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Advancing Maize Salinity Tolerance: Insights From Association Mapping, Transcriptomics, And Genomic Prediction
No full textSalinity is a serious threat to food security, leading to reduced growth and development in land plants. Corn (Zea mays) is moderately sensitive to soil salinity, and high salinity reduces its growth and development, resulting in lower grain and biomass yield. Rapid development in DNA sequencing technologies provides excellent opportunities to develop suitable plant breeding methods to improve them. The objectives of the research were to find genes putatively linked with salinity stress-related traits in corn, predict salinity tolerance using DNA information alone, explore Artificial Intelligence methods to enhance prediction-accuracy, and investigate whether corn plants can memorize repeated exposure to salinity stress. A collection of 282 different types of corn lines was examined under greenhouse conditions to find novel genes. The study yielded 19 DNA signatures linked to plant height, shoot-fresh weight, and shoot-dry weight traits. A total of 83 candidate genes were near the 32 significant DNA signatures. Various statistical models were tested using different marker densities to predict salinity tolerance using genome-wide markers alone. Bayesian models performed better than the GBLUP at higher marker densities for SL_STI, RL_STI, and RW_STI. The genetic contribution towards the observed variation of traits in the population ranged from 31 to 54%. We tested two AI methods, Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for predicting salinity tolerance. MLP performed better than the traditional rrBLUP for SL_STI and RL_STI traits. A gene expression assay was conducted on leaf and root tissues to explore salinity stress memory in corn seedlings. We identified 669 genes showing memory response and identified transcription factors (master regulators) among them. The gene-modules identified through a co-expression network analysis showed highly significant correlations with the physiological traits. We validated the expression patterns of selected memory response genes through RT-qPCR. The research improves our understanding of the genetic makeup of salinity tolerance in corn seedlings. It generates information about the expected level of accuracies for DNA-based prediction of salinity tolerance in a diverse set of corn lines
The Effects of Temperature and Cardiotonic Steroids on Cardiac Function and Metabolism in Snakes
Get PDFThe function of the heart provides a window into the physiology of vertebrates and a means of evaluating their response to the stresses imposed by diverse activities. I developed a miniaturized instrument to record electrocardiograms (ECGs), using open-source Arduino technology, that a snake can wear as a backpack. The backpack can also be used when the snake is in a metabolic chamber, to record the metabolic rate and ECG simultaneously. I first used the ECG backpack to record the physiology of snakes under different temperature conditions, to verify that the system worked as expected. the backpack was then used on different species of snakes to test their responses to purified cardiotonic steroids similar to the toxins naturally found in toads, to understand the effects of those toxins on snakes with different diets, including some that are predators on toxic prey. Many snakes are capable of consuming prey that have evolved toxic defenses, such as toads. Genetic resistance to toad toxins is surprisingly widespread among snakes, but toad-eating is not. That suggests that there may be additional adaptations, beyond genetic resistance, that allow only some species to feed heavily on toads. I found that the effect of toad toxins on snakes depends on the species and sex of the snake, as well as the type of toxin, revealing greater even more complexity than had been expected. Females had notably less dramatic responses to toad toxins, and sexual dimorphism was most marked in species that possess genetic resistance to the toxins but are not known to eat toads in the wild. Nonresistant species did not exhibit sexual dimorphism in their cardiac response. Toad specialists had a smaller response to the toad toxins than did other species, followed by dietary generalists, then resistant nontoad-eating species, and then nonresistant species. Although heart rate and metabolic rate are usually strongly positively correlated, they were not strongly correlated during the experiments with toad toxins or the temperature experiments
Tube-Feeding a Calf
Get PDFProducers may need to tube-feed a newborn calf to provide milk if calves are unable to nurse or suck from the nipple bottle or when calves are sick and need electrolytes. This fact sheet outlines the materials required and the steps to successfully tube-feed a calf
High-Frequency Satellite Imagery Reveals Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Algal Blooms on Utah Lake
No full textUtah Lake is a large, shallow freshwater lake in Utah Valley, Utah, USA. It faces a number of water quality issues, with one of the most significant being the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABS) that impair its ecological health and economic value. We use data from the Sentinel 2 mission to investigate spatial and temporal bloom dynamics in four different regions of the lake. We leverage the frequent, spatially comprehensive satellite data to analyze the frequency, intensity, and duration of algal blooms on Utah Lake, and find that the southern end of the lake typically experiences the most intense blooms, but Provo Bay at the east end of the lake experiences blooms much earlier in the season and for longer durations
Period Analysis of 3 Binary Star Systems in NGC 188
No full textIt is known that the open cluster NGC 188 has a multitude of variable stars. Variable stars change in luminosity over time. SIMBAD, an astronomical database, contains information on several of these stars. We have used data taken by Brigham Young University and cross-compared it to observe the period of these stars and see if the data between the two match or if future data needs to be collected. To fulfill this task, the BYU telescope data was analyzed through AstroImageJ, and the light curves were constructed from the data and put into a Python script to graph the full curve of the variable star and calculate the period. We then compared our determined periods with the previously determined periods from SIMBAD. We studied 3 stars in particular: V* ES Cep, V* EP Cep, and V* V369. These 3 stars are confirmed to be variable stars on SIMBAD. Our calculated period for star V* ES Cep matches the recorded period in SIMBAD. We find different periods for the stars V* EP Cep and V*369
Effective Mathematics Instruction in High-Poverty Middle Schools: What are the Best Teachers Doing?
Get PDFWhile there is much literature devoted to mathematics teaching practices, most research does not consider the perspectives of effective teachers in high-poverty schools. This study offers unprecedented access into the teaching practices of the most effective middle school teachers who teach in high-poverty schools. By accessing a state-wide database of thousands of teachers in Utah (USA), we identified middle school teachers whose students consistently showed high growth on standardized assessments compared to other teachers in Utah and taught in high-poverty schools. Our analysis identified seven teachers. We invited these teachers to participate in interviews regarding their teaching practices, and all seven teachers agreed to participate. Using thematic analysis, we constructed several themes that were common across the effective teachers. Our findings both agree and contradict current guiding principles on equitable teaching practices. The findings provide useful tools for teachers in high-poverty schools and motivate continued dialogue on equitable teaching practices
Veterans in Utah: Services, Gaps, and Opportunities
Get PDFThis fact sheet, the first in a series, provides an overview of veteran services in Utah, identifying existing resources, areas of unmet need, and opportunities for strategic investment. It is intended for veterans, policymakers, community leaders, and organizations committed to strengthening the health and well-being of Utah’s veteran community, with particular attention to those aging in rural and underserved areas
Practical Anisotropy of Reflectance Standards
No full textFactory calibration documents for sintered PTFE and painted reflectance standards specify diffuse hemispherical reflectance at 8 degrees incidence, nadir collection. This measurement is an isotropic mean of azimuth angles. In practice, targets are measured at very specific azimuthal incidence and collection angles, requiring more rigorous BRDF knowledge if certainties of less than 2% are desired. In this presentation, a practical method for determining the azimuthal dependence of nadir collected reflectance at various incident illumination zenith angles is described and discussed
Educational Policies Committee Agenda October 2, 2025
No full textApproval of Minutes - September 4, 2025 Subcommittee Reports Curriculum Subcommittee Academic Standards Subcommittee General Education Subcommittee Other Business Adjourn: 4:00 p
Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes August 25, 2025
No full textCall to Order Approval of Minutes - April 14, 2025 University Business Faculty Senate Business Information EPC Report - April 3, 2025 Report Empowering Teaching Excellence Center for Instructional Design and Innovation Old Business New Business Adjourn: 4:30 p