Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental Dna Identifies Coastal Plant Community Shift 1,000 Years Ago In Torrens Island, South Australia, Nicole R. Foster, Alice R. Jones, Oscar Serrano, Anna Lafratta, Paul S. Lavery, Kor-Jent Van Dijk, Ed Biffin, Bronwyn M. Gillanders, Jennifer Young, Pere Masque, Patricia S. Gadd, Geraldine E. Jacobsen, Atun Zawadzki, Andria Greene, Michelle Waycott

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Anthropogenic activities are causing detrimental changes to coastal plants– namely seagrass, mangrove, and tidal marshes. Looking beyond recent times to past vegetation dynamics is critical to assess the response and resilience of an environment to change. Here, we develop a high-resolution multi-proxy approach, providing a new evidence base to decipher long-term change in coastal plant communities. Combining targeted environmental DNA analysis with chemical analysis of soils, we reconstructed 4,000 years of change at a temperate wetland on Torrens Island South Australia and identified an ecosystem shift that occurred ~ 1000 years ago. What was once a subtidal seagrass system shifted …

Restoring, Protecting, And Expanding Abortion Access In The United States: Seeking Consensus Through The Delphi Method, Sarah Pickering

Dissertations and Theses

Background: The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision exacerbated inequitable access to abortion in the US. Agreement is needed on which strategies should be prioritized to restore, protect, and expand abortion access.

Methods: We convened a multidisciplinary, geographically diverse Delphi panel of clinical, research, policy, legal, and advocacy experts to reach consensus (i.e., agreement >67%) on recommended actions. Using feedback from three rounds of surveys, and input from a select expert advisory group (N=10), we iteratively refined the statements and recommendations.

Results: The panel (N=85) developed 25 consensus statements and 32 recommendations for action by advocates, funders, …

Application Of Methods To Population-Based Surveys To Reduce Bias In Estimates Of Sars-Cov-2 Infection Burden In The Population, Saba Qasmieh

Dissertations and Theses

BACKGROUND: Population-based surveys designed to randomly sample the population can be a critical and complementary tool to traditional surveillance approaches. Probability-based surveys enable the measurement of SARS-CoV-2 testing and outcomes that avoid issues around self-selection into testing, making them an effective approach to address ascertainment bias in passive surveillance. For surveys to be a useful and reliable surveillance tool for understanding the burden and distribution of SARS-CoV-2 infection, they need to capture prevalence estimates that are both valid and reliable to be optimally informative for public health measures. The dissertation was undertaken to address three main gaps that have implications …

The Stability Of Epigenetic Variants That Can Act As Loci Causing Phenotypic Change, Raul Faburrieta

Biology Theses

Epigenetic variations are a possible source of heritable phenotypic variation. In this study I focus on phenotypic alterations seen in epigenetic Recombinant Inbred Lines (epiRILs) of Arabidopsis thaliana. These epiRILs allow me to study the effects differentially methylated regions (DMRs) have on phenotypic variance. In a study performed in 2014 by Cortijo et al., they found that DMR’s affect flowering time and root length when grown under greenhouse conditions. In this study, I replicated the Cortijo et al. (2014) study, with some changes, to see whether the same significant eQTL regions are found. I found that, some of the eQTLs …

Eco-Assessment Of Phytoplankton Composition In Relation To Environmental Conditions Of Saltwater And Freshwater Lakes In The Konya Closed Basin (Türkiye), Abuzer Çelekli, Ömer Lekesiz, Tolga Çetin

Turkish Journal of Botany

Great importance is given to maintaining lentic ecosystems, threatened by human-induced consequences worldwide. The present study hypothesized to assess differences in species-environment relationships and ecological status of 15 lakes (saline water systems, high-altitude freshwater lakes, and other freshwater lakes) in the Konya Closed River Basin using phytoplankton indices throughout wet and dry periods. Results of canonical correspondence analysis separated saline and freshwater (high-altitude) habitats, which were characterized by different phytoplankton species. Total phosphorus (TP), electrical conductivity (EC), nickel-Ni, and altitude were the most influential environmental factors affecting phytoplankton dispersal in these ecosystems. Saline lakes were under pressure of high EC, …

An Examination Of The Ways In Which Transdisciplinary Research Could Be Used To Incentivize Local Communities To Combat The Illegal Wildlife Trade, Jessica Rios

FIU Undergraduate Research Journal

The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is currently one of the most critical conservation concerns, given its direct impact on biodiversity loss, endangering local ecosystems, and adding pressure to all species at a point when they face dangers like deforestation and mass extinctions. This industry also significantly impacts local communities, many of which are compelled to engage in it as a result of their precarious socioeconomic conditions. While effective countermeasures to this global issue have been identified, successful implementation of these countermeasures require diverse disciplines and collaborators. This paper argues that a transdisciplinary approach that converges knowledge and skills from social …

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Historical Redlining On Neurosurgeon Distribution And Reimbursement In Modern Neighborhoods, Jean-Luc K. Kabangu, John Dugan, Benson Joseph, Amanda Hernandez, Takara R. Newsome-Cuby, Danny Fowler, Momodou G. Bah, Lane Fry, Sonia V. Eden

Student Publications

Background: This study examines the lasting impact of historical redlining on contemporary neurosurgical care access, highlighting the need for equitable healthcare in historically marginalized communities.

Objective: To investigate how redlining affects neurosurgeon distribution and reimbursement in U.S. neighborhoods, analyzing implications for healthcare access.

Methods: An observational study was conducted using data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) National File, Home Owner’s Loan Corporation (HOLC) neighborhood grades, and demographic data to evaluate neurosurgical representation across 91 U.S. cities, categorized by HOLC Grades (A, B, C, D) and gentrification status.

Results: Of the 257 neighborhoods, Grade A, B, C, …

Mortality Of Patients Hospitalized By Covid-19 In Mexico, Systematic Review, Ana Portocarrerero Granados, Lya A Castro Rodriguez, Antonio Sandoval-Cabrera, María Del Socorro Romero Figueroa

Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana

Introduction: Since the start of the pandemic, Mexico was one of the countries with the highest mortality rates from COVID 19. Objective: To determine if type 2 diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and obesity increase mortality in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who required hospitalization in Mexico. Methods: Systematic review in Pubmed MeSH, Web of Science, Lilas, Scielo, and Google Scholar with the terms MeSH COVID-19, SARS-COV2, Coronavirus, and Mexico for the years 2020 and 2021, in English or Spanish. Two reviewers selected the studies, two additional reviewers participated in the analysis of the studies. Results: Seventy three studies carried out in …

Blake’S Green Symbols Of Humanity, Society, And Spirituality, Angela J. Heagy

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

William Blake is an exemplar of Romantic poetry characterized by depictions of the occult, the divine, and human nature. Despite Blake’s reputation as a Romantic poet, many critics claim that there is not sufficient evidence to consider him a nature writer. As a result, Blake’s name is frequently omitted from ecological discussions; some scholars go so far as to claim that Blake’s poetry demonstrates a disregard for nature altogether. This article argues that an eco-critical analysis of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience reveals nature to be Blake’s continual source of inspiration. Within this collection, nature represents the struggles …

Moisture Sorption And Quality Characteristics Of Instant Rice, Anna Mays, Griffiths Atungulu

Food Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Market demand for instant rice--a processed form of rice that is cooked and dehydrated before it is sold--has risen tremendously and become a significant component of the rice industry. Compared to freshly cooked rice, the quality of instant rice (in terms of texture, color, aroma, etc.) is much lower. There exists little information regarding how instant rice’s storage conditions affect its quality. Such information may be elucidated by studying sorption isotherms which describe the storage temperature, relative humidity, and instant rice moisture relationships.

The purpose of this study was to generate moisture sorption isotherms of instant rice for temperatures and …

Classroom Technology Policies, Technology Usage, And Mind-Wandering, Halley Stecht

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Technology usage has been rapidly increasing in college classrooms since 2019. This has shown to be a challenge for educators in higher education due to the increase in off-task usage. Many educators try to combat technology usage in their classrooms through technology policies in their syllabus, in hopes of reducing off-task behaviors such as mind-wandering. The purpose of this study was twofold: first we determined whether classroom technology policies impacted students’ technology usage. Then, we investigated whether access to technology in the classroom was associated with more mind-wandering during class. Two hundred sixty-eight college students completed an online survey that …

Interpreting Geochemical Sourcing In The Northwest Great Basin: The 26wa12962 Sample Study, Tyler Alexander Reinholt

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Located in Northwest Washoe County Nevada along the California and Nevada border, 26WA12962 is an upland spring site consisting of habitation debris and several thousand pieces of debitage on the surface. The purpose of this research project is to interpret energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) results of 80 random samples of obsidian, and fine grain volcanics such as basalt and dacite from the excavations on 26WA12962 that were conducted in 2021. This thesis will investigate if there is a preference for a specific source, as well as assisting in gathering data within a lithic landscape. To accomplish this goal, I …

Click, Click, Boom: A Multi-Level Analysis Of Repeat Firearm Offending In Chattanooga, Tennessee, Katlyn Whittenburg

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Criminologists have long noted the exacerbated rates of firearm-related offending in the United States in comparison to other developed nations. There has been a renewed focus on gun crime in the wake of a recent dramatic reversal of the long-trending decrease in firearm-related violence. Explorations of the factors that contribute to firearm offending are often restricted to large metro areas like Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia—which may have limited generalizability to more common small and medium sized cities in the United States. This study attempts to address this concern through examination of the factors that contribute to firearm re-offending …

Occlusal Surface Variations In Genetically-Identified Specimens Of The Genus Apodemus (Mammalia: Rodentia) Distributed In The Northern Anatolia Region And Three Turkish Islands: Gökçeada, Marmara Island And Bozcaada, Duygu Korkmaz, Engin Selvi̇, Nuri Yi̇ği̇t, Ercüment Çolak

Turkish Journal of Zoology

A total of 134 Apodemus samples, whose genetic diagnoses had been previously conducted, were morphologically examined from 39 localities in Northern Anatolia, Thrace, Gökçeada, Bozcaada and the Marmara Island. The variation boundaries of dental variations in the distribution areas of five Apodemus species (Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus witherbyi, Apodemus sylvaticus, Apodemus uralensis, Apodemus mystacinus) included in the research were determined. The defining morphological characters of Apodemus species, which have a complex taxonomic status, and their variations according to regions were identified using samples that had undergone genetic diagnoses. It was determined whether geographical barriers such as the Marmara Sea, the Bosphorus …

Assessing Population Size And Survival Rate Of Pelophylax Bedriagae Caralitanus, In A Well-Protected Nature Park In Türkiye, Ayfer Şirin, Akın Kiraç, Gürçay Kıvanç Akyildiz, Eyup Başkale

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Estimating population trends provides valuable information for conservation biologists. Although there are many methods for estimating demographic rates, capture-mark-recapture (CMR) methods are known to be the most realistic method that can provide detailed data on individuals and populations, including the achievement of conservation goals. This study focused on determining the population trend of Pelophylax bedriagae caralitanus, Beyşehir frog using the CMR method in a protected area during the 2011 - 2019 breeding seasons. Our CMR data led to the selection of a model-considering constant survival rates, capture/recapture probabilities, and year-specific immigration/emigration patterns [Φ(··) y'(t) y''(t) p(··) = c(··) N(t)]-as the …

Personal Green Spaces During The Pandemic - Perceptions Towards Urban Home Gardens During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Bengaluru, India, Varsha Bhaskaran, Charles Nilon

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes in a short span of time to people’s life and living. Being in a lockdown, especially in urban areas, has led to changes in the way people perceive nature around them and within their homes. Research on this topic in the cities of the global south has been limited with even fewer studies in Indian cities. To begin to address this gap, in this exploratory study we interviewed 30 residents of Bengaluru, India to understand how they perceived the changes they experienced in their home gardens and in the nature around their …

Consequences Of The Megafauna Extinction: Changes In Food Web Networks On The Edwards Plateau Across The Pleistocene-Holocene Transition, Quentin A. Smith Jr.

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We are experiencing biodiversity loss due to climate change and human impacts, which is not only harmful to the environment but can also alter the composition of communities and interactions among species. The late Pleistocene experienced a loss of large-bodied mammals which resulted in significant changes in community structure due to changes in body size, diet, and species associations. The impact of these changes on species interactions and community structure across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition remains poorly understood. Using a robust data set of species composition, stable isotopes, body size, and climate variables, we constructed and compared ecological networks of mammal …

Trophic Ecology Of Black Swallowers (Scombriformes: Chiasmodontidae: Chiasmodon) In The Deep-Pelagic Gulf Of Mexico, Travis J. Kirk

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The ecology of deep-pelagic predatory fishes remains poorly understood despite their importance as ecosystem regulators and energy transfer vectors. This study investigated the trophic ecology of three species of the predatory fish genus Chiasmodon (“black swallowers”) in the Gulf of Mexico, a region that serves as an analog for the global low-latitude deep pelagial, the world’s largest cumulative ecosystem. Foraging habits (e.g., selectivity, chronology, daily ration) of an “advanced” evolutionary fish in a system that is otherwise dominated by basal fish taxa, were quantitatively estimated via high-resolution stomach content analysis. A quantitative dataset of both predator and prey abundance, the …

Cultivating Excellence: A Literature Review On Harnessing The Power Of The Gut Microbiome For Athletic Performance, Maya Katharine Dean

Honors Projects

The interplay between our gut microbiome and health is immense. This literature review analyzes the current research assessing the interplay between gut microbiome and athletic performance. Knowing how to improve gut microbial diversity via nutrition and supplementation can take athletic performance to the next level; namely improvements in immune, mental, and physical health.

Family Medicine’S Role In Addressing The Intersections Of Redlining And Climate Change, Daryl O. Traylor, Eboni E. Anderson, Brianna Clark, Alex M. Smith, Cooper K. Allenbrand

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

Redlining, the practice of discriminating against specific neighborhoods based on race and socioeconomic status, leads to persistent environmental hazards and socioeconomic inequalities that have lasting adverse health effects on their populations. Health disparities are further exacerbated through the concentration of environmental hazards, as well as the escalating impact of climate change, which poses an increased risk of respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease, mental health issues, heat-related illness, infectious diseases, food insecurity, and socioeconomic difficulties in redline neighborhoods.

This paper examines the interplay of redlining, climate change, and health disparities, with an emphasis on the enduring consequences for these marginalized communities. Through …

Is Urban Farming The Bee's Knees? A Socio-Ecological Study On The Effect Of Pollinator Recruitment Methods On Pollinator Communities In Urban Agriculture.

Stander Symposium Projects

Pollinators are essential to agriculture and with the increase in urban farming, there is great concern regarding insect pollinators in urban spaces. While there has been extensive literature looking at bee abundance and biodiversity in urban environments, there has been little research studying the efficacy of currently utilized pollinator recruitment practices in urban agricultural systems. In Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area 18 urban agricultural sites have been sampled for insect pollinator activity utilizing timed observations, pan traps, and hand netting. In addition to traditional methods of looking at pollinator activity, an important component of this research includes a sociological …

Prevalence Of Ticks And Tick-Borne Pathogens In Mined Land Areas Of Southeast Kansas, Brayden Letterman

Oral Presentations

Ticks serve as vectors for many disease-causing pathogens, particularly bacterial and rickettsial pathogens. Diseases such as Lyme, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Rickettsiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Tularemia can result after bitten by ticks. These tick-borne diseases are more common in the Great Plains region than is recognized. The present study aimed to conduct a three-year long surveillance on various tick species in the mined land area in Cherokee County (KS) using dry ice bait as well as flag-drag technique. Over several visits (June 2020 – Aug 2022) to the collection site, ticks were collected using both trapping methods. Detailed environmental data …

Effects Of Nitrogen On The Growth Of Hyparrhenia Diplandra, J Nkandza

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

The nitrogen effects on Hyparrhenia diplandra were studied. Plants were grown on nutrient solutions of variable concentrations in nitrogen. The supplied nitrogen increased tillering, leaf production, lamina area, total dry matter accumulation and total nitrogen accumulation in lamina. A detailed examination showed that the effect on tillering was the main cause of the differences observed in dry weights between different treatments. The nitrogen supply elongated significantly the lamina and nitrogen deficiency increased its thickness; but this was not enough to compensate the loss of weight in lower nitrogen treatment. The lamina area as well as nitrogen accumulation in the lamina …