Digital Commons Network^™

Mitochondrial Metabolism In Blood More Reliably Predicts Whole-Animal Energy Needs Compared To Other Tissues, Stefania Casagrande, Maciej Dzialo, Lisa Trost, Kasja Malkoc, Edyta T. Sadowska, Michaela Hau, Barbara J. Pierce, Scott R. Mcwilliams, Ulf Bauchinger

Biology Faculty Publications

Understanding energy metabolism in free-ranging animals is crucial for ecological studies. In birds, red blood cells (RBCs) offer a minimally invasive method to estimate metabolic rate (MR). In this study with European starlings Sturnus vulgaris, we examined how RBC oxygen consumption relates to oxygen use in key tissues (brain, liver, heart, and pectoral muscle) and versus the whole-organism measured at basal levels. The pectoral muscle accounted for 34-42% of organismal MR, while the heart and liver, despite their high mass-specific metabolic rate, each contributed 2.5-3.0% to organismal MR. Despite its low contribution to organismal MR (0.03-0.04%), RBC MR best predicted …

Human Dimensions Of Woody Encroachment Management In Nebraska, Emily Rowen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Woody plant encroachment (WPE) is a social-ecological problem that will challenge conservation professionals and agricultural producers to adapt their management strategies. This research first examined WPE from the perspective of individual conservation professionals through an online survey. Conservation professionals’ attitudes about adaptation to vegetation transitions, such as WPE, were of interest because these attitudes are one measure of how prepared this group is to respond to WPE. Hypothesized predictors of adaptation attitude were tested through linear regression modeling. These predictors included ecological change, observation of WPE, or risk perception. It was found that risk perception was the strongest predictor of …

Correlations Between Educational Struggle, Toxic Sites By School District And Demographic Variables, With Geographical Information System Projections, Junu Shrestha, Raihan K. Khan, Shane Mcclintock, John Degroote, Catherine L. Zeman

Faculty Publications

This correlational study associated data on children enrolled in individualized educational plans in their K-12 schools (IEP) and an algorithm-calculated score of neurotoxins at contaminated sites located in each school district. The study also mapped and projected the correlations using Geographical Information System (GIS) technology. These data were populated in ArcMap 10.5 (a GIS software) for generating maps and data to conduct geospatial analysis. A total of 1 Superfund site and 39 CERCLA sites were identified as contaminated sites for this analysis. The majority of contaminants were heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium. The mean toxic score …

The Influence Of Salinity And Vegetation Texture On The Ecological Roles Of Insects In Tidal Marshes In Louisiana, Benjamin G. Aker, Claudia Husseneder, Lane D. Foil

Faculty Publications

Tidal marsh insect communities are influenced by both salinity and aspects of vegetation texture (vegetation diversity, plant density, and architectural structure). These factors affect the abundances and intra- and interguild interactions of these insects and should result in broad-scale variation in the distribution and ecological functioning of tidal marsh insect communities along these gradients. However, this assumption has not been tested within Gulf Coast marshes, and the insect communities and their ecological roles are not well known. This study identifies how family-level insect biodiversity varies by salinity and which factors are most important in affecting the distribution of insect functional …

Using Ethnohistoric Data To Correct Historical Ecological Baselines: Urbanization And The Collapse Of Forage Fish In Vancouver, Jesse Morin, Blake Evans, Meaghan Efford

Institute Publications

Indigenous people and government bodies are often at odds when it comes to acceptable levels of impacts to local ecology that are based on two very different historical and cultural perspectives. For Coast Salish peoples such as Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN), who have lived around the Salish Sea for thousands of years, recent historical fisheries records are a pale reflection of the former abundance harvested by their ancestors. For modern ecologists and fisheries scientists, recent fisheries records (post colonization) provide historic baseline and objectives for current management. While this latter perspective is pervasive among regulators, we argue that historical and ongoing …

Can The Vegetation Structure And Composition In Urban Green Spaces Determine Diversity Of Green Lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)?, Jose I. Martinez, Raiza J. Castillo, Adrián Ardila-Camacho, Charles V. Covell, José Isabel López-Arroyo, Francisco Javier Nava-Guízar

Insecta Mundi

Green spaces represent the only natural areas in several cities around the world, providing good shelters for the local fauna. Based on this premise, many ecological studies have been conducted focused on these areas. Most of these works are about insects, particularly butterflies and beetles. Our study is centered on a different group: green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). These insects exhibit a similar feeding behavior to some other groups, such as beetles. We estimated diversity, richness, distribution, abundance and similarity employing two methods: sweep netting and suction trapping. Also, oviposition hosts were identified in 20 different green spaces. Approximately 740 specimens …

People, Place, And Planet: Global Review Of Use-Inspired Research On Water-Related Ecosystem Services In Urban Wetlands, Jason Sauer, Heejun Chang

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

With climate change and urbanization, city planners and developers have increasing interest and practice in constructing, restoring, or incorporating wetlands as forms of green infrastructure to maintain water-related ecosystem services (WES). We reviewed studies that valued in functional or monetary units the water regulation and purification services of urban wetlands around the globe. We used the adaptive management cycle (AMC) as a heuristic to determine the step that a study would represent in the AMC, the connections between the cycle steps that were used or considered, and the stakeholders involved. Additionally, we identified the social, ecological, and/or technological dimension(s) of …

In Situ Water Sensing Systems: Research On Advancements In Environmental Monitoring, Abigail Seibel

Honors Theses

In this work, two sensing systems were researched in order to improve in situ environmental monitoring. The first is a pH and Total Alkalinity sensor used to determine these characteristics of sea water. I explored the facets of this sensor over a 7-week internship with Dr. Ellen Briggs in her lab in summer of 2023. The second is a more holistic sensing system that reads temperature, turbidity, and pressure used for studying environmental characteristics of Alaskan bever ponds. Both systems were developed in close collaboration with scientists who are collecting data to better understand the impacts of climate change. Better …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Chatgpt In Navigating The Spanish Medical Residency Entrance Examination (Mir): Promising Horizons For Ai In Clinical Medicine., Francisco Guillen-Grima, Sara Guillen-Aguinaga, Laura Guillen-Aguinaga, Rosa Alas-Brun, Luc Onambele, Wilfrido Ortega, Rocio Montejo, Enrique Aguinaga-Ontoso, Paul Barach, Ines Aguinaga-Ontoso

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

UNLABELLED: The rapid progress in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing has led to increasingly sophisticated large language models (LLMs) for use in healthcare. This study assesses the performance of two LLMs, the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models, in passing the MIR medical examination for access to medical specialist training in Spain. Our objectives included gauging the model's overall performance, analyzing discrepancies across different medical specialties, discerning between theoretical and practical questions, estimating error proportions, and assessing the hypothetical severity of errors committed by a physician.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied the 2022 Spanish MIR examination results after excluding …

Tcwp Newsletter No. 372, Tennessee Citizens For Wilderness Planning

Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Ecological Change And Livestock Governance In A Peruvian National Park, Kenneth R. Young, Eyner Alata, Rodney Chimner, Randall B. Boone, Gillian Bowser, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Beatriz Fuentealba, Jessica Gilbert, Javier A. Ñaupari, Molly H. Polk, Sigrid Resh, Cecilia Turin, Melody Zarria-Samanamud

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

While the grazing of livestock has occurred for millennia in the Andes, current sustainability debates center on concerns with co-managing climate change and pastoralism. These discussions have special resonance in places protected by the state for biodiversity, scenery, and sustainable and traditional land uses, such as those found in protected areas and biosphere reserves. For this article, we integrate data from a social-ecological research project on the land use systems that affect high-elevation ecosystems in Peru’s Huascarán National Park, with special emphasis on the wetlands. We used land cover and land use data and insights from interactions with pastoralists to …

First Approximation Of Population Distributions On The International Space Station, Justin St. P. Walsh, Rao Hamza Ali, Alice C. Gorman, Amir Kanan Kashefi

Art Faculty Articles and Research

This paper presents an analysis of data derived from thousands of publicly available photographs showing life on the International Space Station (ISS) between 2000 and 2020. Our analysis uses crew and locational information from the photographs’ metadata to identify the distribution of different population groups—by gender, nationality, and space agency affiliation—across modules of the ISS, for the first time. Given the significance of the ISS as the most intensively inhabited space habitat to date, an international cooperative initiative involving 26 countries and five space agencies, and one of the most expensive building projects ever undertaken by humans, developing an understanding …

Exploring Transfer Learning In Chest Radiographic Images Within The Interplay Between Covid-19 And Diabetes, Muhammad Shoaib, Nasir Sayed, Babar Shah, Tariq Hussain, Ahmad Ali Alzubi, Sufian Ahmad Alzubi, Farman Ali

All Works

The intricate relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes has garnered increasing attention within the medical community. Emerging evidence suggests that individuals with diabetes may experience heightened vulnerability to COVID-19 and, in some cases, develop diabetes as a post-complication following the viral infection. Additionally, it has been observed that patients taking cough medicine containing steroids may face an elevated risk of developing diabetes, further underscoring the complex interplay between these health factors. Based on previous research, we implemented deep-learning models to diagnose the infection via chest x-ray images in coronavirus patients. Three Thousand (3000) x-rays of the chest are collected through freely …

Mesophotic Coral Bleaching Associated With Changes In Thermocline Depth, Clara Diaz, Nicola L. Foster, Martin J. Attrill, Adam Bolton, Peter Ganderton, Kerry L. Howell, Edward Robinson, Phil Hosegood

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

As global temperatures continue to rise, shallow coral reef bleaching has become more intense and widespread. Mesophotic coral ecosystems (30–150 m) reside in deeper, cooler, water and were thought to offer a refuge to shallow-water reefs. Data now show that mesophotic coral ecosystems instead have limited connectivity with shallow corals but host diverse endemic communities. Given their extensive distribution and high biodiversity, understanding their susceptibility to warming oceans is imperative. In this multidisciplinary study we show evidence of coral bleaching at 90 m in the Indian Ocean, despite the absence of shallow-water bleaching. The bleaching was associated with sustained thermocline …

An Exploration Of Defensive Mediatization Strategies And Motherhood Media Decision-Making, Emily B. Young

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study focused on media-related decision-making in motherhood, with mediatization theory serving as a framework for the research. The study began with an overview of recent changes to motherhood and family media use. The purpose of this study was to explore the problem of how mothers make decisions about their children’s media use. After providing a basic overview of the changes to motherhood and family media use, as well as establishing the purpose and problem for the study, the literature on relevant topics for this study was discussed. Primarily, the literature review focused on mediatization theory. Next, the survey …

D-Shaped Nematode Eggs In The Feces Of Rangifer Tarandus: A Story In Pictures, Olga A. Loginova

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

D-shaped nematode eggs in the feces of Rangifer tarandus are expected to be oxyurid nematodes (Nemata: Oxyurida) of the genus Skrjabinema. The species S. tarandi is considered species-specific for this host. There is no consensus regarding the cross-infection of reindeer and sheep with S. ovis and S. tarandi. The drawings proposed by descriptors complicate differential diagnostics. Micrographs of S. tarandi eggs obtained via light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy as well as photographs of S. ovis eggs and drawings made on their basis are proposed to confidently distinguish between representatives of these two species, taking into account morphometric data. Thus, …

Washington Conservation Corps Intern, Augie D. Alexander

College of the Environment Internship Reports

My crew was based out of Mt. Vernon, WA and we spent most of our time working in Skagit county. Including me, there were 5 members of the crew and a supervisor. A typical day would involve meeting in Mt. Vernon at 7am, piling in the work truck, and heading off to wherever our sponsor for the week needed us. There were also opportunities to be a part of what was called a “spike”, either a 4 or 8 day backcountry trip that usually involves trail maintenance. Throughout the summer I got the opportunity to be on 2 different “spikes”. …

Socio-Economic Factors And Its Influence On The Association Between Temperature And Dengue Incidence In 61 Provinces Of The Philippines, 2010–2019, Xerxes Seposo, Sary Valenzuela, Geminn Louis Apostol

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Publications

Background

Temperature has a significant impact on dengue incidence, however, changes on the temperature-dengue relationship across axes of socio-economic vulnerability is not well described. This study sought to determine the association between dengue and temperature in multiple locations in the Philippines and explore the effect modification by socio-economic factors.

Method

Nationwide dengue cases per province from 2010 to 2019 and data on temperature were obtained from the Philippines’ Department of Health–Epidemiological Bureau and ERA5-land, respectively. A generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) with a distributed lag non-linear model was utilized to examine the association between temperature and dengue inci-dence. We further …

Bryophyte (Sl) Growth And Environmental Factors Along An Altitudinal Gradient On Cerro Gaital, El Valle, Coclé, Panamá, Julian Grace-Martin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research on bryophytes (SL) in the tropics has been lacking compared with the high number of species found there and the potential benefit of bryophytes (SL) as indicators of pollutants and other forms of human disturbance. This study investigated whether or not bryophyte (SL) growth patterns showed relation when compared with environmental factors on the mountain Cerro Gaital in El Valley, Panamá. Whether or not bryophytes (SL) are present, extent of the area covered by their growth, and height of their growth are all aspects of bryophyte (SL) growth that were used. In this study, these three aspects are compared …

Analyzing Human - Nonhuman Primate Conflict Mitigation Techniques In Mto Wa Mbu, Northern Tanzania, Lily Adams

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Human – non-human primate conflict is particularly crucial due to primates’ high capacity to live among human populations. The study to analyze Human - Nonhuman Primate Conflict Mitigation Techniques, was carried in November 2023 at Mto wa Mbu, Northern Tanzania. To analyze techniques currently being used to mitigate human – non-human primate conflict, this study collected data through semi-structured interviews. Over 87% (n=35) of respondents used multiple mitigation techniques simultaneously. 80% of respondents (n=32) reported using projectiles to ward off foraging primates, 75% of respondents (n=30) reported using loud noises (made either by the voice/body or by manipulating noisemakers), 67.5% …

Examination Of Disparities In Prehospital Encounters For Pediatric Asthma Exacerbations, Lauren Riney, Sam Palmer, Erik Finlay, Andrew Bertrand, Shannon Burcham, Phyllis Hendry, Manish Shah, Kathryn Kothari, David W Ashby, Daniel Ostermayer, Olga Semenova, Benjamin N Abo, Benjamin Abes, Nichole Shimko, Emily Myers, Marshall Frank, Tim Turner, Mac Kemp, Kim Landry, Greg Roland, Jennifer N Fishe

Student and Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: There are disparities in multiple aspects of pediatric asthma care; however, prehospital care disparities are largely undescribed. This study's objective was to examine racial and geographic disparities in emergency medical services (EMS) medication administration to pediatric patients with asthma.

METHODS: This is a substudy of the Early Administration of Steroids in the Ambulance Setting: An Observational Design Trial, which includes data from pediatric asthma patients ages 2-18 years. We examined rates of EMS administration of systemic corticosteroids and inhaled bronchodilators by patient race. We geocoded EMS scene addresses, characterized the locations' neighborhood-based conditions and resources relevant to children using …

Effect Of Room Size, Shape, Ac Placement, And Air Leakage On Indoor Airborne Viral Transmission, K. Choudhary, K. A. Krishnaprasad, ‪Nadim Zgheib, M. Y. Ha, S. Balachandar

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Highlights

• Statistical overloading is used to obtain spatio-temporal pathogen concentration.

• Symmetrically placed AC limits pathogen propagation over long distances.

• Well-mixed model captures room-averaged concentration for any shape and AC location.

• The pathogens level of mixing is reduced when AC is symmetrically positioned.

• Air leakage has insignificant impact on indoor pathogen distribution.

Abstract

We conducted Euler–Lagrange Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes simulations with statistical overloading to investigate the effect of room shape, air-condition (AC) location, and the presence of an open window on indoor airborne viral transmission, particularly as it relates to the spatio-temporal distribution of viral-laden droplet nuclei. Two room geometries were …

Machine Learning In Marine Ecology: An Overview Of Techniques And Applications, Peter Rubbens, Stephanie Brodie, Tristan Cordier, D Destro Barcellos, Paul Devos, Jose A. Fernandes-Salvador, Jennifer I. Fincham, Alessandra Gomes, Nils Olav Handegard, Kerry Howell, Cédric Jamet, Kyrre Heldal Kartveit, Hassan Moustahfid, Clea Parcerisas, Dimitris Politikos, Raphaëlle Sauzède, Maria Sokolova, Laura Uusitalo, L Van Den Bulcke, Atm Van Helmond, Jordan T. Watson, Heather Welch, Oscar Beltran-Perez, Samuel Chaffron, David S. Greenberg, Bernhard Kühn, Rainer Kiko, Madiop Lo, Rubens M. Lopes, Klas Ove Möller, William Michaels, Ahmet Pala, Jean Baptiste Romagnan, Pia Schuchert, Vahid Seydi, Sebastian Villasante, Ketil Malde, Jean Olivier Irisson

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Machine learning covers a large set of algorithms that can be trained to identify patterns in data. Thanks to the increase in the amount of data and computing power available, it has become pervasive across scientific disciplines. We first highlight why machine learning is needed in marine ecology. Then we provide a quick primer on machine learning techniques and vocabulary. We built a database of ∼1000 publications that implement such techniques to analyse marine ecology data. For various data types (images, optical spectra, acoustics, omics, geolocations, biogeochemical profiles, and satellite imagery), we present a historical perspective on applications that proved …

Social Determinants Of Health Impacting Access To Renal Dialysis For Racial/Ethnic Minorities, Joseph L. Mercen, Kiely Curran, Markeeta T. Belmar, Jaron Sanchez, Ibrahim Hasan, Sahib Kalra, Parth M. Raina, Sahil Patel, Dania Arrechavaleta, Vincent Lee, Paula Anderson

HPD Articles

Although widespread, the burden of disease presented by chronic kidney disease (CKD) is not equally distributed among all demographics. Examining the social determinants of health (SDOH) that relate to barriers to renal dialysis care in CKD can help to prevent future disparities. There has not been a study addressing the social factors that create barriers to care for ethnic minority patients with CKD. The aim of this scoping review is to address the SDOH that affects access to renal dialysis for ethnic minority patients in the United States. This study was based on the protocol published by the Joanna Briggs …

An Exploratory Study On The Association Between Community Resilience And Disaster Preparedness In The Rio Grande Valley, Dean Kyne

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

(1) Background: Severe weather events have impacted over 100 million Americans in the past two years, highlighting the importance of individual disaster preparedness in building community resilience. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing individuals’ perceived disaster resiliency and preparedness in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

(2) Methods: Data were collected from 846 respondents using the Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART) Assessment Survey instrument. The study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the association between disaster preparedness and community resilience.

(3) Results: The findings of the study revealed a significant association between disaster preparedness and perceived community resilience. …

Faculty Achievements, September 2023, Otterbein University

Faculty Achievement Reports

No abstract provided.

Tcwp Newsletter No. 371, Tennessee Citizens For Wilderness Planning

Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Environmental Cellular Stress Response: The Intertidal As A Multistressor Model, Michael Collins, Melody S. Clark, Manuela Truebano

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The wild poses a multifaceted challenge to the maintenance of cellular function. Therefore, a multistressor approach is essential to predict the cellular mechanisms which promote homeostasis and underpin whole-organism tolerance. The intertidal zone is particularly dynamic, and thus, its inhabitants provide excellent models to assess mechanisms underpinning multistressor tolerance. Here, we critically review our current understanding of the regulation of the cellular stress response (CSR) under multiple abiotic stressors in intertidal organisms and consider to what extent a multistressor approach brings us closer to understanding responses in the wild. The function of the CSR has been well documented in laboratory …

Identifying Sources Of Antibiotic Resistance Genes In The Environment Using The Microbial Find, Inform, And Test Framework, Corinne Wiesner-Friedman, Rachelle E. Beattie, Jill R. Stewart, Krassimira R. Hristova, Marc L. Serre

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing public health concern for humans, animals, and the environment. However, the contributions of spatially distributed sources of AMR in the environment are not well defined.

Methods: To identify the sources of environmental AMR, the novel microbial Find, Inform, and Test (FIT) model was applied to a panel of five antibiotic resistance-associated genes (ARGs), namely, erm(B), tet(W), qnrA, sul1, and intI1, quantified from riverbed sediment and surface water from a mixed-use region.

Results: A one standard deviation increase in the modeled contributions of elevated AMR from bovine sources or land-applied waste sources [land application …

Bison Alter The Northern Yellowstone Ecosystem By Breaking Aspen Saplings, Luke E. Painter, Robert L. Beschta, William J. Ripple

Aspen Bibliography

The American bison (Bison bison) is a species that strongly interacts with its environment, yet the effects of this large herbivore on quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) have received little study. We documented bison breaking the stems of aspen saplings (young aspen > 2 m tall and ≤ 5 cm in diameter at breast height) and examined the extent of this effect in northern Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Low densities of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis) after about 2004 created conditions conducive for new aspen recruitment in YNP's northern ungulate winter range (northern range). We sampled …