Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Of Small Mammal Species To Habitat Variables In West-Central Georgia And East-Central Alabama, Patricia Maureen Kosky

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of environmental variables upon small mammal species distribution in 60 plots on Fort Benning, Muscogee and Chattahoochee Counties, Georgia and Russell County, Alabama. The small mammal fieldwork was carried out in December of 1994 through January of 1995. The vegetation was inventoried in June through October of 1995. During this period, 235 small mammals were trapped in a total of 5950 trap nights. A total of 10 small mammal species and 234 plant species were identified. The small mammal species abundance's were determined by using snap trapping along the plot …

High Efficiency Separation Of Microbial Aggregates Using Capillary Electrophoresis, J. M. Schneiderheinze, Daniel W. Armstrong, G. Schulte, David J. Westenberg

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recent advances in the technique of capillary electrophoresis have demonstrated fast, highly efficient separation of mixtures of intact microbes. This paper describes the application of this technique for the separation of microbial aggregates of Micrococcus luteus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Alcaligenes faecalis. The aggregates of these microbes were resolved into several highly efficient peaks with analysis times under 10 min and efficiencies approaching 1 000 000 plates m-1 in some cases. A reproducible relationship was found between the electrophoretic mobility and the aggregation number or size of the cluster under a given set of experimental conditions. Often, cellular aggregation was reversible …

Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes Of Betamethasone-Related Steroids Studied Using Hplc, Keith Gerald Flood

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Alteration Processes Of Alkenones And Related Lipids In Water Columns And Sediments, H. Rodger Harvey

OES Faculty Publications

Alkenones produced by the haptophyte algae are currently being used as indices of sea surface temperature in recent and past ocean environments, but limited information is available concerning the impact of biotic and abiotic processes on the integrity of these long chain lipids. This synthesis provides selected background information on major alteration processes that must be considered before such indices can be used with confidence. A number of processes in the water column and surface sediments have the potential to impact the structural integrity of alkenones and compromise their ability as temperature markers. Processes discussed include the alteration of alkenone …

Reaction Of Caffeic Acid With Amino Acids, Yonggang Wang

Masters Theses

The reaction of caffeic acid with tryptophan was studied as a model for the reaction of caffeic acid with amino acids in the aquatic environment. Although the autoxidation reaction of caffeic acid in aqueous solution with subsequent dimerization had been previously studied, it was examined as well for comparison purposes. The present studies demonstrate that oxidized caffeic acid would react with tryptophan. The reaction, like the dimerization reaction, was catalyzed by the presence of iron(III) ions at low pH ( <4) and by hydroxide ions at high pH (10). The reaction of caffeic acid with itself yielded six products, four of which were identified by mass spectroscopy as dimers, with the other two being trimers. The reaction of caffeic acid with tryptophan yielded three product peaks. Two of the product peaks had similar retention times to the dimers from the self-reaction of caffeic acid; the third was a new product resulting from the reaction of caffeic acid with the tryptophan.

A mechanism for the reaction of caffeic acid with tryptophan has been proposed. This mechanism was based on the analysis …

Mechanical Mouse Lure For Brown Treesnakes, Alexandria C. Lindberg, John A. Shivik, Larry Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The importance of prey movement for stimulating feeding behavior of Brown Treesnakes was tested by using a mechanical mouse model in combination with and without prey odor. Prey movement was found to be important in stimulating brown treesnake feeding behavior. Prey movement combined with prey odor was not significantly different than prey movement alone. In the development of simple artificial lures based on the stimulus of live mice, visual lures lacking movement are likely to be ineffective. Lures that combine a visual moving stimulus with prey odor are likely to be the most effective artificial lure for trapping brown treesnakes.

42nd Rocky Mountain Conference On Analytical Chemistry

Rocky Mountain Conference on Magnetic Resonance

Abstracts from the 42nd annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conference on Analytical Chemistry, co-sponsored by the Colorado Section of the American Chemical Society and the Rocky Mountain Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Held in Broomfield, Colorado, July 30 - August 3, 2000.

Rescaling The Energy Function In Hopfield Networks, Tony R. Martinez, Xinchuan Zeng

Faculty Publications

In this paper we propose an approach that rescales the distance matrix of the energy function in the Hopfield network for solving optimization problems. We rescale the distance matrix by normalizing each row in the matrix and then adjusting the parameter for the distance term. This scheme has the capability of reducing the effects of clustering in data distributions, which is one of main reasons for the formation of invalid solutions. We evaluate this approach through a large number (20,000) simulations based on 200 randomly generated city distributions of the 10-city traveling salesman problem. The result shows that, compared to …

Dynamics Of Green Ash Woodlands In Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Lynn R. Irby, Jack E. Norland, Mark G. Sullivan, Jerry A. Westfall, Jr., Paula Andersen

United States National Park Service: Publications

Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.) communities are valuable as sources of biological diversity and shelter for livestock in the Northern Great Plains. Excessive use of stands by livestock tends to convert these woodland communities to less valuable shrublands. We monitored 12 green ash stands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) from 1985 through 1996 to determine changes in species composition, plant density, and canopy coverage in green ash communities that were protected from livestock but exposed to foraging by native ungulates. Over the 12-year sampling period, density of choke cherry (Prunus virginiana L.) and Saskatoon service-berry (Amelanchier …

The Eos Prototype Validation Exercise (Prove) At Jornada: Overview And Lessons Learned, J. L. Privette, G. P. Asner, J. Conel, K. F. Huemmrich, R. Olson, A. Rango, A. F. Rahman, K. Thome, Elizabeth A. Walter-Shea

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Earth Observing System (EOS) instrument teams must validate the operational products they produce from the Terra spacecraft data. As a pilot for future validation activities, four EOS teams (MODIS, MISR, ASTER, and Landsat-7) and community experts conducted an 11-day field campaign in May 1997 near Las Cruces, NM. The goals of the Prototype Validation Exercise (PROVE) included (1) gaining experience in the collection and use of field data for EOS product validation; (2) developing coordination, measurement, and data-archiving protocols; and (3) compiling a synoptic land and atmospheric data set for testing algorithms. PROVE was held at the USDA-Agricultural Research …

Pyridoxamine, An Inhibitor Of Advanced Glycation Reactions, Also Inhibits Advanced Lipoxidation Reactions: Mechanism Of Action Of Pyridoxamine, Joelle M. Onorato, Alicia J. Jenkins, Suzanne R. Thorpe, John W. Baynes

Faculty Publications

Maillard or browning reactions lead to formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) on protein and contribute to the increase in chemical modification of proteins during aging and in diabetes. AGE inhibitors such as aminoguanidine and pyridoxamine (PM) have proven effective in animal model and clinical studies as inhibitors of AGE formation and development of diabetic complications. We report here that PM also inhibits the chemical modification of proteins during lipid peroxidation (lipoxidation) reactions in vitro, and we show that it traps reactive intermediates formed during lipid peroxidation. In reactions of arachidonate with the model protein RNase, PM prevented modification …

Interaction Of Mitochondrial Elongation Factor Tu With Aminoacyl-Trna And Elongation Factor Ts, Ying Chun Cai, James M. Bullard, Nancy L. Thompson, Linda L. Spremulli

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Elongation factor (EF) Tu promotes the binding of aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) to the acceptor site of the ribosome. This process requires the formation of a ternary complex (EF-Tu·GTP·aa-tRNA). EF-Tu is released from the ribosome as an EF-Tu·GDP complex. Exchange of GDP for GTP is carried out through the formation of a complex with EF-Ts (EF-Tu·Ts). Mammalian mitochondrial EF-Tu (EF-Tu_mt) differs from the corresponding prokaryotic factors in having a much lower affinity for guanine nucleotides. To further understand the EF-Tu_mt subcycle, the dissociation constants for the release of aa-tRNA from the ternary complex (K _tRNA) and for …

Trophic Dynamics And Pollution Effects In Cave Springs Cave, Arkansas, G. O. Graening, Arthur V. Brown

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Status Survey Of Aquatic Cave Fauna In Arkansas, G. O. Graening, Arthur V. Brown

Arkansas Water Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Dimensionality Reduction Using Genetic Algorithms, Michael L. Raymer, William F. Punch, Erik D. Goodman, Leslie A. Kuhn, Anil K. Jain

Kno.e.sis Publications

Pattern recognition generally requires that objects be described in terms of a set of measurable features. The selection and quality of the features representing each pattern affect the success of subsequent classification. Feature extraction is the process of deriving new features from original features to reduce the cost of feature measurement, increase classifier efficiency, and allow higher accuracy. Many feature extraction techniques involve linear transformations of the original pattern vectors to new vectors of lower dimensionality. While this is useful for data visualization and classification efficiency, it does not necessarily reduce the number of features to be measured since each …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 42 Number 1, Summer 2000, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES? By Miriam Schulman. Beyond the hype of the headlines, there are no simple answers to the ethical questions raised by genetically modified food.

14 - BRAVE NEW WORLD By Tamara Straus. Now the lawyers want inside your head as they struggle to answer, "Who owns an idea?" Just the mere question is changing the face of legal education.

18 - THE GREAT GRADE GIVEAWAY By Jeff Zorn. Today's grades don't mean jack. So says one Santa Clara professor in this memoir and commentary on the evils of modern day grade inflation.

22 - …

Fluid Flow In Micro-Channels: A Stochastic Approach, Hilda Marino Black

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study free molecular flow in a micro-channel was modeled using a stochastic approach, namely the Kolmogorov forward equation in three dimensions. Model equations were discretized using Central Difference and Backward Difference methods and solved using the Jacobi method. Parameters were used that reflect the characteristic geometry of experimental work performed at the Louisiana Tech University Institute for Micromanufacturing.

The solution to the model equations provided the probability density function of the distance traveled by a particle in the micro-channel. From this distribution we obtained the distribution of the residence time of a particle in the micro-channel. Knowledge of …

The Probe, Issue 211 - July/August 2000

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

CONTENTS:
NADCA Election Results Announced
Editor's Farewell
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Bill Clay to Head Wildlife Services
Editors Farewell

Parasite Makes Rats More Vulnerable to Cats Crazed Beaver Terrorizes Farm
Mounties Don't Like Shooting Bears
Book Review: "Mammal Trapping"
PETA Attacks Wyoming License Plates

The Probe, Issue 211 - July/August 2000

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

CONTENTS:
NADCA Election Results Announced
Editor's Farewell
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Bill Clay to Head Wildlife Services
Editors Farewell
Parasite Makes Rats More Vulnerable to Cats Crazed Beaver Terrorizes Farm
Mounties Don't Like Shooting Bears
Book Review: "Mammal Trapping"
PETA Attacks Wyoming License Plates

Scwds Briefs: Volume 16, Number 2 (July 2000)

Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study: Publications

• CWD and Human Health: “There currently is no evidence that Chronic Wasting Disease in Cervidae is transmitted to humans”…
• SCWDS recently completed the fieldwork of a research project to investigate the epidemiology of avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM), previously known as the Avian Brain Lesion Syndrome (ABLS).
• NIH Funds SCWDS Ehrlichiosis Study: Since 1985, three new tickborne zoonoses caused by bacteria in the genus Ehrlichia have been recognized in the United States. Human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis (HME) caused by E. chaffeensis occurs across a broad area of the eastern and south-central United States. HME is transmitted by lone star …

Is Information Systems A Science? An Inquiry Into The Nature Of The Information Systems Discipline, Deepak Khazanchi, Bjørn Erik Munkvold

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

The Information Systems (IS) discipline is apparently undergoing an identity crisis. Academicians question the need for IS departments in colleges stating the absence of a core for the field and its integration within other business functions as a basis for its elimination. At the same time, many practitioners, as reflected in the US government's recent IT labor shortage report, continue to ignore IS as a distinct field of study. This article briefly outlines these and other challenges and argues that notwithstanding underlying philosophical differences, it can be concluded that IS is an emerging scientific discipline. This conclusion is reached through …

Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre Newsletter, Volume 7-1, Summer 2000

Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre: Newsletters and Publications

New Staff Member - Western/Northern Regional Centre Surveillance for West Nile Virus - Summer 2000 Dorsal-spined Larvae in Cervids Organophosphate Pesticide Poisoning of Seagulls - St. John's, Newfoundland Successful euthanasia of a juvenile fin whale Psittacosis in Wild Rock Doves Walleye myopathy The St-Lawrence beluga whale: summary of lesions detected in stranded individuals submitted for necropsy during 1999 An Epizootic of Iridovirus in Oregon Spotted Frog Tadpoles (Rana pretiosa) Epidemic Avian Cholera in Double-Crested Cormorants in Saskatchewan Winter Ticks in Stone's Sheep California Bighorn Sheep in British Columbia

Benthic Biological Monitoring Program Of The Elizabeth River Watershed (1999), Daniel M. Dauer

Elizabeth River Reports

Executive Summary

A study of the macrobenthic communities of the Elizabeth River watershed was conducted in summer 1999. The three objectives of the Benthic Biological Monitoring Program of the Elizabeth River watershed are: (1) To characterize the health of regional areas of the tidal waters of the Elizabeth River watershed Chesapeake Bay as indicated by the structure of the benthic communities. These characterizations are based upon application of benthic restoration goals and the Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (BIBI) developed for the Chesapeake Bay to five primary strata - the Mainstem of the river, the Lafayette River, the Southern Branch, …

Synthesis And Antimalarial Activity Of Sixteen Dispiro-1,2,4,5-Tetraoxanes: Alkyl-Substituted 7,8,15,16-Tetraoxadispiro[5.2.5.2]Hexadecanes, Jonathan L. Vennerstrom, Yuxiang Dong, Walter Reed Army Institute Of Research, Arba L. Ager Jr., Hong-Ning Fu, Sheri M. Walters, James K. Wood, Geoffrey Edwards, Alexandra D. Holme, W. Graham Mclean

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Sixteen alkyl-substituted dispiro-1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes (7,8,15,16-tetraoxadispiro[5.2.5.2]hexadecanes) were synthesized to explore dispiro-1,2,4,5-tetraoxane SAR and to identify tetraoxanes with better oral antimalarial activity than prototype tetraoxane 1 (WR 148999). The tetraoxanes were prepared either by peroxidation of the corresponding cyclohexanone derivatives in H₂-SO₄/CH₃CN or by ozonolysis of the corresponding cyclohexanone methyl oximes. Those tetraoxanes with alkyl substituents at the 1 and 10 positions were formed as single stereoisomers, whereas the five tetraoxanes formed without the stereochemical control provided by alkyl groups at the 1 and 10 positions were isolated as mixtures of diastereomers. Three of the sixteen …

Path Planning For Planar Articulated Robots Using Configuration Spaces And Compliant Motion, Elisha Sacks

Department of Computer Science Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Investigations On The Use Of Ion Mobility Spectrometry For Clinical Chemistry Applications, Henri Parson Patten

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

The major objective of this research is to examine ion mobility spectrometry as a rapid screening tool for specific application to clinical chemistry research and laboratory use. Methodology was developed for target analytes representing several classes of physiologically active substances, including anesthetics, illicit drugs, and their metabolites. The IMS characteristics of animal tissues and other compounds such as amino acids and proteins were determined. Quality assurance and control procedures were developed for specific quality data objectives. Criteria were established relating to use of IMS for assessing the precision and accuracy of data, qualitative screening, and semi-quantitative analyses.

It was found …

Simpson's Paradox Can Emerge From The N-Player Prisoner's Dilemma: Implications For The Evolution Of Altruistic Behavior, Jeffrey Alan Fletcher, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Simulations of the n-player Prisoner’s Dilemma in multiple populations reveal that Simpson’s paradox can emerge in such game-theoretic situations. The relative proportion of cooperators can decrease in each separate sub-population, while the proportion of cooperators in the total population can nonetheless increase, at least transiently. Factors that determine the longevity of this effect are under investigation. The increase of altruistic behavior exhibited in these simulations is not based on reciprocal altruism, as there are no strategies conditional on other players’ past actions, nor does it depend on kin selection via inclusive fitness, as there are no genes. This model is …

Effects Of Elevated Atmospheric Co2 On Root Growth, Turnover And Decomposition In A Scrub Oak Ecosystem, John Joseph Dilustro

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are increasing and predicted to double this century. The implications of this rise on vegetation structure and function are not well understood. Measurement of root growth response to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide is critical to understanding soil carbon input. I investigated the effects of elevated carbon dioxide on fine root growth and decomposition using open top chambers with both ambient and elevated (700 PPM) CO₂ treatments in an oak-palmetto scrub ecosystem at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Minirhizotron tubes were installed in each elevated and control chamber to allow observation of roots. Each tube was sampled …

Carbon Nanotube-Based Nonvolatile Random Access Memory For Molecular Computing, Thomas Rueckes, Kyoungha Kim, Ernesto Joselevich, Greg Y. Tseng, Chin Li Cheung, Charles M. Lieber

Barry Chin Li Cheung Publications

A concept for molecular electronics exploiting carbon nanotubes as both molecular device elements and molecular wires for reading and writing information was developed. Each device element is based on a suspended, crossed nanotube geometry that leads to bistable, electrostatically switchable ON/OFF states. The device elements are naturally addressable in large arrays by the carbon nanotube molecular wires making up the devices. These reversible, bistable device elements could be used to construct nonvolatile random access memory and logic function tables at an integration level approaching 1012 elements per square centimeter and an element operation frequency in excess of 100 gigahertz. The …

Degradation In The Brockman River And Ellen Brook Catchments, Western Australia, Brian Lloyd

Natural resources published reports

An eight day survey of degradation in the Ellen Brook and Brockman River catchments revealed several areas of concern. Key concerns are:

Erosion and sedimentation

Various forms of erosion were observed during the survey that would cumulatively have an effect on the quality of both the Ellen Brook and the Brockman Rivers, and ultimately the Swan River. Erosion resulted from many situations including landholder management, subdivision design and infrastructure maintenance. Raising awareness as to consequences of erosion and sedimentation, along with remedial techniques and best management practices is recommended for the various levels of stakeholders.

Eutrophication

Eutrophication has been established …