Digital Commons Network^™

Limited Rigor In Studies Of Raptor Mortality And Mitigation At Wind Power Facilities, Tara J. Conkling, Christopher J.W. Mcclure, Sandra Cuadros, Scott R. Loss, Todd E. Katzner

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Wind power is an expanding source of renewable energy. However, there are ecological challenges related to wind energy generation, including collisions of wildlife with turbines. Lack of rigor, and variation in study design, together limit efforts to understand the broad-scale effects of wind power infrastructure on wildlife populations. It is not clear, however, whether these types of limitations apply to groups of birds such as raptors that are particularly vulnerable to negative effects of wind energy. We reviewed 672 peer-reviewed publications, unpublished reports, and citations from 321 wind facilities in 12 countries to evaluate methods used to monitor and mitigate …

Long-Term Effect Of A Gnrh-Based Immunocontraceptive On Feral Cattle In Hong Kong, Rebecca Pinkham, Ka-Kei Koon, Jason To, Jason Chan, Flavie Vial, Matt Gomm, Douglas C. Eckery, Giovanna Massei

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Increasing human-wildlife conflicts worldwide are driving the need for multiple solutions to reducing “problem” wildlife and their impacts. Fertility control is advocated as a non-lethal tool to manage free-living wildlife and in particular to control iconic species. Injectable immunocontraceptives, such as GonaCon, stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which in turn affects the release of reproductive hormones in mammals. Feral cattle (Bos indicus or Bos taurus) in Hong Kong are an iconic species whose numbers and impacts on human activities have increased over the last decade. Previous studies have proven that a …

Dynamic Energy Budget Models: Fertile Ground For Understanding Resource Allocation In Plants In A Changing World, Sabrina E. Russo, Glenn Ledder, Erik B. Muller, Roger M. Nisbet

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Climate change is having dramatic effects on the diversity and distribution of species. Many of these effects are mediated by how an organism’s physiological patterns of resource allocation translate into fitness through effects on growth, survival and reproduction. Empirically, resource allocation is challenging to measure directly and so has often been approached using mathematical models, such as Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models. The fact that all plants require a very similar set of exogenous resources, namely light, water and nutrients, integrates well with the DEB framework in which a small number of variables and processes linked through pathways represent an …

Defence Mitigation By Predators Of Chemically Defended Prey Integrated Over The Predation Sequence And Across Biological Levels With A Focus On Cardiotonic Steroids, Shabnam Mohammadi, Lu Yang, Matthew Bulbert, Hannah M. Rowland

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Predator–prey interactions have long served as models for the investigation of adaptation and fitness in natural environments. Anti-predator defences such as mimicry and camouflage provide some of the best examples of evolution. Predators, in turn, have evolved sensory systems, cognitive abilities and physiological resistance to prey defences. In contrast to prey defences which have been reviewed extensively, the evolution of predator counter-strategies has received less attention. To gain a comprehensive view of how prey defences can influence the evolution of predator counter-strategies, it is essential to investigate how and when selection can operate. In this review we evaluate how predators …

Long-Term Effect Of A Gnrh-Based Immunocontraceptive On Feral Cattle In Hong Kong, Rebecca Pinkham, Ka-Kei Koon, Jason To, Jason Chan, Flavie Vial, Matt Gomm, Douglas C. Eckery, Giovanna Massei

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Increasing human-wildlife conflicts worldwide are driving the need for multiple solutions to reducing “problem” wildlife and their impacts. Fertility control is advocated as a non-lethal tool to manage free-living wildlife and in particular to control iconic species. Injectable immunocontraceptives, such as GonaCon, stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which in turn affects the release of reproductive hormones in mammals. Feral cattle (Bos indicus or Bos taurus) in Hong Kong are an iconic species whose numbers and impacts on human activities have increased over the last decade. Previous studies have proven that a …

Co-Twin Relationship Quality As A Moderator Of Genetic And Environmental Factors On Urinary Cortisol Levels Among Adult Twins, Joseph A. Schwartz, Scott Jessick, Jessica L. Calvi, Douglas A. Granger

Athletic Performance Research

Previous research has indicated that genetic and environmental factors shape physiological activity. Cortisol levels, in particular, have received significant attention, with studies indicating substantive heritability estimates across various sampling techniques. A related line of research has indicated that genetic and environmental factors that explain variability in cortisol levels may vary across context and experiences by way of gene-environment interactions (G×Es). Despite these findings, a limited number of studies have examined the extent to which interpersonal relationships may operate as a moderator. The current study focused on co-twin relationship quality as a source of moderation, as twins are more likely to …

Three-Dimensional Printed Abdominal Imaging Windows For In Vivo Imaging Of Deep-Lying Tissues, Mitchell Kuss, Ayrianne J. Crawford, Olawale A. Alimi, Michael A. Hollingsworth, Bin Duan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The ability to microscopically image diseased or damaged tissue throughout a longitudinal study in living mice would provide more insight into disease progression than having just a couple of time points to study. In vivo disease development and monitoring provides more insight than in vitro studies as well. In this study, we developed permanent 3D-printed, surgically implantable abdominal imaging windows (AIWs) to allow for longitudinal imaging of deep-lying tissues or organs in the abdominal cavity of living mice. They are designed to prevent organ movement while allowing the animal to behave normally throughout longitudinal studies. The AIW also acts as …

Permafrost Landscape History Shapes Fluvial Chemistry, Ecosystem Carbon Balance, And Potential Trajectories Of Future Change, Scott Zolkos, Suzanne E. Tank, Steven V. Kokelj, Robert G. Striegl, Sarah Shakil, Carolina Voigt, Oliver Sonnentag, William L. Quinton, Edward A. G. Schuur, Donatella Zona, Peter M. Lafleur, Ryan C. Sullivan, Masahito Ueyama, David P. Billesbach, David Cook, Elyn R. Humphreys, Philip Marsh

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Intensifying permafrost thaw alters carbon cycling by mobilizing large amounts of terrestrial substrate into aquatic ecosystems. Yet, few studies have measured aquatic carbon fluxes and constrained drivers of ecosystem carbon balance across heterogeneous Arctic landscapes. Here, we characterized hydrochemical and landscape controls on fluvial carbon cycling, quantified fluvial carbon fluxes, and estimated fluvial contributions to ecosystem carbon balance across 33 watersheds in four ecoregions in the continuous permafrost zone of the western Canadian Arctic: unglaciated uplands, ice-rich moraine, and organic-rich lowlands and till plains. Major ions, stable isotopes, and carbon speciation and fluxes revealed patterns in carbon cycling across ecoregions …

Constraints On The Evolution Of Toxin-Resistant Na,K-Atpases Have Limited Dependence On Sequence Divergence, Shabnam Mohammadi, Santiago Herrera-Álvarez, Lu Yang, María Del Pilar Rodrı´Guez-Ordoñez, Karen Zhang, Jay F. Storz, Susanne Dobler, Andrew J. Crawford, Peter Andolfatto

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

A growing body of theoretical and experimental evidence suggests that intramolecular epistasis is a major determinant of rates and patterns of protein evolution and imposes a substantial constraint on the evolution of novel protein functions. Here, we examine the role of intramolecular epistasis in the recurrent evolution of resistance to cardiotonic steroids (CTS) across tetrapods, which occurs via specific amino acid substitutions to the α-subunit family of Na,K-ATPases (ATP1A). After identifying a series of recurrent substitutions at two key sites of ATP1A that are predicted to confer CTS resistance in diverse tetrapods, we then performed protein engineering experiments to test …

Attributing Differences Of Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (Sif)-Gross Primary Production (Gpp) Relationships Between Two C4 Crops: Corn And Miscanthus, Genghong Wu, Kaiyu Guan, Chongya Jiang, Hyungsuk Kimm, Guofang Miao, Carl J. Bernacchi, Caitlin E. Moore, Elizabeth A. Ainsworth, Xi Yang, Joseph A. Berry, Christian Frankenberg, Min Chen

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

There remains limited information to characterize the solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF)-gross primary production (GPP) relationship in C4 cropping systems. The annual C4 crop corn and perennial C4 crop miscanthus differ in phenology, canopy structure and leaf physiology. Investigating the SIF-GPP relationships in these species could deepen our understanding of SIF-GPP relationships within C4 crops. Using in situ canopy SIF and GPP measurements for both species along with leaf-level measurements, we found considerable differences in the SIF-GPP relationships between corn and miscanthus, with a stronger SIF-GPP relationship and higher slope of SIF-GPP observed in corn compared to miscanthus. These differences were …

Characterizing Isoform Switching Events In Esophageal Adenocarcinoma, Yu Zhang, Katherine M. Weh, Connor L. Howard, Jean-Jack Riethoven, Jennifer Clarke, Kiran H. Lagisetty, Jules Lin, Rishindra M. Reddy, Andrew C. Chang, David G. Beer, Laura A. Kresty

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Isoform switching events with predicted functional consequences are common in many cancers, but characterization of switching events in esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is lacking. Next-generation sequencing was used to detect levels of RNA transcripts and identify specific isoforms in treatment- naïve esophageal tissues ranging from premalignant Barrett’s esophagus (BE), BE with low- or high-grade dysplasia (BE.LGD, BE.HGD), and EAC. Samples were stratified by histopathology and TP53 mutation status, identifying significant isoform switching events with predicted functional consequences. Comparing BE.LGD with BE.HGD, a histopathology linked to cancer progression, isoform switching events were identified in 75 genes including KRAS, RNF128, and …

Circadian Rhythms Mediate Infection Risk In Daphnia Dentifera, Alaina C. Pfenning-Butterworth, David T. Nguyen, Jessica L. Hite, Clayton E. Cressler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Biological rhythms mediate important within-host processes such as metabolism, immunity, and behavior which are often linked to combating disease exposure. For many hosts, exposure to pathogens occurs while feeding. However, the link between feeding rhythms and infection risk is unclear because feeding behavior is tightly coupled with immune and metabolic processes which may decrease susceptibility to infection. Here, we use the Daphnia dentifera–Metschnikowia bicuspidata host–pathogen system to determine how rhythms in feeding rate and immune function mediate infection risk. The host is known to have a nocturnal circadian rhythm in feeding rate, yet we found that they do not exhibit …

Nonordered Dendritic Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles As Promising Platforms For Advanced Methods Of Diagnosis And Therapies, S. Malekmohammadi, Riaz Ur Rehman Mohammed, H. Samadian, A. Zarebkohan, A. García-Fernández, G. R. Kokil, F. Sharifi, J. Esmaeili, M. Bhia, M. Razavi, M. Bodaghi, T. Kumeria, R. Martínez-Máñez

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) are a new generation of porous materials that have gained great attention compared to other mesoporous silicas due to attractive properties, including straightforward synthesis methods, modular surface chemistry, high surface area, tunable pore size, chemical inertness, particle size distribution, excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high pore volume compared with conventional mesoporous materials. The last years have witnessed a blooming growth of the extensive utilization of DMSNs as an efficient platform in a broad spectrum of biomedical and industrial applications, such as catalysis, energy harvesting, biosensing, drug/gene delivery, imaging, theranostics, and tissue engineering. DMSNs are considered great …

Bacterial Diseases Of Tilapia, Their Zoonotic Potential And Risk Of Antimicrobial Resistance, Olga L. M. Haenen, Ha Thanh Dong, Truong Dinh Hoai, Margaret Crumlish, Iddya Karunasagar, Timothy Barkham, Swaine L. Chen, Ruth Zadoks, Andreas Kiermeier, Bing Wang, Esther Garrido Gamarro, Masami Takeuchi, Mohammad Noor Amal Azma, Belén Fouz, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Zeng Wei Wei, Melba G. Bondad-Reantaso

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Tilapia culture is an important source of income and nutrition to many rural families. Since 2000, the production of tilapia increased and reached domestic and global markets. Major farmed species is Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), in earthen ponds and cage cultures. Intensification contributed to global tilapia disease outbreaks, with bacterial infections causing mortalities and morbidities, threatening sustainable production. At tilapia farms, high nutrient concentrations, water temperature and fish densities enhance bacterial growth including virulent bacterial clones and potential zoonotic bacteria. Global warming favours this. This review respectively provides a comprehensive overview of the most common and emerging bacterial …

Functional Traits’ Annual Variation Exceeds Nitrogen-Driven Variation In Grassland Plant Species, George R. Wheeler, Chad Brassil, Johannes M. H. Knops

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Effective application of functional trait approaches to ecological questions requires understanding the patterns of trait variation within species as well as between them. However, few studies address the potential for intraspecific variation to occur on a temporal basis and, thus, for trait-based findings to be contingent upon sampling year. To quantify annual variation in the functional traits of grassland plant species, we measured specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, plant height, and chlorophyll content in 12 shortgrass prairie plant species. We repeated these measurements across 4 years, both in long-term nitrogen addition plots and in corresponding control plots. Three …

Low-Gain Integral Control For A Class Of Discrete-Time Lur’E Systems With Applications To Sampled-Data Control, Chris Guiver, Richard Rebarber, Stuart Townley

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

We study low-gain (P)roportional (I)ntegral control of multivariate discrete-time, forced Lur’e systems to solve the output-tracking problem for constant reference signals. We formulate an incremental sector condition which is sufficient for a usual linear low-gain PI controller to achieve exponential disturbance-to-state and disturbance-to-tracking-error stability in closed-loop, for all sufficiently small integrator gains. Output tracking is achieved in the absence of exogenous disturbance (noise) terms. Our line of argument invokes a recent circle criterion for exponential incremental input-to-state stability. The discrete-time theory facilitates a similar result for a continuous-time forced Lur’e system in feedback with sampled-data low-gain integral control. The theory …

Circadian Rhythms Mediate Infection Risk In Daphnia Dentifera, Alaina C. Pfenning-Butterworth, David T. Nguyen, Jessica L. Hite, Clayton E. Cressler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Biological rhythms mediate important within-host processes such as metabolism, immunity, and behavior which are often linked to combating disease exposure. For many hosts, exposure to pathogens occurs while feeding. However, the link between feeding rhythms and infection risk is unclear because feeding behavior is tightly coupled with immune and metabolic processes which may decrease susceptibility to infection. Here, we use the Daphnia dentifera–Metschnikowia bicuspidata host–pathogen system to determine how rhythms in feeding rate and immune function mediate infection risk. The host is known to have a nocturnal circadian rhythm in feeding rate, yet we found that they do not exhibit …

Circadian Rhythms Mediate Infection Risk In Daphnia Dentifera, Alaina C. Pfenning-Butterworth, David T. Nguyen, Jessica L. Hite, Clayton E. Cressler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Biological rhythms mediate important within-host processes such as metabolism, immunity, and behavior which are often linked to combating disease exposure. For many hosts, exposure to pathogens occurs while feeding. However, the link between feeding rhythms and infection risk is unclear because feeding behavior is tightly coupled with immune and metabolic processes which may decrease susceptibility to infection. Here, we use the Daphnia dentifera–Metschnikowia bicuspidata host–pathogen system to determine how rhythms in feeding rate and immune function mediate infection risk. The host is known to have a nocturnal circadian rhythm in feeding rate, yet we found that they do not exhibit …

Editorial: Expansion Of The Genetic Code: Unnatural Amino Acids And Their Applications, Subhendu Sekhar Bag, Ishu Saraogi, Jiantao Guo

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Markers Of Fungal Translocation Are Elevated During Post-Acute Sequelae Of Sars-Cov-2 And Induce Nf-Κb Signaling, Leila B. Giron, Michael J. Peluso, Jianyi Ding, Grace Kenny, Netanel F. Zilberstein, Jane Koshy, Kai Ying Hong, Heather Rasmussen, Gregory E. Miller, Faraz Bishehsari, Robert A. Balk, James N. Moy, Rebecca Hoh, Scott Lu, Aaron R. Goldman, Hsin Yao Tang, Brandon C. Yee, Ahmed Chenna, John W. Winslow, Christos J. Petropoulos, J. Daniel Kelly, Haimanot Wasse, Jeffrey N. Martin, Qin Liu, Ali Keshavarzian, Alan Landay, Steven G. Deeks, Timothy J. Henrich, Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Long COVID, a type of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), has been associated with sustained elevated levels of immune activation and inflammation. However, the mechanisms that drive this inflammation remain unknown. Inflammation during acute coronavirus disease 2019 could be exacerbated by microbial translocation (from the gut and/or lung) to blood. Whether microbial translocation contributes to inflammation during PASC is unknown. We did not observe a significant elevation in plasma markers of bacterial translocation during PASC. However, we observed higher levels of fungal translocation - measured as β-glucan, a fungal cell wall polysaccharide - in the plasma of individuals experiencing PASC …

Time Domains Of Hypoxia Responses And -Omics Insights, James J. Yu, Amy L. Non, Erica C. Heinrich, Wanjun Gu, Joe Alcock, Esteban A. Moya, Elijah S. Lawrence, Michael S. Tift, Katie A. O'Brien, Jay F. Storz, Anthony V. Signore, Jane I. Khudyakov, William K. Milsom, Sean M. Wilson, Cynthia M. Beall, Francisco C. Villafuerte, Tsering Stobdan, Colleen G. Julian, Lorna G. Moore, Mark M. Fuster, Jennifer A. Stokes, Richard Milner, John B. West, Jiao Zhang, John Y. Shyy, Ainash Childebayeva, José Pablo Vázquez-Medina, Luu V. Pham, Omar A. Mesarwi, James E. Hall, Zachary A. Cheviron, Jeremy Sieker, Arlin B. Blood, Jason X. Yuan, Tatum S. Simonson, Et Al.

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The ability to respond rapidly to changes in oxygen tension is critical for many forms of life. Challenges to oxygen homeostasis, specifically in the contexts of evolutionary biology and biomedicine, provide important insights into mechanisms of hypoxia adaptation and tolerance. Here we synthesize findings across varying time domains of hypoxia in terms of oxygen delivery, ranging from early animal to modern human evolution and examine the potential impacts of environmental and clinical challenges through emerging multi-omics approaches. We discuss how diverse animal species have adapted to hypoxic environments, how humans vary in their responses to hypoxia (i.e., in the context …

Low Levels Of Hybridization Between Sympatric Cold-Water-Adapted Arctic Cod And Polar Cod In The Beaufort Sea Confirm Genetic Distinctiveness, Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Philip Lavretsky, Andrew Majewski, Einar Árnason, Katrín Halldórsdóttir, Axel W. Einarsson, Kate Wedemeyer, Sandra L. Talbot

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

As marine ecosystems respond to climate change and other stressors, it is necessary to evaluate current and past hybridization events to gain insight on the outcomes and drivers of such events. Ancestral introgression within the gadids has been suggested to allow cod to inhabit a variety of habitats. Little attention has been given to contemporary hybridization, especially within cold-water-adapted cod (Boreogadus saida Lepechin, 1774 and Arctogadus glacialis Peters, 1872). We used whole-genome, restriction-site associated, and mitochondrial sequence data to explore the degree and direction of hybridization between these species where previous hybridization had not been reported. Although nearly identical …

Genome Sequence Of Sn1, A Bacteriophage That Infects Sphaerotilus Natans And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, K.M. Damitha Gunathilake, Denise M. Tremblay, Pier-Luc Plante, Ellen Jensen, Kenneth Nickerson, Sylvain Moineau

Kenneth Nickerson Papers

Phage SN1 infects Sphaerotilus natans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Its genome consists of 61,858 bp (64.3% GC) and 89 genes, including 32 with predicted functions. SN1 genome is very similar to Pseudomonas phage M6, which contains hypermodified thymidines. Genome analyses revealed similar base-modifying genes as those found in M6.

Phage SN1 was isolated in 1979 from activated sludge samples obtained from a wastewater treatment plant (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA) using S. natans ATCC 13338 as the host (1, 2). An early study showed that the siphophage SN1 has unusual bases in its genome as confirmed by cellulose thin-layer chromatography (1). Its …

Genome Sequence Of Sn1, A Bacteriophage That Infects Sphaerotilus Natans And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, K.M. Damitha Gunathilake, Denise M. Tremblay, Pier-Luc Plante, Ellen C. Jensen, Kenneth Nickerson, Sylvain Moineau

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Phage SN1 infects Sphaerotilus natans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Its genome consists of 61,858 bp (64.3% GC) and 89 genes, including 32 with predicted functions. SN1 genome is very similar to Pseudomonas phage M6, which contains hypermodified thymidines. Genome analyses revealed similar base-modifying genes as those found in M6.

Genome Sequence Of Sn1, A Bacteriophage That Infects Sphaerotilus Natans And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, K.M. Damitha Gunathilake, Denise M. Trembly, Pier-Luc Plante, Ellen C. Jensen, Kenneth W. Nickerson, Sylvian Moineau

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Phage SN1 infects Sphaerotilus natans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Its genome consists of 61,858 bp (64.3% GC) and 89 genes, including 32 with predicted functions. SN1 genome is very similar to Pseudomonas phage M6, which contains hypermodified thymidines. Genome analyses revealed similar base-modifying genes as those found in M6.

A Checklist Of Parasites Of Peromyscus Maniculatus In North America, John Ubelaker, Gábor R. Rácz

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

This document represents a summary of parasites, in the broadest sense of the term, reported from Peromyscus maniculatus from throughout its range in North America. The document provides data from work ranging from paleontological findings to relatively current reports of parasites and parasitism from P. maniculatus and covers viruses, bacteria sensu lato, protists, helminths, and ectoparasites.

18s-Nemabase: Curated 18s Rrna Database Of Nematode Sequences, Kaitlin Gattoni, Eli M. S. Gendron, Rebeca Sandoval- Ruiz, Abigail Borgemeier, J. Parr Mcqueen, Rachel M. Shepherd, Dieter Slos, Tom Powers, Dorota L. Porazinska

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Nematodes are the most abundant and diverse animals on the planet but lack representation in biodiversity research. This presents a problem for studying nematode diversity, particularly when molecular tools (i.e., barcoding and metabarcoding) rely on well-populated and curated reference databases, which are absent for nematodes. To improve molecular identification and the assessment of nematode diversity, we created and curated an 18S rRNA database specific to nematodes (18S-NemaBase) using sequences sourced from the most recent publicly available 18S rRNA SILVA v138 database. As part of the curation process, taxonomic strings were standardized to contain a fixed number of taxonomic ranks relevant …

Fire And Human Management Of Late Holocene Ecosystems In Southern Africa, Benjamin Davies, Mitchell J. Power, David R. Braun, Matthew J. Douglass, Stella G. Mosher, Lynne J. Quick, Irene Esteban, Judith Sealy, John Parkington, J. Tyler Faith

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Globally, fire is a primary agent for modifying environments through the long-term coupling of human and natural systems. In southern Africa, control of fire by humans has been documented since the late Middle Pleistocene, though it is unclear when or if anthropogenic burning led to fundamental shifts in the region's fire regimes. To identify potential periods of broad-scale anthropogenic burning, we analyze aggregated Holocene charcoal sequences across southern Africa, which we compare to paleoclimate records and archaeological data. We show climate-concordant variability in mid-Holocene fire across much of the subcontinent. However, increased regional fire activity during the late Holocene (~2000 …

Secondary Science Teachers Use Of Models In Teaching And Learning About Earth’S Climate, Kimberly Carroll Steward

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global climate change (GCC) presents unprecedented global concerns, notably food supply limitations, unsustainable use of natural resources, and widespread environmental degradation. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports a 0.85 °C increase in global average temperatures between 1880 and 2018 and a 50% increase in global carbon dioxide emissions since 1990 (Stocker et al., 2018). As a result of the urgency of the situation, there is a strong emphasis on empowering citizens through outreach and education. There is a need to adequately prepare the next generation of scientists, politicians, business leaders, and other people; it is crucial to foster …

Geometric Analysis Of Insect Wing Vein Network, Jacob White, Ying Hu, Sangjin Ryu, Seunghee Kim, Haipeng Zhang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An insect wing consists of a thin membrane supported by a system of veins, and flow of blood through the system of veins is critical for maintaining healthy insect wings. Better understanding of the insect wing vein circulation requires to know how the efficiency of blood flow in an insect wing relates to the geometric shape of the vein. Our investigation of the wing vein network of a dragonfly Anax junius follows the idea of Murray’s law, which is established in the study of efficiency of the vein network and the geometric shape of the vein. Instead of using the …