Digital Commons Network^™

Michigan Teacher Excellence Program: A Life-Changing Experience, Claudia Witt

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The first chapter consists of an action research report submitted by Rebecca Joyce, Kari Luckett, and Claudia Witt as part of the Action Research class taken through the Michigan Teacher Excellence Program (MiTEP) during the winter of 2013. The research involved the use of stations to address student misconceptions in urban high school chemistry classrooms. Chapter two contains a personal reflection on the MiTEP program and how it has affected teaching strategies/practices, personal confidence, and professional relationships.

The Impacts Of Mitep On My Career In Education, Kari A. Luckett

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

MiTEP, the Michigan Teacher Excellence Program, provides current teachers the opportunity to partner with Michigan Technological University to obtain graduate credit towards a Master’s degree in applied science education. In exchange, the university collects data on the implementation of inquiry and earth science concepts into science classrooms. This paper documents my experience within this program, including how it has affected my personal and professional learning.

Beyond Roots Alone: Novel Methodologies For Analyzing Complex Soil And Minirhizotron Imagery Using Image Processing And Gis Tools, Justina A. Silva

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Quantifying belowground dynamics is critical to our understanding of plant and ecosystem function and belowground carbon cycling, yet currently available tools for complex belowground image analyses are insufficient. We introduce novel techniques combining digital image processing tools and geographic information systems (GIS) analysis to permit semi-automated analysis of complex root and soil dynamics. We illustrate methodologies with imagery from microcosms, minirhizotrons, and a rhizotron, in upland and peatland soils. We provide guidelines for correct image capture, a method that automatically stitches together numerous minirhizotron images into one seamless image, and image analysis using image segmentation and classification in SPRING or …

Denitrification In Soils: From Genes To Environmental Outcomes, Jianqiu Zheng

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Denitrification is an important process of global nitrogen cycle as it removes reactive nitrogen from the biosphere, and acts as the primary source of nitrous oxide (N₂O). This thesis seeks to gain better understanding of the biogeochemistry of denitrification by investigating the process from four different aspects: genetic basis, enzymatic kinetics, environmental interactions, and environmental consequences. Laboratory and field experiments were combined with modeling efforts to unravel the complexity of denitrification process under microbiological and environmental controls.

Dynamics of denitrification products observed in laboratory experiments revealed an important role of constitutive denitrification enzymes, whose presence were further confirmed …

Sub-Canopy Temperature Dynamics Of A Native Tree Plantation From A Lowland Tropical Rainforest In Costa Rica, Victor D. Carmona-Galindo, Traci-Lynn Hirai, Stacie Samuelson, Cherie Hale, Elizabeth Braker

Biology Faculty Works

With urbanization encroaching upon forestlands, characterizing microclimates in secondary forests will be important for the sustainable management of microclimates in agroforestry systems. We used micro-sensors to characterize changes in temperature at different heights in the sub-canopy of both secondary forest and 15-year-old agroforestry plots. Results show that while agroforestry plots had different temperature profiles from the secondary forest, the monoculture plot (consisting of Pentaclethra macroloba) had temperatures similar to the profile found in the secondary forest. This suggests that the replication of temperature profiles in a secondary forest may be independent of the number of tree species in a plot …

Drosophila Hematopoiesis: Markers And Methods For Molecular Genetic Analysis, Cory J. Evans, Ting Liu, Utpal Banerjee

Biology Faculty Works

Analyses of the Drosophila hematopoietic system are becoming more and more prevalent as developmental and functional parallels with vertebrate blood cells become more evident. Investigative work on the fly blood system has, out of necessity, led to the identification of new molecular markers for blood cell types and lineages and to the refinement of useful molecular genetic tools and analytical methods. This review briefly describes the Drosophila hematopoietic system at different developmental stages, summarizes the major useful cell markers and tools for each stage, and provides basic protocols for practical analysis of circulating blood cells and of the lymph gland, …

2013-2014 Che Newsletter, Department Of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Chemical Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• Department
• Research
• Student News
• Faculty News
• Alumni & Friends

Stage-Dependent Plasticity Of The Anterior Neural Folds To Form Neural Crest, Maxellende Ezin

Biology Faculty Works

The anterior neural fold (ANF) is the only region of the neural tube that does not produce neural crest cells. Instead, ANF cells contribute to the olfactory and lens placodes, as well as to the forebrain and epidermis. Here, we test the ability of the ANF to form neural crest by performing heterotopic transplantation experiments in the chick embryo. We find that, at the neurula stage (HH stage 7), the chick ANF retains the ability to form migrating neural crest cells when transplanted caudally to rostral hindbrain levels. This ability is gradually lost, such that by HH9, this tissue appears …

Effects Of Sediment Depth On Algal Turf Height Are Mediated By Interactions With Fish Herbivory On A Fringing Reef, Sarah Joy Bittick

Biology Faculty Works

Closely cropped algal turfs support key ecosystem functions on healthy coraldominated reefs, yet how this important reef component is affected by sedimentation, a key stressor on reefs worldwide, is relatively unknown. We used a 2-factor caging experiment to evaluate the effects of varying sediment depth and presence of herbivorous fish on algal turf height on a fringing reef in Mo'orea, French Polynesia. Without herbivory, 2 mm of sediment reduced turf growth by ∼50% compared to sediment removal treatments; in contrast, growth with 4 mm of sediment was low or negligible regardless of herbivory treatment. Negative effects of sediment were linked …

Friction Coefficients For Dried Distillers Grains On Eight Structural Surfaces, G. C. Nyendu, S. Pflum, P. Schumacher, C. J. Bern, T. J. Brumm

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Static and dynamic coefficients of friction on structural surfaces play important roles in the power requirements and material selection for equipment used in handling and storing agricultural commodities. However, friction data on dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) is limited. Further, lack of a standardized method for determining friction coefficient on grain handling materials presents a challenge. This article describes studies carried out to determine the static coefficient of friction (•_s) and dynamic coefficient of friction (•_d) for corn DDGS at 10%, 8.2%, and 6.5% moisture content (all moistures are % wet basis) on eight structural surfaces: High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), …

The Highs And Lows Of Caregiving For Chronically Ill Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Elders, Anna M. Muraco, Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen

Sociology Faculty Works

This study examines informal caregivers’ and LGB care recipients’ “best” and “worst” experiences of care within their relationship. Communal relationship theory guides the research. The work uses qualitative interview data from a sample of 36 care pairs (n=72), divided between committed partners and friends, to understand the similarities and differences in the care norms employed in varied relationship contexts. Findings from the study show that relationship context influences the experiences that caregivers and care recipients identify as “best” and “worst,” but often focus on the relationship and needs met at bests, and conflict and fear of worsening health as worsts.

Undergraduate Catalog, Georgia Southern University

Undergraduate & Graduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Marrow Of Tradition: The Roberts Court And Categorial First Amendment Speech Exclusions, Gregory P. Magarian

Scholarship@WashULaw

INTRODUCTION The Roberts Court has made a lot of First Amendment law. Since Chief Justice John Roberts took the Supreme Court’s helm in 2006, the Court has issued decisions on the merits in about thirty-five free speech cases. With greater vigor than the late Rehnquist Court, the present Justices have waded into free speech controversies ranging from violent video games to commercial speech to campaign fi- nance regulation. In all those areas, the Court has handed import- ant victories to First Amendment claimants. Free speech advocates’ conventional (not to say universal) view of this Court is adoring. Renowned First Amendment …

Benevolent Sexism, Perceived Fairness, Decision-Making, And Marital Satisfaction: Covert Power Influences, Monique Brown

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined the association between endorsement of benevolent sexism and marital satisfaction in heterosexual marriages, which are perceived as being egalitarian. The goal was to explore how covert power dynamics like those involved in benevolent sexism affect marital satisfaction, and how perceived fairness and decision-making outcomes interact with this relationship. Men and women who have cohabitated with their spouses at least five years were asked to complete measures assessing their endorsement of benevolent sexism and their perceived global marital satisfaction. Participants were also asked to fill out measures examining the mediating effect of perceived fairness and decision-making outcomes. Previous …

Serving Clients With Intellectual Disabilities: Clinical Psychology Training In Apa-Accredited Doctoral Programs, Emily J. Graesser

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience mental health problems at a higher rate than the general population, yet encounter significant barriers in accessing quality mental health services and have poorer mental health outcomes. Disparities in both psychology research and practice contribute to these barriers, and few mental health practitioners are willing and competent to treat people with ID. Lack of training availability has been suspected as an underlying factor, yet no previous investigation of training has been conducted in the United States. This study utilized a 20-question self-administered internet survey to explore the quantity, quality, and types of training APA-accredited …

Feasibility And Perceived Efficacy Of The Neurosequential Model Of Therapeutics, Catherine F. Caplis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Child abuse and neglect can have serious negative physiological and psychological effects on the developing brain. Children who suffer from early and ongoing abuse and neglect often develop further problems as they mature, even if they are subsequently in safe environments. Many trauma-based therapies have been created in order to help these children develop increased emotional and social regulation, and decrease their behavioral problems. The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) is a newer approach to working with traumatized children that has garnered great enthusiasm despite very limited outcome data. In this dissertation, I explore the promise of NMT and describe …

The Effects Of Beaver Dams On The Structure And Function Of Invertebrate Communities In A Southeastern Coastal Plain Stream, Damon L. Mullis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Beaver were at the brink of extinction in the early 20^th century, but over the past century populations have been rebounding. This increase in range and population size has raised new concerns over possible impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Beaver are considered ecosystem engineers because they change the physical structure of aquatic systems through the construction of dams, which turn naturally flowing sections of rivers and streams into standing water. Such changes are known to influence habitat heterogeneity, influence organic matter transport and storage, and consequentially influence biological diversity. To my knowledge, no studies of the effects of beaver impoundments …

When Law Reform Is Not Enough: A Case Study On Social Change And The Role That Lawyers And Legal Clinics Ought To Play, Jeff Carolin

Journal of Law and Social Policy

Based on his experience as a law student in the clinical legal education program at Parkdale Community Legal Services in 2010, the author draws on poverty law scholarship to better understand his frustrations with a law reform campaign he worked on related to refugee family reunification. The scholarship’s central critique of law reform campaigns is that they are excessively narrow: they focus on a particular law and construct the law itself as the social injustice. This leads to two subsidiary problems. First, law reform campaigns ignore the underlying socio-political context that produced the law, foregoing opportunities for broader societal transformation. …

The Impact Of Centro Escolar Benemérito De Las Americas, A Chruch School In Mexico, Barbara E. Morgan

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Streaming Computations With Precise Control, Peng Li, Kunal Agrawal, Jeremy Buhler, Roger Chamberlain

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Select Demographic Characteristics And Body Mass Index Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Caregiving Adults, Jane Lassetter Phd, Rn, Lauren Clark Phd, Rn, Faan, Sharla E. Morgan Fnp, Lora Beth Brown Phd, Gwen Vanservellen Phd, Rn, Faan, Katrina Duncan Fnp, Betsy S. Hopkins

Faculty Publications

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) are people with genetic origins in Hawaii, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands (Hixson, Hepler, & Kim, 2012). NHOPI prevalence of overweight or obesity is among the highest in the world. Nauru, a Pacific Island nation, is considered the most obese country in the world with an overweight and obesity prevalence of 93% (WHO, 2011). Hawaii’s overall prevalence of overweight or obesity is 52.1%, but the prevalence for Native Hawaiian residents is 69.6% (Hawaii Department of Health, 2011). Inasmuch as NHOPIs are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S. (Hixson et …

Taxonomy, Distribution, And Ecology Of Crustacean Zooplankton In Trough Waters Of Ankara (Turkey), Eli̇f Başak, Cem Aygen, Okan Külköylüoğlu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Troughs are one of the main components of villages in Turkey. They are constructed by converting springs or underground waters. Until now, there has been no extensive study investigating the composition and diversity of trough zooplankton species. In order to contribute knowledge on the zooplanktons in troughs, 142 troughs were randomly sampled from 17 districts in Ankara Province between 22 June and 3 July 2011. A total of 18 zooplanktons including 11 Copepoda and 7 Cladocera species were determined. Twelve of the 18 (Paracyclops chiltoni, Paracylops fimbriatus, Paracyclops imminutus, Tropocyclops prasinus, Diacyclops bisetosus, Acanthocyclops vernalis, Canthocamptus staphylinus, Attheyella crassa, Bryocamptus …

Evaluation Of Vertical And Horizontal Changes In Community Structure Of Zooplankton In A Deep Dam Lake, Di̇dem Gökçe, Duygu Özhan Turhan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The purpose of this study was to describe the horizontal and vertical distributions of the zooplankton community structure in Karakaya Dam Lake. Rotifers were numerically dominant (81.89%) in the community during the study period; they were followed by Copepoda (10.32%) and Cladocera (7.79%). In the metalimnetic maximum oxygen zone between 5 and 10 m, cladocerans made up 70.1% of the total number of zooplankton in June and 27.3% of the total number of zooplankton in November. Oxygen values decreased at 10 and 15 m in September and November. While the abundance of rotifers and cladocerans decreased as well, cyclopoids increased …

Interpopulation Differences In Shell Forms Of The Pearl Oyster, Pinctada Imbricata Radiata (Bivalvia: Pterioida), In The Northern Persian Gulf Inferred From Principal Component Analysis And Elliptic Fourier Analysis, Moein Rajaei, Hadi Poorbagher, Hamid Farahmand, Mohammad Sedigh Mortazavi, Soheil Eagderi

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Metapopulation characterization and discrimination of the pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata radiata in the northern part of the Persian Gulf is unknown. This study was conducted to examine differences in shell morphology of P. imbricata radiata from the Hendourabi and Lavan islands using principal component analysis (PCA) and elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA). Both EFA and PCA differentiated the shell form of the 2 populations significantly. PCA indicated that the pearl oysters from Hendourabi tended to be longer, while those from Lavan were wider and greater in thickness (width). Based on EFA, the specimens of Hendourabi Island were more fusiform than those …

Rooks (Corvus Frugilegus) Dine On Snails In Poland, Grzegorz Maciorowski, Dobieslaw Bural, Henryk Gierszal, Maria Urbanska

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Evidence of breeding rooks feeding on Roman snails (Helix pomatia) and grove snails (Cepaea nemoralis) is presented. Shell dimensions of food remains and intact Roman snails collected in the study area were measured in order to estimate the size and shape of the snails collected by rooks in relation to the food available in the vicinity of the rookery. Smaller and rounder snail shells were collected by rooks than were available in the area around the colony, indicating that the rooks collected most of the snails elsewhere, in forests, gardens, or ruderal areas located near the colony. A general preference …

Breeding Ecology And Behaviour Of The Great Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus Arundinaceus, In Poyrazlar Lake, Turkey, Ali̇ Uzun, Zehra Ayyildiz, Faruk Yilmaz, Belgi̇n Uzun, Mehmet Sağiroğlu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In this study, the breeding ecology and behaviour of the Great Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus, was studied at Poyrazlar Lake, Turkey. The breeding period started in the first week of May. The incubation period lasted 14 days. As clutch size increased, the diameter of the nests became larger (r = 0.65). Diameters of nests containing different clutch sizes varied significantly from one another (P < 0.01). However, their height did not change (r = 0.24). There was no significant height difference between nests containing different clutch sizes (P > 0.05). As the nests became farther from the shore, the clutch size and the egg weight increased, because mature adults built their nests on the reeds in deeper areas (r = 0.59, r = 0.73). On …

The Gill Morphology Of The Date Mussel Lithophaga Lithophaga (Bivalvia: Mytilidae), Deni̇z Akşi̇t, Beri̇a Falakali Mutaf

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The purpose of the present research was to study the descriptive anatomy of the gill of the mussel Lithophaga lithophaga. Mussels were collected from 2 sites in Antalya Bay, Turkey. Observations using stereomicroscopy and electron microscopy showed that the gills of L. lithophaga consist of homorhabdic filaments, a characteristic of the mytilids. The lamellae have cavities at their laterals in addition to their prominent ciliary structure on the frontal and lateral surfaces. The latero-frontal cilia extend in pairs, one attached to the other with a membrane and showing a composite structure. The ascending and descending lamellae are fused by fan-like …

Revised Classification Design Of The Anatolian Species Of Nannospalax (Rodentia: Spalacidae) Using Rflp Analysis, Teoman Kankiliç, Canan Gürpinar

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Genetic differences in 2 regions (D-loop and cytochrome b) of mitochondrial DNA in Nannospalax xanthodon and Nannospalax ehrenbergi were determined using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. For 2 species distributed in Anatolia, 94 specimens from 62 populations of Nannospalax xanthodon and 2 populations of Nannospalax ehrenbergi were studied. To reveal genetic differences, the D-loop (626 bp) and cytochrome b (500 bp) regions of mitochondrial DNA were amplified and then cut by 4 different restriction endonuclease enzymes (BamH-I, Taq-I, Alu-I, and Msp-I). RFLP analysis revealed 4 haplotypes for the D-loop region and 8 haplotypes for the cytochrome b region in …

Checklist Of Turkish Helconinae With A New Species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), Ahmet Beyarslan, Erhan Çoban

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The Helconinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) species recorded from Turkey as of the end of 2012 are listed. The total number of species was determined as 10. Changes in comparison to the previous Turkish fauna are briefly annotated and the distributions for all species in each of the 68 biogeographical provinces are presented. After the publication of our previous fauna, 8 species belonging 2 genera have been recorded as new to Turkey. Subsequent studies reported 10 Diospilini species for the fauna, among which 7 species are distributed only in Asian Turkey and 3 species are distributed in both Asian and European Turkey. …

The First Record Of The Redbelly Tilapia, Tilapia Zillii (Gervais, 1848), In Freshwaters Of Iran, Roozbehan Khaefi, Hamid Reza Esmaeili, Halimeh Zareian, Siavash Babaei

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This paper is the first record of the exotic cichlid, the redbelly tilapia, Tilapia zillii (Gervais, 1848), from natural freshwater bodies of Iran, which has most likely been deliberately released to enhance fish production. The new records extend the geographical distribution range of this exotic fish.