Research Methods in Life Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Chimpanzee Wound Rates Before And During Covid-19 Zoo Closures, Robin Elana Salak

All Master's Theses

Visitor effect studies have had inconsistent impacts on animals, due in part to the inability to control for all confounding variables such as time of day, seasonal weather patterns, and so forth. This study represents the first instance where chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) wounding frequencies were investigated across extensive time periods in the presence and complete absence of visitors, thus eliminating many visitor-related variables. Additional variables were eliminated through the zoo selection process, based on institutional responses to a 29-question survey, providing a novel approach to the question of visitor effects. The aim of this study was to determine …

Review Of The Effects Of Asphalt Fume Emission (Vocs And Pahs) In Vitro, In Vivo And Human Studies, Omran Taqi, Nastassja Lewinski, Elham Fini, Eran Rozewski, Judith Klein-Seetharaman

Undergraduate Research Posters

Review of the effects of Asphalt fume emission (VOCs and PAHs) in vitro, in vivo and human studies

Omran Taqi, Nastassja Lewinski¹

1) Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Background

Asphalt is abundantly available around human operations including road paving and roofing sites. However, their emissions and fumes (specifically volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) have been found to have adverse effects on health. Asphalt fumes are a class 2A carcinogen and exposure can increase the risk of lung cancer, asthma, headache, fatigue, and other cardiovascular diseases.

Methods

We used …

Investigating The Genetic Diversity Of Immune Genes In Non-Native Populations Of American Bullfrogs (Rana Catesbeiana), Luisa Nereyda Segovia

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) is a highly invasive species that has successfully colonized habitats around the world. The genetic variability of immune genes within invasive populations, like that of bullfrogs, may contribute to how resistant a population is to pathogens. The objective of this project was to characterize the genetic diversity of an immune gene in invasive bullfrog populations in California to better understand how persistent these populations might be over time. To characterize immune gene variability, I isolated exon 2 of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class II Beta chain gene and a neutral mitochondrial marker, …

The Effect Of Visitor Density And Interaction On The Behavior Of Four Ray Species (Hypanus Sabina, Hypanus Say, Pseudobatos Lentiginosus, And Rhinoptera Bonasus) Housed In An Aquatic Touch Pool, Aimee Marie Little

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human-Animal Interactions (HAI) in zoological institutions are thought to be important in helping visitors to establish a connection with animals and thus making them more likely to contribute to conservation efforts. However, animals can respond to visitor interaction in both negative and positive ways. The growing focus on animal welfare in zoological institutions emphasizes the need for assessing different environmental inputs, including visitor interaction, and how these inputs influence behavioral outputs associated with welfare. A touch pool exhibit presents a novel interactive experience that allows visitors to directly interact with various aquatic species, including elasmobranchs, whose conservation has important implications …