Digital Commons Network^™

Chemical Control Of Turfgrass Diseases 2015, Paul C. Vincelli, Gregg Munshaw

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Turgrasses under intensive management are often subject to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Diseases usually are most damaging when weather or cultural conditions favor the disease-causing agent but not plant growth and vigor. Cultural conditions that predispose turfgrass to diseases include close mowing, inadequate or excessive nitrogen fertility, light or frequent irrigation, excessive thatch, poor drainage, and shade.

Genome Sequence Analysis Of In Vitro And In Vivo Phenotypes Of Bunyamwera And Ngari Virus Isolates From Northern Kenya, Collins Odhiambo, Marietjie Venter, Konongoi Limbaso, Robert Swanepoel, Rosemary Sang

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Biological phenotypes of tri-segmented arboviruses display characteristics that map to mutation/s in the S, M or L segments of the genome. Plaque variants have been characterized for other viruses displaying varied phenotypes including attenuation in growth and/or pathogenesis. In order to characterize variants of Bunyamwera and Ngari viruses, we isolated individual plaque size variants; small plaque (SP) and large plaque (LP) and determined in vitro growth properties and in vivo pathogenesis in suckling mice. We performed gene sequencing to identify mutations that may be responsible for the observed phenotype. The LP generally replicated faster than the SP and the difference …

Analysis On The Issue Of Ship Sewage In Terms Of Pollution, Discharge And Reception In The Minjiang Inland Port With Countermeasures, Binsong Zheng

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

The Management Status And Research Of Pollution Prevention Of Ships For Jingtang Port Areas, Chengwei Wang

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Using Smart Grid Technologies To Protect Human Health In Water Distribution Systems, Graham Symmonds

International Conference on Hydroinformatics

Since the introduction of the Safe Drinking Water Act, there has been marked reduction in the number of water-borne disease outbreaks attributed to water treatment systems. Over the same period, however, the percentage of disease outbreaks attributable to defects in the distribution system has increased exponentially. Interestingly, as a result of the continuous aging infrastructure employed by our water utilities, the number of water-borne disease cases has increased in the last decade. The smart grid for water can be used to significantly improve both the utility's understanding of water quality in the distribution system, but can dramatically increase the response …

Comparison Of Bacterial Inactivation Efficiency And Disinfection Byproduct Formation From Different Disinfection Processes, Binbin Li

All Theses

Formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) during Escherichia coli K12 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 inactivation under four disinfection processes, including chlorination, chloramination, photo-Fenton reaction, and TiO2/UV photocatalytic inactivation were examined. Factors of pH (5 or 8) and different disinfectant dosages were also investigated in order to balance the risks of DBP formation and bacterial cell viability in the four treatment processes. Chlorination had the fastest bacterial inactivation whereas chloramination, photo-Fenton, and TiO2/UV requiring longer contact times to achieve the same inactivation efficiency. In spite of the lag phase in the treatment processes, both photo-Fenton and TiO2/UV achieved 100% bacteria reduction after …

Water And Health In The Nandamojo Watershed Of Costa Rica: Community Perceptions Towards Water, Sanitation, And The Environment, James Mcknight

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the relationships between human health, water, sanitation, and environmental health is a requirement to understanding the challenges that face researchers when it comes to addressing global health relating to water and sanitation. Access to improved water and sanitation is not only a precondition to health, but to all aspects of daily living. Target 7.C of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) addresses worldwide disparities in access to improved water and sanitation by calling for the reduction in "half of the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015". Over 90% of the population of …

Sex-Biased Gene Flow Among Elk In The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Brian K. Hand, Shanyuan Chen, Neil Anderson, Albano Beja-Pereira, Paul C. Cross, Michael Ebinger, Hank Edwards, Robert A. Garrott, Marty D. Kardos, Matt Kauffman, Erin L. Landguth, Arthur Middleton, Brandon Scurlock, P.J. White, Pete Zager, Michael K. Schwartz, Gordon Luikart

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

We quantified patterns of population genetic structure to help understand gene flow among elk populations across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We sequenced 596 base pairs of the mitochondrial control region of 380 elk from eight populations. Analysis revealed high mitochondrial DNA variation within populations, averaging 13.0 haplotypes with high mean gene diversity (0.85). The genetic differentiation among populations for mitochondrial DNA was relatively high (FST = 0.161; P = 0.001) compared to genetic differentiation for nuclear microsatellite data (FST = 0.002; P = 0.332), which suggested relatively low female gene flow among populations. The estimated ratio of male to female …

California Drought: A Need For Agricultural Revolution In The Golden State, Benjamin Clinkinbeard

2014 Student Theses

California is in a drought State of Emergency, which is fueling negative social and economic consequences. After multiple years of below average rainfall, California has arrived at one of the most severe droughts in recorded history. Climate change is upon the Golden State, and the ugly consequences need to encourage citizens to spur green movements combating environmental destruction. The agriculture industry is in need of drastic change in order to secure a future that includes clean water, and fresh food for a growing population. Currently, the agricultural techniques practiced are far from sustainable. Adopting a new ideal on what it …

Growing Roots: Gardening As A Means To Mitigate Urban Poverty And Its Symptoms, Maeve Bassett

2014 Student Theses

Urban gardening has become a very popular trend in the last few years in both affluent neighborhoods as a form of relaxation and in impoverished areas as a form of hunger relief. In impoverished areas, urban gardens are usually exclusively advertised as a solution to limited food access; however, there is a naïve belief that these gardens are effective forms of mass food production. Presently, these gardens are not productive enough to globally effect food production and the environment. However, to the communities surrounding the gardens, the effects are immense. Urban gardens are cheap and effective solutions for many of …

The Effects Of Anthropogenic Nitrogen On Public Health, Grace Fowler, John Sears

CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium

Human activities that add nitrogen to the environment are dramatically affecting the nitrogen cycle. Advancements in the production of reactive nitrogen in the 1950s rapidly increased the production of nitrogen fertilizers used in agricultural food production, a significant source of nitrogen in the cycle. Increased crop yields have been tied to the rapidly ascending human population and associated environmental impacts, and the alteration of the nitrogen cycle itself is associated with documented environmental detriment. A review of the history of ascending anthropogenic nitrogen production in agricultural and industrial processes also reveals its role in negatively altering greenhouse gas levels, spreading …

Anthropogenic Disturbance Of The Herpetofauna In The Northeast Us : Wildlife Disease And Habitat Modification, Paola Dolcemascolo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Herpetofauna represent some of the most striking examples of the consequences of human impact on biotic communities. They experience the full range of anthropogenically-derived stressors: habitat loss, habitat modification and degradation, pollution, collection for food and the pet trade, nuisance killings, road mortality, and disease. In this study, I examined some of the main threats faced by herpetofauna of the Northeastern United States and their implications for management of reptile and amphibians in New Jersey. I first used molecular techniques to document and assess the prevalence of two amphibian diseases, chytridiomycosis (caused by the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) and Ranavirus, …

Adapting To A Changing Climate: Local Drivers For Policy Response, Andrew J. Bilich

Honors Scholar Theses

Responding to the present and looming effects of global climate change presents a challenging task for policymakers at all levels of governance. The outcomes of climate change do present serious adaptation problems for global policy makers, but the implications of climate change are more immediately experienced by local communities and policy makers. Historical policymaking models suggest that economic well-being is an influential driver in local policy adoption. This particular analysis explores the relationship between economic variables and the development of climate adaptation policies by Connecticut municipalities. To test the degree of interaction present, adaptation policy data in the form of …

Health Hazards In Rental Housing: An Overview Of Clark County, Nevada, Amanda Nicole Sokolowsky

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A wide range of health conditions are associated with housing conditions, including asthma, respiratory infections, injuries, mental health issues, and lead poisoning. People in modern societies spend more than 90% of their time indoors, the vast majority of which is spent at home. Therefore, any new information on housing related health hazards in a population provides an opportunity for a new prevention program. Reports have shown that rental properties have more health related hazards than owner occupied housing, and rental properties are frequently occupied by low-income and minority individuals. This descriptive study intended to provide an overview of housing related …

Mapping Of Pathogenic Vibrio Spp. Densities In The Gulf Of Mexico And Their Relationship To Fecal Indicators Used In Oyster Harvest Regulation, Morgan Taylor

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Impacts Of Unrestricted Pesticide Use In Small-Scale Agriculture On Water Quality And Associated Human Health And Ecological Implications In An Indigenous Village In Rural Panam[Aacute], Sarah Louise Watson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2014, the global pesticide industry's projected worth is $52 billion and by 2020, the developing world will make up one-third of the world's chemical production and consumption. Pesticides can have unintended negative consequences for human health and the environment, especially in the developing world where regulations are loose or nonexistent. One country with unrestricted use of pesticides is Panam[aacute], especially in Santa Rosa de Cucunatí. In this indigenous village, small-scale farmers and ranchers spray paraquat, glyphosate, picloram, and 2,4-D at higher elevations than the spring water source of a gravity-fed water system, the river, and the village. The objective …

Developing Transmissible Vaccines For Animal Infections: Intrinsically Safe Designs And A Staged Transparent Development Process Will Be Essential, Daniel G. Streiker, Megan E. Griffiths, Rustom Antia, Laura Bergner, Peter Bowman, Maria Vitoria Dos Santos De Moraes, Kevin Esvelt, Mike Famulare, Amy T. Gilbert, Biao He, Michael A. Jarvis, David A. Kennedy, Jennifer Kuzma, Carolyne Nasi,Iyu Wanyonyi, Christopher Remien, Tonie Rocke, Kyle Rosenke, Courtney Schreiner, Justin Sheen, David Simons, Ivet A. Yordanova, James J. Bull, Scott L. Nuismer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Developing Transmissible Vaccines for Animal Infections: Intrinsically Safe Designs and a Staged Transparent Development Process Will Be Essential

Intrinsically safe, biologically compelling vaccine designs

Pahsed development must incorporate checkpoints and engagement

Staged development with established checkpoints

Wquitable partnerships with international governance

Toward deployment

Workshop organization

Seven proposed commitm ents for the responsible development of transmissible vaccines for infectious disease control in animals

Evolutionary outcomes of vaccine transmission depend on the viral vector and the genetic modifications introduced

Lead (Pb) Contamination Of Water Drawn From Pitcher Pumps In Eastern Madagascar, David Bradlee Akers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access to safe water supply--a major determinant of public health--is less than 50% in Madagascar, and access to piped, treated water remains out of reach financially for many in the urban and peri-urban areas where available. The Self-supply option of the Pitcher Pump has been meeting the need for household water in coastal areas of Madagascar since the early 1960s and has proven a sustainable option for many. These pumps make use of leaded components in the construction, however, which may pose a health risk for heavy metal intoxication and therefore cause the water to be unsafe for drinking and …

Redefining Quality In Developing World Education, Kristi Jane Yuthas, Marc J. Epstein

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the outskirts of Medellin, Colombia, impoverished rural schoolchildren have cause for hope. The Colombian Coffee Growers’ Association wants to hire them. Why? Because these children have developed the independent thinking, communication, and work skills that will make them an asset to the industry. They developed these skills in their multigrade primary schools, where children do most of their learning in competence-based groups, while the teacher functions as guide and coach.

In Kenya, a teenage boy is also celebrating. A primary school dropout who once survived outside the law, he now runs his own small business, lives on his own, …

Herring : An Analysis Of Spawning Ground Management, Ecological Conditions And Human Impacts In Greifswald Bay, Vistula Lagoon And Hanö Bight., Dariusz P. Fey, Adam M. Lejk, Lena Szymanek, Iwona Psuty, Tomasz Nermer, Friederike Lempe, Harry V. Strehlow, Patrick Polte, Dorothee Moll, Nardine Stybel, Anne Hiller, Michael Van Laak, Henrik Nilsson, Lilitha Pongolini

Books

This book compiles the findings of the HERRING project which was conducted from 2012 until 2015 and part-financed by the EU South Baltic Programme.

The main objective of the HERRING project is to improve the consideration of including herring spawning grounds in coastal management. Herring as a resource recourse would be part of the economic development of coastal areas, and HERRING strongly emphasizes the importance of foster an integrated coastal management in the South Baltic Sea. Three case study areas in Germany, Poland and Sweden serve as the basis of the approach, which can be roughly distinguished in two parts. …

The Effects That Liquid And Solid Cattle Manure Have On The Water Quality Of Drainage Ditches In Putnam County, Ohio, Janelle Horstman

Honors Projects

Lake Erie has experienced harmful algal blooms with increased frequency since the mid-1990s due to excess nutrients from Rivers, such as the Maumee River, and largely agricultural watersheds. Nonpoint source pollution from agriculture contributes to eutrophication, algal blooms, and the degradation of water quality. This creates stress on aquatic fauna, reduced aesthetic quality, odor, and limits of the water for usage of drinking, recreation, and industry. This research paper asks what the contributions of having access to manure application records, soil records, and information about antibiotics have on what is known about manure management and antibiotic resistance, which has been …

Changing The Climate Narrative: How A Long-Term Climate Change Might Save Our Lives, Natalie P. Harreld

CMC Senior Theses

The goal of this paper is to offer new insights into the climate change debate by shifting away from the heated anthropologic arguments that dominate politics, media, and popular science. Instead, I choose to rely on the long-term impacts of a changing climate on our planet. The paper begins with a break down of key processes involved in short-term and long-term climate change, using the latest research. After a foundational understanding of climate sciences is established, we will discuss the failure of the climate change debate in educating the general public about the facts of a changing climate. Finally, the …

Improving Human Health By Increasing Access To Natural Areas: Opportunities And Risks, Bradford S. Gentry, David Krause, Karen A. Tuddenham, Sarah Barbo, Benjamin D. Rothfuss, Christopher Rooks

Yale School of the Environment Publications Series

Report of the 2013 Berkley Workshop

Held at the Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Tarrytown, NY - July 2013

Exposure Of Feral Swine (Sus Scrofa) In The United States To Selected Pathogens, John A. Baroch, Carl A. Gagnon, Sonia Lacouture, Marcelo Gottschalk

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are widely distributed in the United States. In 2011 and 2012, serum samples and tonsils were recovered from 162 and 37 feral swine, respectively, in the US to evaluate exposure to important swine endemic pathogens. Antibodies against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) were found in 2.5% and 25.3% of tested sera, respectively. Positive serological reactions against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae have been detected in 19.7% and 69.7% of animals. More than 15% of animals presented antibodies against these 2 pathogens simultaneously. Most animals were also seropositive for …

Finding Them Before They Find Us: Informatics, Parasites, And Environments In Accelerating Climate Change, Daniel R. Brooks, Eric P. Hoberg, Walter A. Boeger, Scott Lyell Gardner, Kurt E. Galbreath, David Herczeg, Hugo H. Mejía-Madrid, S. Elizabeth Rácz, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Parasites are agents of disease in humans, livestock, crops, and wildlife and are powerful representations of the ecological and historical context of the diseases they cause. Recognizing a nexus of professional opportunities and global public need, we gathered at the Cedar Point Biological Station of the University of Nebraska in September 2012 to formulate a cooperative and broad platform for providing essential information about the evolution, ecology, and epidemiology of parasites across host groups, parasite groups, geographical regions, and ecosystem types. A general protocol, documentation–assessment–monitoring–action (DAMA), suggests an integrated proposal to build a proactive capacity to understand, anticipate, and respond …

Anthropogenics: Human Influence On Global And Genetic Homogenization Of Parasite Populations, Dante S. Zarlenga, Eric P. Hoberg, Benjamin Rosenthal, Simonetti Mattiucci, Giuseppe Nascetti

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The distribution, abundance, and diversity of life on Earth have been greatly shaped by human activities. This includes the geographic expansion of parasites; however, measuring the extent to which humans have influenced the dissemination and population structure of parasites has been challenging. In-depth comparisons among parasite populations extending to landscape-level processes affecting disease emergence have remained elusive. New research methods have enhanced our capacity to discern human impact, where the tools of population genetics and molecular epidemiology have begun to shed light on our historical and ongoing influence. Only since the 1990s have parasitologists coupled morphological diagnosis, long considered the …

Spingolipid Metabolism In A Reptillian Protozoan, Entamoeba Invadens, Duran Dogan Debons

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Entamoeba invadens (hereinafter E. invadens) is an anaerobic parasitic protozoan that can be found in water and soil. Although the host organisms for this parasite are snakes, lizards, and other reptile species, the parasite is morphologically identical to Entamoeba histolytica, a causative agent of human amebiasis. Entamoeba inavdens exists in two morphological forms--(1) a replicative trophozoite, and (2) a relatively dormant cyst. While the transformation of cyst to trophozoites (called "excystation") takes place in the stomach, the differentiation of trophozoites to cyst (known as "encystation"), occurs in the small intestine. Unlike the cyst, a trophozoite is unable to survive …

Risk Assessment Of Waterborne Cryptosporidium, Victoria Norma Ochoa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In an effort to update the risk assessment of waterborne Cryptosporidium an additional and more complete human dose-response dataset of the parasite was used to calculate the risk of infection. The complete data studied contains larger human outcomes than the initial prior risk assessment evaluated by Haas et. al. in 1999. Quantitative analysis of the complete dose-response indicates that it no longer follows the Exponential Model used to estimate the risk for the initial data. The complete dataset appears to provide a better fit with the Beta-Poisson Model and even a dose independent constant risk model, which shows a considerable …

Dual Capture Of A Piñon Deer Mouse And A Silky Pocket Mouse Resulting In Consumption Of The Smaller Animal, Jon C. Pigage, Roger D. Peyton

The Prairie Naturalist

Intraspecific dual captures of rodents are uncommon, but not rare. There are several reports of brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), white-footed deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus), North American deer mice (P. maniculatus), western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis) and meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) caught simultaneously in the same trap (i.e. a door-closing live-trap; Davis 1955, Getz 1961, Blaustein and Rothstein 1978, Jenkins and Llewellyn 1981, Novak 1983). Some reports are incidental whereas others are interpreted as social associations or bonding between conspecifics. Interspecific dual captures are rarely reported in the literature. The earliest report of …

Biofouling : A Means Of Aquatic Species Transfer, Anne Bouyssou, Josefin Madjidian

NSBWO

Ships carry seawater in their ballast tanks when they are not fully loaded with cargo, in order to maintain adequate trim, draught and stability, adjust list and limit stresses on the hull. It is now well documented that the water pumped into the ship contains aquatic organisms – which can also sink to the sediments at the bottom of tanks – and that these organisms are thereby transferred from the port of origin to the destination. But it is seldom mentioned that aquatic organisms are also found on the outside of ships, attached on their hulls and appendages, as a …