Digital Commons Network^™

Waterfowl Of North America: Surface-Feeding Ducks, Tribe Anatini, Paul A. Johnsgard

Waterfowl of North America, Revised Edition (2010) by Paul A. Johnsgard

The surface-feeding, dabbling, or similarly described ducks are a group of about thirty-six species of mostly freshwater ducks that occur throughout the world. Many of them are temperate or arctic-breeding species that nest on dry land near freshwater ponds, marshes, rivers, or similar rather shallow bodies of water. Associated with this breeding habitat are their adaptations for foraging by "tipping-up" rather than by diving for food, an ability to land and take off abruptly from small water areas or land, and a moderately good walking ability but reduced perching capabilities as compared with perching ducks. Also unlike perching ducks, iridescent …

Basis Of Host Plant Recognition And Acceptance By Busseola Fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Larvae, Gerald Juma

All PhD Dissertations

Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest of maize and sorghum in sub-Saharan Africa whose larvae exhibits oligophagic than polyphagic feeding habits. The host plants for this species are primarily maize and sorghum though some populations appear to be restricted on wild sorghum. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of oligophagy of larvae of this species based on (i) the sensory abilities to discriminate among different host plants (ii) feeding behaviour and growth on different Poaceae plant species present in its natural habitat (iii) plant stimuli that influence larval growth and feeding and (iv) …

Entomopathogenic Fungi: A Component Of Leafminer Management, Lorna Nyangarisa Migiro

All PhD Dissertations

The invasive leafminers Liriomyza sativae (Blanchard), Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) and Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard) (Diptera: Agromyzidae) are major pests of many vegetable and ornamental crops worldwide. In Kenya, production of horticultural crops is also severely constrained by infestation of Liriomyza leafmining flies (LMF), especially the invasive L. huidobrensis. Being quarantine pests, their presence in export produce can lead to rejections,resulting in loss of export markets and consequently loss of revenue to many smallholder families that are involved in export crop production. These constraints to trade represent the newest and potentially most challenging limitation to the future development of the horticultural sector …

Living Soil And Composting: Life’S Lessons In The Learning Gardens, Dilafruz R. Williams, Jonathan Brown

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

After we spread the chicken poop, we covered it with hay... the poop was the fertilizer and the hay was the stuff that kept the plants warm. After school l checked the garden. Empty. Nobody. I climbed the fence to check the radishes I had planted. I dug around the radishes. They seemed dead. I grabbed a magnifying glass and looked closely at the leaves. Aphids were chewing all the leaves, like ants or other bugs. I went home worried. Next day I went to check the garden. Something red flashed in my eye. I panicked. "Yhaaaa!" I screamed with …

Fp-10-08 Same-Sex Couple Households In The U.S., 2009, Kristy M. Krivickas

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Winter Commencement, 2010, Marshall University

Marshall University Commencement

Program for the 2010 Winter Commencement of Marshall University.

Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Changes Speech Respiratory And Laryngeal Control In Parkinson's Disease, Michael J. Hammer, Steven M. Barlow, Kelly E. Lyons, Rajesh Pahwa

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Adequate respiratory and laryngeal motor control are essential for speech, but may be impaired in Parkinson's disease (PD). Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) improves limb function in PD, but the effects on respiratory and laryngeal control remain unknown. We tested whether STN DBS would change aerodynamic measures of respiratory and laryngeal control, and whether these changes were correlated with limb function and stimulation parameters. Eighteen PD participants with bilateral STN DBS were tested within a morning session after a minimum of 12 h since their most recent dose of anti-PD medication. Testing occurred when DBS was on, …

Developing Emotional Security Among Children Who Have Been Adopted, Kate Trujillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the development of emotional security among 6-10 year old children who have been adopted by exposing them to an experimental condition during which they could engage with either a live dog or a robotic dog. The live dog was a certified therapy dog; the robotic dog was a FurReal® toy marketed by Hasbro as "Biscuit." Utilizing a mixed-method embedded experimental design, the experimental condition was intentionally structured to promote engagement between the participant and the dog or robot. 43 children who had been adopted from the child welfare system were randomly assigned to one of two groups. …

Animal Science Collection Development Policy, Dana W.R. Boden

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Collection Development Policies

The Animal Science collection supports the teaching, research and service activities of the entire university community. Its primary audience is the faculty, staff, and students of the Animal Science department in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources within the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The collection’s primary focus is support for the undergraduate and graduate curricula for Animal Science. Specific and transient research needs of Animal Science faculty and graduate students are supplemented through Interlibrary Loan.

The focus of the Animal Science collection is diverse in nature as it encompasses disciplines that are well established within colleges …

Turnover Of Mature Mirnas And Sirnas In Plants And Algae, Heriberto Cerutti, Fadia Ibrahim

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

rnicroRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) play important roles in gene regulation and defense responses against transposons and viruses in eukaryotes. These small RNAs generally trigger the silencing of cognate sequences through a variety of mechanisms, including RNA degradation, translational inhibition, and transcriptional repression. In the past few years, the synthesis and the mode of action of miRNAs and siRNAs have attracted great attention. However, relatively little is known about mechanisms of quality control during small RNA biogenesis as well as those that regulate mature small RNA stability. Recent studies in Arabidopsis thaliana and Caenorhahditis elegans have implicated 3′-to-5′ …

Children Of Technology, Samantha Wilkins

e-Vision Journal of Undergraduate Writing

Advancement after advancement led to plans to insert a microchip to begin teaching language in the womb. Furthermore, they began extracting fetuses a month early so that they can develop in a programmed incubator that would display even more language education. It was federally promoted and subsidized and everyone was signing on, so we did too.

Samantha Wilkins is studying Elementary Education at James Madison University, and hopes to eventually become an elementary school principal.

Throughout discussions about the future of education, we often question technology's role. The essay "Children of Technology" takes these questions to an extreme, depicting a …

A New Nonlinear Classifier With A Penalized Signed Fuzzy Measure Using Effective Genetic Algorithm, Julia Hua Fang, Maria L. Rizzo, Honggang Wang, Kimberly A. Espy, Zhenyuan Wang

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory: Faculty Publications

This paper proposes a new nonlinear classifier based on a generalized Choquet integral with signed fuzzy measures to enhance the classification accuracy and power by capturing all possible interactions among two or more attributes. This generalized approach was developed to address unsolved Choquet-integral classification issues such as allowing for flexible location of projection lines in n-dimensional space, automatic search for the least misclassification rate based on Choquet distance, and penalty on misclassified points. A special genetic algorithm is designed to implement this classification optimization with fast convergence. Both the numerical experiment and empirical case studies show that this generalized …

Mining The Bitter Melon (Momordica Charantia L.) Seed Transcriptome By 454 Analysis Of Nonnormalized And Normalized Cdna Populations For Conjugated Fatty Acid Metabolism-Related Genes, Peizhen Yang, Xiangjun Li, Jay M. Shockey, Edgar B. Cahoon

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Background: Seeds of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) produce high levels of eleostearic acid, an unusual conjugated fatty acid with industrial value. Deep sequencing of non-normalized and normalized cDNAs from developing bitter melon seeds was conducted to uncover key genes required for biotechnological transfer of conjugated fatty acid production to existing oilseed crops. It is expected that these studies will also provide basic information regarding the metabolism of other high-value novel fatty acids.

Results: Deep sequencing using 454 technology with non-normalized and normalized cDNA libraries prepared from bitter melon seeds at 18 DAP resulted in the identification of transcripts …

Horizontal Acquisition Of Multiple Mitochondrial Genes From A Parasitic Plant Followed By Gene Conversion With Host Mitochondrial Genes, Jeffrey P. Mower, Saša Stefanović, Weilong Hao, Julie S. Gummow, Kanika Jain, Dana Ahmed, Jeffrey D. Palmer

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Background: Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is relatively common in plant mitochondrial genomes but the mechanisms, extent and consequences of transfer remain largely unknown. Previous results indicate that parasitic plants are often involved as either transfer donors or recipients, suggesting that direct contact between parasite and host facilitates genetic transfer among plants.

Results: In order to uncover the mechanistic details of plant-to-plant HGT, the extent and evolutionary fate of transfer was investigated between two groups: the parasitic genus Cuscuta and a small clade of Plantago species. A broad polymerase chain reaction (PCR) survey of mitochondrial genes revealed that at …

A Putative Rna-Binding Protein Positively Regulates Salicylic Acid–Mediated Immunity In Arabidopsis, Yiping Qi, Kenichi Tsuda, Anna Joe, Masanao Sato, Le V. Nguyen, Jane Glazebrook, James R. Alfano, Jerry D. Cohen, Fumiaki Katagiri

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

RNA-binding proteins (RBP) can control gene expression at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Plants respond to pathogen infection with rapid reprogramming of gene expression. However, little is known about how plant RBP function in plant immunity. Here, we describe the involvement of an RBP, Arabidopsis thaliana RNA-binding protein-defense related 1 (AtRBP-DR1; At4g03110), in resistance to the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. AtRBP-DR1 loss-of-function mutants showed enhanced susceptibility to P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000. Overexpression of AtRBP-DR1 led to enhanced resistance to P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 strains and dwarfism. The hypersensitive response triggered by P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 …

Jacob Wrestles The Angel: A Study In Psychoanalytic Midrash, Michael Abramsky

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This essay is a study in psychoanalytic Midrash: a literary and psychological meditation on the

Biblical story of Jacob. The Hebrew verbal root from which the term Midrash derives means to

investigate or explore. It is a genre of Biblical scholarship used to interpret the Bible in symbolic

and inspirational terms. This essay examines Jacob as he moves from a character dominated by

self-defeating neurosis through his transformation into a spiritual being and exemplar of principled

leadership. Insights from Freudian and Jungian psychologies, mythology, and literary traditions are

used to describe and explain Jacob’s character metamorphosis.

“Styles Of The Flesh”: Considerations On Body Identity And Representing The Unclothed Woman In Fine Art, Gwen Shockey

Art Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Trophic Interactions Of Bathyraja Trachura And Sympatric Fishes, Mariah Dawson Boyle

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Quantifying deep-sea food webs can be resource intensive due to the difficulties of sampling fishes from the deep sea. The diet of fishes is often quantified through stomach content analysis, through this method has many sampling constraints, and it can be difficult to obtain sufficient samples for an in-depth study. This study attempts to fill a critical data gap by determining the diet and trophic level of the deep-sea Roughtail Skate, Bathyraja trachura, using traditional stomach content analysis. This study also attempts to determine the validity and accuracy of stable isotope analysis in the continental slope fishes of the deep-sea …

Effects Of Drought On Avian Community Structure, Thomas P. Albright, Anna M. Pidgeon, Chadwick D. Rittenhouse, Murray K. Clayton, Curtis H. Flather, Patrick D. Culbert, Brian D. Wardlows, Volker C. Radeloff

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Droughts are expected to become more frequent under global climate change. Avifauna depend on precipitation for hydration, cover, and food. While there are indications that avian communities respond negatively to drought, little is known about the response of birds with differing functional and behavioral traits, what time periods and indicators of drought are most relevant, or how response varies geographically at broad spatial scales. Our goals were thus to determine (1) how avian abundance and species richness are related to drought, (2) whether community variations are more related to vegetation vigor or precipitation deviations and at what time periods relationships …

Environmental Influences On Pediatric Obesity: An Examination Of The 2007 National Survey Of Children's Health (Nsch), Donny Dunfee

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Obese children are more likely to become obese as adults; hence, they are at increased risk for a number of adult diseases. As with adult obesity, several variables contribute to the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. The intent of this report is to illustrate the connection between childhood obesity and the social environmental interactions of populations. With the increasing prevalence of obesity in adults and children, healthcare and public health professionals view childhood overweight and obesity as one of the most serious public health concerns of our time. This research conducts a secondary analysis of the National Survey of Children’s …

Lightweight Polypropylene Composites Reinforced By Long Switchgrass Stems, Yi Zou, Helan Xu, Yiqi Yang

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Faculty Publications

Switchgrass (SG) stems with lengths up to 10 cm have been used as reinforcement to make lightweight composites with polypropylene (PP) webs. The long SG stems, with simple cut or split and without chemical treatment, were used directly in the composites. Utilizing SG stems for composites not only increases the values of SG but also provides a green, sustainable and biodegradable material for the composites industry. Lightweight composites are preferred, especially for automotive applications due to the potential saving in energy. In this research, the effects of manufacturing parameters on the properties of composites have been studied. Although the tensile …

Creativity And Contemporary Value, Camilla Nelson

Arts Conference Papers

There are few English nouns that have generated such relentlessly good publicity as the word ‘creativity’. It is increasingly found scattered across the literature of the arts and sciences, industry, business management, information technology, education and government. It has been called the key to economic growth, the ‘decisive source of competitive advantage’, and the ‘very heart’ of ‘wealth creation and social renewal’¹. It is also a burgeoning object of study in the humanities, where it is increasingly applied across spheres and disciplines, extending far beyond the artist’s studio into the new interdisciplinary schools of Creative Industries, as well …

Cholinergic Neurons Regulate And Utilize Gdnf Secreted By C2c12 Skeletal Muscle Cells In Culture, John-Mary Vianney, John M. Spitsbergen

Biological Sciences Faculty and Graduate Student Research

Glialcell line-derived neurotrophicfactor (GDNF) has been regarded as a potent survival factor for a subpopulation of neurons. It has been shown that GDNF expression is upregulatedin skeletal muscle of patients with early stage of neuromuscular diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Previous results from our laboratory showed that neural cells regulate GDNF secretion by skeletal muscle; non-innervated skeletal muscle appear to secrete more GDNF compared to innervated skeletal muscle. Two aims were examined in the current study. First, to examine whether neural cells inhibit GDNF through acetylcholine release. Second was to examine whether differentiated NG108-15 neural cells secrete GDNF. …

Short Term Voluntary Exercise Alters Gdnf Protein Expression In Rat Spinal Cord, Monica J. Mccullough, John Spitsbergen

Biological Sciences Faculty and Graduate Student Research

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is considered to be one of the most potent neurotrophic factors for motor neurons of the spinal cord. However, little is known about the response of GDNF in the spinal cord following exercise from healthy individuals.PURPOSE:Previous studies from our laboratory have shown that long term voluntary exercise (6 weeks and 6 months) has no effect on GDNF protein content in rat spinal cord. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to examine changes in GDNF protein content in the spinal cord following 2 weeks of voluntary exercise from adult and aged rats.METHODS: Male …

The Perfect Pitch 2010, Wmu School Of Music

School of Music News

The Perfect Pitch 2010

• Letter from the Director
• What’s New?
• School of Music Abroad
• Scholarships: Investing in our Students’ Potential & Excellence
• Student Ensemble Appearances & Performances
• Carl Doubleday Retires
• Publications & Recordings
• Student Achievements
• All-Steinway Project Update
• Alumni News
• Faculty Achievements
• Spotlight on Music Education
• Bullock Performance Institute

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 51 Number 4, Spring 2010, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - BENDING LIGHT By Steven Boyd Saum. They wanted to show that green living is not a compromise. So, for the international Solar Decathlon, the SCU-led Team California built a house of light and wonder. And it was dazzling enough to win No. 3 on the planet.

22 - CONNECT THE DOTS By Scott Brown '93. From border security to disaster preparedness, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano '79 has one immense portfolio. She's also the point person on immigration. How to put those together?

28 - THIS PLACE WE CALL HOME By Kristina Chiapella '09 '09. Generations ago, …

Photographic Mark-Recapture Analysis Of Clustered Mammal-Eating Killer Whales Around The Aleutian Islands And Gulf Of Alaska, J. Durban, D. Ellifrit, M. Dahlheim, J. Waite, C. Matkin, L. Barrett-Lennard, G. Ellis, R. Pitman, R. Leduc, P. Wade

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

We used photographic mark-recapture methods to estimate the number of mammal-eating ‘‘transient’’ killer whales using the coastal waters from the central Gulf of Alaska to the central Aleutian Islands, around breeding rookeries of endangered Steller sea lions. We identified 154 individual killer whales from 6,489 photographs collected between July 2001 and August 2003. A Bayesian mixture model estimated seven distinct clusters (95% probability interval = 7–10) of individuals that were differentially covered by 14 boat-based surveys exhibiting varying degrees of association in space and time. Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods were used to sample identification probabilities across the distribution of …

Parenting Self-Efficacy And Parenting Practices Over Time In Mexican American Families, Larry E. Dumka, Nancy A. Gonzales, Lorey A. Wheeler, Roger E. Millsap

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study used a longitudinal cross-lagged panel design and a structural equation modeling approach to evaluate parenting self-efficacy's reciprocal and causal associations with parents' positive control practices over time to predict adolescents' conduct problems. Data were obtained from teachers, mothers, and adolescents in 189 Mexican American families living in the southwest U.S. After accounting for contemporaneous reciprocal relationships between parenting self-efficacy (PSE) and positive control, results indicated that parenting self-efficacy predicted future positive control practices rather than the reverse. PSE also showed direct effects on decreased adolescent conduct problems. PSE functioned in an antecedent causal …

The Origin Of Human Races And The Antiquity Of Man Deduced From The Theory Of “Natural Selection” (1864), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.

How To Civilize Savages (1865), Alfred Russel Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace Classic Writings

No abstract provided.