Digital Commons Network^™

Surface Dynamics Of Crude And Weathered Oil In The Presence Of Dispersants: Laboratory Experiment And Numerical Simulation, Alexander Soloviev, Brian K. Haus, Michael G. Mcgauley, Cayla Whitney Dean, David G. Ortiz-Suslow, Nathan J. M. Laxague, Tamay M. Ozgokmen

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Marine oil spills can have dire consequences for the environment. Research on their dynamics is important for the well-being of coastal communities and their economies. Propagation of oil spills is a very complex physical-chemical process. As seen during the Deepwater Horizon event in the Gulf of Mexico during 2010, one of the critical problems remaining for prediction of oil transport and dispersion in the marine environment is the small-scale structure and dynamics of surface oil spills. The laboratory experiments conducted in this work were focused on understanding the differences between the dynamics of crude and weathered oil spills and the …

The Illness-Disease Dynamic: Psychological Wellbeing In Type 2 Diabetes: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Claire Mckenzie, Kristina Bennert, David Kessler, Alan Montgomery

The Qualitative Report

Distress and depression often go unrecognised in people with diabetes. In this article, I present an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of the lived experience of people with Type 2 diabetes, based on individual in-depth interviews with 10 patients. The purpose of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of these psychological symptoms through a detailed examination of how patients interpret and respond to their experience of the condition. I propose a revised model for the connection between the disease of diabetes and patients’ lived experiences of illness, as one of embodied coexistence rather than relation. Through my analysis, I …

Abundance And Diversity Of Deep-Sea Crustaceans Of Bear Seamount, New England Seamount Chain, Valerie Miranda

HCAS Graduate Science Research Symposium

Bear Seamount (39° 55’ N; 67° 30’ W) is the westernmost peak of extinct undersea volcanoes in the New England Seamount Chain (Moore et al., 2003). It is located on the continental slope off Georges Bank, and is governed by unique environmental factors and currents that may be unlike those of the other seamounts (Moore et al., 2003). Previous cruises to this seamount have been successful in capturing abundant fishes, cephalopods and invertebrates (Moore et al., 2003; Moore et al., 2004; Moore et al., 2008), but only the distribution patterns of the fishes and cephalopods have been examined, leaving a …

Vision And Bioluminescence In Deep-Sea Crustaceans, Tamara Frank

HCAS Graduate Science Research Symposium

Adaptations of the visual systems of deep-sea crustaceans to dim light environments are driven not only by environmental light, but also biologically produced light, or bioluminescence. In the pelagic zone, the relationship is driven, at least in part, by intrinsic bioluminescence. The unusual possession of UV sensitivity, in additional to the expected blue sensitivity, in several species of deep-sea crustaceans appears to be linked to their two modes of bioluminescence. In the benthic zone, the relationship is not so clear. On several NOAA-OER funded research expeditions, electrophysiological studies were conducted on a number of species of decapod crustaceans collected with …

Characterization Of The Marine Sponge Amphimedon Compressa Microbiome Across A Spatial Gradient, Renee Michelle Potens

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Diverse and ecologically important microbial communities (microbiomes) are symbiotic within marine sponges. In this study, the microbiome of Amphimedon compressa from three sample locations (Broward and Dade Counties, Southeast Florida, USA and the Southern Caribbean, Bocas del Toro, Panama) is characterized using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing. The predominant taxa are Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria, as expected for Low Microbial Abundance sponges, accounting for over 53% of the total microbiome community. The numbers of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) decrease from Broward County (2,900) to Dade County (2,300) and then Bocas del Toro (1,200). The correlates to a decreasing north-south gradient of …

Monitoring A Problem: Evaluating The Ecological Status Of The Invasive Nile Monitor In Florida And Forecasting Population Expansion Using Computational Gis, Noah Cohen

HCAS Graduate Science Research Symposium

The state of Florida is an epicenter for the introduction of exotic terrestrial and marine species, often which are attributed to the pet industry. Identifying the threats posed by exotics that may become invasive is critical to manage and protect indigenous species and habitats. One such exotic that is now invasive in Florida is the Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus). The Nile monitor is a large, predatory lizard native to central and southern Africa that is thought to have been introduced to Florida via both intentional and unintentional releases associated with the exotic pet trade. Since their introduction, Nile monitors have …

Genomic Assembly Analyses Of Asian Teleost Species Seabass (Lates Calcarifer) And Arowana (Scleropages Formosus), Stephen O'Brien

HCAS Graduate Science Research Symposium

The genome assembly and annotation of Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) , a marine teleost with aquaculture relevance will be described, an initiative of Genome 10K . Though > 500 eukaryotic genome sequences are available in public repositories, the majority are highly fragmented with incomplete assemblies, so considerable effort and resources are often spent to improve their quality. In the present study, PacBio long read sequencing , genetic and optical mapping, and syntenic inference were combined to build a chromosome-length assembly with a contig N50 size over 1 Mb and scaffold N50 size over 25 Mb that span ~90% of the genome …

If You Build It, Will They Come? Exploring Enhancements To Artificial Structure For Use In Restoration And Mitigation Applications In The Mexican Caribbean, Kirk Kilfoyle

HCAS Graduate Science Research Symposium

A study involving standardized artificial reef modules (ReefballsTM) was conducted in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. The purpose was to explore the use of artificial structure in restoration and mitigation projects in a Caribbean coral reef environment similar to South Florida by applying select experimental treatments hypothesized to accelerate their acquisition of a natural coral reef assemblage. Multiple hypotheses on the progression and interaction between artificial structure and the resulting fish, coral, algal, and non-coral invertebrate assemblages were examined. Each of 40 reefball modules received one of 4 treatments (10 modules/treatment): invertebrate substrate pads, coral transplants, settlement plates, or control. Following deployment, …

Bone-Associated Gene Evolution And The Origin Of Flight In Birds, Joao P. Machado, Warren E. Johnson, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Guojie Zhang, Erich D. Jarvis, Stephen J. O'Brien, Agostinho Antunes

Biology Faculty Articles

Background

Bones have been subjected to considerable selective pressure throughout vertebrate evolution, such as occurred during the adaptations associated with the development of powered flight. Powered flight evolved independently in two extant clades of vertebrates, birds and bats. While this trait provided advantages such as in aerial foraging habits, escape from predators or long-distance travels, it also imposed great challenges, namely in the bone structure.

Results

We performed comparative genomic analyses of 89 bone-associated genes from 47 avian genomes (including 45 new), 39 mammalian, and 20 reptilian genomes, and demonstrate that birds, after correcting for multiple testing, have an almost …

High Resolution Study Of The Spatial Distributions Of Abyssal Fishes By Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Rosanna Milligan, K. J. Morris, B. J. Bett, J. M. Durden, D. O. B. Jones, K. Robert, H. A. Ruhl, D. M. Bailey

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

On abyssal plains, demersal fish are believed to play an important role in transferring energy across the seafloor and between the pelagic and benthic realms. However, little is known about their spatial distributions, making it difficult to quantify their ecological significance. To address this, we employed an autonomous underwater vehicle to conduct an exceptionally large photographic survey of fish distributions on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (NE Atlantic, 4850 m water depth) encompassing two spatial scales (1–10 km²) on and adjacent to a small abyssal hill (240 m elevation). The spatial distributions of the total fish fauna and that …

2016 Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Successful Enrichment And Recovery Of Whole Mitochondrial Genomes From Ancient Human Dental Calculus, Andrew T. Ozga, Maria A. Nieves-Colon, Tanvi P. Honap, Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, Courtney A. Hofman, George R. Milner, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Anne C. Stone, Christina Warinner

Biology Faculty Articles

Objectives

Archaeological dental calculus is a rich source of host‐associated biomolecules. Importantly, however, dental calculus is more accurately described as a calcified microbial biofilm than a host tissue. As such, concerns regarding destructive analysis of human remains may not apply as strongly to dental calculus, opening the possibility of obtaining human health and ancestry information from dental calculus in cases where destructive analysis of conventional skeletal remains is not permitted. Here we investigate the preservation of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in archaeological dental calculus and its potential for full mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) reconstruction in maternal lineage ancestry analysis.

Materials and …

Response To Comment By Faurby, Werdelin And Svenning, Stephen J. O'Brien, Klaus Peter Koepfli, Eduardo Eizirik, Warren Johnson, Carlos Driscoll, Agostinho Antunes, Anne Schmidt-Kuntzel, Laurie Marker, Pavel Dobrynin

Biology Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Volume 1, Issue 1, Be Still

be Still

No abstract provided.

She Is, Andrew Lister

be Still

No abstract provided.

Untitled, Sara Hartey

be Still

Her work is inspired by a vision of medical equality and the magic within the intricacies of our bodies.

A Mutation In Ltbp2 Causes Congenital Glaucoma In Domestic Cats (Felis Catus), Markus H. Kuehn, Koren A. Lipsett, Marilyn Menotti-Raymond, S. Scott Whitmore, Todd E. Scheetz, Victor A. David, Stephen J. O'Brien, Zhongyuan Zhao, Jackie K. Jens, Elizabeth M. Snella, N. Matthew Ellinwood, Gillian J. Mclellan

Biology Faculty Articles

The glaucomas are a group of diseases characterized by optic nerve damage that together represent a leading cause of blindness in the human population and in domestic animals. Here we report a mutation in LTBP2 that causes primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) in domestic cats. We identified a spontaneous form of PCG in cats and established a breeding colony segregating for PCG consistent with fully penetrant, autosomal recessive inheritance of the trait. Elevated intraocular pressure, globe enlargement and elongated ciliary processes were consistently observed in all affected cats by 8 weeks of age. Varying degrees of optic nerve damage resulted by …

Comparative Use Of A Caribbean Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem And Association With Fish Spawning Aggregations By Three Species Of Shark, Alexandra E. Pickard, Jeremy Vaudo, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Richard S. Nemeth, Jeremiah Blondeau, Elizabeth Kadison, Mahmood S. Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Understanding of species interactions within mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs; ~ 30–150 m) lags well behind that for shallow coral reefs. MCEs are often sites of fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) for a variety of species, including many groupers. Such reproductive fish aggregations represent temporal concentrations of potential prey that may be drivers of habitat use by predatory species, including sharks. We investigated movements of three species of sharks within a MCE and in relation to FSAs located on the shelf edge south of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. Movements of 17 tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier), seven lemon (Negaprion …

Medical Education Digest, Vol. 18 No. 3 (May-June 2016) Final Issue, Nova Southeastern University

Medical Education Digest

No abstract provided.

Science Alive!: Connecting With Elementary Students Through Science Exploration, Aarti Raja, Emily F. Schmitt Lavin, Tamara Gali, Kaitlin Donovan

Biology Faculty Articles

A novel program called Science Alive! was developed by undergraduate faculty members, K–12 school teachers, and undergraduate students to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) literacy at community schools located near the university. The ultimate goal of the program is to bolster the scientific knowledge and appreciation of local area students and community members and serve as a model for similar programs. Through the program, we observed that elementary school students made gains toward learning their grade-level science curricula after a hands-on learning experience and had fun doing these hands-on activities. Through the program, undergraduate students, working with graduate …

Systematic Patterning Of Sediments In French Polynesian Coral Reef Systems, Andrew Calhoun

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Through a discipline termed “comparative sedimentology”, modern carbonate depositional environments have been used extensively as analogs to aid in the interpretation of equivalent fossil systems. Using field samples, GIS and remote sensing data for three isolated carbonate platforms in the Pacific, this thesis seeks to examine relationships between grain texture and grain type and their environment of deposition. The motivation is to highlight relationships that have the potential to better understand facies relations on carbonate platforms, and thereby reduce uncertainty and increase accuracy of subsurface exploration. The results of this study show that on Raivavae, Tubuai, and Bora Bora: French …

Editor's Note, Faren Rajkumar

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Heartless, Ezana Assefa

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Behind The Painting, Anna C. Evora

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Intimacy, Ezana Assefa

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

A Midday's Contemplation, Ezana Assefa

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Death's Epiphany, Kyle Boltson

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Hollow, Kyle Boltson

Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

No abstract provided.

Beyond Theoretical Sensitivity: The Benefits Of Cultural Intuition Within Qualitative Research And Freirean Generative Themes: Four Unique Perspectives, Janet Rocha, Lluliana Alonso, Michaela J. López Mares-Tamayo, Elexia Reyes Mcgovern

The Qualitative Report

To address the benefits of cultural intuition on qualitative inquiry, we highlight four qualitative studies and examine how we, as Chicana scholars, embrace the role cultural intuition plays in our individual studies. In this article, we illustrate how cultural intuition informs our use of Freirean generative themes within our methodological approach. For an in-depth illustration, we each highlight one of the four tenets of cultural intuition and explain how that tenet advises our methodological tools - such as family photographs as archive, student-generated photographs, teacher-generated artifacts, and community archival sources - to create Freirean generative themes with our participants and …