Digital Commons Network^™

Experiments To Measure The Effects Of Timber Harvesting Equipment On Surface Lithic Scatters, Douglas J. Baughman

All Master's Theses

The importance of cultural resource preservation cannot be overstated; however local economies are at least as important. Due to conservative archaeological site protection practices in Region 5 of the United States Forest Service, the economy of Northeastern California is being adversely affected. In an attempt to help the Forest Service make more informed management decisions and improve the Northeastern California economy, I undertook experiments on the effects of timber harvesting on lithic scatters on Modoc National Forest. The experiments involved placement of 225 glass tiles (proxy lithics) in each of three plots subject to vehicle traffic and log dragging by …

“Culling The Herd”: Eugenics And The Conservation Movement In The United States, 1900–1940, Garland E. Allen

Biology Faculty Research

While from a late twentieth- and early twenty-first century perspective, the ideologies of eugenics (controlled reproduction to eliminate the genetically unfit and promote the reproduction of the genetically fit) and environmental conservation and preservation, may seem incompatible, they were promoted simultaneously by a number of figures in the progressive era in the decades between 1900 and 1950. Common to the two movements were the desire to preserve the ‘‘best’’ in both the germ plasm of the human population and natural environments (including not only natural resources, but also undisturbed nature preserves such as state and national parks and forests). In …

Effects Of Different Fasciola Hepatica Recombinant Proteins On The Biochemical And Serological Responses Of Experimentally Infected Sheep, Diana Wesselinova

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In the DELIVER (Full project title: Design of effective and sustainable control strategies for liver fluke in Europe) project the objective was to analyze 3 recombinant antigens for their capacity to induce a satisfied immune response in sheep, to challenge the animals with metacercariae of Fasciola hepatica, and to observe their immune response and protection from the parasitosis. The animals were treated initially with metacercariae and every second week blood was taken for liver enzyme estimation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), gamma-glutamyl transferase (\gammaGT), and antibody response. After the 3rd month of infection all the animals developed parasitosis, although to different …

Exploring Potential Risk Factors Of Fetal Origins Of Diabetes: Maternal Stressors During Pregnancy And Birth Outcomes Among Women In A Hospital In The Municipality Of Caguas, Puerto Rico, Juan Pablo Arroyo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Puerto Rico has the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes, low birth-weight, and the second highest prevalence of preterm-birth in all the U.S. and its non-incorporated territories. These conditions are related. Birth-weight at both ends of the spectrum and preterm-birth are associated with an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and immune-inflammatory dysregulations. Maternal psychosocial stressors during pregnancy have also been recognized as potential risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and have been consistently associated with preterm-birth and low birth-weight across populations. Current evidence points toward epigenetic fetal metabolic-programming as the mechanism that underlies the increased risk for the …

Cultivating Local: Building A Local Food System In Western North Carolina, Allison S. Perrett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines a movement in Western North Carolina to build a local food system, one grounded in the conditions and relationships of place. In 2000, Mountain Family Farms launched the Local Food Campaign to raise public awareness about the region's farms and farming heritage, to educate consumers about the benefits of buying food grown by local farms, and, ultimately, to build markets for locally grown food to sustain the region's farms. The campaign sparked a social movement and over a decade later local farms and locally grown food are a palpable feature of life in the mountains of Western …

The Next Generation Of Scientists: Examining The Experiences Of Graduate Students In Network-Level Social-Ecological Science, Michele Romolini, S. Record, R. Garvoille, Y. Marusenko, R. S. Geiger

Center for Urban Resilience Scholarship

By integrating the research and resources of hundreds of scientists from dozens of institutions, network-level science is fast becoming one scientific model of choice to address complex problems. In the pursuit to confront pressing environmental issues such as climate change, many scientists, practitioners, policy makers, and institutions are promoting network-level research that integrates the social and ecological sciences. To understand how this scientific trend is unfolding among rising scientists, we examined how graduate students experienced one such emergent social-ecological research initiative, Integrated Science for Society and Environment, within the large-scale, geographically distributed Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. Through workshops, …

The Lives Of Others: Social Rationality In Animals, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Andrew J. King

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Darwin (1871) boldly claimed that humans and other animals differ very little in their cognition; a statement that has raised the ire of many scientists (Bolhuis & Wynne, 2009; Penn, Holyoak, & Povinelli, 2008). Rather than stating this continuity as a fact, we will explore the similarities and differences between humans and animals in the social rationality of their decision making. We find this a fruitful exercise because it can profit researchers of both humans and animals. Our purpose here is to provide an evolutionary background of social rationality: Why do animals attend to the lives of others? To this …

Predicting Invasion In Grassland Ecosystems: Is Exotic Dominance The Real Embarrassment Of Richness?, Eric W. Seabloom, Elizabeth T. Borer, Yvonne Buckley, Elsa E. Cleland, Kendi Davies, Jennifer Firn, W. Stanley Harpole, Yann Hautier, Eric Lind, Andrew Macdougall, John L. Orrock, Suzanne M. Prober, Peter Andler, Juan Alberti, T. Michael Anderson, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Dana Blumenthal, Cynthia S. Brown, Lars A. Brudvig, Maria Caldeira, Chengjin Chu, Michael J. Crawley, Pedro Daleo, Ellen I. Damschen, Carla M. D'Antonio, Nicole M. Decrappeo, Chris R. Dickman, Guozhen Du, Philip A. Fay, Paul Frater, Daniel S. Gruner, Nicole Hagenah, Andrew Hector, Aveliina Helm, Helmut Hillebrand, Kirsten S. Hofmockel, Hope C. Humphries, Oscar Iribarne, Virginia L. Jin, Adam Kay, Kevin P. Kirkman, Julia A. Klein, Johannes M. H. Knops, Kimberly J. La Pierre, Laura M. Ladwig, John G. Lambrinos, Andrew D. B. Leakey, Qi Li, Wei Li, Rebecca Mcculley, Brett Melbourne, Charles E. Mitchell, Joslin L. Moore, John Morgan, Brent Mortensen, Lydia R. O'Halloran, Meelis Partel, Jesus Pascual, David A. Pyke, Anita C. Risch, Roberto Salguero-Gomez, Mahesh Sankaran, Martin Schuetz, Anna Simonsen, Melinda Smith, Carly Stevens, Lauren L. Sullivan, Glenda M. Wardle, Elizabeth M. Wolkovich, Peter D. Wragg, Justin Wright, Louie Yang

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity. However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness, rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native …

Paleoparasitology: The Origin Of Human Parasites; Paleoparasitologia: A Origem Dos Parasitas Humanos, Adauto Araújo, Karl Reinhard, Luis Fernando Ferreira, Elisa Pucu, Pedro Paulo Chieffi

Karl Reinhard Publications

Parasitism is composed by three subsystems: the parasite, the host, and the environment. There are no organisms that cannot be parasitized. The relationship between a parasite and its host species most of the time do not result in damage or disease to the host. However, in a parasitic disease the presence of a given parasite is always necessary, at least in a given moment of the infection. Some parasite species that infect humans were inherited from pre-hominids, and were shared with other phylogenetically close host species, but other parasite species were acquired from the environment as humans evolved. Human migration …

The Real Alfred Russel Wallace: Essays On An Outside-The-Box Thinker, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913), English polymath and social critic, ranks high on the list of the most interesting characters in the history of science. Nevertheless, and despite a life filled with achievement, he has often been marginalized in the halls of learning. The truth is, Wallace was something of an “outside–the–box” thinker, and his many forays into the murkier areas of science and social science cost him a lot of potential supporters. Still others, while recognizing his intellectual talents in general, have looked at the full span of his work and interests as a …

Life History, C. W. Fox, Frank J. Messina

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Morphological Similarities Between Spanish Pigeon Breeds., Pere Miquel Parés I Casanova

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Relationships among 30 pigeon breeds were studied using data from 31 morphological characteristics. The relationships between breeds obtained from the study were rather congruent with the classification used by fanciers groups. The average Euclidean distance between pigeon breeds was 0.93 ± 0.16 STD. The results obtained were very compatible with those described in the literature for each classificatory group. Three large, perfectly definite clusters could be observed in this tree. A cluster was formed by Balearic nonpouter breeds and the Catalan Bare Pigeon. Another cluster occupied an intermediate position and was formed by thief pouters. They shared some remarkable peculiar …

You, Your Neurons, And Free Will: Concerns About Reductionism And The Popularization Of Cognitive Science, Karl G. D. Bailey

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"They Come, But They Don't Spend As Much Money": Livelihoods, Dietary Diversity, Food Security, And Nutritional Status In Two Roatan Communities In The Wake Of Global Crises In Food Prices And Finance, Racine Marcus Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This dissertation explores the associations between recent global crises in staple food prices and finance and the following aspects of life in two communities on the island of Roatàn, Islas de La Bahia (Bay Islands), Honduras: household livelihoods; food commoditization; dietary diversity; food security; and nutritional status. The aims of this study are: ) assess the geographic and economic source(s) of foods consumed by two different communities on Roatàn; b) discover how the most recent economic and food crises have affected foodways and nutrition on Roatàn; c) assess how these crises have affected economic growth of the tourism sector …

A History Of Place: Using Phytolith Analysis To Discern Holocene Vegetation Change On Sanak Island, Western Gulf Of Alaska, Cricket C. Wilbur

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study investigated a terrestrial climate proxy, phytoliths, as a complimentary approach to documenting the dynamics of present and past vegetation on Sanak Island, the largest island in a small island group in the eastern Aleutian archipelago, and as a new basis by which to interpret Holocene environmental variability in Alaska. A phytolith reference collection was established from 59 selected plant species of maritime tundra belonging to 27 families. The grass species and a sedge species produced abundant phytolith forms whereas the majority of dicotyledons in this study were trace producers of phytoliths. A paleoenvironmental reconstruction from fossil phytoliths recovered …

Uncovering An Obscure Trade: Threatened Freshwater Fishes And The Aquarium Pet Markets, Rajeev Raghavan, Neelesh Dahanukar, Michael F. Tlusty, Andrew L. Rhyne, K. Krishna Kumar, Sanjay Molur, Alison M. Rosser

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

While the collection of fish for the aquarium pet trade has been flagged as a major threat to wild populations, this link is tenuous for the unregulated wild collection of endemic species because of the lack of quantitative data. In this paper, we examine the extent and magnitude of collection and trade of endemic and threatened freshwater fishes from India for the pet markets, and discuss their conservation implications. Using data on aquarium fishes exported from India, we try to understand nature of the trade in terms of species composition, volume, exit points, and importing countries. Most trade in India …

Medicinal Plants Of Northern Thailand For The Treatment Of Cognitive Impairment In The Elderly, Lisa C. Offringa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dementia is a progressive neurological disease affecting memory and behavior. The diagnosis of dementia is increasing exponentially worldwide and with it the potential risk for a severe social and economic burden of caring for an increasing debilitated elderly population. Cognitive impairment, and especially memory loss, can be the first indication of dementia. This study documents the treatment of cognitive impairment in the elderly by Thai traditional healers in northern Thailand usingmedicinal plants. Interviews were conducted from 2008-2012 to investigate the etiology of dementia in Thai Traditional Medicine and identify plants used to treat memory loss in the pharmacopeia of northern …

Brock, Lowry, Leon, Bailey, Woodward, Maple, Brett, Cripe And Cooper Families, Susie Van Kirk

Susie Van Kirk Papers

Research notes from a variety of newspapers and census reports, 1880s-1940s.

Diptera Pupipara From Bats Of Two Large Eastern Mediterranean Islands, Crete And Cyprus, Martin Sevcík, Petr Benda, Radek Kris Lucan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This paper presents a review of records of bat flies (families Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) from Crete and Cyprus, based on new findings and published data. Seven species representing 4 genera belonging to the family Nycteribiidae and 1 species from the family Streblidae from 5 bat species in Crete are reported, and 7 Nycteribiidae species (4 genera) and 1 Streblidae species from 9 bat species in Cyprus are reported. The bat flies Nycteribia latreillii (Leach, 1817), Basilia mongolensis nudior Hürka 1972, Penicillidia conspicua Speiser, 1900, P. dufourii Westwood, 1835, and Brachytarsina flavipennis Macquart, 1851 are reported from Crete for the first …

Microstonyx (Suidae, Artiodactyla) From The Upper Miocene Of Hayranlı-Haliminhanı, Turkey, Jan Van Der Made, Erksi̇n Güleç, Ahmet Cem Erkman

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The suid remains from localities 58-HAY-2 and 58-HAY-19 in the Late Miocene Derindere Member of the İncesu Formation in the Hayranlı-Haliminhanı area (Sivas, Turkey) are described and referred to as Microstonyx major (Gervais, 1848-1852). Microstonyx shows changes in incisor morphology, which are interpreted as a further adaptation to rooting. This occurred probably in a short period between 8.7 and 8.121 Ma ago and possibly is a reaction to environmental change. The incisor morphology in locality 58-HAY-2 suggests that it is temporally close to this change, which would imply that this locality and the lithostratigraphically lower 58-HAY-19 belong to the lower …

Index From Landslide Ecology, Lawrence R. Walker, Aaron B. Shiels

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Conservation Status Of The World’S Reptiles, Tony Gamble

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Effective and targeted conservation action requires detailed information about species, their distribution, systematics and ecology as well as the distribution of threat processes which affect them. Knowledge of reptilian diversity remains surprisingly disparate, and innovative means of gaining rapid insight into the status of reptiles are needed in order to highlight urgent conservation cases and inform environmental policy with appropriate biodiversity information in a timely manner. We present the first ever global analysis of extinction risk in reptiles, based on a random representative sample of 1500 species (16% of all currently known species). To our knowledge, our results provide the …

First Records And Microgeographical Variations Of Culturable Heterotrophic Bacteria In An Inner Sea (The Sea Of Marmara) Between The Mediterranean And The Black Sea, Turkey, Gülşen Altuğ, Mi̇ne Çardak, Peli̇n Sali̇ha Çi̇ftçi̇, Sevan Gürün

Turkish Journal of Biology

The microdiversity and composition of culturable heterotrophic aerobic bacteria were investigated in seawater samples taken from the Sea of Marmara (an important basin between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea) in different time periods throughout 2002-2010. The bacterial isolates were identified with the automated microidentification system VITEK 2 Compact 30 (bioMerieux, France). The compositions of identified bacteria according to their exposure to environmental factors in the areas from which they were isolated were compared. The primary hydrographic parameters (temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen) were recorded at the sampling station. The highest heterotrophic aerobic bacteria abundance was found in the coastal …

Thin Soils And Sacbes: The Soil Resources Of Uci, Yucatan, Mexico, Zachary S. Larsen

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to use pedological evidence in conjunction with Geographic Information Systems, and soil physical and chemical analyses as means to better understand the agricultural landscape surrounding the ancient Maya city of Uci. Specifically, the query of this thesis is to determine whether there is an association between settlement density and soil resources, and what relationship if any there is between the ancient sacbe of Uci and its surrounding agricultural potential. Stable carbon isotope analysis of the humin fraction of the soil organic matter was conducted on several profiles from karst depressions known as rejolladas near …

Assessing The Nutritional Health Outcomes Of African American Women With Hiv And Substance Abuse Disorders Using A Socioecological Approach, Meena Mahadevan, John Ruzsilla

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Scholarship and Creative Works

It is well established that poor nutritional status leaves HIV-positive substance abusers especially vulnerable to an increased risk of opportunistic infections and other illnesses. Socioecological frameworks have been useful for identifying multiple influences on health risks, leading to the development and evaluation of promising community-based interventions for diseases such as cancer and diabetes. This article presents a conceptual model, based on the socioecological approach, to examine the mechanisms and pathways by which the various contextual factors unique to HIV-positive African American women with substance abuse disorders intersect to impact their nutritional health outcomes. The mediating effects of the interpersonal, environmental, …

The Fall Of "Augustinian Adam": Original Fragility And Supralapsarian Purpose, John Schneider

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

This essay is framed by conflict between Christianity and Darwinian science over the history of the world and the nature of original human personhood. Evolutionary science narrates a long prehuman geological and biological history filled with vast amounts, kinds, and distributions of apparently random brutal and pointless suffering. It has also unveiled an original human person with animal psychosomatic heredity. This narrative seems to discredit Christianity's (Augustinian) metanarrative of the Fall-Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. The author contends that the Augustinian story and its character of Adam are implausible, anyway, for reasons of theology and apologetics. He proposes that Christians …

When Dna Won't Work, Rick Visser, Greg Hampikian

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Within the criminal justice system, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence has often been heralded as the gold standard of forensic science. In a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that "DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty. It has the potential to significantly improve both the criminal justice system and police investigative practices." The phrases “unparalleled ability” and “significantly improve” reflect the high standard that DNA has attained in both forensic science and the entire criminal justice system.

Forensic DNA technology has a major advantage over other forensic …

Laboratory And Field Performance Of The Biosand Point Of Use Water Filtration System In The Artibonite Valley, Haiti, Andrew John Sisson

Masters Theses

The research presented here is summary two years of studying the Biosand filter (BSF) both in Haiti during March 2011 and in the laboratory. In Chapter 2, we examined the long term use and sustainability 55 BSF systems near Deschapelles, Haiti and 47% were found to be no longer in use. Interviews with BSF owners revealed problems related to intermittent filter use. A review of 17 BSF field studies also was included to compare and substantiate observations made in Haiti. Together, previous field studies and our observations point toward the importance of providing culturally appropriate technologies and education materials explaining …

A Novel Method For Comparative Analysis Of Retinal Specialization Traits From Topographic Maps, Bret A. Moore, Jason M. Kamilar, Shaun P. Collin, Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds, Nathaniel J. Dominy, Margaret I. Hall, Christopher P. Hessy, Sonke Johnsen, Thomas J. Lisney, Ellis R. Loew, Gillian Moritz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Abstract Vertebrates possess different types of retinal specializations that vary in number, size, shape, and position in the retina. This diversity in retinal configuration has been revealed through topographic maps, which show variations in neuron density across the retina. Although topographic maps of about 300 vertebrates are available, there is no method for characterizing retinal traits quantitatively. Our goal is to present a novel method to standardize information on the position of the retinal specializations and changes in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) density across the retina from published topographic maps. We measured the position of the retinal specialization using two …

Ice Research News, Vol. 2, No. 2 - November 2012, Clemson University

ICE Research News (Biannual Newsletter)

No abstract provided.