Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Enhanced Detection Of Groundwater Contamination From A Leaking Waste Disposal Site By Microbial Community Profiles, Paula J. Mouser, Donna M. Rizzo, Gregory K. Druschel, Sergio E. Morales, Nancy Hayden, Patrick O'Grady, Lori Stevens

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Groundwater biogeochemistry is adversely impacted when municipal solid waste leachate, rich in nutrients and anthropogenic compounds, percolates into the subsurface from leaking landfills. Detecting leachate contamination using statistical techniques is challenging because well strategies or analytical techniques may be insufficient for detecting low levels of groundwater contamination. We sampled profiles of the microbial community from monitoring wells surrounding a leaking landfill using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Results show in situ monitoring of bacteria, archaea, and the family Geobacteraceae improves characterization of groundwater quality. Bacterial T-RFLP profiles showed shifts correlated to known gradients of …

Conclusions About Niche Expansion In Introduced Impatiens Walleriana Populations Depend On Method Of Analysis, Lisa Mandle, Dan L. Warren, Matthias H. Hoffmann, A. Townsend Peterson, Johanna Schmitt, Eric J. Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Determining the degree to which climate niches are conserved across plant species' native and introduced ranges is valuable to developing successful strategies to limit the introduction and spread of invasive plants, and also has important ecological and evolutionary implications. Here, we test whether climate niches differ between native and introduced populations of Impatiens walleriana, globally one of the most popular horticultural species. We use approaches based on both raw climate data associated with occurrence points and ecological niche models (ENMs) developed with Maxent. We include comparisons of climate niche breadth in both geographic and environmental spaces, taking into account differences …

Nutrient Enrichment Enhances Hidden Differences In Phenotype To Drive A Cryptic Plant Invasion, Christine Holdredge, Mark D. Bertness, Eric Von Wettberg, Brian R. Silliman

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Many mechanisms of invasive species success have been elucidated, but those driving cryptic invasions of non-native genotypes remain least understood. In one of the most successful cryptic plant invasions in North America, we investigate the mechanisms underlying the displacement of native Phragmites australis by its Eurasian counterpart. Since invasive Phragmites' populations have been especially prolific along eutrophic shorelines, we conducted a two-year field experiment involving native and invasive genotypes that manipulated nutrient level and competitor identity (inter- and intra-genotypic competition) to assess their relative importance in driving the loss of native Phragmites. Inter-genotypic competition suppressed aboveground biomass of both native …

Protecting Degraded Rainforests: Enhancement Of Forest Carbon Stocks Under Redd+, David P. Edwards, Brendan Fisher, Emily Boyd

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The likely Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism includes strategies for the enhancement of forest carbon stocks. Recent concerns have been expressed that such enhancement, or restoration, of forest carbon could be counterproductive to biodiversity conservation, because forests are managed as "carbon farms" with the application of intensive silvicultural management that could homogenize diverse degraded rainforests. Restoration increases regeneration rates in degraded forest compared to naturally regenerating forest, and thus could yield significant financial returns for carbon sequestered. Here, we argue that such forest restoration projects are, in fact, likely to provide a number of benefits to biodiversity …

Implementing The Information Prescription Protocol In A Family Medicine Practice: A Case Study., Marianne Burke, Anna Peggy Carey, Laura L. Haines, Alan P. Lampson, Fred C. Pond

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

QUESTION:

Can an information prescription protocol be successfully integrated into a family medicine practice seeking to enhance patient education and self-management?

SETTING:

Milton Family Practice, an outpatient clinic and resident teaching site of the University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care, is located in a semirural area fifteen miles from main campus.

OBJECTIVES:

The objectives were to increase physicians' knowledge and use of information prescriptions, sustain integration of information prescription use, and increase physicians' ability to provide patient education information.

METHODS:

Methods used were promotion of the National Library of Medicine's Information Rx, physician instruction, installation of patient and …

A Content Analysis Of Library Vendor Privacy Policies: Do They Meet Our Standards?, Trina J. Magi

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Librarians have a long history of protecting user privacy, but they have done seemingly little to understand or influence the privacy policies of library resource vendors that increasingly collect user information through Web 2.0-style personalization features. After citing evidence that college students value privacy, this study used content analysis to determine the degree to which the privacy policies of 27 major vendors meet standards articulated by the library profession and information technology industry. While most vendors have privacy policies, the policy provisions fall short on many library profession standards and show little support for the library Code of Ethics.

How Anthocyanin Mutants Respond To Stress: The Need To Distinguish Between Stress Tolerance And Maximal Vigour, Eric J. Von Wettberg, Maureen L. Stanton, Justen B. Whittall

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Anthocyanins are produced by plants in response to diverse stresses. Mutants that block the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway (ABP) at various steps can easily be compared across numerous abiotic stresses. Hypothesis: Anthocyanins or their precursors are required for stress tolerance. Thus, ABP loss-of-function mutants should have proportionately lower fitness than wildtype plants under stress, compared with benign conditions. In contrast, a decrease in maximal vigour - the general capacity for growth and fecundity - should be most pronounced under benign conditions that allow luxuriant growth by the most vigorous genotypes. Tests: Determine whether, under stressful conditions, ABP loss-of-function mutants have …

Measuring The Happiness Of Large-Scale Written Expression: Songs, Blogs, And Presidents, Peter Sheridan Dodds, Christopher M. Danforth

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

The importance of quantifying the nature and intensity of emotional states at the level of populations is evident: we would like to know how, when, and why individuals feel as they do if we wish, for example, to better construct public policy, build more successful organizations, and, from a scientific perspective, more fully understand economic and social phenomena. Here, by incorporating direct human assessment of words, we quantify happiness levels on a continuous scale for a diverse set of large-scale texts: song titles and lyrics, weblogs, and State of the Union addresses. Our method is transparent, improvable, capable of rapidly …

Lamoille Community Justice Project Program Evaluation, H. Bud Meyers, Laurey Collins Burris, Talia J. Glesner, Elizabeth Cheng Tolmie

James M. Jeffords Center for Policy Research

No abstract provided.

Homelessness Phase V Report: Homelessness Prevention And Rapid Re-Housing Program (Hprp) Interviews With Hprp Providers Winter 2010, H. Bud Meyers, Monika Baege, Cheryl Mitchell, Elizabeth Cheng Tolmie

James M. Jeffords Center for Policy Research

No abstract provided.

Vermont Teacher Diversity Scholarship Program/Vermont Research Partnership: Study Of Diversity Of School Personnel And Recruiting Practices, H. Bud Meyers

James M. Jeffords Center for Policy Research

No abstract provided.

Windsor County Sparrow Project Program Evaluation: Final Report Of Year One Findings, Elizabeth Cheng Tolmie, H. Bud Meyers, Talia J. Glesner

James M. Jeffords Center for Policy Research

No abstract provided.

Information-Seeking Behavior Of Basic Science Researchers: Implications For Library Services, Laura L. Haines, Jeanene Light, Donna O'Malley, Frances A. Delwiche

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Objectives: This study examined the information-seeking behaviors of basic science researchers to inform the development of customized library services.

Methods: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted on a sample of basic science researchers employed at a university medical school.

Results: The basic science researchers used a variety of information resources ranging from popular Internet search engines to highly technical databases. They generally relied on basic keyword searching, using the simplest interface of a database or search engine. They were highly collegial, interacting primarily with coworkers in their laboratories and colleagues employed at other institutions. They made little use …

Information Use In History Research: A Citation Analysis Of Master's Level Theses, Graham Sherriff

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

This article addresses the need for quantitative investigation into students' use of information resources in historical research. It reports the results of a citation analysis of more than 3,000 citations from master's level history theses submitted between 1998 and 2008 at a mid-sized public university. The study's results support the hypotheses that the predominant format in history research is the monograph and that history research entails use of older resources, and in greater proportions, than other disciplines. Results also support the conclusions that journal usage is comparatively low and that there is a high degree of citation dispersal across journal …

Fire Effects On Demography Of The Invasive Shrub Brazilian Pepper (Schinus Terebinthifolius) In Florida Pine Savannas, Jens T. Stevens, Brian Beckage

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Fire is a common disturbance in savanna ecosystems that may either facilitate or impede non-native plant invasions. Although fire can create recruitment opportunities for non-native plants, it can also prevent their invasion if it exerts strong negative effects on their demographic processes. Some savannas may, therefore, be able to resist invasion provided the natural, frequent-fire regime remains intact. We examined the effects of fire on the demography of the invasive shrub Brazilian pepper, Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi., which is invading fire-prone slash pine savannas of southern Florida. We studied survivorship, growth, and reproduction of low-density populations of Brazilian pepper in a …

The Digital Divide In Internet Information Searching: A Double-Hurdle Model Analysis Of Household Data From Vermont, Guangxuan Zhang, Qingbin Wang, Jane Kolodinsky

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

While most studies on the digital divide in the United States focus on disparities in access to computers and the Internet, this study examines the digital divide in Internet information searching. With data from 476 Vermont households surveyed in 2009, a double-hurdle model is used to identify the factors that impact the likelihood and frequency of using the Internet for information searching. Empirical results suggest that there are significant disparities in both the likelihood and frequency of online information searching in Vermont and that these disparities are closely associated with several socioeconomic and demographic factors such as education level, income, …

Knowledge-Based Information In Vermont Hospitals: A Survey Of Library And Information Services In 2010, Marianne Burke, Anne Exler

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Introduction: This report contains the results of a 2010 survey of Vermont hospitals. The purpose of the survey was to provide a snapshot of the health sciences information services currently available to health care providers through Vermont hospitals. We proposed to determine the status of Vermont hospital libraries and the extent of medical information resources (knowledge-based information) available to health care professionals through the hospitals.