Organisms Commons^™

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

Selective Anticancer Activity Of Hydroxyapatite/Chitosan-Poly(D,L)-Lactide-Co-Glycolide Particles Loaded With An Androstane-Based Cancer Inhibitor, Nenad Ignjatović, Katarina M. Penov-Gaši, Victoria M. Wu, Jovana J. Ajduković, Vesna V. Kojić, Dana Vasiljević-Radović, Maja Kuzmanović, Vuk Uskoković, Dragab Uskoković

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

In an earlier study we demonstrated that hydroxyapatite nanoparticles coated with chitosan-poly(d,l)-lactide-co-glycolide (HAp/Ch-PLGA) target lungs following their intravenous injection into mice. In this study we utilize an emulsification process and freeze drying to load the composite HAp/Ch-PLGA particles with 17β-hydroxy-17α-picolyl-androst-5-en-3β-yl-acetate (A), a chemotherapeutic derivative of androstane and a novel compound with a selective anticancer activity against lung cancer cells. ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR techniques confirmed the intact structure of the derivative A following its entrapment within HAp/Ch-PLGA particles. The thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses coupled with mass spectrometry were used to assess the …

Changing Diagnostic Methods And Increased Detection Of Verotoxigenic Escherichia Coli, Ireland, Thomas Rice, Noreen Quinn, Roy D. Sleator, Brigid Lucey

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The recent paradigm shift in infectious disease diagnosis from culture-based to molecular-based approaches is exemplified in the findings of a national study assessing the detection of verotoxigenic Escherichia coli infections in Ireland. The methodologic changes have been accompanied by a dramatic increase in detections of non-O157 verotoxigenic E. coli serotypes.

Anomaly Detection In Host Signaling Pathways For The Early Prognosis Of Acute Infection, Kun Wang, Stanley Langevin, Corey S. O'Hern, Mark D. Shattuck, Serenity Ogle, Adriana Forero, Juliet Morrison, Richard Slayden, Michael G. Katze, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

Clinical diagnosis of acute infectious diseases during the early stages of infection is critical to administering the appropriate treatment to improve the disease outcome. We present a data driven analysis of the human cellular response to respiratory viruses including influenza, respiratory syncytia virus, and human rhinovirus, and compared this with the response to the bacterial endotoxin, Lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Using an anomaly detection framework we identified pathways that clearly distinguish between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients infected with the four different respiratory viruses and that accurately diagnosed patients exposed to a bacterial infection. Connectivity pathway analysis comparing the viral and bacterial diagnostic …

Characterization Of Left-Ventricular Thrombus Formation Using High Frequency Ultrasound, Kelsey A. Bullens, Arvin H. Soepriatna, Pavlos P. Vlachos, Craig J. Goergen

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heart failure is a leading cause of death in the United States, and cardiac thrombus, a common morbidity associated with heart failure, significantly increases a patient’s risk of embolic events. The objective of this project is to characterize left-ventricular (LV) thrombus development using high frequency ultrasound imaging in a murine model. C57BL/6J wild-type mice (n=6) were injected intraperitoneally with iron dextran five times a week for six weeks to increase oxidative stress in the heart. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was subcutaneously injected daily during the second week to initiate stem cell migration and stimulate endothelial cell activation, thus increasing the …

Surveillance, Epidemiological, And Virological Detection Of Highly Pathogenic H5n1 Avian Influenza Viruses In Duck And Poultry From Bangladesh, Wahedul Karim Ansari, Md Safiullah Parvej, Mohamed E. El Zowalaty, Sally Jackson, Stephen A. Bustin, Adel K. Ibrahim, Md Tanvir Rahman, Han Zhang, Mohammad Ferdousur Rahman Khan, Md Mostakin Ahamd, Md. Fasiur Rahman, Marzia Rahman, Khm Nazmul H. Nazir, Sultan Ahmed, Md Liakot Hossenn, Md Abdul Kafi, Mat Yamage, Nitish C. Debnath, Graba Ahmed, Hossam Ashour, Md Masoud, Ayman Noreddin, Md B. Rahman

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) continue to pose a global threat. Waterfowl are the main reservoir and are responsible for the spillover of AIVs to other hosts. This study was conducted as part of routine surveillance activities in Bangladesh and it reports on the serological and molecular detection of H5N1 AIV subtype. A total of 2169 cloacal and 2191 oropharyngeal swabs as well as 1725 sera samples were collected from live birds including duck and chicken in different locations in Bangladesh between the years of 2013 and 2014. Samples were tested using virus isolation, serological tests and molecular methods of RT-PCR. …

Optimization Of A Genomic Editing System Using Crispr/Cas9-Induced Site-Specific Gene Integration, Jillian L. Mccool Ms., Nick Hum, Gabriela G. Loots

STAR Program Research Presentations

The CRISPR-Cas system is an adaptive immune system found in bacteria which helps protect against the invasion of other microorganisms. This system induces double stranded breaks at precise genomic loci (1) in which repairs are initiated and insertions of a target are completed in the process. This mechanism can be used in eukaryotic cells in combination with sgRNAs (1) as a tool for genome editing. By using this CRISPR-Cas system, in addition to the “safe harbor locus,” ROSAβ26, the incorporation of a target gene into a site that is not susceptible to gene silencing effects can be achieved through few …

High-Sensitivity Mass Spectrometry For Probing Gene Translation In Single Embryonic Cells In The Early Frog (Xenopus) Embryo, Camille Lombard-Banek, Sally Ann Moody, Peter Nemes

Anatomy and Regenerative Biology Faculty Publications

Direct measurement of protein expression with single-cell resolution promises to deepen the understanding of basic molecular processes during normal and impaired development. High-resolution mass spectrometry provides detailed coverage of the proteomic composition of large numbers of cells. Here we discuss recent mass spectrometry developments based on single-cell capillary electrophoresis that extend discovery proteomics to sufficient sensitivity to enable the measurement of proteins in single cells. The single-cell mass spectrometry system is used to detect a large number of proteins in single embryonic cells in blastomeres in the 16-cell embryo of the South African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) that give rise …

Effects Of Prebiotics On Gut Bacterial Communities And Healing Of Induced Colitis In Mice, Krystyn Elizabeth Davis

Master's Theses

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) cause chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and debilitating symptoms in those suffering from the diseases. After inducing colitis in a mouse model using Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS), prebiotics inulin and oligofructose enriched inulin (OEI) were used as treatments to determine their effects on the gut microbial community, physiological healing process, and immune response in the mice after initial inflammation and before subsequent inflammation, or relapse. The treatment with inulin led to an increase in regulatory T cell number, but this increase was not as significant as the increase induced by the OEI. Inulin increased the …

Antibiotic Drug Discovery With An Eye Towards Overcoming Drug Resistance, Daniel Towner Hoagland

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

As a species, humans have become ever reliant on the use of antibiotics to facilitate our everyday lives. The widespread emergence of resistance to currently used antibiotics is commonly attributed to an over use in our society. Such resistance, coupled with a lack of innovation and production of novel antibiotic drugs, threatens to return humanity to an era similar to one before the discovery of the first antibiotics. The need to find new agents to be used in this fight is paramount, as well as learning from our recent failures to produce such compounds. This document will highlight my efforts …

Development Of A Novel Ex Vivo Equine Corneal Model, Todd L. Marlo, Elizabeth A. Giuliano, Ajay Sharma, Rajiv R. Mohan

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

To develop an ex vivo equine corneal organ culture model. Specifically, to assess the equine cornea's extracellular matrix and cellularity after 7 days using two different culture techniques: either (i) immersion system or (ii) air/liquid interface system, to determine the best ex vivo equine corneal model.

Animals Studied

Fourteen healthy equine corneas of various breeds.

Procedures

Equine corneas with 2 mm of perilimbal sclera were freshly harvested from 7 horses undergoing humane euthanasia. One corneal–scleral ring (CSR) from each horse was randomly placed in the (i) immersion condition organ culture system (IC), with the contralateral CSR being placed in …

Ciliate Codon Translator Program Manual, Quentin D. Altemose

Mathematics Summer Fellows

Understanding the evolutionary history of organisms allows us to better comprehend selective pressures and their effects on larger populations. In our study, we focused on analyzing the DNA of ciliate groups, which are single celled protozoans characterized by the presence of cilia on their outer membrane. We utilized the DNA of the organisms to analyze the changes in population genotype over time. We tested existing evolutionary models (designed to represent natural genetic variation over time in populations) against our data to identify the model with the best fit and likelihood. From the DNA and the evolutionary model with the highest …