Digital Commons Network^™

A Goodbye, A Surprise Hello And An Unexpected Honor, Sarah Schaier

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Haley Nolen: Understanding The Genetics Of Disease Resistance In Plants, Lori Tyler Gula

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Contribution Of Maize Polyamine And Amino Acid Metabolism Toward Resistance Against Aspergillus Flavus Infection And Aflatoxin Production., Rajtilak Majumdar, Rakesh Minocha, Matthew D. Lebar, Kanniah Rajasekaran, Stephanie Long, Carol H. Carter-Wientjes, Subhash C. Minocha, Jeffrey W. Cary

Faculty Publications

Polyamines (PAs) are ubiquitous polycations found in plants and other organisms that are essential for growth, development, and resistance against abiotic and biotic stresses. The role of PAs in plant disease resistance depends on the relative abundance of higher PAs [spermidine (Spd), spermine (Spm)] vs. the diamine putrescine (Put) and PA catabolism. With respect to the pathogen, PAs are required to achieve successful pathogenesis of the host. Maize is an important food and feed crop, which is highly susceptible to Aspergillus flavus infection. Upon infection, the fungus produces carcinogenic aflatoxins and numerous other toxic secondary metabolites that adversely affect human …

Managing Agroecosystems For Soil Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency: Ecological Unknowns, Potential Outcomes, And A Path Forward, Cynthia M. Kallenbach, Matthew D. Wallenstein, Meagan E. Schipanksi, A. Stuart Grandy

Faculty Publications

Agricultural systems are increasingly managed for improving soil carbon (C) accumulation. However, there are limits to C returns in agricultural systems that constrain soil C accumulation capacity. Increasing the efficiency of how soil microbes process C is gaining interest as an important management strategy for increasing soil C and is a key feature of soil C dynamics in many new microbial-explicit models. A higher microbial C use efficiency (CUE) may increase C storage while reducing C system losses and is a fundamental trait affecting community assembly dynamics and nutrient cycling. However, the numerous ecological unknowns influencing CUE limit our ability …

Usda Ag Census Finds N.H. Farmers Moving To More Sustainable Agriculture Practices, Lori Tyler Gula

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Jonah Crab Fishery, Jody Record

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Unh Manchester Celebrates Class Of 2019 At 34th Annual Commencement Ceremony, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Unh Manchester Celebrates Student Achievement At 2019 Honors Convocation, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

From Spinning Silk To Spreading Saliva: Mouthpart Remodeling In Manduca Sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), Istvan Miko, Sarthok Rasique Rahman, Anne C. Jones, Mark A. Townley, Brandon Gominho, Sulav Paudel, S David Stupski, Heather M. Hines, Rudolf J. Schilder

Biological Sciences

As a model organism, the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta (Linnaeus 1763) has contributed much to our knowledge of developmental processes in insects, and major developmental changes between different larval instars are generally well understood. Second and later instars of M. sexta do not produce silk, and their spinneret and accessory labial glands (=Lyonet’s glands), structures thought to be key players in silk production in other lepidopterans, are highly reduced. To our knowledge, mouthparts and labial gland morphology of the silk-producing first instar have never been described. In this study, we compared the mouthpart morphology and transcriptome profile of first and …

Microbial Mystery, Beth Potier

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Insight And Inspiration, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Kiley Kennedy ‘19, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Faculty Excellence, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Unh Manchester Announces 2019 Faculty Excellence Awards, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Graduate Research Shines, Kristen Melamed

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Increasing Unh’S Impact, Beth Potier

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Comm-Entary, Spring 2019 - Full Issue

Comm-entary

In this issue:

We Are the Crystal Gems: Themes of Identity in Steven Universe by Hannah Baum

A Media Analysis of ‘Nikes’ by Frank Ocean by Emily Bourne

Street Art: A Crime or a Movement by Taylor Chieffalo

Sorry (Not Sorry): Who Carries the Weight of Digital Public Shaming? by Eva Ford

Directed Versus Reflective Gestures by Jordan Kafka

How a Generation is Changing a Century-Long Stigma by Kristiana Osbourne

David Koresh: Irreverently Divine by Kieran Reardon

It’s Like, A Highlighter: A focus on responses to the ‘Focalizer Like’ by Matthew Santangelo

#Aerie Man: An Analysis by Grace Smith

Living …

Control Strategy Of Multirotor Platform Under Nominal And Fault Conditions Using A Dual-Loop Control Scheme Used For Earth-Based Spacecraft Control Testing, Sital Khatiwada

Master's Theses and Capstones

Over the last decade, autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have seen increased usage in industrial, defense, research, and academic applications. Specific attention is given to multirotor platforms due to their high maneuverability, utility, and accessibility. As such, multirotors are often utilized in a variety of operating conditions such as populated areas, hazardous environments, inclement weather, etc. In this study, the effectiveness of multirotor platforms, specifically quadrotors, to behave as Earth-based satellite test platforms is discussed. Additionally, due to concerns over system operations under such circumstances, it becomes critical that multirotors are capable of operation despite experiencing undesired conditions and collisions …

The Role Of The Tumor Microenvironment In Waldenström Macroglobulinemia, Weiguo Han

Doctoral Dissertations

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays an important role in the initiation, progression and maintenance of cancer cells and is implicated in cancer cell resistance to therapy. In Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), a B-cell malignancy characterized by the overproduction of a monoclonal IgM protein, the TME plays an important role in disease biology by secreting cytokines that promote the malignant phenotype. In previous work, we have shown that the transcription factor GLI family zinc finger 2 (GLI2) regulates interleukin-6 (IL-6) secretion in the WM TME. IL-6, in turn, promotes WM growth and IgM secretion by malignant B cells. Tocilizumab/Actemra is an anti-IL-6R …

Atrc Processes And Architectures As Tools For Advancing The Complexity Of Single-Chain Polymeric Nanoparticles, Elizabeth Bright

Doctoral Dissertations

Atom transfer radical coupling (ATRC) is gaining recognition for its utility in building complex polymeric architectures because it features efficiency, a wide range of compatible substrates, and a lack of byproducts. These qualities are especially desirable in applications requiring intramolecular cross-linking as in the synthesis single-chain nanoparticles (SCNP).

This dissertation aims to (I) provide motivation and context for developing ATRC technology for intramolecular cross-linking, (II) provide guidance into the impact of catalyst selection and substrate on reaction efficiency and morphology, and (III) demonstrate the possibility to sequence intrachain ATRC with ATRP to create advanced SCNP architectures.

Chapter II describes the …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Anthropogenic Land Use On Bobcats (Lynx Rufus) In New England, Rory Patrick Carroll

Doctoral Dissertations

Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are the most widely distributed wild felids in North America, ranging across the contiguous United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. In the New England region (NER) bobcat populations endured nearly two centuries of intense harvest pressure and land use change that nearly led to their extirpation in parts of the region. However, they are currently experiencing a population resurgence despite large-scale increases of anthropogenic impacts on the landscape in the last 60 years. In this dissertation, I sought to understand the resurgence of bobcats in the NER by studying several aspects of bobcat ecology in relation …

Acoustic Detection And Quantification Of Crude Oil, Scott Christopher Loranger

Doctoral Dissertations

The fate and transport of oil droplets from natural and anthropogenic sources is key to understanding the impact of spills and the resilience of marine communities. Without knowledge of natural background levels, it is difficult to determine the response of the marine environment to large influxes of oil. Current estimates of global flux of oil from natural seeps varies by an order of magnitude, and the wide range of estimates is due in part to the lack of sufficient in-situ quantification techniques for oil droplets in the water column. This work is focused on the feasibility of employing broadband acoustics …

Fungal Community And Soil Responses To Invasive Alliaria Petiolata (Garlic Mustard), Soil Warming, And Nitrogen Deposition, Mark Alan Anthony

Doctoral Dissertations

Non-native, invasive plants can fundamentally alter soil fungal communities and edaphic properties. In this dissertation, I first measured fungal and edaphic responses and recovery to invasive, Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard; Brassicaceae) eradication across Southern New England. I conducted an experimental eradication and tracked fungal communities and soil properties for three years in relation to reference uninvaded plots and actively invaded plots. Neither the fungal community nor soil properties recovered (i.e. became similar to reference uninvaded plots) following eradication, and I discuss how altered soil properties likely prevented fungal communities from recovering via environmental filtering. I also measured fungal and edaphic …

What Stepmothers Can Teach Us About Contemporary Family Life, The Institution Of Motherhood, And The Reproduction Of Gender Inequality, Melissa Day

Doctoral Dissertations

A substantial amount of scholarly attention has been dedicated to understanding changes in the institution of family and, within the context of these changes, how the institution of motherhood continues to play a central role in reproducing gender inequalities for women in society. Through two distinct, but interrelated papers, this dissertation examines stepmothers’ experiences in the family with the goal of expanding our understanding of the reach of the institution of motherhood into the lives of all women. The first paper draws on 33 semi- structured, in-depth interviews with stepmothers. From these data, my findings are two-fold. First, I find …

Workplace Creativity And Motivation Among Counselors In A Residential Summer Camp Setting, Myles L. Lynch

Doctoral Dissertations

The following dissertation includes an overarching introduction and three conceptually linked articles described below. First, the introduction describes the educational and programmatic components of summer camp, a non-formal educational setting, based on the foundational writing of educational philosopher John Dewey. The introduction also identifies key definitions, concepts, and theoretical frameworks related to outdoor education, creativity, and motivation. The three articles, briefly described below, are self-contained and include distinct introductions, discussions, and implications for future research. Article 1. Summer camp is often anecdotally described as a context which may support creativity due to its unique programmatic features. For instance, residential summer …

Computational Studies Of Protein-Inhibitor Interactions, Mohammadjavad Mohammadi

Doctoral Dissertations

In this thesis work, I conducted large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies of interactions of enzymes and signaling proteins with inhibitory ligands. Specifically, I have studied three classes of proteins: the first part of my thesis reports studies on the hydrogen-producing [FeFe]-hydrogenase enzyme, the second part reports on studies of regulatory proteins from the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) family, and the third part reports on studies of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzyme family.

In the first part, I studied the problem of [FeFe]-hydrogenase sensitivity to the presence of inhibitory gases oxygen (O2) and carbon monoxide (CO) that cause irreversible damage to …

Science Diplomacy In The Atlantic Arctic: Assessing Potential Expansion Of The Distributed Biological Observatory (Dbo) To The Baffin Bay-Davis Strait Area, Claire Eaton

Master's Theses and Capstones

The scale and rate of climate change in the Arctic has increased the sense of urgency surrounding development of systems-level observing programs that aim to capture and analyze time series data related to environmental change. While the international scientific community has made great strides in program design and technological innovation, gaps in coverage remain between observing systems, presenting a complex interdisciplinary problem, or “grand challenge.” Research that aims to address global scale challenges, such as those faced in a rapidly changing Arctic, are often associated with extremely high operational costs and typically extend beyond the scope and capabilities of any …

High-Resolution Magnetostratigraphy Of The Cretaceous- Paleogene Boundary Interval, Corral Bluffs, Denver Basin, Colorado, Anthony Joseph Fuentes

Master's Theses and Capstones

The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary interval represents one of the most significant periods of biological turnover in Earth history. Earliest Paleocene fossil mammal faunas corresponding to the Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) are thought to be highly endemic and potentially diachronous, necessitating precise chronostratigraphic controls at key fossil localities to constrain recovery dynamics following the K-Pg mass extinction. The Laramide synorgenic sediments within the Denver Basin preserve one of the most continuous and fossiliferous records of the K-Pg boundary interval in North America. However, poor exposure in much of the Denver Basin makes it difficult to correlate outcrops via …

Eeg And Emg Sensorimotor Measurements To Assess Proprioception Following Acl Reconstruction, Teagan Frances Northrup

Master's Theses and Capstones

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is the primary source of rotational stability in the knee. When the ACL is torn, it typically must be repaired through reconstructive surgery, however, surgery may result in proprioceptive deficiencies in the knee. Proprioception plays an important role in spatial awareness, sensing movement and reacting accordingly. Existing methods of measuring proprioception are limited because they rely only on the error between the knee angles, a single biomechanical parameter, and neglects timing of neural communication. This study examines an alternative method of measuring proprioceptive responses to a stimulus (motion) by using electromyogram (EMG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) …

Effects Of Land Use On Wild Bee Functional Diversity, Katherine Akemi Odanaka

Master's Theses and Capstones

Globally, wild bees are facing major declines due to many different factors. Land use is regarded as one of the most damaging of these factors as changes in land use can result in the destruction of critical wild bee habitat and foraging resources. Relative abundance and species richness have been used as standard methods for measuring the health of wild bee communities yet neither abundance nor richness are able to quantify how landscape change affects the traits found in members of the population. Phylogenetic methods are a novel tool that can measure community structure by examining how traits influence population …