Biology Commons^™

The Relationship Between Tort Reform And Medical Utilization, Kevin T. Kavanagh, Lindsay Calderon, Daniel Saman

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

NTRODUCTION: The hidden cost of defensive medicine has been cited by policymakers as a significant driving force in the increase of our nation's health-care costs. If this hypothesis is correct, one would expect that states with higher levels of tort reform will have a decrease in Medicare utilization and that medical utilization will decrease after tort reform is enacted.

METHODS: State-level reimbursement data for years 1999 to 2010 (the last year available) was obtained from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. Medical tort rankings for the 50 states were obtained from the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and correlated with state …

Effect Of Predator Type, Season, Brood Size, And West Nile Virus Infection On The Nest Defense Behavior Of Male And Female Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis), Kayde L. Gilbert, Gary L. Ritchison

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Parent birds may benefit by defending nests from potential predators if such behavior increases the likelihood that their young will survive. However, such behavior may also be costly, with some risk of injury or even death. Thus, because birds seek to maximize life-time reproductive success rather than current reproductive success, parents must assess the danger posed by a potential nest predator and then choose appropriate responses (Radford and Blakey 2000)

An Adaptive Landscape For Training In The Essentials Of Next Gen Sequencing Data Acquisition And Bioinformatic Analysis, Mark Farman, Pat Calie, Jerzy W. Jaromczyk, Jolanta Jaromczyk, Neil Moore, Daniel Lharris, Chris Schardl

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Recent technological advances in Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) have reduced both the cost and time required to produce Large Data Sets (LDS) of nucleotide sequences. These advances have led to an exponential proliferation of nucleotide sequence data coupled with an exacerbation of a persistent conundrum: the level of difficulty in generating LDS is rapidly decreasing, but the exposure, development and training of students and investigators in the bioinformatic approaches requisite to the proper and correct analysis of such data sets is experiencing a parallel increase in difficulty.

Cryptic Diversity And Conservation Of Gopher Frogs Across The Southeastern United States, Stephen C. Richter, Eric M. O’Neill, Schyler O. Nunziata, Andrew Rumments, Emily S. Gustin, Jeanne E. Young, Brian I. Crother

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Identifying cryptic biodiversity is fundamental to evolutionary biology and to conservation efforts. This study investigated range-wide genetic diversity of Gopher Frogs, Lithobates capito, across the southeastern United States coastal plain to determine implications for taxonomy and conservation. We collected data for two mtDNA regions in 21 populations to identify genetic structure across the geographic distribution of the species. Based on population genetic, phylogenetic, and genealogical analyses, we recovered three reciprocally monophyletic mtDNA lineages corresponding to mainland coastal plain populations and two lineages within peninsular Florida. Breakpoints for these lineages did not occur in previously identified hotspots of amphibian phylogeographic breaks …

Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia) Provide A 21st-Century Perspective On Infraspecific Ranks And Interspecific Hybrids: A Modest Proposal* For Appropriate Recognition And Usage, Aaron M. Ellison, Charles C. Davis, Pat Calie, Robert F. C. Naczi

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

The taxonomic use of infraspecific ranks (subspecies, variety, subvariety, form, and subform), and the formal recognition of interspecific hybrid taxa, is permitted by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. However, considerable confusion regarding the biological and systematic merits is caused by current practice in the use of infraspecific ranks, which obscures the meaningful variability on which natural selection operates, and by the formal recognition of those interspecific hybrids that lack the potential for inter-lineage gene flow. These issues also may have pragmatic and legal consequences, especially regarding the legal delimitation and management of threatened and endangered …

From Algae To Angiosperms – Inferring The Phylogeny Of Green Plants ( Viridiplantae ) From 360 Plastid Genomes, Brad R. Ruhfel, Matthew A. Gitzendanner, Paula S. Soltis, Douglas E. Soltis, J. Gordon Burleigh

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Background Next-generation sequencing has provided a wealth of plastid genome sequence data from an increasingly diverse set of green plants (Viridiplantae). Although these data have helped resolve the phylogeny of numerous clades (e.g., green algae, angiosperms, and gymnosperms), their utility for inferring relationships across all green plants is uncertain. Viridiplantae originated 700-1500 million years ago and may comprise as many as 500,000 species. This clade represents a major source of photosynthetic carbon and contains an immense diversity of life forms, including some of the smallest and largest eukaryotes. Here we explore the limits and challenges of inferring a comprehensive green …

Conservation Assessment And Habitat Notes For Three Rare Alabama Crayfishes: Cambarus Cracens, Cambarus Scotti, And Cambarus Unestami, Stephanie L. Kilburn, Christopher A. Taylor, Guenter Schuster

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Over seventy percent of the world's freshwater crayfish species are found within the United States, and much of this diversity is concentrated in the southeastern United States. Yet many of these species remain understudied. Of particular interest is the conservation status of these understudied taxa. We conducted fieldwork in 2011 across northeastern Alabama and northwestern Georgia to review the occurrence, habitat, and in sonic cases, local population densities of three crayfish species (Cambarus scotti, C. unestami, and C. cracens) to determine current distributions in relation to historical surveys. All three species occur in flowing small to medium-sized streams with firm …

The Use Of Surveillance And Preventative Measures For Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infections In Surgical Patients, Kevin T . Kavanagh, Lindsay Calderon, Daniel Saman, Said Abusalem

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) found that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is associated with up to 375,000 infections and 23,000 deaths in the United States. It is a major cause of surgical site infections, with a higher mortality and longer duration of care than Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. A multifactorial bundled approach is needed to control this epidemic, with single interventions unlikely to have a significant impact on attenuating MRSA infection rates.
Active surveillance has been studied in a wide range of surgical patients, including surgical intensive care and non-intensive care units; cardiac, vascular, orthopedic, obstetric, head and …