Digital Commons Network^™

Density And Abundance Estimation Of West Indian Manatee, Trichechus Manatus, Between The States Of Ceará And Piauí, Northeast Brazil, Using Active Acoustics, Katherine Fiedler Choi Lima, Denis Moledo De Sousa Abessa, Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske, Renata Sousa-Lima, Ana Carolina Oliveira De Meirelles, Cristine Pereira Negrão Silva

Faculty Publications

The West Indian manatee is one of the most threatened species in Brazil. The species has currently a patchy distribution from the state of Alagoas to the state of Amapá. The difficulty of observing manatees, especially in estuarine waters, is a challenge for conservation. Therefore, it is necessary to use new methodologies and technologies to solve manatee detection problems in their natural habitats. The goal of this study was to use an active acoustic method of detection to estimate manatee density and abundance in the estuarine complex of the Timonha and Ubatuba rivers, between the states of Ceará and Piauí, …

Ifn-𝜸 And Il-10 Immunosensor With Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Interdigitated Electrodes Toward Pen-Side Cattle Paratuberculosis Monitoring, Shaowei Ding, Benjamin J. Brownlee, Kshama Parate, Cicero C. Pola, Bolin Chen, Jesse M. Hostetter, Douglas Jones, John Jackman, Brian D. Iverson, Jonathan C. Claussen

Faculty Publications

Highly sensitive vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays (VANTAs) interdigitated electrode (IDE) arrays are developed for electrochemical biosensing of two cytokines (i.e., interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interferon-gamma (IFN-𝜸)) that are useful for early detection Johne’s disease (Bovine Paratuberculosis) in cattle. The high aspect ratio VANTA-IDEs (50–60 μm in height) are grown through a chemical vapor deposition process from an iron (Fe) catalyst that is lithographically patterned on a silicon wafer with equal finger width and inter-finger spacing of 25 μm. After functionalization with distinct antibodies the VANTA-IDEs are capable of selective detection of both IL-10 and IFN-𝜸 within an actual biological matrix …

Assessing Virtual Reality’S Influence On Honesty In Reporting, Jeffrey Pickerd, Nathan Waddoups, David A. Wood, Xiaomei (Grazia) Xiong

Faculty Publications

Organizations, businesses, and society are exploring and adopting virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). VR is expected to boost the global economy by $1.5 trillion by 2030. In this study, we focus on the effect of VR on an important accounting variable—reporting honesty. We examine reporting honesty across two tasks, various measures, and various populations, that are commonly used in existing research. In our initial experiment, participants misreported more in a dice rolling task when performing it in a VR setting than in a non-VR setting. However, in a second and third experiment attempting to replicate and extend our …

In Memoriam: Fred R. Gowans (1936-2023), Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Historian, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

Fred R. Gowans is the proverbial American original – or, better yet, Western American original. Fred talked and wrote convincingly about the American West and the fur trade because he spent so much time in it, exploring or retracing old trails. Fred made no pretenses. He dressed for class, public talks, or academic presentations the same way he dressed for working with his horses: Western hat, Western shirt, Levis, cowboy boots, and on the rare occasion a sport coat and bolo tie. He lived with his wife Gloria in a log home that he and his father Floyd had built …

The Translational Oscillation In Oocyte And Early Embryo Development, Rajan Iyyappan, Daria Aleshkina, Hao Ming, Michal Dvoran, Kianoush Kakavand, Denisa Jansova, Edgar Del Llano, Lenka Gahurova, Alexander W. Bruce, Tomas Masek, Martin Pospisek, Filip Horvat, Michal Kubelka, Zongliang Jiang, Andrej Susor

Faculty Publications

Translation is critical for development as transcription in the oocyte and early embryo is silenced. To illustrate the translational changes during meiosis and consecutive two mitoses of the oocyte and early embryo, we performed a genome-wide translatome analysis. Acquired data showed significant and uniform activation of key translational initiation and elongation axes specific to M-phases. Although global protein synthesis decreases in M-phases, translation initiation and elongation activity increases in a uniformly fluctuating manner, leading to qualitative changes in translation regulation via the mTOR1/4F/eEF2 axis. Overall, we have uncovered a highly dynamic and oscillatory pattern of translational reprogramming that contributes to …

The Influence Of Salinity And Vegetation Texture On The Ecological Roles Of Insects In Tidal Marshes In Louisiana, Benjamin G. Aker, Claudia Husseneder, Lane D. Foil

Faculty Publications

Tidal marsh insect communities are influenced by both salinity and aspects of vegetation texture (vegetation diversity, plant density, and architectural structure). These factors affect the abundances and intra- and interguild interactions of these insects and should result in broad-scale variation in the distribution and ecological functioning of tidal marsh insect communities along these gradients. However, this assumption has not been tested within Gulf Coast marshes, and the insect communities and their ecological roles are not well known. This study identifies how family-level insect biodiversity varies by salinity and which factors are most important in affecting the distribution of insect functional …

A Survey On Mosquito Control Knowledge And Insecticide Use In New Orleans, La, 2020–2021, Erin R. Cloherty, Janet C. Mcallister, James A. Ottea, Kristen Healy, Claudia Riegel

Faculty Publications

Mosquitoes are a known public nuisance and can vector various diseases. Historically, New Orleans, LA, has long been acquainted with the burden of mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and yellow fever in the 20th century and West Nile virus in the 21st century. Government mosquito control awareness campaigns have been around for decades as has the use of organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticides by mosquito abatement districts. However, few data are available on public perception of mosquito control and public usage of insecticides to kill mosquitoes in New Orleans. We conducted a survey from August 2020 to July 2021 to evaluate …

Behavioral-Dependent Recursive Movements And Implications For Resource Selection, Nicholas W. Bakner, Bret A. Collier, Michael J. Chamberlain

Faculty Publications

Within home ranges, animals repeatedly visit certain areas. Recursive movement patterns are widespread throughout the animal kingdom, but are rarely considered when developing resource selection models. We examined how behavioral state-dependent recursive movements influenced reource selection of eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) broods as they aged from day 1 to 28. Because broods become more plastic in behaviors once they begin roosting off the ground, we separated data into broods that were ground roosting (1–13 days) and tree roosting (14–28 days). We used Hidden Markov Models to identify 2 behavioral states (restricted and mobile). We extracted state-specific recursive movements …

A Trait Dataset For Freshwater Mussels Of The United States Of America, Garrett W. Hopper, Jamie R. Bucholz, Traci P. Dubose, Kaelyn J. Fogelman, Sean M. Keogh, Megan E. Kubala, Matthew B. Lodato, David H. Nichols, Irene Sánchez González, John M. Pfeiffer, James A. Stoeckel, Jeffrey D. Lozier, Carla L. Atkinson

Faculty Publications

The United States of America has a diverse collection of freshwater mussels comprising 301 species distributed among 59 genera and two families (Margaritiferidae and Unionidae), each having a unique suite of traits. Mussels are among the most imperilled animals and are critical components of their ecosystems, and successful management, conservation and research requires a cohesive and widely accessible data source. Although trait-based analysis for mussels has increased, only a small proportion of traits reflecting mussel diversity in this region has been collated. Decentralized and non-standardized trait information impedes large-scale analysis. Assembling trait data in a synthetic dataset enables comparison across …

Amazonian Mixed-Species Flocks Demonstrate Flexible Preferences For Vertical Forest Structure, Charles P.J. Coddington, W. Justin Cooper, Cameron L. Rutt, Karl Mokross, Bruna R. Amaral, Philip C. Stouffer, David A. Luther

Faculty Publications

How species interact with human-disturbed environments is a central focus of conservation biology. Within disturbed landscapes, regenerating forests have potential to provide habitat for forest species, especially as increasing amounts of primary forest are lost. As secondary forest regenerates beside primary forest, it increases habitat heterogeneity. However, relatively little is known about the influence of habitat heterogeneity on space use. In this study, we analyzed the topography and vertical vegetation structure of regenerating forest, small forest fragments, and undisturbed rainforest in the central Amazon to determine (1) how these structural characteristics influence understory mixed-species flock space use and (2) how …

Modeling Of Cryopreservation Pathway Operation At An Aquatic Biomedical Stock Center For Zebrafish, Sarah Bodenstein, Fidan Abdullayeva, Joy M. Murphy, Zoltan M. Varga, Terrence R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

Aquatic biomedical model organisms play a substantial role in advancing our understanding of human health, however, comparably little work has been directed towards developing dependable, high-throughput storage programs for valuable genetic resources. The Zebrafish International Resource Center (ZIRC) has developed a standardized cryopreservation pathway and stored thousands of genetic lines in their repository for use by the biomedical research community. This has yet to be replicated in other facilities, and an overall repository-level pathway has never been analyzed for aquatic species. To encourage repository development for other biomedical models and to improve the ZIRC storage process and system, this study …

Increased Lipogenesis Is Important For Hexavalent Chromium-Transformed Lung Cells And Xenograft Tumor Growth, James T.F. Wise, Kazuya Kondo

Faculty Publications

Hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), is a known carcinogen and environmental health concern. It has been established that reactive oxygen species, genomic instability, and DNA damage repair deficiency are important contributors to the Cr(VI)-induced carcinogenesis mechanism. However, some hallmarks of cancer remain under-researched regarding the mechanism behind Cr(VI)-induced carcinogenesis. Increased lipogenesis is important to carcinogenesis and tumorigenesis in multiple types of cancers, yet the role increased lipogenesis has in Cr(VI) carcinogenesis is unclear. We report here that Cr(VI)-induced transformation of three human lung cell lines (BEAS-2B, BEP2D, and WTHBF-6) resulted in increased lipogenesis (palmitic acid levels), and Cr(VI)-transformed cells had an increased …

Low Sodium Availability In Hydroponically Manipulated Host Plants Promotes Cannibalism In A Lepidopteran Herbivore, Luis Y. Santiago-Rosario, Ana L. Salgado, Diego Paredes-Burneo, Kyle E. Harms

Faculty Publications

As an abundant element in the Earth’s crust, sodium plays an unusual role in food webs. Its availability in terrestrial environments is highly variable, but it is nonessential for most plants, yet essential for animals and most decomposers. Accordingly, sodium requirements are important drivers of various animal behavioural patterns and performance levels. To specifically test whether sodium limitation increases cannibalism in a gregarious lepidopteran herbivore, we hydroponically manipulated Helianthus annuus host plants' tissue-sodium concentrations. Gregarious larvae of the bordered patch butterfly, Chlosyne lacinia, cannibalized siblings when plant-tissue sodium concentrations were low in two separate experiments. Although cannibalism was almost non-existent …

African Bovid Tribe Classification Using Transfer Learning And Computer Vision, Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Juliet Brophy, Gregory J. Mathews, Marcos Pizarro-Monzo, Enrique Baquedano

Faculty Publications

Objective analytical identification methods are still a minority in the praxis of paleobiological sciences. Subjective interpretation of fossils and their modifications remains a nonreplicable expert endeavor. Identification of African bovids is a crucial element in the reconstruction of paleo-landscapes, ungulate paleoecology, and, eventually, hominin adaptation and ecosystemic reconstruction. Recent analytical efforts drawing on Fourier functional analysis and discrimination methods applied to occlusal surfaces of teeth have provided a highly accurate framework to correctly classify African bovid tribes and taxa. Artificial intelligence tools, like computer vision, have also shown their potential to be objectively more accurate in the identification of taphonomic …

Digital Archives: How Western Newspapers Frame Our Remembrance Of The Gezi Park Protest, Nihar Sreepada, Ahmet Aksoy

Faculty Publications

We analyze the coverage of the Gezi Park protests by two major Western newspapers - The New York Times and The Guardian - through the lens of media framing, rhetoric, and collective memory. We argue that these digital archives frame Turkey's Gezi Park protests as a challenge to an authoritarian government by promoting the themes of unrest as a conflict of ideologies, oppression of citizens, and the park as a site of memory. In a concluding section, we focus on the significance of digital archives as repositories of collective memory and the role of media framing in shaping these reconstructions …

Examining Consumers’ Perceptions Of And Attitudes Toward Digital Fashion In General And Purchase Intention Of Luxury Brands’ Digital Fashion Specifically, Yanbo Zhang, Chuanlan Liu, Yanru Lyu

Faculty Publications

Digital fashion may instill transformative power into the fashion industry as it can simultaneously deliver fashionability and sustainability. Renowned for their innovativeness and creativity, luxury brands embrace digital fashion and achieve market success, indicating the future of digital fashion. This research aims to empirically investigate consumers’ general perceptions and evaluations of digital fashion and to specifically examine consumers’ purchase intention of luxury brands’ digital fashion. A total of 214 responses were collected from a U.S.-based research company’s consumer panel. Data were analyzed by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that the general attitude toward digital fashion is influenced …

Historical Archives Reveal Record Rainfall And Severe Flooding In December 1867 Resulting From An Atmospheric River And Snowmelt, Western Washington, Usa, Daniel G. Gavin, Patrick J. Bartlein, Cary J. Mock

Faculty Publications

The flooding of 1861-1862 in California and Oregon is the most severe flood event documented in the far western USA and stands as a benchmark for a worst-case atmospheric-river flooding event. In western Washington, historical data are sparser, and 19th-century flood events have consequently not been well documented. We found that rainfall observations from five locations spanning western Washington had no detectable bias when compared to nearby 20th and 21st-century comparator stations. Time series of the four-day precipitation sum revealed an event in December 1867 that was greater than any of the last century at three locations, and in the …

Therapeutics To Treat Psychiatric And Neurological Disorders: A Promising Perspective From Algerian Traditional Medicine, Farida Larit, Francisco León Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Ancient people sought out drugs in nature to prevent, cure, and treat their diseases, including mental illnesses. Plants were their primary source for meeting their healthcare needs. In Algeria, folk medicine remains a fundamental part of the local intangible knowledge. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive ethnomedicinal investigation and documentation of medicinal plants and the different plant formulations traditionally used in Algeria for the treatment of pain, psychiatric, and neurological disorders. It also intends to improve the current knowledge of Algerian folk medicine. Several scientific databases were used to accomplish this work. Based on this investigation, we identified 82 …

Shifting Taxonomic And Functional Community Composition Of Rivers Under Land Use Change, Kai Chen, Stephen R. Midway, Brandon K. Peoples, Beixin Wang, Julian D. Olden

Faculty Publications

Land use intensification has led to conspicuous changes in plant and animal communities across the world. Shifts in trait-based functional composition have recently been hypothesized to manifest at lower levels of environmental change when compared to species-based taxonomic composition; however, little is known about the commonalities in these responses across taxonomic groups and geographic regions. We investigated this hypothesis by testing for taxonomic and geographic similarities in the composition of riverine fish and insect communities across gradients of land use in major hydrological regions of the conterminous United States. We analyzed an extensive data set representing 556 species and 33 …

The Future Of Cyanobacteria Toxicity In Estuaries Undergoing Pulsed Nutrient Inputs: A Case Study From Coastal Louisiana, Sibel Bargu, Matthew Hiatt, Kanchan Maiti, Paul Miller, John R. White

Faculty Publications

Harmful cyanobacteria blooms (cyanoHABs) are a global phenomenon, especially in calm, warm, and nutrient-rich freshwater and estuarine systems. These blooms can produce various potent toxins responsible for animal poisoning and human health problems. Nutrient-rich freshwater pulsed into estuaries affects turbidity, water temperature, salinity, and nutrient concentrations and ratios at irregular intervals, creating a highly dynamic habitat. However, the underlying processes that lead to the selective development of cyanoHABs for certain species and the fate of their toxins are still uncertain. This paper draws upon the rich body of research available for one such system, the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, Louisiana, to …

Limnological Response Of Las Curias Reservoir, San Juan, Puerto Rico: Successful Management Of The Invasive Aquatic Fern, Salvinia Molesta, Xavier A. García-López, Jorge R. Ortiz-Zayas, Rodrigo Díaz, Aurelio Castro-Jiménez, Charles F. Wahl

Faculty Publications

The anthropogenic deterioration of aquatic ecosystems affects water resources due to agricultural malpractices, pollution from domestic septic tanks, recreational activities, and poor watershed management, among other factors. This study examines the management of Las Curias Reservoir, San Juan, Puerto Rico, after the 2016 arrival of the invasive aquatic fern Salvinia molesta. In September 2019, a community-led initiative introduced the Cyrtobagous salviniae weevil, an effective biological control agent for S. molesta, and commenced a mechanical removal campaign using an aquatic harvester. Limnological sampling (September 2019 to September 2022) and drone flights were employed to measure physicochemical and floating plant cover changes, …

A Membrane Protein Of The Rice Pathogen Burkholderia Glumae Required For Oxalic Acid Secretion And Quorum Sensing, Asif Iqbal, George Nwokocha, Vijay Tiwari, Inderjit K. Barphagha, Anne Grove, Jong Hyun Ham, William T. Doerrler

Faculty Publications

Bacterial panicle blight is caused by Burkholderia glumae and results in damage to rice crops worldwide. Virulence of B. glumae requires quorum sensing (QS)-dependent synthesis and export of toxoflavin, responsible for much of the damage to rice. The DedA family is a conserved membrane protein family found in all bacterial species. B. glumae possesses a member of the DedA family, named DbcA, which we previously showed is required for toxoflavin secretion and virulence in a rice model of infection. B. glumae secretes oxalic acid as a “common good” in a QS-dependent manner to combat toxic alkalinization of the growth medium …

Community-Wide Correlations Between Species Richness, Abundance And Population Genomic Diversity In A Freshwater Biodiversity Hotspot, Jamie R. Bucholz, Garrett W. Hopper, Irene Sánchez González, Taylor E. Kelley, Colin R. Jackson, Ryan C. Garrick, Carla L. Atkinson, Jeffrey D. Lozier

Faculty Publications

Understanding patterns of diversity across macro (e.g. species-level) and micro (e.g. molecular-level) scales can shed light on community function and stability by elucidating the abiotic and biotic drivers of diversity within ecological communities. We examined the relationships among taxonomic and genetic metrics of diversity in freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae), an ecologically important and species-rich group in the southeastern United States. Using quantitative community surveys and reduced-representation genome sequencing across 22 sites in seven rivers and two river basins, we surveyed 68 mussel species and sequenced 23 of these species to characterize intrapopulation genetic variation. We tested for the presence of …

Expanding Non-Invasive Approaches For Fish-Health Monitoring: A Survey Of The Epidermal Mucous Metabolomes Of Phylogenetically Diverse Freshwater Fish Species, Drew R. Ekman, Marina G. Evich, Jonathan D. Mosley, Jon A. Doering, Kellie A. Fay, Gerald T. Ankley, Timothy W. Collette

Faculty Publications

There is a pressing need for more-holistic approaches to fisheries assessments along with growing demand to reduce the health impacts of sample collections. Metabolomic tools enable the use of sample matrices that can be collected with minimal impact on the organism (e.g., blood, urine, and mucus) and provide high-throughput, untargeted biochemical information without the requirement of a sequenced genome. These qualities make metabolomics ideal for monitoring a wide range of fish species, particularly those under protected status. In the current study, we surveyed the relative abundances of 120 endogenous metabolites in epidermal mucus across eight freshwater fish species belonging to …

Exposing The Error Hidden In Plain Sight: A Critique Of Calder's (1983) Group Selectionist Seed-Dispersal Hypothesis For Mistletoe “Mimicry” Of Host Plants, Kyle E. Harms, David M. Watson, Luis Y. Santiago-Rosario, Sarah Mathews

Faculty Publications

Some mistletoe species (Loranthaceae) resemble their host plants to a striking degree. Various mechanisms have been proposed for the developmental origins of novel traits that cause mistletoes to appear similar to their hosts, as well as for the adaptive phenotypic evolution of such traits. Calder (1983) proposed a logically flawed group selectionist seed-dispersal hypothesis for mistletoes to resemble their hosts. Calder's (1983) hypothesis does not provide a viable potential explanation for mistletoe resemblance to hosts.

Looking Back To Look Forward: Exploring Crenshaw’S Political, Structural, And Representational Intersectionality In Sport, Allison Anders Ph.D., James M. Devita, Leslee A. Fisher, Chris Corr, Christina L. Myers

Faculty Publications

Engaging with Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, the authors (re)turn to its genesis in critical race theory (CRT) and specifically, its forms of structural intersectionality, political intersectionality, and representational intersectionality. Discussing each form in relation to contemporary issues in sport that Black women and women of Color navigate, they argue that Crenshaw’s intersectionality provides additional compelling layers of engagement with existing intersectional scholarship and scholarship about activism in sport, invites structural and discursive change through intersectional policies and practice, and promotes coalition building toward intersectional racial justice in sport.

Effect Of Sampling Method On Detection Of The Equine Uterine Microbiome During Estrus, B. A. Heil, M. Van Heule, S. K. Thompson, T. A. Kearns, E. L. Oberhaus, G. King, P. Daels, P. Dini, J. L. Sones

Faculty Publications

Bacterial endometritis is among the most common causes of subfertility in mares. It has a major economic impact on the equine breeding industry. The sensitivity of detecting uterine microbes using culture-based methods, irrespective of the sample collection method, double-guarded endometrial swab, endometrial biopsy, or uterine low-volume lavage (LVL), is low. Therefore, equine bacterial endometritis often goes undiagnosed. Sixteen individual mares were enrolled, and an endometrial sample was obtained using each method from all mares. After trimming, quality control and decontamination, 3824 amplicon sequence variants were detected in the dataset. We found using 16S rRNA sequencing that the equine uterus harbors …

Editorial Introduction: Exploring Policy Theories, Narratives, And Policing, Geoboo Song, Melissa K. Merry, Holly L. Peterson, Davor Mondom, Briana Huett, Izehi Oriaghan, Creed Tumlison, Camille Gilmore, Gwen Arnold, Aaron Smith-Walter, Saba Siddiki, Heasun Choi

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Design Guidance For Wetland-Road Crossings To Reduce Blanding’S Turtle Mortality Risk, Thomas P. Ballestero, Lauren E. White, Sandra Houghton, David Burdick, Josh Megyesy

Faculty Publications

Road mortality is a leading threat to freshwater turtles, particularly the Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), an endangered species in New Hampshire. Wildlife wetland-crossing structures, such as culverts and/or fences, have proven effective in reducing wildlife road mortality while retaining habitat connectivity. Funding for adequate wetland-crossing creation or restoration is limited, so prioritizing areas of high mortality risk is essential to ensuring that the resources spent are impactful. A research team of professionals from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, New Hampshire Fish and Game, University of New Hampshire, and other organizations formed to create a model capable …

The Independent Agency Myth, Neal Devins, David E. Lewis

Faculty Publications

Republicans and Democrats are fighting the wrong fight over independent agencies. Republicans are wrong to see independent agencies as anathema to hierarchical presidential control of the administrative state. Democrats are likewise wrong to reflexively defend independent agency expertise and influence. Supreme Court Justices also need to break free from this trap; the ongoing struggle over independent agencies should be about facts, not partisan rhetoric.

This Article seeks to reframe the fight over independent agencies. By surveying executive branch and independent agency department heads and supervisors during the Obama (2014) and Trump (2020) administrations, we have assembled unique and expansive data …