Browsing by Author "Bruemmer, Jason, committee member"
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Item Open Access A systematic mapping review of animal-assisted therapies for adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: implications for occupational therapy(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Rose, Michelle, author; Wood, Wendy, advisor; Hooper, Barbara, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee memberThe objective of this thesis was to map the current state of knowledge of animal-assisted therapies (AAT) for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and to derive implications for occupational therapy in addressing dementia-specific quality of life (QoL). This study located 13 peer-reviewed articles related to AAT for adults with ADRD. These articles were written in English, published between 2004-2014, primary sources, and described a health professional as either designing or providing AAT. A data extraction tool was used to record data on the health professionals, participants, interventions, outcomes, and theories. All 13 articles described an outcome related to dementia-specific QoL, hence confirming that the AAT literature addresses QoL for adults with ADRD. Furthermore, 85% of these articles mentioned interventions that were activity-based, thus empathizing that activities, or occupations, may elicit positive outcomes related to QoL. These findings suggest that using animals in therapy may facilitate positive change. These results were also easily “mapped” on to a widely adopted and influential model in occupational therapy, the Person-Environment-Occupation Model. Therefore, incorporating animals into intervention plans in occupational therapy offers a promising avenue for addressing QoL for this population.Item Open Access A systematic mapping review of equine-assisted activities and therapies for children with autism: implications for occupational therapy(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) McDaniel, Brittany Caitlin, author; Wood, Wendy, advisor; Hooper, Barbara, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee memberEquine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) are often used to promote the health and wellbeing of children with autism. However, the diverse body of literature investigating the effects of EAAT has yet to be systematically synthesized. This study aimed to determine the current state of knowledge pertaining to the use of EAAT for children on the autism spectrum in relation to their ability to participate in everyday occupations where they carry out their lives at home, school, and in the community. A systematic mapping review identified the empirical methods, treatment strategies, theories, and outcomes present in the literature. Database searching and a rigorous process of inclusion and exclusion identified 25 peer-reviewed papers relevant to EAAT for children with autism. Data were extracted from each paper and analyzed in Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel. Eighty percent (20 papers) of the literature was research, all of which employed quantitative designs. The most commonly studied treatment strategies were therapeutic riding (10 papers) and hippotherapy (4 papers). A variety of theories for why EAAT may be therapeutic were proposed, including the movement of the horse, horse-human interaction, positive reinforcement, social interactions, and sensory processing. A variety of outcomes were studied, including communication, sensory processing, balance, autism severity, behavior, and quality of life. Strengths and gaps of knowledge are identified, leading to recommendations for future practice and research.Item Open Access Characterizing the microbiota and profiling small non-coding RNAs in the compartments of the equine hindgut(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Reed, Kailee Janelle, author; Coleman, Stephen J., advisor; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Turk, Phillp, committee member; Bouma, Gerrit, committee memberGastrointestinal homeostasis is a complex relationship that encompasses the host's immune response, physiology, gut structure and the microbes residing within the host. Each one of these has pathways of communication in order to keep the host in a 'healthy state' or homeostasis. While each category has been extensively researched independently, interactions that occur between host and microbe are largely still unknown, especially within the equine species. Because horses are extremely prone to various gastrointestinal diseases, understanding the microbial populations and how the horse might communicate with those populations will provide more insight on equine gut homeostasis. The main objectives were to delineate the microbial structures residing within compartment of the hindgut and to begin to profile gene expression patterns of small RNAs within the same areas. Two different populations of animal subjects were used for the two projects in this thesis: a herd from the University of Kentucky (n=6) and a herd from Colorado State University (n=3). The herd from Kentucky was used for the microbiota data set in order to determine the microbial population structure within the cecum, right ventral colon, right dorsal colon and feces. First, we characterized microbial communities present in each of these anatomical sites and then completed a multivariate model to determine similarities of compartments and compared those to the fecal sample. The population of microorganisms observed in the proximal hindgut appeared similar between cecum and ventral colon, while the dorsal colon and fecal samples appeared to be more alike. Interestingly, there is an anatomical structure separating ventral and dorsal portions of the colon called the pelvic flexure. This could possibly be an indication of the host's contribution of determining the microbial communities in each anatomical region. We also demonstrated that while some microbial signatures from the proximal gut were identified in the feces, the distal gut seemed to be more represented in the fecal sample. The herd from Colorado was used to produce the gene expression data for the second project and the main focus was to profile microRNA (miRNA) expression along the hindgut. These small non-coding RNAs have been identified to be involved in gastrointestinal homeostasis within the intestinal epithelium and are host derived molecules. We demonstrated that each tissue (n=8 for each horse) had unique miRNA expression profiles and these miRNAs identified were used to complete a target pathway analysis which shows possible pathways that could be associated with the biological function of each intestinal site. While each project had different objectives, they are both key players of gastrointestinal homeostasis. For future research, we plan to combine these two areas of study by knowing which miRNA could target specific bacteria residing in the gut, which may further the knowledge of how the host contributes to the population structure of the microbes within their gastrointestinal tracts.Item Open Access Circulating micro RNA in insulin resistant horses(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) da Costa Santos, Hugo F., author; Hess, Tanja, advisor; Landolt, Gabriele, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Coleman, Stephen, committee member; Engle, Terry, committee memberInsulin resistance is a prevalent pathophysiological disorder among domestic horses and is associated with many other conditions such as abnormal adiposity, chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, equine metabolic syndrome, and pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction. However, the processes leading to equine insulin resistance and associated conditions remain a subject of study. Studies in human and laboratory animals have shown that a class of small non-coding RNAs, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), are involved in the regulation of many biological processes and are associated with many diseases. MiRNAs have emerged as potential biomarkers in studies for the diagnosis and prognosis of many diseases, including type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Profiling circulating miRNAs allows researchers to understand further the mechanisms involved in many diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome in humans, and it has excellent potential for equine medicine. In our pilot study, we hypothesized that insulin resistant horses would have a different circulating miRNA profile than those that are healthy. 6 mares were selected from an initial population to represent the most insulin-sensitive (n = 3) and insulin resistant (n = 3) states. Serum samples were collected for miRNA profiling of these animals, investigating the presence and relative amount of 340 equine miRNAs. Results showed different miRNA profiles between groups, with a total of 14 miRNAs differently expressed between insulin resistant and insulin sensitive animals. Furthermore, results of this preliminary study suggested circulating miRNA profiles as potential new tools for evaluating the mechanisms of insulin resistance in horses and the development of novel diagnosis and treatment methods for this condition in equines. The current study aimed to follow up the pilot study by increasing the number of animals undergoing miRNA profiling and including both horses and ponies for testing. It was hypothesized that insulin resistant animals (horses and ponies) would have a different circulating miRNA profile than those that are healthy. Additionally, circulating miRNA profiles of horses and ponies were also compared. Two initial populations, one of horses and one of ponies, were screened for their insulin sensitivity state using basal proxies for insulin and glucose. Selected animals, 12 non-pregnant Thoroughbred/ Thoroughbred-cross and 12 non-pregnant Welsh/Dartmoor mares were evaluated for insulin sensitivity with the frequent sampling intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGTT), and serum samples collected for miRNA profiling. The quantification of miRNAs was done through qRT-PCR analysis performed to investigate the presence and relative amount of 340 equine miRNAs. Confirmation by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that miRNA was present in the serum of all animals. After diagnosis based on the FSIGTT results, mares were divided into groups representing their insulin sensitivity state: insulin sensitive (IS, n = 13, ten horses and three ponies) or insulin resistant (IR, n = 11, two horses and nine ponies) animals, and their miRNA profile compared. Results demonstrated that from the 340 miRNAs analyzed, 13 miRNAs were differentially expressed between insulin resistant and insulin sensitive horses, 15 differently expressed between insulin resistant and insulin sensitive ponies, 17 differently expressed between horses and ponies, and 14 differently expressed between insulin resistant and insulin sensitive animals, horses and ponies combined (p<0.05), with 4 of these miRNAs already noted when comparing horses versus ponies. In the horse groups, three miRNAs were expressed in the insulin resistant group only. Finally, eight circulating miRNAs are proposed as potential regulators of equine insulin resistance. The results of this study, in addition to our preliminary investigation, suggest potential new tools that could be used to understand further the mechanisms involved in equine insulin resistance and associated conditions and for the development of new, practical and efficient diagnosis and prognosis methods for this condition in horses.Item Open Access Comparison of an antioxidant source and antioxidant plus BCAA on athletic performance and post exercise recovery of horses(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Kent, Emily, author; Hess, Tanja, advisor; Coleman, Stephen, committee member; Hamilton, Karyn, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee memberAntioxidant supplementation has been shown to decrease post-exercise oxidative stress but can lead to decreased post-exercise muscle protein synthesis. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of the supplementation with a control feed with low antioxidant content (CON) to a high antioxidant feed (AO), versus a high antioxidant and branched-chain amino acid feed (BCAO) on post-exercise protein synthesis and oxidative stress. Our hypothesis is that supplementing AO with BCAA will reduce oxidative stress without hindering muscle protein synthesis. Eighteen mixed breed conditioned polo horses were assigned to one of the three treatments. All horses consumed the CON diet for 30 days and were then assessed using a lactate threshold test (LT). One hour later and following subsequential LT, horses were assigned to the experimental groups and given their treatments. Follow-up LTs were conducted on days 15 and 30 of supplementation. Blood was collected before, two and four hours after LT, and oxidative stress was assessed by determining glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde concentrations by ELISA. Muscle biopsies were taken before and 4 hours after LT and analyzed for the expression of protein synthesis by RT-PCR. Results were analyzed in a mixed model by ANOVA and compared by LSM. A reduction of oxidative stress was found over time (P<0.050) with no treatment effect (P>0.050) when using the measured oxidative stress parameters mentioned above. An upregulation in the production of mRNA transcripts related to muscle protein synthesis after exercise was found for muscle primers CD36, CPT1, PDK4, MyF5, and Myogenin (P<0.050). There was a treatment by exercise effect for MyoD (P=0.0041), where AO was upregulated the most after exercise compared to BCAO and CON. MRF4 had a time by treatment effect (p=0.045) where AO was upregulated from day 0 to day 15 and 30 compared to BCAO and CON. This study demonstrated post-exercise muscle synthesis with no advantage of AO plus BCAA compared to AO.Item Open Access Development of a direct (non-extracted) enzyme immunoassay for measurement of serum progesterone levels in mares(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Brooks, Ryan Michael, author; Denniston, David, advisor; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Nett, Torrance, committee member; McCue, Patrick, committee memberProgesterone (P4) is a steroid hormone produced by the corpus luteum of the ovary and the placenta of the mare. Progesterone is required for the maintenance of pregnancy and an assessment of endogenous concentration would be useful in many diagnostic applications related to equine breeding management. The overall objective of this study was to develop and validate a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the measurement of P4 in serum of in the mare. The specific aims were as follows: 1) to develop a quantitative and sensitive progesterone assay that could be used for non-extracted equine serum or plasma, and 2) to convert the ELISA from a 96-well plate format to a single cuvette system to allow quantification by a commercially available spectrophotometer. Significant events in the successful development of the ELISA included the use of purified anti-progesterone antibody, heterologous combination of antibody and conjugate, use of TMB substrate, and methodology to avoid organic solvent extraction. It was determined that by lowering the volume of serum used in the assay and lowering the pH of the serum, the need for extraction could be avoided. The overall correlation between ELISA of non-extracted serum and radioimmunoassay (RIA) of extracted serum was high (r = 0.81); and the correlation between ELISA and RIA for progesterone concentrations less than 5.0 ng/ml, the range most important for clinical diagnosis, was even greater (r = 0.91). The direct ELISA assay has great potential for use in the equine breeding industry as it will allow for diagnostic tests to determine the adequacy of corpus luteum function in a pregnant mare, presence or absence of luteal tissue, and assessment of the end of seasonal transition.Item Open Access Identification of clathrin and dynamin II in the porcine ovary supports the presence of clathrin-mediated endocytosis(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Bacon, Margaret Leese, author; Graham, James, advisor; Eckery, Douglas, advisor; Callahan, Gerald, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee memberThe feral swine population in the United States has grown to 6 million animals located in 41 states, and causing an estimated $1.5 billion annually in damages and control. Feral swine are well-known for spoiling crops, preying on smaller wildlife, spreading disease, and damaging the land’s ecology. In 2014, the federal government initiated the Animal Plant and Health Inspection Services (APHIS) National Feral Swine Damage Management Program to combat this overabundant wildlife population. One of five research areas identified as a key component in the advancement and improvement of tools and methods to manage feral swine is the development of reproductive inhibitors that can cause permanent sterility. Successful reproduction in mammals depends on an adequate number of healthy oocytes present in primordial follicles within the ovaries. Maintenance of the primordial follicular pool requires the coordinated actions of both oocyte survival factors and factors that maintain the follicles in a non-growing state until they are activated to grow. There is a finite number of primordial follicles in the ovaries of mammals, which if destroyed would leave the animal permanently sterile. Relatively little is known about the cellular communication mechanisms utilized by primordial follicles. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether primordial follicles express components of clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME), the most common form of receptor-mediated endocytosis used in eukaryotes. This process, if present, could be exploited as a method to deliver chemosterilants to the primordial follicle pool. This study focused on determining the expression and localization of two key components of this CME, clathrin and dynamin II. Ovaries from 6 piglets and 6 gilts were bisected longitudinally, fixed in formalin, embedded in paraffin, and cut into 5µm thick sections which were mounted on microscope slides. Fluorescent immunohistochemistry using specific antibodies labeled with fluorescein isothiocynate was performed to determine the expression and localization of clathrin and dynamin II on the mounted tissue sections. Expression of clathrin and dynamin II was revealed in the cytoplasm of oocytes of all follicular stages examined, suggesting that CME could be a mechanism of cell signaling in porcine oocytes. A second aim of this study was to establish methods to visualize and characterize the internalization process in pig oocytes. The isolation of primordial follicles and oocytes and the live cell imaging of FM1-43 membrane probe uptake was completed. Primordial follicle isolation was attempted in piglet ovaries using a combination of chemical and mechanical methods. This process used enzymatic digestion and filtration of chopped cortical tissue from porcine ovaries. Mature oocytes were imaged over time after the addition of FM1-43. This established a protocol for live cell handling and imaging that would be useful in future studies. In addition, several ligands and their receptors that may utilize CME were investigated in porcine oocytes. The development of tools and methods to characterize cellular communication mechanisms in oocytes can contribute to the formulation of a chemosterilant to be used to cause non-lethal permanent sterility in feral swine.Item Open Access Impact of chorionic somatomammotropin in vivo RNA interference phenotype on uteroplacental expression of the IGF axis(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Hord, Taylor, author; Anthony, Russel V., advisor; Winger, Quinton A., advisor; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Kading, Rebekah, committee memberWhile fetal growth is dependent on many factors, optimal placental function is a prerequisite for a normal pregnancy outcome. The majority of fetal growth restricted (FGR) pregnancies result from placental insufficiency (PI). The insulin-like growth factors (IGF1 and IGF2) not only stimulate fetal growth, but also placental development and function. Previously, we demonstrated that in vivo RNA interference (RNAi) of the placental hormone, chorionic somatomammotropin (CSH), resulted in two phenotypes. One phenotype exhibits significant placental and fetal growth restriction (PI-FGR), impaired placental nutrient transport, and significant reductions in umbilical insulin and IGF1. The other phenotype does not exhibit statistically significant changes in placental or fetal growth (non-FGR). It was our objective to further characterize these two phenotypes by determining the impact of CSH RNAi on placental (maternal caruncle and fetal cotyledon) expression of the IGF axis. The trophectoderm of hatched blastocysts (9 days of gestation, dGA) were infected with a lentivirus expressing either a non-targeting sequence (NTS RNAi) control or CSH-specific shRNA (CSH RNAi) prior to embryo transfer into synchronized recipient ewes. At ≈125 dGA, pregnancies were fitted with vascular catheters to undergo steady-state metabolic studies. Nutrient uptakes were determined and tissues were harvested at necropsy. In both CSH RNAi non-FGR and PI-FGR pregnancies, uterine blood flow was significantly reduced (P≤0.05), while umbilical blood flow (P≤0.01), both uterine and umbilical glucose and oxygen uptakes (P≤0.05), and umbilical concentrations of insulin and IGF1 (P≤0.05) were reduced in CSH RNAi PI-FGR pregnancies. Fetal cotyledon IGF1 mRNA concentration was reduced (P≤0.05) in CSH RNAi PI-FGR pregnancies, whereas neither IGF1 nor IGF2 mRNA concentrations were impacted in the maternal caruncles, and either placental tissue in the non-FGR pregnancies. Fetal cotyledon IGF1R and IGF2R mRNA concentrations were not impacted for either phenotype, yet IGF2R was increased (P≤0.01) in the maternal caruncles of CSH RNAi PI-FGR pregnancies. For the IGF binding proteins (IGFBP1, IGFBP2, IGFBP3), only IGFBP2 mRNA concentrations were impacted, with elevated IGFBP2 mRNA in both the fetal cotyledon (P≤0.01) and maternal caruncle (P=0.08) of CSH RNAi non-FGR pregnancies. These data support the importance of IGF1 in placental growth and function, but may also implicate IGFBP2 in salvaging placental growth in non-FGR pregnancies.Item Open Access In vitro capacitation of stallion spermatozoa(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Spizziri, Beth Erin, author; Graham, James K., advisor; Bouma, Gerrit, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Seidel, George, committee memberEquine in vitro fertilization has resulted in limited success, and progress is hindered due to a lack of understanding the molecular and biochemical events involved in stallion sperm capacitation. As no single test exists to determine if a stallion sperm is capacitated, individual events of capacitation can be monitored to determine if treatments can induce in vitro changes involved in sperm capacitation. In addition, the limited availability of equine oocytes for experimentation has led to the use of heterologous oocyte assays to determine if various sperm treatments to induce sperm capacitation can result in these sperm fertilizing oocytes in vitro. In experiment 1, sperm plasma membrane cholesterol content of sperm was examined after treatment with capacitation inducing agents. Samples treated with methyl-~-cyclodextrin (MBC) exhibited lower (p<0.05) cholesterol content after 3 h incubation (16 μg/108 sperm) than control sperm at Oh (22 μg/108 sperm). Samples preloaded with cholesterol, after incubation with cholesterol-loaded-cyclodextrin (CLC), contained more cholesterol than control sperm (p<0.05). The second experiment was designed to determine if that protein tyrosine phosphorylation, a component of sperm capacitation, occurs under in vitro conditions. Sperm were capacitated in vitro in Modified Whitten's (MW) medium alone or with dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (PC 12; 40 μm), calcium ionophore A23187 (2 μm), or MBC ( 1 μm) for 0, 30, 90, and 180 min, and the amount of protein tyrosine phosphorylaton was assessed. PC 12-treated sperm exhibited the highest amount of protein tyrosine phosphorylation at time Oh. Control sperm exhibited the highest amount of protein tyrosine phosphorylation following a 3 h incubation. Tyrosine phosphorylation was negligible with MBC and calcium ionophore A23187 treatments. The third experiment was designed to adapt detection of protein tyrosine phosphorylation detection of stallion spermatozoa to flow cytometery. When sperm were incubated with nothing (control), PC12 (40 μm), MBC (1 μm), or calcium ionophore A23187 (2 μm) for 0, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, or 180 min, and then fixed, permeabilized and incubated with a fluorescein isothiocyante (FITC)-labeled monoclonal antibody to phosphorylated protein, no consistent results were obtained using flow cytometry. Experiment 4 was designed to detect and classify sperm as hyperactive using novel software, minimum square binding ratio (MSBR). Control and CLC-treated stallion spermatozoa were incubated in MW or MW plus 5 mM procaine and then capacitated with PC12 (40 μm) or MBC (1 μm) for 15 min or 3 h. Sperm motility parameters were assessed using both the standard computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and the MSBR classification. Procaine treatment only, induced hyperactive motility in CLC-treated PC 12-capacitated sperm after 3 h incubation when using standard CASA analysis. MBC- treated spermatozoa exhibited the greatest changes in sperm motion parameters after 3 h. However, MSBR analysis indicated that neither PC 12 nor MBC-treated sperm were hyperactive at either time point, although all procaine supplemented samples had higher percentages of hyperactive sperm than control sperm (p < 0.05). Experiment 5 was designed to determine the effects of procaine supplementation on the acrosome reaction of stallion sperm treated with PC 12 or MBC. Stallion spermatozoa incubated in MW or MW plus 5 mM procaine were treated with nothing (control), PC12 (40 μm), or MBC (1 μm) for either 15 min or 3 h. The samples were then dual stained with FITC-PNA and propidium iodide (PI) and assessed by· flow cytometry. While PC 12 and MBC induced acrosome reactions in sperm, procaine had no effect on inducing acrosome reactions in stallion spermatozoa. Fertilization of bovine oocytes in vitro, with PC 12-(15 μM) treated stallion sperm resulted in higher cleavage rates (25% ± 3) than untreated sperm (9 % ± 4; p < 0.05). The ability of stallion spermatozoa to fertilize bovine oocytes following zona pellucida laser disruption was then addressed. Bovine oocytes given laser treatment exhibited lower cleavage rate when untreated or PC 12-treated sperm were co-incubated with them (3 and 4 % ± 2; p < 0.05) lhan zona intact oocytes inseminated with similarly treated sperm (9 vs. 30% ± 2; p < 0.05).Item Open Access Novel strategies for peripartal health improvement in transition dairy cows(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Solano-Suárez, Karol Gilberto, author; Pinedo, Pablo J., advisor; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Roman-Muniz, Noa, committee member; Bohn, Andrea, committee memberThe transition period is acknowledged as a time of increased stress and risk to develop infectious, non-infectious, and metabolic diseases due to fetal growth and the onset of lactogenesis. In the past decades, antimicrobial resistance in animals and humans has become an environmental and public health concern, and the restrictions on the use of conventional drugs in organic certified dairy farms encourage the research on novel approaches for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in dairy systems. Natural alternatives and biomolecular technologies have been studied to diminish the impact of diseases during the transition period for conventional and organic certified dairy, and a couple of them will be discussed in this thesis. Chapter 1 comprehend a literature review on transition period elucidating the complex and multifactorial chain of events that lead to make the cow susceptible to develop metabolic and infectious diseases. Metabolic disorders such as negative energy balance and hypocalcemia are connected with the excessive inflammation and cellular immunosuppression occurring around calving. Then, a brief description of other related diseases and new strategies for prevention and treatment of them is discussed. Chapter 2 describes an experiment using an immunomodulator based on Mycobacterium cell wall fraction (MCWF). We hypothesized that the subcutaneous administration of MCWF within the two weeks before calving and within 24 hours after calving could generate a nonspecific cellular immune response capable of reducing the risk of peripartal infectious diseases in dairy cows. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate the effect of a commercial immunomodulator based on MCWF (Amplimune®, NovaVive Inc., Belleville, Canada) on presentation of peripartal diseases and reproductive performance of Holstein cows, assessing cellular immune response and metabolic status. The presentation of clinical metritis, clinical mastitis, and pyometra in MCWF cows were significantly lower compared to CON cows, although the presentation of respiratory disease before 28 days in milk was significantly higher compared to CON cows. The overall reproductive performance was significantly improved in MCWF cows compared to CON cows. Future research at different physiological stages and using different doses and routes of administration is encouraged. Chapter 3 describes an experiment using a pulsed alternating wavelength system (PAWS). We hypothesized that PAWS could elicit a positive hormonal and metabolic response that might reduce presentation of dystocia, as well as the imbalances and stress around calving, improving peripartal health and subsequent performance in transition dairy cows. Hence, our objective was to evaluate the effect of PAWS on dystocia presentation, peripartal health, activity, and serum levels of melatonin (MEL), serotonin (5-HT), prolactin (PRL), somatotropin (BST), calcium, nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) of organic certified Holstein cows. Cows exposed to PAWS reduced the presentation of dystocia and modify NEFA serum levels within 3 days after calving. However, results of melatonin were not available by the time of this writing to clarify the effect of PAWS on these outcomes.Item Open Access Occupational therapy and equine-assisted activities and therapies: an expanded view for hippotherapy within occupational therapy(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Osmann, Erika, author; Wood, Wendy, advisor; Hooper, Barbara, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee memberTo view the abstract, please see the full text of the document.Item Open Access Population ecology of feral horses in an era of fertility control management(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Ransom, Jason Ian, author; Hobbs, N. Thompson, advisor; Baker, Dan, committee member; Boone, Randall, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee memberManagement of wildlife often requires intervention to regulate growth of populations that would otherwise become overabundant. Controlling fecundity using contraceptives has become an increasingly popular tool for attempting to manage locally overabundant wildlife species, but the population-level effects of such applications are largely unknown. Contraceptive treatments can produce unexpected feedbacks that act on births, survival, immigration, and emigration. Such feedbacks may considerably influence our ability to regulate populations using fertility control. I followed feral horses (Equus caballus) in three intensively managed populations to assess longitudinal treatment effects on demography. The transient contraceptive porcine zona pellucida (PZP) produced longer duration of infertility than intended. Repeated PZP vaccinations of females extended the duration of infertility far beyond the targeted management period, with time to first post-treatment parturition increasing 411days for every annual inoculation received. When these animals did conceive and give birth, parturition was later in the year and temporally asynchronous with forage abundance. An average of 30% (range=11-77%) of females were contracepted annually during the treatment period in all three populations and apparent annual population growth rate was 4-9% lower in the post-treatment years as compared to pretreatment years. Population growth was positive, however, and increased steadily every year that a management removal did not occur. The observed number of births was 33% fewer than the expected number of births, based on number of treated females, individual efficacy of treatment, and number of untreated females and their age-specific fecundity rates. Only half of this difference was explained by the apparent residual effect of treatment. Birth rate in the youngest untreated females (age 2-5 years old) was reduced in years when their conspecifics were treated, enhancing the effects of treatment at the population-level. This was partially offset by increased survival in adults, including a 300% increase in presence of horses >20 years old during the post-treatment period. In closed populations of feral horses, the positive feedbacks appear to outweigh the negative feedbacks and generate a larger contraceptive effect than the sum of individual treatments. The role of fertility control is uncertain for open populations of many wildlife species, with broad consensus across a synthesis of research that negative feedbacks on fertility control performance are occurring, and in many cases increased survival and increased immigration can compensate entirely for the reduction in births attributed to treatment. Understanding species' life-history strategies, biology, behavioral ecology, and ecological context is critical to developing realistic expectations of regulating wildlife populations using fertility control.Item Open Access Riding in the moment: an exploratory mixed methods case study of activity situations and quality of life of institutionalized adults with dementia(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Fields, Beth E., author; Wood, Wendy, advisor; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Hooper, Barb, committee member; Gloeckner, Gene, committee memberThe number of adults with some form of dementia is growing, and growing remarkably fast (MBA Healthcare Management, 2017). As adults experience the progressive nature of dementia and consequently, lose functional abilities, many turn to long-term care (LTC) facilities for health care assistance. Unfortunately, LTC facilities experience challenges in providing activities to residents that allow them to participate fully and promote the use of their remaining abilities (Chung, 2004). This exploratory, mixed methods case study sought to investigate the influence of routine activity situations, in particular, an equine-assisted intervention, called Riding in the Moment (RM), on quality of life (QoL) for institutionalized adults with dementia. I used the Activity in Context and Time (Wood, 2005) to record behavioral observations of the institutionalized adults with dementia during routine activity situations at Seven Lakes Memory Care and Hearts and Horses Therapeutic Riding Center for eight weeks, four hours each day. Semi-structured interviews with five key informants from both study sites along with field notes were also gathered. First, I analyzed both data sets separately; for the quantitative data, I used nonparametric statistical testing and descriptive statistics and for the qualitative data, I employed a basic qualitative description approach. Next, I merged findings from both data sets together using a joint display method. This convergence allowed me to compare and contrast the prevalence of dementia-specific QoL indicators across routine activity situations as well as to investigate the impact of the unique activity situation, RM, on the QoL of residents with dementia. Results revealed that RM was the only activity situation that gave rise to all optimal QoL indicators captured. As suggested in this study, residents' involvement in activity situations, a unit of analysis, can provide a detailed understanding of their dementia-specific QoL. Moreover, RM may be an effective environmental intervention that allows institutionalized adults with dementia a means to return to nature. Overall, this study aligns with and further supports that nature constitutes an important basis for institutionalized adults with dementia to thrive and attain individual fulfillment.Item Embargo Transposable elements and early pregnancy in the horse(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Southerland, Sierra L., author; Coleman, Stephen, advisor; Bruemmer, Jason, committee member; Fedorka, Carleigh, committee member; Pinedo, Pablo, committee member; Chicco, Adam, committee memberUnderstanding the molecular events and physiological dynamics in the endometrium during early pregnancy is crucial for improving our understanding of reproductive outcomes in horses. Much of the work investigating early pregnancy in the horse has focused on maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP). This critical signal, which initiates the pathways and regulatory changes to help make the endometrium receptive to pregnancy, remains elusive in the horse. Transposable elements (TEs), once overlooked components of the genome, have been implicated in regulating gene expression during critical stages of embryo and placental development. The current study investigated the expression of TEs during the early phase of pregnancy post-ovulation. The hypothesis tested was that pregnancy status would impact the expression patterns of TE-derived transcripts in the endometrium around the time of maternal recognition. It was anticipated that the TE transcripts would increase in the endometrium of pregnant mares either in response to or as a part of the maternal recognition signal. RNA sequencing data was generated from endometrial biopsies at days 9, 11, and 13 in pregnant and non-pregnant mares. Bioinformatics analyses identified distinct patterns of TE expression across the duration of early pregnancy. Contrary to expectations, these findings did not reveal the accumulation of TE transcripts in the pregnant endometrium compared to the non-pregnant endometrium during early pregnancy. Instead, there was a significant decrease in the number of differentially expressed transcripts over the time points studied. These results challenge the initial assumption and suggest that the regulation of TE transcriptional activity during early pregnancy may be more complex than previously thought, highlighting the need for further research into the roles of TEs in equine reproductive physiology. An alternative explanation for the results of this analysis is that maternal recognition of pregnancy may involve the downregulation of transcripts expressed from TEs, potentially serving as a switch to prevent luteolysis and maintain pregnancy. This study underscores TEs as potential biomarkers and regulators in equine reproduction, providing insights into endometrial processes and offering avenues for improving fertility outcomes and breeding efficiency in horses.Item Open Access Using a systematic mapping review to examine equine-assisted activities and therapies for people with mental health through an occupational therapy lens(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Hardie, Rachel, author; Wood, Wendy, advisor; Hooper, Barbara, committee member; Bruemmer, Jason, committee memberEquine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) are one type of complementary and/or alternative treatment for persons with mental illness. Various approaches have been used to improve individual's self-esteem, self-efficacy, and overall health (Bizub, Joy, & Davidson, 2003; Burgon, 2003; Klontz, Bivens, Leinart, & Klontz, 2007). However, literature on the psychosocial benefits of EAAT is fragmented and often lacks rigor (Anestis, Anestis, Zawilinski, Hopkins, & Lilienfeld, 2014; Bachi, 2012). Moreover, occupational therapy is underrepresented in the literature despite its roots in mental health. Therefore, this study uses a systematic mapping review to ascertain theories, interventions, and outcomes within literature on EAAT specific to individuals with mental health concerns. Findings from the study were examined through the perspective of a conceptual framework specific to occupational therapy, the Model of Human Occupation, which consists of three subsystems: volition, habituation, and performance capacity. Specifically, this conceptual framework was used to identify how occupational therapy may address occupational performance deficits with horses and the equine environment. Current theories, interventions, and outcomes within the literature suggest horses and the equine environment may be used to improve aspects of volition, such as self-efficacy and self-esteem, habituation, and performance capacity. Occupational therapy using horses and the equine environment may be particularly well-suited for adolescents who have eating disorder or who have experienced abuse considering the high frequency at which this population is studied. In conclusion, there is great potential for occupational therapy to develop unique interventions that focus on occupational performance deficits using the equine environment.