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BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES OF CAPTIVE RED FOXES (VULPES VULPES) TO ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT
No full textEnvironmental enrichment is essential for the wellness of captive animals, as it provides mental and physical stimulation, reduces stress and stereotypic behavior, and promotes exercise, social interaction, and overall activity. Among captive canids in particular, enrichment may elicit instinctual behaviors, including hunting, foraging, exploring, and socializing, that improve overall quality of life. We conducted an experiment to test how environmental enrichment affects the behavior of captive red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at Xtreme Exotics Wildlife Foundation in St. Augustine, Florida. Six individual foxes, housed in pairs, were provided with four different enrichment objects (one per day): a suspended feather-rope toy, a beef femur bone, a hanging PVC pipe puzzle containing quail eggs, and a sand box. Individual behavior was observed for 30 minutes before and after each object was introduced. We predicted that foxes would interact directly with the novel objects and that enrichment would increase social interactions, reduce stress behaviors, and increase other activity, although the strength of behavioral responses might vary between objects that stimulate different senses. A linear mixed-effects model revealed that all enrichment objects elicited direct interactions and increased other activity, while the sand box and quail egg puzzle stimulated the greatest increases in social interactions between paired individuals. Stress behaviors were rare and not affected by enrichment. As social mammals, captive foxes can benefit mentally and physically from being housed with conspecifics where social interactions and exercise are stimulated through enrichment. Our findings underscore the importance of enrichment in captive animal husbandry and can guide further research and management of captive canids
DOES SALINITY AFFECT THE GROWTH OF TOXIC DINOFLAGELLATE BLOOMS?
No full textDinoflagellates have a significant impact on the ocean and the other organisms that call the ocean home. These blooms produce harmful toxins that can affect all animals that rely on the ocean food web to survive. They produce a neurotoxin that inhibits the ability of other ocean animals to properly function. These dinoflagellates thrive in nutrient dense conditions, reproducing rapidly producing millions of new dinoflagellates creating a harmful algal bloom. One side effect of climate change is increasing ocean salinity levels which have been associated with algal blooms. Therefore, harmful algal blooms are becoming increasingly frequent as the earth warms. Through current research and preventative measures organizations across the world are looking for new and inventive ways to minimize the risks of algal blooms. In this study, we aim to examine the effects of varying salinity on dinoflagellate density. Organisms were placed in beakers with varying salinity levels and maintained in an environmental chamber at constant temperature and light/dark cycle in order to determine if increased or decreased salinity had any effect on dinoflagellate density. We found a significant negative correlation between salinity level and dinoflagellate density between treatment groups
IDENTIFICATION OF CELL LOCALIZATION OF ADE13 IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE VI GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN TAGGING
No full textSaccharomyces cerevisiae has been an instrumental eukaryotic model system for a diverse array of research. The genome of 12,068 kilobases were sequenced 27 years ago, making S. cerevisiae the inaugural organism to undergo full genomic sequencing. Since this discovery, vast effort has been put forth to describe the function of each open reading frame (ORF). The genome sequencing identified 6,753 potential ORFs, however a significant portion of these ORF’s function and localization remain unknown. Interestingly, 23% of the S. serevisiae genome encompasses human orthologs, which are associated with various diseases. Therefore, there is value in exploring unknown cellular localization in less well characterized ORFs. We explored the localization of 3 such proteins, Gid10, Fsh3, and Ade13. To determine the cellular localization of these protiens, we used a C-terminal GFP tagging strategy and fluorescence microscopy. Here, we are highlighting the localization studies of Ade13, and adenyl succinate lyase, which plays a vital role in purine nucleotide synthesis. The malfunction of human orthologue of Ade13 leads to disease in humans, known as adenylosuccinate deficiency. Based on comparative analysis of Ade13 protein in several model organisms, we predicted the localization of Ade13 to be potentially mitochondrial and confirmed the mitochondrial localization with Mito tracker fluorescent stain. Visualization of GFP tagged proteins in a single cell organism such as S. cerevisiae serves as a valuable strategy to gain insight into unknown protein localization and functions that may be conserved in higher eukaryotic cells
ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MYCOBACTERIUM SMEGMATIS PHAGE LANDOR**
No full textA bacteriophage is a virus that specifically infects, replicates in, and kills bacteria. There is a growing concern that antibiotic resistant bacteria are becoming untreatable. This makes the discovery of new bacteriophages important because these viruses can kill the bacteria without affecting human cells, making them a viable treatment for multi-drug resistant bacteria. In our experiments, we collected a sample of dirt from a hay field in Concord, North Carolina. We used Mycobacterium smegmatis mc^2 155 as our host bacterium to discover novel phages against this bacterium. We followed standardized protocols from the SEA-PHAGES program to isolate and analyze bacteriophages including sample enrichment, standard plaque assay, and purification. Plaques were picked for purification six times. Plaques vary in size but tend to be bullseyes, indicating that the phage may be lysognic. Characterization will be done to determine optimal growth conditions including temperature, pH, and media types. Preliminary tests show that Landor propagates best at 37˚C like its bacterial host and has a two layer plaquing system. Phage DNA was also isolated for DNA sequencing to confirm that it is temperate and to allow for further analysis of other proteins
DROUGHT EFFECTS ON SOIL PHOSPHORUS OF NORTH GEORGIA**
No full textDrought, a period in which precipitation has been low or absent, may impact our environment including the nutrient cycling that is critical to forest ecosystems. Climate change may worsen drought conditions and thus diminish microbial decomposition that produces bioavailable phosophorus. This research focuses on the effects drought may have on orthophosphate, an important bioavailable form of phosphorus, over the course of a 1 month simulated drought on lands adjacent to Young Harris College, GA. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes were installed approximately 20cm into the ground with a waterproof, clear covering to simulate drought on the soils within. PVC soil cores were subsequently brought into the lab for measurement of orthophosphate concentrations relative to control (non-drought) soils. Results will help to understand the effects of climate change, drought specifically, on soil fertility. Completion of this project will occur early in 2024
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN HISTOLOGICAL PROCEDURES FOR ERISTALIS TENAX, INCLUDING MUSHROOM BODY IMMUNOFLOURESENCE**
No full textHistology, invertebrate histology, insect, hoverfly, Eristalis tenax, immunofluorescenc
UNRAVEL CHARGE TRANSFER MECHANISMS OF IONOGEL SOLID ELECTROLYTES FOR HIGH-POWER-DENSITY ALL-SOLID-STATE LI METAL BATTERIES
No full textIonogels, formed by confinement of ionic conductive ionic liquids (ILs) within ionic conductive solid scaffolds (such as polymers or ceramics), show a unique combination of favorable properties which makes them stand out among all choices of solid electrolytes (SEs). Despite recent advances in enhancing the ionic conductivity of ionogel SEs, their electrochemical performance, including achievable C-rate and cycling stability, remains notably inferior to those of liquid electrolyte-based batteries, owning primarily to the obscure Li-ion transport mechanisms in the bulk, at intrinsic interphases, and at extrinsic interfaces with electrode. Furthermore, the unfavorable Li-ion molecular environment leads to lower mobility and higher ion-dissociation barriers, which contributes to the discontinuous ion-transport pathways within ionogel SEs and substantial resistance at the extrinsic electrode | electrolyte interface. In this study, we tuned the ionic conductivity and the ion-transport pathways of the polymer-encapsulated ionogels by changing the structure and mesh size of the polymeric network. Specifically, freestanding, soft ionogel SEs were prepared by UV-initiated photopolymerization based on thiol-ene reaction between thiol acrylate monomers and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA, average Mn=700 g/mol or 6000 g/mol) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA), in the presence of ionic liquid l-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide(EMIMTFSI) and lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide(LiTFSI) salt. By varying the molar ratio of monomers during the thiol-ene reaction, three groups of samples with different mesh sizes (i.e. “low”, “medium”, and “high”) and different crosslinking structures were obtained. When the mesh size increases from “low” to “high”, the conductivity increases by nearly one order magnitude, reaching up to 2.07 x 10-3 S cm-1. In addition, when changing the IL loading amount from 25% to 75% at fixed mesh size and structure, the ionic conductivity increases significantly (9.45x10-6 S cm-1 to .07 x 10-3 S cm-1), indicating the dominant ion-transport medium in this binary ionogel is the IL phase. As a result of the synergistic effect of high bulk transport within IL phase and favorable intrinsic IL|Polymer interphase, the ionic conductivity of the ionogel SE reaches comparable with that of liquid electrolyte. Furthermore, the unreacted thiol groups in the terminal resulted in a reactive and sticky surface, which could improve the extrinsic interfacial contact between the ionogel SE and electrode materials
EXPLORING KEPLER 62F\u27S CLIMATE DYNAMICS THROUGH AN ENERGY BALANCE MODEL
No full textEnergy balance models evaluate the thermal diffusion within the atmosphere of an Earthlike planet, and thus are useful for evaluating the potential climates of planets within the habitable zone of their host star. The habitable zone simply marks the orbital distances where the radiative flux from the host star could plausibly be sufficient to allow for water on the surface of a terrestrial planet. We use a 1D energy balance model, an open source python package called ClimLab, to evaluate how changes in the spin of Kepler-62f affect its potential climate. The axial tilt of Kepler-62f is perturbed by its neighboring planets, which can cause variations in the seasonal production of ice on its surface. The climate of Kepler-62f can be modified through a feedback from the changes in the planet’s reflectivity, which is similar to Earth’s Milankovitch cycles, or periods of glacial advance and retreat. Our results show that the extent of ice coverage on Kepler-62f does not vary greatly because the axial tilt remains stable. Modeling the potential climates of exoplanets, like Kepler-62f, using energy balance models can be helpful to better target other possible reservoirs for life in our Galaxy
THE CLASSIFICATION OF INTERNET MEMES THROUGH SUPERVISED AND UNSUPERVISED MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS**
No full textMemes—internet phenomena—provide entertainment online and in a way that is easily transmissible. Through time-series data collected by Google Trends on memes, their trend of popularity can be graphed, and patterns ascertained. The rate and spread in which these memes become popular has been modeled in a previous study, establishing four general patterns on the post-peak popularity behavior of a meme: “smoothly decaying”, “spikey decaying”, “leveling off”, and “long-term growth”. In said study, a subset of memes was chosen from KnowYourMeme.com, with the memes’ keywords (phrases that serve as a pertinent identifier of a meme) inputted into Google Trends and the subsequent time-series data added to a dataset. The paper found that it was possible to model a meme’s popularity trend via ordinary differential equations. In this study a programmatic approach utilizing machine learning classification algorithms, supervised and unsupervised, will be employed on the time-series data. The dataset will be expanded upon from around 100 elements to over 2000 due to the necessity by ML. The unsupervised algorithm applied will be the KNN (K-Nearest Neighbors) algorithm, whose resulting clusters will then serve as labels for the supervised SVC (Support Vector Classification) algorithm. Four clusters will be used in the KNN classification, with each cluster expected to take shape to the four general patterns defined above. The resulting model trained with the SVC algorithm should be able to classify with reasonable accuracy a meme’s popularity pattern from its given time-series data. In addition to this, each meme in the dataset will be mapped to one or more categories (catchphrase, viral video, etc.). An analysis can then be done on the relationship between a meme’s category and its resulting popularity pattern
APPLICATION OF TERRESTRIAL LiDAR IN ANALYZING THE RESTORATION OF AN URBAN STREAM
No full textLiDAR data is increasingly being used in the landscape change analysis though both aerial and terrestrial modes. This study presents the application of a terrestrial LiDAR to analyze the restoration of Klingle Creek Washington DC. Klingle Creek is a headwater stream of Rock Creek which drains the city of Washington. The stream was surveyed from the headwater to mouth using a terrestrial LiDAR before and after the restoration. These surveys included capturing of both the point cloud and orthophotos of the full length of the stream valley. The raw data was registered as a continuous point cloud of the stream valley for both pre and post restoration surveys. The registered point clouds were then used to create transects at 5-meter interval at the bankfull stage in the downstream direction. These transects were used to extract geomorphic data on the channel morphology. The channel morphologies for per and post restoration were compared to determine the impact of restoration on the channel morphology. This research offers a new high resolution terrestrial approach for reference data on local freshwater systems to better manage the local hydrology