Effects Of An Impaired Sonic Hedgehog Signaling Pathway And A Nonfunctional Gli3 Protein On Gnrh-1 Neuronal Migration In Gli3xt/Xt Mutants, Elizabet Aleks Genis

Computer Science

Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) is the master regulatory hormone for sexual development. During embryonic development, gonadotropin releasing hormone-1 neurons (GnRH-1ns) form in the olfactory pit and migrate, along axonal Peripherin positive fibers, from the nasal area to the pre-optic area of the basal forebrain. Upon migration into the brain, GnRH-1ns release GnRH. Defective migration of GnRH-1ns can result in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), a condition that results in lack of sexual development and infertility. When HH appears associated with reduced or absent sense of smell, it is clinically defined as Kallmann Syndrome (KS) (Paolo E Forni & Wray, 2015). The neurons …

Emphasizing Colonization In Modern Environmental And Women’S Activist Movements In India And The Future Of Ecofeminist Movements For Creating A More Just And Sustainable Future, Alea M. Tveit

Honors Theses

This research discusses the extent of colonial acknowledgement in modern women’s rights and environmental movements in India. British colonization profoundly altered the ecological landscape and social norms of the societies it affected while leaving behind institutional structures that encouraged and perpetuated discrimination, oppression, and environmental degradation. In the case of India, I illustrate pre-colonial norms surrounding environmental stewardship and women’s rights and compare it to post-colonial ideology to make a connection of modern human rights and environmental problems to a colonial past. Today’s popular environmental and women’s activist movements are analyzed to determine if colonial acknowledgment or a decolonial framework …

Book Review: Multivariate Statistical Methods, A Primer, C. R. Rao

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Multivariate Statistical Methods, A Primer, 4th Ed. Bryan F. J. Manly and Jorge A. Navarro Alberto. NY: Chapman & Hall / CRC Press. 2016. 264 p. ISBN 10: 1498728960 / ISBN 13: 978-1498728966

Letter To The Members Of The Georgia Academy Of Science, David L. Bechler

Georgia Journal of Science

This letter is an update and review of recent activities in the Georgia Journal of Science. As of 2016, the journal has gone from a hardcopy format to a digital format through Digital Commons/Bepress (http://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/). As a result of this, individuals worldwide now have access to journal articles free and online. Manuscripts accepted for publication are now placed online after the final acceptance and editing is complete.

A review on 20 March 2017 of online download events involving publications in 2016 shows that, of the 21 publications (the annual meeting program was included as one publication), there were …

Volume 3, Full Contents

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Front cover, a list of the article contents in this issue, and editorial information.

Education On Campus Waste Disposal, Catherine Johnson, Christina Fox, Alyssa Schutzenhofer, Courtney Wilber

Environmental and Sustainability Studies Undergraduate Projects

No abstract provided.

Legalization Of Gay Marriage And Its Impact On Military Stereotypes Of Homosexuals, Jasmine Moore

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Homosexuality has become a popular research topic in a variety of professional fields, and over the last decade has become a priority for the military. Since the implementation of the law repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) researchers have questioned what effects repealing this law has had on the military as a whole. Particular attention has been spent on studying the attitudes and stereotypes about homosexuals after DADT was repealed. However, there is a lack of research examining how marriage equality affects society's stereotypes about homosexuals serving in the United States military.

It was hypothesized that participants that have personal …

How To Plan, Budget, Write, And Implement A Student Sustainability Grant, Annalisa Wilder

Honors Theses

The Student Sustainability Grant program was created to give students valuable grant writing experience and to promote a culture of sustainability on Western Michigan University’s campus. Despite the enormous opportunity that this program provides, few students apply for the grants with their sustainable ideas. Even fewer students are able to fully complete the projects, research, and initiatives that receive funding. In order to help increase the number of grants that are fully implemented and to provide students interested in writing a grant with a useful resource, this guide was created. This ‘how-to manual’ provides an undergraduate student’s perspective on the …

Proceedings Of The 129th Annual Meeting Of The Iowa Academy Of Science [Abstracts & Program, 2017], Iowa Academy Of Science.

Annual Meeting of the Iowa Academy of Science [Programs & Abstracts]

Contains information about the schedule and presentations for the 2017 annual meeting of the Iowa Academy of Science, including abstracts.

2017 - The Twenty-Second Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Twenty-second Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 20, 2017. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Evolution, Ecology, And Disparities: Constructing Stature, Immune Functioning, And Reproduction In Brazilian Quilombo, And United States, Women, Anna C. Rivara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to test how growth, reproduction, and immune functioning interact in two populations of adult women residing in vastly different socio-economic and ecological environments, the Kalunga quilombo in Brazil, and the United States of America. The presence of life history trade-offs was tested to determine how the different envirnonments, and socio-ecological contexts of the populations were creating differential risks for health and reproductive outcomes, and life history trade-offs.

I hypothesized that the Kalunga people, living in very difficult and harsh conditions, would experience greater amounts of, and more severe, life history trade-offs than the U.S. …

Forests On The Edge: Forest Restoration And Concepts Of Nature In Northern New Mexico, Jordan W. Stone

Geography ETDs

Dozens of catastrophic forest fires have impacted New Mexican communities over the last two decades, threatening humans, property, and livelihoods. Ecologically, forest systems are stressed by historically unprecedented tree density, drought, increased temperature, and dwindling ecological diversity, further increasing fire danger. An increasingly common response to these threats is to actively manage New Mexico’s forests using mechanical tree thinning and prescribed fire, with a goal of “restoring” forests to a healthier ecological state. Restoring forests is both a scientific and cultural act. While the science is well studied, land managers often struggle to understand how human values impact forest restoration …

A Simulation Of Anthropogenic Mammoth Extinction, Matthew Klapman

Undergraduate Honors Papers

There are multiple hypotheses as to why the Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) and other megafauna in North America went extinct relatively recently and relatively quickly. The most popular of which are disease, climate change, meteorite strikes, and over hunting by humans [2, 9]. There is evidence to show that a combination of factors contributed to the megafaunal extinction, but ”overkill” explores the idea that early humans migrated onto the continent and then hunted the mammoths and other megafauna to extinction. The overkill hypothesis was first proposed by anthropologist Paul Martin in 1973 [8]. Evidence from radiocarbon dating shows that the …

Eco-Anxiety At University: Student Experiences And Academic Perspectives On Cultivating Healthy Emotional Responses To The Climate Crisis, Anna Kelly

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research looks at the overall question of how planetary health impacts mental health and psychological welling. The central focus is eco-anxiety—mental distress caused by climate change and environmental degradation—and how it manifests in university students. In order to gather data for this research I collected 114 student survey responses, interviewed seven young adults (ages 20-25), and interviewed seven experts in the fields of psychology and environmental studies.

They survey results show high levels of general stress and anxiety, high levels of stress and anxiety related to climate change and the state of the world, and a very high level …

Graduate Studies Newsletter, Graduate Studies Office

Newsletters

In This Issue:

Pg. 1 - Welcome

Pg. 2 - Faculty Spotlight on Dr. Meredith Williams

Pg. 3 - Graduate Federal Work Study

Pg. 4 - Outstanding Grad Student Awards

Pg. 5 - Important Dates and Deadlines

Pg. 6 - Thesis Submission News

Pg. 7 & 8 - Graduate Student Profiles

Devious Design: Digital Infrastructure Challenges For Experimental Ethnography, Lindsay Poirier

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2017, 137th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Twenty-Seventh Annual Meeting

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Chemistry and Physics

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Biological and Medical Sciences

Aeronautics and Space Science: Poster Session

Applied Science and Technology

Maiben Memorial Lecture

Anthropology

Earth Science

Applied Science and Technology

Teaching of Science and Mathematics

Environmental Sciences

Friend of Science Award: Kacie Baum and Todd Young

Open Data And Digital Morphology, Thomas G. Davies, Imran A. Rahman, Stephan Lautenschlager, John A. Cunningham, Robert J. Asher, Paul M. Barrett, Karl T. Bates, Stefan Bengtson, Roger B. J. Benson, Doug M. Boyer, José Braga, Jen A. Bright

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Over the past two decades, the development of methods for visualizing and analysing specimens digitally, in three and even four dimensions, has transformed the study of living and fossil organisms. However, the initial promise that the widespread application of such methods would facilitate access to the underlying digital data has not been fully achieved. The underlying datasets for many published studies are not readily or freely available, introducing a barrier to verification and reproducibility, and the reuse of data. There is no current agreement or policy on the amount and type of data that should be made available alongside studies …

Does A Taste Of Computing Increase Computer Science Enrollment?, Steven Mcgee, Randi Mcgee-Tekula, Jennifer Duck, Ronald I. Greenberg, Lucia Dettori, Dale F. Reed, Brenda Wilkerson, Don Yanek, Andrew Rasmussen, Gail Chapman

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Exploring Computer Science (ECS) high school curriculum is designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around computer science concepts. We have shown that students find ECS courses personally relevant, are increasing their expectancies of success and perceived value for the field of computer science, and are more likely to take another computing course.

Surveying The Distributions Of Melaleuca Quinquenervia, Psidium Cattleianum, And Litsea Glutinosa At Analalava Special Reserve, Hanusia Higgins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study surveyed the distributions of three invasive plant species, Melaleuca quinquenervia, Psidium cattleianum, and Litsea glutinosa at the Analalava Special Reserve in Mahavelona, Madagascar. Analalava is a 229-hectare degraded patch of low-elevation humid forest on the northeast coast of Madagascar, and one of the last forest fragments remaining in the region. It is a haven for biodiversity, containing 343 recorded species of plants, 12 of which are locally endemic. Invasive species are considered the second-most significant threat to biodiversity, both worldwide and specifically at Analalava. Based on a systematic transect survey of these three targeted invasive species, their distributions …

Modeling The Mitigation Of Seawater Intrusion By Pumping Brackish Water From The Coastal Aquifer Of Wadi Ham, Uae, Modou A Sowe

Theses

The control and management of seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers is a major challenge in the field of water resources management. Seawater intrusion is a major problem in the coastal aquifer of Wadi Ham, United Arab Emirates caused by intensive groundwater abstraction from increased agricultural activities. This has caused the abonnement of salinized wells and ultimately affected farming activities and domestic water supply in the area. In this study, the 3D finite element groundwater flow and solute transport model, FEFLOW was used to simulate pumping of brackish water from the intrusion zone to control seawater intrusion in the aquifer. The …

Earth News, V40, Spring 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Earth And Environmental Sciences.

Earth News

Inside this issue:
-- From the Department Head Siobahn Morgan
-- Department Growth
-- Faculty Updates
-- SGE Newsletter
-- Congratulations 2016
-- Sunday at the Quarry
-- Alumni Spotlight: Aaron Stolley
-- Alumni Spotlight: Allyson Anderson
-- Congratulations to Faculty
-- Carver Grants
-- Hydrology News
-- Student Research
-- Donor Spotlight: Leslie Knapp

Investigation Of New Learning Methods For Visual Recognition, Qingfeng Liu

Dissertations

Visual recognition is one of the most difficult and prevailing problems in computer vision and pattern recognition due to the challenges in understanding the semantics and contents of digital images. Two major components of a visual recognition system are discriminatory feature representation and efficient and accurate pattern classification. This dissertation therefore focuses on developing new learning methods for visual recognition.

Based on the conventional sparse representation, which shows its robustness for visual recognition problems, a series of new methods is proposed. Specifically, first, a new locally linear K nearest neighbor method, or LLK method, is presented. The LLK method derives …

An Evidence-Based Review Of Academic Web Search Engines, 2014-2016: Implications For Librarians’ Practice And Research Agenda, Jody C. Fagan

Libraries

Academic web search engines have become central to scholarly research. While the fitness of Google Scholar for research purposes has been examined repeatedly, Microsoft Academic and Google Books have not received much attention. Recent studies have much to tell us about the coverage and utility of Google Scholar, its coverage of the sciences, and its utility for evaluating researcher impact. But other aspects have been understudied, such as coverage of the arts and humanities, books, and non-Western, non-English publications. User research has also tapered off. A small number of articles hint at the opportunity for librarians to become expert advisors …

Proceedings (Abstracts) From The 2nd Annual Student Research Symposium “Meeting Of The Minds” And The 27th Annual Csusb Student Research Competition

OSRI Journal of Student Research and Innovation

No abstract provided.

Badiou’S Logics: Math, Metaphor, And (Almost) Everything, Vladimir Tasic

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Mathematics plays a central role in the philosophical system of Alain Badiou. The aim of this essay is to situate this appeal to mathematics in the broader context of his work, including its literary and political elements.

Utilizing Social Network Analysis To Study Communities Of Women In Conflict Zones, James R. Gatewood, Candice R. Price

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This article proposes to study the plight of women in conflict zones through the lens of social network analysis. We endorse the novel idea of building a social network within troubled regions to assist in understanding the structure of women's communities and identifying key individuals and groups that will help rebuild and empower the lives of women. Our main argument is that we can better understand the complexity of a society with quantitative measures using a network analysis approach. Given the foundation of this paper, one can develop a model that will represent the connections between women in these communities. …

Incorporating Sociocultural Phenomena Into Ecosystem-Service Valuation: The Importance Of Critical Pluralism, Carena J. Van Riper, Adam C. Landon, Sarah Kidd, Patrick Bitterman, Lee A. Fitzgerald, Elise F. Granek, Sonia Ibarra, David Iwaniec, Christopher Raymond, David Toledo

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ecosystem-services scholarship has largely focused on monetary valuation and the material contributions of ecosystems to human well-being. Increasingly, research is calling for a deeper understanding of how less tangible, nonmaterial values shape management and stakeholder decisions. We propose a framework that characterizes a suite of sociocultural phenomena rooted in key social science disciplines that are currently underrepresented in the ecosystem-services literature. The results from three example studies are presented to demonstrate how the tenets of this conceptual model can be applied in practice. We consider the findings from these studies in light of three priorities for future research: (1) complexities …

User Guide For Luminescence Sampling In Archaeological And Geological Context, Michelle C. Summa-Nelson, Harrison J. Gray, Jack A. Johnson, Tammy M. Rittenour, James K. Feathers, Shannon A. Mahan

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Luminescence dating provides a direct age estimate of the time of last exposure of quartz or feldspar minerals to light or heat and has been successfully applied to deposits, rock surfaces, and fired materials in a number of archaeological and geological settings. Sampling strategies are diverse and can be customized depending on local circumstances, although all sediment samples need to include a light-safe sample and material for dose-rate determination. The accuracy and precision of luminescence dating results are directly related to the type and quality of the material sampled and sample collection methods in the field. Selection of target material …