25th Denman Undergraduate Research Forum (2020)
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Item The effects of water clarity on cichlid fish reproductive behavior(2020-03-03) MacDonald, Rylie; Gray, SuzanneHumans are altering aquatic ecosystems in many ways, and one of our greatest influences is increasing turbidity, or the amount of sediments, in freshwater systems. Increasing cloudiness of the water can be problematic for fish like African cichlids, (e.g. Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae), that rely on visual cues when choosing a mate. The objective of this study was to determine if turbidity impacts the reproductive behavior, specifically female mate choice, of these fish. If turbidity affects the visual environment, then we expect that male and female mating behavior will also be impacted. To test this, we examined mate choice behavior of females reared in clear vs. turbid water. We predicted that regardless of rearing treatment, females will prefer males reared in the same condition. We used a dichotomous choice test to test the impact of increased turbidity on the mating behavior of P. multicolor. The experimental tanks isolated a clear-reared and turbid-reared male on opposite ends, with a female in the center. Each female was tested with the same pair of males under both clear (0-0.5 NTU) and turbid (10-15 NTU) conditions, with trial order and male position randomized. Fish were acclimated overnight, with opaque barriers between compartments to prevent the fish from seeing each other. The barriers were then removed and behavior video-recorded for 30 min. Female interactions were measured as the time spent interacting with males (i.e. within 12 cm of male). Clear-reared females spent on average (± s.d.)18 min (±7) interacting with males during clear trials, and 13 min (±8) during turbid trials. Turbid females spent 14 min (±6) interacting with males during clear and 15 min (±8) during turbid trials. Further analyses will test if females spent more time with one male, indicating her preference. Clear-reared females spent more time interacting with males in clear trials than in turbid trials; however, females reared in turbid water showed no difference in mating activity between clear and turbid trials. Fish not accustomed to turbid water may spend less time engaging in reproductive behaviors, potentially indicating that turbidity will decrease reproduction, resulting biodiversity loss.Item Examination of Dietary Patterns and FODMAPs Intake in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome(2020-03-03) Pei, Xuechen; Roberts, KristenBackground: Utilizing a food frequency questionnaire (FFQs) to determine current dietary practices of those with and without IBS allows the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) to understand usual dietary intake as it related to FODMAP ingestion. Objective: To identify the average lactose, fructose, and polyol intake in people with and without IBS to gauge if there are differences in usual dietary intake. Methods: VioScreen™, a web-based FFQ, was offered to all patients attend a gastrointestinal outpatient clinic at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center to assess dietary patterns and lactose, fructose, and polyols intake. Those that completed the FFQ were stratified into those with and without IBS. Results: Participants (N=140) were included in this study. Mean age was 43.0 ± 15.5 years with an average BMI of 28.2 ± 7.4 kg/m2. No difference in the average fructose (36 g ± 38 vs 25 g ± 34; P = 0.156), lactose (14 g ± 10 vs 12 g ± 14; P = 0.655) and polyols (1 g ± 0.5 vs 1 g ± 0.6; P = 0.260) was detected between those with and without IBS. Conclusion: Patients with IBS do not consume significantly less fructose, lactose, and polyols compared to patients without IBS. Data suggests high-FODMAPs foods can trigger IBS symptoms. RDNs should evaluate the dietary patterns before the education of low-FODMAPs to ensure the education is targeting patient-specific high FODMAPs foods.Item Analyzing the Ohio Valley Region's Tornado Climatology, 1960-2018(2020-03-03) Reynolds, Alyssa; Mark, BryanWhile U.S. tornadoes have been researched intensively by atmospheric scientists and meteorologists, most work has focused on regions like Tornado Alley and Dixie Alley. However, there have been fewer studies focused on the Ohio Valley Region that includes Illinois, Indiana,and Ohio. The goals of this research were to create a general tornado climatology of the Ohio Valley region, compare the results to data for the entire United States, and test for changes between inter-comparison normal periods, defined as 1960-1989 and 1990-2018. The first thing to do was to gather the data from the Storm Prediction Center’s (SPC) tornado database that contains data of all tornadoes from 1950 to the present. For this project, data from two main periods were extracted from the SPC database for analysis: 1960-1989 and 1990-2018. Initially, several different graphs were created using Python scripts to analyze trends in the tornado activity data, including tornado intensities in three different periods (1960-1989, 1990-2006, 2007-2018) and tornado counts by month for the two normal periods. Tornado intensities were split into three periods in order to properly analyze the effects of the introduction of the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale had on rating tornadoes starting in January 2007. In terms of tornado intensity, there have been noticeable shifts in the frequency of weak tornadoes. From 1960-1989, 25.68% of all tornadoes were F0 while 1990-2006 showed F0s made up 57.16% of all tornadoes; this means the number of weak tornadoes doubled from one interval to the next. EF0 tornadoes were reported to make up 46.93% of all tornadoes for the 2007-2018 period, a slight decrease from 1990-2006 but still 20% higher than those reported for 1960-1989. The current peak tornado season in the Ohio Valley matches the rest of Tornado Alley, where the largest number of tornadoes occur from April to June with the majority reported in May. This is a notable difference from 1960-1989 where the peak number of tornadoes were recorded in June. There has also been a recent peak in late season November tornado activity, where 1990-2018 saw 2.5% more tornadoes recorded.