Digital Commons Network^™

Population Genomics Of White-Footed Mice (Peromyscus Leucopus) In New York City, Stephen Edward Harris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Urbanization significantly alters natural ecosystems. New York City (NYC) is one of the oldest and most urbanized cities in North America, but still maintains substantial populations of some native wildlife. The white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, is a common resident of NYC's forest fragments, and isolated populations may adapt in response to novel urban ecosystems. Using pooled transcriptome-wide RNAseq data, individually barcoded transcriptome-wide RNAseq data, and genome-wide RADseq data, I found genetic differentiation between urban and rural P. leucopus populations and evidence suggestive of local adaptation. I compared genome and transcriptome-wide SNP data in P. leucopus from relatively large urban …

View From The Front Gate: A Comparative Study Of Nyc Schools From A College Admissions Perspective, Sharon Hardy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study evaluated patterns of college applications from NYC Schools to CUNY. Specifically, a cohort of former large high schools that were reorganized into small schools of choice (SSCs) under the City's Children First education plan were studied. Coupled with the assessments of college admissions directors, the study concluded that despite an increase in applications, the outcomes of student academic quality and college preparation from a college admissions perspective were mixed.

Exploring Chromatin-Bound Mdm2 Functions In Compromised Transcriptional Regulation Of P53 Target Genes, Melissa Rosso

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

MDM2 overexpression is a common occurrence in many types of cancer. A single nucleotide polymorphism (T to G) near the mdm2 promoter, termed mdm2 SNP309, leads to MDM2 overexpression. This polymorphism is associated with accelerated tumor formation, decreased sensitivity to DNA damage treatment and compromised p53 transcriptional activity. Two G/G SNP309 cancer cell lines MANCA and A875, a Burkitts' lymphoma and melanoma respectively, express a stable wild-type p53 protein. We previously reported these cells have DNA damage resistant MDM2-p53 chromatin complexes and hypothesized that MDM2 is the contributing factor for the compromised p53 transcriptional activity. We created constitutive mdm2 shRNA …

The Rediscovery And Precarious Status Of Chihuahuan Dwarf Crayfish Cambarellus Chihuahuae, Evan W. Carson, Carlos Pedraza-Lara, María De Lourdes Lozano-Vilano, Gabino A. Rodríguez-Almaráz, Iris Banda-Villanueva, Lissette A. Sepúlveda-Hernández, Lilia Vela-Valladares, Andrea Cantú-Garza, Mauricio De La Maza-Benignos

Occasional Papers

We report rediscovery of the Chihuahuan Dwarf Crayfish Cambarellus chihuahuae at the desert spring Ojo Solo in Ejido Rancho Nuevo in Chihuahua, México. This species was reported to be extinct. Morphological evaluation of 12 voucher specimens confirmed the population as C. chihuahuae. Crayfish were abundant upon rediscovery in September 2012 and remained so throughout bimonthly monitoring from February 2014 to April 2015. Despite abundance at Ojo Solo, the species is critically imperiled, with four of its five native habitats dry and the remaining one in decline; however, a population was established at Ojo Caliente, a nearby natural refuge habitat we …

The Anchor, Volume 129.05: September 30, 2015, Hope College

The Anchor: 2015

The Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor's history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). In recent years The Anchor moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. The Anchor is now published in print twice per academic semester. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular.

Beauty Practices Among Latinas: The Impact Of Acculturation, Skin Color And Sex Roles, Angelica Flores

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study sought to explore if and how Latinas use of beauty products (cosmetics) was influenced by their degree of acculturation to U.S. American culture, their phenotype (skin color and facial features) and sex role orientation. While beauty practices are often regarded as trivial, they are important because they reflect women's internalization of societal values and speak to the importance placed on impression management. Although it can be easily observed that people go to great lengths to decorate their exteriors in order to manage others perceptions of them, very few studies look at variables that influence these behaviors. Also, while …

The Winonan, Winona State University

The Winonan - 2010s

No abstract provided.

Depth-Resolved Multispectral Sub-Surface Imaging Using Multifunctional Upconversion Phosphors With Paramagnetic Properties, Zaven Ovanesyan, L. Christopher Mimun, Gangadharan Ajith Kumar, Brian G. Yust, Chamath Dannongoda, Karen S. Martirosyan, Dhiraj K. Sardar

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Molecular imaging is very promising technique used for surgical guidance, which requires advancements related to properties of imaging agents and subsequent data retrieval methods from measured multispectral images. In this article, an upconversion material is introduced for subsurface near-infrared imaging and for the depth recovery of the material embedded below the biological tissue. The results confirm significant correlation between the analytical depth estimate of the material under the tissue and the measured ratio of emitted light from the material at two different wavelengths. Experiments with biological tissue samples demonstrate depth resolved imaging using the rare earth doped multifunctional phosphors. In …

Persons As Self-Consciously Concerned Beings, Benjamin Abelson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is an analysis of the concept of a person. According to this analysis, persons are beings capable of being responsible for their actions, which requires possession of the capacities for self-consciousness, in the sense of critical awareness of one's first-order desires and beliefs and concern, meaning emotional investment in the satisfaction of one's desires and truth of one's beliefs. The persistence of a person over time requires uninterrupted maintenance of those capacities. This view is in conflict with the more popular account of persistence in terms of the continuity of distinctive psychological states. Furthermore, this account of personhood …

Maternal Substance Use Disorder, Difficult Temperament And Child Psychopathology: Examining A Biopsychosocial Model For The Intergenerational Transmission Of Vulnerability, Wendy Carolina Franco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Substance abuse is a significant issue that affects the lives of adults and children in our society. Children of substance abusing parents are at greater risk for poor psychosocial adjustment and psychopathology. The present study drew on biopsychosocial and epigenetic approaches to study vulnerability and resilience in children. The aim was to advance the understanding of child psychopathology and of intergenerational effects of maternal substance use disorder (SUD) by examining the independent and combined contributions of risk factors for child psychopathology in children of mothers with SUD. Employing a "goodness of fit model," which posits that adverse child outcomes …

Incipient Speciation In Freshwater Fish Species From Two Isolated Watersheds, Paula Gore Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The process of speciation occurs as a result of restricted gene flow between segments of an interbreeding population occupying different geographic areas. This separation may result in isolated populations which undergo genetic and phenotypic changes. The Wisconsin glacial period, which ended approximately 17,500 years ago, dramatically altered the geography of North America. The glacier covered almost the entire North America as it advanced. Areas that were not covered with ice provided suitable habitats (refugia) for relict species that were previously widespread in the northern section of the continent. As the ice sheet retreated, animals and plants were able to return …

The Insulin/Igf Signaling Regulator Cytohesin/Grp-1 Modulates Sensitivity To Excitotoxicity In C. Elegans, Nazila Tehrani

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Excitotoxicity is a form of neurodegeneration that serves as the main underlying cause of brain damage in stroke/brain ischemia, and a contributing factor in a range of neurological diseases such as Epilepsy, ALS, Alzheimer, and Huntington's disease. In excitotoxicity, over-activation of glutamate receptors causes necrotic neuronal cell death. In spite of intense study of excitotoxicity, the molecular mechanisms that lead from glutamate receptor activation to necrotic death remain a mystery. Aging neurons are known to be more vulnerable to excitotoxicity and less likely to recover, but the underlying reasons for the increased cellular vulnerability are unknown. To gain insight into …

The Fengsu-Driven Practice Of Sending Infants To China: The Experiences Of Chinese Immigrant Mothers In New York, Kitching Rhoda Wong

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores Fujianese women's transnational parenting experiences. Although transnational mothering is ubiquitous in an era of globalization, this study surfaces the unique aspects of this phenomenon among Chinese female migrants to New York City. These women send months-old infants to China for care expecting their return at school age. The 'satellite-baby' phenomenon (Bohr, 2009) appears unique to Chinese immigrant mothers, particularly those from the Fujian-Fuzhou region. Conducted in the phenomenological tradition of qualitative research, I sought to uncover the complex, contextual experiences mothers experienced in their migration to the US. This included their experiences as immigrants, their decisions to …

Variability, Stability, And Flexibility In The Speech Kinematics And Acoustics Of Adults Who Do And Do Not Stutter, Eric S. Jackson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is well known that people who do and do not stutter produce speech differently, at least some of the time, even when perceived as fluent. One way that investigators have assessed these differences is by measuring variability, or the inconsistency of repeated speech movements. Variability in speech has typically been quantified using linear analysis techniques (e.g., measures of central tendency), and results have indicated that people who stutter produce speech that is (sometimes) characterized by increased variability. However, variability is a complex phenomenon, one that cannot be assessed by linear methods alone. This dissertation employs linear and nonlinear analysis …

The Ecology Of Winter Flounder From An Otolith Perspective, George William Jackman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, sagittal otoliths were used as a lens to examine latent life history patterns in winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) and also as a means of interpreting the species' relationship to their abiotic and biotic environment. Otoliths provide a unique and powerful perspective into the lives of the telost fishes, because they permanently record the spatial and temporal histories through sequential growth patterns from conception to capture. The patterns of growth and dormancy in the otolith are regulated by endogenous and exogenous rhythms, and as the otolith grows, trace elements are absorbed from the ambient environment and …

Musical Regularity And Rhythmic Patterns: A Quantitative Analysis Of Birdsong Structure, Eathan Ezra Janney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Birdsong is a complex, learned behavior that, like music, has meaningful units at multiple timescales. Birds perform by constructing extended presentations of their phrase repertoire. Each bird's repertoire is built from small units, such as syllables, or groups of syllables with characteristic pitch, rhythm, and timbre. Like a musician each bird has its unique structure of performance that communicates its individual identity. Also contained within a bird's performance, is information about its group identity and species identity. Like a musician's performance, a bird's singing affects the behavioral state of listeners'birds perform to attract mates and defend territory.

Subjectively, many can …

Accessing Medicinally-Relevant Scaffolds Via Organocatalyzed Cascade Reactions, Joshua Hadley Jones

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The field of asymmetric catalysis embodies the efforts of chemists to mimic the stereoselectivity routinely achieved by biological systems. Asymmetric organocatalysis, a sub-field of asymmetric catalysis, is broadly based on the catalytic activity of non-transition metal, small molecules that transmit chirality to substrates. This dissertation describes experimental work towards the construction of versatile, medicinally-relevant molecular scaffolds using chiral, diarylprolinol silyl ether organocatalysts. Specifically, these catalysts were used in 1-pot, iminium-enamine catalyzed cascade reactions to functionalize α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. A comprehensive review of iminium and enamine organocatalysis is provided, including its development towards iminium-enamine cascade reactions. This review provides background for the …

Cultural Evolution In Natural Populations: A Quantitative Bioacoustic Analysis, Chenghui Ju

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bird song is a powerful model system in behavioral biology, especially for learning and cultural evolution. Understanding the origins and maintenance of vocal diversity in nature is fundamentally important to acoustic biology. Here, we propose a large-scale, integrative population analysis of nearly 2000 songs of the house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) (190 individuals) collected in western Long Island of New York during an interval of 37 years (between 1975 and 2012) to explore cultural change of bird songs. Generally, I have three aims in this study. In the chapter 1, to facilitate acoustic analysis for field recordings with ambient noise, of …

Whistles Of Sympatric Species Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) And Spotted Dolphins (Stenella Frontalis) In The Bahamas: Acoustic Characteristics And Contextual Use, Jennifer Daisy Kaplan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bottlenose and spotted dolphins in the Bahamas frequently interact in social, socio-sexual, and aggressive encounters, and whistles are thought to play a key role in their communication. Concurrent vocal and behavioral recordings of wild sympatric species of Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were collected from three Bahamas populations, and the acoustic parameters, structure, and contextual use of their whistles were analyzed. The mean acoustic parameters of spotted dolphins in the Bimini and White Sand Ridge Bahamas populations were higher in frequency than those of bottlenose dolphins, but bottlenose dolphins produced whistles that had higher …

Olfaction As The Paradigm For Perceptual Philosophy, Andreas Keller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Plato wrote that smell is of a "half-formed nature" and that not much can be said about it, and Kant identified smell as the "most ungrateful" and "most dispensable" of the senses. Because contemporary philosophers share this distaste for smell perception, olfaction is often dismissed or ignored in philosophical accounts of perception. Instead, contemporary philosophy of perception is based almost exclusively on visual perception. The goal of this dissertation is to show that this focus on a single modality distorts our understanding of what perception is.

I am not the first to realize the potential of opening up perceptual philosophy …

Regulation Of The Vacuolar Atpase Activity, Paulina Konarzewska

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In eukaryotes, V-ATPases play an essential role in cellular pH homeostasis as they transport hydrogen ions into the vacuoles. This assures an acidic vacuolar interior and normal physiological processes associated with this organelle. Studies show that mutations in any of the VMA genes encoding for subunits of the V-ATPase pump result in growth inhibition in the absence of inositol, suggesting that V-ATPases may play an important role in phospholipid biosynthesis or vice versa. It is not clear how VMA genes affect phospholipid biosynthesis and how the regulators of phospholipid biosynthetic genes may affect ATPase activity. Here, we employ biochemical and …

The 'In-Group Advantage' For Perceiving Emotion Across Demographic Groups And Communication Channels, Thomas Myers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The ability to perceive emotions in others is critical to successful social interaction. While much research has been conducted on some of the factors affecting emotion perception, other areas have received relatively little attention and, thus, are not well understood. There is growing evidence to suggest that various demographic factors, as well as their interactions, impact the accuracy of emotion perception. The impact of these factors seems to vary as a function of the particular channel (e.g., facial, prosodic, and lexical) through which emotions are perceived and may even be influenced by the presence of an 'in-group advantage' (IGA; Elfenbein …

Explorations In Advancing Microalgae Productivity, Peter Neofotis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis is part of an effort to advance microalgae cultivation for biofuel and high value products. The first chapters describe a large scale screening effort in which novel strains that hold great promise in large outdoor cultivation systems were isolated. Among these are strains of Scenedesmus obliquus, Borodinellopsis texensis, Chlorella sorokiniana, Ankistrodesmus, Coelastrella, and a previously uncharacterized species in the Chlamydomonadales. These species are characterized in terms of their phylogenetic relationship, biomass productivity, and, for some, lipid and carotenoid profiles under growth and stress conditions. Also discussed in regards to growth metabolism and oil …

Parentification And Separation-Individuation In Siblings Of Individuals With A Chronic Illness Or Disability, Danielle Benveniste Stevens

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Well siblings of children with an illness or disability constitute a population of growing interest in psychological research. Past research suggests that these individuals may be likely to adopt increased caretaking responsibilities, or a parentified role, within the family. However, to date, few studies have examined the experiences of well siblings as they relate to late adolescent development. This study extends the well sibling research to the period of emerging adulthood and examines the degree to which 18 to 25 year-old well sibling and control groups report different levels of parentification and endorse different patterns of adolescent separation-individuation. In addition, …

Chinese-American Young Adult Children's Perception Of Parental Psychological And Behavioral Control And Its Impact On Their Emotional And Social Well-Being, Wan-Hai Tseng

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The primary aim of this qualitative study was to describe the ways in which Chinese-American young adult children perceive their parent(s) and/or primary caregiver(s)' expressions of psychological and behavioral control. It also explored how they believed these types of control affected their emotional and social well-being over time. Given that it is documented that their parents are demanding, and that this may be the reason their mental health outcomes are poorer than non-Asians, this exploration was needed. This research sought to provide a better understanding of the emotional and social development of Chinese-American young adult children as it relates to …

Working Memory Deficits And Emotion Dysregulation In Youth With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Understanding Relationships And Treatment Implications, Jodi Zehava Uderman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Evidence suggests that working memory (WM) impairment is a primary deficit in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), underlying core symptoms of the disorder and associated impairments. However, the relationship between deficits in different WM components and emotional problems specifically in ADHD has not yet been studied. Knowledge of the cognitive substrates contributing to emotional deficits in ADHD could inform efforts toward refining cognitive remediation as a treatment for emotion dysregulation in this population.

The first aim of this study (Aim 1) investigated whether WM deficits, as a global construct, were related to and mediated the relationship between ADHD and emotion dysregulation. The …

Essays On The Economics Of Aging, Zhendong Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The increase in life expectancy in the US and the changing labor supply of older workers have raised issues about the fiscal solvency of health care and pension systems, as well as labor market stability and employment opportunities for younger workers. In light of these facts, this dissertation consists of three essays that focus on the economic causes and consequences of changes in the labor supply of older workers due to population aging.

The first essay examines the effect of longevity on older Americans' labor supply decisions of retirement and un-retirement. Instead of using self-rated survival probabilities as the proxy …

Senescent Changes In Orientation, Frequency, And 3-D Slant And Shape Perception, Danny Tam

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The ability to perceive the 3-Dimensional world is effortless despite the fact that the input to the visual system is 2-Dimensional. Attempts to derive biologically plausible models of shape from texture have focused on how changes in orientation and spatial frequency information are processed based on the response properties of primary visual cortex (V1) neurons. However, the relative contributions of orientation and spatial frequency information in detecting slant and shape from 3-D surfaces are not well understood. Additionally, in senescence, changes in optical components of the eye result in reduced frequency sensitivity, but whether concurrent neurophysiological changes affect the ability …

The Importance Of Bioacoustics For Dolphin Welfare: Soundscape Characterization With Implications For Management, Heather Ruth Spence

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sound is the primary sensory modality for dolphins, yet policies mitigating anthropogenic sound exposure are limited in wild populations and even fewer noise policies or guidelines have been developed for governing dolphin welfare under human care. Concerns have been raised that dolphins under human care live in facilities that are too noisy, or are too acoustically sterile. However, these claims have not been evaluated to characterize facility soundscapes, and further, how they compare to wild soundscapes. The soundscape of a wild dolphin habitat off the coast of Quintana, Roo, Mexico was characterized based on Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) recordings over …

Matrix Stiffness Regulates Glial Cell Morphology And Differentiation, Mateusz M. Urbanski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Studies from our laboratory have shown that inhibition of non-muscle myosin II (NMII) activity has opposite effects on the formation of myelin by oligodendrocytes (OL), the myelinating glia of the central nervous system (CNS) and Schwann cells (SC), which perform the same function in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The decrease of NMII activity in SC impairs their ability to establish polarity and myelinate, while its inhibition in OL enhances process branching and increases the amount of myelin formed in vitro an in vivo. A growing number of studies have shown that NMII also plays a role in the ability …