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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Ecological And Organic Life Safety Concerns Of Hfo-1234yf, Alberni V. Ruiz Aug 2017

Ecological And Organic Life Safety Concerns Of Hfo-1234yf, Alberni V. Ruiz

STAR Program Research Presentations

While at NOAA my research was directed by the inquiry of whether or not HFO-1234yf, a new compound being introduced into coolant system and replacing greenhouse gases HFC, is harmful to organic life. Using the computer program Matlab I was able to develop figures that represented the concentration of HFO-1234yf (HFO) in 12 different tower locations throughout the country. Comparing and contrasting concentrations of this HFO compound at each site led me to the question the possible harmful side effects this compound could bring to organic life due to the fact that concentration levels are increasing, with one factor being …


Automated Detection Of Deep-Sea Animals, Dallas J. Hollis, Duane Edgington, Danelle Cline Jul 2016

Automated Detection Of Deep-Sea Animals, Dallas J. Hollis, Duane Edgington, Danelle Cline

STAR Program Research Presentations

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute routinely deploys remotely operated underwater vehicles equipped with high definition cameras for use in scientific studies. Utilizing a video collection of over 22,000 hours and the Video Annotation and Reference System, we have set out to automate the detection and classification of deep-sea animals. This paper serves to explore the pitfalls of automation and suggest possible solutions to automated detection in diverse ecosystems with varying field conditions. Detection was tested using a saliency-based neuromorphic selective attention algorithm. The animals that were not detected were then used to tune saliency parameters. Once objects are detected, …


Moss Composition Affects Seedling Density Of Western Hemlock And Sitka Spruce, Katy E. Maleta Ms. Jan 2016

Moss Composition Affects Seedling Density Of Western Hemlock And Sitka Spruce, Katy E. Maleta Ms.

Summer Research

Nurse logs at the Hoh National Forest represent a clear understanding of how important habitat heterogeneity is in old growth forests. Looking down a nurse log, you will find various moss species and debris along with seedlings being assisted in germination. By observation, there is an effect of moss composition on seedling density. We found that when moss depth increase, seedling density decreases. We also found that where the moss was the most thick, the moss species that was present was Hylocomium Splendens (Step Moss). We also found that when moss depth decreased, seedling density increased and the moss species …


Tree Inventory Analysis: A Comparison Of Park Species Richness To The Surrounding Neighborhoods In Rock Island, Illinois, Kevin Root Jan 2015

Tree Inventory Analysis: A Comparison Of Park Species Richness To The Surrounding Neighborhoods In Rock Island, Illinois, Kevin Root

Urban Forest Project

Urban forests (parks, right-of-way trees, yards, and remnant woodlots and semi-natural areas) are critical sources such diversity in urban areas. Diversity of urban forest is often related to the socioeconomic status, housing age, and elevation of the neighborhood. With the invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in the last decade, conserving and enhancing the diversity of urban forests has become an important tool in increasing the resilience of such ecosystems to such devastating invasion. We assessed the diversity and composition of the forests of 17 parks in Rock Island, Illinois and examined the relationship between such diversity and the …


Brown Algal Diversity In Bermuda Revealed Using Molecular Tools, Alyssa L. Rogers May 2013

Brown Algal Diversity In Bermuda Revealed Using Molecular Tools, Alyssa L. Rogers

Senior Honors Projects

For nearly 60 years there has been very little investigation of the marine algal flora in Bermuda, which is an ideal location for a biodiversity assessment due to its size and location. Residing approximately 1000km off the coast of North Carolina, Bermuda is influenced by the cool water from the north during winter and by the warm water eddies that spin off the Gulf Stream for the much of the other seasons. The Bermuda Seaweed Project aims to extensively survey the marine algal flora in Bermuda and generate morphological and molecular data for all three major groups of macroalgae present. …