Development of Culturing Methods for Native Mayfly Taxa for Use in Laboratory Toxicity Testing

Salinity is increasing in freshwaters throughout the world due to anthropogenic impacts with the implication of the increases to biological communities only now being realized. Declining mayfly populations in Appalachian streams have generated increased interest in elevated dissolved solids in that region and their effect on benthic macroinvertebrates, particularly the sensitive Ephemeroptera taxa. Field and laboratory evaluations have indicated high sensitivity of mayflies to elevated dissolved solids. The research described herein is part of an ongoing effort to provide opportunity for toxicity testing with native mayflies in the laboratory. A successful endeavor would establish mayfly sensitivity to total dissolved solids and evaluate the relationship between the sensitivity of the native taxa and laboratory surrogates. The objective of this study was to investigate methods for rearing field collected, larval mayflies using three types of recirculating culturing systems. Five Ephemeroptera families were collected from streams in central West Virginia. Success of the rearing method was measured by emergence and mortality rates for each individual mayfly taxa. Mayflies are known to reproduce both sexually and asexually, and establishing a parthenogenetic population would allow for a more sustainable laboratory culture and facilitate the use of the taxa in toxicity testing. The ability of field collected mayflies to exhibit parthenogenesis was also examined with emergent adults from the rearing study. Flow in the culturing units was found to be a determining factor of emergence success. The most successful culturing unit based on mayfly emergence was the aquatic plant culturing system (Hexagon) which also generated the highest flow. Of the families evaluated, Baetidae was the only family to have exhibited parthenogenesis. Eggs from the genus Baetis had a hatch rate of 46 percent with incubation ranging from 11-29 days after egg collection. Eggs from the genus Pseudocloeon hatched between 17-24 days and had an average hatch rate of less than 1 percent. Ongoing research has focused on continued improvements in rearing and emergence techniques for native taxa, better understanding of optimal incubation conditions for egg hatch, and increasing survival and longevity of newly hatched larval mayflies

Marshall University Music Department Presents a Senior Recital, Margie Wellman, Michael Rowsey

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1065/thumbnail.jp

The Roles of Ecological Opportunity and Incumbency Effects in the Macroevolution of the Luzon Island, Philippines “Old Endemic” Murine Rodents

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2019. Major: Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. Advisor: Sharon Jansa. 1 computer file (PDF); xiv, 216 pages.The evolutionary theory of adaptive radiation posits that lineages that experience a breadth of available resources in the absence of competition, known as ecological opportunity, should diversify to specialize on aspects of these available resources. The rapid evolution decelerates as niches fill in a static, spatially limited system, resulting in an assemblage of ecologically distinct species. Despite evidence to support this mode of diversification, little attention has been given to how this process unfolds in systems with multiple, ecologically similar colonizing lineages. The primary-colonizing, or incumbent, lineage, through exploiting niches in the absence of competitors, may serve to depress the rates and patterns of species and ecological diversity of subsequent colonists. In this dissertation, I explored four aims that seek to test whether the evolution of two clades of rodents endemic to Luzon Island, Philippines, Chrotomyini and Phloeomyini, exhibited evolution consistent with incumbency effects held by Phloeomyini and placed on secondary-colonizing Chrotomyini. First, I determined whether the rates of lineage diversification of the two Luzon Old Endemic (LOE) clades were consistent with reduced ecological opportunity in secondarily-colonizing Chrotomyini, resulting in lower rates of species accumulation. My results instead indicate that Chrotomyini has experienced a faster rate of diversification inconsistent with incumbency effects. Second, I tested whether the mandible of the LOE rodents, as a proxy for diet, exhibits rates of evolution consistent with lower ecological opportunity for Chrotomyini as well as patterns of diversity consistent with clade-specific partitioning of morphological variation. I found that both LOE clades evolved disparate mandible shapes at a similar rate, apart from outlying genus Rhynchomys, but that the two clades occupy nearly discrete areas of morphospace. Third, I tested whether the shape of the humerus can be used to approximate locomotory niche in a similar way to linear measurements of the ulna, metacarpal, and phalanx, to determine whether the morphology associated with locomotory strategy in the two LOE clades is convergent on shared locomotory mode. I found that although the humerus predicts some aspects of locomotory strategy, a substantial proportion of shape variation is reflected by different adaptations within shared locomotory category, thus providing a complement to, rather than replacement for, distal forelimb measurements. Finally, I tested whether the observed lack of mandibular shape overlap between the two LOE clades is consistent Chrotomyini being limited by Phloeomyini in terms of the area of morphospace it could diversify into and whether the ancestral chrotomyine lineage may have exhibited morphology disparate from Phloeomyini, thus facilitating its colonization and subsequent diversification. I found that the patterns of mandibular shape variation in the two LOE clades are consistent with the establishment of a biotic filter, meaning that Chrotomyini’s success on Luzon was facilitated by persistent ecological distinction from incumbent Phloeomyini. This dissertation illustrates that subfamily-related clades can experience substantial ecological distinction both within and between each clade. This distinction can permit repeated colonization of spatially constrained systems: as long as each colonizing clade remains ecologically distinct, evolution may proceed uninhibited by inter-clade competitive effects. Incumbency effects may thus more strongly influence the community assembly of species in a system than their evolutionary rates

Increasing Response Effort Impacts Wager Sizes of Slot- Machine Gamblers

The current study investigated the effects of the physical location of the “Bet Max” wager button on a slot machine on 29 recreational gamblers. Distance from the Spin button varied across three groups of gamblers ranging from 9.52mm to 111.12mm. The results indicated a significant change in bet allocation between groups, mainly, greater distance between the Max Bet button and Spin button resulted in fewer responses allocated to the Max Bet button. Implications of the results are discussed in regards to response effort, and gambling device design

Undergraduate Research Journal, Volume 15

Table of Contents: The Effects of Snorkel-Based Tourism on the Behavior of Reef Fishes / by Savannah Clapp, Lauren Rowsey, and Jordan Grant (p.1-18) -- People Broken Into Pieces Trying to Join: Byzantine Erotica and the Provocative Paradox / by Kendall DeBoer (p.19-28) -- The Legacy of 1830 Land Cover on Present-Day Massachusetts Forest Composition / by Sofie McComb (p.29-58) -- The Role of Labels in Making Inferences about Group Categorization / by Subhashini Madhavan (p.59-76) -- Transcending Autobiography: Simultaneity and Meaning in Elisabet Ney’s Lady Macbeth / by Kendall DeBoer (p.77-92) -- Comparison of Microbial Diversity in Local Wasps and Plant Surfaces / by Dylan Fall and Jo-anne Holley (p.93-104) -- Ambiguity in Biotechnology Patent Policy: Lessons from Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. / by Chari Noddings (p.105-126) -- About the uncountability of the number of irrational powers of irrational numbers evaluated as rationals and solutions’ estimation for xx=y and xx =y / by Anca Andrei (p.127-133)Senate of College Council

Radiofrequency Heating of the Cornea: An Engineering Review of Electrodes and Applicators

This paper reviews the different applicators and electrodes employed to create localized heating in the cornea by means of the application of radiofrequency (RF) currents. Thermokeratoplasty (TKP) is probably the best known of these techniques and is based on the principle that heating corneal tissue (particularly the central part of the corneal tissue, i.e. the central stroma) causes collagen to shrink, and hence changes the corneal curvature. Firstly, we point out that TKP techniques are a complex challenge from the engineering point of view, due to the fact that it is necessary to create very localized heating in a precise location (central stroma), within a narrow temperature range (from 58 to 76ºC). Secondly, we describe the different applicator designs (i.e. RF electrodes) proposed and tested to date. This review is planned from a technical point of view, i.e. the technical developments are classified and described taking into consideration technical criteria, such as energy delivery mode (monopolar versus bipolar), thermal conditions (dry versus cooled electrodes), lesion pattern (focal versus circular lesions), and application placement (surface versus intrastromal)

Aerobic scope protection reduces ectotherm growth under warming

1. Temperature has a dramatic effect on the physiology of ectothermic animals, impacting most of their biology. When temperatures increase above optimal for an animal, their growth gradually decreases. The main mechanism behind this growth rate reduction is unknown. 2. Here, we suggest the 'aerobic scope protection' hypothesis as a mechanistic explanation for the reduction in growth. 3. After a meal, metabolic rate, and hence oxygen consumption rate, transiently increase in a process called specific dynamic action (SDA). At warmer temperatures, the SDA response usually becomes temporally compressed, leading to a higher peak oxygen consumption rate. This peak in oxygen consumption rate risks taking up much of the animal's aerobic scope (the difference between resting and maximum rates of oxygen consumption), which would leave little residual aerobic scope for other aerobic functions. 4. We propose that water-breathing ectothermic animals will protect their postprandial residual aerobic scope by reducing meal sizes in order to regulate the peak SDA response during times of warming, leading to reductions in growth. 5. This hypothesis is consistent with the published literature on fishes, and we provide predictions that can be tested.Peer reviewe

Inflammatory Leiomyosarcoma and Histiocyte-rich Rhabdomyoblastic Tumor : a clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and genetic study of 13 cases, with a proposal for reclassification as Inflammatory Rhabdomyoblastic Tumor

Inflammatory leiomyosarcoma (ILMS), defined as a malignant neoplasm showing smooth muscle differentiation, a prominent inflammatory infiltrate, and near-haploidization , is a very rare soft tissue tumor with a generally favorable prognosis. The morphologic features of histiocyte-rich rhabdomyoblastic tumor (HRRMT) are similar to those of ILMS, although this lesion shows by definition a skeletal muscle phenotype. Recent gene expression profiling and immunohistochemical studies have also suggested that ILMS and HRRMT may be related. We studied the clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical and genetic features of four cases previously classified as ILMS and nine classified as HRRMT. Tumors from both groups tended to occur in the deep soft tissues of the extremities of young to middle-aged males and exhibited indolent behavior. Morphologically, all were well-circumscribed, often encapsulated, and showed a striking histiocyte-rich inflammatory infiltrate admixed with variably pleomorphic tumor cells showing spindled and epithelioid to rhabdoid morphology, eosinophilic cytoplasm, and prominent nucleoli, but few, if any, mitotic figures. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells expressed desmin, alpha-smooth muscle actin, and the rhabdomyoblastic markers PAX7, MyoD1, and myogenin. H-caldesmon expression was absent in all cases, using the specific h-CD antibody. Karyotypic study (1 HRRMT) and genome-wide copy number analysis (7 HRRMT, OncoScan SNP assay), revealed near-haploidization in four cases, with subsequent genome doubling in one, an identical phenotype to that seen in ILMS. We propose reclassification of ILMS and HRRMT as inflammatory rhabdomyoblastic tumor , a name which accurately describes the salient morphologic and immunohistochemical features of this distinctive tumor, as well as its intermediate (rarely metastasizing) clinical behavior

Effects of chronic exercise conditioning on thermal responses to lipopolysaccharide and turpentine abscess in female rats

Chronic exercise conditioning has been shown to alter basal thermoregulatory processes as well as the response to inflammatory agents. Two such agents, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and turpentine (TPT) are inducers of fever in rats. LPS, given intraperitoneally (i.p.), involves a systemic inflammatory response whereas TPT given intramuscularly (i.m.) elicits a localized inflammation. We assessed if chronic exercise training in the rat would alter the thermoregulatory response to LPS and TPT. Core temperature ( T c ) and motor activity were monitored by radiotelemetry. Female Sprague Dawley rats were divided into two groups (trained and sedentary) and housed at an ambient temperature of 22°C. Animals voluntarily trained on running wheels for 8 weeks. In the first study, trained and sedentary female rats were injected i.p. with LPS (50 μg/kg) or an equal volume of 0.9% normal saline. In another study, trained and sedentary female rats were injected i.m. with TPT (10 μl)/rat or an equal volume of 0.9% normal saline. The time course of the LPS fever was very short compared to TPT. TPT injected animals displayed a smaller but more prolonged fever compared to LPS; however, training accentuated the febrile response to LPS (Δ T c =0.6°C in sedentary and 1.2°C in trained). Training had a slight suppression on TPT-induced fever during the daytime but had no effect on motor activity or nighttime T c . In contrast, exercise training led to a marked increase in the pyrogenic effects of LPS. We conclude that the effect of exercise training and source of infection (i.e., systemic versus localized in muscle) on fever is directly linked to type of pyrogenic agent.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46159/1/204_2005_Article_36.pd