Digital Commons Network^™

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending May 31, 2008, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university’s focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Progress was made on three projects to meet Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP)
  strategic messaging needs: an anti-litter exhibit, a volunteer restoration program with educational
  components, and activity stations to tell the story of Lee Meadows restoration efforts.
• 175 people attended the Our Places Tell Stories conference March 4-6, 2008.
• The Nevada State Environmental Education and Interpretation Certification Program will be launched beginning June 17, 2008.
• Forever Earth was scheduled on 51 days involving 1985 individuals.
• Discover Mojave Outdoor World conducted seven events for 152 participants.

Limnological Assistance For The Lake Mead National Recreation Area In Meeting The Challenge Of The Water 2025 Initiative: Annual Report, Period Ending May 31, 2008, Margaret N. Rees

Limnological Studies

Hiring: Limnologist Dr. Wai Hing (David) Wong was hired and officially reported to work on 5/15/2008.

Project 1 and Project 2: Dr. Wong has commenced work on Projects 1 and 2.

Project 3: Dr. Wong has commenced work on Project 3. A comprehensive zebra/quagga mussel bibliography has been completed and published to the 100th Meridian Web site. Six interagency, multi-disciplinary quagga mussel meetings have been held. A quagga mussel substrate project has been initiated and, through the coordination efforts of this project, two other studies have been selected and refined to help determine the ecological impacts of quagga mussel infestation …

Thermal And Morphological Analysis Of Collagen-Plla Electrospun Blends, Angana Banerjee

Theses

Electrospinning of bovine Type I collagen and Poly (L-lactic acid) produces blended nanofiber scaffolds that may have application in tissue engineering, wound dressing and drug delivery.

The goal of this research work was to produce and characterize blended nanofibers of a protein, collagen, and a synthetic polymer, poly (L-lactic acid). This study focuses on the in-depth analysis of the appearance of the structural relaxation occurring at the glass transition temperature of PLLA in the collagen-PLLA blended electrospun mats. It is speculated that occurrence of this thermal event is more prominent in PLLA with high molecular weight due to the presence …

The Synergistic Effect Of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields And Demineralized Bone Matrix On The Osteogenic Differentiation Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, John Manocchio

Theses

Orthopaedic bone grafting continues to be a mainstay in the treatment of non unions and other difficult to heal bone defects. Tissue engineering strategies have focused on providing bone graft materials that are osteoconductive, osteoinductive and osteogenic in order to achieve optimal bone healing. Furthermore, electrical stimulation technologies such as pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) have been used to enhance the effectiveness of bone graft materials. PEMP has been shown to have a synergistic effect with BMP-2 and it was hypothesized that PEMF would have the same effect with demineralized bone matrix (DBM). In the present study human mesenchymal stem cells …

A Comparative Study Of Common Crosslinking Agents For Electrospun Collagen Scaffolds, Pallavi Masih

Theses

Cartilage injury is one of the leading causes of knee pain in the world. Over two million Americans suffer from cartilage injury every year, resulting in swelling, pain or joint impairment, causing it difficult to maintain an active life style. Synthetic grafts are used extensively to restore tissue functions. The major drawback limiting successful incorporation of synthetic grafts in body is their lower ability to integrate to natural tissue, poor biocompatibility which often results in triggering immunogenic responses, causing graft rejection. Collagen is thus studied and used excessively as a successful implantable material. The reason being that it is natural …

A Virtual Training Environment For Wheelchair Mounted Robot, Elizabeth Leichtnam

Theses

A model of a robotic manipulator designed to respond to different inputs from users with different skills or conditions is presented. This model can be adapted to different input variables and converted into joint angles which relate to movement in space of the manipulator's links. The algorithm allows for real time response and the features of the virtual environments (i.e., 3D design, stereoscopic vision) gives the designers the opportunity to use this model for training and usability evaluation according to the skills and different conditions that users could present.

Two types of virtual environments were created aiming to be used …

Knowledge In Sheep's Clothing: How Science Informs American Diplomacy, Elizabeth L. Chalecki

Political Science Faculty Publications

Advances in modern science are now shaping both the character and content of international relations. Scientific issues in international diplomacy such as environmental issues, space policy, biotechnology and stem cell uses, and weapons technology will all require the participation of an epistemic community of scientists alongside traditional diplomats. This article will examine three historical cases of American diplomacy in which science made a significant contribution to the outcome: the German–American Pork War of 1880–1891, the International Geophysical Year of 1956–1957, and the Montreal Protocol of 1987. In each instance, by utilizing scientists and their knowledge, the United States was able …

Extreme Primary And Secondary Protein Structure Variability In The Chimeric Male-Transmitted Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit Ii Protein In Freshwater Mussels: Evidence For An Elevated Amino Acid Substitution Rate In The Face Of Domain-Specific Purifying Selection, Eric G. Chapman, Helen Piontkivska, Jennifer M. Walker, Donald T. Stewart, Jason P. Curole, Walter R. Hoeh

Faculty Publications

Background

Freshwater unionoidean bivalves, and species representing two marine bivalve orders (Mytiloida and Veneroida), exhibit a mode of mtDNA inheritance involving distinct maternal (F) and paternal (M) transmission routes concomitant with highly divergent gender-associated mtDNA genomes. Additionally, male unionoidean bivalves have a ~550 bp 3' coding extension to the cox2 gene (Mcox2e), that is apparently absent from all other metazoan taxa.

Results

Our molecular sequence analyses of MCOX2e indicate that both the primary and secondary structures of the MCOX2e region are evolving much faster than other regions of the F and M COX2-COX1 gene …

Crop Nitrogen And Phosphorus Utilization Following Application Of Slurry From Swine Fed Traditional Or Low Phytate Corn Diets, J. S. Paschold, B. J. Wienhold, Dennis L. Mccallister, Richard B. Ferguson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Field application of swine (Sus scrofa) slurry provides essential nutrients for crop production. The N to P ratio for slurry is lower than needed by most crops resulting in P accumulation when applied at N rates required for crop growth. Low phytate corn (Zea mays L.) (LPC) contains similar amounts of total P but less phytate P than traditional corn (TC) resulting in improved P bioavailability and reduced P excretion by monogastric animals. While manure from swine-fed LPC diets has a higher N to P ratio than that from TC diets, field studies comparing crop utilization of …

Synthesis Of Corn-Derived Carbohydrate Derivatives As Effective Multifunctional Sunscreen, Xianhong Feng

Theses

The eighty-years-old sunscreen industry is sustained by the growing incidence of skin cancer and the continual exploration of skin aging. From the UVB-induced erythema to the UVA-induced persistent pigment darkening, scientists have used versatile methods to reveal that not only does UVB damage skin but also that longer wavelengths such as UVAIL (290nm ~ 340nm) and UVAL rays (340nm ~ 400nm) trigger skin cancer, premature skin aging and immunosuppression.

To meet a significant demand for improved photoprotection, a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a high extinction coefficient has been desired. As part of our ongoing studies on isosorbide-cinnamate derivatives, this work have …

Radiation-Induced Osteoporosis: Bone Quantity, Architecture, And Increased Resorption Following Exposure To Ionizing Radiation, Jeffrey Willey

All Dissertations

Skeletal complications from radiation therapy have been described for breast, brain, pelvic, and blood cancers. These problems include atrophy, fractures, and osteoradionecrosis. Improved survivorship rates of cancer patients receiving radiotherapy increases the importance of understanding the causal mechanisms and long-term effects of radiation-induced bone loss. One such long-term effect is bone fractures following radiation therapy for cancer treatment. The incidence of hip fractures is significantly increased following targeted radiotherapy for cancer. This decline in bone health can have a severe impact on the patient's functional capabilities. This damage to bone following irradiation is thought to involve damage to both osteoblasts …

Surface Recordings Of Evoked Field Potentials From The Cerebellum With A Flexmea Microelectrode Array, Jonathan David Groth

Theses

The cerebellum is an integral part of multijoint control. There are two input pathways to the cerebellar cortex, the mossy fiber and the climbing fiber pathways. The mossy fiber pathway forms a disynaptic input to Purkinje cells through the granular cells. This disynaptic input produces a multicomponent field potential composed of the P1, N 1, N2, N3, N4, and P3 waves. The climbing fiber input forms a monosynaptic input to the Purkinje cells and thus creates a much simpler field potential.

The mossy and climbing fiber field potentials were recorded with a FlexMEA microelectrode array from the pial surface of …

Mustang Daily, May 30, 2008

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

A Cytosolic Iron Chaperone That Delivers Iron To Ferritin, Haifeng Shi, Krisztina Z. Bencze, Timothy L. Stemmler, Caroline C. Philpott

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Ferritins are the main iron storage proteins found in animals, plants and bacteria. The capacity to store iron in ferritin is essential for life in mammals, but the mechanism by which cytosolic iron is delivered to ferritin is unknown. Human ferritins expressed in yeast contain little iron. The human Poly r(C)-Binding Protein 1 (PCBP1) increased the amount of iron loaded into ferritin when expressed in yeast. PCBP1 bound to ferritin in vivo, and bound iron and facilitated iron loading into ferritin in vitro. Depletion of PCBP1 in human cells inhibited ferritin iron loading and increased cytosolic iron pools. Thus, PCBP1 …

Novel Candidate Genes Identified In The Brain During Nociception In Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) And Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Siobhan C. Reilly, John P. Quinn, Andrew R. Cossins, Lynne U. Sneddon

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Recent studies have demonstrated that teleost fish possess nociceptors that detect potentially painful stimuli and that the physiological properties of these fibres are markedly similar to those found in mammals. This finding led to suggestions of possible pain perception in fish, contrary to the view that the sensory response in these animals is limited to the spinal cord and hindbrain and as such is reflexive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if the brain is active at the molecular level by using a microarray analysis of gene expression in the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain of two fish …

Mustang Daily, May 30, 2008

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Responses Of Upland Herpetofauna To The Restoration Of Carolina Bays And Thinning Of Forested Bay Margins, Joseph Ledvina

All Theses

Research on the effects of wetland restoration on reptiles and amphibians is becoming more common, but almost all of these studies have observed the colonization of recently disturbed habitats that were completely dry at the time of restoration. In a similar manner, investigations herpetofaunal responses to forest management have focused on clearcuts, and less intensive stand manipulations are not as well studied. To evaluate community and population responses of reptiles and amphibians to hydrology restoration and canopy removal in the interior of previously degraded Carolina bays, I monitored herpetofauna in the uplands adjacent to six historically degraded Carolina bays in …

Biogeographic Patterns Of Avian Malaria Parasites In The Lesser Antilles: Prevalence, Diversity, And Community Composition, Linda Maria Elenor Svensson

Theses

We investigated determinants of local and regional species richness and community composition of avian malaria parasites (Haemoproteus and Plasmodium) in the Lesser Antilles. Chapter 1 addresses the local parasite richness and community structure, or lack thereof, on Barbados. We found only two parasite lineages on this island, one of which was recovered from only 2 birds, which stands in stark contrast to the much higher diversity on other islands. In addition, we investigated what factors may explain the absence of avian malaria in southeastern Barbados, and found this area to be drier, warmer, and supporting less vegetation. Chapter 2 addresses …

New Mexico Labor Market Review 05-30-2008, New Mexico Department Of Workforce Solutions

Historic Publications

The New Mexico Labor Market Review is a monthly publication presenting statistical data and analysis on labor market conditions throughout New Mexico. Issues examine statewide and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labor force estimates, industry activity, wages, occupational demand, and related economic conditions, often accompanied by feature articles on topics affecting the state’s economy. This issue covers April 2008.

A Simple Morphological Predictor Of Bite Force In Rodents, Patricia W. Freeman, Cliff A. Lemen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Bite force was quantified for 13 species of North American rodents using a piezo-resistive sensor. Most of the species measured (11) formed a tight relationship between body mass and bite force (log 10(bite force) = 0.43(log 10(body mass)) + 0.416; R² > 0.98). This high correlation exists despite the ecological (omnivores, grazers and more carnivorous) and taxonomic (Cricetidae, Heteromyidae, Sciuridae and Zapodidae) diversity of species. Two additional species, Geomys bursarius (Geomyidae) and a Sciurus niger (Sciuridae), bit much harder for their size. We found a simple index of strength based on two measurements of the incisor at the level of …

Mustang Daily, May 29, 2008

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Observer, Central Washington University

Student Newspaper

Student newspaper for Central Washington University for May 29, 2008

Dorothy L. Sayers: An Exemplar For Lay Theology, Christine M. Fletcher

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

Sacred Journeys: C.S. Lewis And Frederick Buechner, Victoria S. Allen

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

Imbruted Souls In Milton, Macdonald, & Lewis, Larry E. Fink

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

Goblinisation: A Reading Of The Colonial Subject, Degeneration And Marginalisation In The Princess And The Goblin (1872) And The Princess And Curdie (1883) By George Macdonald (1824-1905), Rachel Johnson

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

George Macdonald's Lilith As Mystical Document, Charles Beaucham

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

C.S. Lewis On Friendship, William L. Isley Jr.

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

Rags Of Lordship: Tolkien, Lewis, And The Meaning Of Myth, John Stanifer

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.

The Abolition Of Man In Retrospect, Paul E. Michelson

Inklings Forever: Published Colloquium Proceedings 1997-2016

No abstract provided.