Spp.) Less Susceptible To Decline, Matthew W. Austin, Aimee S. Dunlap

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

Population declines have been documented in approximately one-third of bumble bee species. Certain drivers of these declines are known; however, less is known about the interspecific trait differences that make certain species more susceptible to decline. Two traits that have implications for responding to rapidly changed environments may be particularly consequential for bumble bee populations: intraspecific body size variation and brain size. Bumble bee body size is highly variable and is likely adaptive at the colony level, and brain size correlates with cognitive traits (e.g., behavioral plasticity) in many groups. Trait variation and plasticity may buffer species against negative effects …

Crystal Structure Of The Mitochondrial Protein Mitoneet Bound To A Benze-Sulfonide Ligand, Werner J. Geldenhuys, Timothy E. Long, Pushkar Saralkar, Toshio Iwasaki, Raisa A. A. Nunez, Rajesh R. Nair, Mary E. Konkle, Mark V. Pinti, Michael Menze, John M. Hollander, Lori A. Hazlehurst, Aaron R. Robart

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

MitoNEET (gene cisd1) is a mitochondrial outer membrane [2Fe-2S] protein and is a potential drug target in several metabolic diseases. Previous studies have demonstrated that mitoNEET functions as a redox-active and pH-sensing protein that regulates mitochondrial metabolism, although the structural basis of the potential drug binding site(s) remains elusive. Here we report the crystal structure of the soluble domain of human mitoNEET with a sulfonamide ligand, furosemide. Exploration of the high-resolution crystal structure is used to design mitoNEET binding molecules in a pilot study of molecular probes for use in future development of mitochondrial targeted therapies for a wide …