26242 research outputs found
Sort by
Predator-Prey Interactions Among \u3cem\u3eSarrancenia purpurea\u3c/em\u3e Pitcher Plant Protozoa and Bacteria
No full textProtozoa play important roles within the food web contained in the aquatic pitcher ecosystem of Sarracenia purpurea, a carnivorous pitcher plant. Protozoa within the pitcher fluid mainly feed on bacteria, and they likely affect how bacteria degrade the insect prey. To better understand these microscopic inhabitants and their functional impacts, we are measuring the growth and feeding habits of S. purpurea-associated protozoa. From a collaborator we acquired several protozoa species isolated from pitcher plants. We first counted individuals from 4 taxa, Tetrahymena (TA), Colpoda (CA, BFC), and Colpidium (COL), to characterize their growth rates over time. Then, we investigated the feeding habits of two strains, TA-4 and 7, on different species of pitcher plant-associated bacteria. One experiment included 24 different bacterial strains, to investigate the impact of these protozoa on coexistence of the bacteria. We found large differences in protozoan growth depending on the bacterial taxa, which provides insights into feeding preferences. A future direction will be to sequence the samples from the larger experiment to learn which bacteria survived and understand how predators impact the coexistence of these bacteria
Preparation and Characterization of Polyamide, Polyurea and Polyurethane Model Compounds for Degradation Studies
No full textGlobally, plastic industries produce about 400 million metric tons of plastics per year. End-of-life plastics are then managed in ways such as burying or burning, but a significant amount is abandoned. Because only a small portion of these plastics are either recycled or upcycled, substantial quantities of these wastes are building up in the environment. One of the potential ways to combat this issue is converting waste plastics to useful small molecules by degradation. The goal of this research is to investigate how plastic wastes break down under gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is a high energy ionizing radiation capable of cleaving chemical bonds within plastic wastes. However, analyzing the degradation of these large polymers is too complex. In order to simplify the degradation study, and to determine the specific effects of gamma radiation on polymers, we synthesized a series of low molecular weight model compounds with structural backbones similar to polyamides, polyureas, and polyurethanes. The model compounds were irradiated and analyzed by GC-MS and LC-MS to determine how and where they broke apart. In this poster, we will describe, synthesis and characterization of model compounds with amides, urea and urethane as the functional group, along with the preliminary degradation data when exposed to varying doses of gamma radiation
Everyone Deserves a Second Epoch: Trust Recovery in Federated Learning
No full textFederated Learning (FL) allows the model training process to maintain the privacy of data better than centralized methods, but is still vulnerable to client unreliability and adversarial behavior. In our research, we propose a trust-based scoring algorithm that evaluates each client’s behavior across training rounds, allowing their trust scores to increase, decrease, or remain stable based on their consistency with the global model direction and their own previous updates. Unlike existing filtering algorithms, this approach allows suspicious clients to recover if their behavior remains consistent. This algorithm will be tested on the MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets under various simulated attacks. We will compare the methods in terms of model robustness and accuracy with respect to other aggregation strategies, particularly in non-IID settings, showing that adaptive trust mechanisms can enable more inclusive training while still being resilient
Investigating Microbial Communities in Heated Marine Sediments Impacted by Crustal Fluid Emission
No full textThe deep crustal biosphere is an extreme habitat occupied exclusively by microorganisms and characterized by low nutrient levels, high temperature and pressure, and permanent darkness. We aim to investigate is the role dispersal plays in microbial community assembly in this environment by studying dormant endospores of thermophilic bacteria (thermospores) as a model for tracing their passive dispersal via crustal fluid emissions in Juan de Fuca ridge in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Sediment push cores were collected by a remotely operated vehicle from three locations along a transect near a permanently installed crustal fluid sampling platform that is consistently leaking crustal fluids onto the surrounding seabed. Sediments were supplemented with artificial seawater medium and incubated at two temperatures over a two-week period to activate thermospore populations. Slurry incubations were regularly subsampled, and genomic DNA was extracted from the subsamples using a commercial soil DNA extraction kit. The v3-4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene was subsequently amplified using universal bacterial primers. The amplicons were eventually subjected to high-throughput sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq platform at Idaho State University’s Molecular Research Core Facility to identify activated thermospore populations in the heated sediments
Upcycling Potato Waste to High-Value Products
No full textWe are partnering with Genesis Organics (GO) and Idaho Potato Products (IPP) to convert low-value potatoes into starch and protein for use in consumer products. Our project aims to find optimal extraction and pretreatment methods to maximize the yield and purity of protein and starch compounds from Russet and Gogu Valley potatoes. Preliminary data showed that using the SiccaDania method (gentle fractioning with water for efficient processing) for starch-focused trials resulted in starch yields of 12%, 11.9% for Russet, and Gogu Valley potatoes. Ammonium sulfate precipitation used to extract proteins following the methods of Waglay et al. gave protein yields of Gogu (1.00%), then Russet (0.7% ). Applying a pulsed electric field before extraction potentially leads to an increase in starch yield by 4% and purity of starch by 8%.. This research will determine a favorable combination of pretreatment and isolation methods to maximize starch and protein extraction, suited for GO and IPP. This will create new enterprises and high-paying economic jobs as it opens up the door for potato upcycling and potentially other related food groups. Future research will deal with adding Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Ion Exchange into our pretreatment combinations
Removal of Senescent Cells Using Senolytics Attenuates α-Synuclein-Mediated Parkinson\u27s Disease Pathology
Get PDFEmerging evidence suggests that cellular senescence contributes to the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Cellular senescence is a state in which cells cease to proliferate in response to damage and contribute to tissue dysfunction through the release of toxic factors. While dopaminergic neurons are the primary cells lost in PD, senescent glia: astrocytes and microglia, are considered to play a vital role in regulating neuronal health. Using the pre-formed fibril (PFF) of alpha-synuclein to induce PD-like pathology, we examined the impact of senolytic treatment on glial cell senescence. Cellular senescence is assessed by measuring the levels of established cellular markers, as well as morphological changes in immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot analyses. We previously found that PFF injection reduced Lamin B1 and HMGB1 levels and increased p21 expression, particularly in astrocytes and microglia within the striatum and substantia nigra compacta (SNc). Our IHC results verified that dopaminergic neuron loss in those regions. Senolytic treatment significantly reduced the number of senescent glia, which is associated with an increase of dopaminergic neuronal survival. These findings suggest that removing senescent glia can be a novel therapeutic approach to slow neurodegeneration and progression in PD
Bonnie Violet Quintana
Get PDFIn this powerful interview, Bonnie Violet Quintana reflects on her journey as a transgender, queer chaplain, activist, and artist who has long been involved in LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS advocacy in Idaho and beyond. She shares how transitioning brought clarity, joy, and spiritual renewal, even as it created distance with her family. Quintana recounts founding Trans Joy Boise, organizing Idaho’s first large-scale Trans March, and integrating drag, spirituality, and community-building into her public work. Her story highlights resilience, faith, and the importance of chosen family, offering a vision of joyful authenticity and healing for queer and trans people in red-state America.https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/idlgbtq_oral_histories_2/1012/thumbnail.jp
Frankwin\u27s X
No full textThis thesis is a collection of poems exploring themes of food, place, and intimacy. The poems’ structures aim to act as spaces where combinations of heterogenous content and tones of voice can meld and recast one another, specifically through repeated usage of the couplet and double-spaced stichic forms. Throughout, this project is interested in investigating multiplicity, hierarchies of attention, and the meeting of familiar and formal language
Some Sonnets
Get PDFThis thesis, titled some sonnets, is an exploration of generative practices, language gathering, and experimental fragmentation that manifests in a “cacophony of voices.” Parallel to and estranged from the traditional sonnet form, these poems emerge from a collaged and sculpted approach to Poetry, which places the work more on the side of conceptual art than traditional collection of verse.
The sonnets are recursive, referencing their own making, their own debatable status as “poems,” and the language that populates them. Here, meaning is offered in fragmented ways, inviting a small readership to attempt to parse these quasiautobiographical viewings and compositions. The poems seem to resist meaning in favor of whimsy, seriousness in favor of play, and clarity in favor of anti-capitalist ambiguity.
Containing a meta-dialogue between the poet-author and a fictional “Lay Expert,” an intentionally incongruent table of contents, and the written poems themselves, this thesis provokes discussion about creation, observation, attention, and generation. Collaged from a highly generative process, these poems — more organization and collection than sung narrative — also adhere to a mathematical constraint. The layers of the work implicate social navigation and mirror the ambiguity that happens. The work presented is an experiment in conversation with the sonnet
A Proposed Organizational Model to Increase Women Coaches in Elite Alpine Skiing: Learning from the U.S. Cross-Country Initiative
Get PDFIntroduction: Despite the tremendous growth in girl’s and women’s participation in sports following the implementation of Title IX in 1972, women’s participation as sport coaches did not follow the same trajectory. In fact, women remain significantly underrepresented in sports coaching. Research highlights ongoing barriers within the sports industry\u27s patriarchal structure, and although strategies have been proposed to improve women’s representation, the lack of progress over the past two decades indicates their limited effectiveness. A more comprehensive, multidimensional approach is essential to address this issue across the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels. Purpose: This study proposes a model to increase women’s coaches within U.S. elite alpine skiing by learning from the experiences of the successful Trail to Gold (T2G) program of U.S. cross-country skiing. Participants: Twelve participants, who participated in the T2G program (as coaches or administrators), were recruited through purposeful sampling. Eight completed the interviews. Methods: Part One involved a qualitative analysis of T2G through semi-structured interviews. Part Two used data from these interviews and the primary investigator\u27s experience to create a model aimed at advancing women coaches in alpine skiing. Data Analysis: Interviews were transcribed verbatim and reviewed by participants for accuracy. Data analysis was informed by phenomenological theories and the ecological model as presented by LaVoi and Dutove (2012). Key themes were identified using both inductive and deductive methods, with final themes confirmed by triangulation. Insights from Part One, combined with the investigator’s experience, guided the model development for Part Two. Results: Participants in U.S. cross-country skiing highlighted the importance of a supportive environment, robust networking, and effective sponsorship to advance women in coaching roles. Despite progress in women’s representation within their environment, barriers remain that hinder women’s advancement in coaching. Multi-faceted strategies are needed to target women’s underrepresentation. Significant progress requires that the NGB implement strategies that address gender imbalance at the individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. The information gathered in Part One, together with empirical evidence, was crucial in the development of a model to increase women coaches within U.S. elite alpine skiing. Conclusion: This study expands the recommended strategies to increase women’s representation in sports coaching by learning from women coaches who work in environments that value and actively pursue gender parity. Continued support for women coaches is essential for gender equality, enhanced team performance, and a more inclusive sporting environment