Digital Commons Network^™

Extreme Environments Select For Reproductive Assurance: Evidence From Evening Primroses (Oenothera), Margaret E.K. Evans, David J. Hearn, Kathryn E. Theiss, Karen Cranston, Kent E. Holsinger, Michael J. Donoghue

EEB Articles

• Competing evolutionary forces shape plant breeding systems (e.g. inbreeding depression, reproductive assurance). Which of these forces prevails in a given population or species is predicted to depend upon such factors as life history, eco- logical conditions, and geographical context. Here, we examined two such predictions: that self-compatibility should be associated with the annual life history or extreme climatic conditions.

• We analyzed data from a clade of plants remarkable for variation in breeding system, life history and climatic conditions (Oenothera, sections Anogra and Kleinia, Onagraceae). We used a phylogenetic comparative approach and Bayesian or hybrid Bayesian tests to account …

Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin - Volume 67, No. 1 & 2, Tennessee Folklore Society

Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Funding Stem Cell Research: The Convergence Of Science, Religion & Politics In The Formation Of Public Health Policy, Edward A. Fallone

Faculty Publications

The controversy over the funding of stem cell research by the federal government is used as a case study for examining how policy choices are made in the field of public bioethics. This article examines the manner in which the decision to fund stem cell research has been influenced by the convergence of evolving scientific knowledge, conflicting religious values, and the role of elected officials in a representative democracy. The article begins by reviewing the current state of scientific knowledge concerning adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, and the process of direct cell re-programming. Because each …

Down The Drain: Pharmaceutical Waste Disposal In The United States, Toby K. Morgan

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Epa Could Implement A Greenhouse Gas Naaqs, Rich Raiders

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A More Multi-Functional Rural Landscape: Community Approaches To Rural Land Stewardship, Anthony B. Schutz

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Food Security, And Agrobioversity: Toward A Just, Resilient, And Sustainable Food System, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Milking It: Reconsidering The Fda's Refusal To Require Labeling Of Dairy Products Produced From Rbst Treated Cows In Light Of International Dairy Foods Association V. Boggs, Laurie J. Beyranevand

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Habitat Restoration: Fish, Farms, And Ecosystem Services, Keith H. Hirokawa [email protected], Charles Gottlieb

Fordham Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Report, July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011, Tennessee. Department Of Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities

Annual Reports

This document is the annual report of the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for the fiscal year.

2011 Annual Joint Report On Pre-Kindergarten Through Higher Education In Tennessee, Tennessee. State Board Of Education, Tennessee Higher Education Commission

Annual Joint Reports

This report includes, but is not limited to, a discussion of the following four areas: minimizing duplication, compatibility, state needs in education, and master plan fulfillment.

The Theory Of Cognitive Dissonance: A Reappraisal, Peter A. Metofe

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

The cognitive dissonance theory, as postulated by Festinger (1957), has undergone increased scrutiny since its development. Through a reappraisal of this theory as explicated by other researchers, specifically relying on extant and current research in this theory, coupled with recent developments, this paper provides a context for better understanding of how individuals experience cognitive dissonance and its implications for clinical practice.

Branded Versus Generic Competition - A Kind Word For The Branded Drugs, Richard A. Epstein

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Much of the extensive commentary on the six month coexclusivity period allowed by the Hatch-Waxman Act focuses excessively on attempts by pioneer drug companies to extend their joint monopoly power by making complex deals with the first new entrant. In this article, I broaden the analytical framework to address a more serious problem that the conventional analysis overlooks: the decreased rate of innovation in the medical field that is attributable in large part to shorter patent exclusivity periods resulting from heightened requirements for FDA approval. As the low-hanging fruit disappears, the rate of new drug discovery drops just as the …

Cell Cycle Regulation In The Florida Red Tide Dinoflagellate, Karenia Brevis, Stephanie Alexandra Brunelle

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, produces harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico that cause extensive marine animal mortalities and human illness nearly annually. The molecular mechanisms controlling cell cycle entry in this dinoflagellate are important because bloom development occurs through asexual cell division. The cell cycle of K. brevis is phased to the diel cycle such that any cells entering the cell cycle on a given day do so synchronously. However, a microarray study of gene expression over a diel/cell cycle found no change in cell cycle transcript levels in actively dividing populations, including genes that code for replication …

Updates From Inter-Governmental And Non-Governmental Organizations, Sikina S. Hasham, Thomas Avery

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Mojave Applied Ecology Notes Winter 2011, Scott R. Abella, Alice C. Newton, Kenneth Chittick, Pam Sinanian

Mojave Applied Ecology Notes

Lake Mead’s collaborative applied science research program; “annoying the elephant” - ruminations on active management by Alice Newton, Lake Mead NRA vegetation manager; 2012 NWRA Lake Mead symposium sneak peak; assessing forest change using dendrochronology in the Spring Mountains.

Potential For Interdependent Development Of Trna Determinants For Aminoacylation And Ribosome Decoding., Cuiping Liu, Howard Gamper, Hanqing Liu, Barry S Cooperman, Ya-Ming Hou

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Although the nucleotides in tRNA required for aminoacylation are conserved in evolution, bacterial aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases are unable to acylate eukaryotic tRNA. The cross-species barrier may be due to the absence of eukaryote-specific domains from bacterial aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases. Here we show that whereas Escherichia coli CysRS cannot acylate human tRNA(Cys), the fusion of a eukaryote-specific domain of human CysRS overcomes the cross-species barrier in human tRNA(Cys). In addition to enabling recognition of the sequence differences in the tertiary core of tRNA(Cys), the fused eukaryotic domain redirects the specificity of E. coli CysRS from the A37 present in bacterial tRNA(Cys) …

Letting A Hundred Transgenic Flowers Blossom: The Future Of Genetically Modified Agriculture In The People's Republic Of China, Michael Debona

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Goodbye Family Farms And Hello Agribusiness: The Story Of How Agricultural Policy Is Destroying The Family Farm And The Environment, Melanie J. Wender

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Arizona Cattle Growers' Association V. Salazar: Does The Endangered Species Act Really Give A Hoot About The Public Interest It Claims To Protect, Matthew Groban

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Broom Snakeweed Increase And Dominance In Big Sagebrush Communities, Michael H. Ralphs

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britt. & Rusby) is a native sub-shrub that is widely distributed on rangelands of western North America. It often increases to near monocultures following disturbance from overgrazing, fire or drought. Propagation is usually pulse driven in wet years, allowing large expanses of even-aged stands to establish and dominate plant communities. It can maintain dominance following fire, or can co-dominate with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) on degraded sagebrush rangelands. State-and-transition models show that competitive grasses in the respective plant communities can prevent snakeweed dominance.

Relationship Of Wyoming Big Sagebrush Cover To Herbaceous Vegetation, Bok F. Sowell, Carl L. Wambolt, Jennifer K. Woodward, Vanessa R. Lane

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

We measured 328 sites in northern, central, and southern Montana and northern Wyoming during 2003 to test the relationship of herbaceous cover to Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata wyomingensis) cover. Long term annual precipitation at all sites was approximately 31 cm. Sagebrush and total herbaceous cover varied from 5 to 45 percent and 3.5 to 55 percent, respectively. Simple linear regression was the best fit model for predicting herbaceous cover from sagebrush cover using the highest Ra2 values as the model selection criteria. In northern Montana, herbaceous vegetation was predicted by sagebrush cover with the following model: Y = 37.4 …

Process-Based Management Approaches For Salt Desert Shrublands Dominated By Downy Brome, Merilynn C. Hirsch, Thomas Monaco

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Downy brome grass (Bromus tectorum L.) invasion has severely altered key ecological processes such as disturbance regimes, soil nutrient cycling, community assembly, and successional pathways in semi- arid Great Basin salt desert shrublands. Restoring the structure and function of these severely altered ecosystems is extremely challenging; however new strategies are emerging that target and attempt to repair ecological processes associated with vegetation change. In this paper, we review the essential processes required to reduce downy brome abundance and assist with creating suitable conditions for revegetation of Great Basin salt desert shrublands.

Reinterpreting Historical Data For Evidence-Based Shrubland Management, Jeb C. Williamson, Laura M. Burkett, B T. Bestelmeyer, Rhonda Skaggs, K M. Havstad

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Long-term vegetation dynamics in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico have been intensively studied for over a century, and interpretations of the broad scale drivers of these dynamics are numerous. We now understand that interpretation of spatially heterogeneous change requires a more nuanced, contextualized, and detailed understanding of edaphic features and landscape characteristics. Recently, state and transition models (STMs) have been employed to represent landscape-specific dynamics for each ecological site within a Major Land Resource Area (MLRA). We re-examined data characterizing vegetation across the public lands of the northern Chihuahuan Desert at two points in time, the 1930s and …

Moderating Livestock Grazing Effects On Plant Productivity, Nitrogen And Carbon Storage, John Carter, Julie Chard, Brandon Chard

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Multi-year studies of plant communities and soils in the Bear River Range in southeastern Idaho and northeastern Utah found reduced ground cover and herbaceous production in areas grazed by livestock when compared to reference values or long-term rested areas. Reductions in these ecosystem components have lead to accelerated erosion and losses in stored carbon and nitrogen. Restoration of these ecosystem components, with their associated carbon and nitrogen storage, is possible by application of science-based grazing management.

Immediate Effects Of Controlled Livestock Treatment On Reclaimed Natural Gas Well Pads, Cally Driessen, Amber Mason, Jay Norton, Calvin Strom

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

Wyoming shrublands have undergone extensive energy development in recent years. Much of this development occurs on public land designated for multiple uses. Reclamation of these areas has proven difficult due to the harsh climate and alteration of the thin, nutrient poor topsoil during development activities. Energy development and reclamation activities often lead to topsoil dilution, rapid mineralization of nutrients and soil organic matter (SOM), and loss of soil structure. These changes have the potential to degrade the suitability of the soil as a medium to sustain a desirable plant community. Reclamation of land disturbed for energy development in this area …

Getting The Biggest Bang For Your Buck: Wildlife Monitoring On Shrublands Of The Nevada Test Site, Derek B. Hall, Paul D. Greger

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

The Nevada Test Site (NTS) covers 3,561 km2 and extends over portions of both the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts. The resulting diverse and complex flora and fauna exhibit elements of both deserts. There are 20 vegetation associations, composed primarily of shrubs, nested within 10 vegetation alliances. Of the more than 1,200 invertebrate and 339 vertebrate species found in these shrubland habitats, 267 are considered sensitive or protected/regulated by federal or state laws. Wildlife and wildlife habitat monitoring ensures NTS activities comply with all federal and state laws enacted for the protection of these valuable biological resources and provides ecological …

Is Climate Change Mitigation The Best Use Of Desert Shrublands?, Susan E. Meyer

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

In a world where the metrics of the carbon economy have become a major issue, it may come as a surprise that intact cold desert shrublands can sequester significant amounts of carbon, both as biomass and in the form of SOC (soil organic carbon). Xerophytic shrubs invest heavily in belowground biomass, placing fixed carbon in an environment where it turns over only very slowly. In order for humans to gain this important ecosystem service, desert shrublands must be kept intact and prevented from frequent burning. The biggest threat to shrubland integrity is the invasion of exotic annual grasses that increase …

Land Use And Habitat Conditions Across The Southwestern Wyoming Sagebrush Steppe: Development Impacts, Management Effectiveness And The Distribution Of Invasive Plants, Daniel J. Manier, Cameron Aldridge, Patrick Anderson, Geneva Chong, Collin Homer, Michael O'Donnell, Spencer Schell

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

For the past several years, USGS has taken a multi-faceted approach to investigating the condition and trends in sagebrush steppe ecosystems. This recent effort builds upon decades of work in semi-arid ecosystems providing a specific, applied focus on the cumulative impacts of expanding human activities across these landscapes. Here, we discuss several on-going projects contributing to these efforts: (1) mapping and monitoring the distribution and condition of shrub steppe communities with local detail at a regional scale, (2) assessing the relationships between specific, land-use features (for example, roads, transmission lines, industrial pads) and invasive plants, including their potential (environmentally defined) …

Evidence That Invasion By Cheatgrass Alters Soil Nitrogen Availability, Robert R. Blank, Tye Morgan

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

No abstract provided.