Scholarly Works by Faculty and Graduate Students

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Ex vivo Comparative Investigation of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Excitotoxic Resiliency

2019-2022

This dataset is CC0. Histology images and excel files with the data generated by analyzing the images associated with the paper "Ex vivo Comparative Investigation of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Excitotoxic Resiliency"

Experimental methodologies can affect pathogenicity of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans infections.

2008-02-01-2008-05-01

Controlled experiments are one approach to understanding the pathogenicity of etiologic agents to susceptible hosts. The recently discovered fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), has resulted in a surge of experimental investigations because of its potential to impact global salamander biodiversity. However, variation in experimental methodologies could thwart knowledge advancement by introducing confounding factors that make comparisons difficult among studies. Thus, our objective was to evaluate if variation in experimental methods changed inferences made on the pathogenicity of Bsal. We tested whether passage duration of Bsal culture, exposure method of the host to Bsal (water bath vs. skin inoculation), Bsal culturing method (liquid vs. plated), host husbandry conditions (aquatic vs. terrestrial), and skin swabbing frequency influenced diseased-induced mortality in a susceptible host species, the eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). We found that disease-induced mortality was faster for eastern newts when exposed to a low passage isolate, when newts were housed in terrestrial environments, and if exposure to zoospores occurred via water bath. We did not detect differences in disease-induced mortality between culturing methods or swabbing frequencies. Our results illustrate the need to standardize methods among Bsal experiments. We provide suggestions for future Bsal experiments in the context of hypothesis testing and discuss the ecological implications of our results.

Frequency-dependent transmission of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans in eastern newts

2019-10-28-2019-12-27

Transmission is the fundamental process whereby pathogens infect their hosts and spread through populations, and can be characterized using mathematical functions. The functional form of transmission for emerging pathogens can determine pathogen impacts on host populations and can inform the efficacy of disease management strategies. By directly measuring transmission between infected and susceptible adult eastern newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) in aquatic mesocosms, we identified the most plausible transmission function for the emerging amphibian fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). Although we considered a range of possible transmission functions, we found that Bsal transmission was best explained by pure frequency-dependence. We observed that >90% of susceptible newts became infected within 17 days post-exposure to an infected newt across a range of host densities and initial infection prevalence treatments. Under these conditions, we estimated R0 = 4.9 for Bsal in an eastern newt population. Our results suggest that Bsal has the capability of driving eastern newt populations to extinction, and that managing host density may not be an effective management strategy. Intervention strategies that prevent Bsal introduction or increase host resistance or tolerance to infection may be more effective. Our results add to the growing empirical evidence that 28 transmission of wildlife pathogens can saturate and be functionally frequency-dependent. Optimization of proposed transmission functions for Bsal infection data in eastern newts. Optimization carried out over the initial stages of infection, before any fatalities had occurred. Probability distribution of number of susceptibles at time t calculated via numerical integration of the associated ordinary differential equations, and optimal parameter values selected through minimizing the log-likelihood of the data. AIC used to select the best fit, with likelihood profiles calculated for each parameter in the two best fitting transmission functions.

GSSE Water Quality 2020

2020-06-12-2020-07-11

Water quality sampling took place as a component of the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Governor’s School for Science and Engineering (GSSE) during June and July 2020. GSSE is a five-week program for high achieving high school students in the state of Tennessee to receive hands-on training in STEM skills. Students in the program (n = 128) were mailed water quality kits to conduct sampling for both home and field water quality as part of the project. For home water quality samples, we used testing strips to measure chlorine, copper, fluoride, hardness, lead, pH and nitrate levels from kitchen faucets; and the zip codes and counties from which samples were taken. For field water quality samples, we measured alkalinity, conductivity, lead, nitrate, nitrite, pH, and temperature from natural water bodies. We took samples from three types of water bodies: lakes, ponds, and streams/rivers. In addition to water quality levels and water body type, we also recorded the county, latitude, and longitude from which samples were taken.

Influence of Flocculant on Flow Behavior and Undrained Shear Strength of Fine Coal Refuse

2017-05-01-2018-04-30

his data set is in support of a manuscript submitted accepted for publication in the journal Fuel. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of an added flocculant on the flow behavior and undrained shear strength of fine coal refuse (FCR) from an active impoundment in eastern Kentucky. The specimens were formed from fresh FCR slurry samples obtained from a slurry discharge pipe, as well as solids recovered from the same fresh FCR mixed with either distilled water or a sodium hexametaphosphate dispersant solution. The specimens were consolidated in columns over a range of low stresses to create soft, relatively low strength specimens. Specimens were prepared with different initial void ratios and moisture contents. Flow table tests and vane shear strength tests were performed to investigate the influence of the background solution type on the flow behavior and undrained shear strength., Jedari, C., Palomino, A.M., and Drumm, E.C. (2020), Data in support of "Influence of Flocculant on Flow Behavior and Undrained Shear Strength of Fine Coal Refuse", Fuel, accepted for publication 06 October 2020.

Job analyses of earth science data librarians and data managers

2020-02-05-2020-03-12

Information professionals working with science data find, access, and make interoperable machine-actionable data for scientists across domains and organizations. Data librarians and data managers facilitate scientific advancement and the requisite skills required to perform their work changes with technology. This study’s purpose is to capture the skills of science data librarians and data managers by interviewing current job incumbents. Job analysis interviews were conducted of twelve participants –six librarians and six data managers—to assess the types and frequencies of job tasks. Science data managers identified tasks related to communication, including collaboration, teaching, and project management activities. Data specific tasks included data discovery, processing and curation, which require an understanding of the data, technology, and information infrastructures to support data use, re-use and preservation. Most respondents had formal science education, but only five had a master’s degree in information sciences. Most of the knowledge, skills, and abilities for these workers were acquired through on-the-job experience, but future professionals in this career may benefit from tailored education informed through job analyses., Bishop, B. W., Orehek, A. M., & Collier, H. R. (2020). Job Analyses of Science Data Librarians and Data Managers.

Nitrogen-cycle genes and transcripts abundances under agricultural management practices in a long-term continuous cotton field

2018-06-2019-07

Soil microbial transformations of nitrogen (N) can be affected by soil health management practices. Here, we report in situ seasonal dynamics of the abundance (gene copies) and expression (transcript copies) of five bacterial genes involved in soil N cycling (AOB amoA, nifH, nirK, nirS, and nosZ) in a long-term continuous cotton production system under different management practices (cover crops, tillage, and inorganic N fertilization). In addition, the abundances of 16S rRNA gene and 16S rRNA were also measured to normalize the abundances of these five N-cycle functional genes and transcripts., Hu, J. DeBruyn J. (2021). Nitrogen-cycle genes and transcripts abundances under agricultural management practices in a long-term continuous cotton field. TRACE Data Sets. https://doi.org/10.7290/7WP5rsToDb.

Spectroscopic studies of size-dependent optical properties of oxide nanomaterials, molecule-based materials in extreme condition

2014-2017

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [DMR-1707846 (JLM, UT) and DMR-1703003 (JLM, EWU)], the Petroleum Research Fund [52052-ND10 (JLM, UT)], and the Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division (RF). The research at UNIST (JHL, MSK) was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (2015R1C1A1A01055760) and Creative Materials Discovery Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2017M3D1A1040828). Work at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory was funded by the Department of Energy (DEAC98-06CH10886). The use of the U2A beamline was supported by COMPRES under NSF Cooperative Agreement EAR 11-57758 and CDAC (DE-FC03-03N00144). This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Survey Validation of Job Analyses for Science Data Managers

2020-11-23-2021-01-18

This job analysis survey was developed to validate the knowledge, skills, and abilities identified from prior interview studies of Earth science data managers (Bishop and Hank, 2018; Bishop, Orehek, and Collier 2021). These prior studies used qualitative, semi-structured interview method derived from the (Developing a Curriculum) DACUM approach in keeping with FAIR principles (Knapp and Knapp, 1995)., Bishop, Bradley Wade (2021). Survey Validation of Job Analyses for Science Data Managers. Trace Datasets.

Voices of Diversity

2008-04-25-2008-12-18

Braquet, Donna and Weaver, J.R. 2008. "Voices of Diversity." http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_lgbtvoic/

Winter is Coming – Temperature Affects Immune Defenses and Susceptibility to Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans

2018-2020

Environmental temperature is a key factor driving various biological processes, including immune defenses and host-pathogen interactions. Here, we evaluated the effects of environmental temperature on the pathogenicity of the emerging fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), using controlled laboratory experiments, and measured components of host immune defense to identify regulating mechanisms. We found that adult and juvenile Notophthalmus viridescens died faster due to Bsal chytridiomycosis at 14 ºC than at 6 and 22 ºC. Pathogen replication rates, total available proteins on the skin, and microbiome composition likely drove these relationships. Temperature-dependent skin microbiome composition in our laboratory experiments matched seasonal trends in wild N. viridescens, adding validity to these results. We also found that hydrophobic peptide production after two months post-exposure to Bsal was reduced in infected animals compared to controls, perhaps due to peptide release earlier in infection or impaired granular gland function in diseased animals. Using our temperature-dependent infection results, we performed a geographic analysis that suggested that N. viridescens populations in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada are at greatest risk for Bsal invasion. Our results indicate that environmental temperature will play a key role in the epidemiology of Bsal and provide evidence that temperature manipulations may be a viable Bsal management strategy.