Non-local dispersal

We consider a model of spatial spread that has applications in both material science and biology. The classical models are based upon partial differential equations, in particular reaction-diffusion equations. Here the dispersal term is given in terms of an integral operator and we restrict ourselves to the scalar case

ECU professors research effects of BP oil spill in Gulf of Mexico and beyond

The BP oil spill, also known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, has riveted the attention of the public since an explosion April 20 aboard an offshore oil rig caused crude oil to begin to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. Now, East Carolina University professors are participating in various research projects that may help determine some of the effects of this catastrophic event

Effect of High-Energy Radiation on the Formation of 8- Hydroxy-Deoxyguanosine

The abstract for this presentation can be downloaded by clicking on the blue download button

Identification of Novel MicroRNAs that Regulate OGG1 Mediated DNA Repair

Kristen H. Hutson and Kaitlynn M. Willis are students in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. Gergana G. Nestorova is an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University

Effect of S on Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number

Kaitlynn M. Willis and Kristen H. Hutson are students in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. Gergana G. Nestorova is an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University

Identification of miRNA-OGG1 mRNA Interactions: Small RNA Sequencing and Immunoprecipitation Analysis

The abstract for this presentation can be downloaded by clicking on the blue download button

Biological controls to manage Acropora-eating flatworms in coral aquaculture

Coral aquaculture is expanding to supply the marine ornamental trade and active coral reef restoration. A common pest of Acropora corals is the Acropora-eating flatworm Prosthiostomum acroporae, which can cause colonial mortality at high infestation densities on Acropora spp. We investigated the potential of 2 biological control organisms in marine aquaria for the control of P. acroporae infestations. A. millepora fragments infested with adult polyclad flatworms (5 flatworms fragment(-1)) or single egg clusters laid on Acropora skeleton were cohabited with either sixline wrasse Pseudocheilinus hexataenia or the peppermint shrimp Lysmata vittata and compared to a control (i.e. no predator) to assess their ability to consume P. acroporae at different life stages over 24 h. P. hexataenia consumed 100% of adult flatworms from A. millepora fragments (n = 9; 5 flatworms fragment(-1)), while L. vittata consumed 82.0 +/- 26.36% of adult flatworms (mean +/- SD; n= 20). Pseudocheilinus hexataenia did not consume any Prosthiostomum acroporae egg capsules, while L. vittata consumed 63.67 +/- 43.48% (n = 20) of egg capsules on the Acropora skeletons. Mean handling losses in controls were 5.83% (shrimp system) and 3.50% (fish system) of flatworms and 2.39% (fish system) and 3.50% (shrimp system) of egg capsules. Encounters between L. vittata and P. hexataenia result in predation of P. acroporae on an Acropora coral host and represent viable biological controls for reducing infestations of P. acroporae in aquaculture systems

Precise characterization of Li-6 Feshbach resonances using trap-sideband-resolved RF spectroscopy of weakly bound molecules

We perform radio-frequency dissociation spectroscopy of weakly bound 6Li2 Feshbach molecules using low-density samples of about 30 molecules in an optical dipole trap. Combined with a high magnetic field stability, this allows us to resolve the discrete trap levels in the radio-frequency dissociation spectra. This novel technique allows the binding energy of Feshbach molecules to be determined with unprecedented precision. We use these measurements as an input for a fit to the 6Li scattering potential using coupled-channel calculations. From this new potential, we determine the pole positions of the broad 6Li Feshbach resonances with an accuracy better than 7×10-4 of the resonance widths. This eliminates the dominant uncertainty for current precision measurements of the equation of state of strongly interacting Fermi gases. As an important consequence, our results imply a corrected value for the Bertsch parameter ξ measured by Ku et al. [ Science 335 563 (2012)], which is ξ=0.370(5)(8)