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Social And Ritual Dynamics At El Cholo: An Upper General Valley Funerary Village Of The Diquís Subregion, Southern Costa Rica, Roberto Alexander Herrera

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation details the results obtained from investigations conducted at an Aguas Buenas (300 BC-AD 800) to early Chiriquí phase (AD 900-1550) site known as El Cholo (SJ-59ECh), a mound complex located in the Upper General Valley of southern Costa Rica. Using data from surface collection along with horizontal and stratigraphic excavations, this investigation analyzed site formation and associated behavioral processes underlying the construction of a set of interconnected mounds comprising the architectural core of El Cholo. Previous research suggested that mounded sites in the Upper General area were likely seats of emergent elites with monumental constructions occupying a central …

Comparative Study Of Genomic Features Of Evolutionarily Young Gene Duplicates, Lijing Bu

Biology ETDs

Gene duplication is considered a major contributor to genome evolution and functional diversity. Differences in genomic features (such as structural resemblance, transcriptional orientation, and genomic location) between members of a gene duplicate pair may indicate the possible duplication mechanisms, as well as the evolutionary fates the paralogs may experience. In addition to these genomic features, molecular genetic features, such as differences in codon usage and expression levels may provide further insight into functional changes between paralogs. In this dissertation, multiple genomic analyses were conducted in order to evaluate the differences in genomic and genetic properties between duplicate copies in order …

Macroecology And Sociobiology Of Humans And Other Mammals, Joseph Robert Burger

Biology ETDs

Despite being the most studied species on the planet, ecologists typically do not study humans the same way we study other organisms. My Ph.D. thesis contributes to scientific development in two ways: i) synthesizing our understand of the inter and intraspecific variation in social behavior in an understudied rodent lineage, the caviomorphs, providing a comparative context to understand social evolution in general, and 2) developing a macroecological approach to understand the metabolic trajectory of the human species. Through comparative analysis, chapter 2 synthesizes the available information on the diversity of sociality in the caviomorph rodents, both within and across species. …

Foliar Respiration And Carbon Dynamics Of Mature Piñon And Juniper Trees In Response To Experimental Drought And Heat, Adam D. Collins

Biology ETDs

Plant respiration (R) is generally well-coupled with temperature and in the absence of thermal acclimation, respiration is expected to increase as climate change brings higher temperatures. Increased drought is also predicted for future climate, which could drive respiration higher if the carbon (C) cost to maintain tissues (Rm) or grow increases, or lower if substrate or other factors become limiting. We examined the effects of temperature and drought on R as well as photosynthesis, growth, and carbohydrate storage of mature individuals of two co-dominant tree species. Three mature, in-situ piñon (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma) trees were assigned to …

Diversity Of Understudied Archaeal And Bacterial Populations Of Yellowstone National Park: From Genes To Genomes, Daniel Robert Colman

Biology ETDs

Yellowstone National Park (YNP) thermal springs have been a crucial resource for the discovery and characterization of microbial biodiversity. The use of cultivation-independent methods has documented many new phyla of uncultured Archaea and Bacteria within thermal springs. Here, I describe the phylogenetic diversity and distribution of Archaea within the YNP thermal spring ecosystem and the phylogenetic and physiologic characterization of novel, uncultured hyperthermophilic bacterial lineages from metagenomic data. In chapter two, I evaluated the efficacy of commonly used, 'universal' archaeal-specific 16S rRNA gene PCR primers in detecting archaeal phylogenetic diversity. In chapter three, using the PCR primers that would provide …

The Gene Blistered Selectively Controls Muscle Type Differentiation In Drosophila Melanogaster, Ashley A. Deaguero

Biology ETDs

The muscle fiber is a structural unit of skeletal muscle in many organisms. Muscle fiber composition has been implicated in maintaining muscle longevity and controlling systemic energy homeostasis, however not much is known about how different types of muscle fibers are specified. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster provides a useful model to study specification and differentiation of different types of muscle fiber. In this study, the functional properties of the transcription factor blistered (bs) were explored. The gene bs is evolutionarily conserved and has a mammalian homologue, Serum Response Factor (SRF). When bs is genetically down-regulated in all muscles, only …

Schistosomes Of Nepal, Ramesh Devkota

Biology ETDs

Globally, digenetic trematodes called schistosomes (Family Schistosomatidae) have enormous public and veterinary health significance because they cause debilitating and chronic infections collectively called schistosomiasis. Schistosomes have a life cycle featuring a bird or mammal definitive host in which adult worms are found, and freshwater snail intermediate hosts in which larval stages are found and free-swimming cercariae are produced which infect the definitive host. Although schistosomes are known to be common in tropical and subtropical Asia, their presence in Nepal, a small south Asian country situated between India and China, was almost completely unknown at the beginning of this study. Consequently, …

Drying Events In The Rio Grande: Effects On Hydrology, Riparian Vegetation, And Arthropod Communities, Kimberly Lorraine Fike

Biology ETDs

1. Anthropogenic-induced river intermittency is an increasing global concern with far-reaching ecological consequences. Cessation of flow outside of a rivers natural regime can have cascading effects on aquatic and terrestrial community composition and structure. Water abstraction during summer months often leaves the Rio Grande below Isleta Diversion Dam dry. This research investigates differences in hydrology, riparian vegetation, and arthropod communities within the Rio Grande floodplain, known locally as the 'bosque,' between perennial and intermittent reaches of the river.

2. Despite the high degree of interannual variability, a spatio-temporal analysis of stream discharge revealed a trend of declining flow in both …

How Ants Turn Information Into Food, Tatiana Paz Flanagan

Biology ETDs

Animals constantly process information from their environment. In social organisms, information exchange among individuals allows for behaviors to be finely tuned to local environmental cues. Such is the case of foraging in ants, where sharing information about the distribution of resources can drive adaptive behaviors to exploit those resources. In a first study, we quantified how clustering of experimental seed baits significantly increased foraging rates of seed harvester ants. That study found that species with larger colonies were no better than species with smaller colonies at collecting clumped seeds. In a second study, we integrated computer simulations, information science and …

Constraints On Distributions And Diversity Of Birds And Mammals Over Variable Environments, Trevor S. Fristoe

Biology ETDs

The distributions of species are determined by intrinsic factors such as physiological tolerances as well as extrinsic factors of the environment such as the availability of resources. While physiological tolerances generally change over evolutionary time scales, changes in environmental productivity due to processes such as succession or seasonal progression often occur over ecological times. I address both physiology and resource availability as drivers of the distributions and diversity of endothermic birds and mammals using a macroecological approach and a metabolic perspective. Migratory birds, altering communities over seasonal cycles, provide a unique opportunity to investigate the drivers of distributions and diversity …

Unraveling The Mysteries Of Plant Mating Systems In Raphanus Sativus, Lindsey C. Kaufman

Biology ETDs

Plant mating systems include a variety of mechanisms that result in non-random success of self- and outcross pollen, pollen from different compatible mates, and pollen from the same or different species. Although some of these mechanisms have received considerable attention (i.e., Charlesworth et al. 2005; Pannell and LaBouche 2013), most previous study has been of only one of these mechanisms at a time. Further in the field, a plant might simultaneously receive pollen of several types; thus, it is likely that multiple mechanisms of sorting among pollen operate simultaneously. If these mechanisms interact in ways that alter sorting among mates, …

Conservation Genetics At The Interface Of Theory And Application, Tyler Jess Pilger

Biology ETDs

Understanding the ecological mechanisms responsible for patterns of spatial genetic structure and diversity is a central issue to evolutionary ecology and biodiversity conservation. The Anthropocene has seen a mass extinction only previously observed through geological records, and freshwater fishes of North America have not been spared owing to large-scale modification of freshwater habitats and introduction of nonnative species. Concomitant with reduced numbers of species is a rapid reduction in genetic diversity within species; this diversity that is required for species to adapt to rapidly changing environments of human dominated landscapes. However, understanding why species exhibit different patterns of spatial genetic …

Evolution Of Young Gene Duplicates In The Caenorhabditis Briggsae Genome, Lucille Boreal Packard

Biology ETDs

Gene duplication plays a significant role in the evolution of novel function. Investigations concerning the genomic features of young gene duplicates can enhance our understanding of the nature of gene duplicates at inception and their fates over evolutionary time. Previous analysis of young gene duplicates in Caenorhabditis elegans has revealed genomic features of evolutionarily young gene duplicates with respect to structure, span, location and orientation of paralogous genes. The analysis of young gene duplicate pairs in Caenorhabditis briggsae provides insight into the characteristics of gene duplication in another member of the genus Caenorhabditis. The identification of 376 evolutionarily young gene …

Pre-Industrial Melanism: The Origin, Maintenance, And Genetic Basis Of An Urban Melanic Morph Of The Vermilion Flycatcher, Carl Jonathan Schmitt

Biology ETDs

Industrial melanism is a celebrated evolutionary phenomenon because it demonstrates the efficacy of natural selection in response to anthropogenic environmental change. We investigated a potential instance of industrial melanism in a vertebrate, the vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus). The species is strikingly bright red throughout its broad range, but a sooty brown morph is abundant in the heavily polluted city of Lima, Peru. We found that plumage morph is perfectly predicted by a single nucleotide polymorphism in the MC1R gene. We quantified genotype and allele frequencies in seven neighborhoods of Lima. Within neighborhoods, there were fewer heterozygotes than expected, and surveys …

Into The Tropics: A Quantitative Study Of Mammals In The Great American Biotic Interchange, Winifred S. B. Whiteman-Jennings

Biology ETDs

For almost 100 million years, North and South America were isolated from each other. This long period of geologic separation led to the evolution of strikingly different mammalian faunas: marsupials were prevalent in South America, while ecosystems in North America were composed of placental mammals. Roughly 3 Mya, a land bridge formed between the two continents leading to an accelerated exchange of mammalian fauna. The Great American Biotic Interchange (or GABI, as this has come to be called,) led to the successful colonization of many North American species, but few South American species. The highly asymmetrical nature of the faunal …

The Effects Of Ecology And Evolution On Avian Flight Morphology, Natalie A. Wright

Biology ETDs

The tendency for flying organisms to possess small genomes has been interpreted as evidence of natural selection acting on the physical size of the genome. Nonetheless, the flight-genome link and its mechanistic basis have yet to be well established by comparative studies within a volant clade. Is there a particular functional aspect of flight such as brisk metabolism, lift production, or maneuverability that impinges on the physical genome? I measured genome sizes, wing dimensions, and heart, flight muscle, and body masses from a phylogenetically diverse set of bird species. In phylogenetically controlled analyses, I found that genome size was negatively …

Immediate Postpartum Versus Interval Intrauterine Devices And Implant: A Cost Utility Analysis, Michelle R. Chungtuyco

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Objectives: To compare the cost per quality of life (QALY) between immediate postpartum and interval initiation of intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants from the societal perspective. Cost per unintended pregnancy prevented between timing strategies was also compared. Methods: Two decision analytic models were created using TreeAge Pro 2015 software for TCu380A IUD and levonorgestrel IUD and for the contraceptive implant. Each model compared immediate postpartum versus interval contraceptive provision to determine the occurrence of pregnancy events over time and their impact on costs and QALYs, using a time horizon of 1 to 5 years. The probabilities of insertion, expulsion/removal, …

Effects Of Low-Dose Gamma Radiation In A Murine Model Of Benzo[A]Pyrene-Induced Lung Cancer, Veronica R. Bruce

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related mortality in the United States and in the world. One of the carcinogenic compounds found in cigarette smoke, Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), at high levels elicits a number of inflammatory events consistent with those found in lung cancer patients. In our studies, the effects of low-dose gamma radiation (LDR) on carcinogenesis and tumor progression in a murine model of B[a]P-induced lung cancer were investigated. Two studies (46 weeks in duration) were conducted to assess the effects of fractionated doses of low-dose gamma rays on whole body irradiated A/J mice either before or following …

Inhibition Of Virulence As Treatment Strategies For Staphylococcus Aureus Infection, Seth Michael Daly

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Staphylococcus aureus is a global health threat due to its ability to cause significant morbidity and mortality and the exceptional capacity to acquire antibiotic resistance. One method to combat antibiotic resistance, proposed by the NIAID, is anti-virulence strategies focused on bacterial disarmament. S. aureus regulates over 200 virulence factors with the accessory gene regulator (agr) operon, which encodes a quorum sensing (QS) system, and many of the agr-regulated virulence factors are required for invasive infection. Therefore, we hypothesized that bacterial disarmament through the inhibition of agr quorum sensing will both complement immune function and mitigate the severity of S. aureus …

The Differential Contribution Of Behavior And Biology To Breslow Thickness And Melanoma Survival In Males Compared To Females, Jenna Marie Lilyquist

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

There are many well-documented differences between males and females regarding melanoma including incidence rates, presentation, markers of progression, and survival. A common hypothesis to explain the female survival advantage is that males are less aware of their skin, resulting in thicker lesions at diagnosis, and ultimately poorer survival. However, there are also multiple hypotheses attributing the female survival advantage to biological differences between males and females, mostly regarding sex-steroid hormones. Sex has been identified as an independent prognostic marker in multiple studies, supporting the hypothesis that melanoma progression varies between men and women. Despite these findings, stratifying by sex in …

Defining And Assessing Problem Solving Across A Biochemistry Curriculum, Cheryl A. Sensibaugh

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Undergraduate discipline-based education research has shown that scientific problem solving involves five domains, spanning the steps of the scientific method as well as metacognition: Hypothesize, Investigate, Evaluate, Integrate, and Reflect. Student performance in each domain is measured with the Individual Problem Solving Assessment (IPSA). Others developed the Critical thinking Assessment Test (CAT) to measure critical thinking, with the view that problem solving is a component of critical thinking. A third group took the perspective that student attitudes about learning science will influence performance, and developed the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for Biology (CLASS-Bio) to detect student attitudes. This …

Association Between Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (Lvef) In Patients With Regional Ischemia And Infarction On Myocardial Perfusion Images, Alireza B. Esfahane

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

OBJECTIVES: We used gated single-photon emission computed tomography Technetium (99mTc) tetrofosmin (SPECT Myoview), myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) to (i) determine whether the location of myocardial infarction and Ischemia affect left ventricular function, and (ii) associated changes between post-stress (SEF) and rest ejection fraction (REF) with segmental perfusion abnormalities. METHODS: Five hundred ninety-eight patients underwent a rest- stress or stress—rest gated SPECT Myoview. A Quantitative Gated SPECT (QGS) software program was used to calculate the left ventricular ejection fraction at rest and stress. The left ventricle was divided into thirteen segments. The perfusion abnormalities on each segment were visually assessed. The …

Ecotone Conditions Along Pinon-Juniper And Ponderosa Pine Elevational Ranges, Jemez Mountains, Nm, Christopher Lawrence Sanderson

Architecture and Planning ETDs

While climate variability is endemic to Southwest North America (SWNA), mounting evidence indicates the region is undergoing significant warming and becoming increasingly arid. Species are at or near their physiological limits at ecotone boundaries and are therefore particularly sensitive to climate change. Drought and warming associated tree mortality has been particularly acute in the semiarid forests and woodlands of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, USA, where ponderosa pine forests (Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum) and piñon--juniper woodlands (Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma) have been subject to cambium-feeding pine beetle (Dendroctonus spp., Ips spp) attacks and increased wildfire activity and severity. Grazing …

Improving Tribal Collaboration In California's Integrated Regional Water Management Program, Danielle V. Dolan, Beth Rose Middleton

Natural Resources Journal

Our research examines Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) policy-in-practice, which often reflects broader State exclusion of Tribal partners in natural resource policy, yet also provides potential opportunities for government-to-government collaboration and co-management. IRWM is the state of California’s chosen mechanism for collaborative water management. Our findings confirm that if Tribes and state or local jurisdictions were already working well together, the IRWM program has been beneficial to Tribal interests. In the Tuolumne-Stanislaus IRWM region, for example, the Regional Water Management Group (RWMG) facilitated a first of its kind voluntary water transfer between a Tribe and a local water agency. Conversely, …

¿De Dónde Eres?: The Construction Of U.S. And Immigrant Culture And Identity In The Esl Adult Education Setting, Chad Perry

Communication ETDs

In this study, I investigated how lessons and interactions in an ESL classroom setting construct U.S. and immigrant cultural identities through narratives and counter-narratives, and how these narratives and counter-narratives reproduced and questioned relations of power along the lines of race, class, and gender difference. The theoretical framework for this intercultural study was informed by Co-cultural theory, CRT, LatCrit, language and power, and Whiteness studies. As the findings of the research show, the narratives constructed through language, interaction, and institutionalized practices in the ESL setting reproduced the ideology of the American Dream. The American Dream emerged as the enduring ideological …

Ungoverned Masculinities: Gendered Discourses Of Neoliberalism In The Sopranos And Breaking Bad, Christopher Barnes

Communication ETDs

This thesis examines the discursive intersections of neoliberalism and masculinity on The Sopranos and Breaking Bad through a critical discourse analysis in order to illuminate larger sociocultural issues concerning contemporary masculinity. The Sopranos and Breaking Bad are praised in contemporary discourse as 'artistic achievements,' and the following project interrogates particular moments in both texts that construct gendered discourses of neoliberalism, relying on the theoretical foundations of hegemonic masculinity. Through my analysis, I establish key moments when discourses about masculinity intersected with and connected to discourses about neoliberalism. Additionally, this project analyzes moral dimensions of neoliberalism within sociocultural discourse centering on …

Characterization Of R-Ketorolac As A Single Enantiomer Selective Inhibitor Of Cdc42 And Rac1 In Ovarian Cancer, Shelby Ray Kenney Jr.

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States and is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage with multiple metastases. Rho family GTPases contribute to metastasis through regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, cell motility, cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion and these GTPases are altered in a number of human cancers. High throughput screening and in silico modeling identified the R-enantiomer, but not S-enantiomer, of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ketorolac as a novel inhibitor of Rac1 and Cdc42. Ketorolac is administered as a racemic mix of both enantiomers and is used clinically for surgical …

Theory Of Metamorphic Learning, Joan Denise San-Claire (Ferrell)

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

Using holistic grounded theory with participant selection through a self-designed survey, a preliminary theory and model of metamorphic learning for 16 adults who reported sudden, life-altering events emerged. Supporting the humanistic theoretical interpretations were the conceptual frameworks of transformative learning, Maslows hierarchy of needs, and positive psychology. An emic and in vivo definition led the findings about this complex, multi-faceted, and on-going learning event that profoundly impacted self-identity, direction, and quality of life. The event was a catalyst for a constructive learning, redefinition, and change process. Participants chose to confront and accept their changed reality first through critical reflection, after …

Politics Of Poiesis: Postmodern Polysemy As World, Sarah Fayad

Philosophy ETDs

This paper analyses several, extant, discourses of breakdown in order to ascertain what class and quality of these phenomena might be sufficient for the attainment of greater social-political change: which phenomena might meaningfully challenge contemporary nihilism. To this end, this thesis considers works by Heidegger, Lacan, Kuhn, Dreyfus and Kelly, and Ratcliffe, among others. While the paper attests to the structural similarity of these discourses of breakdown—the rupture of some all-encompassing, totalizing, structure of intelligibility by the ontological excess of possibilities—it also finds some meaningful distinctions between them. In proposing a theory of multiple infinities,' or 'plural nothings,' and thus …

Detecting Executive Function Subtypes In Individuals With Schizophrenia And Healthy Controls, Jessica Pommy

Psychology ETDs

Executive functioning (EF) impairments observed in schizophrenia (SZ) occur prior to onset of psychosis and are predictive of functional outcomes. There is significant variability in the nature and severity of EF deficits, however, and a better understanding of this heterogeneity could provide insight into the neurodevelopmental processes underlying both SZ and EFs. Using an approach similar to Fair et al., 2012, the present analysis examined heterogeneity in EFs and attempted to identify EF subtypes within healthy controls (HC) and individuals with SZ. EFs were assessed using the Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency test, Tower of London, and Continuous Performance Test. …