Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Citizen Science In Ecosystem Management: A Case Study Of The Middle Rio Grande Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, Hannah Miller

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Rapid advances in technology, especially smart phones, have changed citizen science around the world. Citizen science-generated data are growing exponentially, so there is increasing interest about what is happening with all this data. Some research suggests that governmental agencies are not using citizen science data to make ecosystem management decisions, although other studies contradict this finding. Regionally, the Middle Rio Grande bosque ecosystem extends for 162 miles along the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program, or BEMP, was founded in 1996 following the efforts of the Bosque Initiative and the development of the Bosque Biological Management …

Rural Water Manager Challenges In New Mexico, Amy "Aj" Jones

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

New Mexico poses a valuable set of circumstances to study the challenges faced by drinking water systems. A general lack of resources for small systems, be it personnel and funding issues, lack of community engagement, lack or loss of institutional knowledge, ability to meet regulations, and aging managers were found to be very common and widespread. Rural water manager positions that are unsupported financially do not assist in alleviating rural poverty or draw the workforce. Therefore, the negative state demographic statistics are reinforced, further complicating rural water management rather than helping the issues. To look at drinking water management comprehensively, …

Securing Environmental Flows For The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow, Ashley Veihl

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Since 1997, the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) has been leasing water to provide habitat for the now-endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow (Minnow). The majority of leased water comes from the San-Juan Chama project, a trans-basin water delivery system that was originally implemented to secure flows to the Rio Grande for municipal and agricultural use. Limitations on water storage within reservoirs incentivize contractors that are allocated more surface water than they can use to lease the extra quantity. It is through this water leasing market that the Bureau has established the largest environmental flow program in the state of New Mexico. …

Toward The Yeast Surface Display Of Microviridin B, Jillian Leigh Stafford

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Humans have turned to natural products for medicinal therapeutics for millennia. In recent years, the ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP) class of natural products have garnered a lot of attention due to their ability for heterologous expression, relative ease of mutation, and vast biological activates. Microviridins are a family of RiPPs that contain a tricyclic cage-like structure through the formation of two lactone rings and one lactam ring catalyzed by two ATP-grasp ligase family enzymes. Microviridins are potent inhibitors of serine proteases and mutational studies of a small number of residues indicates the potential of peptide engineering protease …

Mechanisms Contributing To Aberrant Vascular Development In The Brain Following Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Through Elevation Of Mir-150-5p, Marissa Westenskow, Roxana Gutierrez, Gabriela Perales, Amy S. Gardiner

Brain & Behavioral Health Research Day

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are conditions impacting development in children exposed to alcohol in utero. Among other associated anatomical defects, the organization of the brain microvasculature is altered in severe forms of FASD. Other vascular anomalies such as defective angiogenesis, permeability, vessel reactivity, and blood flow are found in animal models of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). The underlying mechanisms of these vascular defects are not fully understood. We previously found miR-150-5p to be upregulated in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMVECs) isolated from embryonic mouse cortices following moderate PAE. We identified targets of miR-150-5p in BMVECs and demonstrated that …

Ksrp Reduces The Migration And Invasion Of Glioblastoma Cells And Restricts Angiogenesis Of Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells, Pearl Huynh, Robert Oliver, Gabriela Perales, Amy S. Gardiner

Brain & Behavioral Health Research Day

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly aggressive and invasive brain tumor that has been continuously challenging to treat. Combined treatment strategies, including surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, have improved patient outcomes, however, median survival time is less than 15 months. Thus, there is a critical need for new therapeutic targets and approaches. KSRP is a multi-functional RNA-binding protein that acts post-transcriptionally to regulate mRNA stability, splicing, and transport, as well as the biogenesis and function of microRNAs and other non-coding RNAs. Several studies have shown that KSRP expression is significantly associated with prolonged survival of glioblastoma patients. We recently identified …

Guidance On Methadone For Opioid Use Disorder In Older Adults: Current Practices, M E. Dankoscik, S H. Patel, A Viszolay, E W. Green, C Smith, V Jacobsohn

Brain & Behavioral Health Research Day

Introduction: Opioid use disorder is highly prevalent and treatment is becoming more complex with the emergence of fentanyl. Methadone is a highly effective medication and full agonist of the opioid receptor allowing treatment of patients with high opioid tolerance. The proportion of adults over 65 is increasing and will rise to 77 million by 2034. In geriatric populations up to 50% of Medicare recipients take at least five medications a day. This polypharmacy and physiologic changes of metabolism puts this population at a higher risk of adverse events. In this study, we aim to determine the current practice of methadone …

Using Physics-Informed Neural Networks For Multigrid In Time Coarse Grid Equations, Jonathan P. Gutierrez

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

For parallel-in-time integration methods, the multigrid-reduction-in-time (MGRIT) method has shown promising results in both improved convergence and increased computational speeds when solving evolution problems. However, one problem the MGRIT algorithm currently faces is it struggles solving hyperbolic problems efficiently. In particular, hyperbolic problems are generally solved using explicit methods and this causes issues on the coarser multigrid levels, where larger (coarser) time step sizes can violate the stability condition. In this thesis, physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) are used to evaluate the coarse grid equations in the MGRIT algorithm with the goal to improve convergence for problems with hyperbolic behavior, as …

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Lambda Variant Collected From A Child From Arkansas And Sequenced, Lori Wong, Christopher Randolph, Emily Kanwischer, Ashton Ingold, Bobby L. Boyanton, Jay Taylor, Rachel A. Frenner, Susan E. Harley, Jordan T. Bird, Timothy J. Thurman, Sangam Kandel, David W. Ussery, Stephanie D Byrum, Darrell Dinwiddie, Daryl Domman, Uday K. Chalwadi, Joshua Kennedy

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

An eleven-year-old tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant. Sequencing was performed on the Oxford Nanopore and the Illumina NextSeq 500. Both platforms identified all 7 of the synonymous mutations in the sample, while all 28 nonsynonymous mutations were identified from Oxford Nanopore and 20 nonsynonymous mutations were identified from Illumina.

Hydraulic Modeling And Environmental Flows To Inform Ecological Models, Aubrey E. Harris

Civil Engineering ETDs

The widespread availability of high-quality terrain and long-term hydrologic monitoring data has increased opportunities in hydraulic modeling to support regional planning and decision-making. Hydraulic modeling is already a prevalent tool in riverine construction design for issues like flood control and erosion protection. Despite hydraulic models also being relevant for characterizing habitat conditions, the use of hydraulic modeling for ecological assessment has been fragmented in scale and application. The state of the science presents multiple ways to identify environmental flow criteria and hydraulic estimation of habitat areas. However, it has been challenging to combine these approaches as a parsimonious and effective …

It's Harder Than It Looks: How Students Identify Original Research Articles In An Undergraduate Biology Course, Alyssa Russo, Amy Jankowski

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Biology students must develop a foundational understanding about the role information plays in the scientific research process. Key to this is understanding that original research articles are the primary method of communicating findings from original scientific research. We analyzed data from an information literacy tutorial and worksheet integrated in a core undergraduate biology course to investigate how students identify original research articles. Our results suggest that students conceptually comprehend original research, but they need practice at identifying original research articles in real time and benefit from librarian feedback when they are actively searching for and selecting articles.

Saved Babies, Dead Doctors: Settler Colonial Anxiety And Strategic Rhetorics Of/In The Anti-Abortion Cultural Narrative, Cassidy Ellis

Communication ETDs

In this dissertation I identify and analyze the rhetoric that creates the anti-abortion cultural narrative and locate its toxic secrets by exposing the logics and ideologies the secrets obscure and sustain, and finally, ascertaining the strategic rhetorics that enable the narrative’s power and centrality. There are two primary arguments proposed in this dissertation. First, I argue that settler colonialism is the primary toxic secret nestled just beneath the surface of the anti-abortion cultural narrative. It is the secret that animates and sustains the narrative in service of maintaining settler colonial social order via control and maintenance of the population. Second, …

Escalating Costs Of Self-Injury Mortality In The 21st Century United States: An Interstate Observational Study., Ian Rh Rockett, Bina Ali, Eric D. Caine, Donald S. Shepard, Aniruddha Banerjee, Kurt B. Nolte, Hilary S. Connery, G Luke Larkin, Steven Stack, Franklin M M White, Haomiao Jia, Jeralynn S. Cossman, Judith Feinberg, Amanda N. Stover, Ted R. Miller

Pathology Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Estimating the economic costs of self-injury mortality (SIM) can inform health planning and clinical and public health interventions, serve as a basis for their evaluation, and provide the foundation for broadly disseminating evidence-based policies and practices. SIM is operationalized as a composite of all registered suicides at any age, and 80% of drug overdose (intoxication) deaths medicolegally classified as 'accidents,' and 90% of corresponding undetermined (intent) deaths in the age group 15 years and older. It is the long-term practice of the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to subsume poisoning (drug and nondrug) deaths …

Unm Hsc Education Day Agenda 2023, Gary A. Smith

HSC Education Days

No abstract provided.

The Onset Of Rare Earth Metallosis Begins With Renal Gadolinium-Rich Nanoparticles From Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agent Exposure, Joshua Deaguero, Tamara Howard, Donna Kusewitt, Adrian Brearley, Abdul-Mehdi Ali, James H. Degnan, Stephen Jett, John Watt, G Patricia Escobar, Karol Dokladny, Brent Wagner

Pathology Research and Scholarship

The leitmotifs of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent-induced complications range from acute kidney injury, symptoms associated with gadolinium exposure (SAGE)/gadolinium deposition disease, potentially fatal gadolinium encephalopathy, and irreversible systemic fibrosis. Gadolinium is the active ingredient of these contrast agents, a non-physiologic lanthanide metal. The mechanisms of MRI contrast agent-induced diseases are unknown. Mice were treated with a MRI contrast agent. Human kidney tissues from contrast-naïve and MRI contrast agent-treated patients were obtained and analyzed. Kidneys (human and mouse) were assessed with transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy with X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy. MRI contrast agent treatment resulted in …

Responsible Use Of Race In Research Workshop, N Mariam Salas, Martha Carvour

HSC Education Days

Background: Clinical outcomes stratified by race have been used to determine guidelines and treatment plans despite evidence that racial data is unreliable at best and misleading at the worst. There is growing evidence that the misrepresentation of race in medical research may cause erroneous racial profiling, an inaccurate attribution of disease outcomes to biological markers while missing the impact of social determinants of health, and worsening of health care disparities. There is also a belief amongst basic scientists that racial inequities do not impact their professional work or environments. Our curriculum seeks to guide basic science researchers to rethink research …

Ipe Honors Program Poster - Education Day 2023, Todd Hynson

InterProfessional Education Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Heterogeneous Grouping And Reciprocal Peer Teaching In Anatomy Medical Education, Julia A. Jordon, Rebecca S. Hartley

HSC Education Days

To improve student performance in anatomy, we introduced two teaching interventions: competence-based heterogeneous (CBH) group formation and reciprocal peer teaching (RPT) to two successive medical school cohorts. Independently, CBH and RPT elevate outcomes of lower-performing students without negatively impacting higher-performing students (Donovan, 2018 & Pizzimenti, 2016). Clinical Morphology is a classroom and lab-based active-learning block designed around small groups that were historically formed by random assignment. In this study, entering medical students were administered a pre-quiz to stratify them into quartiles, after which CBH groups of six to eight students were formed. Groups were divided into two to four lab …

Office Of Interprofessional Education: Ipe Honors Program, Heidi Rogers, Patricia Marshik

HSC Education Days

To assist the HSC Colleges in meeting their Interprofessional Education accreditation requirements, and prepare students for effective patient centered practice, the HSC Office of Interprofessional Education designed and implemented an innovative interprofessional education (IPE) Honors program (the first in the United States) in the Summer of 2019. The standard definition of IPE is, “Interprofessional Education happens when two or more professionals learn with, and from each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes.” (WHO, 2010) This program was built through a dynamic and responsive partnership with health professions students from multiple programs. The program was piloted in the …

Humanized Patient-Derived Xenograft Models Of Disseminated Ovarian Cancer Recapitulate Key Aspects Of The Tumor Immune Environment Within The Peritoneal Cavity, Mara P. Steinkamp, Irina Lagutina, Kathryn J. Brayer, Fred Schultz, Danielle Burke, Vernon S. Pankratz, Sarah F. Adams, Laurie G. Hudson, Scott A. Ness, Angela Wandinger-Ness

Pathology Research and Scholarship

UNLABELLED: The importance of the immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer progression, metastasis, and response to therapies has become increasingly clear, especially with the new emphasis on immunotherapies. To leverage the power of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models within a humanized immune microenvironment, three ovarian cancer PDXs were grown in humanized NBSGW (huNBSGW) mice engrafted with human CD34

SIGNIFICANCE: huPDX models are ideal preclinical models for testing novel therapies. They reflect the genetic heterogeneity of the patient population, enhance human myeloid differentiation, and recruit immune cells to the tumor microenvironment.

Humanized Patient-Derived Xenograft Models Of Disseminated Ovarian Cancer Recapitulate Key Aspects Of The Tumor Immune Environment Within The Peritoneal Cavity, Mara P. Steinkamp, Irina Lagutina, Kathryn J. Brayer, Fred Schultz, Danielle Burke, Vernon S. Pankratz, Sarah F. Adams, Laurie G. Hudson, Scott A. Ness, Angela Wandinger-Ness

Pathology Research and Scholarship

UNLABELLED: The importance of the immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer progression, metastasis, and response to therapies has become increasingly clear, especially with the new emphasis on immunotherapies. To leverage the power of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models within a humanized immune microenvironment, three ovarian cancer PDXs were grown in humanized NBSGW (huNBSGW) mice engrafted with human CD34

SIGNIFICANCE: huPDX models are ideal preclinical models for testing novel therapies. They reflect the genetic heterogeneity of the patient population, enhance human myeloid differentiation, and recruit immune cells to the tumor microenvironment.

Behavioral Strategies Of Social Relationship Formation And Competition Among Adolescent And Adult Male Chimpanzees At Kanyawara, Kibale National Park, Uganda, Drew K. Enigk

Anthropology ETDs

Adolescence is a unique life stage in which individuals are reproductively mature but have not yet attained their full adult body size. In chimpanzees, which live in multimale-multifemale groups, this age period presents a challenge for males. Namely, adolescent males lack the physical strength to compete effectively with adult males for mating opportunities. In the following chapters, we seek to answer whether adolescent male chimpanzees exhibit behavior typical of highly competitive adults but with less success, or whether they pursue alternative behavioral tactics to largely avoid competition until they are fully grown. We utilize both long-term data spanning over two …

Defining Variability In Evaluation And Management Of Children With Chronic Osteomyelitis, Ganga S. Moorthy, Angelique E. Boutzoukas, Daniel K. Benjamin, Philip M. Polgreen, Susan E. Beekmann, John S. Bradley, Walter Dehority

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

Pediatric chronic osteomyelitis is a rare, debilitating condition lacking management guidelines. In a national survey of 162 pediatric infectious disease physicians through the Emerging Infections Network, tremendous variability in diagnostic approaches and management were noted, highlighting a need for prospective study to better define the spectrum of pathogens and disease.

Dysregulation Of The Prune2/Pca3 Genetic Axis In Human Prostate Cancer: From Experimental Discovery To Validation In Two Independent Patient Cohorts, Richard C. Lauer, Marc Barry, Tracey L. Smith, Andrew Maltez Thomas, Jin Wu, Ruofei Du, Ji-Hyun Lee, Arpit Rao, Andrey S. Dobroff, Marco A. Arap, Diana N. Nunes, Israel T. Silva, Emmanuel Dias-Neto, Isan Chen, Dennis J. Mccance, Webster K. Cavenee, Renata Pasqualini, Wadih Arap

Pathology Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that the long non-coding (lnc)RNA

METHODS: The reciprocal

RESULTS: We consistently observed increased expression of

CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that upregulation of the lncRNA

FUNDING: We received support from the Human Tissue Repository and Tissue Analysis Shared Resource from the Department of Pathology of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a pilot award from the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. RP and WA were supported by awards from the Levy-Longenbaugh Donor-Advised Fund and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. EDN reports research fellowship support from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological …

Wild Cards In Natural Resource Planning: High Impact Surprises That Shape The Future, Dr. David Bengston

Natural Resources Journal

Wild cards are improbable, high impact events. Such events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, have the ability to shape policy by upending entire systems and paradigms. Unfortunately, long-term planning and policymaking rarely account for wild card events. Instead, planning and policymaking typically assume that existing trends will continue without major disruption. Moreover, adequately planning for potential wild card events is challenging because they are inherently difficult to predict. However, planning for wild card events in natural resources and environmental policymaking is vital as global developments, such as climate change, create more extreme conditions and challenges. This review, (1) defines and characterizes …

Katz Or Dogs? Why The Katz Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy Test Is More Applicable To Advancing Technology Than A Test Applied To Dog Sniffs, Blade M. Allen

Student Published Scholarship

Most often, when law enforcement agencies or governments use a person’s DNA or genetic information, they do so in the pursuit of justice. That said, there are privacy concerns that arise when the government or police have open access to any person’s DNA or genetic information, especially through the Internet. This article attempts to present an argument for a reasonable expectation of privacy (REP) in a person’s genetic information or DNA as well as other forms of advancing technology. It begins with a history of the US Supreme Court’s interpretations of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, continues with …

Unm Pathology Pathfinder Winter 2023, Unm Department Of Pathology

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Prenatal Cannabinoid Exposure: Why Expecting Individuals Should Take A Pregnancy Pause From Using Cannabinoid Products, Alexis Lin, Gelonia L. Dent, Suzy Davies, Zarena M. Dominguez, Leigh-Anne Cioffredi, Gabrielle L. Mclemore, Jessie R. Maxwell

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

Cannabinoid use in all populations is increasing as legalization across the United States continues. Concerningly, there is a lack of caution provided by medical providers to pregnant individuals as to the impact the use of cannabinoids could have on the developing fetus. Research continues in both the preclinical and clinical areas, and is severely needed, as the potency of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, has increased dramatically since the initial studies were completed. Thus far, clinical studies raise compelling evidence for short term memory deficits, impulse control issues, and attention deficiencies following prenatal cannabinoid exposure (PCE). These …

Assessing Impact Of Nutrition Care By Registered Dietitian Nutritionists On Patient Medical And Treatment Outcomes In Outpatient Cancer Clinics: A Cohort Feasibility Study, Dolores D. Guest, Tricia Cox, Anne Coble Voss, Kathryn Kelley, Xingya Ma, Andreea Nguyen, Kerry Mcmillen, Valaree Williams, James A. Lee, Jennifer Petersen, Karilynne Lenning, Elizabeth Yakes Jimenez

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

More information is needed about the impact of outpatient nutrition care from a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) on patient outcomes. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a cohort study design to evaluate impact of RDN nutrition care on patient outcomes, describe clinic malnutrition screening practices, and estimate statistical parameters for a larger study. Seventy-seven patients with lung, esophageal, colon, rectal, or pancreatic cancer from six facilities were included (41 received RDN care and 36 did not). RDN nutrition care was prospectively documented for six months and documented emergency room visits, unplanned hospitalizations and treatment changes were retrospectively abstracted …

Pilot Study Shows Skin-To-Skin Care With Parents Improves Heart Rate Variability In Preterm Infants In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Erin Swieter, Jessica M. Gross, Julia Stephen, Kristi Watterberg, Jessie R. Maxwell

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: Skin-to-skin care in the newborn intensive care unit typically lasts for short periods of time and enhances breastfeeding, attachment, and parental self-esteem. Heart rate variability (HRV) increases with gestational age and is a measure of maturation of parasympathetic vs. sympathetic autonomic nervous system activity. HRV measurements may be useful in capturing changes in autonomic regulation in response to skin-to-skin care.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effects of skin-to-skin care on HRV in preterm infants receiving respiratory support. We hypothesized that skin-to-skin care would result in a more mature pattern of parasympathetic activity.

METHODS: In this prospective crossover study, infants <30 >weeks' …