Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Vegetation Mosaics In Sub-Alpine Tasmania Under Various Fire Regimes, Gabriel I. Yospin, Samuel W. Wood, Andrés Holz, David M.J.S. Bowman, Robert E. Keane, Cathy Whitlock

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Western Tasmania, Australia contains some of the highest levels of biological endemism of any temperate region in the world, including vegetation types that are conservation priorities: fire-sensitive rainforest dominated by endemic conifer species in the genus Athrotaxis; and fire-tolerant buttongrass moorlands. Current management focuses on fire suppression, but increasingly there are calls for the use of prescribed fire in flammable vegetation types to manage these ecosystems. The long-term effects of climate and alternative management strategies on the vegetated landscape are unknown. To help identify controls over successional trajectories, we parameterized a spatially explicit landscape-scale model of vegetation and fire …

Hail Marriage And Farewell, Ethan J. Leib

Fordham Law Review

    My conclusion in what follows is that, notwithstanding much rhetoric in the opinion, states have some room to rethink marriage in light of marriage equality. And with some intellectual jujitsu, this opening to rethink the state’s place in relational ordering gives marriage-skeptics another bite at the apple to get something they wanted all along: to decenter the largely religious, gendered, and bourgeois institution of marriage. Justice Kennedy’s opinion has the unfortunate result of reaffirming marriage at the top of a relational hierarchy, yet there are surely other ways we can have civil rights and equality for gay people without marriage …

"A Distinction Without A Difference"?: Bartlett Going Forward, Steven A. Schwartz

Fordham Law Review

    This Note addresses the question of whether federal law preempts state design defect claims against generic drug manufacturers regardless of which test state law uses to determine whether a drug is defective. This issue, arising out of the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of preemption jurisprudence and fundamental tort law as stated in Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, is significant because it plays a large role in determining to what extent generic drug manufacturers are immune to civil liability arising out of injuries caused by their generic drugs. In an age of rising medical costs and jury awards, both plaintiff …

Treatment Of Greywater Using Bio Filtration And Permeable Pavement Systems, Assem Mahn El-Ashkar

Theses

Municipal wastewater can be divided into two categories, greywater and black water. Greywater occupies about 75% of total wastewater and are relatively less polluted than the black water. Reuse of greywater is becoming popular in many arid and semiarid regions in order to reduce the municipal water demand. They can be reused for groundwater recharge, landscape irrigation and for toilet flushing. However, the main challenges are their collection, storage and selection of the appropriate treatment system. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is located in a hyper arid region, having an annual average rainfall of less than 100 mm. Reliable survey …

Shineseniors: Personalized Services For Active Ageing-In-Place, Liming Bai, Alex I. Gavino, Wei Qi Lee, Jungyoon Kim, Na Liu, Hwee-Pink Tan, Hwee Xian Tan, Lee Buay Tan, Xiaoping Toh, Alvin Cerdena Valera, Elina Jia Yu, Alfred Wu, Mark S. Fox

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Singapore faces a major challenge in providing care and support for senior citizens due to its rapidlyageing population and declining old-age support ratio. The concept of Ageing-in-Place was introduced by the Singapore government [1] to allow older people to live independently in their own homes and communities so that the need for institutionalised care will only be utilised when necessary. We have three fundamental questions that this project will answer: 1. How to make community care serviceseffective through innovations in care delivery? How to lower the cost of service delivery and improve 2. productivity of caregivers, by leveraging information and …

Short Communication: Effect Of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Supplementation On Some Biomarkers Of Oxidative Stress In Weaned Rabbits During The Hot-Dry Season, B.M. Shehu, B.A. Ayanwale, J.O. Ayo, C. Uchendu

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) supplementation on some biomarkers of oxidative stress in rabbits during the hot-dry season (temperaturehumidity index: 33.2±0.9oC). Sixty healthy weaned crossbred rabbits, aged between 5-6 wk with live weight of 612.7±60.8 g (mean±standard deviation) were used. The rabbits were divided into 5 treatment groups; SC0 receiving a control diet without supplementation of SC, and SC2, SC4, SC6 and SC8 receiving the control diet supplemented with SC at the rate of 2, 4, 6 and 8×109 colony forming units/kg, respectively. The activity of total superoxide dismutase and malonaldehyde in …

Lianas Reduce Carbon Accumulation And Storage In Tropical Forests, Geertje M. F. Van Der Heijden, Jennifer S. Powers, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Tropical forests store vast quantities of carbon, account for one-third of the carbon fixed by photosynthesis, and are a major sink in the global carbon cycle. Recent evidence suggests that competition between lianas (woody vines) and trees may reduce forest-wide carbon uptake; however, estimates of the impact of lianas on carbon dynamics of tropical forests are crucially lacking. Here we used a large-scale liana removal experiment and found that, at 3 y after liana removal, lianas reduced net above-ground carbon uptake (growth and recruitment minus mortality) by ∼76% per year, mostly by reducing tree growth. The loss of carbon uptake …

Viral Vector-Based Improvement Of Optic Nerve Regeneration: Characterization Of Individual Axons' Growth Patterns And Synaptogenesis In A Visual Target, Benjamin J. Yungher, Xueting Luo, Yadira Salgueiro, Murray G. Blackmore

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Lack of axon growth ability in the central nervous system poses a major barrier to achieving functional connectivity after injury. Thus, a non-transgenic regenerative approach to reinnervating targets has important implications in clinical and research settings. Previous studies using knockout (KO) mice have demonstrated long distance axon regeneration. Using an optic nerve injury model, here we evaluate the efficacy of viral, RNAi and pharmacological approaches that target the PTEN and STAT3 pathways to improve long distance axon regeneration in wild type (WT) mice. Our data show that adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing short hairpin RNA (shRNA) against PTEN (shPTEN) enhances retinal …

GabaB Receptors Couple To GαQ To Mediate Increases In Voltage-Dependent Calcium Current During Development, Andrew S. Karls, Michelle Mynlieff

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Metabotropic GABA_B receptors are known to modulate the activity of voltage-dependent calcium channels. Previously, we have shown that GABA_B receptors couple to a non-G_i/o G-protein to enhance calcium influx through L-type calcium channels by activating protein kinase C in neonatal rat hippocampal neurons. In this study, the components of this signaling pathway were investigated further. Gα_q was knocked down using morpholino oligonucleotides prior to examining GABA_B-mediated enhancement of calcium influx. When Gα_q G-proteins were eliminated using morpholino-mediated knockdown, the enhancing effects of the GABA_B receptor agonist baclofen (10 μM) on calcium current …

Short-Tailed Temperature Distributions Over North America And Implications For Future Changes In Extremes, Paul C. Loikith, J. David Neelin

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Some regions of North America exhibit nonnormal temperature distributions. Shorter-than-Gaussian warm tails are a special subset of these cases, with potentially meaningful implications for future changes in extreme warm temperatures under anthropogenic global warming. Locations exhibiting shorter-than-Gaussian warm tails would experience a greater increase in extreme warm temperature exceedances than a location with a Gaussian or long warm-side tail under a simple uniform warm shift in the distribution. Here we identify regions exhibiting such behavior over North America and demonstrate the effect of a simple warm shift on changes in extreme warm temperature exceedances. Some locations exceed the 95th percentile …

Collaborative Research Seed Grants For Integrating Knowledges And Creating New Knowledge, Amy Freitag

Journal of Extension

Incorporating different ways of knowing in research and management has the potential to bring creativity to environmental problem-solving through integrating ways of knowing and innovation via co-producing knowledge. To gain these benefits, North Carolina Sea Grant Extension offers small annual grants called Fisheries Resource Grants to paired fisher and scientist investigators with research ideas grounded in practical application. A decade-long retrospective of water quality-focused projects reveals the potential to successfully integrate and innovate relevant information for problem-solving, but also to lay the groundwork for future collaborative research to continue that legacy.

Modernizing Training Options For Natural Areas Managers, Sarah E. Friedl, Holly K. Ober, Taylor V. Stein, Michael G. Andreu

Journal of Extension

A recent shift in desires among working professionals from traditional learning environments to distance education has emerged due to reductions in travel and training budgets. To accommodate this, the Natural Areas Training Academy replaced traditionally formatted workshops with a hybrid approach. Surveys of participants before and after this change indicate that a traditional in-person format was preferred in the past, but a hybrid format is preferred now. Respondents indicated the new format is more effective at providing highly desired benefits than the traditional face-to-face approach. These findings have implications for many Extension programs targeting working professionals across large geographic areas.

Knowledge Gained From Good Agricultural Practices Courses For Iowa Growers, Angela M. Shaw, Catherine H. Strohbehn, Linda L. Naeve, Paul A. Domoto, Lester A. Wilson

Journal of Extension

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) educational courses provide produce growers with the fundamental information for producing and processing safe produce. To determine the effectiveness of the current 7-hour GAP course provided in Iowa, growers were surveyed before and 7-14 days after the course to determine changes in knowledge and opinions. Results show that growers positively changed their knowledge and opinions on key food safety principles and regulations, which provides evidence that Extension programming is an effective method to educate small growers. Food safety educators should focus their training on practical methods for documentation, sanitation, and facilities.

Recognizing Occupational Stress: A Case Study Of Admission Staff In A For-Profit Nursing College, Carie L. Powers

All Theses And Dissertations

While numerous studies have looked at the influence of occupational stress on employees, less is known about the effects on employees in the for-profit higher education industry. Admissions advisors in particular must endure cyclical pressures to fill classes to ensure a college’s financial viability. A criterion sample of 12 admissions advisors employed at a for-profit nursing college with campuses located throughout the United States were interviewed. The participant criterion sample specifically sought to include advisors who enroll pre-licensure nursing degree-seeking students.

The purpose of the study was to acquire a richer understanding of nursing admissions advisors’ convergence of personal recognition …

What Are United Pentecostal Church International Women Pastors Experiencing: A Qualitative Inquiry, Cynthia Miller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Clergywomen make up less than four percent of the licensed ministers of the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). This phenomenological inquiry explored how female pastors of the United Pentecostal Church International described their experience of being a female in a profession where men significantly outnumber women in both pastoral and leadership positions. In an attempt to identify factors to guide clergywomen in a truer sense of what it means to be a woman in ministry, eight women serving in pastoral ministry were interviewed. After data analysis of transcribed interviews and participant journals, five findings emerged. The five main findings were …

Large Scale Genetic Research On Neuropsychiatric Disorders In African Populations Is Needed, Shareefa Dalvie, Nastassja Koen, Laramie Duncan, Catherine Abbo, Dickens Akena, Lukoye Atwoli, Bonginkosi Chiliza, Kirsten A. Donald, Eugene Kinyanda, Christine Lochner

Internal Medicine, East Africa

In recent years there have been significant insights into the complex aetiologies of neurodevelopmental brain disorders. For example, neuropsychiatric genetics has achieved success with the identification of 108 loci for schizophrenia (Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, 2014). Furthermore, meta-analyses of genomewide association study (GWAS) results encompassing thousands of samples have been completed for other psychiatric disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism

Depression, Obesity, And Metabolic Syndrome: Prevalence And Risks Of Comorbidity In A Population-Based Study Of Mexican Americans, Rene L. Olvera, Douglas E. Williamson, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Kristina Vatcheva, Joseph B. Mccormick

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction: We examined the prevalence of depression, obesity, and metabolic syndrome and associations between them in a population-based representative cohort of Mexican Americans living on the United States-Mexico border.

Method: The sample in this cross-sectional analysis consisted of 1,768 Mexican American adults (≥ 18 years of age) assessed between the years 2004 and 2010, with whom we tested our central hypothesis of a significant relationship between obesity and depression. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) with a cutoff score of ≥ 16 for depression and a cutoff score of ≥ 27 for severe depression. We …

Saint Mary's Magazine - Fall 2015, Saint Mary's College Of California

Saint Mary's Magazine

No abstract provided.

Marmosets Treated With Oxytocin Are More Socially Attractive To Their Long-Term Mate, Jon Cavanaugh, Michelle C. Huffman, April M. Harnisch, Jeffrey French

Psychology Faculty Publications

Adult male-female bonds are partly characterized by initiating and maintaining close proximity with a social partner, as well as engaging in high levels of affiliative and sociosexual behavior. Oxytocin (OXT), a neuromodulatory nonapeptide, plays a critical role in the facilitation of social bonding and prosocial behavior toward a social partner (Feldman, 2012). However, less attention has been given to whether augmentation of OXT levels in an individual alters others’ perceptions and behavior toward an OXT-treated social partner. We examined social dynamics in well-established male-female pairs of marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) in which one member of the pair was …

Design And Validation Of A Complex Loading Whole Spinal Segment Bioreactor, Amanda Marie Beatty

Theses and Dissertations

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a prevalent health problem that is highly linked to back pain. To understand the disease and tissue response to therapies, ex-vivo whole IVD organ culture systems have recently been introduced. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a whole spinal segment culturing system that loads the disc in complex loading similar to the in-vivo condition, while preserving the adjacent endplates and vertebral bodies. The complex loading applied to the spinal segment was achieved with three pneumatic cylinders. The pneumatic cylinders were rigidly attached to two triangular alumni plates at each corner, comprising …

Three-Dimensional Matrix Fiber Alignment Modulates Cell Migration And Mt1-Mmp Utility By Spatially And Temporally Directing Protrusions, Stephanie I. Fraley, Pei-Hsun Wu, Lijuan He, Yunfeng Feng, Ranjini Krisnamurthy, Gregory D. Longmore, Denis Wirtz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Multiple attributes of the three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix (ECM) have been independently implicated as regulators of cell motility, including pore size, crosslink density, structural organization, and stiffness. However, these parameters cannot be independently varied within a complex 3D ECM protein network. We present an integrated, quantitative study of these parameters across a broad range of complex matrix configurations using self-assembling 3D collagen and show how each parameter relates to the others and to cell motility. Increasing collagen density resulted in a decrease and then an increase in both pore size and fiber alignment, which both correlated significantly with cell motility …

Against Immutability, Jessica A. Clarke

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Courts often hold that antidiscrimination law protects “immutable” characteristics, like sex and race. In a series of recent cases, gay rights advocates have persuaded courts to expand the concept of immutability to include not just those traits an individual cannot change, but also those considered too important for anyone to be asked to change. Sexual orientation and religion are paradigmatic examples. This Article critically examines this new concept of immutability, asking whether it is fundamentally different from the old one and how it might apply to characteristics on the borders of employment discrimination law’s protection, such as obesity, pregnancy, and …

Identity As Proxy, Lauren D. Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

As presently constructed, equal protection doctrine is an identity- based jurisprudence, meaning that the level of scrutiny applied to an alleged act of discrimination turns on the identity category at issue. In that sense, equal protection relies on identity as a proxy, standing in to signify the types of discrimination we find most troubling.

Equal protection's current use of identity as proxy leads to a number of problems, including difficulties in defining identity categories; the tendency to privilege a dominant-identity narrative; failure to distinguish among the experiences of subgroups within larger identity categories; and psychological and emotional harm that can …

Nebraska Chapter Gamma Sigma Delta Newsletter Issue #49 [Sic, #50] Fall 2015

Gamma Sigma Delta, Nebraska Chapter: Newsletters

Welcome New Members

Recipients of 2014 Gamma Sigma Delta Awards

Award of Merit for Service Recipient: Dennis Brink

Excellence in Research Award Recipient: George Graef

Excellence in Teaching Award Recipient: Roberto Cortinas

Excellence in Extension Award Recipient: Gary Zoubek

Alissa Martindale is presented the Outstanding Undergraduate Student

Garth A. Brown is presented the Arthur von Bergen Memorial Award

Vivek Sharma is presented the Outstanding Graduate Student award

In Memoriam: Dale Swartzendruber, Dr. Loyd L. Young, Herman Jacob Gorz, John Kenyon Ward.

Gamma Sigma Delta Committees 2015

Validation Experiments On Finite Element Models Of An Ostrich (Struthio Camelus) Cranium, Andrew R. Cuff, Jen A. Bright, Emily J. Rayfield

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The first finite element (FE) validation of a complete avian cranium was performed on an extant palaeognath, the ostrich (Struthio camelus). Ex-vivo strains were collected from the cranial bone and rhamphotheca. These experimental strains were then compared to convergence tested, specimen-specific finite element (FE) models. The FE models contained segmented cortical and trabecular bone, sutures and the keratinous rhamphotheca as identified from micro-CT scan data. Each of these individual materials was assigned isotropic material properties either from the literature or from nanoindentation, and the FE models compared to the ex-vivo results. The FE models generally replicate the location …

Accord Internship: A South African Ngo’S Approach To Peacekeeping In 2015, Jimmy Bromley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the fall of apartheid and the forty quarters of subsequent growth under Thabo Mbeki, South Africa has been recognized as an emerging global power and one of the most powerful countries in Africa. Because of its relatively newfound power and the way in which South Africa negotiated its own peace and freedom, it has taken a leading role in conflict resolution and peacemaking on the continent. The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) assists South Africa in its dedication to diplomacy and conflict management. The biggest conflict resolution non-governmental organization in Africa, ACCORD works to peacefully …

Evaluating A 1:1 Computer Program In A Secondary School, Andrew R. Walters

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the success of the Lewis Central High School 1:1 Chromebook initiative. This evaluation replicated a study by Dr. Don Johnson evaluating a 1:1 Ipad initiative within the Fort Calhoun Community Schools. The resulting data is intended to provide the Lewis Central Community School District results and feedback to be used toward the implementation of future school-wide initiatives in a more effective and efficient manner. Using Developmental Evaluation model/design, the research findings will be reported to the school board, the Lewis Central High School Building Leadership Team, and to the local Phi Delta …

Iv And Ip Administration Of Rhodamine In Visualization Of Wbc-Bbb Interactions In Cerebral Vessels., Zachary Wilmer Reichenbach, Hongbo Li, John P. Gaughan, Melanie B. Elliott, Ronald Tuma

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Epi-illuminescence intravital fluorescence microscopy has been employed to study leukocyte-endothelial interactions in a number of brain pathologies. Historically, dyes such as Rhodamine 6G have been injected intravenously. However, intravenous injections can predispose experimental animals to a multitude of complications and requires a high degree of technical skill. Here, we study the efficacy of injecting Rhodamine 6G into the peritoneum (IP) for the purpose of analyzing leukocyte-endothelial interactions through a cranial window during real time intravital microscopy. After examining the number of rolling and adherent leukocytes through a cranial window, we found no advantage to the intravenous injection (IV). Additionally, we …

Spinal And Supraspinal Motor Control Predictors Of Rate Of Torque Development, S. T. Johnson, Kristof Kipp, M. F. Norcross, M. A. Hoffman

Exercise Science Faculty Research and Publications

During explosive movements and potentially injurious situations, the ability to rapidly generate torque is critical. Previous research has suggested that different phases of rate of torque development (RTD) are differentiately controlled. However, the extent to which supraspinal and spinal mechanisms predict RTD at different time intervals is unknown. RTD of the plantarflexors across various phases of contraction (i.e., 0–25, 0–50, 0–100, 0–150, 0–200, and 0–250 ms) was measured in 37 participants. The following predictor variables were also measured: (a) gain of the resting soleus H-reflex recruitment curve; (b) gain of the resting homonymous post-activation depression recruitment curve; (c) gain of …

The Use, Impact, And Ban Of Coal Tar- Based Sealants, Hannah Needleman

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.