Organisms Commons^™

Understanding Zoonotic Enteric Disease In Minnesota: A Spatio Temporal Analysis And Causal Theory Approach, Suchismita Swain

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

With 75 percent of diseases in humans having origin in animals or animal products, zoonotic diseases have an enormous impact on the global disease burden. A significant portion of this can be attributed to bacterial zoonotic enteric pathogens. This study was designed to locate clusters of bacterial zoonotic enteric outbreaks in the State of Minnesota and study the seasonality of these outbreaks. In addition to identifying hot spots for zoonotic enteric outbreaks in Minnesota, the study also aimed to design a causal model to improve understanding of risk factors. This thesis considered only the bacterial zoonotic pathogens with significant disease …

Remote Sensing Observation Of Annual Dust Cycles And Possible Causality Of Kawasaki Disease Outbreaks In Japan, Hesham El-Askary, Nick Lahaye, Erik J. Linstead, William A. Sprigg, Magdi Yacoub

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a rare vascular disease that, if left untreated, can result in irreparable cardiac damage in children. While the symptoms of KD are well-known, as are best practices for treatment, the etiology of the disease and the factors contributing to KD outbreaks remain puzzling to both medical practitioners and scientists alike. Recently, a fungus known as Candida, originating in the farmlands of China, has been blamed for outbreaks in China and Japan, with the hypothesis that it can be transported over long ranges via different wind mechanisms. This paper provides evidence to understand the transport mechanisms …

Role Of Intracellular Growth During The Gastrointestinal Stage Of Listeria Monocytogenes Infection, Grant Steven Jones

Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular bacterium that causes foodborne disease in humans. L. monocytogenes invade the gut mucosa and then disseminate, causing systemic infections associated with high mortality rates in immunocompromised individuals. It is unknown how L. monocytogenes traffic to the mesenteric lymph nodes, which represent an important bottleneck for systemic spread. In addition, little is known about the gastrointestinal stage of infection due to the general resistance of mice to oral infection with L. monocytogenes. Our laboratory developed a novel foodborne mouse model of listeriosis utilizing a murinized strain of L. monocytogenes to investigate the gastrointestinal stage …

Cyclic Ac253, A Novel Amylin Receptor Antagonist, Improves Cognitive Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Rania Soudy, Aarti Patel, Wen Fu, Kamaljit Kaur, David Mactavish, David Westaway, Rachel Davey, Jeffrey Zajac, Jack Jhamandas

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction: Amylin receptor serves as a portal for the expression of deleterious effects of amyloid b-protein (Ab), a key pathologic hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Previously, we showed that AC253, an amylin receptor antagonist, is neuroprotective against Ab toxicity in vitro and abrogates Ab-induced impairment of hippocampal long-term potentiation.

Methods: Amyloid precursor protein–overexpressing TgCRND8 mice received intracerebroventricularly AC253 for 5 months. New cyclized peptide cAC253 was synthesized and administered intraperitoneally three times a week for 10 weeks in the same mouse model. Cognitive functions were monitored, and pathologic changes were quantified biochemically and immunohistochemically.

Results: AC253, when administered …

Using Extremophile Bacteriophage Discovery In A Stem Education Professional Development Partnership To Explore Model Classroom Research Experiences Integrating The Three Dimentions Of The Next Generation Science Standards, Carrie L. Boudreau Ms

All Student Scholarship

The National Research Council’s (NRC) A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas describes a vision of what it means to be proficient in science. The project discussed in this thesis was developed with a NIH SEPA Grant 8R25OD010937 to the Virology and Electron Microscopy Laboratory at the University of Southern Maine (USM) under the direction of Dr. S. Monroe Duboise. The goal of the project was to explore using discovery of extreme environment bacteria and their bacteriophages as a model for using the three dimensions of learning to teach Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Specifically, …

Taurine's Effect On Cocaine Reward And Neurogenesis In The Adolescent Male Rat Brain., Avery E. Villa-Gonzalez

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescence is a developmentally critical transition from childhood to adulthood including both maturation of the body and the brain. Neuroplastic changes result in dynamic organization of the brain during adolescence, leaving them vulnerable to development of mental illness and drug-seeking behavior. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the psychostimulant cocaine is the second most popular illicit drug in the world. Cocaine, amongst having many detrimental effects, has shown to also decrease hippocampal neurogenesis, resulting in decreased neuroplasticity and cognitive dysfunction. Previous students in our laboratory have shown that treatment of adult male rats with the essential …

Structure-Function Investigation Of Proteins Involved In Cellulose Biosynthesis By Escherichia Coli, Thomas Brenner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Bacteria thrive within multicellular communities called biofilms consisting of a self-produced matrix. Biofilm matrices improve bacterial adherence to surfaces while creating a barrier from host immune responses, disinfectants, antibiotics and other environmental factors. Persistent colonization by the widely distributed pathogens, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp., has been linked to production of biofilms composed of the exopolysaccharide cellulose. Cellulose-containing biofilms are also important to Acetobacter, Sarcina, Rhizobium and Agrobacterium species to form symbiotic and pathogenic interactions. In Enterobacteriaceae, two operons (bcsABZC and bcsEFG) are proposed to encode for proteins that form a cellulose biosynthetic complex that spans the …

A Systems Biology Approach For Predicting Essential Genes And Deciphering Their Dynamics Under Stress In Streptococcus Sanguinis, Fadi El-Rami

Theses and Dissertations

Infectious diseases are the top leading cause of death worldwide. Identifying essential genes, genes indispensable for survival, has been proven indispensable in defining new therapeutic targets against pathogens, major elements of the minimal set genome to be harnessed in synthetic biology, and determinants of evolutionary relationships of phylogenetically distant species. Thus, essentiality studies promise valuable revenues that can decipher much of biological complexities.

Taking advantage of the available microbial sequences and the essentiality studies conducted in various microbial models, we proposed a framework for the prediction of essential genes based on our experimentally verified knowledge of the pathways involved in …

Aedes Aegypti And Dengue In The Philippines: Centering History And Critiquing Ecological And Public Health Approaches To Mosquito-Borne Disease In The Greater Asian Pacific, Maria R. Pettis

Pomona Senior Theses

The global incidence of dengue has increase 30-fold over the past 50 years in the western or Asian Pacific, this region is also a contemporary epicenter for resource extraction and ecological destabilization. Dengue is addition to yellow fever, chikungunya and most recently zika virus, are transmitted by the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti- a domesticated mosquito adept at breeding in artificial household containers and within homes. The history of the domestication and global distribution of Aedes aegypti is intrinsically linked to European expansion into and among tropical worlds. Contemporary population genetics research suggest the westward expansion of the mosquito vector …

Comparative Genomic Analysis Of Two Serotype 1/2b Listeria Monocytogenes Isolates From Analogous Environmental Niches Demonstrates The Influence Of Hypervariable Hotspots In Defining Pathogenesis, Aidan Casey, Kieran Jordan, Aidan Coffey, Edward M. Fox, Olivia Mcauliffe

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The vast majority of clinical human listeriosis cases are caused by serotype 1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c, and 4b isolates of Listeria monocytogenes. The ability of L. monocytogenes to establish a systemic listeriosis infection within a host organism relies on a combination of genes that are involved in cell recognition, internalization, evasion of host defenses, and in vitro survival and growth. Recently, whole genome sequencing and comparative genomic analysis have proven to be powerful tools for the identification of these virulence-associated genes in L. monocytogenes. In this study, two serotype 1/2b strains of L. monocytogenes with analogous isolation sources, but …

Report Of A Meeting On Contemporary Topics In Zebrafish Husbandry And Care, Nikki Osborne, Gregory Paull, Adam Grierson, Karen Dunford, Elisabeth M. Busch-Nentwich, Lynne U. Sneddon, Natalie Wren, Joe Higgins, Penny Hawkins

Ichthyology Collection

A meeting on Contemporary Topics in Zebrafish Husbandry and Care was held in the United Kingdom in 2014, with the aim of providing a discussion forum for researchers, animal technologists, and veterinarians from academia and industry to share good practice and exchange ideas. Presentation topics included protocols for optimal larval rearing, implementing the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) in large-scale colony management, and environmental enrichment. The audience also participated in a survey of current practice relating to practical husbandry, cryopreservation, and the provision of enrichment.

Malanda Gold: The Tale Of A Unique Rainbowfish From The Atherton Table-Lands, Now On The Verge Of Extinction., Peter J. Unmack, Keith Martin, Michael P. Hammer, Brendan Ebner, Karl Moy, Culum Brown

Ichthyology Collection

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Alpha-Herpesvirus Reactivation From Latency By Stress, Insun Kook

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Bovine herpes virus 1 (BHV-1) and Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) are crucial etiological viral agent of clinical diseases. HSV-1 and BHV-1 establish latent infection in sensory neurons. Periodically, reactivation from latency occurs resulting in virus excretion and transmission. Stress increases corticosteroid levels and the incidence of HSV-1 and BHV-1 reactivation from latency. The synthetic corticosteroid, dexamethasone (DEX) mimics stress and induces BHV-1 and HSV-1 reactivation. However, molecular mechanisms by which corticosteroid mediates viral reactivation are not well understood. My dissertation has focused on elucidating events that induce BHV- 1 or HSV-1 reactivation during the early stages of stress-induced escape …

Surviving Catastrophe: Resource Allocation And Plant Interactions Among The Mosses Of Mount St. Helens Volcano, Trevor David Williams

Dissertations and Theses

Mosses are some of the first colonizers to disturbed sites, yet their roles in early plant community structuring are not well understood. The primary succession zones of volcanoes provide opportunities to conduct natural experiments into how mosses contribute to early plant community formation, as well as how the unique environments found in such zones affect plant traits, particularly those associated with stress tolerance. Though plant community changes have been well-documented since Mount St. Helens (MSH) volcano erupted in 1980, the volcano's moss assemblages, their influence on other plants, and their potential roles in chemical-mediated competition and biogeochemical cycling have garnered …

Localization And Distribution Of Primary Cilia In The Adult Mouse Heart, Ali Zarban, Hannah C. Saternos, Andrea L. Kalinoski, Lijun Liu, Surya M. Nauli, Wissam A. Aboualaiwi

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Although primary cilia have been shown to play crucial roles in the development of embryonic mouse heart, their presence and function in adult mouse heart remains controversial. In this study, the presence of primary cilia in adult mouse heart was investigated. The presence of primary cilia was initially demonstrated in the surface of cardiac cells of mouse hearts from both young and adult mice by immunostaining with acetylated α-tubulin, a ciliary structural marker. The presence of cardiac primary cilia in 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month old mice was further confirmed by staining heart tissues with an antibody against pericentrin, a …

Climate Change And The Integrity Of Science, Peter H. Gleick, James L. Van Etten, Members Of The U.S. National Academy Of Sciences

James Van Etten Publications

We are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular. All citizens should understand some basic scientific facts. There is always some uncertainty associated with scientific conclusions; science never absolutely proves anything. When someone says that society should wait until scientists are absolutely certain before taking any action, it is the same as saying society should never take action. For a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet.

Scientific conclusions derive from an understanding of basic laws supported by …

Predators Catalyze An Increase In Chloroviruses By Foraging On The Symbiotic Hosts Of Zoochlorellae, John Delong, Zeina Al-Ameeli, Garry A. Duncan, James L. Van Etten, David D. Dunigan Ph. D.

James Van Etten Publications

Virus population growth depends on contacts between viruses and their hosts. It is often unclear how sufficient contacts are made between viruses and their specific hosts to generate spikes in viral abundance. Here, we show that copepods, acting as predators, can bring aquatic viruses and their algal hosts into contact. Specifically, predation of the protist Paramecium bursaria by copepods resulted in a >100-fold increase in the number of chloroviruses in 1 d. Copepod predation can be seen as an ecological “catalyst” by increasing contacts between chloroviruses and their hosts, zoochlorellae (endosymbiotic algae that live within paramecia), thereby facilitating viral population …

An Unusual Case Of Escherichia Coli Meningitis And Bacteremia In An Elderly Woman Presenting With Intractable Low Back Pain, Andrea M. Lauffer, Mahmoud Shorman, Carl Mccomas

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Introduction:

We report an unusual case of E. coli meningitis in an elderly woman who presented to the emergency room with a chief complaint of intractable low back pain.

Case Description:

A 67 year old woman presented to the emergency room for a chief complaint of intractable low back pain. After admission, the patient developed delirium. Blood cultures were drawn. Patient underwent a lumbar puncture which revealed purulent cerebrospinal fluid. Results of the cerebrospinal fluid and blood cultures revealed pan-sensitive E. coli.

Conclusion:

In the geriatric population, delayed presentation of meningitis can occur for various reasons. With the older …

Patterns Of Fecal Progestagens, Estrogens, And Androgens Associated With Reproduction In Blue-Throated Piping Guans (Pipile Cumanensis), Leslie Ann Sterling, Helen Clawitter, Corinne P. Kozlowski, Michael Macek, Anne Tieber

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

While fecal hormone analyses are routinely employed to monitor reproduction in mammals, few studies have used these techniques for monitoring reproductive events in birds. This study describes the endocrine patterns associated with reproduction in the blue-throated piping guan (Pipile cumanensis), a less threatened relative of the critically endangered Trinidad piping guan (P. pipile). Fecal samples were collected approximately once a week for 3 years from seven female guans and six male guans at the Saint Louis Zoo. Concentrations of fecal progestagens, estrogens, and androgens were quantified using commercially available enzyme immunoassays. Baseline progestagen concentrations for females …

Laboratory Exercises In Microbiology: Discovering The Unseen World Through Hands-On Investigation, Joan Petersen, Susan Mclaughlin

Open Educational Resources

The exercises in this laboratory manual are designed to engage students in hand-on activities that reinforce their understanding of the microbial world. Topics covered include: staining and microscopy, metabolic testing, physical and chemical control of microorganisms, and immunology. The target audience is primarily students preparing for a career in the health sciences, however many of the topics would be appropriate for a general microbiology course as well.