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Blubber And Beyond: The Role Of Lipids In Thermoregulation And Energy Reserves Of Phocid Seals, Linnea E. Pearson

Marine Biology

Phocid seals rely on lipids in the form of a blubber layer as insulation and lipids as energy sources in blubber and muscle. The amount and lipid composition of blubber and other lipid stores vary throughout life within and among species of phocid seals. I hypothesized that this variation in regulation, allocation, and interactions among lipid stores is influenced by species, ontogeny, and tissue-specific thermal regimes in polar phocids: harp (Pagophilus groenlandicus), hooded (Cystophora cristata), and Weddell (Leptonychotes weddellii) seals. I investigated the thermoregulatory strategy of neonatal harp, hooded, and Weddell seals, and throughout the transition to an aquatic environment …

Steller Sea Lion Survivors: A Retrospective On The Impact Of Alternative Research Methods On An Endangered Species, Courtney Shuert

Marine Biology

Two novel research approaches were developed to facilitate access to wild juvenile Steller sea lions. First, the Transient Juvenile Steller sea lion Project (TJ) facilitated numerous studies of physiology, behavior, and nutrition through temporary captivity (branded TJs, n=45) over the past decade. As a complement, a control group was sampled and released during capture events (FRs, n=35). Second, the Life History Tag (LHX) project was implemented within the TJ project to implant individuals (LHX-1, n=35) with internal transmitters to detect potential causes of mortality. Our goal was to evaluate the potential for long-term impacts of these two research programs on …

Interannual Variability Of Epibenthic Communities In The Chukchi Sea, Alaska, Kimberly Keeler Powell

Marine Biology

Epibenthic communities contain a wide range of organisms and serve an important role in marine ecosystems. They are involved in carbon remineralization, benthic production, and are important prey items for higher trophic levels. Arctic epibenthic communities may be experiencing significant changes in species composition, abundance, and biomass at both short and long term time scales. While epibenthic communities may be responding to long term shifts in the environment, differentiating long term trends from short term interannual variation can be problematic. The present study examined interannual differences of epibenthic communities and potential environmental drivers of their variability in the Chukchi Sea. …

Contemporary Mesozooplankton Communities Of The Beaufort Sea, Caitlin A. Smoot

Marine Biology

Zooplankton are critical trophic links and important modifiers of organic carbon cycles, yet are poorly characterized for much of the Arctic's Beaufort Sea, particularly in mesopelagic (> 200 m) waters. Zooplankton were sampled with 150 and 505 μm mesh nets in the upper 200 m in sections of the Beaufort Sea between Barrow Canyon and the Mackenzie River during August and September 2010-2013 to characterize the species composition, abundance, and biomass of epipelagic Beaufort Sea zooplankton communities. I observed 106 taxonomic zooplankton categories during four field seasons across both mesh sizes; copepods exhibited the highest species richness (38 species), followed …

Digging Deeper Into Article-Based Publishing, Michelle Price

Lavery Library Faculty/Staff Publications

In March 2013, science librarian Michelle Price began tracking online first articles for faculty in her liaison areas of pharmacy, biology, chemistry, physics, and nursing. This was a result of the e-mails she was receiving from faculty inquiring about full-text access to articles they knew had been published due to alerts directly from the publisher’s website. It was these initial e-mails that led Ms. Price to begin digging into the difference between “epub ahead of print” and Article-Based Publishing (ABP). Her interest and involvement would soon spread to the access services and electronic serials librarians at St. John Fisher College …

August 17, 2015 Armstrong Faculty Senate Minutes, Armstrong State University

Armstrong Faculty Senate: Minutes (Archived)

August 17, 2015 Armstrong Faculty Senate Minutes

Enzyme Level N And O Isotope Effects Of Assimilatory And Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction, Lija Treibergs

Master's Theses

Nitrate N and O isotope distributions in the environment can be used to elucidate salient biogeochemical N transformations. In order to do so, it is necessary to know the isotopic imprints characteristic of respective N transformations, and to understand the underlying mechanisms that determine these patterns. In order to provide mechanistic constraints on the isotopic imprints associated with nitrate consuming processes, we measured the enzymatic N and O isotope effects (¹⁵ε and ¹⁸ε) imparted on nitrate by three types of nitrate reductase enzymes, including (a) a prokaryotic respiratory nitrate reductase, Nar, from the heterotrophic denitrifier Paracoccus …

Synergistic Degradation Of Lignocellulose By Fungi And Bacteria In Boreal Forest Soil, Robert A. Burgess

Biological Sciences

Boreal forests contain an estimated 28% of the world's soil carbon, and currently act as a significant global carbon sink. Plant-derived lignocellulose is a major component of soil carbon, and its decomposition is dependent on soil bacteria and fungi. In order to predict the fate of this soil carbon and its potential feedbacks to climate change, the identities, activity, and interactions of soil microbial decomposer communities must be better understood. This study used stable isotope probing (SIP) with ¹³C-labeled lignocellulose and two of its constituents, cellulose and vanillin, to identify microbes responsible for the processing of lignocellulose-derived carbon and examine …

Motivations And Drivers Of Trapper Catch Per Unit Effort In Alaska, Ross R. Dorendorf

Biological Sciences

Indices of abundance based on harvest alone have long been used to track furbearer populations. However, abundance indices based on harvest alone do not account for variation in trapping effort. To my knowledge, adjusting harvest-based furbearer abundance indices to account for effort has not been previously examined in Alaska. Understanding how effort varies among trappers, and how social issues and external factors such as human conflict and fur prices affect effort, can give a clearer understanding of why trapping effort changes. A trapper's motivations may determine how strongly various external factors and social issues influence trapping effort. I sent a …

Alpine Thermal Dynamics And Associated Constraints On The Behavior Of Mountain Goats In Southeast Alaska, Jeffrey HéBert Frederick

Biological Sciences

Alpine Caprinae, including mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus), have been described to be sensitive to temperature changes within their summer range and consequently may be forced to select habitats that allow for the maintenance of a stable core temperature on warm days. Survival may be inhibited if warm ambient temperatures cause mountain goats to reduce time foraging or if too much time is spent on thermoregulatory habitat selection. I investigated mountain goat behavioral activity budgets across alpine temperature gradients in Southeast Alaska using focal animal sampling and scan sampling techniques. I tested the effects of temperature on mountain goat activity and …

The Role Of Glycerol-3-Phosphate Acyltransferase 1 In Mitochondrial Phospholipid Biosynthesis Of Cold-Bodied Fishes, Kelly Anne Keenan

Biological Sciences

Mitochondrial biogenesis is induced by low temperature in many fish species. For example, cold acclimation of Gasterosteus aculeatus (threespine stickleback) increases mitochondrial densities in oxidative skeletal muscle. Oxidative muscles of Antarctic icefishes (suborder Notothenioidei) also have high mitochondrial densities characterized by higher densities of phospholipids compared to red-blooded notothenioids. Mitochondrial biogenesis has been well studied in mammals yet it is unknown how mitochondrial phospholipid synthesis is regulated. I hypothesized that both activity and mRNA levels of glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT), the rate-limiting enzyme in glycerolipid biosynthesis, would increase in oxidative muscle of stickleback, where mitochondrial biogenesis occurs, but not in liver, …

Coupling The Effects Of Dissolved Organic Matter And Nutrient Stoichiometry With Nutrient Uptake In Boreal Forest Headwater Streams, Dana Fjare

Biological Sciences

Discontinuous permafrost affects the hydrology and distribution of vegetation in boreal forest watersheds, which in turn influence stream water chemistry. I investigated how loss of discontinuous permafrost with projected climate change might affect nutrient cycling in boreal forest headwater streams. I hypothesized that 1) the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (C:N:P) ratio in dissolved organic matter (DOM) affects nutrient uptake due to stoichiometric constraints on autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrient assimilation, and 2) labile DOM affects nutrient uptake by increasing heterotrophic production. I tested my hypotheses using a series of instantaneous nutrient additions in nine headwater streams, with a factorial design manipulating …

Molecular Evidence Of Epithelial Cell Damage Caused By Iqmik, An Alaska Smokeless Tobacco Mixture, Gaelen K. Dwyer

Biological Sciences

The percentage of Alaska Natives who use smokeless tobacco (SLT) is 4 times that of non-Native Alaskans and 45 times higher for Alaska Native women than non-Native women. The use of SLT is concentrated in Southwest Alaska where 32% of all adult Alaska Natives use SLT. Out of those users, 35% use only iqmik, a unique form of SLT in Alaska, which is a combination of tobacco leaf mixed with Phellinus igniarius (punk fungus). There is little evidence of the pathological effects of iqmik to assist in the development of an evidenced-based intervention regarding the harmful effects of iqmik. The …

Environmental Drivers Of Deer Population Dynamics And Spatial Selection In Southeast Alaska, Sophie L. Gilbert

Biological Sciences

The coastal temperate rainforest is one of the rarest ecosystems in the world, and a major portion of the global total is found in Southeast Alaska. In this ecosystem, Sitka black-tailed deer are the dominant large herbivore, influencing large carnivores that prey on deer such as wolves and bears, as well as plant species and communities through browsing. In addition, deer play an important economic and cultural role for humans in Southeast Alaska, making up the large majority of terrestrial subsistence protein harvested each year as well as providing the backbone of a thriving tourism industry built around sport hunting. …

Breeding Ecology Of Smith's Longspurs (Calcarius Pictus) In The Brooks Range, Alaska, Heather Rebekah Craig

Biological Sciences

Alaska's Arctic ecosystem provides critical habitat for nesting songbirds. However, within this region climate change projections indicate a shrubbier future, as well as major shifts in summer weather patterns. The polygynandrous Smith's Longspur (Calcarius pictus) is a little known species that is closely tied to treeless tundra habitat in northern Alaska. I evaluated Smith's Longspur dispersal ability and annual survival rates using seven years of banding data, as well as breeding habitat requirements and reproductive success in two populations in the Brooks Range. Most adults (88%; n = 34) returned to nest in the same breeding neighborhood as previous years, …

Effects Of Harvest On Wolf Social Structure, Population Dynamics, And Viewing Opportunities In National Parks, Bridget Borg

Biological Sciences

Management of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in and adjacent to Denali National Park and Preserve (DNPP) is complex. Wolves that live primarily within the park, where they are protected from harvest, often range across the boundary of the park where harvest of wolves is legal. Protection of wolves within the park provides for wolf viewing opportunities along the Denali Park Road for tens of thousands of visitors annually. Additionally, there is interest in maintaining wolf harvest opportunities adjacent to the park. The objectives for wolf viewing and harvest have been perceived as in direct conflict, but quantitative analysis of the …

Co-Extinction In A Host-Parasite Network: Identifying Key Hosts For Network Stability, Tad Dallas, Emily Cornelius

Faculty Publications

Parasites comprise a substantial portion of total biodiversity. Ultimately, this means that host extinction could result in many secondary extinctions of obligate parasites and potentially alter hostparasite network structure. Here, we examined a highly resolved fish-parasite network to determine key hosts responsible for maintaining parasite diversity and network structure (quantified here as nestedness and modularity). We evaluated four possible host extinction orders and compared the resulting co-extinction dynamics to random extinction simulations; including host removal based on estimated extinction risk, parasite species richness and host level contributions to nestedness and modularity. We found that all extinction orders, except the one …

Cues Guiding Leukocyte Transendothelial Migration Across The Blood-Brain Barrier In Neuroinflammation: Endothelial Heterogeneity, Chemokines, And Extracellular Vesicles, Debayon Paul

Doctoral Dissertations

Leukocyte infiltration into the central nervous system (CNS) underlies the pathology in a wide spectrum of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke, meningitis, and neuroAIDS. While the steps that mediate the initial adhesion of activated leukocytes to the endothelial wall has been well-characterized, not much is known about their subsequent transendothelial migration (TEM) across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a highly restrictive paracellular barrier established by the specialized CNS endothelial cells, thus severely limiting the treatment options.

In Multiple Sclerosis (MS) ‘focal’ leukocyte infiltration into the CNS parenchyma early in disease is thought to be critical for the …

The Common Good: Salmon Science, The Conservation Crisis, And The Shaping Of Alaskan Political Culture, Matthew J. Robinson

Arctic and Northern Studies

Without a doubt, the salmon fishery in Alaska has been at the forefront of natural resource debates and has served as an example of ineffective, misunderstood, and controversial policies, as well as many missed opportunities to better understand the resource. Management of Alaska's longest lasting natural resource industry is contingent upon an evolving scientific understanding of salmon. At the same time, policy has been shaped by political, economic, cultural, and social phenomena. Considering these parts of the historical narrative of the Alaska salmon industry demonstrates the fundamental challenges of fisheries management: reconciling biological limitation, economic demands, and cultural practices. This …

Bounty In The Bering Strait: A Case For Proactive Regulation In The World's Next Chokepoint, Emily Clarke Russell

Arctic and Northern Studies

This thesis analyzes trends in waterborne trade throughout history to demonstrate that the Bering Strait will soon become a chokepoint of international trade. Scientific studies suggest that the accelerating effects of global warming in the Arctic will result in ice-free routes in the coming decades. Given the likelihood that vessel traffic through the Bering Strait will rise, this thesis assesses the region's ecological vulnerability, along with its significant commercial and cultural values. The history of shipping regulation worldwide and commercial regulation in the Bering Sea reveals a tendency to enact regulation in response to a major oil spill or species …

Assessing The Fate Of Crude Oil In Arctic Coastline Sediments: Effect Of Exposure Time And Sediment Structure, Anna Christine Iverson

Engineering

The research presented in this thesis will allow for a better understanding of how crude oil interacts with the shoreline. Offshore oil production along Alaska's arctic coast is expected to increase in coming years. While this is likely to create large economic benefits for the state, crude oil spills may occur. An oil spill may reach the shoreline, where it could create adverse short and long-term ecological effects. Mass transfer processes, affected by sediment characteristics, play an important role in determining the fate of crude oil along shorelines. Crude oil viscosity and diffusion are strongly temperature dependent. Nutrients, commonly added …

Crude Oil Bioremediation In Arctic Seashore Sediments, Priyamvada Sharma

Engineering

Oil is an important energy source but also an environment pollutant. Crude oil spills along Arctic shorelines might occur due to the expected increase in offshore oil production. To reduce adverse effects on the environment in the case of a spill, it is important to develop approaches to remove spilled oil. Bioremediation with addition of nutrients has shown promising results in enhancing oil degradation rates. This research focuses on determining the effect of different environmental conditions on the rate of crude oil biodegradation in laboratory experiments, as a proxy for oil spills at Arctic seashores. Laboratory microcosms were set up …

Reduction Of Psychiatric Patient Boarding In The Ed, Eriam S. Nnamaliri

Master's Projects and Capstones

REDUCTION OF PSYCHIATRIC PATIENT BOARDING IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM

ABSTRACT

Objective: Psychiatric patient boarding is a public health concern and a threat to patient safety. The prevalence of psychiatric emergencies in the United States continues to increase due to the strain on mental health services. There is a dire need to address psychiatric patient boarding before it gets even worse. The purpose of this project is to identify the causes and identify measures to decrease emergency department length of stay (LOS) for psychiatric patients in the ED. This project is to help facilitate the development of a more precise nursing …

Fluorinated Metallo Phthalocyanines For Chemical And Biological Catalysis, Hemantbhai H. Patel

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The rational design of robust oxidation catalysts based on organic molecules is hindered by the presence of labile C-H bonds. We have shown recently that replacing all C-H bonds by a combination of fluoro- and perfluoro-groups in a bioinspired Cytochrome P450 model based on a phthalocyanine, Pc, scaffold results in a stable yet reactive oxidation catalyst. The Pc cobalt complex catalyzes, for example, the aerobic oxidation of thiols to disulfides, a reaction of both biological significance and industrial importance.

The presence of robust C-F bonds, however, renders the catalyst unsuitable for attachment to solid-state supports, except via van der Waals …

Variation In Abundance And Physiological Status Of Juvenile Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus Keta) In Relation To Marine Factors In Southeast Alaska, Michael L. Kohan

Fisheries

Little is known about the mechanisms influencing the critical early life stages of juvenile chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) from coastal to offshore marine waters. There is mounting evidence to suggest that fluctuations in early marine conditions affect juvenile salmon physiological status and year class strength. We investigated relationships of a suite of marine factors at local, regional, and basin scales to the physiological status and abundance of juvenile chum salmon in northern Southeast Alaska (SEAK) from 1997-2013. Correlation analyses were used to identify potential mechanisms influencing year class strength. Marine factors at the local scale were correlated to the observed …

Population Dynamics Of Pacific Herring And Humpback Whales, Sitka Sound, Alaska 1981-2011, Joseph B. Liddle

Fisheries

Humpback whales are a major predator in Sitka Sound, possibly consuming as much as a half-ton of Pacific herring per day. These large migratory baleen whales congregate in Sitka Sound to feed on schools of Pacific herring which spawn in April. In recent decades humpback whale abundance has increased tremendously in Sitka Sound after recovering from near extinction due to commercial whaling. In order to assess the long-term impact on herring by humpback whales, I estimated humpback whale abundance from 1981 to 2011. To do so I developed a Bayesian mark-recapture method for small sample sizes. I also modified a …

Contemporary Evolution In Threespine Stickleback From Uplifted Islands In Alaska, Emily Lescak

Fisheries

How rapidly can evolution occur in the wild? Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) fish are a prime model organism to address this question because we can study post-glacial populations that are only about 13,000 years old. During this relatively short period of time, oceanic stickleback have repeatedly and independently colonized newly available freshwater habitat, giving rise to resident freshwater populations that exhibit repeated patterns of phenotypic and genetic divergence. However, it is currently unknown whether it actually takes thousands of years for resident freshwater populations to diverge from the ancestral form. To address this question, we have identified phenotypically variable stickleback …

Understanding Place In Fisheries Management: An Examination Of Ecological And Social Communities In The Pribilof Islands, Alaska, Courtney Lyons

Fisheries

Holistic approaches toward fisheries management are widely considered a more sustainable option than standard single-species frameworks. This project uses the holistic frameworks of ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and place-making to examine the ecological and social systems of the Pribilof Islands and the ways in which fisheries management decisions have structured these systems. In Chapter 1, we sought to understand potential ecological constraints of temperature, fish predation, and interactions with a congener (red king crab; Paralithodes camtschaticus) on blue king crab (Paralithodes platypus) recovery. These examinations suggest that blue king crab juveniles switch strategies from predator avoidance to a strategy of …

Marine-Entry Timing And Growth Rates Of Juvenile Chum Salmon In Alaskan Waters Of The Chukchi And Northern Bering Seas, Stacy L. Vega

Fisheries

Recent climate change is most pronounced in the Arctic, with many implications for juvenile salmon life-history patterns, such as altered timing of migrations and/or timing and success of life-history stages. The objectives of this study were to determine the timing of marine entry and early marine growth of juvenile Chum Salmon Oncorhynchus keta in the Chukchi and northern Bering seas. Sagittal otoliths were collected from juvenile Chum Salmon in summers 2007, 2012, and 2013 via surface trawls in the southern Chukchi and northern Bering seas. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to discriminate between freshwater and marine environments, and …

Theoretical Investigations On Strategies For Sampling Meteorological And Chemical Field Quantities In Smoke Plumes Using Uavs, Mary K. Butwin

Atmospheric Sciences

Wildfires emit large quantities of pollutants that decrease the air quality in the atmospheric boundary layer. Understanding the chemical makeup of a fire plume is beneficial for air quality studies and for air quality forecasting in communities. To be able to understand the chemical composition, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) should be flown into plumes with an air quality instrumental payload. Before such flights can be completed it is crucial that the flight paths will allow for a complete understanding of the chemical concentration distributions within the plume. To develop such a flight path, with respect to flight altitude, direction and …