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Action-Oriented Sustainable Agriculture Education: Attitudes Towards Nutrition And Agricultural Practices In Guaimaca, Honduras, Sarah Lynne Potenza

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Agricultural policies and global economic forces negatively affect many small-scale farmers in developing countries, resulting in widespread micronutrient malnutrition and environmental degradation. This study explores the connections between these issues, and the efficacy of using participatory education on sustainable agriculture to address them at a local level. Specifically, it evaluates an action-oriented education and sustainable agriculture program in Honduras, from the perspective of the participants and my own participation, as a means to improve agricultural practices and rural nutrition among subsistence farmers. As in many developing countries, access to land, poor soil conditions, steep hillsides, adverse climatic conditions, and limited …

Umfc #66 A Comprehensive Case Report, Jeffery Adam Schiel

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

University of Montana Forensic Case #66 has been used as a teaching tool for many years. Little written information is available on the origin of this case. Information on the date of recovery is not available, nor are the circumstances surrounding the recovery. My goal in this report is to understand more about this case, particularly age at death, ancestry, and pathology. This case is particularly intriguing because it presents a textbook example of osteomyelitis, a pathological condition. Additionally, it is of significance to the history of the area because of its recovery in the state of Montana. As a …

Self-Control Choices Using Running Reinforcement, Jennifer Lynn Brinegar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Rats were given a choice between two amounts of a run-reward after responding on one of two equidistant levers. Responding on one lever resulted in the delivery of a smaller, immediate access to a running wheel (Impulsive) while responding on the other lever resulted in the delivery of larger but delayed access to a running wheel (Self-control). A variable inter-trial-interval was used to control the session duration regardless of the distribution of choices made by the subject. The results demonstrate that the use of a wheel-running reinforcer results in a significant self-control choice bias. This suggests that the use of …

Probing Isoforms Of The Prion Protein Through Tyrosine Nitration, Christopher William Lennon

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The prion protein (PrP) has multiple stable isoforms. When PrP misfolds, it aggregates and causes neurological disease and death in mammals. The structure of the non-pathogenic isoform has been determined while the structures of the disease related isoforms are unknown. The nitration labeling patterns of three PrP isoforms with peroxynitrite and tetranitromethane, as detected by mass spectrometry, are reported. Two conserved tyrosine residues (tyrosines 149 and 150) are not labeled by either reagent in the normal cellular form of the prion protein but these residues become reactive after the protein has been converted to one of two aggregated isoforms. Another …

Public Archaeology In Montana: A Sample Of University Of Montana Students' Perceptions Of Archaeology And Knowledge Of Local Sites, Helen Alexandra Keremedjiev

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Archaeologists have an obligation to disseminate publicly their research and theories. To do this effectively, they need to know how each public perceives archaeology. A voluntary Institutional Review Board certified questionnaire was given to 606 University of Montana undergraduates and graduates. It included topics on the basics of archaeology and sites in Montana. After the results were tabulated, a website was created to show the overall results. Its location is at www.umt.edu/publicarchaeology. This online resource includes the questionnaire, the total raw results of all classes’ responses, and a discussion section. (See Appendix E for screenshot images of the website.) This …

Tax Expenditures As Foreign Aid, David E. Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

Few issues in global politics are as contentious as foreign aid – how much rich countries should give, in what ways, to whom. For years, it has been a commonplace that U.S. policies are stingy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) routinely ranks the United States far behind its industrialized peers in official development assistance (ODA), measured as a percentage of gross national income (GNI). An endless parade of critics has implored the government to do more; some suggest that the Bush Administration's support for the Monterrey Consensus, which sets a goal of increasing assistance to 0.7% of …

Public-Private Health Law: Multiple Directions In Public Health, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

No public law is more public than public health law. Its defining subject is the use of state power to control and prevent death and disease. Its primary institutions are a cluster of state actors, the governmental agencies that comprise the American public health "system.,, The system grew out of the eighteenth century boards of health that produced the beginnings of administrative law. Public health law is grounded on statutory provisions that authorize various forms of state action and on judicial decisions that resolve constitutional challenges to those actions.

Mirabile Dictu: The Bryn Mawr College Library Newsletter 11 (2007), Bryn Mawr College Library

Mirabile Dictu: Newsletter of the Bryn Mawr College Libraries

No abstract provided.

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Review Of Studies In Swarm Robotics, Levent Bayindir, Erol Şahi̇n

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Swarm robotics is a new approach to the coordination of large numbers of relatively simple robots. The approach takes its inspiration from the system-level functioning of social insects which demonstrate three desired characteristics for multi-robot systems: robustness, flexibility and scalability. In this paper we have presented a preliminary taxonomy for swarm robotics and classified existing studies into this taxonomy after investigating the existing surveys related to swarm robotics literature. Our parent taxonomic units are modeling, behavior design, communication, analytical studies and problems. We are classifying existing studies into these main axes. Since existing reviews do not have enough number of …

Aggregation, Foraging, And Formation Control Of Swarms With Non-Holonomic Agents Using Potential Functions And Sliding Mode Techniques, Veysel Gazi̇, Bariş Fi̇dan, Y. Si̇nan Hanay, İlter Köksal

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this article we consider the aggregation, foraging, and formation control of swarms whose agents are moving in 2-dimensions with non-holonomic unicycle agent dynamics. We approach these problems using artificial potentials and sliding mode control. The main contribution is extension of the recent results (mainly for aggregation) in the literature based on a similar approach for simple integrator agent dynamics models to a significantly more realistic and more difficult setting with non-holonomic unicycle agent dynamics models. In particular, we design continuous-time control schemes via a constructive analysis based on artificial potential functions and sliding mode control techniques. The effectiveness of …

Aggregation In Swarm Robotic Systems: Evolution And Probabilistic Control, Onur Soysal, Erki̇n Bahçeci̇, Erol Şahi̇n

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this study we investigate two approachees for aggregation behavior in swarm robotics systems: Evolutionary methods and probabilistic control. In first part, aggregation behavior is chosen as a case, where performance and scalability of aggregation behaviors of perceptron controllers that are evolved for a simulated swarm robotic system are systematically studied with different parameter settings. Using a cluster of computers to run simulations in parallel, four experiments are conducted varying some of the parameters. Rules of thumb are derived, which can be of guidance to the use of evolutionary methods to generate other swarm robotic behaviors as well. In the …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Relationship Between The Type Of Parent Involvement And High School Student Engagement, Academic Achievement, Attendance, And Attitude Toward School, Carmen Philip Mombourquette

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Parents are being encouraged to be actively involved in the educational lives of their children, including the lives of their adolescent high school students. Governments in both Canada and the United States are even mandating parent involvement as a means to achieve increased student performance. Type of parent involvement in the lives of adolescent high school students and its relationship to student performance factors of student engagement, academic achievement, attendance, and attitude toward school was studied so as to provide high school administrators with the knowledge set necessary to offer advice to the parent community.

This study found that there …

Community Forestry Education In The Swan Valley, Mt: Contributions Of Northwest Connections' Field Program, Joanna Elizabeth Seibert

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As the community forestry movement matures, a question remains regarding what kind of educational experience nurtures and inspires people in community forestry? This thesis seeks to contribute to a better understanding of community forestry education by examining a field educational program known as “Landscape and Livelihood” (LL) offered by Northwest Connections, a small community-based conservation organization in the upper Swan Valley of western Montana. Based on extensive interviews, observation and the author’s own personal experience as a former LL student, the thesis documents the program’s use of field ecological studies involving both scientific and local knowledge integrated with journaling, homestays, …

Conservation Of Leopards In Ayubia National Park, Pakistan, Asad Lodhi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Lodhi, Asad M.S. May 2007 Wildlife Biology Conservation of leopard in Ayubia National Park, Pakistan Committee Chair: Dr. Daniel H. Pletscher Large carnivores are important for biodiversity and ecosystem function, yet are very difficult to conserve because of their large home ranges and conflicts with humans. I examined human-leopard conflicts in and near Ayubia National Park, Pakistan, to provide management recommendations for the conservation of leopards. Persecution of leopards by humans has been on the rise primarily due to depredation on livestock and risk to human lives. Since 1989, 16 humans have either been killed or injured in and around …

A Modern Examination Of Marcus Goldstein’S Mexican Immigrant Population Data: Comparisons Of Mexican-Born And U.S.-Born Children And Adults Living In 1930’S America And Mexico, Amanda Katelin Gango

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Modern statistical methods were employed in order to test the statistical validity and conclusions of Marcus Goldstein’s (1943) original data consisting of nineteen different anthropometric measurements on two different groups of individuals, Mexican immigrants and their children residing in the San Antonio, Texas area and Mexican natives living in central and northern Mexico. Using independent samples T-tests, an analysis of covariance, and an RMET analysis, significant differences among variables compared between Mexican natives and Mexican immigrants and their U.S. born children were identified and interpreted. Variation was attributed to geographical location and length of time spent in the United States. …

Development Of Fecal Dna Sampling Methods To Assess Genetic Population Structure Of Greater Yellowstone Bison, Florence Marie Gardipee

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The bison (Bison bison) of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) represent two of only three remaining populations of plains bison that have no evidence of hybridization with cattle. Therefore, these bison are an important source for ecological and genetic restoration of wild bison. Little is known regarding genetic population structure and gene flow among the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) bison herds. I evaluated the feasibility of fecal DNA sampling for genetic analyses of wild bison populations. I used matched blood and fecal samples from eight radio-collared bison from Hayden Valley breeding group (YNP), and multiplex …

Expression And Regulation Of Emotions In Romantic Relationships, Makon Fardis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Romantic relationships are extremely important in people's physical and mental well being. One of the important determinants of the quality of romantic relationships is the expression and regulation of emotions. This study hypothesized that 1) expression of positive emotions is good for any relationship, 2) expression of negative emotions is good for only communal relationships, 3) expression of positive emotions is necessary alongside of negative ones to maintain a communal relationship, 4) in case negative emotions are expressed, providing explanations would help maintain the relationship, 5) suppression of emotions does not benefit communal relationship, and 6) expression of emotions correlates …

First, Plant Your Feet, Peter Francis Jones

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Short story collection

Free Living Nitrogen-Fixation In Ponderosa Pine/Douglas-Fir Forests In Western Montana, Tricia Burgoyne

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Nitrogen (N) is a primary limiting nutrient in all ecosystems. Therefore, a thorough understanding of N cycling processes in forest ecosystems is required to minimize N losses to fire, harvesting, and other forms of land management. The influence of fire, fire exclusion and forest restoration treatments on non-symbiotic N-fixation in the forest ecosystem has been poorly studied. Over the past 100 years, fire has been greatly excluded from low elevation, fire maintained forests as a result of active fire suppression as well as land management activities that create discontinuities in landscape fire patterns. Previous studies have shown this activity to …

Friends The Family You Choose (No Matter What: An Investigation Of Fictive Kin Relationships Amoung Young Adults., Kimberly Anne Clinger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Current research on fictive kin primarily focuses on the assignment of the fictive kin relationship, and does not focus on how acceptance of an individual as fictive kin is communicatively constructed. This research offers a look into how young adults communicate acceptance in their fictive kin relationships. Four focus groups and seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with young adults regarding their interactions that co-constructed meaning in their fictive kin relationships and how acceptance as fictive kin was communicatively constructed. A grounded theory constant comparison method is used to analyze the focus groups and interviews. The data were used to develop …

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 …

Influence Of Embryonic Metabolic Rate And Incubation Temperature On Incubation Length Variation In Neotropical Passerines, Alina Maria Niklison

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Variation in embryonic developmental periods influences fitness, but causes of interspecific variation are poorly understood. Allometry, for example, does not explain variation in incubation periods among neotropical passerines. Incubation temperature can explain some variation in developmental periods, but substantial variation remains unexplained. Here we examine two previously untested alternatives. Adult metabolic rates differ among species and similar differences among embryos may explain some variation in embryonic development rates; higher metabolism may allow faster cellular proliferation. Alternatively, metabolic rates are temperature dependent, and metabolic rates might respond differentially to temperature among species and compensate for differing incubation temperatures. These alternatives are …

Influence Of Mycorrhizal Inoculation Treatments On Native Tree And Shrub Survival In A Floodplain, Flathead Indian Reservation, T. Rene Kittle

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Mycorrhizal inoculum treatments of two marketed products, Mycopak and Biogrow, were tested against forest soil, and a control treatment on biomass and survival of Populus tremuloides, Salix bebbiana, Populus trichocarpa, and Cornus stolonifera during the summer of 2003 and 2004. Because these seedlings are difficult to establish on cobbled riparian floodplains, the species and treatments were tested on two Jocko River floodplains. The Powell site was plowed in the spring of 2003 prior to planting, and the Stranahan site remained unplowed but treated with the broad leaf herbicide 2,4-D amine, in the fall of 2002. Seedlings were planted in the …

Knowledge And Use Of Native Trees By Local Forest Users: Implications For A Philippine Protected Area, Noah Jackson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines the forest knowledge of non-indigenous, local forest users in the Northwest Panay Protected Area located on the island of Panay in Central Philippines, and the opportunities and constraints to integrating this knowledge into local conservation efforts. The research is based on participant observation, interviews, and sketch maps involving eleven key forest users and interviews with representatives from the three local conservation organizations. Local forest knowledge is discussed through three themes: geographic or area knowledge (GAK), forest ecology knowledge (FEK), and tree species-specific knowledge (TSK). Tree species-specific knowledge, particularly knowledge of seeds and germaplasm transfer, was the component …

Multi-Partner Mutualisms: Interactions Among The Mountain Pine Beetle And Two Ophiostomatoid Fungal Associates, Katherine Patricia Bleiker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

I investigated interactions between the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) and its two main ophiostomatoid fungal associates,Grosmannia clavigera and Ophiostoma montium, as well as interactions between the two fungi. The main research questions were: What drives bark beetle fungal interactions? What is the nature of the interaction between the two species of fungi? I tested the hypothesis that the fungi provide nutritional benefits to the bark beetles. Evidence suggests a nutritional role of fungi in the diet of bark beetles because beetles emerging from attacked trees carrying G. clavigera were larger than beetles carrying O. montium, which in turn were …

Nad(P)H:Quinone Oxidoreductase (Nqo1)-Directed Lavendamycin Antitumor Agents: Structure-Based Design, Molecular Modeling And Structure-Activity Studies, Mary Hassani

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is a two-electron reductase that catalyzes an NAD(P)H-dependent activation of many quinone-based antitumor agents. NQO1, expressed at high levels in many human solid tumors, can be used as a target for enzyme-directed bioreductive antitumor drug development. We hypothesized that lavendamycins, quinolinedione antitumor antibiotics, can be activated by NQO1 in cancer cells that overexpress NQO1 to exhibit selective toxicity toward those cells. The effects of functional group changes on the metabolism of lavendamycins by recombinant human NQO1 were studied using a spectrophotometric assay. These structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies determined key structural features that were required for lavendamycin …

Negotiated Forgiveness In Parent-Child Relationships: Investigating Links To Politeness, Wellness And Sickness, Jennifer Lynn Geist

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Upon experiencing conflict in a relationship, individuals have a variety of response options. While one can seek revenge or avoid that person, another option – forgiveness – can repair the relationship and foster health for both relationship partners. In coming together to confront the conflict and move beyond it, relational partners negotiate forgiveness in interpersonal interactions to accommodate face needs. In doing so, individuals must communicate by seeking forgiveness from and granting it to their relational partners. While much research has pointed to the health benefits associated with forgiving, little has explored the role communicating specifically plays in later received …

No Simple Tradeoffs: Centaurea Plants From America Are Better Competitors And Defenders Than Plants From The Native Range, Wendy Margaree Ridenour

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses for invasive success have important evolutionary implications. The 'natural enemies' hypothesis posits that exotic invaders explode in abundance because they are not suppressed by specialist herbivore consumers in their invaded range. The 'novel weapons' hypothesis posits that exotic invaders explode in abundance because they possess biochemicals that are more effective against evolutionarily naïve plants, microbes, and generalist herbivores than against those species that have evolved tolerance in their communities of origin. I explored the potential for novel allelopathic or herbivore defense biochemicals as a potential alternative mechanism to tradeoff-driven evolution of increased competitive ability in invasive …