Intentional homicide is an illegal activity and prevalence is not likely to decline in coming years. Many victims of homicide are buried shallowly by hand in unmarked sites, referred to as clandestine graves. Tools to better spot these graves are of benefit to law enforcement, with the cadaver island effect, a local die-off of plants surrounding the body, often being used to this end. However, little work has been done addressing the question of whether this cadaver island effect is still seen above buried bodies, what causes this effect, and whether it effects adult plants and seedlings differently. This study set out to address the growth and sprouting (seedling emergence from soil) response of Trifolium repens (white Dutch clover) to buried body proxies of cheese and liver in multiple soil types. Soil type had a larger effect on adult plant growth than body proxy, with Maryland clay and Maryland clay/leaf humus mixes sporting the most retarded growth irrespective of treatment. Body proxy had a significant effect on plant sprouting, with 100% of pots with proxies sporting a ring of no sprouting (zone of inhibition) around the buried material. Cheese produced a significantly smaller zone of inhibition than liver.

Dirofilaria immitis, more commonly known as canine heartworm, is a parasitic nematode that leads to heartworm disease in dogs. Adult heartworms occupy the heart and lungs of dogs and prevent these organs from functioning properly. Anecdotal evidence suggested that several counties in Western North Carolina showed a trend of heartworm incidence rates that were lower than the incidence rates of both North Carolina and the United States. This study looked to investigate this anecdotal trend using data from the Companion Animal Parasite Council. Public data confirm that both Madison and Buncombe County have lower rates of heartworm infection than North Carolina as a whole. In order to help explain this trend we conducted a pilot survey using Buncombe County as a model of mosquito species diversity in Western North Carolina. We trapped mosquitoes at three sites in Buncombe County from July 2020 to October 2020. Our mosquito diversity estimate was used to predict expected rates of heartworm prevalence and found a substantial difference between the actual and expected heartworm prevalence in Buncombe County. It is possible that factors other than mosquito diversity contribute to low heartworm prevalence in Buncombe County and in other counties in Western North Carolina.

The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is causing a worldwide decline in salamander populations. Bd causes chytridiomycosis in salamanders, which is a lethal infection of keratinized epithelial cells. Previous studies have characterized many microbial species from the skin of amphibians and shown some of them can inhibit Bd by producing antifungal metabolites. In this research, the skin microbiota of four salamanders was sampled by separately swabbing their ventral and dorsal sides. Mixed microbial cultures were obtained on R2A media from the swabs and 64 unique colonies were isolated. Microorganisms were characterized by describing colony color, shape, size, margin, texture, elevation, and pictures were taken. The microorganisms were Gram stained to determine cellular morphologies and 52 were Gram-negative rods, 11 Gram positive (seven rods and four cocci), and one was a fungus. PCR was used to amplify portions of the 16S (prokaryotic) or 18S (eukaryotic) rRNA genes. The PCR products were purified, sequenced, and Basic Local Assignment Search Tool (BLAST) was used to identify the microorganisms, at least to the genus level. The most common genera were Chryseobacterium, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, and Bacillus, respectively. Competition assays were performed on tryptone agar plates to test the microorganisms for their ability to inhibit Bd. Nine microorganisms tested positive for inhibiting Bd, and each salamander had at least two isolates that tested positive. Pseudomonas species moraviensis and koreensis produced the largest zones of inhibition, and co-culturing the microorganisms increased the size of the zones by having an additive effect.

The synapsins are a family of proteins whose function as regulators of synaptic vesicle cycling has been thoroughly investigated in neurons. Previous work had demonstrated the presence and functional role of synapsin I in sperm, but focused primarily on human sperm and did not investigate other synapsin proteins. The rationale/hypothesis of this study was to investigate the presence of synapsins I, II, and III in mouse sperm, as the confirmed presence of the synapsin proteins in mouse sperm specifically would allow for various functional investigations more easily performed using rodent models. This hypothesis was tested using manually applied dot blot analysis of mouse testis/epididymis (T/ E) and separate mouse sperm samples. The hypothesis was supported, as the dot blot results indicated the presence of synapsins I, II, and III in both the mouse T/E and sperm cell samples. This preliminary but important positive result sets the stage for future functional experiments which may include sperm motility assays, as well as in vitro fertilization studies following treatment with synapsin antibodies. These studies would add to the existing body of knowledge concerning the molecular regulation of cellular secretion, as well as the mechanisms of fertilization and reproduction.