Organisms Commons^™

Using Predator Carrying Capacity For A Pathogenic Vector-Dynamic Differential Model, Rosahn Bhattarai

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Nitrate On The Release Of Glucose Into The Hemolymph Of Crayfish, Procambarus Clarkii, Alec R. Flores, Lee Kats, David Green, Gary Bucciarelli

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Pollutants can change the behaviors of invertebrate stream animals. The level of one common pollutant, nitrate (NO3), has been rising in many local rivers and streams throughout the United States due to increases in anthropogenic sources. Nitrate, heavily regulated for its toxic effects to human health, namely the aiding in the development of cancer, also dangerously affects aquatic species by converting oxygen-carrying pigments to forms that are incapable of carrying oxygen. To understand the stress effects of ambient nitrate exposure on P. clarkii, we collected hemolymph samples from red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) over a 48-hour period after exposure to …

Development And Validation Of A Sensitive Uplc-Ms/Ms Method For The Quantitation Of [13c]Sucrose In Rat Plasma, Blood, And Brain: Its Application To The Measurement Of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability, Mohammad K. Miah, Ulrich Bickel, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Accurate and reproducible measurement of blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity is critical in the assessment of the pathophysiology of the central nervous system disorders and in monitoring therapeutic effects. The widely-used low molecular weight marker [14C]sucrose is non-specific in the absence of chromatographic separation. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a sensitive and reproducible LC-MS/MS method for the analysis of stable isotopemodified [13C12]sucrose in brain, plasma, and blood to determine BBB permeability to sucrose. After addition of internal standard (IS, [13C6]sucrose), the marker and IS were recovered from diluted rat blood, plasma, and brain homogenate by protein …

Graphene Oxide Quantum Dots Covalently Functionalized Pvdf Membrane With Significantly-Enhanced Bactericidal And Antibiofouling Performances, Zhiping Zeng, Dingshan Yu, Ziming He, Jing Liu, Fang-Xing Xiao, Yan Zhang, Rong Wang, Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Timothy Thatt Yang Tan

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Covalent bonding of graphene oxide quantum dots (GOQDs) onto amino modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane has generated a new type of nano-carbon functionalized membrane with significantly enhanced antibacterial and antibiofouling properties. A continuous filtration test using E. coli containing feedwater shows that the relative flux drop over GOQDs modified PVDF is 23%, which is significantly lower than those over pristine PVDF (86%) and GO-sheet modified PVDF (62%) after 10 h of filtration. The presence of GOQD coating layer effectively inactivates E. coli and S. aureus cells, and prevents the biofilm formation on the membrane surface, producing excellent antimicrobial activity and …

Evaluation Of Animal Model Research, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Kenneth J. Shapiro, PhD

It is argued that a concept of evaluation of animal models that is broader and more useful than validation is available. Productive generativity refers to the degree to which a model furthers understanding and leads to more-effective treatment interventions. Results of the application of this novel evaluative frame to several animal models of eating disorders show that this animal-based research has not been productive. The question of the relation between clinic and animal laboratory is discussed.

Olfactory Enrichment In California Sea Lions (Zalophus Californianus), Mystera M. Samuelson

Dissertations

In the wild, California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are exposed to a wide array of sensory information at all times. However, it is impossible for captive environments to provide this level of complexity. Therefore unique procedures and practices are necessary for the maintenance of physiological and psychological health in captive animals (Wells, 2009). This project aims to explore the behavioral effect of scent added to the environment, with the goal of improving the welfare of captive sea lions by introducing two scent types: 1.) Natural scents, found in their native environment, and 2.) Non-natural scents, not found in …

Anti-Tb And Antibacterial Activities Of Natural Products Extracts, Douglas Armstrong, Nathan Krause, Drew Frey

Faculty Scholarship – Chemistry

Samples of numerous plant species were received from the southwestern part of the USA from Richard Spjut, and plant samples were collected here in Illinois. All were extracted with typical solvents, giving crude residues, some of which were subjected to counter-current or flash chromatographic methods. Some of the crude extracts and chromatographic fractions had anti-tuberculosis and/or antibacterial activity.

In a general way, bioactive natural products are dealt with very well by Liang & Fang, 2006. More specifically, the southwestern part of the United States has a large variety of indigenous plants, many of which have not been investigated for their …

Rapid Label-Free Detection Of E. Coli Using Antimicrobial Peptide Assisted Impedance Spectroscopy, Keren Jieng, Hashem Etayash, Sarfuddin Azmi, Selvaraj Naicker, Mahtab Hassanpourfard, Parmiss Mojir Shaibani, Garima Thakur, Kamaljit Kaur, Thomas Thundat

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

There is an increasing demand for rapid detection of waterborne pathogens to monitor drinking water safety. We demonstrate a compact, label-free sensor array for rapid detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in contaminated water samples using antimicrobial peptide assisted impedimetric sensor platform. Interdigitated electrode arrays immobilized with the antimicrobial peptide Colicin V (ColV) were used to screen the affinity towards different bacterial strains by monitoring impedance variations in real-time. This ColV assisted impedance biosensor exhibited high selectivity towards Gram-negative strains particularly towards E. coli strains. This selective detection of E. coli from other strains was observed at 10 …

Expectations For Methodology And Translation Of Animal Research: A Survey Of Health Care Workers, Ari Joffe, Meredith Bara, Natalie Anton, Nathan Nobis

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

Background: Health care workers (HCW) often perform, promote, and advocate use of public funds for animal research (AR); therefore, an awareness of the empirical costs and benefits of animal research is an important issue for HCW. We aim to determine what health-care-workers consider should be acceptable standards of AR methodology and translation rate to humans. Methods: After development and validation, an e-mail survey was sent to all pediatricians and pediatric intensive care unit nurses and respiratory-therapists (RTs) affiliated with a Canadian University. We presented questions about demographics, methodology of AR, and expectations from AR. Responses of pediatricians and nurses/RTs were …

Do Zoos And Aquariums Promote Attitude Change In Visitors? A Critical Evaluation Of The American Zoo And Aquarium Study, Lori Marino, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Randy Malamud, Nathan Nobis, Ron Broglio

Lori Marino, PhD

Modern-day zoos and aquariums market themselves as places of education and conservation. A recent study conducted by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) (Falk et al., 2007) is being widely heralded as the first direct evidence that visits to zoos and aquariums produce long-term positive effects on people’s attitudes toward other animals. In this paper, we address whether this conclusion is warranted by analyzing the study’s methodological soundness. We conclude that Falk et al. (2007) contains at least six major threats to methodological validity that undermine the authors’ conclusions. There remains no compelling evidence for the claim that zoos …

Do Zoos And Aquariums Promote Attitude Change In Visitors? A Critical Evaluation Of The American Zoo And Aquarium Study, Lori Marino, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Randy Malamud, Nathan Nobis, Ron Broglio

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

Modern-day zoos and aquariums market themselves as places of education and conservation. A recent study conducted by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) (Falk et al., 2007) is being widely heralded as the first direct evidence that visits to zoos and aquariums produce long-term positive effects on people’s attitudes toward other animals. In this paper, we address whether this conclusion is warranted by analyzing the study’s methodological soundness. We conclude that Falk et al. (2007) contains at least six major threats to methodological validity that undermine the authors’ conclusions. There remains no compelling evidence for the claim that zoos …

Addressing Distress And Pain In Animal Research: The Veterinary, Research, Societal, Regulatory And Ethical Contexts For Moving Forward, Kathleen Conlee, Martin Stephens, Andrew N. Rowan

Andrew N. Rowan, DPhil

While most people recognize that biomedical scientists are searching for knowledge that will improve the health of humans and animals, the image of someone deliberately causing harm to an animal in order to produce data that may lead to some future benefit has always prompted an uncomfortable reaction outside the laboratory. However, proponents of animal research have usually justified the practice by reference to greater benefits (new knowledge and medical treatments) over lesser costs (in animal suffering and death). Given that one of the costs of animal research is the suffering experienced by the animals, the goal of eliminating distress …

The Minimization Of Research Animal Distress And Pain: Conclusions And Recommendations, Kathleen Conlee, Martin Stephens, Andrew N. Rowan

Andrew N. Rowan, DPhil

While the attention given to preventing, assessing, and alleviating pain in research animals has increased noticeably in recent decades, much remains to be done both in terms of implementing best practices and conducting studies to answer outstanding questions. In contrast, the attention to distress (particularly non-pain induced distress) has shown no comparable increase. There are many reasons for this discrepancy, including the conceptual untidiness of the distress concept, the paucity of pharmacological treatments for distress, and perceived lack of regulatory emphasis on distress. These are challenges that need to be addressed and overcome. This book is intended to help meet …

Dimethylsulfide Gas Transfer Coefficients From Algal Blooms In The Southern Ocean, T. G. Bell, Warren J. De Bruyn, Christa A. Marandino, S. D. Miller, C. S. Law, Eric S. Saltzman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Air-sea dimethylsulfide (DMS) fluxes and bulk air-sea gradients were measured over the Southern Ocean in February-March 2012 during the Surface Ocean Aerosol Production (SOAP) study. The cruise encountered three distinct phytoplankton bloom regions, consisting of two blooms with moderate DMS levels, and a high biomass, dinoflagellate-dominated bloom with high seawater DMS levels (> 15 nM). Gas transfer coefficients were considerably scattered at wind speeds above 5 m s(-1). Bin averaging the data resulted in a linear relationship between wind speed and mean gas transfer velocity consistent with that previously observed. However, the wind-speed-binned gas transfer data distribution at all wind …

Proof-Of-Concept Of Environmental Dna Tools For Atlantic Sturgeon Management, Jameson Hinkle

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, Mitchell) is an anadromous species that spawns in tidal freshwater rivers from Canada to Florida. Overfishing, river sedimentation and alteration of the river bottom have decreased Atlantic Sturgeon populations, and NOAA lists the species as endangered. Ecologists sometimes find it difficult to locate individuals of a species that is rare, endangered or invasive. The need for methods less invasive that can create more resolution of cryptic species presence is necessary. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is a non-invasive means of detecting rare, endangered, or invasive species by isolating nuclear or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the …

An Evaluation Of The Us High Production Volume (Hpv) Chemical-Testing Programme: A Study In (Ir)Relevance, Redundancy And Retro Thinking, Andrew Nicholson, Jessica Sandler, Troy Seidle

Troy Seidle, PhD

Under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Programme, chemical companies have volunteered to conduct screening-level toxicity tests on approximately 2800 widely-used industrial chemicals. Participating companies are committed to providing available toxicity information to the EPA and presenting testing proposals for review by the EPA and posting on the EPA Web site as public information. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and a coalition of animal protection organisations have reviewed all the test plans submitted by the participating chemical companies for compliance with the original HPV framework, as well as with animal welfare guidelines …

The Development Of New Concepts For Assessing Reproductive Toxicity Applicable To Large Scale Toxicological Programmes, S. Bremer, C. Pellizzer, S. Hoffmann, T. Seidle, T. Hartung

Troy Seidle, PhD

Large scale toxicological testing programmes which are currently ongoing such as the new European chemical legislation REACH require the development of new integrated testing strategies rather than applying traditional testing schemes to thousands of chemicals. The current practice of requiring in vivo testing for every possible adverse effect endanger the success of these programmes due (i) to limited testing facilities and sufficient capacity of scientific/technical knowledge for reproductive toxicity; (ii) an unacceptable number of laboratory animals involved (iii) an intolerable number of chemicals classified as false positive.

A key aspect of the implementation of new testing strategies is the determination …

A Modular One-Generation Reproduction Study As A Flexible Testing System For Regulatory Safety Assessment, Richard Vogel, Troy Seidle, Horst Spielmann

Troy Seidle, PhD

The European Union’s Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation mandates testing and evaluation of approximately 30,000 existing substances within a short period of time, beginning with the most widely used “high production volume” (HPV) chemicals. REACH testing requirements for the roughly 3000 HPV chemicals specify three separate tests for reproductive toxicity: two developmental toxicity studies on different animal species (OECD Test Guideline 414) and a two-generation reproduction toxicity study (OECD TG 416). These studies are highly costly in both economic and animal welfare terms. OECD TG 416 is a fertility study intended to evaluate reproductive performance of animals …

The Fine-Scale Habitat Use Of Risso’S Dolphins Off Bardsey Island, Cardigan Bay (Uk), Marijke N. De Boer, Sonja Eisfeld, Mark P. Simmonds

Mark P. Simmonds, OBE

The main objectives of this study were (1) to estimate the population size of Risso’s dolphins off Bardsey Island using mark-recapture techniques (De Boer et al., 2013); and (2) to study habitat-use in relation to fine-scale oceanographic features. This work provides preliminary information on the habitat-use of Risso’s dolphins and will benefit future studies, along with the development of effective conservation measures for this species throughout the region.

Cetaceans And Marine Debris: The Great Unknown, Mark Peter Simmonds

Mark P. Simmonds, OBE

Plastics and other marine debris have been found in the gastrointestinal tracts of cetaceans, including instances where large quantities of material have been found that are likely to cause impairment to digestive processes and other examples, where other morbidity and even death have resulted. In some instances, debris may have been ingested as a result of the stranding process and, in others, it may have been ingested when feeding. Those species that are suction or “ram” feeders may be most at risk. There is also evidence of entanglement of cetaceans in marine debris. However, it is usually difficult to distinguish …

Response Of Soil Nitrification To The Veterinary Pharmaceuticals Monensin, Ivermectin And Zinc Bacitracin, Magda A. Konopka

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Pharmaceutical residues can reach agricultural land through amendment with animal or human waste. Since 2010, a series of replicated plots received annual applications of ivermectin, monensin and zinc bacitracin, either singly or in a mixture, at 0.1 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg concentrations. I collected soil samples before and after the fourth annual application of pharmaceuticals and assayed them for functional changes and amoA gene abundance, a gene needed for ammonia oxidation. In 2013, I exposed the soils to 100 mg/kg in a laboratory experiment which resulted in acceleration of nitrification. Under 10 mg/kg treatments in the field the abundance of …

First Proof Of Concept Of Sustainable Metabolite Production From High Solids Fermentation Of Lignocellulosic Biomass Using A Bacterial Co-Culture And Cycling Flush System, Wanying Yao, Sue E. Nokes

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

To improve the lignocellulose conversion for ABE in high solids fermentation, this study explored the feasibility of cycling the process through the cellulolytic or/and solventogenic phases via intermittent flushing of the fermentation media. Five different flushing strategies (varying medium ingredients, inoculum supplement and cycling through phases) were investigated. Flushing regularly throughout the cellulolytic phase is necessary because re-incubation at 65 °C significantly improved glucose availability by at least 6-fold. The solvents accumulation was increased by 4-fold using corn stover (3-fold using miscanthus) over that produced by flushing only through the solventogenic phase. In addition, cycling process was simplified by re-incubating …

Volunteer Studies In Pain Research — Opportunities And Challenges To Replace Animal Experiments: The Report And Recommendations Of A Focus On Alternatives Workshop, C. K. Langley, Q. Aziz, C. Bountra, N. Gordon, P. Hawkins, A. Jones, G. Langley, T. Nurmikko, I. Tracey

Gill Langley, PhD

Despite considerable research, effective and safe treatments for human pain disorders remain elusive. Understanding the biology of different human pain conditions and researching effective treatments continue to be dominated by animal models, some of which are of limited value. British and European legislation demands that non-animal approaches should be considered before embarking on research using experimental animals. Recent scientific and technical developments, particularly in human neuroimaging, offer the potential to replace some animal procedures in the study of human pain. A group of pain research experts from academia and industry met with the aim of exploring creatively the tools, strategies …

The Validity Of Animal Experiments In Medical Research, Gill Langley

Gill Langley, PhD

Other animals, such as mice, rats, rabbits, dogs and monkeys, are widely used as surrogates for humans in fundamental medical research. This involves creating disorders in animals by chemical, surgical or genetic means, with the aim of mimicking selected aspects of human illnesses. It is a truism that any model or surrogate is not identical to the target being modelled. So, in medical research, experiments using animals or cell cultures or even healthy volunteers instead of patients (being the target population with the target illness) will inevitably have limitations, although these will be greater or lesser depending on the model.

Silence Is The Loudest Sound, Emma Christian

Honors College

Rhinoceros poaching is an act of killing a rhinoceros in order to take its horn, which is then used for human consumption or for cultural traditions. Both the Asian and the African rhinoceros are targets because of the demand from China, Vietnam, Yemen, and other countries around the world. Traditional Chinese Medicine practice is the main demand for rhinoceros horn and this demand in rhinoceros horn has caused an increase in the black market. Conservation of the rhinoceros is decreasing primarily because the price of rhinoceros horn is more than double the average household income in South Africa, thus making …

Interactions Of Various Bacterial Populations With Chemical And Physical Factors From Seasonal Inputs And Outputs Of Retention Ponds, Felicia A. Krelwitz

All Student Theses

Retention ponds at Governors State University play an important role in collecting and treating storm water runoff before leaving campus and entering Thorn Creek. Many chemical and physical factors influence the diversity of bacterial populations in freshwater ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to compare the interactions of various bacterial populations with chemical and physical factors from seasonal inputs and outputs of Governors State University retention ponds before being discharged into Thorn Creek. The retention ponds studied include the Café Settling pond, Café pond and Beaver pond. Water and sediment were collected from inputs and outputs every other …

Community Level Impacts Associated With The Invasion Of English Ivy (Hedera Spp.) In Forest Park: A Look At The Impacts Of Ivy On Community Composition And Soil Moisture, Sara Rose Copp

Dissertations and Theses

Invasive species degrade ecosystems by altering natural processes and decreasing the abundance and diversity of native flora. Communities with major fluctuations in resource supply allow invasive species to exploit limiting resources making the community prone to invasion. In the Pacific Northwest, urban forests characterized with limited light and seasonally limited soil moisture are being dominated by nonnative English ivy (Hedera spp). Three observational studies were conducted in the Southern end of Forest Park within the Balch Creek Subwatershed in Portland, Oregon in order to understand 1) how English ivy changes over three growing seasons, 2) how the native …

Co2 Recycling Using Microalgae For The Production Of Fuels, Michael H. Wilson, John Groppo, Andrew Placido, S. Graham, S. A. Morton Iii, Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Aubrey Shea, Mark Crocker, Czarena Crofcheck, Rodney Andrews

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

CO₂ capture and recycle using microalgae was demonstrated at a coal-fired power plant (Duke Energy’s East Bend Station, Kentucky). Using an in-house designed closed loop, vertical tube photobioreactor, Scenedesmus acutus was cultured using flue gas as the CO₂ source. Algae productivity of 39 g/(m² day) in June–July was achieved at significant scale (18,000 L), while average daily productivity slightly in excess of 10 g/(m² day) was demonstrated in the month of December. A protocol for low-cost algae harvesting and dewatering was developed, and the conversion of algal lipids—extracted from the harvested biomass—to diesel-range hydrocarbons via catalytic …

Phanerochaete Chrysosporium Pretreatment Of Biomass To Enhance Solvent Production In Subsequent Bacterial Solid-Substrate Cultivation, Wanying Yao, Sue E. Nokes

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

This study investigated pretreatment of corn stover using solid substrate cultivation (SSC) of Phanerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) to improve subsequent accessibility to cellulose. Thereafter, Clostridium thermocellum (C. thermocellum) was directly inoculated onto the pretreated biomass to accomplish hydrolysis, followed by solventogenesis by introducing Clostridium beijerinckii (C. beijerinckii).

An enzyme suite containing laccase, lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase activity was detected during the cultivation of P. chrysosporium on corn stover within 288 h at an initial moisture content 𝓌_H2O = 80% (mass of water/total mass). Incubation factors, such as substrate moisture content and cultivation …

Regional Dust Storm Modeling For Health Services: The Case Of Valley Fever, William A. Sprigg, Slobodan Nickovic, John N. Galgiani, Goran Pejanovic, Slavo Petkovic, Mirjam Vujadinovic, Ana Vukovic, Milan Dacic, Scott Dibiase, Anup K. Prasad, Hesham El-Askary

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

On 5 July 2011, a massive dust storm struck Phoenix, Arizona (USA), raising concerns for increased cases of valley fever (coccidioidomycosis, or, cocci). A quasi-operational experimental airborne dust forecast system predicted the event and provides model output for continuing analysis in collaboration with public health and air quality communities. An objective of this collaboration was to see if a signal in cases of valley fever in the region could be detected and traced to the storm - an American haboob. To better understand the atmospheric life cycle of cocci spores, the DREAM dust model (also herein, NMME-DREAM) was modified to …