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Biology Discipline Assessment Report 2010/2011, Biology Discipline

Assessment of Student Learning Reports

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Symposia Abstract Papers

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Landscapes Through Geologic Time, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

We now understand that the earth’s crust is broken up into a number of plates, some of continental size, and that these plates have been moving— centimeters a year—throughout geologic history, driven by the internal heat of the earth. This movement creates our mountain chains, earthquakes, geologic faults, and volcanoes. The theory of plate tectonics (from the Greek, tektonikos: pertaining to building) attempts to describe the process and helps explain the geology of Kentucky.

The geologic story of the rocks that form Kentucky’s landscape began a half billion years ago when the area was covered by water. Deposits of sand, …

Anthropogenic Food In The Diet Of The Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis Aethiopicus), A Non-Native Wading Bird In Southeastern Florida, Usa, Leonardo Calle, Dale E. Gawlik

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Kelp Gull (Larus Dominicanus) In Pasco County: First Record For Florida, Bill Pranty, Ed Kwater, David Gagne

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Belief Revision In The Context Of Reading Comprehension, Erinn K. Walsh

Master's Theses and Capstones

The goal of the present experiments was to explore the underlying cognitive processes that support individual belief revision. In three experiments the amount of relevant information pertaining to a misconception was systematically manipulated to assess the impact of text refuting a misconception and text explaining the correct information. Experiment I assessed the impact of the refutation. Experiment II assessed the joint impact of the refutation and the explanation. Finally, Experiment III assessed the impact of the explanation. Experiment I demonstrated that providing a refutation section that explicitly negated the misconception was sufficient to eliminate disruption when reading a sentence that …

Mathematical Analysis Of Blood Flow Model Through Channels With Flexible Walls, Lisa A. Bozzuto

Master's Theses and Capstones

A simplified mathematical model of blood flow through flexible arteries is developed and analyzed. The resulting system of non-linear, non-homogeneous PDE's is analyzed numerically using the Richtmyer Lax-Wendroff method. Numerical and theoretical results show excellent agreement suggesting that in physiologically relevant situations shocks only develop outside the domain of interest. These results suggest that when the model assumptions are satisfied the model provides sufficient regularity to yield a physically reasonable representation of flow through a flexible artery. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for this model.

Analysis Of Arabidopsis Thaliana Protein Phosphatase 2a C Subunit Expression, Megan M. Thompson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Reversible protein phosphorylation is required for presumably most biological pathways. One of the major enzymes involved in eukaryotic dephosphorylation is Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A). PP2A is composed of three subunits: A (scaffolding), B (regulatory), and C (catalytic). Our lab is interested in determining the function of the five C subunits (C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5) in Arabidopsis thaliana. We have identified a Na+-induced altered root growth phenotype in c4 mutant plants. The goal of this project was to determine expression of the five C subunit genes throughout the life cycle of Arabidopsis with emphasis on correlating the location of …

Digitally Enhanced: Adorno For The 21st-Century, Stephen Messa

Master's Theses and Capstones

Theodor Adorno is an influential figure in cultural studies, philosophy, and musicology. However, a re-examination of Adorno's framework in the context of contemporary media studies is necessary because audio production and distribution technologies have changed dramatically since Adorno's time of writing. In this thesis, I apply Adorno's critical framework to the electronic artist Owl City. In doing so, I enhance Adorno's model of analysis in order to allow for both regressive and progressive interpretations of contemporary music culture. I argue that social media facilitate a more efficacious culture industry, and that digital media facilitate a progressive form of escaping from …

Building And Deployment Of An Automated, In Situ Greenhouse Gas Gas Chromatographic System, Andrew H. Hart

Master's Theses and Capstones

High-precision, continuous monitoring of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N 2O), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and the criteria pollutant carbon monoxide (CO), is important for characterizing their regional sources and sinks and understanding how their ambient levels are changing with time and associated anthropogenic activities. For monitoring this suite of gases, a fully automated gas chromatographic based analytical system was built and deployed in the field at the UNH AIRMAP Observing Station at Thompson Farm in Durham, NH. The instrument consists of a Shimadzu 17A gas chromatograph (GC), equipped with a Flame Ionization Detector and …

A New Way To Learn: Exploring Museum Theatre, Shelly Hanson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Bioenergetics And Dynamics Of Ciliary Responses And Systems Biology Of Phototaxis In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Suphatra Adulrattananuwat

Physics - Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to understand how a eukaryotic cell makes decisions. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a biciliated unicellular green alga, is used as our model organism. This organism has the ability to track the light using its photoreceptor called rhodopsin, which overlays the eyespot. The organism makes decisions to swim toward, away from, perpendicular to or to ignore the light using its slender arm-like structures called cilia. It can integrate several external inputs such as ion concentration and light intensity, and then process this information to adjust the steering of its cilia corresponding to its environment. We investigated how …

Taxes, Welfare And Democratic Discourse: Mainstream Media Coverage And The Rise Of The American New Right, Matt Guardino

Political Science - Dissertations

Research demonstrates that news media can shape mass opinion on specific public policy issues in politically consequential ways. However, systematic and critical empirical analysis of the ideological diversity of such news coverage is rare. Scholars have also illuminated how and why U.S. economic and social welfare policy has shifted rightward in recent decades, but they have failed to consider media's role in shaping public opinion to democratically legitimate this major reorientation of political economy to favor business and upper-income constituencies. I combine neo-Gramscian theorizations of hegemony, popular common sense and articulation with social scientific research on framing, priming and psychological …

Tradition As Justification: The Case Of Opposite-Sex Marriage, Kim Forde-Mazrui

University of Chicago Law Review

A central point of contention in the national debate over same-sex marriage is the importance of preserving tradition. That debate also features prominently in constitutional litigation over bans on same-sex marriage. Opponents of such bans argue that tradition is an illegitimate justification for the bans, while defenders of traditional marriage contend that tradition is not only a legitimate justification, but is in fact sufficiently important to withstand heightened judicial scrutiny. This Article assesses tradition as a justification for laws challenged on equal protection grounds, with a focus on laws that limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. The Article makes two main …

Executive Power And The Discipline Of History (Reviewing Crisis And Command: The History Of Executive Power From George Washington To George W. Bush By John Yoo), Julian Davis Mortenson

University of Chicago Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corresponding Voices Volume 4 (Complete)

Corresponding Voices

The full issue of Corresponding Voices volume 4, featuring Jules Gibbs, Michael Burkard, Madeleine Stratford, María Negroni, and edited by Pedro Cuperman.

Jules Gibbs Folio, Jules Gibbs

Corresponding Voices

A folio of English-language poetry by Jules Gibbs.

Towards An Information Theoretic Framework For Evolutionary Learning, Stuart William Card

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Dissertations

The vital essence of evolutionary learning consists of information flows between the environment and the entities differentially surviving and reproducing therein. Gain or loss of information in individuals and populations due to evolutionary steps should be considered in evolutionary algorithm theory and practice. Information theory has rarely been applied to evolutionary computation - a lacuna that this dissertation addresses, with an emphasis on objectively and explicitly evaluating the ensemble models implicit in evolutionary learning. Information theoretic functionals can provide objective, justifiable, general, computable, commensurate measures of fitness and diversity.

We identify information transmission channels implicit in evolutionary learning. We define …

Economics, Behavioral Biology, And Law, Erin O'Hara O'Connor

Scholarly Publications

This article compares the relevance to law of two unexpectedly similar fields: economics and behavioral biology. It first examines the assumptions, core concepts, methodological tenets, and emphases of the two fields. It then compares the interdisciplinary fields of law and economics, on one hand, with law and behavioral biology, on the other—highlighting not only important similarities but also important differences. The article subsequently explores ways that biological perspectives on human behavior may, among other things, improve economic models and the behavioral insights they generate. The article concludes that although there are important differences between the two fields, the overlaps between …

Recent Decisions Affecting The Montana Practitioner

Montana Law Review

Recent Decisions Affecting the Montana Practitioner

Spider Cognition, Robert R. Jackson, Fiona R. Cross

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Spiders, having minute brains, were once considered simple, instinct-driven automatons, but research on spider biology is revealing increasing evidence of their cognitive abilities. In this review, we discuss the complex, flexible behaviour of spiders, especially salticids, and highlight how sometimes the cognitive character of spider behaviour closely parallels that of much bigger animals. This includes the use of selective attention (both visual and olfactory) and the use of planned detours. The implications of these findings, and how they relate to bigger issues traditionally associated with big-brain animals, such as 'representation' and 'mind', are discussed. Also discussed are issues relating to …

Construction Of A Ssr-Based Genetic Map And Identification Of Qtl For Domestication Traits Using Recombinant Inbred Lines From A Cross Between Wild And Cultivated Cowpea (V. Unguiculata (L.) Walp.), Mebeaselassie Andargie, Remy S. Pasquet, Bhavani S. Gowda, Geoffrey M. Muluvi, Michael P. Timko

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a grain legume commonly grown and consumed in many parts of the tropics and subtropics. A genetic linkage map was constructed using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and a recombinant inbred (RI) population of159 individuals derived from a cross between the breeding line 524B, a California Blackeye, and 219-01, a perennial wild cowpea from Kenya. Out of 912 primer combinations predicted to amplify SSRs in cowpea, 639 reliably produced amplification products in PCR assays and 202 (31.6%) were polymorphic between the two parents. These polymorphic SSRs were used to construct a genetic map consisting …

Between Secularism And Religiosity: America’S Founding Protestant Philosophy, Nicholas P. Miller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Four Constitutional Limits That The Minimum Coverage Provision Respects, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Opponents of the minimum coverage provision in the Affordable Care Act charge that if Congress can require most people to obtain health insurance or pay a certain amount of money, then Congress can impose whatever mandates it wishes - or, at least, whatever purchase mandates it wishes. This Essay refutes that claim by identifying four limits on the Commerce Clause that the minimum coverage provision honors. Congress may not use its commerce power: (1) to regulate noneconomic subject matter; (2) to impose a regulation that violates constitutional rights, including the right to bodily integrity; (3) to regulate at all, including …

The Uniform Law Commission And Cooperative Federalism: Implementing Private International Law Conventions Through Uniform State Laws, William H. Henning

Faculty Scholarship

The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) is a non-partisan, nonprofit, unincorporated association comprised of commissions formed in each state of the United States and also the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Its mission is "to promote uniformity in the law among the several States on subjects as to which uniformity is desirable and practicable." In the 117 years of its existence, the ULC has produced hundreds of uniform laws and forwarded them to the legislatures of its member jurisdictions for enactment, often with striking and sometimes with universal success. Its premier product, produced in partnership with …

Exploring The Potential Of Inkjet Printing For The Fabrication Of Tissue Test Systems, Vidya Seshadri

All Theses

Animal models and two-dimensional assays involved in drug testing, vaccine development and basic scientific discovery are not an accurate representation of the human body; hence there is a need to develop new bench top methodologies which are better suited to yield information about in vivo behavior. There is a paucity of reliable in vitro-derived information regarding the reasons for the cause and progression of diseases. These concerns have lead to the development of three-dimensional systems which can facilitate improved understanding of disease etiology and also can bridge the path to the clinic.
The long term goal, beyond the scope of …

Cloning, Expression Analysis, And Transformation Vector Construction Of Dam Homologs In Peach And Poplar, Yuhui Xie

All Theses

Genetic fine mapping and sequencing of the EVG locus in peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] identified six tandem arrayed Dormancy-Associated MADS-box (DAM) genes as candidates for regulating growth cessation and terminal bud formation in the non-dormant evergrowing (evg) mutant. Since the mutant is lacking expression of six genes in the mapped locus, further functional analysis is needed to narrow the list of gene candidates for the non-dormant evg phenotype. Here I report three sets of experiments designed to functionally test DAM genes in peach and their homologs in a model tree, hybrid poplar.
First I constructed overexpression and knockdown vectors …

Two Years After The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Decision In Belden & Blake Corp. V. Commonwealth Department Of Conservation & Natural Resources: The Commonwealth's Struggle To Protect State Lands, Gina S. Warren, Krista M. Baron

Faculty Scholarship

The Marcellus Shale is by far the largest natural gas shale play in the United States' and the largest known shale deposit in the world.

Located beneath a large part of the Appalachian basin, it extends north into upstate New York, south into West Virginia and Virginia, and west into Ohio, and geologists estimate that it may contain as much as 489 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently owns 117 parks and three conservation areas in Pennsylvania, making up 2.4 million acres of land - approximately 1.5 million of which are above the Marcellus …

Chord Conundrum: Examining The Performance Practice Of Polyphonic Figures In J.S. Bach's Solo Violin Works, Emily Vold

Theses and Dissertations

Interpreting and expressing the musical intentions of a composer in an informed manner requires great dedication and study on the part of a performer. This holds particularly true in the case of music written well before the present age, where direct connections to the thoughts of the composer and even the styles of the era have faded with the passing of time. Violinists today consistently struggle with studying and performing a set of works from the musical period referred to by scholars as the Baroque era (1600-1750), the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin without Bass accompaniment, composed by Johann Sebastian …

Republicanism, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

Republicanism is an ancient tradition of political thought that has enjoyed a remarkable revival in recent years. As with liberalism, conservatism, and other enduring political traditions, there is considerable disagreement as to exactly what republicanism is and who counts as a republican, whether in the ancient world or contemporary times. Scholars agree, however, that republicanism rests on the conviction that government is not the domain of some ruler or small set of rulers, but is instead a public matter - the res publica - to be directed by self-governing citizens.