Digital Commons Network^™

Physiological And Predicted Metagenomic Analysis Of Soil Aggregate Microbial Communities Under Different Tillage Regimes, Lukas Bernhardt

Master's Theses and Capstones

Soils are spatially heterogeneous environments, and the distribution of microorganisms and carbon is organized at the scale of millimeters in soil aggregates. The physio-chemical environment within macroaggregates and microaggregates differ, which may lead to the selection of microbial communities with different survival and growth strategies- here termed life history strategies. Using an aggregate scale survey of microbial communities in agricultural soils, I show that soil aggregates harbor distinct communities with life history characteristics that align with the Yield, Acquisition, Stress tolerator framework (Y-A-S). Soils collected from an eight- year tillage experiment were isolated into four aggregate size classes and physiological …

Immunohistochemical Characterization Of A Novel Population Of Reticular Thalamic Neurons Expressing Cholecystokinin And Type 1 Cannabinoid Receptors, Shayna Mallat

Master's Theses and Capstones

The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) filters somatosensory stimuli by providing inhibition to the excitatory thalamic relay nuclei, which then communicate with the cortex to appropriately integrate and respond to sensory stimuli. The TRN is also responsible for generating and maintaining sleep spindles, which are important for memory and cognition, and are disrupted in various psychiatric disorders. Previous studies have shown that the TRN is comprised of several neuronal subpopulations that carry out specific functions. These neurons can be distinguished using peptide markers such as parvalbumin (PV), somatostatin (SST), and calbindin (CB). In this thesis, I identified a novel neuronal population …

Examining The Overlooked Complexities Of School Lunch: An Investigation Into The Juncture Of Food, Schooling, And The Developing Adolescent, Eleanor Kane

Doctoral Dissertations

School lunch is a universal experience for students everywhere and yet remains largely understudied by educational researchers. This dissertation explores school lunch through the lens of adolescent identity theory, with the purpose of investigating the unarticulated and overlooked complexities inherent in the lunch block, from issues of the developing sense of self, to social and cultural meanings surrounding food, and consequences for social reproduction. I used a combination of ethnographic observations and narrative interviews at a rural New England high school, focusing on participants’ daily habits, food practices, and choices during the lunch block. Through this, I established the normative …

White Discipline, Black Rebellion: A History Of American Race Riots From Emancipation To The War On Drugs, Jordan C. Burke

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a comparative analysis of American race riots, within and across historical eras, from Emancipation (1863) to the War on Drugs (1972). I argue that changes in the status of African-American citizenship produced different forms of race rioting. Examining riot events across eras reveals how ethical principles at the core of democracy are undermined in specific socio-historical contexts—especially equality of participation in collective self-governance. Congressional testimony, state-sponsored riot investigations, and archival data indicate that riots have been used historically to structure racial inequality in both political institutions and economic relations. While race riots have proven instrumental in maintaining …

Characterizing Student Engagement In A Post-Secondary Developmental Mathematics Class And Exploring The Reflexivity Between Social And Sociomathematical Norms, David Fifty

Doctoral Dissertations

Traditionally, post-secondary developmental mathematics courses aspire to equip students with mathematical content knowledge needed to succeed in calculus and subsequent STEM courses. The literature shows that this goal alone is insufficient, as the emphasis on content acquisition often comes at the expense of developing higher-order skills such as argumentation, reasoning, and flexibility in mathematics problem solving (Chiaravalloti, 2009; Partanen & Kaasila, 2014; Star et al., 2015). Redesigning curricula with these additional objectives in mind requires providing students with opportunities to engage with mathematics in ways that may contrast with their past experiences or expectations. It requires changing patterns of classroom …

Bacterial Genome And Population Dynamics With Implications For Public Health, Cooper John Park

Doctoral Dissertations

Bacterial populations are extraordinarily heterogeneous. Despite growing clonally, these populations are often composed of multiple lineages distinguished by both phenotypic and genetic differences that are caused by both allelic and whole gene variation. Such genomic mosaicism and within-species variation can significantly impact a species’ response to selective pressures from antibiotic use, vaccination, immune responses and host environment. One important process that contributes to this phenomenon is recombination, the exchange of very similar DNA sequences between strains which can result to either the addition or replacement of homologous genes. Current models of microbial recombination incorporate the null expectation that recombination is …

Taking Nitrogen By Storm: Spatial And Temporal Controls On Nitrogen Processing In A Small Reservoir, Eliza Balch

Master's Theses and Capstones

Nitrate inputs pose a threat to aquatic ecosystems, leading to eutrophication, algal blooms, and habitat loss in downstream coastal marine and estuarine habitats. Rivers and streams can attenuate nitrogen between inputs and coastal outputs, moderating ecosystem harm. While nitrogen dynamics in streams and rivers have been studied for decades, less is known about the wetlands through which they flow, namely small reservoirs. Storms can have a large influence on nitrogen processing in reservoirs through hydrologic changes and introduction of new solute sources, but are poorly understood. To understand the spatial and temporal variability of nitrogen processing in a small reservoir, …

Quantifying The Effects Of Land Use And Flow Regime On Metabolism In New England Streams, Daniel R. Bolster

Master's Theses and Capstones

Metabolism in aquatic ecosystems influences food webs and water quality but is potentially altered by changes in land use and flow regime. The interacting effects of storms and land use on stream metabolism are largely understudied. The goal of this study was to understand how flow variability and land use interact to affect biogeochemical cycling in headwater streams. In situ measurements of stage, water temperature, and dissolved oxygen (DO) were made in three headwater streams draining different land uses (urban, forest, and mixed) and one larger river site from July 2017 to January 2018. All streams were located in the …

Environmental, Human Health, And Economic Implications Of Landfill Leachate Treatment For Pfas Removal, Danyi Feng

Master's Theses and Capstones

Landfill leachate is commonly treated offsite with municipal wastewater. This offsite leachate treatment may be limited or no longer applicable due to the increasingly stringent regulations and concerns related to PFAS discharge into the environment, resulting in development of full-scale, onsite leachate treatment facilities. To help landfills prepare for the potential shift from offsite to onsite leachate treatment for PFAS compliance, this study analyzed and compared the environmental, human health, and economic performances of a typical onsite and a typical offsite leachate treatment alternative using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost assessment (LCCA). Two distinct functional units were …

Does Money Really Grow On Trees? A Case Study Of The Economic And Ecosystem Outcomes Of Timber Stand Improvement In New Hampshire, Mackenzie Kalp

Master's Theses and Capstones

Timber stand improvement (TSI) is one silviculture method that landowners can apply to their forest to enhance timber quality as well as ecosystem services, such as deadwood in the form of standing deadwood, snags, and coarse woody debris (CWD). There are few studies on the economic effectiveness of TSI as a forest management practice. This research uses data collected on land owned by the Blue Hills Foundation, in Strafford, New Hampshire, to present a case study examining economic and ecosystem outcomes of TSI. Because interest rates and market prices are constantly fluctuating, we evaluated outcomes at various interest rates. We …

Nos Hurricane Preparedness Summit Series 2020, Coastal Response Research Center

Coastal Response Research Center

An in-person, three-day NOS Hurricane Summit was planned in late-April 2020 ahead of the 2020 hurricane season. The purpose of the summit was to enhance preparedness for the 2020 hurricane season by identifying past shortfalls and challenges using the lessons learned from past events to plan for future hurricane response requests. The summit series centered on the safety and preparedness of NOS staff, facilities, partners, and other key resources as well as mission related activities and response actions. These mission activities included, but were not limited to, coordination with USCG for port safety and reopening, readiness and response for pollution …

Nutrient Solution Effects On Plant Health And Microbial Community Composition In Soilless Strawberry Culture, William Miller Hardesty-Dyck

Master's Theses and Capstones

Holding advantages in efficiency and geographical flexibility, soilless Controlled Environmental Agriculture (CEA) systems have emerged as economically viable and ecologically sound alternatives to field agriculture, especially in high-value fruit and vegetable production. While commercial soilless operations typically use synthetic, mineral-based nutrient solutions for plant nutrition, there is interest in incorporating more ecologically sustainable naturally derived sources. Aquaponics - the linkage of aquaculture with soilless crop production - represents one such alternative. Aquacultural effluents can provide partial to complete plant nutrition following solids removal and nitrifying biofiltration, while the incorporation of solutes into crop biomass reduces the need to discharge culture …

Why Does This Entity Matter? Finding Support Passages For Entities In Search, Shubham Chatterjee

Master's Theses and Capstones

In this work, we propose a method to retrieve a human-readable explanation of how a retrieved entity is connected to the information need, analogous to search snippets for document retrieval. Such an explanation is called a support passage.

Our approach is based on the idea: a good support passage contains many entities relevantly related to the target entity (the entity for which a support passage is needed). We define a relevantly related entity as one which (1) occurs frequently in the vicinity of the target entity, and (2) is relevant to the query. We use the relevance of a passage …

Infiltration Analysis Of Calibrated Stormwater Models In Swmm, Anna Laura Alegria Silveira

Master's Theses and Capstones

This research project analyzes the hydrology of two Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) systems located at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) campus in Durham, NH, and compares field data to modeling results of a calibrated Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) model of each system. The studied systems were a Philadelphia Tree Trench and an Infiltration Trench, located in Parking Lot A and Parking Lot E, respectively. The Stormwater Center at UNH monitored the system wells, precipitation, and collected data since system constructions, to analyze the infiltration behavior.The fundamental reason for this research is that the SWMM model only computes infiltration …

Investigation Of Stormwater Bmp Water Quality Performance Characteristics With Respect To Storm Event Variables And Influent Event Mean Concentrations, Samuel James Lanternier

Master's Theses and Capstones

Stormwater is known to be a major source of water pollution. In addition to increased flows resulting from increased impervious area in watersheds, stormwater is known to carry pollutants such a suspended solids, hydrocarbons, and nutrients into receiving water bodies. Because of this, stormwater treatment systems, referred to as ‘best management practices’ (BMPs), are utilized to dampen peak flows, reduce total runoff volume, and remove pollutants. While many studies have investigated the effectiveness of various BMPs in the removal of pollutants, fewer studies have investigated the effects of numerous storm variables on the effectiveness of treatment systems. This thesis investigates …

2020-2021 Faculty Senate Xxv - November 30, 2020 Minutes Summary, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Agendas & Minutes

No abstract provided.

Unh Professors Receive Prestigious Honors For Earth Science Research, Robbin Ray

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Unh Joins $111 Million Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute, Erika Mantz

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

New Faces Of Biotech, Kassidy Taylor

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Bank Of America Vice Chairman To Receive Unh’S Social Innovator Of The Year Award, Erika Mantz

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Interferences On Aerosol Acidity Quantification Due To Gas-Phase Ammonia Uptake Onto Acidic Sulfate Filter Samples, Benjamin A. Nault, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Douglas A. Day, Hongyu Guo, Duseong S. Jo, Anne V. Handschy, Demetrios Pagonis, Jason C. Schroder, Melinda K. Schueneman, Michael J. Cubison, Jack E. Dibb, Alma Hodzic, Weiwei Hu, Brett B. Palm, Jose L. Jimenez

Faculty Publications

Measurements of the mass concentration and chemical speciation of aerosols are important to investigate their chemical and physical processing from near emission sources to the most remote regions of the atmosphere. A common method to analyze aerosols is to collect them onto filters and analyze the filters offline; however, biases in some chemical components are possible due to changes in the accumulated particles during the handling of the samples. Any biases would impact the measured chemical composition, which in turn affects our understanding of numerous physicochemical processes and aerosol radiative properties. We show, using filters collected onboard the NASA DC-8 …

N.H. Social Venture Innovation Challenge Finalists Compete Nov. 30, Erika Mantz

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Exemplary Research, Lori Gula

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Unh Offers Grant Training Workshop For New Hampshire Companies, Erika Mantz

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Acing The Test, Keith Testa

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

2020-2021 Faculty Senate Xxv - November 16, 2020 Minutes Summary, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Agendas & Minutes

No abstract provided.

Finalists Announced For Annual Innovative Idea Competition, Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.

Gratitude For Our 2020 Svic Judges, Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.

Masthead, Editorial Board

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

No abstract provided.

Junk Evidence: A Call To Scrutinize Historical Cell Site Location Evidence, Victoria Saxe

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

Historical cell site location information (CSLI) has been offered as objective, scientific location evidence in criminal trials, but is far less precise than the claims it is used to support. Not only is there no way to pinpoint a cellphone’s precise geographic location from historical CSLI, but there are also no known validation or error rates for the methodologies used to collect and analyze this data. A 2019 telecommunications scandal in Denmark revealed gross inadequacies in the cellphone data and software used by law enforcement to analyze this type of evidence. The scandal sent shockwaves through the country’s legal community …