Digital Commons Network^™

Why Do Dolphins Carry Sponges?, Janet Mann, Brooke L. Sargeant, Jana J. Watson-Capps, Quincy A. Gibson, Michael R. Heithaus, Richard C. Connor, Eric Patterson

All Faculty

Tool use is rare in wild animals, but of widespread interest because of its relationship to animal cognition, social learning and culture. Despite such attention, quantifying the costs and benefits of tool use has been difficult, largely because if tool use occurs, all population members typically exhibit the behavior. In Shark Bay, Australia, only a subset of the bottlenose dolphin population uses marine sponges as tools, providing an opportunity to assess both proximate and ultimate costs and benefits and document patterns of transmission. We compared sponge-carrying (sponger) females to non-sponge-carrying (non-sponger) females and show that spongers were more solitary, spent …

Why Do Dolphins Carry Sponges?, Janet Mann, Brooke L. Sargeant, Jana J. Watson-Capps, Quincy A. Gibson, Michael R. Heithaus, Richard C. Connor, Eric Patterson

Department of Biological Sciences

Tool use is rare in wild animals, but of widespread interest because of its relationship to animal cognition, social learning and culture. Despite such attention, quantifying the costs and benefits of tool use has been difficult, largely because if tool use occurs, all population members typically exhibit the behavior. In Shark Bay, Australia, only a subset of the bottlenose dolphin population uses marine sponges as tools, providing an opportunity to assess both proximate and ultimate costs and benefits and document patterns of transmission. We compared sponge-carrying (sponger) females to non-spongecarrying (non-sponger) females and show that spongers were more solitary, spent …

Approaches To Analyse Dynamic Microbial Communities Such As Those Seen In Cystic Fibrosis Lung, Melissa Doud, Erliang Zeng, Lisa Schneper, Giri Narasimhan, Kalai Mathee

HWCOM Faculty Publications

Microbial communities play vital roles in many aspects of our lives, although our understanding of microbial biogeography and community profiles remains unclear. The number of microbes or the diversity of the microbes, even in small environmental niches, is staggering. Current microbiological methods used to analyse these communities are limited, in that many microorganisms cannot be cultured. Even for the isolates that can be cultured, the expense of identifying them definitively is much too high to be practical. Many recent molecular technologies, combined with bioinformatic tools, are raising the bar by improving the sensitivity and reliability of microbial community analysis. These …

Current State Of Conservation Knowledge On Threatened Amphibian Species In Peru, Rudolf Von May, Alessandro Catenazzi, Ariande Angulo, Jason L. Brown, Jorge Carrillo, German Chavez, Jesus H. Cordova, Aleyda Curo, Amanda Delgado, Marco A. Enciso, Roberto Gutierrez, Edgar Lehr, Jorge L. Martinez, Margarita Medina-Muller, Alfonso Miranda, Daniel R. Neira, Jose A. Ochoa, Aaron J. Quiroz, Daniel A. Rodriguez, Lily O. Rodriguez, Antonio W. Salas, Tracie Seimon, Anton Seimon, Karen Siu-Ting, Juana Suarez, Claudia Torres, Evan Twomey

Department of Biological Sciences

This study documents the current state of conservation knowledge on threatened amphibian species in Peru. Following the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification system, we considered species in the following categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, and Near Threatened. Even though only the first three categories are regarded as threatened by IUCN, we included the fourth category to make comparisons with the list of threatened species issued by the Peruvian government. We used the Global Amphibian Assessment's database and the list issued in Peru for this comparison. We conducted separate field surveys in 17 regions of Peru to …

Comparison Of Fish Assemblages In Two Littoral Habitats In A Neotropical Morichal Stream In Venezuela, Carmen G. Montaña, Craig A. Layman, Donald C. Taphorn

Department of Biological Sciences

Morichales are lowland streams in South American savannas with riparian forest dominated by the moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa). We sampled littoral habitats from ten flooded vegetated patches (dominated by Mauritiella aculeate) and six sand banks in two months of the dry season (Feb-Mar 2005) in a stream in the savannas of Apure State, Venezuela. We collected samples that compromised 12,407 individual fishes of 107 species. Small-bodied fishes (< 100 mm), representing diverse trophic and life history strategies, were abundant. The most abundant species were in the families Characidae and Cichlidae. Fish assemblages from flooded vegetated patches differed significantly from those on adjacent sand banks. High structural complexity along vegetated shoreline habitats of morichal streams likely contributes to species richness and affects assemblage composition.

Florida Economic Outlook, Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, Daniel O. Murgo

Economics Research Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Nrf1 (Nuclear Respiratory Factor 1), Deodutta Roy, Ranjan Tamuli

Environmental Health Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Long-Run Risks Model Of Asset Pricing With Fat Tails, Zhiguang (Gerald) Wang, Prasad V. Bidarkota

Economics Research Working Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Remittances, Education, And Family Reunification: Transnational Parenthood And Children-Left-Behind, Tekla Nicholas

African & African Diaspora Studies Program Graduate Student Scholarly Presentations

No abstract provided.

Effective Knowledge Integration In Emergency Response Organizations, Arvind Gudi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural and man-made disasters have gained attention at all levels of policy-making in recent years. Emergency management tasks are inherently complex and unpredictable, and often require coordination among multiple organizations across different levels and locations. Effectively managing various knowledge areas and the organizations involved has become a critical emergency management success factor. However, there is a general lack of understanding about how to describe and assess the complex nature of emergency management tasks and how knowledge integration can help managers improve emergency management task performance. The purpose of this exploratory research was first, to understand how emergency management operations are …

Successful And Sustained Leadership: A Case Study Of A Jesuit High School President, Guillermo M. García-Tuñón, S.J.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fr. Marcelino García, S.J. has been the president of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School for 25 years. The longevity and success of his tenure is an exemplary case of effective leadership and provided significant insight into what constitutes effective school leadership. The target population for this case study consisted of the school’s 7 administrators, 90 faculty members, 10 English-speaking staff members, and 3 key informants. Data were collected using Bolman and Deal’s (1997) Leadership Orientation Survey along with the Jesuit Secondary Education Administration’s (1994) Administrative Leadership Profile Survey (ALPS). Data collected from the surveys were analyzed using the SPSS, version 10. …

Improving Concept Learning In Green Building By Addressing Students' Learning Styles And Prior Knowledge, Sreelatha Chunduri

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In green building there is a requirement for the collaboration of students from different disciplines in order to solve challenging problems. Successful collaboration depends on the establishment of a common understanding of the subject matter among those involved. To gain common understanding concept learning is critical. A concept learning process may be improved when factors affecting it are addressed. Prior knowledge and learning styles of the students may influence the way they learn concepts. This thesis is focused on studying the relationship between a concept learning process and prior knowledge and learning styles of students. An experiment was conducted by …

General Meeting Minutes 11.12.08, Student Government Association Bbc, Florida International University

SGA BBC Document Archive

No abstract provided.

Seismic Performance Of Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Polymer-Concrete Pier Frame Systems, Bin Li

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As an alternative to transverse spiral or hoop steel reinforcement, fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) were introduced to the construction industry in the 1980's. The concept of concrete-filled FRP tube (CFFT) has raised great interest amongst researchers in the last decade. FRP tube can act as a pour form, protective jacket, and shear and flexural reinforcement for concrete. However, seismic performance of CFFT bridge substructure has not yet been fully investigated. Experimental work in this study included four two-column bent tests, several component tests and coupon tests. Four 1/6-scale bridge pier frames, consisting of a control reinforced concrete frame (RCF), glass …

Modified Predator-Prey (Mpp) Algorithm For Single-And Multi-Objective Optimization Problems, Souma Chowdhury

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this work is to develop an algorithm that can solve multidisciplinary design optimization problems. In predator-prey algorithm, a relatively small number of predators and a much larger number of prey are randomly placed on a two dimensional lattice with connected ends. The predators are partially or completely biased towards one or more objectives, based on which each predator kills the weakest prey in its neighborhood. A stronger prey created through evolution replaces this prey. In case of constrained problems, the sum o f constraint violations serves as an additional objective.

Modifications of the basic predator-prey algorithm have …

Municipal Accountability : Should Regulations Similar To The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Apply To The Local Sector?, Douglas Ray Fink

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As America moved into the 21" century financial scandals associated with large publicly traded corporations brougt widespread concern about the reliability of financial reporting. In response the U.S. Congress adopted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). Undergirding SOX was the belief that improvements in the reliability of an organization's financial disclosures would lead to increased trust in the issuing organization.

While SOX is aimed at publicly traded private sector organizations, the value of adopting SOX-like practices in the public and the nonprofit sectors have been recognized. Although SOX-like auditing practices have not at the time of this research become part …

Inventing Indigenous Religious Belief And Practice Within The Spaces Of Ghanaian Pentecostalism : The Mame Wata Healing Churches Of Half Assini, Genevieve Nrenzah

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Goddesses in African religions are spirits that affect humans and demand reverence from them. They are also embodiments of ideas that African people have about women, their powers and their roles in society. This study focused on Mame Wata, a goddess in Half Assini, an Nzema-speaking coastal community in western Ghana. It sought to resolve a paradox, that is, the fact that, the goddess is at the center of a Pentecostalist tradition even though traditional Pentecostalism in Ghana views her as an agent of the devil.

The study involved fieldwork in this community of the goddess's female worshippers led by …

Melanocytes In The Developing And Adult Atrioventricular Valves Of The Murine Heart, Flavia Carneiro Brito

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Neural Crest (NC) is a multipotential group of cells that arises from the dorsal aspect of the neural tube early in development. It is well established that a group of NC cells named Cardiac Neural Crest (CNC) migrates to the heart and plays a critical role in the remodeling of the aortic arch arteries and septation of the outflow tract. In this study, using the mouse mutant Pax3^sp/sp that has CNC deficits I have identified a putative novel role for the CNC in regulating apoptosis in the atrioventricular (AV) endocardial cushion. The AV endocardial cushion undergoes remodeling to …

Measuring Effectiveness In International Financial Crime Prevention: Can We Agree On A Performance Metric?, Jayesh D’Souza

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The attempts at carrying out terrorist attacks have become more prevalent. As a result, an increasing number of countries have become particularly vigilant against the means by which terrorists raise funds to finance their draconian acts against human life and property. Among the many counter-terrorism agencies in operation, governments have set up financial intelligence units (FIUs) within their borders for the purpose of tracking down terrorists’ funds. By investigating reported suspicious transactions, FIUs attempt to weed out financial criminals who use these illegal funds to finance terrorist activity. The prominent role played by FIUs means that their performance is always …

Numerical Groundwater Flow Modeling In The Wakal River Basin, India, Himadri Biswas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing dependence on groundwater in the Wakal River basin, India, jeopardizes water supply sustainability. A numerical groundwater model was developed to better understand the aquifer system and to evaluate its potential in terms of quantity and replenishment. Potential artificial recharge areas were delineated using landscape and hydrogeologic parameters, Geographic Information System (GIS), and remote sensing.

Groundwater models are powerful tools for recharge estimation when transmissivity is known. Proper recharge must be applied to reproduce field-measured heads. The model showed that groundwater levels could decline significantly if there are two drought years in every four years that result in reduced recharge, …

More Than Roses : The Journey Toward Selfhood In Beauty, Rose Daughter, And Beast, Gricel Dominguez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the implications of selfhood in three retellings of the "Beauty and the Beast" story-Robin McKinley's Beauty and Rose Daughter, and Donna Jo Napoli's Beast-analyzing those factors that affected each protagonist's understanding of the self, how these challenged or aided them in their journey towards self-actualization, and how a sense of personal gratification represented the true reward at the end of the ordeal.

My analysis was informed by the Jungian concept of the Self as the goal of individuation, and Joseph Campbell's model of the hero's journey. As such, I found …

Extending The Theory Of Planned Behavior In The Exercise Domain: A Study Of Community College Students In An Urban Multicultural Setting, Marilyn Smith Gordon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the intention to exercise among ethnically and racially diverse community college students using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). In addition to identifying the variables associated with motivation or intention of college students to engage in physical activity, this study tested the model of the Theory of Planned Behavior, asking: Does the TPB model explain intention to exercise among a racially/ethnically diverse group of college students? The relevant variables were the TPB constructs (behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs), which combined to form a measure of intention to exercise. Structural Equation …

Elemental Analysis Of Biological Matrices By Laser Ablation High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (La-Hr-Icp-Ms) And High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (Hr-Icp-Ms), Waleska Castro

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The need for elemental analysis of biological matrices such as bone, teeth, and plant matter for sourcing purposes has emerged within the forensic and geochemical laboratories. Trace elemental analyses for the comparison of aterials such as glass by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and laser ablation ICP-MS has been shown to offer a high degree of discrimination between different manufacturing sources. Unit resolution ICP-MS instruments may suffer from some polyatomic interferences including 40Ar16O+, 40Ar16O1H+, and 40Ca16O+ that affect iron measurement at trace levels. Iron is an important element in the analysis of glass and also of interest for the …

Quantifying The Effects Of Temperature And Concentration On Variable-Density Flow In Numerical Modeling Of Groundwater Systems : Implications For Predictive Uncertainty And Data Collection, Alyssa Marie Dausman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater systems of different densities are often mathematically modeled to understand and predict environmental behavior such as seawater intrusion or submarine groundwater discharge. Additional data collection may be justified if it will cost-effectively aid in reducing the uncertainty of a model's prediction. The collection of salinity, as well as, temperature data could aid in reducing predictive uncertainty in a variable-density model. However, before numerical models can be created, rigorous testing of the modeling code needs to be completed. This research documents the benchmark testing of a new modeling code, SEAWAT Version 4. The benchmark problems include various combinations of density-dependent …

A Capability Maturity Model To Assess Supply Chain Performance, Heriberto Garcia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In an overcapacity world, where the customers can choose from many similar products to satisfy their needs, enterprises are looking for new approaches and tools that can help them not only to maintain, but also to increase their competitive edge. Innovation, flexibility, quality, and service excellence are required to, at the very least, survive the on-going transition that industry is experiencing from mass production to mass customization. In order to help these enterprises, this research develops a Supply Chain Capability Maturity Model named S(CM)2. The Supply Chain Capability Maturity Model is intended to model, analyze, and improve the supply chain …

Development Of Lead-Free Thick Film Resistor, Xudong Chen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thick film resistors (TFRs) are widely used in hybrid microelectronics. Currently most of the resistor paste products contain lead, which is potentially a major problem to the environment resulting from electronics disposal. The purpose of this study is to develop a lead-free thick film resistor that is compatible to the typical industry thick film processing and has comparable electrical properties as the lead bearing counterpart. The research started from and focused on evaluation and selection of suitable lead-free glass material, which is one of the most important ingredients in a thick film resistor. The fired resistors were characterized in terms …

I Want Out Of The Labels : How Chuck Palahniuk's Characters Challenge The Dominant Discourse, Jose Antonio Aparicio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore postmodern identity in the work of Chuck Palahniuk. The characters within Palahniuk's text Invisible Monsters realize the manner in which identity is a construct, and their response is to oppose and redefine it. In my research, I looked at how postmodern identity is defined by some of the leading critical thinkers in the field, and then I applied their thought to Palahniuk's characters. I showed how these characters come to understand the process by which society defines them, and with that realization, they oppose its totalizing definitions. The characters deconstruct the natural …

Global Factors Affecting Women's Participation In Leadership, Amanda M. Bullough

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a multi-level, cross-cultural study of women in leadership conducted with both macro-society data and individual-level data aggregated to the country level. The research questions are, “What macro and micro forces are hindering or advancing women into business or political leadership?” “How do these forces impact the level of women’s involvement in business and political leadership in a particular country?” Data was collected from 10 secondary sources, available for 213 countries, and includes about 300 variables for business leadership (N=115) and political leadership (N=181). To date, most women in leadership research has been Western- or US- based, and …

Hello, Clothing, Phillip Scott Cunningham

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

HELLO, CLOTHING is a collection of lyric poems about the connections between human beings, following an ekphrastic model that seeks truths about the world “second-hand”: through the language and images of other artists. A large section of the poems address the life and work of composer Morton Feldman, while many others explore the world of cinema or photography. The poems are particularly conscious of received forms. The collection takes to heart Harold Bloom’s assertion that “every poem is about another poem” and interprets this dictum as a celebration of formal structure. Whether through a traditional model such as the sonnet, …

Development Of Risk Based Treatability And Engineering Measures For Reducing Exposure To Lead Contaminated Media In The Miami Inner City, Florida, Tarla Tamia Toomer

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A major consequence of contamination at the local level’s population as it relates to environmental health and environmental engineering is childhood lead poisoning. Environmental contamination is one of the pressing environmental concerns facing the world today. Current approaches often focus on large contaminated industrial size sites that are designated by regulatory agencies for site remediation. Prior to this study, there were no known published studies conducted at the local and smaller scale, such as neighborhoods, where often much of the contamination is present to remediate. An environmental health study of local lead-poisoning data in Liberty City, Little Haiti and eastern …