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Grand Valley Magazine, Vol. 10, No. 1 Summer 2010, Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley Magazine

Grand Valley Magazine is a quarterly publication about Grand Valley State University produced by University Communications since 2001.

Oxygen Is Required For The L-Cysteine-Mediated Decomposition Of Protein-Bound Dinitrosyl-Iron Complexes, Juanjuan Yang, Xuewu Duan, Aaron P. Landry, Huangen Ding

Faculty Publications

Increasing evidence suggests that iron-sulfur proteins are the primary targets of nitric oxide (NO). Exposure of Escherichia coli cells to NO readily converts iron-sulfur proteins to protein-bound dinitrosyl-iron complexes (DNICs). Although the protein-bound DNICs are stable in vitro under aerobic or anaerobic conditions, they are efficiently repaired in aerobically growing E. coli cells even without new protein synthesis. The cellular repair mechanism for the NO-modified iron-sulfur proteins remains largely elusive. Here we report that, unlike aerobically growing E. coli cells, starved E. coli cells fail to reactivate the NO-modified iron-sulfur proteins. Significantly, the addition of l-cysteine, but not other related …

Pangea: Pipeline For Analysis Of Next Generation Amplicons, Adriana Giongo, David B. Crabb, Austin G. Davis-Richardson, Diane Chauliac, Jennifer M. Mobberley, Kelsey A. Gano, Nabanita Mukherjee, George Casella, Luiz F.W. Roesch, Brandon Walts, Alberto Riva, Gary King, Eric W. Triplett

Faculty Publications

High-throughput DNA sequencing can identify organisms and describe population structures in many environmental and clinical samples. Current technologies generate millions of reads in a single run, requiring extensive computational strategies to organize, analyze and interpret those sequences. A series of bioinformatics tools for high-throughput sequencing analysis, including pre-processing, clustering, database matching and classification, have been compiled into a pipeline called PANGEA. The PANGEA pipeline was written in Perl and can be run on Mac OSX, Windows or Linux. With PANGEA, sequences obtained directly from the sequencer can be processed quickly to provide the files needed for sequence identification by BLAST …

Behavioral And Physiological Plasticity: Rapid Changes During Social Ascent In An African Cichlid Fish, Karen P. Maruska, Russell D. Fernald

Faculty Publications

In many vertebrates, reproduction is regulated by social interactions in which dominant males control access to females and food. Subordinate males that displace dominant individuals must rapidly adopt behavioral and physiological traits of the higher rank to gain reproductive success. To understand the process of phenotypic plasticity during social ascent, we analyzed the temporal expression pattern of dominance behaviors and circulating androgen levels when socially-suppressed males of an African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni ascended in status. These experiments tested a prediction of the 'challenge hypothesis' that, during periods of social instability, male androgen levels are higher than during socially stable …

Scan Loss Pattern Synthesis For Adaptive Array Ground Stations, William C. Barott, Mary Ann Ingram, Paul G. Steffes

Publications

We present several techniques for maximizing the contact time between low Earth orbiting satellites (LEOs) and a ground station (GS). The GS comprises an adaptive array of electronically steered space-fed lenses (SFLs). Each SFL is manufactured as a low-cost printed circuit with the result that it exhibits scanning loss. By differently orienting the boresights of the SFLs in the adaptive array, the SFL's scanning losses can be made to optimally complement the path loss of the LEO, thereby reducing the cost of the GS while maximizing the download capacity of the satellite link. The optimization, implemented with a genetic algorithm …

Laboratory Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of Fluorescent Biomarkers For Sugar-Feeding Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), T. M. Mascari, L. D. Foil

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of four fluorescent dyes (rhodamine B, uranine O, auramine O, and erythrosin B) and two nonfluorescent dyes (carmoisine and indigotine) incorporated into sugar baits as biomarkers for phlebotomine sand flies, Each dye could be detected in sand flies fed baits with dye for 24 h when examined using bright field microscopy, although there was considerable variability in the marking produced; all sand flies that had ingested rhodamine B-treated sucrose solution were marked clearly. Sand flies that had ingested sucrose solution containing rhodamine B or uranine O at concentrations as low …

High-Throughput Genomic/Proteomic Studies: Finding Structure And Meaning By Similarity, George Sidney Davidson

Biology ETDs

The post-genomic challenge was to develop high-throughput technologies for measuring genome scale mRNA expression levels. Analyses of these data rely on computers in an unprecedented way to make the results accessible to researchers. My research in this area enabled the first compendium of microarray experiments for a multi-cellular eukaryote, Caenorhabditis elegans. Prior to this research approximately 6% of the C. elegans genome had been studied, and little was known about global expression patterns in this organism. Here I cluster data from 553 different microarray experiments and show that the results are stable, statistically significant and highly enriched for specific biological …

Always Read The Introduction: Integrating Regulatory And Coding Sequence Evolution In Yeast, Annette M. Evangelisti

Biology ETDs

We analyze duplicate genes in a yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae with the aim of determining a genes history and to observe that gene in its genomic context. In Chapter 2 we show that the fate of a duplicate gene pair is in part determined by its genome location. Moreover, we show that for two classes of duplicate genes, resulting from either small-scale duplication or whole-genome duplication, this fate can often be assessed by measuring the patterns of asymmetry in the sequence divergence of the genes in question. In Chapter 3 we study duplicate genes in the context of their local environments …

Female Perception Of Testeronized Male Facial Images: Evidence Of A Co-Evolutionary Tradeoff Responsive To Conditions For Both Competition And Cooperation, Melissa L. Franklin

Biology ETDs

Theorists and researchers who examine the evolutionary ecology of mating dynamics consider two primary forces, intrasexual and intersexual, as important pressures of selection. Bilateral symmetry and, more controversially, hormone markers in many species, impart information that has been found to influence some aspects of intersexual selection. Both symmetry, as a sign of developmental stability, and hormone markers (i.e., testosteronized traits as cues of immunocompetence) have been classically treated as signals of genetic fitness (Moller & Swaddle, 1997; Hamilton & Zuk, 1982), although neither are consistently shown to correlate with increased mating success. Indeed, results between studies on either trait independently …

Orange & White - Summer 2010, University Of Texas At Brownsville, Texas Southmost College

UTB/TSC Archives - Orange & White Magazine

No abstract provided.

Finding Your Place In The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning, Daniel Bernstein

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Excerpt:

One thing is abundantly clear about the emerging communities of scholarship in teaching and learning. Many, many instructors in higher education throughout the world are paying close attention to their students' learning, reflecting on their own contributions to that learning, and making their thoughts and their work visible to others. An attitude of inquiry about teaching and learning is no longer limited to faculty members who specialize in education research; the best instructors in...

Service Learning In The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning: Effective Practices, Glenn Bowen

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This paper examines faculty application of service learning to pedagogical scholarship in higher-education institutions. It addresses the need for evidence of teaching effectiveness as reflected in learning outcomes systematically investigated and documented. The paper is based on a qualitative content analysis of peer-reviewed journal articles focusing on service learning in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The analysis revealed four underlying themes: real-world application, collaboration and interaction, meaning making through reflection, and enhancement of course content. Effective practices are highlighted and suggestions for promoting SoTL are offered.

Effects Of Visual Analogies On Learner Outcomes: Bridging From The Known To The Unknown, Susan Spezzini

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This study examined the effects of visual analogies on learner outcomes in Phonology for ESL Teachers, a challenging course within a master’s degree program at a prominent university in the southeastern United States. To reduce student anxiety, facilitate Saturday classes, and bridge from the known to the unknown, concrete images (train cars) were used to represent abstract ideas. Data were analyzed from course evaluations and exams of 70 students in two non-analogy courses (2004, 2005) and 114 students in three analogy-based courses (2007, 2008, 2009) and from an electronic survey completed by 64 former students (September 2009). Course evaluations improved, …

Designing Learning Environments To Foster Affective Learning: Comparison Of Classroom To Blended Learning, Patricia Schaber, Kimerly Wilcox, Aimee L. Whiteside, Lauren Marsh, D. Christopher Brooks

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Affective learning is a key dimension of health professional education and involves teaching topics such as empathy or grief that impact student attitudes and beliefs to prepare them to be novice practitioners. The move in higher education toward online and blended learning (a mix of online and traditional, classroom-based learning) disrupts traditional approaches to teaching professional affect, which is heavily reliant on instructor modeling. This paper documents insight into the redesign process of a course, Professional Identity: Behaviors and Attitudes, from a traditional to a blended learning format, with a focus on affective learning. This study employed a survey approach …

A Model For Undergraduate Research In Statistics Education, Alan Russell

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This essay shows how the current SoTL project was used as a vehicle for undergraduate research to directly improve student learning and how it might be used to introduce a new paradigm in the training of secondary mathematics teachers. Using the language of David Lopatto’s research into undergraduate research, I share how I have integrated an undergraduate student as a co-investigator of our SoTL project. The article shares the criterion I used for choosing the student, a brief overview of the SoTL project, the educational benefits for the student and possible future directions for incorporating undergraduate students.

Optimizing And Benchmarking Returnable Container Processes Within An Automotive Distribution System, Camille Chism

Theses

An analysis of Reusable Packaging in automobile manufacturing facilities, as well as a comparison to other industries, shows that returnable container systems are not being fully utilized.

In this study, methods to return and track packaging materials for reuse are examined. Issues identified through surveys and interviews are summarized, and a recommendation to more fully utilize systems currently in place is proposed. An evaluation based on utilizing the current system will enable us to assign a cost to current operations, and may support an investment in improved systems and technologies.

Most of the companies surveyed gauge functionality based on whether …

Genome Architecture In The Fungal Kingdom, Diego Antonio Martinez

Biology ETDs

Previous studies have suggested that the location of genes in genomes is not random; instead they may be organized in a way that is beneficial to cellular processes and the organism. While a few studies have investigated the organization of genes on a whole genome scale, they were limited in the functions of genes used in the search and in the number and type of genomes searched. With the recent explosion of available fungal genomes and tools to automatically annotate many genes in a short period of time, it is now possible to obtain a global view of the level …

Temporal Dynamics And Spatial Analysis Of Competing Dengue 2 Virus Strains In The Americas, Stacy O'Neil Scholle

Biology ETDs

The dengue virus is the causative agent of an important re-emerging infectious disease that has become increasingly significant in tropical America and the Caribbean due to the infiltration of a more pathogenic Asian/American strain of dengue serotype 2 into the population. This invading strain is responsible for epidemics of dengue hemorrhagic fever, a life-threatening disease that was not previously a large public health concern in the region. Here, I create a historical map of the invasion and replacement of the endemic American strain of dengue 2 by the Asian/American strain, showing that the timing of invasion spans 25 years, and …

Comparison Of Microbial Communities On Roots, Ceilings And Floors Of Two Lava Tube Caves In New Mexico, Jessica R. Snider

Biology ETDs

Lava tube caves possess a rich and patchy mosaic of nutrients and water that fosters a wide variety of microbial life. Water percolating past vegetation and through surface soils introduces dissolved carbon and nitrogen into caves. Roots provide even higher levels of carbon, nitrogen and microorganisms as they grow into the cave environment from surface vegetation. I hypothesized that this mosaic of nutrients and energy resources has a direct effect on the distribution and composition of microbial communities within caves. To test this hypothesis, I selected two lava tube caves in New Mexico, USA and identified six zones consisting of …

Central Florida Future, Vol. 42 No. 42, July 1, 2010

Central Florida Future

Teachers staying the course; Uncover Thursdays; Summer season; Plus: Boom town; Salt shaker; Tea Party club gives UCF some new flavor; UCF robotics team vehicle wins $5,000.

A Dynamic Energy-Aware Model For Scheduling Computationally Intensive Bioinformatics Applications, Sachin Pawaskar, Hesham Ali

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

High Performance Computing (HPC) resources are housed in large datacenters, which consume huge amounts of energy and are quickly demanding attention from businesses as they result in high operating costs. On the other hand HPC environments have been very useful to researchers in many emerging areas in life sciences such as Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics. In this paper, we provide a dynamic model for energy aware scheduling (EAS) in a HPC environment; we use a widely used bioinformatics tool named BLAT (BLAST-like alignment tool) running in a HPC environment as our case study. Our proposed EAS model incorporates 2-Phases: an …

Rapid Identification Of Oil-Contaminated Soils Using Visible Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy, Somsubhra Chakraborty, David C. Weindorf, Cristine L.S. Morgan, Yufeng Ge, John M. Galbraith, Bin Li, Charanjit S. Kahlon

Faculty Publications

In the United States, petroleum extraction, refinement, and transportation present countless opportunities for spillage mishaps. A method for rapid field appraisal and mapping of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils for environmental cleanup purposes would be useful. Visible near-infrared (VisNIR, 350-2500 nm) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a rapid, nondestructive, proximal-sensing technique that has proven adept at quantifying soil properties in situ. The objective of this study was to determine the prediction accuracy of VisNIR DRS in quantifying petroleum hydrocarbons in contaminated soils. Forty-six soil samples (including both contaminated and reference samples) were collected from six different parishes in Louisiana. Each soil sample …

Host Behaviour And Exposure Risk In An Insect-Pathogen Interaction, Benjamin J. Parker, Bret D. Elderd, Greg Dwyer

Faculty Publications

1. Studies of variability in host resistance to disease generally emphasize variability in susceptibility given exposure, neglecting the possibility that hosts may vary in behaviours that affect the risk of exposure. 2. In many insects, horizontal transmission of baculoviruses occurs when larvae consume foliage contaminated by the cadavers of virus-infected conspecific larvae; so, host behaviour may have a strong effect on the risk of infection. 3. We studied variability in the behaviour of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larvae, which are able to detect and avoid virus-contaminated foliage. 4. Our results show that detection ability can be affected by the family …

2010 - 2011 University Catalog, Loma Linda University

University Catalog (2005 - present)

Volume 100, Number 1, July 2010

Published once a year, July 2010

Shaping Parental Authority Over Children's Bodies, Alicia Ouellette

Indiana Law Journal

In the health-care setting, parental decisions to size, shape, sculpt, and mine children's bodies through the use of nontherapeutic medical and surgical interventions are a matter of parental choice except in extraordinary cases involving grievous harm. This Article questions the assumption of parental rights that frames the current paradigm for medical decision making for children. Focusing on cases involving eye surgery, human growth hormone, liposuction, and growth stunting, I argue that by allowing parents to subordinate their children's interests to their own, the current paradigm distorts the parent-child relationship and objectifies children in violation of the moral principle, deeply embedded …

Full Issue, Byu Studies, Richard N. Holzapfel

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Ecosystem Services And The Value Of Land, Adam I. Davis

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Federal Policy In Establishing Ecosystem Service Markets, Laurie A. Wayburn, Anton A. Chiono

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

A Washington State Elementary Teachers’ Guide To Bilingual Education, Maria G. Garcia-Bautista

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to create an elementary teacher's manual which explained the history and laws of bilingual education, first and second language development theories and approaches, bilingual education models and what research says about the various models. Proponents of English only/ Sheltered Instruction programs argue that immigrants and their descendents should assimilate to the customs and cultural norms of the United States as expeditiously as possible. Those same proponents believe that acquiring English is a prerequisite for success in education. Without a doubt English language proficiency can lead to immeasurable success. In this manual Two-Way Dual Language …

Asking The Man Question: Masculinities Analysis And Feminist Theory, Nancy E. Dowd

UF Law Faculty Publications

Masculinities scholarship is an essential piece of feminist analysis and of critical equality analysis. It requires that we "ask the man question" to further unravel inequalities. This symposium marks one of several movements toward examining and considering what masculinities scholarship can offer. In this introduction, I suggest a framework of masculinities analysis and describe its relationship to feminist theory. First, I consider why we should ask the "man question," and how we should ask it. Second, I explore how masculinities analysis might be useful in our examination of the "man question." Masculinities work can be used to understand more clearly …