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Public Participation In Environmental Management: Seeking Participatory Equity Through Ethnographic Inquiry, John V. Stone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports the activities, methods, and key findings of a doctoral research project in applied anthropology and an environmental anthropology fellowship. The research project was conducted through the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, while the fellowship was sponsored jointly by the Society for Applied Anthropology and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and was conducted through the Great Lakes Fellowship Program of the Great Lakes Commission, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Together, these projects demonstrated the utility of an ethnographic approach called Risk Perception Mapping (RPM) to the public consultation and social research interests of the Commission …

Identification Of The Interaction Between Gravin And {Mu}-Opioid Receptors, Meifang Liu

Theses and Dissertations

The phosphorylation and desensitization of G-protein coupled receptors involve several protein kinases. Two of the major ones are protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC). It has been reported that gravin, an A-kinase anchoring protein, plays a role in regulating p2-adrenergic receptor desensitization, resensitization, and internalization by recruiting both PKA and PKC, phosphatase, |3-arrestin, and clathrin to the receptor. Similarities between the regulation of p-opioid receptor and p2-adrenergic receptor suggest that a similar complex involving gravin may play a role in regulating p- opioid receptor signal transduction. To investigate this possibility, the current study examined the distribution of …

Perspective Of Traditional Elders On The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, Serena Marsden-Koop

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a study of Native American traditional elders perspective of suicide on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Native American elders are viewed as spiritual leaders who have wisdom and knowledge. They are the ones people in the tribe turn to for guidance, healing, and information. This study looked at suicide causes and prevention focusing on a Native American Indian population. The data was gathered using an open-ended questionnaire. The study shows the themes that emerged based on the traditional elders responses. The themes were based on the number of responses to the questionnaire sections. The …

A Dramaturigal Approach To Margaret Edson's Wit, Bethany Jean Froelich

Theses and Dissertations

Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize winning play, Wit, centers on Vivian Bearing's struggle with a terminal disease in the last year of her life. Bearing, who is a Professor of English literature specializing in the "Holy Sonnets" of John Donne, has been diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer. She agrees to be part of an experimental chemotherapy treatment. Throughout the play, Edson makes use of Donne's poetry and her own knowledge of cancer to create Vivian's journey as she lives the last few months of her life as a research subject. My dramaturgical approach to the play calls for research on …

Hi-Jinks At The Ballpark: Costumed Mascots In The Major Leagues, Robert M. Jarvis, Phyllis Coleman

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Barely Opening, Then Slamming Shut, Science's "Black Box" In Law: A Response To Beecher-Monas's Heuristics, David S. Caudill

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Curing Healthcare Providers' Failure To Administer Opioids In The Treatment Of Severe Pain, Rima J. Oken

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Predator Exclosures And Livestock Grazing On Duck Production At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah, Benjamin C. West

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nest predation is a major factor impacting duck production and recruitment on breeding areas in North America. I surveyed waterfowl managers employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. state wildlife agencies to determine their beliefs about nest predation and its management. Over 64% of respondents believed that rates of nest success on their management units averaged < 30% between 1996-2000. Managers believed habitat management and direct predator control were the most effective techniques to reduce nest predation. The construction of predator ex closures around nesting habitat also has been recommended to reduce nest predation. Between 1999-200 I, I evaluated the effectiveness of 4 predator ex closures to enhance duck nest success at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah. During this period, rates of nest success in the exclosures were slightly higher than that within control plots, but still < 15%. Although published guidelines commonly recommend predator fences < 117 cm in height, I observed red foxes jump the 11 4-cm-high fences. Additional research is needed to identify effective predator fence designs.

Wildlife managers have argued that periodic disturbance of vegetation should be a component of management on waterfowl breeding areas. Although many techniques are available to manipulate vegetation, grazing by domestic livestock has been controversial. Some researchers have reported that livestock grazing …

Coyote Foraging Ecology, Vigilance, And Behavioral Cascades In Response To Gray Wolf Reintroduction In Yellowstone National Park, T. Adam Switalski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Vigilance behavior can aid in the detection of predators and may also play a role in observation of conspecifics, in food acquisition, and in the prevention of kleptoparasitism. However, in most occasions, vigilance is most important as an antipredator function. Generally, factors that increase the risk of predation also increase the amount of vigilance. We examined whether the reintroduction of the large predator, the wolf, in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) would influence coyote vigilance and foraging ecology. From December 1997 to July 2000, we collected 1743 h of coyote activity budgets. Coyote home ranges occurred within wolf territories (termed high-use …

A Macroterrain Landtype Association Classification Model For The Great Basin, Frank L. Dougher

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three Macroterrain Landtype Association classification models were developed to stratify and categorize Utah's West Desert. These models approached terrain segmentation using an energy-flow paradigm from erosional to transitional to depositional landscape. One model was developed as a slope-backed deterministic model that used slope-threshold limits to discriminate between Landtype Associations. A second model was developed as a stochastic, training-data driven supervised classification, using comparative t-values to classify the landscape to the most similar landtype class. The third model was a probabilistic algorithm, which classified the landscape to the most probable class based on multiple iterations of the stochastic model. These …

Application Of Biophysical Data To An Unsupervised Classification To Map Ecoregional Boundaries In The Desert Southwest, Paxton R. Mcclurg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An unsupervised classification was applied to continuous biophysical variables in an attempt to delineate ecoregional boundaries in the desert southwest. Output was then compared with ecoregions delineated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Forest Service at the national level. An attempt was made to use the same biophysical variables for input into the unsupervised classification as was emphasized by the various agencies with their ecoregional classifications at the desert level. Major constraints included data availability at such a large study area, data resolution, and data that were continuous. This eliminated categorical data …

Adoption Of Range Management Innovations By Utah Livestock Producers, Elizabeth Anne Didier

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent years have seen changes in ecological conditions, ownership patterns, and political-legal forces that affect the sustainability of Western range livestock production. Enterprise diversification and implementation of improvements are advocated as ways for ranchers to cope with marginal returns from ranching while better managing resources. However, relatively few ranchers make such substantive changes in their operations, and previous research suggests that rates of adoption may be especially low in Utah.

Using a qualitative approach, this study explored innovation adoption among Utah ranchers. During preliminary interviews with 13 key informants, commitment to traditional ranching lifestyles, the state's settlement pattern, and availability …

The Role Of Brown Bears (Ursus Arctos) In Nutrient Transport Into Forests Near A Salmon Stream In Coastal British Columbia, Canada, Arthur Morris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nutrients from spawned salmon contribute to the fertility of rivers and riparian areas. Adjacent forests, even far from rivers, could receive substantial amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients from salmon. Since brown bears feed heavily on spawning salmon, bears probably influence the movement of nutrients from salmon into surrounding forests. Because salmon-derived nitrogen is high in ¹⁵N, increased isotopic enrichment is expected in forest soils and vegetation if this transport is occurring. Based on relative ¹⁵N enrichment of spawning areas, a quantitative estimate of marine-derived nitrogen (MDN) can be obtained using a linear two-source mixing model. To evaluate …

The Role Of The Arabidopsis Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase In Vacuolar Protein Transport, Christopher A. Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In all eukaryotic organisms vesicle-mediated protein transport is crucial for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Over the past decade significant strides have been made in elucidating the molecular mechanisms governing this complex process. Both genetic and biochemical studies have demonstrated the unequivocal involvement of class III phospatidylinositol 3-kinases (PtdIns 3-kinases) in regulating vesicle transport. While PtdIns 3-kinases have been well studied in both yeast and mammalian systems, the role of these enzymes in plants is poorly understood. In the present study, we demonstrate that the Arabidopsis Ptdlns 3-kinase is localized to the cytoplasm, and perhaps the Golgi apparatus. Moreover, we show that …

The Development Of A Bluetongue Virus Diagnostic Assay Using Peptides Derived From The Structural Protein Vp7 And Nonstructural Protein Ns2, Yi Lu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Several peptides derived from viral proteins, VP7 and NS2 of bluetongue virus (BTV), were synthesized for an immunologic detection assay: distinguishing between bluetongue virus infected, vaccinated, and noninfected animals (ruminants) with dot blot analysis. The School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, supplied the serum samples from 24 bovine, 18 caprine, 23 ovine. Another 205 bison serum samples were obtained in Utah. The serum samples of BTV-infected animals revealed detectable antibodies to both VP7 and NS2 peptides, whereas vaccinated animals only exhibited antibodies against VP7. Noninfected animals did not display antibody against either viral peptide. These data confirmed the …

Movement Patterns Of Phrynosoma Mcallii And Phrynosoma Platyrhinos In Response To Substrate Texture, Daniel H. Foley Iii

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During the summers of 1999 and 2000 the apparent habitat partitioning of two species of sympatric horned lizards was investigated at the Barry M. Goldwater Bombing Range near Yuma, Arizona. The flat-tailed horned lizard, Phrynosoma mcallii, and the desert horned lizard, P. platyrhinos, overlap in range in portions of the Sonora desert in the southwestern United States. However, upon finer scale examination, it appeared that these horned lizards were partitioning the available habitat according to soil substrate texture. Phrynosoma mcallii appeared to be exclusively found in areas of fine, loose, wind-blown sands, in contrast to P. platyrhinos, …

Statmod: A Tool For Interfacing Arcview® Gis With Statistical Software To Facilitate Predictive Ecological Modeling, Christine M. Garrard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As geographical information systems and spatial data become more accessible, predictive spatial modeling in ecology is becoming more common. Unfortunately, not all ecologists possess the necessary skills to successfully combine statistical models and geographical information systems. In response to this problem, I wrote an extension for ArcView^® GIS called StatMod. This extension interfaces ArcView GIS with SAS^® and S-PLUS^® statistical software and walks the user through creating and mapping logistic regression and classification and regression tree models.

StatMod was then used to run a series of analyses that would have been difficult without such a tool. A …

Patterns And Processes Of Population Differentiation In The Chuckwalla (Sauromalus Obesus) In Southern Nevada, Paul C. Ustach

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I examined both present-day and historical patterns in the herbivorous desert lizard, Sauromalus obesus (chuckwalla), within the Mojave Desert ecoregion in Nevada. My goal was to determine the process or processes that led to their present-day distribution. I expected to recover distinct haplotypes unique to each mountain range. These unique haplotypes were expected to reveal a pattern of geographic partitioning with sequence divergence among populations increasing as a function of distance. I characterized the distribution of chuckwallas in Nevada by means of a simple model using a geographic information system (GIS). This simple model was used to enhance sampling efficiency …

Affinity Purification And Characterization Of E. Coli Molecular Chaperones, Seung-Hee Nam

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The molecular chaperones are a group of proteins that are effective in vitro and in vivo folding aids and show a well documented affinity for proteins lacking tertiary structure.

Heat-induced Escherichia coli BL21 cell lysate (10 mg protein) was applied to immobilized ɑ-casein (45 mg/g beads) or β-casein (30 mg/g beads) column. After removing a majority of nonspecifically bound proteins with 1 M NaCl, the molecular chaperones were eluted with cold water, 1 mM Mg-ATP, or 6 M urea. Western analysis identified five Escherichia coli molecular chaperones including DnaK, DnaJ, GrpE, GroEL, and GroES. Among samples, ATP eluates showed the …

Physiological Importance Of 1,25(Oh)2D3 Membrane-Initiated And Nuclear Actions In Chickens As A Function Of Growth, And Maturation In Male And Female Chickens, Birgitta Larsson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is well established that l,25(OH)₂D₃ is a major regulator of calcium homeostasis. The steroid exerts its effects on its target organs by two mechanisms, a slow mechanism mediated by nuclear vitamin D receptors (nVDR), and a rapid mechanism mediated by the l,25(OH)₂D₃ membrane-associated rapid response steroid binding protein (l,25D₃-MARRS bp). In this dissertation, the physiological relevance of membrane initiated steroid signaling was investigated by studying the correlation of age in male and female chickens with the magnitude of responses to l,25(OH)₂D₃ in duodena from 7-, 14-, 28-, and …

The Relationship Between The Educational And Occupational Aspirations Of Latino Youth And Their Parents, Andrew O. Behnke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study used the qualitative technique of focused interviewing to understand the educational and occupational aspirations of ten Latino youth and their parents in a small town in rural Utah. The qualitative nature of this study allowed for an in-depth look into each parent's aspirations for themselves and for their youth, each youth's aspirations, the barriers to aspirational attainment for both parents and youth, the perceived parental support in these families, and their perceived needs for aspirational attainment. This study used two open-ended interview forms and a 12- question demographic questionnaire to collect data from each of the 30 persons. …

Psychoeducation Groups For Parents Adopting Special-Needs Children, Korinne Knowlton Bouwhuis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis evaluated training groups for adoptive parents of special-needs children. It was hypothesized that training would influence parenting stress, stress symptoms, and marital satisfaction, and that helpfulness of training sections would depend upon the status of the participants' children (i.e., foster, adopted, or adoption in process). Data were collected from 15 participants who were sampled through agencies that typically interact with adoptive parents.

Repeated measures ANOYAs were computed to compare scores on the PSI/SF Parental Distress Subscale, OQ-45, and RDAS across three time intervals. No significant differences were found. Data from a scale of helpfulness were analyzed using descriptive …

The Role Of Parents As Formal Math Instructors Of Prekindergarten Children, Monica Jane Blanch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to explore the relationship between maternal attitudes about math, mothers' attitudes about their prekindergarten child's math abilities, mother-child math interactions, and prekindergarten children's math achievement. Using a Vygotskian framework, an intervention was developed. An intervention group of 18 mother-child dyads from Hyrum, Utah, area and a comparison group of 17 mother-child dyads from the Weston, Idaho, area were invited to participate in this research project. Measures included the Early Mathematics Concepts (EMC) assessment, the School Readiness Composite (SRC) of the Bracken Basic Concepts Scale-Revised (BBCS-R), My Attitudes Scale (MAS), and My Attitudes About My Child's Abilities …

Parents' Marital Quality And Interactions In Relation To Child Well-Being, Spencer C. Leavitt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Using a large national data set, this study was among the first to examine direct associations between parents' marital relationships and children's emotional, academic, and behavioral characteristics. The mediating effect of children's home environments, as well as relationships between children and parents, also were analyzed. The research design was longitudinal. Marital variables were measured in 1994, intervening variables in 1996, and children's outcome variables in 1998. It was expected that children would be influenced by three different aspects of their parents' marriage: marital happiness, marital interactions, and marital arguments. The parent/child relationship (parent/child closeness) and the children's home environments were …

Fear Of Crime And Perceptions Of Law Enforcement Among American Youth, Bruce K. Bayley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fear of crime and the public's satisfaction with police has been a focus of criminologists for a number of years. Most studies, however, have focused on the general population as a whole. What is not known is how fearful American youth are of the crime in their neighborhoods and how they perceive those in law enforcement. The purpose of this study was to explore this subgroup of the population and to begin the investigation of youths' fear of crime and their perceptions of law enforcement.

Using a national sample of 1,897 youth ages 16-25 collected from 12 cities throughout the …

Evaluation Of Facilitated Succession At Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area In South Texas., Frank W. Judd, Robert I. Lonard, Gary L. Waggerman

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

This study examined the effectiveness of re-vegetation efforts which have been ongoing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas since 1958. Species composition, richness and diversity were evaluated in an undisturbed native woodland, a site planted with late successional species in 1961 (facilitated succession) and a farm field abandoned in 1974 (unaided succession) in northwestern Cameron County. Species richness and diversity for both trees and shrubs were greatest in the native woodland site. While there was greater similarity in species composition between the native woodland and the facilitated succession sites, species diversity in the tree and shrub layers of …

Microbial Ecology Of Freshly Sawn Yellow-Poplar Lumber ( Liriodendron Tulipifera L.) In Two Seasons, Mark Ryan Mikluscak

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Each year, the forest products industry sustains considerable product loss due to a reduction in market value of lumber brought about by microbial discoloration. The current practice of treating green lumber with chemical biocides to protect it from discoloration, although successful, is a potential hazard to both the environment and human life. One potential alternative to chemical biocides is biological control. The most recent success in the field of biological control has been achieved in the agricultural industry by first studying the microbial ecology of the substrate in which the biologically based preservative is to be used. Literature on microbial …

Investigation Of Frictional Resistance On Orthodontic Brackets When Subjected To Variable Moments, Edward Mah

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Friction and binding occur in orthodontics during sliding mechanics. This paper evaluated the influence of a variable moment, simulating mastication, placed at the bracket-archwire interface to determine its effects on friction. Friction of self-ligating brackets were also compared to stainless steel and ceramic brackets. Six archwires were combined with four brackets. Friction (static, kinetic and dynamic) and load (dynamic and apparent stiffness) were measured. Dynamic friction was the frictional force that occurred when the applied force was variable (dynamic load). The results showed that static and kinetic friction were similar while dynamic friction was statistically greater. The Minitwin and Transcend …

Overwintering Abundance And Distribution Of Striped Bass (Morone Saxtilis) In The Hudson River Estuary Using Hydroacoustic Techniques, Brian William Nagy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Using a modification of standard techniques, a target strength to length relationship was developed for white perch (Morone americana) and striped bass (Morone saxtilis). This target strength to length relationship was compared to two standard relationships (Love and Foote). The calculated relationship was not found to be significantly different from Love's equation, but was different from Foote's equation. This calculated relationship was applied to hydroacoustic data collected on the Hudson River in December of 1995 and 1997. The goal of the hydroacoustic data collection was to assess the abundance and distribution of overwintering Hudson River striped bass. Results from this …

Prenatal Maternal Attachment: The Lived Experience, Regina Ann Leva-Giroux Dnsc

Dissertations

Prenatal maternal attachment and the practice of health promoting behaviors during pregnancy are considered universal phenomena to women. Yet, the understanding of these phenomena from the lived experiences of pregnant women has not been well researched. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of maternal attachment to the unborn child and how that attachment might relate to the practice of these behaviors during pregnancy. The participants in this study were ten English speaking women, college educated, professionally employed, who were pregnant for the first time. Unstructured interviews were conducted with the participants at 14–16 weeks and …