No description available.

Craniometaphyseal dysplasia (CMD) is a rare genetic skeletal disorder, whose biological understanding is not very well known. The disease manifests itself through bony hypertrophy of the skull base, craniofacial bones, and abnormal morphology of the long bones, present in the carrier of the disease. CMD has been previously determined through genetic analysis to be a result of one of 15 (to date) discovered mutations. Fourteen of those mutations are inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, via mutations in the ANKH gene. One mutation has been discovered to result in CMD through autosomal recessive inheritance, via a locus found in the connexin 43 gene, coding for gap junction protein alpha-1. As the genetic foundation of CMD has become more clearly understood over time, there has been a lack of similar progress in understanding the clinical manifestations of CMD. To improve our understanding of the clinical characteristics of CMD, we propose a natural history of disease study to be conducted. This study serves as a pilot for this larger scale study, by using a smaller patient population comprised of CMD patient database at the Reichenberger Lab at University of Connecticut Health (UCH), and CMD patients reported in the literature, to understand what is currently known about the clinical manifestations of CMD, and what should be evaluated for further research. In this study, the existing literature on CMD has been compiled and sorted into distinct groups – created to guide those unfamiliar to the disease through the available information. Secondly, a set of 76 patient cases compiled at the Reichenberger lab at UCH were analyzed to determine what clinical information on CMD has already been collected. Lastly, from an in depth analysis of two specific case files from the Reichenberger Lab CMD patient database it was discovered that blood chemistry levels are an important parameter for analysis in future studies. From abnormalities in blood chemistry within both cases were found. . In both patients it was found that elevations in serum alkaline phosphatase were present congenitally, and persisted throughout the early childhood years. Specific attention to changing serum alkaline phosphatase concentrations over early childhood development is recommended. Additionally, from data present in patient case 2, blood urea nitrogen (BUN/creatinine) was found to be highly elevated through early childhood, though eventually slowly decreasing to the upwards bounds of the normal physiological reference range, by the time the patient grew from ages 1 to 12. No BUN/Creatinine data was provided by the first case. Lastly, from an analysis of the literature, the patient case files at the Reichenberger lab at UCH and an in depth study of two specific patient cases a list of clinical parameters useful for investigation in a full-scale natural history of disease study of CMD is presented.

No description available.

Crayfish throughout the holarctic are found in association with an order of worms known as branchiobdellidans. This relationship has been confirmed as a cleaning symbiosis in several species. The Conhaway crayfish,​ Cambarus appalachiensis, is a species of crayfish endemic to the New River Basin in Virginia and West Virginia. We studied a population of ​ C. appalachiensis​ in Sinking Creek in Newport, VA from March 2017 until February 2018. We collected morphological data and quantified the branchiobdellidan communities on 986 individuals, and kept note of egg brooding and young of year throughout the study period. The life cycle of C. appalachiensis was found to be similar to other large-bodied species of Cambarus crayfish. Molting occurred throughout the year, peaking in the months of April and September. This molting served as a disturbance effect to the symbiotic branchiobdellidan community and reset community assembly. The worm communities on larger, recently molted crayfish more closely resembled the less diverse communities on smaller crayfish. Most worms on recently molted crayfish were ones that we know are early colonizers. This thesis work provides the first life history information on a newly described species of Cambarus crayfish and provides both seasonal data on its branchiobdellidan associates and one of the first empirical examples of host ontogeny acting as a disturbance on a symbiotic community. / Master of Science / Crayfish throughout North America and Eurasia are the symbiotic partners to a number of small worms. This relationship has been confirmed as a cleaning symbiosis for several crayfish, similar to the cleaning stations at a coral reef. The Conhaway crayfish is a species of crayfish found in the New River Basin in Virginia and West Virginia. We studied a population of Conhaway crayfish in Sinking Creek in Newport, VA from March 2017 until February 2018. We collected data on the physical attributes of the crayfish, quantified the worms present on 986 individuals, and kept note of female crayfish with eggs and baby crayfish throughout the study period. The life cycle of the Conhaway crayfish was found to be similar to other large-bodied species of closely related crayfish. Molting, where the crayfish loses its shell and grows a new one, occurred throughout the year, peaking in the months of April and September. This molting served as a disturbance effect to the symbiotic worms, similar to how a wildfire might displace animals in a grassland ecosystem. The type and number of worms found on larger, recently molted crayfish more closely resemble the type and number of worms found on smaller crayfish. This thesis work provides the first information on the physical and reproductive attributes of a newly described species of crayfish and provides both seasonal data on its symbiotic worms and one of the first empirical examples of host growth and aging acting as a disturbance to symbiotic organisms living on that host.

The work exhibited in Of Light and Shadow is fragmented. The fragments of the work will display an understanding of materiality, immateriality, fragility, temporality, scale, and preservation while seeking to fragment photography as a traditional medium. This work has become less about the image and more about the art object itself and how it exists in the space. I am interested in the connections between art and science where a museum, herbarium, or glasshouse acts as a juxtaposition between art and science. In Of Light and Shadow, the chosen materials question their own materiality. I am interested in the ephemerality of objects and the fragility of their existence. I use light and shadow as a dichotomy that connects the natural and artificial. With this duality and materials manufactured and handmade, I create environments that beckon the viewer to consider other dichotomies such as light and shadow, inside and outside, past and present, art and science, and private and public. They are the in between. Miniaturized fragments contrast larger than life fragments that challenge the viewers’ senses, perception of reality, and scale. This work seeks to fragment photography as a material and immaterial mode of traditional storytelling where it constantly battles the question of “will it disappear” and “if so, when?”

The millipede Brachycybe lecontii Wood, 1864 is a social millipede known for forming pinwheel-shaped groups and for paternal care of eggs. Brachycybe lecontii is endemic to the eastern U.S., and its distribution overlaps with another species within the genus, Brachycybe petasata, from the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Molecular data, however, show that the closest relative of B. lecontii is Brachycybe nodulosa from East Asia. Here, I investigated various aspects of the life history, paternal care, defense, feeding, and social behavior of B. lecontii, and provided morphological and anatomical descriptions using light and scanning electron microscopy. Based on detailed observations of millipedes from 14 localities in the distribution of B. lecontii, I found the following natural history aspects. The oviposition period of B. lecontii was from mid-April to late June and the incubation period lasted 3–4 weeks. Males exclusively cared for eggs, but care of juveniles was not observed. In one case, the clutches of two males became combined and they were later cared for by only one of the males. The defensive compound of B. lecontii consisted of two isomers of the alkaloid deoxybuzonamine. Defense glands were large, occupying up to a third of the paranotal volume, and were present on all but the first four body rings. Stadia I juveniles do not have defensive secretions and stadia II juveniles have defensive pores but do not secrete. Secretions were observed only in stadia III millipedes and older. I observed Brachycybe lecontii feeding on liquids from fungi of the order Polyporales, and describe a cuticular structure on the tip of the labrum that may relate to fungivory. I found that pinwheel-shaped aggregations do not form in the absence of fungus and suggested the aggregation is associated with feeding. I describe and illustrate a previously undescribed comb-like structure on the tibia and tarsi of the six foremost leg-pairs and measure and analyze the spectral reflectance of B. lecontii exoskeleton. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Millipedes are important members of the ecosystem as decomposers. By eating dead vegetation such as wood, leaves and other detritus, millipedes fragment the material thereby allowing further breakdown by fungi, bacteria, and other microbes. Microbial decomposition further reduces the detritus into its chemical constituents (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, and simple sugars) thereby releasing these materials into the ecosystem for future generations of life to use. In addition to the millipedes’ critical role in the ecosystem as decomposers, they are fascinating and yet understudied. For example, millipedes of the species Brachycybe lecontii are pink, have males that exclusively care for the young (a rarity amongst arthropods), form star-shaped aggregations of individuals, and emit a novel alkaloid-based chemical secretion. By understanding the natural history of this local Appalachian species, I provided a fundamental basis for future studies of its sociality, chemical defense, and evolution.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Art History, Dec. 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of English Language and Literature, Aug. 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-210). Also available on the Internet.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

Climate-change has the potential to affect migratory birds by altering prey availability across their annual cycle. Observational and experimental approaches were used to understand the causes and consequences of these changes on the breeding productivity, mass regulation and survival of a wetland bird; the Eurasian reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus. Climatic influences on wetland invertebrate populations were assessed by monitoring natural and experimentally-induced variations in temperature. Further increases in early spring temperatures are likely to result in earlier availability of prey resources. The responses of breeding birds to changes in their prey were tested with food supplementations, which advanced egg-laying dates, reduced the laying interval and incubation duration, and increased nestling growth rate. These effects enable earlier first fledglings and increase the opportunity for second breeding attempts within the peak invertebrate prey window. The consequences of prey availability on wintering body condition were tested by comparing resources and energy reserves in contrasting habitats in West Africa during the non-breeding period. Birds occupying prey-rich habitats maintained lower body reserves than conspecifics occupying prey-poor dry-scrub habitats, consistent with strategic buffering of reserves against starvation in food-poor habitat. These results suggest how reed warblers are able to survive in lower quality habitats and potentially avoid density-dependent mortality associated with drought as observed in other wetland migrants. Analysis of long term (>30 year) weather effects on survival revealed measurable but minor impacts, suggesting reed warblers are very adaptive to environmental change. Overall, this study provides strong support for climate-driven advance in spring invertebrate availability and identifies the reed warbler breeding and survival parameters most affected by increases to prey availability. This study provides an integrated and original understanding of the mechanisms which may underlie current levels of population growth in what appears to be one of the few long-distance migratory European songbird species currently benefiting from climate-change.