American Bullfrog (Lithobates Catesbeianus) Diet In Uruguay Compared With Other Invasive Populations In Southern South America,
2021
University of Richmond
American Bullfrog (Lithobates Catesbeianus) Diet In Uruguay Compared With Other Invasive Populations In Southern South America, Gabriel Laufer, Noelia Gobel, Mauro Berazategui, Matías Zarucki, Sofía Cortizas, Alvaro Soutullo, Claudio Martinez Debat, Rafael O. De Sá
Biology Faculty Publications
Between 2000-2020, more than ten new populations of the invasive American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) have been reported in the southern cone of South America. We studied the stomach contents of 126 bullfrogs from a population at an early invasion stage in Uruguay (Acegua, Cerro Largo Department). We observed a rich diet, with extensive prey volume range (1 mm3 to more than 7 000 mm(3)); the most frequent items were Hymenoptera (19.6%), Coleoptera (16.4%), Amphipoda (13.3%), Anura (8.9%) and Heteroptera (8.7%). Despite some overlap, differences were observed in volume (chi(2) = 54.6, p <0.001, d.f. = 2) and prey quantity (F = 8.1, p <0.001, d.f. = 79) between males, females, and juveniles. Juveniles showed significantly higher consumption of terrestrial prey by count (82% of their total ingestion) than adults (29% for males and 32% for females) (chi(2) = 28.5, p <0.001, d.f. = 2). Adults, especially females, showed a high frequency of cannibalism (33% of their total ingestion; chi(2) = 20.9, p <0.001, d.f. = 2). Comparing our data with other bullfrog regional studies, we found great plasticity in trophic habits and differences in the incidence of cannibalism (higher incidence in the populations of Acegua, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina). These differences could be related to local biodiversity, but also could be affected by the invasion phase. Cannibalism frequency was higher in small bullfrog populations, where it could be favoring the establishment success. This shift in foraging strategies during the invasion process had been insufficiently evaluated in amphibians. Knowing the ecological determinants for the invasion by bullfrogs can be useful to the development of management strategies.
Pets And Problems: Exploring Community Patterns In Calls For Animal Services,
2021
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Pets And Problems: Exploring Community Patterns In Calls For Animal Services, Paige Dejarnett
Sociology and Criminology Undergraduate Honors Theses
Pets have historically been viewed as family members, children, property, or economic resources. However, research surrounding animal maltreatment has expressed this issue as an individually-based problem, rather than a community-based phenomenon. Correlations have been found between animal cruelty, antisocial behaviors, and future interpersonal violence, whether this correlation be a predictive relationship, or a resultant relationship. Past research has also found correlations between animal treatment practices and the rural/urban differences of this behavior. However, there are many community-based indicators that have not been explored to understand the distribution of animal maltreatment. This study aims to explore these ideas by analyzing the …
Investigation Of Histomoniasis Prevention In Poultry,
2021
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Investigation Of Histomoniasis Prevention In Poultry, Lesleigh Beer
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Histomonas meleagridis is the etiological agent of histomoniasis, also commonly known as blackhead disease. This protozoal disease of poultry is detrimental to turkeys with flock mortalities often reaching 80-100%, although other gallinaceous birds are susceptible. Since the voluntary removal of nitarsone in 2015, the poultry industry is suffering with no approved prophylactics, therapeutics, or vaccines for this disease. The objectives of this dissertation were to evaluate multiple methods for prevention or control of histomoniasis, including dietary chemoprophylaxis and vaccination. Specifically, this research evaluated quinine as a chemoprophylactic candidate (Chapter 3) or live-attenuated H. meleagridis as vaccine candidates (Chapter 4) in …
Arrhythmogenic Hearts In Pkd2 Mutant Mice Are Characterized By Cardiac Fibrosis, Systolic, And Diastolic Dysfunctions,
2021
Chapman University
Arrhythmogenic Hearts In Pkd2 Mutant Mice Are Characterized By Cardiac Fibrosis, Systolic, And Diastolic Dysfunctions, Farideh Amirrad, Rajasekharreddy Pala, Kiumars Shamloo, Brian S. Muntean, Surya M. Nauli
Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a hereditary disorder affecting multiple organs, including the heart. PKD has been associated with many cardiac abnormalities including the arrhythmogenic remodeling in clinical evaluations. In our current study, we hypothesized that Pkd2 gene mutation results in structural and functional defects in the myocardium. The structural and functional changes of Pkd2 mutant hearts were analyzed in the myocardial-specific Pkd2 knockout (KO) mouse. We further assessed a potential role of TGF-b1 signaling in the pathology of Pkd2-KO hearts. Hearts from age-matched 6-month-old MyH6•Pkd2wt/wt (control or wild-type) and MyH6 …
Model Fitting And Analysis Of The Cost-Effectiveness Of Control Strategies In The Threatened Wildebeest-Lion Prey-Predator System In The Serengeti Ecosystem,
2021
University of Dar es Salaam
Model Fitting And Analysis Of The Cost-Effectiveness Of Control Strategies In The Threatened Wildebeest-Lion Prey-Predator System In The Serengeti Ecosystem, Thadei D. Sagamiko
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
In this paper, a wildebeest-lion prey-predator model for the Serengeti ecosystem was adopted from a previous publication. The threats to the model system were poaching, retaliatory killings, and droughts. The proposed threat control strategies for these threats were anti-poaching patrol to mitigate poaching, construction of strong bomas to reduce retaliatory killings, and construction of dams to mitigate the impact of droughts. Data on the lion population density in the Serengeti ecosystem were used to fit the model by using the maximum likelihood method. The impact of different control strategies for a period of five years was analysed using the incremental …
The Concentration Of Brain Homogenates With The Amicon Ultra Centrifugal Filters,
2021
Keck Graduate Institute
The Concentration Of Brain Homogenates With The Amicon Ultra Centrifugal Filters, Joshua Yang, Rachita K. Sumbria
Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research
Accurately measuring the brain concentration of a neurotherapeutic is critical in determining its pharmacokinetic profile in vivo. Biologics are potential therapeutics for neurologic diseases and biologics fused to an antibody targeting a transcytosis receptor at the Blood-Brain Barrier, designated as antibody-biologic fusion proteins, are Blood-Brain Barrier penetrating neurotherapeutics. The use of sandwich immunosorbent assays to measure concentrations of antibody-biologic fusion proteins in brain homogenates has become increasingly popular. The raw brain homogenate contains many proteins and other macromolecules that can cause a matrix effect, potentially interfering with the limit of detection of such assays and reduce the overall sample …
Local And Systemic Cytokine, Chemokine, And Fgf Profile In Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis (Bco)-Affected Broilers,
2021
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Local And Systemic Cytokine, Chemokine, And Fgf Profile In Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis (Bco)-Affected Broilers, Alison Ramser, Elizabeth Greene, Robert Wideman, Sami Dridi
Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Complex disease states, like bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO), not only result in physiological symptoms, such as lameness, but also a complex systemic reaction involving immune and growth factor responses. For the modern broiler (meat-type) chickens, BCO is an animal welfare, production, and economic concern involving bacterial infection, inflammation, and bone attrition with a poorly defined etiology. It is, therefore, critical to define the key inflammatory and bone-related factors involved in BCO. In this study, the local bone and systemic blood profile of inflammatory modulators, cytokines, and chemokines was elucidated along with inflammasome and key FGF genes. BCO-affected bone showed …
High Precision Tissue Sampling For Mass Spectrometry,
2021
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
High Precision Tissue Sampling For Mass Spectrometry, Chao Dong
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
A high precision infrared laser ablation sampling system was developed for localized tissue proteomics. A Schwarzschild reflective objective with 10 cm working distance and 0.3 numerical aperture was used to focus a mid-IR laser at 3 µm wavelength to a beam diameter of approximately 6 µm. A laser ablation spot size of 10 µm was achieved on thin ink films and tissue sections. The sampling system was used to ablate and capture rat brain tissue sections in transmission geometry. Captured tissue protein was extracted, digested, and analyzed with offline liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for peptide and protein identification. …
Regulation Of Brain Primary Cilia Length By Mch Signaling: Evidence From Pharmacological, Genetic, Optogenetic, And Chemogenic Manipulations,
2021
University of California, Irvine
Regulation Of Brain Primary Cilia Length By Mch Signaling: Evidence From Pharmacological, Genetic, Optogenetic, And Chemogenic Manipulations, Wedad Alhassen, Yuki Kobayashi, Jessica Su, Brianna Robbins, Henry Nguyen, Thant Myint, Micah Yu, Surya M. Nauli, Yumiko Saito, Amal Alachkar
Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research
The melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) system is involved in numerous functions, including energy homeostasis, food intake, sleep, stress, mood, aggression, reward, maternal behavior, social behavior, and cognition. In rodents, MCH acts on MCHR1, a G protein-coupled receptor, which is widely expressed in the brain and abundantly localized to neuronal primary cilia. Cilia act as cells’ antennas and play crucial roles in cell signaling to detect and transduce external stimuli to regulate cell differentiation and migration. Cilia are highly dynamic in terms of their length and morphology; however, it is not known if cilia length is causally regulated by MCH system activation …
Systematic Review Of Polyherbal Combinations Used In Metabolic Syndrome,
2021
Aga Khan University
Systematic Review Of Polyherbal Combinations Used In Metabolic Syndrome, Amber Hanif Palla, Faridah Amin, Bilqees Fatima, Arooj Shafiq, Najeeb Ur Rehman, Ikram Ul Haq, Anwar-Ul-Hassan Gilani
Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences
Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multifactorial disease, whose main stay of prevention and management is life-style modification which is difficult to attain. Combination of herbs have proven more efficacious in multi-targeted diseases, as compared to individual herbs owing to the "effect enhancing and side-effect neutralizing" properties of herbs, which forms the basis of polyherbal therapies This led us to review literature on the efficacy of herbal combinations in MetS.
Methods: Electronic search of literature was conducted by using Cinnahl, Pubmed central, Cochrane and Web of Science, whereas, Google scholar was used as secondary search tool. The key words used …
Up And Atom,
2021
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Up And Atom, Emily Plotnik, Elizabeth Struwe
Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs
"Up and Atom" is a hands-on and creative afterschool club geared towards fourth and fifth graders. Through conducting a variety of science experiments, the goal of this club is to inspire a creative and immersive perspective of the sciences for the younger generation.
A Phenological Analysis Of Páramo Vegetation Along An Altitudinal Gradient: The Influence Of Camelids On Andean Flora In The Páramo Of Chimborazo, Ecuador,
2021
SIT Study Abroad
A Phenological Analysis Of Páramo Vegetation Along An Altitudinal Gradient: The Influence Of Camelids On Andean Flora In The Páramo Of Chimborazo, Ecuador, Tessa Seifried
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
This study hopes to reveal the mechanisms behind camelid-plant interactions in the Chimborazo province of Ecuador, which is known for having a large population of domesticated alpacas (Vicugna pacos), along with wild vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) that were reintroduced into the area 30 years ago. These camelid species, especially vicuñas, are understudied within Ecuador in regards to their effects on plant composition, diversity, and spatial phenology. To gain a better insight into this topic, three sites were chosen: a site inhabited by only vicuña, a site inhabited by only alpaca, and a site inhabited by both species. The vicuña site sat …
A Ladder Of Endemicity: A Pioneering Study Of Anuran Communities Along An Elevational Gradient In The Eastern Andean Cloud Forests, Ecuador,
2021
SIT Study Abroad
A Ladder Of Endemicity: A Pioneering Study Of Anuran Communities Along An Elevational Gradient In The Eastern Andean Cloud Forests, Ecuador, Ella Halbert
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Per unit of area, Ecuador is home to the most herpetofauna of any region on Earth, yet many ecosystems are under researched. Positioned between the Eastern Andes and the Amazon rainforest, the Río Pastaza Basin of Ecuador has been the recent focus of anuran biodiversity surveys and is home to many endemic species. This study aimed to determine how the anuran community composition of a vertical transect in the Llanganates National Park varied between elevations. A 7-day expedition was conducted along a new trail up Abitagua Range spanning 1,050 m in elevation. Each night, visual encounter surveys were employed to …
A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources,
2021
SIT Study Abroad
A Biological Assessment Of Water Quality In El Placer, Ecuador: The Effect Of Agriculture On Stream Health And The Quality Of Historical Versus Current Drinking Water Sources, Danielle Kleinberg
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Although fresh water is one of Ecuador’s most abundant resources, high quality drinking water for its inhabitants is scarce (Wingfield et al., 2021). The most prevalent sources of water pollution in Ecuador are domestic waste, silver and gold mining, oil production, and agricultural chemicals (Buckalew et al., 1997). El Placer, a village located in Tungurahua, Ecuador, is highly dependent on agriculture as a source of income. The first objective of this study was to determine the effect of agriculture on the El Placer’s Tía Anita Stream through comparing the water quality at three sites with varying agricultural influence. The second …
Beach Suitability For Nesting Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys Olivacea), Playa Malena, Azuero Peninsula, Panama,
2021
SIT Study Abroad
Beach Suitability For Nesting Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys Olivacea), Playa Malena, Azuero Peninsula, Panama, Soleil Foy
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Sea turtle species all over the world are facing continuous declines in their populations partly due to diminished viable nesting habitat. Understanding sea turtle nesting preferences and the suitability of beaches for reproductive success is necessary in order to sustain their populations and ensure their conservation. Olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) are one of the species experiencing this trend, especially in the Eastern Pacific. This study examined the beach suitability of a site known as Playa Malena in the Azuero Peninsula in Panama for Olive ridley nesting. This site was compared to the suitability of 7 other …
Abundance, Foraging Levels, And Dietary Preferences Of Chaetodon Capistratus On Reefs Surrounding Porvenir Island In The Guna Yala Comarca Of Panamá,
2021
SIT Study Abroad
Abundance, Foraging Levels, And Dietary Preferences Of Chaetodon Capistratus On Reefs Surrounding Porvenir Island In The Guna Yala Comarca Of Panamá, Eleanor Ann Casement
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Reef fish are a physically and functionally diverse group of organisms that live in close association with coral reef habitats. Chaetodontidae represents the most species rich family of corallivorous fish, and their reliance on corals as food resources has led to their designation as indicator species of coral cover and health. However, the majority of research on the foraging ecology of Caribbean Chaetodontids dates back several decades, and therefore does not account for recent changes in coral community composition as the result of disease, climate change, and other stressors. As the novel and deadly stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) …
An Eventful Past Predicting A Bizarre Future: Assessing The Influence Of Ocean Circulation On Key Fish Species In Icelandic Waters. An Analysis Of Past Circulation Records In Order To Predict The State Of Demersal Fish Stocks In Future Climate Scenarios, Matthew Engfer
Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection
Feedback-driven changes in North Atlantic Ocean circulation are affecting marine ecosystems off the coast of Iceland and are predicted to have differing outcomes by 2100. In this study, data reflecting Icelandic fish stock distributions was compiled on a map with oceanographic temperature and depth in order to observe patterns of population changes with changes in ocean currents. After evaluating past temperature effects on demersal fish stocks, future habitat predictions were estimated in weaker ocean circulation scenarios. A number of assumptions were made in order to pinpoint a correlation between ocean temperature and fish habitat. Iceland’s unique location and climate offers …
Ten Strategies For Avoiding And Overcoming Authorship Conflicts In Academic Publishing,
2021
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Ten Strategies For Avoiding And Overcoming Authorship Conflicts In Academic Publishing, S J. Cooke, N Young, M R. Donaldson, E A. Nyboer, D G. Roche, C L. Madliger, R J. Lennox, J M. Chapman, Zen Faulkes, J R. Bennett
School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)
For better or for worse, authorship is a currency in scholarly research and advancement. In scholarly writing, authorship is widely acknowledged as a means of conferring credit but is also tied to concepts such as responsibility and accountability. Authorship is one of the most divisive topics both at the level of the research team and more broadly in the academy and beyond. At present, authorship is often the primary way to assert and receive credit in many scholarly pursuits and domains. Debates rage, publicly but mostly privately, regarding authorship. Here we attempt to clarify key concepts related to authorship informed …
Eradicating Zebra Mussels: What Works?,
2021
Kennesaw State University
Eradicating Zebra Mussels: What Works?, Elijah Davies
Symposium of Student Scholars
The invasion of U.S lakes and rivers by the invasive species of zebra mussels called Dreissena polymorpha has caused catastrophic harm to the local ecosystem by reproducing and outcompeting native mussel species as well as harm to pipes leading into water sources by binding to surfaces and reproducing to the point that the mussels clog pipes. In addition, recreation areas must be closed due to the sharp shells making areas unusable. In the past, research has focused on individual molluscicides and their eradication of zebra mussels, as well as their effect on native flora and fauna. My research will contrast …
Blood–Brain Barrier Breakdown And Astrocyte Reactivity Evident In The Absence Of Behavioral Changes After Repeated Traumatic Brain Injury,
2021
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Blood–Brain Barrier Breakdown And Astrocyte Reactivity Evident In The Absence Of Behavioral Changes After Repeated Traumatic Brain Injury, Celeste Dunn, Nasya Sturdivant, Sara Venier, Syed Ali, Jeffery Wolchok, Kartik Balachandran
Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Repeated traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) cause debilitating effects. Without understanding the acute effects of repeated TBIs, treatment options to halt further degeneration and damage cannot be developed. This study sought to examine the acute effects of blood–brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction, edema, inflammation and behavioral changes after either a single or double TBI using a C57BL/6 mouse model. We examined the effects of one or two TBIs, of either a mild or moderate severity. Double injuries were spaced 7 days apart, and all analysis was performed 24 h post-injury. To examine edema and inflammation, protein levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein …
