Digital Commons Network^™

Short- And Long-Term Effectiveness Of Coral Disease Treatments, Karen L. Neely, Colin P. Shea, Kevin A. Macaulay, Emily K. Hower, Michelle A. Dobler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Since 2014, stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has led to large-scale mortality of over 20 coral species throughout the Florida Reef Tract. In 2019, in-water disease intervention strategies were implemented to treat affected corals. Two treatment strategies were employed: (1) topical application of an amoxicillin paste directly to disease margins, and (2) application of a chlorinated epoxy to disease margins as well as an adjacent “disease break” trench. Effectiveness of treatments on 2,379 lesions from 725 corals representing five species was evaluated using mixed effects logistic regression models which demonstrated substantially greater effectiveness of amoxicillin compared to chlorine-treated lesions …

Winner-Loser Effects Part 3, Omar T. Eldakar, Natalie Buckwold, Andrew C. Gallup

Biology Faculty Datasets

The dataset is part of an investigation of patterns of wins and losses of two-, three-, and four-game collegiate baseball series for analysis of winner and loser, and residency effects. The dataset is a compilation of publicly available data from Atlantic 10, Conference USA, and Sunbelt conferences for the years 2015-2019.

Halmos College Graduate Academic Calendar 2021-2022, Halmos College Of Arts And Sciences (Hcas)

HCAS Academic Calendars

No abstract provided.

Emotional Labour In The Lifeworld Of Indian Hospitality Employees: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Hirak Dasgupta

The Qualitative Report

In this study we explore the lived experience of emotional labour of ten hospitality employees and tries to get a deeper understanding of how they interpret it in their life world. In-depth interviews were conducted with the front-line employees 4,5-star hotels and high-end restaurants in the city of Pune in Western Indian state of Maharashtra. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to analyse the data, the findings threw up some convergent as well as divergent themes about how the employees interpret the experience in their life world and how they feel about it. Emotional maneuverability, ambivalent disposition, spillover of emotions emerged …

Lessons Learned In Abruptly Switching From In-Person To Remote Data Collection In Light Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Crystal M. Walker, Loretta Alexia Williams, Trimika Bowdre

The Qualitative Report

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a research study that utilized in-person focus groups to collect qualitative data was abruptly shifted to videoconference focus groups to minimize risk to subjects. Protocol amendments consisted of using an online scheduling tool to arrange focus groups by Zoom, providing electronic versions of consent forms and demographic surveys, and highlighting security features of the videoconference software. Lessons were learned from making an abrupt switch from in-person to remote focus groups. Making this type of shift is not simply a matter of switching for researcher convenience but includes determining the appropriateness of an abrupt switch …

Sexual Conflicts In Sand Tiger Sharks Carcharias Taurus (Rafinesque, 1810) In An Artificial Environment, Elizabeth Claus, Alan Henningsen, Mahmood Shivji, Bradley Wetherbee

Biology Faculty Articles

Understanding reproductive behaviours and the environmental conditions that facilitate reproduction is important for successful reproduction in managed care. Complex reproductive behaviours have been observed in both aquarium and free-ranging elasmobranchs. Sexual conflicts, including pre-copulatory behaviours in sand tiger sharks Carcharias taurus in managed care have been previously documented. This study reports observations that corroborate the previous accounts of reproductive behaviours as well as describing novel consexual conflicts between males and detailing the male dominance hierarchy in six sand tigers at the National Aquarium. The observations suggest that male behaviours are not strictly pre-copulatory, as consexual male conflicts occurred to the …

Morphology Transformation Of Foldamer Assemblies Triggered By Single Oxygen Atom On Critical Residue Switch, Byung-Chang Oh, Eunyoung Yoon, Jintaek Gong, Jaewook Kim, Russell W. Driver, Yongjun Kim, Woo Youn Kim, Hee-Seung Lee

Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

The synthesis of morphologically well-defined peptidic materials via self-assembly is challenging but demanding for biocompatible functional materials. Moreover, switching morphology from a given shape to other predictable forms by molecular modification of the identical building block is an even more complicated subject because the self-assembly of flexible peptides is prone to diverge upon subtle structural change. To accomplish controllable morphology transformation, systematic self-assembly studies are performed using congener short β-peptide foldamers to find a minimal structural change that alters the self-assembled morphology. Introduction of oxygen-containing β-amino acid (ATFC) for subtle electronic perturbation on hydrophobic foldamer induces a previously inaccessible solid-state …

Commentary: Unbiasing Genome-Based Analyses Of Selection: An Example Using Iconic Shark Species, Nicholas J. Marra, Michael J. Stanhope, Nathaniel K. Jue, Vincent P. Richards, Stephen J. O'Brien, Agostinho Antunes, Mahmood S. Shivji

Biology Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Motif Wfyy Of Human Primpol Is Crucial To Stabilize The Incoming 3′-Nucleotide During Replication Fork Restart, Patricia R. Calvo, María I. Martínez-Jiménez, Marcos Díaz, Gorazd Stojkovic, Kazutoshi Kasho, Susana Guerra, Sjoerd Wanrooij, Juan Méndez, Luis Blanco

Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

PrimPol is the second primase in human cells, the first with the ability to start DNA chains with dNTPs. PrimPol contributes to DNA damage tolerance by restarting DNA synthesis beyond stalling lesions, acting as a TLS primase. Multiple alignment of eukaryotic PrimPols allowed us to identify a highly conserved motif, WxxY near the invariant motif A, which contains two active site metal ligands in all members of the archeo-eukaryotic primase (AEP) superfamily. In vivo and in vitro analysis of single variants of the WFYY motif of human PrimPol demonstrated that the invariant Trp⁸⁷ and Tyr⁹⁰ residues are essential …

Throwing Pebbles While Waiting: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Mental Health And Colonialism, Kelly Limes Taylor, Rita Sørly, Bengt Karlsson

The Qualitative Report

In this article, three scholars jointly investigate questions of Western colonization and mental health. While their areas of interest and experience vary, the authors discuss oppression as a common thread connecting their ideas about mental health and its medicalization. In line with Toyosaki et al. (2009), the researchers did a community autoethnography, performing written dialogue as a dynamic research method. Using a sequential model, Kelly Limes Taylor wrote about her experience, passed it on to Rita Sørly and Bengt Karlsson. Karlsson added his story to the previous writing, and he passed it on to Sørly for further addition of stories. …

Experiences Of Iranian Women With Prenatal Diagnosis Of Fetal Abnormalities: A Qualitative Study, Fahimeh Ranjbar, Fatemeh Oskouie, Shahrzad Hashemi Dizaji, Maryam Gharacheh

The Qualitative Report

Women are more likely to be diagnosed with congenital anomalies due to advances in new technologies in medical science. Following prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities, women may be forced to make decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy with fetal abnormalities. This can be a dilemma for the women. The aim of the study was to explore women’s experiences of prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities. A qualitative study was conducted in a referral women’s hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2018. Participants were a purposeful sample of 15 women with prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormalities. Data were collected by individual, in-depth …

Genetic, Social And Behavioral Risk Factors Associated With Alzheimer’S Disease, Vineela Nagamalla, Jay Patel, Mir Saleem

Biology Faculty Articles

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition which consists of stages of mental, memory, and cognitive decline. As it continues to stand as the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., 44 million people worldwide are affected. The objective of this paper is to explore the risk factors for AD in an attempt to examine potential causes for the incidence of AD. We examined genetics, lifestyle, and pre-existing conditions as risk factors for AD. We found that there are various alleles, such as APP, PSEN, ADAM, APOE, and TREM2, that play a role in the development of AD. It …

Correction To: Latitudinal Variation In Monthly-Scale Reproductive Synchrony Among Acropora Coral Assemblages In The Indo-Pacific, Jessica Bouwmeester, Alasdair J. Edwards, James R. Guest, Andrew G. Bauman, Michael L. Berumen, Andrew H. Baird

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Saving The Last Unicorns: The Genetic Rescue Of Florida’S Pillar Corals, Karen L. Neely, Cynthia L. Lewis, Keri O’Neil, Cheryl M. Woodley, Jennifer Moore, Zach Ransom, Amelia Moura, Ken Nedimyer, David Vaughan

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

As stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) swept through the Florida Reef Tract, one of the most severely impacted species was the iconic pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus. As the species’ population experienced a precipitous decline, a collaborative rescue project collected colony fragments for safekeeping at onshore and offshore nursery facilities. Between 2015 and 2019, a total of 574 fragments representing 128 genotypes were collected. These are currently dispersed among five facilities where they continue to provide opportunities to (1) refine best husbandry practices for D. cylindrus, (2) develop treatment options for SCTLD that have been adapted for use …

Visualizing Amino Acid Substitutions In A Physicochemical Vector Space, Louis R. Nemzer

Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

A three-dimensional representation of the twenty proteinogenic amino acids in a physicochemical space is presented. Vectors corresponding to amino acid substitutions are classified based on whether they are accessible via a single-nucleotide mutation. It is shown that the standard genetic code establishes a “choice architecture” that permits nearly independent tuning of the properties related with size and those related with hydrophobicity. This work sheds light on the metarules of evolvability that may have shaped the standard genetic code to increase the probability that adaptive point mutations will be generated. An illustration of the usefulness of visualizing amino acid substitutions in …

A Crack In The Looking-Glass Self: Hearing And Socialization, Grace Keyes

The Qualitative Report

A significant problem of classic theories of socialization, such as Cooley’s looking-glass self, is that such theories fail to consider biological factors such as hearing in the process of socialization. To address this problem, I raised a two-pronged question: how does deafness affect social interactions upon which much of socialization is dependent and can the experiences of one person’s lifelong socialization help uncover limitations of a classic theory of socialization? The key study participant in this instrumental case study is an individual with moderately severe hearing loss and whose lifelong experiences were collected primarily through ethnographic field techniques. Findings from …

Experimental Evidence That Metapopulation Structure Can Accelerate Adaptive Evolution, Partha Pratim Chakraborty, Louis R. Nemzer, Rees Kassen

Chemistry and Physics Faculty Articles

Whether the spatial arrangement of a population influences adaptive evolution has been a long-standing question in population genetics. In contrast to standard population genetic models, evolutionary graph theory (EGT) predicts certain topologies amplify (increase) the probability that a beneficial mutation will spread in the population relative to a well-mixed population. Here, we test these predictions empirically by tracking the fixation dynamics of an antibiotic resistant mutant under positive selection as it spreads through networks of different topologies both in vitro and in silico. We show that star-like topologies involving bi-directional dispersal between a central hub and peripheral leaves can …

Temperature Stress And Disease Drives The Extirpation Of The Threatened Pillar Coral, Dendrogyra Cylindrus, In Southeast Florida, Nicholas P. Jones, Lystina Kabay, Kathleen Semon Lunz, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Rare species population dynamics can elucidate the resilience of an ecosystem. On coral reefs, climate change and local anthropogenic stressors are threatening stony coral persistence, increasing the need to assess vulnerable species locally. Here, we monitored the threatened pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, population in southeast Florida, USA, in relation to consecutive heat stress events in 2014 and 2015. In the fall of each year, D. cylindrus colonies bleached following intense thermal stress and by June 2020 all monitored colonies died from a white-syndrome type disease. This resulted in the ecological extinction of D. cylindrus in the Southeast Florida Coral …

Social Wellbeing And Quality Of Life Of People Living With Disorders Of Sex Development And Sex Re-Assignment In Nigeria: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Abdurrahman Muhammad Sani, Ismaila Arzika Mungadi, Ismi Arif Ismail, Mohd Mursyid Arshad, Kim Lam Soh

The Qualitative Report

Disorders of sex development is a complex interaction between biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors, making it necessary for the multidisciplinary team to decide on the individualized patient basis. The characteristics of the individual patient, family and the social background are taken into consideration in order to derive maximum benefit. In developing countries, many people living with disorders of sex development faced serious psychological and social traumas such as marginalization, rejection, isolation, feeling of sadness, feeling of uncertainty, and feeling of shame. Therefore, this study explores the social wellbeing and quality of life of people with disorders of sex development …

Exploring The Catalyst Energizing The Kolb Learning Cycle, Marc Behrendt, Krisanna Machtmes

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

This paper reveals an interconnectedness of three unrelated free-standing but validated models: Kolb’s model of experiential learning, Hidi and Renninger’s model of interest development, and National Research Council’s ecological framework of an experience. The physical, academic, and social aspects define the quality of the experience. The interest stimulated by the experience drives Kolb’s learning cycle. The learning cycle will continue as long as interest is maintained. Together, these three models describe the quality of the experience, the cyclic processing of the experience to create knowledge, and the force driving the cycle.

Building Cultural Competency Among Emerging Public Health Professionals: Student Experiences In Panama, Matthew Fifolt, Meena Nabavi, Erika L. Austin, Lisa C. Mccormick

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

One of the prerequisite skills of effective public health and health practitioners is cultural competency. Cultural competency, however, requires a deep and profound understanding of individuals who are shaped by different life experiences than one’s own. Previous authors have described study abroad and service-learning as established strategies for enhancing cultural competency among emerging health professionals. This article describes how students made meaning of an international study abroad experience in Panama through analysis of student-produced work including reflective journal entries, blog posts, and photo journaling.

In summer 2019, 13 undergraduate and graduate students participated in a four-week travel course to explore …

Perspectives, Summer/Fall 2021, Volume 9, Number 2, Nova Southeastern University

Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Sharksrx Newsletter Summer 2021, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Sharks Rx

No abstract provided.

Stable Isotopes And Community Surveys Reveal Differential Use Of Artificial And Natural Reefs By South Florida Fishes, Christopher Blanar, Joseph R. Hornbeck, David Kerstetter, Amy Hirons

Biology Faculty Articles

Artificial reefs may enhance the biological production of reef-associated flora and fauna, but their trophic structure relative to that of natural reefs remains understudied. We assessed trophic relationships by 1) comparing reef fish communities and 2) comparing δ13C and δ15N in 43 fish species from both artificial reef sites and adjacent natural reef tracts in Broward County, Florida. We tested the effect of sampling location (artificial, first, and second reef), general feeding strategy (herbivore, omnivore, invertivore, and carnivore), phylogeny, and standard length on δ13C and δ15N. The reef fish communities of the artificial and natural reef tracts were significantly different; …

Toxoplasma Gondii Infections Are Associated With Costly Boldness Toward Felids In A Wild Host, Eben Gering, Zachary M. Laubach, Patty Sue D. Weber, Gisela Soboll Hussey, Kenna D. S. Lehmann, Tracy M. Montgomery, Julie W. Turner, Wei Perng, Malit O. Pioon, Kay E. Holekamp, Thomas Getty

Biology Faculty Articles

Toxoplasma gondii is hypothesized to manipulate the behavior of warm-blooded hosts to promote trophic transmission into the parasite’s definitive feline hosts. A key prediction of this hypothesis is that T. gondii infections of non-feline hosts are associated with costly behavior toward T. gondii’s definitive hosts; however, this effect has not been documented in any of the parasite’s diverse wild hosts during naturally occurring interactions with felines. Here, three decades of field observations reveal that T. gondii-infected hyena cubs approach lions more closely than uninfected peers and have higher rates of lion mortality. We discuss these results in light …

Understanding The Stigma And Feasibility Of Opening A Safe Injection Facility In Baltimore City: A Qualitative Case Study, Timothy Dupree, Caroline I. Wood, Andrea M. Brace

The Qualitative Report

Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) are medically supervised facilities designed to provide a hygienic environment in which drug users can consume illicit drugs intravenously. SIFs can be cost saving, help to reduce transmission of disease, and decrease drug overdoses. There are no SIFs in the United States. In this study we used a multiple case study design to understand the stigma surrounding the use of a SIF and the feasibility of implementing the drug prevention strategy in Baltimore City by comparing experiences with opening a SIF in Sydney, Australia. We interviewed one healthcare worker at the Sydney SIF and ten community …

Discursive Psychology For Applied Qualitative Research, Jessica N. Lester, Michelle O'Reilly

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we offer discursive psychology (DP) as a particularly useful analytic approach for engaging in applied research. We begin by overviewing the broad area of discourse analysis and then more specifically describe the contours of discursive psychology. Drawing upon a secondary, shared dataset, we provide a general discussion of the analytic process for conducting a DP informed analysis and offer some example findings. Notably, we highlight the limitations of doing DP work when working with a secondary data set and point also toward the possibilities and opportunities.

Dental Calculus As A Proxy For Animal Microbiomes, Andrew T. Ozga, Claudio Ottoni

Biology Faculty Articles

The field of dental calculus research has exploded in recent years, predominantly due to the multitude of studies related to human genomes and oral pathogens. Despite having a subset of these studies devoted to non-human primates, little progress has been made in the distribution of oral pathogens across domestic and wild animal populations. This overlooked avenue of research is particularly important at present when many animal populations with the potentiality for zoonotic transmission continue to reside in close proximity to human groups due to reasons such as deforestation and climatic impacts on resource availability. Here, we analyze all previously available …

Novel Disk Diffusion Assay On Magnesium Oxalate Agar To Evaluate The Susceptibility Of Yersinia Pestis To Type Iii Secretion System Inhibitors, Sukriti Prashar, Miguel Portales Guemes, Poorandai Shivbaran, Eugenia Jimenez Alvarez, Christopher Soha, Samir Nacer, Michael Mcdonough, Gregory V. Plano, Julie Torruellas Garcia

Biology Faculty Articles

Current methods for screening small molecules that inhibit the plasmid pCD1-encoded Yersinia pestis type III secretion system (T3SS) include lengthy growth curves followed by multistep luminescence assays or Western blot assays to detect secretion, or lack thereof, of effector proteins. The goal of this research was to develop a novel disk diffusion assay on magnesium oxalate (MOX) agar as a simple way to evaluate the susceptibility of Y. pestis to type III secretion system inhibitors. MOX agar produces distinct Y. pestis growth characteristics based on the bacteria’s ability or inability to secrete effector proteins; small, barely visible colonies are observed …

Emotional Turmoil Or Peaceful Agreements? A Phenomenological Study On Coping With Reforms In Higher Education Institution, Merilyn Meristo

The Qualitative Report

Promoting changes in an organisation is never an easy task. Coping with changes is an individual process and affects our individual physical and psychological well-being. This study attempted to analyse how university reforms were experienced by academic staff. It is framed by Self-Determination Theory, according to which there are three basic psychological needs that affect all people: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. I conducted Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith et al., 2009) to gain insight into participants’ experiences during the period of 4 years, 2014-2018. The participants came from two academic staff communities of the same institution. The data collection methods …