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A Different Pencil Too Good To Be Ignored? A First Look At Wolfram|Alpha, Gizem Karaali, Bruce Yoshiwara

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

So you came across several news pieces about Wolfram|Alpha and you’re wondering what all the fuss is about. Let’s start with the basics.

Plasma Biomarkers For Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Jiaqian Ni

ETD Archive

No abstract provided.

Scwds Briefs: Volume 24, Number 4 (January 2009), Gary L. Doster , Editor, Scwds Briefs, Michael J. Yabsley

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

Table of Contents:

HD in 2007: A Year to Remember

Ecology of AIV in Shorebirds

New USDA Brucellosis Proposal

TWS Seeks Comments on Draft Lead Policy

Unusual Eagle Death

New SCWDS Grad Students

Tennessee Director Retiring

3rd International CWD Symposium

Another SCWDS Student Award

Blubber Testosterone: A Potential Marker Of Male Reproductive Status In Short-Beaked Common Dolphins, Nicholas Kellar, Marisa Trego, Corina Marks, Susan Chivers, Kerri Danil, Frederick Archer

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

A novel molecular technique was used to measure blubber testosterone (BT) in 114 male short-beaked common dolphins, Delphinus delphis, collected from incidental fishery bycatch and strandings. When these concentrations were compared across maturity states, the mean (± SEM) BT levels of mature D. delphis (14.3 ± 3.0 ng/g) were significantly higher than those of pubertal (2.5 ± 0.5 ng/g, P = 0.006) and immature animals (2.2 ± 0.3 ng/g, P < 0.0001). BT concentrations in mature males were significantly higher in summer months (53.9 ± 2.0 ng/g) than during the rest of the year (7.9 ± 0.69 ng/g, P < 0.0001), indicating reproductive seasonality. An analysis of BT in different anatomical locations showed that hormone concentrations were not homogenous throughout the body; the levels in the dorsal fin were significantly lower than in most other areas (F = 5.39, P = 0.043). Conversely, we found no significant differences in BT concentration with respect to subepidermal depth (F = 2.09, P = 0.146). Finally, testosterone levels in biopsies from 138 free-swimming male D. delphis, of unknown maturity state, sampled off California were found to be of concentrations similar to those from the fishery bycatch and stranding samples and revealed an …

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Assessment Workshop Report, R.R. Reeves, R. L. Brownell Jr.

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

A workshop on the assessment of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), with the Solomon Islands as a case study, took place from 21-23 August 2008 in Apia, Samoa. It was planned and organized under the auspices of the Cetacean Specialist Group and attended by 19 invited participants from eight countries. Financial support was provided by WWF (International), The Ocean Conservancy, Animal Welfare Institute, Humane Society of the United States, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The workshop was hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program …

Health Assessment Of Weddell Seals, Leptonychotes Weddellii, In Mcmurdo Sound, Antarctica, P.K. Yochem, B.S. Stewart, T.S. Gelatt, D.B. Siniff

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The demography of Weddell seals in eastern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, has been well studied during the past three decades (e.g. Stirling 1971; Siniff et al. 1977; Testa and Siniff 1987; Hastings and Testa 1998; Gelatt et al. 2001). Detailed life-history data are available on thousands of seals tagged as pups in McMurdo Sound, making this population a rich resource for wildlife health studies because health parameters can be evaluated in the light of reproductive histories and genetic relationships of several generations of tagged seals.

Recently, evidence of exposure to diseases generally associated with domestic animals and feral wildlife has been …

A Fish Of Many Scales: Extrapolating Sublethal Pesticide Exposures To The Productivity Of Wild Salmon Populations, David H. Baldwin, Julann A. Spromberg, Tracy K. Collier, Nathaniel L. Scholz

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

For more than a decade, numerous pesticides have been detected in river systems of the western United States that support anadromous species of Pacific salmon and steelhead. Over the same interval, several declining wild salmon populations have been listed as either threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Because pesticides occur in surface waters that provide critical habitat for ESA-listed stocks, they are an ongoing concern for salmon conservation and recovery throughout California and the Pacific Northwest. Because pesticide exposures are typically sublethal, a key question is whether toxicological effects at (or below) the scale of the …

Transformation Of The Offshore Benthic Community In Lake Michigan: Recent Shift From The Native Amphipod Diporeia Spp. To The Invasive Mussel Dreissena Rostriformis Bugensis, Thomas F. Nalepa, David L. Fanslow, Gregory A. Lang

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

1. The native amphipod Diporeia spp. was once the dominant benthic organism in Lake Michigan and served as an important pathway of energy flow from lower to upper trophic levels. Lake-wide surveys were conducted in 1994 ⁄1995, 2000 and 2005, and abundances of Diporeia and the invasive bivalves Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (quagga mussel) were assessed. In addition, more frequent surveys were conducted in the southern region of the lake between 1980 and 2007 to augment trend interpretation.

2. Between 1994 ⁄1995 and 2005, lake-wide density of Diporeia declined from 5365 to 329 m^-2, …

Effects Of Prescribed Fire On Biological Soil Crusts And Their Subsequent Recovery In A Great Basin Juniper Woodland, Steven D. Warren, Larry L. St.Clair, Jeffrey R. Johansen, Paul Kugrens

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

A prescribed burn was conducted in a juniper woodland approximately 40 km south of Tooele, Utah on 05 October 2006. Conditions were sub-optimal, and the fire did not encroach into mid- or late-successional areas; only the early-successional area burned successfully. This study evaluated the effects of the prescribed burn on biological soil crusts that occupy the soil surface and are important for soil stability, soil nutrient cycling, and the germination and survival of vascular plants. Biological soil crusts are composed primarily of cyanobacteria, green algae, lichens and mosses. Mosses were rare under juniper trees, so the effects of the fire …

A Regional Assessment Of The Ecological Effects Of Chipping And Mastication Fuels Reduction And Forest Restoration Treatments., Mike Battaglia, Charles Rhoades, Monique E. Rocca, Michael G. Ryan

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

Over the past several years, fire managers have increased their use of mastication treatments, the on-site disposal of shrubs and small-diameter trees through chipping and shredding. Mastication is a relatively untested management practice that alters the chemical and physical conditions of the forest floor and may influence vegetation regrowth and fuel development for years or decades. Eighteen sites were established across four ecosystems of the southern Rocky Mountains and the Colorado Plateau: lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), mixed conifer (Pinus ponderosa, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Pinus flexilis, and Pinus contorta), ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), and pinyon pine/juniper …

Draft U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments: 2009, James V. Carretta, Karin A. Forney, Mark S. Lowry, Jay Barlow, Jason Baker, Dave Johnston, Brad Hanson, Robert L. Brownell Jr., Jooke Robbins, David K. Mattila, Katherine Ralls, Marcia M. Muto, Deanna Lynch, Lilian Carswell

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Under the 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are required to publish Stock Assessment Reports for all stocks of marine mammals within U.S. waters, to review new information every year for strategic stocks and every three years for non-strategic stocks, and to update the stock assessment reports when significant new information becomes available. This report presents stock assessments for 13 Pacific marine mammal stocks under NMFS jurisdiction, including 8 “strategic” stocks and 5 “non-strategic” stocks (see summary table). A new stock assessment for …

Farming For The Future : Industry Practice Baselines, Danielle England, Susan Murphy-White, John Noonan, Marie Shanks, Jon Warren

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Regional Differences In The Spatial And Temporal Heterogeneity Of Oceanographic Habitat Used By Steller Sea Lions, Michelle E. Lander, Thomas R. Loughlin, Miles G. Logsdon, Glenn R. Vanblaricom, Brian S. Fadely, Lowell W. Fritz

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Over the past three decades, the decline and altered spatial distribution of the western stock of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Alaska have been attributed to changes in the distribution or abundance of their prey due to the cumulative effects of fisheries and environmental perturbations. During this period, dietary prey occurrence and diet diversity were related to population decline within metapopulation regions of the western stock of Steller sea lions, suggesting that environmental conditions may be variable among regions. The objective of this study, therefore, was to examine regional differences in the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of …

Organocatalysis With Endogenous Compounds: Towards Novel Non-Enzymatic Reactions, David G. Alberg, Thomas B. Poulsen, Søren Bertelsen, Kasper L. Christensen, Rune D. Birkler, Mogens Johannsen, Karl Anker Jørgensen

Chemistry Faculty Work

The aldol reaction of the endogeneous compounds acetone and methylglyoxal has been studied using organocatalysis in relation to biologically relevant non-enzymatic reactions. Under preparative conditions, 3-hydroxy-2,5-hexadione, known as Henze’s ketol, is formed in high yield and with enantioselectivities up to 88% ee. Furthermore, Henze’s ketol is also formed under simulated physiological conditions at micromolar scale, indicating that this reaction might take place in living organisms.

New Perspectives On Ecological Mechanisms Affecting Coral Recruitment On Reefs, Raphael Ritson-Williams, Suzanne N. Arnold, Nicole D. Fogarty, Robert S. Steneck, Mark J. A. Vermeij, Valerie J. Paul

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Coral mortality has increased in recent decades, making coral recruitment more important than ever in sustaining coral reef ecosystems and contributing to their resilience. This review summarizes existing information on ecological factors affecting scleractinian coral recruitment. Successful recruitment requires the survival of coral offspring through sequential life history stages. Larval availability, successful settlement, and post-settlement survival and growth are all necessary for the addition of new coral individuals to a reef and ultimately maintenance or recovery of coral reef ecosystems. As environmental conditions continue to become more hostile to corals on a global scale, further research on fertilization ecology, connectivity, …

Avian Use Of Harvested Crop Fields In North Dakota During Spring Migration, Alegra M. Galle, George M. Linz, H. Jeffrey Homan, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Broad-spectrum herbicide applications and improved harvesting efficiency of crops have reduced the availability of weed seeds and waste grains for game and nongame wildlife. Over the last decade, corn and soybean plantings have steadily increased in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North Dakota, while sunflower plantings have declined. The PPR is an important corridor for migratory birds, and changes in food availabilities at stopover habitats may affect how food resources are used. In early spring 2003 and 2004, we compared bird use of harvested fields of sunflower, soybeans, small grains, and corn in the PPR of North Dakota. Across …

Evaluating New Protein Sources For Development Of A Deer Repellent Product, Bruce A. Kimball, Kelly R. Perry

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Several protein sources were tested as deer repellents with captive deer. Black-tailed deer were offered Western redcedar seedlings treated with corn gluten meal, feather meal, poultry blood, hydrolyzed casein, or a control (latex sticker used for treatment proteins). After 37 days, feather meal and hydrolyzed casein provided equivalent protection against browse damage (only 23% of seedlings significantly browsed). Poultry blood provided less browse protection (44% browsed), while browse damage to seedlings treated with corn gluten meal (73% browsed) was not statistically different than the control (100% browsed). Based on the efficacy of feather meal and its low material cost, this …

Physiological Stress Response Of Captive White-Tailed Deer To Video Collars, Remington Moll, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Jeff Beringer, Joel Sartwell, Rami Woods, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Animal-borne video and environmental data collection systems (AVEDs) are an advanced form of biotelemetry that combines video with other sensors. As a proxy for physiological stress, we assessed fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) excretion in 7 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fitted with AVED dummy collars; 9 additional deer served as controls. We collected fecal samples over 3 2-week periods: pretreatment, treatment, and post-treatment periods. There were no differences in FGMs across time periods (F_2,218 = 1.94, P = 0.147) and no difference between FGMs of control and treatment individuals (F_1,14 = 0.72, P = 0.411). Fecal glucocorticoid …

The Plant Ionome Coming Into Focus, Lorraine Williams, David Salt

Cyber Center Publications

92 elements have been identified on earth and 17 of these are known to be essential to all plants. The essential elements required in relatively large amounts (>0.1% of dry mass) are called macronutrients and include C, H, O, N, S, P, Ca, K, Mg. Those required in much smaller amounts (<0.01% of dry mass) are referred to as micronutrients or trace elements and include Ni, Mo, Cu, Zn, Mn, B, Fe, and Cl. Plant growth and development depends on a balanced supply of these essential elements and thus the plant has a range of homeostatic mechanisms operating to ensure that this is maintained. Beneficial elements which promote growth and may be essential to some taxa, include Na, Co, Al, Se and Si. Elements such as the heavy metal Cd and the metalloid As have no demonstrated biological function in plants, but are nevertheless taken up and cause severe toxicity in most plant species. The concept for this special issue is the plant ionome, a word coined to encompass all these elements and allow focussed discussion and investigations on the mechanisms that co-ordinately regulate these elements in response to genetic and environmental factors reviewed in Salt et al., 2008).

Waterfowl Habitat Management Handbook For The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Bronson K. Strickland, Richard M. Kaminski, Kevin Nelms, Adam Tullos, Andrew W. Ezell, Billy Hill, Kris Casscles Godwin, Joshua C. Chester, John D. Madsen

Other Publications in Wildlife Management

To sustain waterfowl populations at levels of the 1970s, as prescribed by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (1986), private landowners must continue to provide habitat for wetland wildlife. Private landowners oversee the majority of wetlands remaining in the United States, so their cooperation is essential to any major conservation effort to restore and sustain waterfowl populations in the Mississippi Flyway. Many groups have worked together since the 1980s to develop waterfowl habitat on private lands.Much progress has been made, and this publication helps guide continuing efforts. This publication is for private landowners in the Lower Mississippi Flyway who want …

State Of The River Report For Toxics, Bradley Carter

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strives to prevent pollution, protect water quality and improve ecosystems in order to reduce risks to human health and the environment. As outlined in the Agency’s Strategic Plan, the Columbia River Basin was identified as a "National Priority" and designated as one of our nation’s seven "Large Aquatic Ecosystems". This designation grants legislative status equal to the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, South Florida Ecosystem, Long Island Sound and Puget Sound. The Strategic Plan is the Agency’s road map of future work efforts, and targets specific goals that are expected to …

Report On Polyacrylamide, A Practice To Reduce Sediment And Insoluable Chemicals In Tailwater, Tara Slaven

Bulletins 4000 -

The main barrier to the adoption of PAM seems to the timing of the cost of outlay. This could add significantly to the initial crop establishment costs at a time of year when rowers receive no income. However, the partial and parametric analysis indicates that there re benefits from using PAM as part of the crop management cycle. These benefits are from ving water, retaining sediment on-farm and reducing the cost of delving drains. There are ther potential economic benefits including the retainment of phosphorus as a plant nutrient n-farm and subsequent yield increases.

Additionally, the off-site environmental impacts seem …

Understanding Elementary Teachers' Use Of Science Teaching Time: Lessons From The Big Sky Science Partnership, R. Jones, E. Swanson

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2009, 129th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Nineteenth Annual Meeting

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Earth Science

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Biological and Medical Sciences

Nebraska Wesleyan University Health and Sciences Graduate School Fair

Junior Academy: Senior High Competition

Aeronautics and Space Science, Poster Session

History and Philosophy of Science

Teaching of Science and Math

Maiben Memorial Lecture: Donald Frey, Department of Family Practice, Creighton University Medical Center

Anthropology

Chemistry and Physics

Junior Academy, Junior High Competition

Health Literacy In The Mathematics Classroom: The Iowa Core Curriculum As An Opportunity To Deepen Students’ Understanding Of Mathematics, Elana Joram, Susan Roberts-Dobie, Nadene Davidson

Faculty Publications

By 2012, all high schools in Iowa will be required to incorporate the new Iowa Core Curriculum, followed by elementary and middle schools in 2014 (Iowa Department of Education, 2009). The Iowa Core Curriculum addresses the question: "How is Iowa's educational system preparing our youth for successful lives in the 21st-century global environment?" (Davidson, 2009). It consists of core content standards, and identifies essential concepts and skills for content areas. The Iowa Core Curriculum also includes the ―21st Century Skills‖ of ―health, financial, technology, and civic literacy, and employability skills. These skills are to be infused into existing subject matter …

Development And Evaluation Of A Novel Automated Physchophysical Instrument For The Investigation Of Nyctalopia Using Multiple Stimulus Light Emitting Diode Matrix Display Arrays., David M.C. O'Brien

Doctoral

Vitamin A deficiency primarily affects young children in developing countries, the symptoms of which initially present as nyctalopia, an inability of the eyes of ‘see’ in low luminance levels, specifically at twilight or at night. Vitamin A deficiency is a major cause of blindness in developing countries and is associated with significant increases in child morbidity and mortality. Nyctalopia may be examined using dark adaptometry; however, current methods of dark adaptometry have many practical limitations, including their unsuitability for use with children. This thesis reports on the design, construction, testing and evaluation of a novel automated dark adaptometer for use …

The Assessment Of Associations Between Organochlorine Pollutants And Hypertension And Blood Pressure Among Anniston (Alabama) Residents, Alexey Borislavovich Goncharov

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Hypertension is recognized as one of the serious chronic diseases of humankind and as a major risk factor for death from heart attack and stroke. The cause of essential hypertension is poorly understood. We have investigated the relationship of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and organochlorine pesticide exposure with hypertension and blood pressure in organochlorines exposed residents of Anniston, Alabama.

Metal Concentrations In Native Yupik Foodstuffs From St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, Judith Kricheff

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The Yupik people of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska have a traditional subsistence lifestyle with the majority of their diet consisting of local birds, fish, seal, walrus, and whale. Diets based on fish and marine mammals, such as the Yupik diet, are potential pathways for exposure to mercury and other toxic metals. At St. Lawrence Island, metal contaminants may come from local sources such as weathered rock or two abandoned U.S. military bases or remote sources through atmospheric deposition or seasonal migration of animals to the island.
The main goals of this study are to determine the total concentrations of copper …

Biomonitoring For Exposure To Trace Elements In Utero : Analysis Of The Human Placenta, Pamela Catherine Kruger

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The placenta forms in eutherian mammals, and is responsible for the nutrition of the developing fetus. However, maternal exposure to environmental pollutants both before and during pregnancy may result in the passage of toxins through the placental barrier and into fetal tissues. The placenta is the only organ derived from both maternal and fetal tissues, and establishes a link between the fetus and the environmental exposures of the mother. The analysis of placentae for the presence of environmental pollutants offers the possibility of exposure measurements in both the mother and the developing fetus. Specifically, trace element determination in human placentae …

A Simple Spectrophotometric Method For The Determination Of Iron(Ii) Aqueous Solutions, M. Jamaluddin Ahmed, Uttam Kumer Roy

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

An ultra-sensitive and highly selective non-extractive spectrophotometric method is presented for the rapid determination of iron(II) at trace levels using 2', 3, 4', 5, 7-Pentahydroxyflavone (morin) as a new spectrophotometric reagent in slightly acidic solution (0.0001-0.0002 M H_2SO_4). The reaction is instantaneous and absorbance remains stable for over 24 h (\lambda_{max} = 415 nm). The molar absorptivity was found to be 6.85 \times 10^4 L mol^{-1} cm^{-1}. Linear calibration graphs were obtained for 0.01-10 \mu g mL^{-1} of Fe^{II}. The stoichiometric composition of the chelate is 1:2 (Fe:morin). Large excesses of over 50 cations, anions, and complexing agents (e.g., tartrate, …