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Assessing The Human Impact Deer Frequency And Activity In The Depauw University Nature Park, Amanda Faulkenberg

Student Research

Introduction
White-tailed deer are abundant in the DePauw Nature Park. There are many deer trails located in forested areas in the park. The goal of our research was to assess the relationship between the amount of deer trails and the abundance of deer.

Hypotheses
We hypothesized that more deer would be photographed by cameras located in areas with the most deer trails.

Methods
We conducted our research in two forested areas, Quarry Hillside and Quarry South, in the DePauw Nature Park. We randomly selected five plots in each area. We mapped each deer trail and measured the length, width, and …

Assessment Of Land Use And Neotropical Herpetofauna Along Steep Gradients Of Elevation In An Ecuadorian Ramsar Wetland Site #1143, Nicholas K. Henke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using a comparative ecological approach, over the course of 18 days at the transition from a particularly wet to dry season in 2010, I assessed herpetofaunal assemblages and related abiotic parameters (i.e., photosynthetically active radiation, specific conductance, temperature and coarse woody debris) between contiguous forest and human impacted areas along three paired transects across the steep elevation gradient at Laguna de Cube, Ramsar site # 1143. Visual encounter surveys were used to capture herpetofauna with species being processed (e.g., weight, digit length, photographed) and identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. After evaluating transect data for pooling (i.e., no significant …

The Xyy Syndrome In Criminal Law: An Introduction, Peter T. Farrell

St. John's Law Review

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Smart Insole System For Real-Time Detection Of Temporal Gait Parameters And Related Deviations In Unilateral Lower-Limb Amputees, Monica Stalin

Open Access Theses

Gait is a complex cycle with both between and within limb variability. It should be studied carefully using justifiable and accurate measures. Unilateral lower limb amputees often favor and stress their intact limb during most of the functional activities. This can lead to secondary comorbidities or complications like degenerative arthritis, back pain that may affect the mobility and quality of life. Symmetry is an issue in the gait of amputees because of the unnatural asymmetry imposed on the biomechanical system by the prosthesis. Current gait assessment techniques monitor the symmetry of macroscopic gait parameters like stance and swing period durations. …

Wnt Signaling In The Cnidarian Nematostella Vectensis: Insighits Into The Evolution Of Gastrulation, Naveen M. Wijesena

Open Access Dissertations

The genesis of gastrulation was arguably a key evolutionary innovation that enabled metazoan diversification. The developmental mechanisms that induced archenteron formation and endodermal cell fate specification during gastrulation are unknown, but one crucial step was likely the co-option of a localized molecular asymmetry that was present in ancient embryos. One ancient polarity present in most metazoan eggs is the animal vegetal (AV) or primary egg axis, which is established by the asymmetric localization of maternal factors such as RNA, proteins and organelles during oogenesis. In bilaterians, which account for a majority of animal taxa, the AV axis predicts the axial …

Characterization Of The Phenotypic Differences Between Wild Type And Effector Caspase Deficient Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts, Matthew R. Brentnall

Open Access Dissertations

The caspase family of proteins consists of upstream initiator caspases that activate downstream effector caspases, which are responsible for the proteolytic cleavage of many hundreds of proteins during apoptosis. Caspases 7 and 3 cleave a variety of proteins that lead to the hallmarks of apoptosis including, nuclear condensation, DNA fragmentation and membrane blebbing. Classically, caspase 7 and 3 were thought of as redundant because they share a 49.2 % amino acid sequence identity, a 62.0 % amino acid sequence similarity and have the same preferred cleavage motif (DEVD). However, recent data have demonstrated that caspase 7 and 3 are distinct …

Interactive Effects Of Water Flow And Light Levels With Decreasing Ph On The Growth And Survival Of Tropical Cnidarians, Carolyn L. Margolin

Open Access Dissertations

The changes in global climate, including the observed and predicted changes to ocean chemistry are expected to have significant impacts on the future of coral reefs. A series of laboratory experiments examined the interactive effects of water flow rate, light levels, and decreased pH on the growth of several species of reef cnidarians. Under current water chemistry conditions (pH 8.04), the massive coral species, Montastraea faveolata shows high growth under flow conditions less than 15.7 cm/s. At this flow rate, decreased pH (pH 7.88) had no significant impact on the growth of this species. Under both water chemistry conditions, colonies …

Mns Study: Live Coral Trade May Help Preserve Wild Reefs, Brian E. Clark

Featured News Story

Research by RWU faculty member Andrew Rhyne and partners shows that the new trade in locally cultivated corals for home aquariums reduces wild harvest and provides an income source for small island communities.

Agenda And Attachments, December 12, 2012

Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

Volume 104 Issue 14, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

The Southwestern - Archive

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Dimorphism In The Horny Bills Of Sparrows, Russell Greenberg, Matthew Etterson, Raymond M. Danner

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Bill size is often viewed as a species-specific adaptation for feeding, but it sometimes varies between sexes, suggesting that sexual selection or intersexual competition may also be important. Hypotheses to explain sexual dimorphism in avian bill size include divergence in feeding niche or thermoregulatory demands, intrasexual selection based on increased competition among males, or female preference. Birds also show seasonal changes in bill size due to shifts in the balance between growth rate and wear, which may be due to diet or endogenous rhythms in growth. Insight into the function of dimorphism can be gained using the novel approach of …

Murray Ledger And Times, December 12, 2012, Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Crossflow Velocity And Transmembrane Pressure On Microfiltration Of Oil-In-Water Emulsions, Nikolai V. Priezjev, Tohid Darvishzadeh

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

This study addresses the issue of oil removal from water using hydrophilic porous membranes. The effective separation of oil-in-water dispersions involves high flux of water through the membrane and, at the same time, high rejection rate of the oil phase. The effects of transmembrane pressure and crossflow velocity on rejection of oil droplets and thin oil films by pores of different cross-section are investigated numerically by solving the Navier-Stokes equation. We found that in the absence of crossflow, the critical transmembrane pressure, which is required for the oil droplet entry into a circular pore of a given surface hydrophilicity, agrees …

Should Faculty Be Allowed To Volunteer Time To Help Students Study Abroad?, Linda Walters

UCF Forum

Why study abroad? Isn’t it just an excuse to have fun and drink beer while getting college credit? In my world, absolutely not!

Luteolin Inhibits Human Prostate Tumor Growth By Suppressing Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2-Mediated Angiogenesis, Poyil Pratheeshkumar, Young-Ok Son, Amit Budhraja, Xin Wang, Songze Ding, Lei Wang, Andrew Hitron, Jeong-Chae Lee, Donghern Kim, Sasidharan Padmaja Divya, Gang Chen, Zhuo Zhang, Jia Luo, Xianglin Shi

Toxicology and Cancer Biology Faculty Publications

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing vascular beds, is essential for tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. Luteolin is a common dietary flavonoid found in fruits and vegetables. We studied the antiangiogenic activity of luteolin using in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models. In vitro studies using rat aortic ring assay showed that luteolin at non-toxic concentrations significantly inhibited microvessel sprouting and proliferation, migration, invasion and tube formation of endothelial cells, which are key events in the process of angiogenesis. Luteolin also inhibited ex vivo angiogenesis as revealed by chicken egg chorioallantoic membrane assay (CAM) …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Outpatient Treatment For Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, And Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Dwayne M. Horton

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the cost effectiveness of treating Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (NOS), as well as the effects that modality of therapy (i.e. individual, family, and mixed therapy), license of therapist, and secondary diagnosis had on recidivism and total cost of treatment in the care of these patients. One-thousand and thirty-eight patients (56 males, 982 females) diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa, 1,674 patients (56 males, 1,618 females) diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa, and 1,997 patients (197 males, 1,800 females) diagnosed with Eating Disorder NOS were included in this study. Results revealed that family therapy was the …

Analysis Of Stomach And Gut Microbiomes Of The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) From Coastal Louisiana, Usa, Gary M. King, Craig Judd, Cheryl R. Kuske, Conor Smith

Faculty Publications

We used high throughput pyrosequencing to characterize stomach and gut content microbiomes of Crassostrea virginica, the Easter oyster, obtained from two sites, one in Barataria Bay (Hackberry Bay) and the other in Terrebonne Bay (Lake Caillou), Louisiana, USA. Stomach microbiomes in oysters from Hackberry Bay were overwhelmingly dominated by Mollicutes most closely related to Mycoplasma; a more rich community dominated by Planctomyctes occurred in Lake Caillou oyster stomachs. Gut communities for oysters from both sites differed from stomach communities, and harbored a relatively diverse assemblage of phylotypes. Phylotypes most closely related to Shewanella and a Chloroflexi strain dominated the Lake …

As Seen On Twitter: African-American Rhetorical Traditions Gone Viral, Tiffani Long

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This communication research study identifies the presence of the African-American rhetorical traditions of call-response, signification, tonal semantics, and narrative sequencing used in communication on the online social media network, Twitter. The objective of this study is to provide insight into the culture and community of Twitter. Additionally, the research demonstrates how traditional oral rhetorical traditions survive in the digital world. Over a 15-day period, tweets were collected by the author using a computer screenshot feature. Using a coding rubric, three coders, including the author, coded the collected tweets for the four rhetorical traditions. Resulting from this procedure, the coders concluded …

Analytical Representations For Frequency Dependences Of Microwave Permeability, Konstantin N. Rozanov, Marina Koledintseva

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electromagnetic materials applied to solve various EMC and EMI problems require adequate analytical description of their RF and microwave material parameters. This is necessary for numerical optimization of wideband electromagnetic performance of devices incorporating these materials. The paper discusses the shape of frequency dependences of microwave permeability in homogeneous materials and composites. The Lorentzian frequency dispersion law is shown to allow for rather accurate description of all types of magnetic loss peaks, including those related to the ferromagnetic resonance and the effect of eddy currents. To model wideband electromagnetic performance of composites, mixing laws are typically used. The problem is …

Whalesong 2012-12-12, N/A N/A

Whalesong

No abstract provided.

Information Theoretic Approaches Towards Regulatory Network Inference, Vijender Chaitankar

Theses and Dissertations

In spite of many efforts in the past, inference or reverse engineering of regulatory networks from microarray data remains an unsolved problem in the area of systems biology. Such regulatory networks play a critical role in cellular function and organization and are of interest in the study of a variety of disease areas and ecotoxicology to name a few. This dissertation proposes information theoretic methods/algorithms for inferring regulatory networks from microarray data. Most of the algorithms proposed in this dissertation can be implemented both on time series and multifactorial microarray data sets. The work proposed here infers regulatory networks considering …

Characterization Of Sterile Tassel Silky Earl: A Homeotic B-Class Gene Involved In Specification Of Floral Organ Identity In Zea Mays, Steven Keith Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Specification of floral organ identity in angiosperm flowers is accomplished by the coordinated activity of A-, B-, C-, and E-class MADS-box genes. In the eudicots, B-class genes specify petal and stamen identity. This eudicot B-class function depends on the simultaneous expression of genes from two paralogous B-class lineages (the DEFICIENS/APETALA3 lineage and the GLOBOSA/PISTILLATA lineage). Proteins produced by genes from these two lineages interact as obligate heterodimers and together regulate the transcription of various downstream targets. These obligate heterodimers also positively regulate the transcription of the B-class genes themselves, thereby mediating a unique B-class autoregulatory feedback loop. There is compelling …

Crystal Structures And Kinetics Of Monofunctional Proline Dehydrogenase Provide Insight Into Substrate Recognition And Conformational Changes Associated With Flavin Reduction And Product Release, Min Luo, Benjamin W. Arentson, Dhiraj Srivastava, Donald F. Becker, John J. Tanner

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Proline dehydrogenase catalyzes the FAD-dependent oxidation of proline to Δ1- pyrroline-5- carboxylate, which is the first step of proline catabolism. Here, we report the structures of proline dehydrogenase from Deinococcus radiodurans in the oxidized state complexed with the proline analog L-tetrahydrofuroic acid and in the reduced state with the proline site vacant. The analog binds against the si face of the FAD isoalloxazine and is protected from bulk solvent by the α8 helix and the β1-α1 loop. The FAD ribityl chain adopts two conformations in the E-S complex, which is unprecedented for flavoenzymes. One of the conformations is novel for …

Iktomi: A Character Traits Analysis Of A Dakota Culture Myth, Marianne Sue Kastner

Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative study comparing three separate English-language versions of a single Dakota cultural myth "Iktomi" presents a novel systematic approach for analyzing Native American folk tales to understand how stories function as tools of transmission of cultural information and knowledge. The method involved coding character traits according to type with regard to representation, ability, or attribute to ascertain patterns among the codes and elucidate character roles and relationships, reorganizing the coded traits into paired polarized correspondences to clarify relationships among traits, and assessing pronoun use and documenter effect pointing to gender-specific character activity. Findings revealed an encoded framework illuminating how …

Proxy Power And Social Goals--How Campaign Gm Succeeded, Donald E. Schwartz

St. John's Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Ricardian Analysis Of The Impact Of Climate Change On European Agriculture, Steven Van Passel, Emanuele Massetti, Robert Mendelsohn

Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei Working Papers

This research estimates the impact of climate on European agriculture using a continental scale Ricardian analysis. Data on climate, soil, geography and regional socio-economic characteristics were matched for 37 612 individual farms across the EU-15. Farmland values across Europe are sensitive to climate. Even with the adaptation captured by the Ricardian technique, farms in Southern Europe are predicted to suffer sizeable losses (8% -13% per degree Celsius) from warming. In contrast, agriculture in the rest of Europe is likely to see only mixed impacts. Increases (decreases) in rain will increase (decrease) average farm values by 3% per centiliter of precipitation. …

A Simplified Onsite Image-Registration Approach For Radiosurgery By Partial Ct, Wupeng Yin

Open Access Theses

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a kind of method of radiation therapy that uses three-dimensional computerized imaging to precisely guide a high-powered X-ray beam to deliver a concentrated dose of radiation to the abnormal area of the body. This therapy can efficiently and successfully treat many different types of tumors, either benign or malignant. Commonly used radiosurgery treatments are applied by CyberKnife or Gamma Knife through Stereotactic mechanism. Stereotactic radiosurgery can be assisted by two and three dimensional imaging during a course of radiation treatment. This is usually called Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), which utilizes the imaging coordinates to direct radiation …

The Importance Of The Rare: The Role Of Background Symbiodinium In The Response Of Reef Corals To Environmental Change, Rachel N. Silverstein

Open Access Dissertations

Reef ecosystems throughout much of the tropics are predicted to decline in coral cover and diversity as a result of ongoing climate change (ocean acidification, temperature increases, sea level rise), disease, pollution, and overfishing. Corals may be able to respond to some of these stressors by associating with diverse algal symbionts (Symbiodinium spp.) which vary in their physiological traits and therefore expand corals’ realized niche space. This dissertation used high-sensitivity molecular techniques to investigate the presence and functional role of "background" or "rare" Symbiodinium, which occur at low abundance, and therefore may not be detected using standard molecular methods. First, …

Mechanisms Of Nmnat/Wlds Mediated Axon Protection, Brandon M. Kitay

Open Access Dissertations

Neurodegeneration is a hallmark of several inherited and acquired diseases of the nervous system. Though great attention in the past has been given to understanding and mitigating neuron loss in these diseases, efforts at targeting neuron cell body death pathways have yielded modest success in preventing or delaying disease onset. Often preceding neuronal death, axon degeneration is a common pathological feature of many neurodegenerative processes, and may therefore provide a therapeutic target upstream of neuronal loss. Though formerly believed to be a passive process, recent observations concerning the destruction of distal axons following transection, referred to as “Wallerian degeneration” (WD), …

Predictors Of Hiv/Aids Related Stigma And Discrimination Among Anglophone Caribbean Women, Kimberly A. Hires

Open Access Dissertations

The effects of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) global epidemic continue to emerge decades after teh first wave of infection. One key aspect of the HIV epidemic that is significantly impacted by culture and knowledge of HIV transmission is stigma, specifically HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination (HASD). The Caribbean region has the second highest HIV prevalence rate in the world. In 2011, there were approximately 13,000 new infections and 10,000 AIDS related deaths among adults and children in the Caribbean. Three Anglophone nations significantly impacted by the HIV epidemic are Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. HASD has been identified …