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Structure Activity Relationships For Intracellular Loop 2 Of The 5ht1a Serotonin Receptor, Brian Patrick Hall

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Hall, Brian, Ph.D., May 2008 Pharmacology/Pharmaceutical Sciences

Structure Activity Relationships for Intracellular Loop 2 of the 5HT1A Serotonin Receptor

Chairperson: Dr. Keith Parker

The human (H) serotonin (5-hydroxytrptamine; 5HT) 1a receptor (R) has been implicated in various physiological processes such as mood regulation, vascular and temperature control, anxiety, depression, and migraine headache. This seven transmembrane domain (7TMD), G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) is negatively coupled to adenylyl cyclase (AC). This work was designed to better understand the coupling and activation requirements of intracellular loop 2 (ic2) with Gi in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. 10 MER peptides that are derived from …

Using 3-D Geometric Morphometric Techniques To Further Understand The Relationship Between Neanderthals And Homo Sapiens, Jolen Anya Minetz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The relationship between hominids in the middle and late Pleistocene has been a heated subject of debate since Neanderthals were first recognized. Neanderthals are either a distinctly separate species from Homo sapiens that were replaced by Homo sapiens without any genetic interaction, which supports the taxonomical title for Neanderthals as Homo neanderthalensis, or there was at least a minimal genetic interaction between contemporaneous Neanderthals and early humans, designating Neanderthals as a subspecies with a taxonomic title of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. The purpose of this research was to further explore this issue by conducting a quantitative analysis on several aspects of …

The Traditional Wilderness Conception, Postmodern Cultural Constructionism And The Importance Of Physical Environments, Matthew Adam Gray

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Recently, a heated debate has emerged between advocates of the traditional wilderness concept and those who believe that this concept is merely a cultural construction. The traditional wilderness conception viewed wilderness as an objective place separate from humans that is defined by being primarily shaped by natural forces, possessing natural origins and being free of human inhabitants and structures. This view culminated in the definition of wilderness featured in the 1964 Wilderness Act. A postmodern critique of the traditional wilderness conception began in the 1980s. In this view, the traditional wilderness conception is thought to be a product of Euro- …

Perceptions Of Borough Incorporation Held By Community Leaders In Delta Junction, Alaska, Michelle Albus Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Regional governments exist in an overwhelming majority of the United States and are often considered a necessary and natural progression of a developing region. Alaska offers a unique opportunity to explore perceptions of regional incorporation, as it is the only remaining state in the Union to have unincorporated area. Thus, after a rural region of Alaska petitioned the state legislature to politically incorporate, I conducted qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with local community leaders to explore their perceptions of the proposed incorporation. Existing literature often refers to leaders as either elite, self-interested individuals or as functional, community-interested individuals. This study explored …

Producing A Biblical Atlas, Elizabeth Anne Hertz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this thesis was to develop a procedure for simplifying the production of a biblical atlas. The atlas was to be designed specifically for those people interested in the geography of the Bible, and looking at the themes and events in the Bible in a spatial way. The procedures used in developing the contents involved the use of interviews with different experts and reviewing different biblical atlases. Telephone and email interviews were given to twelve experts to gain information about producing a biblical atlas. The participants in the interviews were selected based upon their knowledge of the specific …

Causes And Consequences Of Displacement Decision-Making In Banhine National Park, Mozambique, Chad Edward Dear

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Decision-making is looming regarding the displacement of people resident in and reliant on resources in strict protected areas around the world. This research investigated the causes and consequences of displacement decision-making in Banhine National Park (BNP), Mozambique. I investigated causes using political-economic, actor-centered, and post-structural perspectives on power. I investigated consequences using the Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) framework. Methods included interviews, focus groups, and observations involving BNP-area residents; park staff; district, provincial, and national-level government employees from various sectors; NGO and World Bank staff; and private consultants. I also analyzed numerous government and donor policies, plans, reports, and legal …

Fire In My Backyard: Place Meanings And Landowner Views On Fire And Fuels Management On The Kootenai National Forest, Mt, Michael Anthony Cacciapaglia

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Federal land management agencies are currently striving to become more democratic and open to citizen participation in decision-making. Recently, the build-up of hazardous forest fuels and ensuing increase in high-intensity wildland fire events across the western U.S. has led to growing interest in integrating local communities and their views and interests into the planning process for fuel reductions projects. One way to investigate local perspectives and make them available to local fire management officers is through qualitative research into relationship to place and preferences for proposed management actions using in-depth interviews with landowners residing in the wildland-urban interface. This study …

Geomorphological Mapping Of The K2 Area, Pakistan Using Gis And Remote Sensing, Deborah Jeanne Belden

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Geomorphological mapping assists in evaluating the polygenetic role of glaciation, mass movement denudation, and fluvial erosion in landscape development. A series of thirteen 1:100,000 geomorphological maps covering the area between Skardu and K2 were produced using field mapping and photography, GPS measurements, ASTER satellite imagery, and digital elevation model (DEM) analyses. Satellite and morphometric analyses were performed using GIS software. The landforms are described in relation to geology, geomorphological processes, and altitudinal zones. Case studies include flash flood deposits, active landslide areas, sackungen, and rock avalanches. The Skardu Basin has tills preserved on many higher slopes, and sand dunes cover …

Human Bonds With Public Wildland Places: Segmenting Communities To Inform Natural Resource Management, Neal A. Christensen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Public land managers must consider a broad range of information to develop effective and equitable plans for addressing contentious management issues. Appropriately designed social science research may contribute to better understanding of public interests regarding resource use, thus reducing conflict and contributing to cooperative solutions. This dissertation describes a social science methodology for developing understanding of human / place bonds using indicators of human expression of behaviors, beliefs, and emotions. The dissertation develops the concept of human / place bonds with a goal to better reflect the publics' views and desires for management of public lands. The purpose of the …

Dynamic Human Relationships With Wilderness: Developing A Relationship Model, Bob G. Dvorak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dvorak, Robert, Ph.D., Summer 2008 Forestry

Dynamic human relationships with wilderness: Developing a relationship model

Chair: William T. Borrie

Wilderness managers are charged with the challenging goal of balancing resource protection and experience quality across a broad, value-laden landscape. While research has provided insight into visitor motivations, psychological outcomes, and meanings, a struggle exists to implement experiential concepts within current management frameworks. A need also exists to manage wilderness for concepts outside of setting attributes. This research posits the human experience of wilderness to be an evolving, enduring relationship. Therefore, research needs can be addressed by investigating and conceptualizing an …

Faunal Analysis Of The Tongue River Bison Kill Site (24rb2135) In Southeastern Montana, Hilleary Allison Sutton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The University of Montana excavated the Tongue River bison kill site (24RB2135) in 2005 on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. This was the site of a prehistoric bison hunt. Over 20,000 bone fragments and over 1,000 stone tools were recovered during the excavation. This study focuses on the bone material in order to understand past hunting practices at this site. In order to complete the analyses required to understand the faunal material, specific data was gathered for each bone element. These data points include: the taxon, skeletal element, side, body orientation, portion, color, size, weathering, age, and any natural or cultural …

Investigation Of A Triangle Zone Structure Between Augusta And Bowman’S Corners, Lewis And Clark County, Montana, Heather Marie Henry

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Henry, Heather, M.S., May 2007 Geosciences Investigation of a triangle zone structure between Augusta and Bowman’s Corners, Lewis and Clark County, Montana Chairperson: James Sears Productive hydrocarbon reservoirs along Canada’s Rocky Mountain thrust belt are contained by a triangle zone, which is comprised of complex antiformal wedge structures that commonly form along the leading edges of foreland fold-thrust systems world-wide. Duplex imbrication within triangle zones create stacked structural traps for hydrocarbons driven toward the surface by the propagation of thrust belts. This geometry is well documented in a series of en echelon structures that stretch approximately 900 kilometers, from northeast …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of A Place-Based Conservation Education Program By Applying Utilization-Focused Evaluation, Alice B. Flowers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lack of personal connection to the natural world by most American youth builds reason for assessing effectiveness of conservation education programs. Place-based learning is important in helping youth understand how their personal and societal well-being are linked and dependent upon their local habitats. Across Montana 2277 students in grades 3 - 10 participate in an interactive year long fishing education program with their teachers called Hooked on Fishing (HOF).

The purpose of my study was to assess the effectiveness of HOF, a place-based conservation education program established in 1996, and modeled after the national Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs …

Habitat Use And The Effects Of Disturbance On Wintering Birds Using Riparian Habitats In Sonora, Mexico, Jose Fernando Villasenor

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Riparian systems are important for breeding bird communities and are highly used as migratory corridors; however, their importance for wintering birds has not been assessed systematically. In order to assess the value of riparian areas for birds wintering in Sonora, data from 1,816 standard point counts were collected from 87 locations during January and February 2004-2006. A total of 253 species were detected across 14 vegetation types, including nine categories of riparian vegetation. The mean number of species and individuals detected per count was significantly higher in riparian vegetation than in non-riparian vegetation for migratory species, but not for residents. …

The Diaspora Of Korean Children: A Cross-Cultural Study Of The Educational Crisis In Contemporary South Korea, Young-Ee Cho

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The diaspora of Korean children first started after the Korean War in the 1950s. Abandoned by their impoverished mothers and shunned by society, many orphan children were sent abroad for adoption, which was the best, if not the only, available solution at the time. Half a century later, South Korea today is no longer a desperately poor country, and yet an increasing number of young children are still being sent abroad. The exodus of children, termed as the diaspora of Korean children in this study, is an out-of-country solution chosen by both students and parents in response to an educational …

Predicting Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea Maculosa) Range Expansion Near Missoula Montana Using Localized Climate And Elevation Data, William Frank Preston Cumming

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since the 1920s spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) has adapted to a variety of habitats, including pastureland, rangeland, hay land, open forests, road sides, and ditches. In 2003 this plant species dominated more than five million acres in Montana, half of the total infestation of noxious weeds in the state. This project demonstrates the utility of using downscaled Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) data for predicting vegetation movement within a 2°×2° geographical area surrounding Missoula County, Montana. This localized climate change data was correlated against current knapweed range using validation data from the Volunteer for Wilderness Program at the …

Satellite Microwave Remote Sensing Of Boreal-Arctic Land Surface State And Meteorology From Amsr-E, Lucas Alan Jones

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

High latitude regions are undergoing significant climate-related change and represent an integral component of the Earth’s climate system. Near-surface vapor pressure deficit, soil temperature, and soil moisture are essential state variables for monitoring high latitude climate and estimating the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. Methods are developed and evaluated to retrieve surface soil temperature, daily maximum/minimum air temperature, and land surface wetness information from the EOS Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) on the Aqua satellite for eight Boreal forest and Arctic tundra biophysical monitoring sites across Alaska and northern Canada. Daily vapor pressure deficit is determined by employing …

Development Of The Rocky Mountain Foreland Basin: Combined Structural, Mineralogical, And Geochemical Analysis Of Basin Evolution, Rocky Mountain Thrust Front, Northwest Montana, Emily Geraghty Ward

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The sub-Middle Jurassic unconformity exhumed at Swift Reservoir, in the Rocky Mountain thrust belt of Montana, exposes structures that call for a re-evaluation of the deformation history at this locale. The unconformity separates Late Mississippian Madison Group carbonate (~340 Ma) from the transgressive basal sandstone of the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian) Sawtooth Formation (~170 Ma). Fieldwork established that northwest-trending, karst-widened fractures (grikes) are filled with cherty, phosphatic sandstone and conglomerate of the Sawtooth Formation and penetrate the Madison Group for 4 meters below the unconformity. Clam borings, filled with Sawtooth sandstone, pierce the unconformity surface, some of the fracture walls, and …

Small-Hydroelectricity And Landscape Change In The Bitterroot Mountains: Public Perceptions And Attitudes, Chad E. Newman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Newman, Chad, M.A. December 2007 Geography Small-Hydroelectricity and Landscape Change in the Bitterroot Mountains: Public Perceptions and Attitudes Chairperson: Dr. David D. Shively The development and use of renewable energy resources within America has made significant progress over the last two decades. Many state governments have adopted legislation requiring the development of their local renewable resources for generating electricity. In 2005, Montana’s State Legislature passed Senate Bill 415, The Montana Renewable Power Production and Rural Economic Development Act. This piece of legislation mandates the development and use of renewable energy resources by energy producers and requires that fifteen percent of …

Small Robe Band Of Blackfeet: Ethnogenesis By Social And Religious Transformation, Linda Matt Juneau

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

One of the most significant challenges facing Native Americans and their indigenous identity is a greater understanding of the historical complexity of relationships that interconnected ethnically diverse populations across geographic landscapes. This thesis examines the range of Blackfoot political, social, economic structures, spiritual beliefs, and practices that were in place at the time of Euro-American contact. I use historically documented evidence of transformations that took place from the beginning of the fur trade era through the reservation era. Through the theoretical lens of ethnogenesis I use a case study of the Small Robe (Inuck’siks) band of the South Piegan of …

Dam Regulations Effects On Sand Bar Migration On The Missouri River: Southeastern South Dakota, John Perkins Sanford

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

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Integrated Modeling Of Long-Term Vegetation And Hydrologic Dynamics In Rocky Mountain Watersheds, Robert Steven Ahl

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Changes in forest structure resulting from natural disturbances, or managed treatments, can have negative and long lasting impacts on water resources. To facilitate integrated management of forest and water resources, a System for Long-Term Integrated Management Modeling (SLIMM) was developed.

By combining two spatially explicit, continuous time models, vegetation patterns can be simulated forward in time based on management criteria. Output from the SIMPPLLE vegetation simulator are converted into landcover maps at every time-step and used to predict hydrologic watershed responses to time-series landcover change with the SWAT model. Long-term watershed responses to vegetation management scenarios can therefore be evaluated …

Predicting Northern Goshawk Dynamics Using An Individual-Based Spatial Model, Melanie A. Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is a US Forest Service Region 2 Sensitive Species, requiring the Black Hills National Forest to manage for its viability. Previous studies have suggested that a model integrating goshawk population demographics, habitat availability, and territoriality would have the ability to predict population dynamics including goshawk locations, population size, and population viability. An individual-based spatial model was created for the Black Hills goshawk population. This project focused on evaluating our current understanding of goshawk dynamics, and making individual- and population-level predictions as appropriate following model validation. The model simulated demographics and behavior of individuals and usage …

Monitoring Program And Assessment Of Coyote Predation For Olympic Marmots, Julia Judyta Witczuk

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Witczuk, Julia J. M.S., Summer2007 Wildlife Biology MONITORING PROGRAM AND ASSESSMENT OF COYOTE PREDATION FOR OLYMPIC MARMOTS Chairperson: L. Scott Mills The Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus) is an endemic species to the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. Although nearly all of its range is enclosed within Olympic National Park, declines and local extirpations of the species have been documented. The most plausible driver of the decline appears to be an increase in predator pressure. My thesis had two main objectives. First, I investigated the role of non-native coyotes (Canis latrans) in causing marmot mortality. Through park-wide carnivore scat analysis I determined …

Templates For Creating Standardized Cartographic Productsfor Montana County Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plans, Bruce Albert Koerner

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Montana Critical Infrastructure GIS Committee, on behalf of the Montana Department of Administration, has been involved for several years in concentrated efforts to make various types of map products available to those involved in emergency management throughout the state. As a component of this process, the Committee authorized funding for a project devoted to the development of standardized map products for pre-disaster mitigation (PDM) plans during the spring of 2006, and the research was completed later that year. The requirement for the development of these plans was established by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. In Montana, implementation of …

Evaluating Rangeland Conditions In Neighboring Protected Areas Of Russia And Mongolia, Sidney Rankin Holmes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, demands on the vast steppe rangelands and other natural resources in Mongolia, Russia, and other Central Asian states experienced drastic changes. Moving from a socialistic system into a free-market economy of supply and demand saw regulatory institutions, which historically managed natural resources like rangelands, dissolved or without the capacity to enforce their work requirements. Like other places in Russia, the region of the Kosh-Agach Wildlife Refuge experienced a decrease in demand for livestock products, which forced many rural peoples to move to urban areas in search of work. The opposite occurred …

Stratigraphy And Structural Geometry At The Leading Edge Of The Montana Thrust Belt, East Of Sun River Canyon, Lewis And Clark And Teton Counties, Montana , Michael David Bradway

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Detailed geologic mapping east of Sun River Canyon in northwest Montana reveals the presence of a triangle zone: a folded, imbricate duplex-structure that forms a wedge at the leading edge of mountain thrust-belts. Triangle zone geometry is well documented in a series of structures that stretch approximately 900 kilometers, from northeast British Columbia into southwest Alberta, Canada. Triangle zones provide the structural traps that contain hydrocarbon (oil and gas) reservoirs in southwest Alberta, but little research has been conducted south of the Canadian-United States border along structural trend into Montana. Relating the structural geometries and stratigraphy of the Sun River …

A Comprehensive Case Report Of University Of Montana Forensic Collection Case #141, Yasuko Takebe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

UMFC case #141 was acqired in spring 2006, as a commercially prepared anatomical specimen, reportedly from the Peoples Republic of China. It is a nealy complete skeleton that exhibits severe trauma of hte lower limbs. I reviewed the literature on methods of estimating age from the skeleton, because age is difficult to estimate for this case nad presents an interesting challenge. I then proceeded to estimate sex, ancestry, age, stature, and weight. I conclude that UMFC #141 is a White male, 39 to 45 years old, 5'0" to 5'4" in height, 110 to 161 pounds in weight. Healed fractures of …

Bishopness, Lauren Goodwin Slaughter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The publication of "Edgar Allen Poe & the Juke-Box" modifies Elizabeth Bishop’s established oeuvre in ways that demonstrate the anxiety throughout her work regarding the concealment of sexual difference—a concealment she often takes part in. As the poems reveal, by putting emphasis on particular kinds of clothing, Bishop emphasizes the necessary—but flawed—methods for that concealment. Black stockings, gloves, sailors hats, and other garments of traditional gender representation work as useful metaphors, symbolically engaging the construction of the literary image accepted in the academy which has produced the unified notion of “Bishopness” some critics still wish to uphold. When themes of …

Hunters In The Garden: Yup’Ik Subsistence And The Agricultural Myths Of Eden, Benjamin Kuntz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Yup’ik writers and Yup’ik subsistence offer valuable challenges, parallels, and alternative models to mainstream nature writing’s discourse surrounding human relationships to the land, a discourse that carries an inherent agricultural bias. An introduction to western Alaska’s Nunivak Island provides context for Chapter 1, which demonstrates the fluidity of cultural, geographical, and historical margins through discussion of the works of Yup’ik journalist John Active and historian and ethnographer James Clifford. Chapter 2 provides an overview of Yup’ik subsistence centered around the community of Bethel, Alaska, then subjects mainstream nature writing, represented mostly by Wendell Berry, to critiques supplied by Canadian anthropologist …