Digital Commons Network^™

Macalester Today Summer 2012, Macalester College

Macalester Today

No abstract provided.

Condition And Brightness Of Structural Blue-Green: Motmot Tail-Racket Brightness Is Related To Speed Of Feather Growth In Males, But Not In Females, Troy G. Murphy, Tiffany T. Pham

Biology Faculty Research

Coloration plays an important role in sexual and social communication, and in many avian species both males and females maintain elaborate colours. Recent research has provided strong support for the hypothesis that elaborate female traits can be maintained by sexual or social selection; however, most research on female ornamentation has focused on pigment-based colours, and less is known about how structural colours are maintained. Both sexes of the turquoise-browed motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) have a blue-green racket-tipped tail, and it remains unknown if tail coloration serves as a sexual or social signal in one or both sexes. Here, we …

Development Of The Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (Ralpess), M. Reneé Umstattd Phd, Stephanie L. Baller, Erin Hennessy Mph, David Hartley Phd, Mha, Christina D. Economos Phd, Raymond R. Hyatt Phd, Anush Ms, Ma Yousefian, Jeffrey S. Hallam Phd

Faculty Publications

Background: Evidence supports the role of physical and social environments in active living, including perception of environment. However, measurement of perceived environments in rural settings is lacking. This study describes the development of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS). Methods: Premised on social ecological and cognitive perspectives, 85 initial items were generated through a literature review and a mixed-methods investigation of "activity-friendly" environments. Items were organized by resource areas town center, indoor and outdoor physical activity areas, schools, churches, and areas around the home/neighborhood-and submitted for expert panel review. In 2009, a revised questionnaire was disseminated to …

The Welfare Of Animals In The Veal Industry

Agribusiness Reports

Intensive confinement of calves raised for veal has long raised pointed concerns regarding the animals’ welfare. Traditional production practices include individually isolating calves in narrow wooden stalls or pens, which severely restrict movement, feeding the animals an all-liquid diet deliberately low in iron, and prematurely weaning the animals. Stressful conditions lead to a high incidence of stereotypic behavior and illness. Scientific reviews of the welfare of intensively confined calves raised for veal have concluded that the young animals suffer when reared in conventional systems.

The Relationship Between Eating School Lunch And Overweight Or Obesity In Elementary School Children, Doret Ledford

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Childhood obesity has become a grave concern in the U.S. and globally today. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of school lunch on overweight or obesity in elementary school children. The results revealed that eating school lunch was significantly related to increased risk of overweight or obesity in school children.

Fish & Wildlife News: Summer 2012

Fish and Wildlife News

Fish & Wildlife News is the quarterly magazine of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is written by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees in offices around the nation about our work with partners "to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people."

Summer 2012, University Of North Dakota Alumni Association

ALL: UND Alumni Review Master List

Summer 2012 issue of "The University of North Dakota Alumni Review." 48 pages

Volume 95, Number 2

An Assessment Of Human Development In Uganda: The Capabilities Approach, Millennium Development Goals, And Human Development Index, Jordan Farrar

Josef Korbel Journal of Advanced International Studies

The Millennium Development Goals, grounded in Martha Nussbaum and Amaryta Sen’s Capabilities Approach and manifested through the Human Development Index, represent the contemporary means aimed at improving the overall quality of life for the people of the world. Currently Uganda is making substantial progress to achieve poverty reduction, increase overall health and ensure universal primary education. This paper’s argument is twofold. First, it argues that the best way to understand and further human development is through the Capabilities Approach. Second, this paper contends that many of Uganda’s policies aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals are rooted within a capabilities …

Uni Today, V95n2 [V96n2], Summer 2012, University Of Northern Iowa Alumni Association

UNI Today

Inside This Issue:
-- Professors you loved
-- The Traditions Challenge
-- Catwalk to the Big Top
-- Rally in the Valley
-- Sir, yes, sir
-- A front row seat to the Arctic Winter Games
-- UNI Softball - on the rise
-- UNI I am living the legacy
-- 50 years in Russell Hall
-- Northern Iowa Energy Corps
-- Living alone vs. living lonely
-- Class Notes
-- Calendar of alumni events

What's Happening: July, 2012, Maine Medical Center

What's Happening

No abstract provided.

Treadmill Training For Individuals With Parkinson Disease, Gammon M. Earhart, April J. Williams

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Environmental Causes Of Cancer Distribution In Syria, Rasha Deeb, Safiah Eid

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

the last two decades witnessed a boost in cancer incidences in Syria, as well as high mortality ratios. The influence of the environmental factors was neglected beforehand. The study employed the geographical tools to investigate the environmental distribution of cancer disease and the environmental factor that controls this distribution. The study used the statistical, systematic, analytical descriptive, comparative and the cartographical methods, each of which were employed differently according to the data characteristics. Personal and spatial data were collected from treatment points in a questionnaire that allowed adjusting each of them on the electronic interactive map. Data was analysed statistically …

Nectar Plants Utilized By Butterflies At Trail Of Tears State Park, Missouri, Mike Smart, Kent Fothergill, Christopher D. Crabtree

Midsouth Entomologist

No abstract provided.

Dietary Lipid Saturation Influences Environmental Temperature Preference But Not Resting Metabolic Rate In The Djungarian Hamster (Phodopus Sungorus), Ryan Pannorfi , '04, Barry Michael Zee , '08, I. Vatnick, N. Berner, Sara Hiebert Burch

Biology Faculty Works

Heterothermic rodents increase self-selection of diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) when exposed to cold, short days, or short-day melatonin profiles, and Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) do so in long days in response to cold exposure alone. To determine whether Djungarian hamsters are also capable of selecting a thermal environment in response to dietary lipid composition, continuously normothermic hamsters were fed either a PUF-rich diet or a diet rich in saturated fatty acids (SFAs) for 6-10 wk and given a choice of thermal environments. As predicted, SF-fed hamsters were more likely than PUFA-fed hamsters to occupy the single heated …

The Effects Of A New Bridge On Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris) Use Of The Fpl Discharge Canal At Port Everglades, Florida, Brea Viragh

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) is an endangered species that migrates to warm water refuges such as natural springs or power plant effluents during the winter months to escape cold water. The Florida Power and Light (FPL) discharge canal in Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, FL., is utilized as a refuge by overwintering manatees. Construction of a new bridge over the FPL effluent canal had a potential effect on manatee usage of the canal. Discharge is often 10-15° C warmer in the winter season than the surrounding waters of the Intracoastal Waterway. Previous data, including age class and …

Food Fight: A Case Study Of The Community Food Security Coalition’S Campaign For A Fair Farm Bill, Marni Salmon

Capstone Collection

The farm bill is an all-encompassing piece of legislation that is reauthorized approximately every five years and establishes federal policy for everything from farm subsidies and crop insurance to energy, conservation, food stamps and school lunches. The current law expires at the end of September 2012. Reauthorization of the farm bill represents the single largest opportunity to reform the policies that shape food systems in the United States. The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) is campaigning to improve access to healthy food by increasing links with family farmers and to strengthen local and regional food systems. This case study traces …

The Humanitarian Aid Regime In The Republic Of Ngos: The Fallacy Of ‘Building Back Better', Oliver Cunningham

Josef Korbel Journal of Advanced International Studies

In recent years, the international community has questioned the efficacy of international humanitarian aid based on the lack of results following the Haiti earthquake, leading to calls for reform and broader discussions of aid effectiveness. This paper proposes the contested existence of an international humanitarian aid regime consistent with broader definitions of regimes proposed by Stephen Krasner and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. Delving into the manifold reasons for the ineffective response to the Haiti earthquake, the humanitarian aid regime itself proved its own worst enemy. The lack of efficacy is evident through examples drawn from key elements of the humanitarian …

Differential Item Functioning Analysis Of The Mental, Emotional, And Bodily Toughness Inventory, Yong Gao, Mick G. Mack, Moira A. Ragan, Brian Ragan

Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study was to use differential item functioning (DIF) analysis to examine if there were items in the Mental, Emotional, and Bodily Toughness Inventory (MeBTough) functioning differently across gender and athletic membership. A total of 444 male (56.3%) and female (43.7%) participants (30.9% athletes and 69.1% non-athletes) responded to the MeBTough items. Using Mantel-Haenszel and SIBTEST methods, 43 items were analyzed for DIF. Four MeBTough items were identified as large DIF items by both Mantel-Haenszel and SIBTEST methods, where item 21 favored non-athletes, item 40 favored athletes, item 2 favored males, and item 17 favored females. Athletic membership DIF disappeared …

Pleurotus Giganteus (Berk.) Karunarathna & K.D. Hyde: Nutritional Value And In Vitro Neurite Outgrowth Activity In Rat Pheochromocytoma Cells, C.W. Phan, W.L. Wong, P. David, M. Naidu, V. Sabaratnam

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

BACKGROUND: Drugs dedicated to alleviate neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's have always been associated with debilitating side effects. Medicinal mushrooms which harness neuropharmacological compounds offer a potential possibility for protection against such diseases. Pleurotus giganteus (formerly known as Panus giganteus) has been consumed by the indigenous people in Peninsular Malaysia for many years. Domestication of this wild mushroom is gaining popularity but to our knowledge, medicinal properties reported for this culinary mushroom are minimal. METHODS: The fruiting bodies P. giganteus were analysed for its nutritional values. Cytotoxicity of the mushroom's aqueous and ethanolic extracts towards PC12, a rat pheochromocytoma …

Constipation In Cerebral Palsy Patients At Thammasat University Hospital, Sukkrawan Intarakhao

Asian Medical Journal and Alternative Medicine

Introduction: Cerebral palsy patient usually has constipation problem which is the effect from the reduction of muscular tone of the bowel and inability of intentional movement control, including having inadequate effort to pass feces. It affects a child to have a stomachache, anorexia, vomit, fl atulence, encopresis, and anal fi ssure. Then, it leads to failure to thrive or malnutrition, and creates the risk of urinary tract infection. Therefore, the researcher would like to study about the clinical manifestation and treatment method of constipation in cerebral palsy patient in Thailand.We would start from group of cerebral palsy patient in Thammasat …

Reread, Rethink, Recycle [3rd Grade], Karen Morrison

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This unit integrates writing, media/technology and economics via collaboration differentiation. The goal is to publish a niche newspaper solely focused on going green. The unit opens with an analysis of the power of persuasion by exposure and examples. Students will then be learning researching skills necessary as they read books & navigate through websites about how to be environmentally friendly. The research and essays written will become the articles in the newspaper, the foundation. Students will be invited to learn a basic understanding of the parts of a newspaper, applying for a job and how to persuade for positions based …

Modeling Dietary Intake Of Arsenic And The Associated Human Health Risk For People Living In Rural Bangladesh, Nasreen I. Khan, David Bruce, Gary Owens

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Dietary intake of Arsenic (As) via contaminated drinking water and food is the major exposure pathway for people living in rural Bangladesh and causes adverse human health effects where groundwater As contamination and the associated human health risks are potentially spatially connected. This research quantifies the spatial variability of As in the rural landscape in relation to As concentrations in drinking water, rice and other foods. The impact of As exposure on an individual’s human health was quantified using the average daily intake (ADI) to calculate the Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Cancer Risk (CR) using Bangladesh specific parameters via integration …

A Gis-Based Data Analysis Platform For Analyzing The Time-Varying Quality Of Animal Feed And Its Impact On The Environment, A. Taliun, M. Bohlen, A. Bracher, F. Cafagna

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Swiss Feed Data Warehouse is a public service for companies, farmersand research institutions that provides detailed and up-to-date information about the concentrationof nutrients in animal feed from all across Switzerland. The core of the SwissFeed Data Warehouse is a carefully curated data warehouse with more than 2 millionchemical analyses of 600 feed types and 400 nutrients. The nutrient measurements areenriched with geographical (as postal code and altitude), temporal (as harvesting andanalyses dates), biological (as variety and botanical composition) and technical information(as conservation and production methods). We propose a solution that offers tousers a fast, effective and intuitive approach to …

Developing A Composite Risk Index For Secondary Soil Salinization Based On The Psr Sustainability Framework, De Zhou, Zhulu Lin, Liming Liu

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Risk assessment of secondary soil salinization, which is caused in part by the way of people manage the land, is a challenge to agricultural sustainability. The objective of our study was to develop a soil salinity risk assessment model by selecting a consistent set of risk factors based on the conceptual Pressure-State-Response sustainability framework, incorporating the grey relational analysis and the Analytic Hierarchy Process methods. The development of the composite risk index for secondary soil salinization was presented through a case study in the Yinchuan Plain of China. Fourteen risk factors were selected in terms of three PSR criteria: pressure, …

Agent-Based Modeling Of Agricultural Adaptation To Climate Change In A Mountainous Area Of Southwest Germany, Christian Troost, G. Calberto, Thomas Berger, J. Ingwersen, E. Priesack, K. Warrach-Sagi, T. Walter

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

We present an agent-based model of climate change adaptation for the agricultural sector of the Central Swabian Alps, a mountainous area in South Western Germany. Apart from climate effects on crop yields, the model also captures effects on crop rotation options, available time for fieldwork and exogenous price effects as potential pathways of climate change impact. First results underline the capacity of the model to simulate short-term adaptation and point to the importance of capturing future price developments to predict land-use effects of adaptation. For full dynamic simulations of the process of adaptation, the model will be extended with realistic …

Modelling Social And Environmental Impacts Of Watershed Development In Andhra Pradesh, India., Wendy S. Merritt, V. Ratna Reddy, Chiranjeevi Tallapragada, Sanjit Rout, Geoff Syme

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Rural communities in the dryland agricultural regions of Andhra Pradesh, India, have been the focus of watershed development (WSD) programs intended to both improve people’s livelihoods and achieve sustainable use of natural resources. The effectiveness of WSD at achieving these objectives has been questioned in recent decades. Issues of inequitable distribution of benefits between and within villages as well as negative environmental impacts downstream of WSD have been reported in the literature (Reddy et al. [2004], Calder et al. [2008]). The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has funded a project that is quantifying the socio-economic and environmental outcomes …

Quantitative Assessment Of Natural And Anthropogenic Factors In Forest Carbon Sequestration, Peter A. Khaiter, Marina G. Erechtchoukova

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The ability of the ecosystems to generate services is vital for humanwell-being, economic development and even survival. The production ofecosystem services is influenced by a complex interplay of natural andanthropogenic factors. Quantitative assessment of the ecosystem services as wellas natural and anthropogenic factors affecting them is a crucial aspect ofsustainable environmental development and management. The paper discusses atheoretical framework for quantifying ecosystem services and their changes inresponse to natural and anthropogenic factors on the basis of a meta-modellingapproach. The effect of anthropogenic factors on the ecosystem components andservices is modelled using corresponding transformation functions. Forestecosystems and their services, with a …

Adaptation Strategies For New Zealand Dairy Farms Under Climate Change Scenarios, Electra Kalaugher, Pierre Beukes, Anthony Clark, Janet F. Bornman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Assessments of climate change for New Zealand indicate not only increasing average temperatures but also more climatic variability with moderate to high likelihood of increases in the frequency of extreme events such as droughts and floods. Detailed Whole Farm Model simulations of climate change impacts and potential adaptation options were undertaken for five representative, pasture based dairy farms located in the major dairying regions of New Zealand. First, tactical changes to current management practices were considered, followed by three strategic adaptations that introduced larger changes into the farming system: a reduction in intensity, the introduction of irrigation and an alternative …

Dles Framework For Spatially-Explicit Simulation Modelling: General Description And Some Exemplary Applications, Maria Bezrukova, Vladimir Shanin, Yulia Khoraskina, Alexey Mikhailov

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

DLES is a component-based framework integrating forest and soil simulation models with discrete spatial and temporal resolution. The task was to create the framework facilitating combination of stand-alone models of different spatial and temporal resolution with spatial interactions into the unified system, replacing models and comparing models against each other. Also, the feedbacks between these models can be implemented. The main features of the suggested approach are: 1) the system of models isn’t a ‘monolithic program’ (single executable file), but is a number of stand-alone modules that can be easily added to the system and removed from it; 2) modules …

Identifying Optimum Strategies For Land Management Adaptation To Climate Change - A Multiobjective Approach, T. Klein, A. Holzkämper, P. Calanca, J. Fuhrer

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Climate change is likely to alter the conditions for agricultural production with distinct regional patterns, which necessitates adaptation measures that are adjusted to local conditions, but adaptation to maximize production may increase environmental impacts. The objective of this research is to identify sustainable regional land management adaptation strategies to maximize agricultural productivity, while minimizing environmental impacts such as nutrient leaching, soil erosion and an excessive use of water resources. The study area is the Broye catchment in Western Switzerland, where water shortage is common and irrigation is already applied regularly. For this region, the generic crop model CropSyst was calibrated …