Digital Commons Network^™

Sea Level Rise And Local Land Use Planning: The Florida Example, Elisabeth Salinas

Theses & ETDs

The influence of land use patterns on hazard vulnerability and resilience establishes the importance of examining local land use planning in research addressing climate change. While the conceptual connection between land use planning and climate change adaptation is relatively easy to grasp, in practice, integrating climate concerns into planning activity is technically and politically difficult. Using document research and survey techniques, the thesis describes how four southwestern Florida counties (Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Collier) have incorporated predictions regarding future accelerated sea level rise into comprehensive planning activities and the challenges they have faced in doing so. The thesis argues that …

A Review: Incorporating Entomopathogenic Fungi Into Integrated Vector Management Programs To Diminish Tropical Disease, Carli Janelle Cooper

Theses & ETDs

Tropical diseases sicken millions of people annually. Insect vector control is imperative for improving the quality of life for those at risk of contracting tropical diseases by reducing incidences of tropical disease. However, current vector control programs could be at the brink of failure because chemical insecticides provide a substantial portion of modern-day control measures, but incidence of insect resistance completely threatens their effectiveness (Kuile et al. 2003; Gullan and Cranston 2005; O'Reilly et al. 2006). New control methods and agents must be discovered, researched, and implemented, or the number of tropical disease cases will likely soar (Lacey et al. …

Lost In Legislation: The Cultural And Political Meanings Of "Organic", Lauren Alexandra Cardella

Theses & ETDs

In 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture launched the National Organic Program, which promises that any food labeled "organic" has been grown and processed according to nationally uniform and recognized standards. But what does "organic" mean? Organic agriculture has a long history in the United States as a radical, grassroots movement promoting human health, environmental stewardship, and a decentralized food system. The USDA has a long history of promoting chemical- and capital-intensive agriculture that leads to serious degradation of ecosystems, destruction of small farms and rural communities, and feeds a highly centralized, corporate-controlled food system. How did organic agriculture …

Comparing Health Systems: Hiv/Aids In India And The United States, Anita V. Tambay

Theses & ETDs

Public health systems function in ensuring the health needs of a population are met, focusing particularly on the prevention of ill health. Due to India’s enormous population, and the resultant strain on its resources, India’s public health system has proved inadequate. In the coming years, the Indian government should shift its focus towards addressing primary health care needs such as nutrition and prenatal care. In the US, though health standards are relatively high, disparities in health indicators can be seen across minority populations. These disparities indicate public health efforts are not reaching at-risk populations. Additionally, both India and the US …

One-Dimensional Cellular Automata: Pascal's Triangle And An Extension Of Rule 90 For A Non-Abelian Group, Erin Craig

Theses & ETDs

This thesis is a study of one-dimensional cellular automata. We begin by developing new properties of binomial coefficients that were discovered from patterns seen in Pascal's triangle modulo a prime. Then, motivated by Wolfram, Martin and Odlyzko's "Algebraic Properties of Cellular Automata", we study an extension of Rule 90 for multiplicative groups and develop the necessary and sufficient conditions for a state in this automaton to have a predecessor. We then apply this method to show the fraction of states reachable through evolution for this extension of Rule 90 over the dihedral group.

The Ecological Role Of Cattle Grazing In Montane Meadows Of Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, Jenna M. Ervin

Theses & ETDs

The Californian Sierra Nevada Mountains contain a unique ecosystem that supports a high diversity of endemic species. Meadows comprise only a tiny portion of the Sierras, however, their importance to the Sierra Nevada ecosystem far outweighs their size. Grazing has occurred in Sierras for over 100 years. Historically overgrazing has lead to detrimental changes in Sierran meadow vegetation. Today a cattle grazing in the Sierras meadows remains controversial. In this study, I examined the impact of grazing in 10 montane meadows in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountain range. Plant biodiversity and exotic species cover was compared across grazed meadows and …

Food Literacy All Organic Food Is (Not) Created Equal, Lauren Shulman

Theses & ETDs

The language of certified organic food lacks clarity. As the organic industry has blossomed, so has the myriad of available organic products, yet the term "organic" has remained the label to describe all of these items. Since these items are certified "organic" in accordance with regulated standards, it is assumed that all organic industry participants mean the same thing when using the term "organic." By examining the founding organic ideals and comparing these ideals to the manifestations of certified "organic" practices, this analysis suggests that not all organic foods are produced, processed and distributed equally. The term "organic" has environmental, …

Determination Of Functional B Cell Defects In Hiv-1 Infection, Common Variable Immunodeficiency And Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Through The Flow Cytometric Analysis Of Naive And Memory Subsets, Stephanie Hudey

Theses & ETDs

There is a common misconception that HIV-1 infection affects only T cells, but the reality is that it has a drastic impact on both the cell-mediated and humoral arms of the immune system. B cell defects have been well described in the literature for systemic lupus erythematosus and common variable immunodeficiency, two diseases that have similarities to HIV-1 infection in terms of B cell dysfunction, such as aberrant B cell activation and differentiation resulting in maturation arrest and lower memory B cell proportions. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of expression of activation and differentiation markers …

Who Dung It? The Impact Of Seed Dispersal By Mammals On The Fate Of Miliusa Lineata (Annonaceae) Seeds In A Dry Evergreen Forest, Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, Jessica H. Wheeler

Theses & ETDs

This thesis assesses the impact of seed dispersal by mammals on the fate of seeds from a common Annonaceae species in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. I experimentally evaluated three hypotheses: 1) that seeds experimentally placed within mammal dung have higher survivorship than control (bare) seeds; 2) that seeds in higher density clumps (25 as opposed to 5) suffer a higher mortality rate; and 3) that mortality rates decrease with distance from nearest adult conspecific. Seeds dispersed in high density piles (25 seeds) actually had a higher survival rate than seeds dispersed in low density (5 seed) piles. Additionally, …

Cold Tolerance Of The Mayan Cichlid (Cichlasoma 'Nandopsis' Urophthalmus) And The Effects Of Temperature On Teleost Physiology, Peter Repenning

Theses & ETDs

The Mayan cichlid (Cichlasoma �Nandopsis' urophthalmus) is an invasive species that has successfully established itself throughout southern Florida. In the past few years, several populations have successfully expanded their range to higher latitudes. An experiment was conducted in an effort to predict the limits of their northern range expansion by testing the lower limits of temperature tolerance for this fish. It was determined that the critical thermal minimum for the Mayan cichlid was 9�C. Based on these finding and average Florida stream temperatures, the potential range limits for this species are suggested. Also presented is a review of the effects …

Association Of Commonly Studied Personality Variables With The Stress And Immune Response, Benjamin Stork

Theses & ETDs

Perception of the world around us is vital to the human experience of stress. This study directly quantified the effects of locus of control (LoC) and coping on the body's physiological response to stress. LoC when analyzed in combination with coping effectiveness presents a compelling and broadly applicable picture of how humans perceive life events. Individuals who express internal versus external LoC tend to have very different responses to stress. Physiological factors have come become increasingly important to the understanding of the stress response. Commonly studied is cortisol, whose levels are associated with both the chronic and acute affects of …

What's The Catch? An Interrogation Of Regional Fisheries Management Organization's Use Of Catch Documentation Schemes, Chloe Davis

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines catch documentation schemes as a tool for three regional fisheries management organizations to reduce illegal fishing. Global fishing has been increasing at a dramatic rate over the last half century due to increased industrial capabilities and changing institutional structures, resulting in severely unsustainable practices. Catch documentation schemes, which target illegal fishing by requiring that a document accompany each fish imported into contracting nations' markets, could have a significant impact on global fishing pressures. Unfortunately, their adoption was delayed due to political hindrances. One hindrance is that these measures may be incompatible with World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, …

Guide To The Neurobiology Of Dental Analgesics, Amanda Lebofsky

Theses & ETDs

This thesis serves as a comprehensive analysis of the scientific community's understanding of the neurobiology of pain transmission in the orofacial region thus far into the 21st century. Investigation of nociceptive transmission and brain relay mechanisms of the trigeminal brainstem nuclear complex (VBSNC) are expanded upon to provide insights of how the body processes and modulates sensory information in the mouth. Another main focus is placed on the way in which western medicine conducts the assessment and management of pain. This includes a description of various pain models, holistic treatments, and clinical measures used to mask pain transmission. Orofacial disorders …

Systems Biology: The Search For Microrna Regulation Of Human Ciliary Lung Cells, Naomi Louise Paula Ardjomand-Kermani

Theses & ETDs

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short (~22nt), endogenous, non-coding RNAs that play an important gene regulatory role in animals and plants by targeting mRNAs for degradation or translational repression. Mucociliary clearance is an essential mechanism of lung defense against inhaled chemical particulate toxins and infectious organisms. Ciliated cells are among several differentiated cell types within the lung epithelium. To maintain normal mucociliary clearance, ciliogenesis is essential. Through computational data mining the expression of miRNAs during ciliogenesis was investigated and found 6 miRNAs (miR-15a, miR-15b, miR-16, miR-195, miR-424, miR-497) with targeting sites on 3 genes (GHR, TUBA1A, CGI-38) of the ciliary axoneme of …

Synesthesia: An Exploration Of The Behavior, Biology, And Individuality Of Cross-Modal Experiences, Blaine Farmer

Theses & ETDs

Synesthesia is a rare condition where activation of one sensory modality causes inappropriate crossactivation in another sensory modality. For example, hearing a tone (the inducing stimulus) might cause the experience of color (the concurrent perception). This comprehensive review and analysis of the literature on synesthesia incorporates behavioral and biological research to construct a core understanding for future research. Additionally, an online psychophysical study of three females with motion-sound synesthesia was conducted. The results emphasize differences in both the cognition and underlying biology of individuals with synesthesia, and provide direction for subsequent taxonomical investigations.

Between Two Worlds: Internalized Anti-Semitism In Isaac Babel's Short Fiction, Melissa Yael Jacobowitz

Theses & ETDs

This thesis sets out to examine the seemingly paradoxical dynamics of Jewish, Russian, and Communist identity in Isaac Babel's short fiction. How can a Jewish narrator write admiringly and enviously of Cossack soldiers as they insult and abuse him and commit violence against other Jews? How, at other times, can this same narrator speak lyrically and warmly about the Jewish world in which he was raised and feels at home? I argue that looking at Babel's short stories through the lens of internalized anti-Semitism can aid us in answering the aforementioned questions and in better understanding how his fiction works. …

Synaptic Neural Networks--Supervised Learning Without Weights, Chris Caswell

Theses & ETDs

This thesis proposes a novel model of artificial neural networks wherein the notion of synaptic weights is removed and a Gaussian activation function is used. The new, sporadically-connected Neural Networksare trained by a probabilistic extension of the famous error-backpropagationalgorithm and tested using, a set of standard benchmarking rules and problem sets. Despite its simplicity, the proposed model is shown to be capable of generalizing on real-world data with a performance comparable to that of a Gaussian-activated weighted network. We then explore the possible advantages the model might have for efficient FPGA hardware implementations and the biological relevance it has with …

A Review Of Habitat Management For Anthropod Pest Control And Farmscaping At Geraldson Community Farm: A Pilot Project, Chris H. Wilson

Theses & ETDs

This is a two-part thesis. The first part is a literature review and analysis of the field of habitat management for pest control. The second part is a report on a farmscaping field project I conducted at Geraldson Community Farm in Bradenton, Florida. Habitat management refers to the set of techniques and practices designed to make a field habitat less attractive to pests, or more attractive to natural enemies, or both. It is a subset of conservation biological control, which seeks to augment the endogenous natural enemy fauna to achieve pest regulation. My literature review and analysis discusses this field …

Characterization And Phylogenetic Relationships Of Xenorhabdus Bovienii Strains (Enterorbacteriaceae, Y-Proteobacteria) Based On Sequence Data Of Two Protein Coding Genes, Rachel Russell

Theses & ETDs

Xenorhabdus spp. are Gram negative gamma-proteobacteria that have a mutualistic association with entomopathogenic nematodes in the genus Steinernema. These bacteria are symbiotically harbored in the intestine of the only free-living stage of nematodes, the infective juvenile. This pair is pathogenic for a range of insects and has been integrated into biological control programs worldwide. Each Steinernema species has an apparent specific association with only one Xenorhabdus species, though a single Xenorhabdus bacterial species may be associated with multiple nematode species. This is the case of X. bovienii, which is present in nine different Steinernema spp. However, why these nematode species …

Precedented Yet Unparalleled: How New Is The "New Terrorism" Of The Al Qaeda Network?, Harrison Duke Grandwilliams

Theses & ETDs

On September 11, 2001, politicians and academic experts on terrorism decried the attacks in New York and Washington as unprecedented and unparalleled. The truth is that the Al Qaeda network represents a new organizational form, with unprecedented capacity; however, the organization's goals, ideology and strategy have deep roots in the history of terrorism and radical Islam. This thesis looks at the pre-9/11 literature on terrorism, and its failure to provide coherent insight into the nature of terrorism, or even a generally acceptable definition of terrorism. It goes on to trace the known precedents of Al Qaeda in the history of …

Microsolvation Of The Cyanyl Radical: Competition Between Hydrogen Bonding And Electrostatic Non-Covalent Interactions, Jacob Bloom

Theses & ETDs

A theoretical study of microsolvated cyanyl radical with water has been carried out. Cyanyl radical and water are of interest to both astrophysics and biochemistry. A theoretical study of the microsolvated system should prove fruitful for future study in these fields. Furthermore, this work illustrates the competition between hydrogen bonding and electrostatic non-covalent interactions. This study utilized density functional theory for both cyanyl radical and cyanide with up to three waters. The zero and one water energies were benchmarked using coupled cluster theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitation approximations. Relative energies, hydration energies, frequencies, dipole moments, and adiabatic …

Refuge Update – January/February 2009, Volume 6, Number 1

RefugeUpdate (USFWS-NWRS)

Table of Contents:
Fresh Thinking About Climate Change, page 3
Meet the New Refuge Chief, page 5
Focus on . . . Research on Refuges, pages 8-13
Drive. Dial. Discover., page 14

Invasions And Extinctions As A Consequence Of Climate Change, Mace Hack, Rick Kearney, Chad Smith, Scott Taylor, Craig R. Allen

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

Invasions and extinctions are occurring at a rate that is unprecedented in historical time. These phenomena are a kind of biological extreme at each end of the spectrum, and both are responses related to landscape and environmental conditions, which also link to climate change. Research shows that species change their ranges in response to climate change and to general predictable trends, but individual responses seem to be idiosyncratic, said moderator Craig Allen. Because of this, there is a need to explicitly anticipate and think about ecological surprises and the unanticipated consequences of global change. Ecological systems often exhibit nonlinear threshold …

Sustainability In A Time Of Climate Change: Developing An Intensive Research Framework For The Platte River Basin And The High Plains. Proceedings From The 2008 Climate Change Workshop, May 19-22., University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Office Of Research

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are developing a research partnership to better understand, adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change in the Platte River Basin and the High Plains. The Climate Change 2008 Workshop, “Sustainability in a Time of Climate Change: Developing an Intensive Research Framework for the Platte River Basin and the High Plains” was designed to inventory our mutual research strengths and resources in this area and to bring key stakeholders and decision-makers into the process to build further partnerships.

The native grasslands and farmlands of Nebraska comprise one of …

Future Of Water For Food: Proceedings Of The Future Of Water For Food Conference Held At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, May 3-5, 2009, University Of Nebraska–Lincoln Office Of Research And Economic Development

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

“Water is key. It’s a critical issue. In many cases, it’s a critical limitation. And we come together probably in some cases with different perspectives, but I think we can all agree that it’s a critical challenge, one that we must take on,” said Jeff Raikes, chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in his keynote address at the Future of Water for Food conference.

Hosted by the University of Nebraska and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the conference was held at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, May 3-5, 2009. The conference brought together more than 230 …

Future Of Water For Food Conference: The Right Time And The Right Place, James B. Milliken

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

“All of life and all ecological processes are conditioned on the circulation of water on the planet,” said University of Nebraska President James B. Milliken, quoting from Jeffrey D. Sachs’ book Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet. “Since civilization began,” Milliken continued, “water has been central to life. We’ve established cities around it, fought wars over it, created myths about it and depended on it for food, power and transportation.” Maintaining an adequate supply of usable water has always been a challenge, but today a tangle of interrelated issues — rapid population growth, climate change, the introduction of …

2008 Major Sponsored Programs And Faculty Awards For Research And Creative Activity, Office Of Research, University Of Nebraska–Lincoln

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

Awards of $3 million or more
Awards of $1 million to $2,999,999
Awards of $200,000 to $999,999
Early Career Awards
Arts and Humanities Awards of $50,000 or more
Arts and Humanities Awards of $5,000 to $49,999
Patents Issued
Intellectual Property Licences
Creative Works in Fine and Performing Arts
Books
Recognitions and Honors
Glossary of Federal Agency Abbreviations

Irreconcilable Differences? The Troubled Marriage Of Science And Law, Susan Haack

Articles

No abstract provided.

Relevance Of Ground-Based Electron-Induced Electrostatic Discharge Measurements To Space Plasma Environments, Jennifer A. Roth, Ryan Hoffmann, John R. Dennison, Jonathon R. Tippetts

All Physics Faculty Publications

Electron-induced electrostatic discharge (ESD) can lead to severe spacecraft anomalies. It is crucial to the success of space missions that the likelihood of ESD occurrence is understood and mitigated. To aid in predicting ESD occurrence, a model for electric fields above and below the charge layer inside an electronirradiated dielectric material was developed. An instrumentation system was also designed to induce and detect ESD events. Because ESD events with a wide range of maximum current values can occur over a range of time intervals, multiple simultaneous detection methods were employed as charge was accumulated on a sample surface; these included …

Emerging Role Of Garcinol, The Antioxidant Chalcone From Garcinia Indica Choisy And Its Synthetic Analogs, Subhash Padhye, Aamir Ahmad, Nikhil Oswal, Fazlul H. Sarkar

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Garcinol, harvested from Garcinia indica, has traditionally been used in tropical regions and appreciated for centuries; however its biological properties are only beginning to be elucidated. There is ample data to suggest potent antioxidant properties of this compound which have been used to explain most of its observed biological activities. However, emerging evidence suggests that garcinol could be useful as an anti-cancer agent, and it is increasingly being realized that garcinol is a pleiotropic agent capable of modulating key regulatory cell signaling pathways. Here we have summarized the progress of our current research knowledge on garcinol and its observed …