Digital Commons Network^™

Adoption Of Citizen Science Practices: A Case Study Of The Billfish Foundation’S Tag And Release Online Database, Daniel Dinicola

Open Access Theses

Almost the entirety of our understanding of billfish science comes from recreational fishing and constituent based tag and release programs. A uniform, global resource where anglers can participate and view their efforts in action will greatly contribute to the understanding, conservation, and management of these mysterious animals. It was this rationale that led The Billfish Foundation (TBF) to create the Online Tag and Release Database (TROD) as a companion to its existing Tag and Release Program. The TROD was designed to galvanize the sportfishing community and streamline how constituent anglers report data. Significant portions of active TBF members have not …

Lessons For Aquaculture From Agriculture: Selected Comparisons Of Fish And Animal Farming, Grace Seo

Open Access Theses

While global wild fisheries harvests stable or declining, aquaculture is meeting the demands of a growing global population for more seafood. Aquaculture production has increased dramatically at an average annual rate of 6.2% in the period from 2000 to 2012 (FAO, 2014). Between 2001 and 2011, the share of aquaculture in global fish production as increased from 27.6% to 40.1% (FAO, 2013). Fish farming (aquaculture) has an only a brief history in comparison with meat farming (agriculture). Humans have been engaged in agriculture throughout all of recorded human history, while large scale aquaculture has arisen only over the last fifty …

Adelante Nevada: A Case Study Of Latino Political Incorporation In A New Immigrant Destination, Emily L. Mcilveene

Open Access Theses

In recent years, Latinos in Nevada have increasingly become a highly coveted voting bloc by political candidates campaigning in the state. The national media has elevated them into the political spotlight by highlighting their integral contribution to Obama’s victories in the last two presidential elections. Latino elected officials are also making history in the Governor’s office, numerous city councils, and the state legislature, which boasts more Latino members than ever before. This is a major departure from the state’s early political history that was incredibly exclusive of this population. What caused this sudden upward shift in levels of Latino political …

Age And Growth Of Larval Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus Thynnus From The Gulf Of Mexico., Estrella Malca

Open Access Theses

Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) are the largest and most highly prized among the tuna (Scombridae) family. They are highly pelagic, undertaking transoceanic migrations throughout the Atlantic, but the main spawning grounds are the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Given their mobility, management for this species is handled through international agreements under the auspices of the International Committee for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) and within the United States, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Despite 30 years of ichthyoplankton surveys in the GOM, little is known about larval bluefin tuna ecology with regards …

Mechanisms Of Condition-Specific Regulation Of Mrna Stability By Puf Proteins: From Yeast To Humans, Joseph Russo

Dissertations

RNA binding proteins regulate mRNA decay and translation, two key steps in the control of gene expression in cells. Controlling mRNA metabolism allows cells to respond rapidly to altering conditions by utilizing already available mRNA, bypassing the wait for newly transcribed mRNA. The Puf family of RNA binding proteins bind specific mRNAs through interactions with sequences located in the 3’ untranslated region (UTR). Puf proteins are conserved throughout eukaryotes and have diverse roles including stem cell maintenance, neuronal development, stress response and organelle biogenesis. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Puf proteins are conditionally regulated in response to the cells metabolic. Specifically, in …

The Minutes Of The Marshall University Board Of Governors Meeting, December 17, 2014, Marshall University Board Of Governors

Board of Governors Minutes

No abstract provided.

Hst Hot-Jupiter Transmission Spectral Survey: Haze In The Atmosphere Of Wasp-6b, Nikolay Nikolov, David K. Sing, Adam S. Burrows, Jonathan J. Fortney, Gregory W. Henry, Frederic Pont, Gilda E. Ballester, Suzanne Aigrain, Paul A. Wilson, Catherine M. Huitson, Neale P. Gibson, Jean-Michel Désert, Alain Lecavelier Des Etangs, Adam P. Showman, Alfred Vidal-Madjar, Hannah R. Wakeford, Kevin J. Zahnle

Information Systems and Engineering Management Research Publications

We report Hubble Space Telescope optical to near-infrared transmission spectroscopy of the hot-Jupiter WASP-6b, measured with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and Spitzer's InfraRed Array Camera. The resulting spectrum covers the range 0.29–4.5 μm. We find evidence for modest stellar activity of WASP-6 and take it into account in the transmission spectrum. The overall main characteristic of the spectrum is an increasing radius as a function of decreasing wavelength corresponding to a change of Δ (Rp / R*) = 0.0071 from 0.33 to 4.5 μm. The spectrum suggests an effective extinction cross-section with a power law of index consistent with …

Implementation Of Sleep Problem Screening In A Pediatric Primary Care Office, Jennifer Erin O'Donnell

Dissertations

Sleep problems, a major problem for children and their parents, are the most common complaint brought to pediatric clinicians (advanced practice nurses and other healthcare providers) attention but are often ignored and underdiagnosed in the pediatric population (Faruqui, Khubchandani, Price, Bolyard, & Reddy, 2011). “Sufficient amounts of good quality sleep are necessary for healthy development in childhood” (Bordeleau, Bernier, & Carrier, 2012, p. 254). Inadequate sleep in children has been linked to numerous adverse outcomes psychologically as well as physically (Owens, Jones, & Nash, 2011). The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), issued recommendations in 2002 stating screening for snoring, one …

‘Tug-Of-War’ Biophysics Teamwork With Osu Colleagues, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Mediation Analysis Of Gestational Age, Congenital Heart Defects, And Infant Birth-Weight, Adane F. Wogu, Christopher A. Loffredo, Ionut Bebu, George Luta

GW Biostatistics Center

Background

In this study we assessed the mediation role of the gestational age on the effect of the infant’s congenital heart defects (CHD) on birth-weight.

Methods

We used secondary data from the Baltimore-Washington Infant Study (1981–1989). Mediation analysis was employed to investigate whether gestational age acted as a mediator of the association between CHD and reduced birth-weight. We estimated the mediated effect, the mediation proportion, and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) using several methods.

Results

There were 3362 CHD cases and 3564 controls in the dataset with mean birth-weight of 3071 (SD = 729) and 3353 (SD = 603) …

The Third Law Of Galactic Rotation, Stacy S. Mcgaugh

Faculty Scholarship

I review the connection between dynamics and the baryonic mass distribution in rotationally-supported galaxies. The enclosed dynamical mass-to-light ratio increases with decreasing galaxy luminosity and surface brightness. The correlation with surface brightness appears to be the more fundamental, with the dependence on luminosity following simply from the weaker correlation between luminosity and surface brightness. In addition to this global relation, there is also a local relation between the amplitude of the mass discrepancy and the acceleration predicted by the observed distribution of baryons. I provide an empirical calibration of this mass discrepancy-acceleration relation. The data are consistent with the operation …

Total Synthesis Of Clavatadine A, Stephanie J. Conn, Shannon M. Vreeland, Alexandra N. Wexler, Rebecca H. Pouwer, Ronald J. Quinn, Stephen Chamberland

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The first total synthesis of the potent and selective human blood coagulation factor XIa inhibitor clavatadine A (1) is described. Direct, early-stage guanidinylation enabled rapid, convergent access to an immediate clavatadine A precursor. Concomitant lactone hydrolysis and guanidine deprotection with aqueous acid cleanly provided clavatadine A (1) in only four steps (longest linear sequence, 41–43% overall yield).

New Approaches To Corn Silage Use In Beef Cattle Finishing Diets, Dirk B. Burken

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cattle feeders are considering alternative feedstuffs to replace expensive corn grain and decrease rations costs. Feeding corn silage allows cattle feeders to take advantage of the entire corn plant at a time of maximum quality and tonnage as well as secure substantial quantities of roughage and grain inventory. Distiller’s grains have proven to be economical and are now a commonplace ingredient in feedlot finishing diets. Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of feeding increased concentrations of corn silage in replacement of corn grain in finishing diets containing distillers grains. Feedlot gains and gain:feed ratios were reduced as corn silage …

Biodigestor: Rural Power Plant, Felipe Ribeiro Bozza

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Biodigestor: Rural Power Plant

Two-Dimensional Layered Mos2 Biosensors Enable Highly Sensitive Detection Of Biomolecules, Joonhyung Lee, Piyush Dak, Yeonsung Lee, Heekyeong Park, Woong Choi, Muhammad Ashraful Alam, Sunkook Kim

Birck and NCN Publications

We present a MoS₂ biosensor to electrically detect prostate specific antigen (PSA) in a highly sensitive and label-free manner. Unlike previous MoS₂-FET-based biosensors, the device configuration of our biosensors does not require a dielectric layer such as HfO₂ due to the hydrophobicity of MoS₂. Such an oxide-free operation improves sensitivity and simplifies sensor design. For a quantitative and selective detection of PSA antigen, anti-PSA antibody was immobilized on the sensor surface. Then, introduction of PSA antigen, into the anti-PSA immobilized sensor surface resulted in a lable-free immunoassary format. Measured off-state current of the device …

Survey Of Tribal Court Effectiveness Studies, Ryan Fortson, Jacob A. Carbaugh

Vols 31-36 (2014-2019)

This article examines empirical studies that have been conducted on the effectiveness of tribal courts, both in terms of reduction in recidivism and participant attitudes, and a look at some of the challenges to implementing a tribal court effectiveness study in Alaska.

Bruce Toll V. Leonard Tannenbaum

2014 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Stalin Vasquez-Barahona V. Attorney General United States

2014 Decisions

Agency

Memory On Trial: The Manhunt For Alaska's Most Elusive Mass Murderer, Brittany A. Retherford

Arctic and Northern Studies

The fallibility and malleability of human memory played a confounding and troublesome role in the investigation of the 1982 murder of eight people on a fishing boat, the Investor, in Craig, Alaska, and subsequent trials of law enforcements' only suspect, John Kenneth Peel. Human memory -- including its inherent subjectivity and susceptibility to coercion and change -- ultimately resulted in an unsatisfactory resolution for victims' families and friends, law enforcement, witnesses, and others associated with the events, investigation and legal proceedings. This thesis utilizes trial records, police investigation files, newspaper stories, and personal interviews to provide a summary view of …

Alaska Native Perceptions Of Food, Health, And Community Well-Being: Challenging Nutritional Colonialism, Melanie Lindholm

Arctic and Northern Studies

Alaska Native populations have undergone relatively rapid changes in nearly every aspect of life over the past half century. Overall lifestyles have shifted from subsistence-based to wage-based, from traditional to Western, and from self-sustainability to reliance on Outside sources. My research investigates the effects of these changes on health and well-being. The literature appears to lack concern for and documentation of Native peoples' perceptions of the changes in food systems and effects on their communities. Additionally, there is a lack of studies specific to Alaska Native individual perceptions of health and well-being. Therefore, my research aims to help identify social …

Spartan Web Application Firewall, Brian C. Lee

Master's Projects

Computer security is an ongoing issue and attacks are growing more sophisit- cated. One category of attack utilizes cross-site scripting (XSS) to extract confiden- tial data such as a user’s login credential’s without the knowledge of either the user nor the web server by utilizing vulnerabilities on web pages and internet browsers. Many people develop their own web applications without learning about or having good coding practices or security in mind. Web application firewalls are able to help but can be enhanced to be more effective than they currently are at detecting re- flected XSS attacks by analyzing the request …

Post Eruptive Source Modeling For Okmok Volcano, Alaska Using Gps And Insar, Summer A. Miller

Geosciences

Okmok volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Island chain, showing significant non-linear deformation as it progresses through eruption cycles. Okmok most recently erupted in July 2008, creating a new cone (~250m in height) and greatly changing the topography inside the caldera. Due to these changes within the caldera and magma system, new modeling of the volcanic source was completed. This study compiles both GPS and SAR measurements to constrain the post eruptive behavior, examines the possible changes below the surface, and explores modeling and optimization techniques. With continuous and campaign GPS stations and L-band radar …

The Geometry In Geometric Algebra, Kristopher N. Kilpatrick

Mathematics and Statistics

We present an axiomatic development of geometric algebra. One may think of a geometric algebra as allowing one to add and multiply subspaces of a vector space. Properties of the geometric product are proven and derived products called the wedge and contraction product are introduced. Linear algebraic and geometric concepts such as linear independence and orthogonality may be expressed through the above derived products. Some examples with geometric algebra are then given.

Alaska Athabascan Stellar Astronomy, Christopher M. Cannon

Arctic and Northern Studies

Stellar astronomy is a fundamental component of Alaska Athabascan cultures that facilitates time-reckoning, navigation, weather forecasting, and cosmology. Evidence from the linguistic record suggests that a group of stars corresponding to the Big Dipper is the only widely attested constellation across the Northern Athabascan languages. However, instruction from expert Athabascan consultants shows that the correlation of these names with the Big Dipper is only partial. In Alaska Gwich'in, Ahtna, and Upper Tanana languages the Big Dipper is identified as one part of a much larger circumpolar humanoid constellation that spans more than 133 degrees across the sky. The Big Dipper …

The Implementation And Evaluation Of A Black Carbon Aerosol Sampler Used On An Unmanned Aircraft During The Prescribed Fire Experiment Rxcadre, Tara L. Craft

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Black carbon (BC) aerosols impact the earth's climate by absorbing solar radiation in the atmosphere and depositing on ice surfaces and lowering the albedo of those surfaces. Black carbon aerosols have been widely studied; however, using small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for the airborne study of the vertical and horizontal concentrations of BC is an emerging field. Using UAS to study BC poses some challenges due to size and weight restrictions of the aircraft, as well as issues that arise when adapting ground based instrumentation for use on different aircraft. University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers successfully integrated and flew a …

Properties Of Sodium Sodium Chloride Brine On Laboratory Ice, Erin P. Gleason

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Snow and ice surfaces are ubiquitous in the environment. Heterogeneous reactions on those surfaces are responsible for a wide range of phenomena such as the Antarctic stratospheric ozone hole, depletion of boundary-layer ozone, and deposition of mercury. Little is known about the location of impurities on ice surfaces or how that structure depends upon temperature and time after contamination. Therefore, we investigated microscopic structures created by depositing sodium chloride particles onto laboratory-grown ice below the hydrohalite-water eutectic temperature. As the temperature was increased above the eutectic, sodium chloride solution (brine) formed around the particle and spread across the air-ice interface. …

An Indigenous Vision Of 21st Century Education In The Bering Strait Region, Barbara Qasuglana Amarok

Education

I am an Iñupiaq Alaska Native from the Bering Strait region and have worked in the region for 32 years in the fields of elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education. Alaska Native students, as a cohort, have consistently had higher drop out rates and lower percentages of proficiency than other cohorts. My work represents a synthesis of my personal and professional experiences and is similar to research methodologies such as triangulation, auto-ethnography, mixed methods, or various Indigenous research methodologies that focus on webs of relationship. I also interviewed a sample of community members ranging in age from 15 to 75 …

Preserving Information From The Beginning To The End Of Time In A Robertson-Walker Spacetime, Stefano Mancini, Roberto Pierini, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

Preserving information stored in a physical system subjected to noise can be modeled in a communication-theoretic paradigm, in which storage and retrieval correspond to an input encoding and output decoding, respectively. The encoding and decoding are then constructed in such a way as to protect against the action of a given noisy quantum channel. This paper considers the situation in which the noise is not due to technological imperfections, but rather to the physical laws governing the evolution of the Universe. In particular, we consider the dynamics of quantum systems under a 1 + 1 Robertson-Walker spacetime and find that …

Honda Country: Relocalization Through Technology In Nanwalek Alaska, David Dehass

Indigenous Studies

It should not be assumed that the introduction of a new technology automatically wipes out past cultural practices. Instead, it is often the case that these offerings are integrated into a current routine. For the Sugpiat of Nanwalek, Alaska, there is a constant need to negotiate between what to change and what to preserve. My research explores how a cultural group judges a new technology based upon shared boundaries and understandings. I examine how the decision to accept all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) has allowed for increased participation in subsistence practices, effective resource management, and material and emotional reunification with those things …

The Rhetorical Goddess: A Feminist Perspective On Women In Magic, Laura C. Bruns, Joseph Zompetti

Faculty Publications - Communications

Although female magicians have existed since the rise of entertainment magic, women have faced difficulty in entering the “fraternity” of the magic community. As an art form largely based around persuasion, it is useful to study the performance of magic as a text. It is additionally useful to study female magicians within this context of rhetoric. Not only will examining the rhetoric of female magicians provide insights on the rhetoric of women in this unique arena, but also of women in a historically gendered and underrepresented field. Research into this area may disclose other details regarding the communicative differences between …