Digital Commons Network^™

The Functional Extinction Of Andean Megafauna, Angela Rozas-Dávila, Bryan G. Valencia, Mark B. Bush

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Controversy exists over the cause and timing of the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna. In the tropical Andes, deglaciation and associated rapid climate change began ∼8,000 years before human arrival, providing an opportunity to separate the effects of climate change from human hunting on megafaunal extinction. We present a paleoecological record spanning the last 25,000 years from Lake Pacucha, Peru (3,100 m elevation). Fossil pollen, charcoal, diatoms, and the dung fungus Sporormiella, chronicle a two-stage megaherbivore population collapse. Sporormiella abundance, the proxy for megafaunal presence, fell sharply at ∼21,000 years ago, but rebounded prior to a permanent decline between ∼16,800 …

Seeking Common Sense For The Common Law Of Common Interest In The D.C. Circuit, Jared S. Sunshine

Catholic University Law Review

Privilege law can be frustrated by the complexity of modern legal actions involving ramified enterprises engaging with their peers. To protect such allied parties cooperating in litigation or other legal matters, courts have innovated doctrines extending discovery protections to such postures under the names of co-client, joint defense, and common interest privilege. The niceties of these doctrines have proven unclear, however, particularly in the challenging situation of competing companies whose collusion or combinations must be monitored for antitrust concerns. Following a thorough overview of each doctrine and identifying how they overlap and differ, a focused examination of multi-party privilege law …

Learning From Australia’S Funding Of Higher Ed., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the most controversial issues in higher education today is its cost, particularly for the students who end up carrying the burden of heavy college loan debt. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the total U.S student loan debt was $1.26 trillion in 2016, which is more than the total credit card debt in the country.

Prenatal Androgen Exposure And Parental Care Interact To Influence Timing Of Reproductive Maturation In Marmosets, Michelle C. Huffman, Jonathan Santo, Jeffrey French

Psychology Faculty Publications

The timing of reproductive maturation is susceptible to hormonal and environmental influences, and variation in this timing can be partially attributed to the prenatal and post-natal environment. We examined associations between prenatal steroid exposure and the post-natal family environment on the variability in reproductive maturation timing in young marmosets (Callithrix geoffroyi). Urine samples from pregnant females were analyzed for cortisol (CORT) and androgens (uA). Post-natal uA was measured in males to determine age (in days) of adult-like levels of androgens associated with spermatogenesis; post-natal pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG) was measured in females to determine age (in days) of first …

The Role Of The Chloroplastic And Endoplasmic Reticulum Ascorbate Subcellular Pools In Plant Physiology, Jessica Patricia Yactayo-Chang

Student Theses and Dissertations

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid, AsA) is the most abundant water-soluble antioxidant in plants. Ascorbate scavenges free radicals, is an enzyme cofactor, and a donor/ acceptor of electrons in the chloroplast. Ascorbate protects tissues against damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced through normal metabolism or generated from stress. The inositol route to AsA involves four enzymes: myo-inositol oxygenase, glucuronate reductase, gluconolactonase (GNL), and L-gulono-1,4-lactone oxidase (GulLO). The third enzyme, GNL, has been characterized in rat and bacteria but not in plants. Eighteen putative GNLs were identified in Arabidopsis, one of which, AtGNL, is interesting because it possesses a chloroplastic …

Using Spatialisation To Support Exploratory Search Behaviour, Clement Roux

Dissertations

Information-seekers traditionally interact with digital content through keyword-based search interfaces displaying results in list views. Well-defined lookup search tasks are performed brilliantly with these interfaces, enabling users to find relevant information and develop a relative understanding of the underlying information space. However, it is feasible to suggest that ill-defined and abstract search tasks could be better supported with a different interface that could allow the user to explore a library’s content and develop an appropriate mental model of the information space. One such approach is based on the use of visualisation, an approach to data analysis that aims to reduce …

Aspects Of Host Usage Of The Chestnut Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon Castaneus) In Arkansas, Jeremiah Max Salinger

Student Theses and Dissertations

Most native North American lamprey species are imperiled in some manner, but are curiously understudied. The research described in this thesis addresses the adult feeding biology of the Chestnut Lamprey (Ichthyomyzon castaneus), a freshwater parasitic lamprey native to the southeastern United States. This thesis addresses Chestnut Lamprey attachment site selection and size-selective parasitism of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in an outdoor laboratory setting, as well as Chestnut Lamprey host usage and distribution in Arkansas. Approximately 75% of the 80 wounded Rainbow Trout studied were attacked in their dorsal mid-section. Chestnut Lampreys were found to select shorter hosts, with no mass …

Introduction: Envisioning The Good Life In The 21st Century And Beyond, Shannon Vallor

Philosophy

In May 2014 cosmologist Stephen Hawking, computer scientist Stuart Russell, and physicists Max Tegmark and Frank Wilczek published an open letter in the UK news outlet The Independent, sounding the alarm about the grave risks to humanity posed by emerging technologies of artificial intelligence. They invited readers to imagine these technologies "outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand." The authors note that while the successful creation of artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to bring "huge benefits" to our world, and would undoubtedly be "the biggest event in human history ... …

Reconciling Agriculture, Carbon And Biodiversity In A Savannah Transformation Frontier, Lyndon Estes, T. Searchinger, M. Spiegel, D. Tian, S. Sichinga, M. Mwale, L. Kehoe, T. Kuemmerle, A. Berven, N. Chaney, J. Sheffield, E. F. Wood, K. K. Caylor

Geography

Rapidly rising populations and likely increases in incomes in sub-Saharan Africa make tens of millions of hectares of cropland expansion nearly inevitable, even with large increases in crop yields. Much of that expansion is likely to occur in higher rainfall savannas, with substantial costs to biodiversity and carbon storage. Zambia presents an acute example of this challenge, with an expected tripling of population by 2050, good potential to expand maize and soya bean production, and large areas of relatively undisturbed miombo woodland and associated habitat types of high biodiversity value. Here, we present a new model designed to explore the …

The Contemporary Tax Journal's Interview Of Dr. Susan Martin, Shilpa Balnadu

The Contemporary Tax Journal

No abstract provided.

Investigating The Impact Of Unsupervised Feature-Extraction From Multi-Wavelength Image Data For Photometric Classification Of Stars, Galaxies And Qsos, Annika Lindh

Dissertations

This thesis reviews the current state of photometric classification in Astronomy and identifies two main gaps: a dependence on handcrafted rules, and a lack of interpretability in the more successful classifiers. To address this, Deep Learning and Computer Vision were used to create a more interpretable model, using unsupervised training to reduce human bias.

The main contribution is the investigation into the impact of using unsupervised feature-extraction from multi-wavelength image data for the classification task. The feature-extraction is achieved by implementing an unsupervised Deep Belief Network to extract lower-dimensionality features from the multi-wavelength image data captured by the Sloan Digital …

"Cells In Motion" The Focus Of This Month's Cafe Scientifique, University Relations

Campus News Archive

The next Café Scientifique will take place on Tuesday, September 27, at 6 p.m. at the Common Cup Coffeehouse (501 Atlantic Avenue, Morris, MN 56267). Associate Professor of Biology PZ Myers and Katrine Sjovold ’18, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will lead the discussion: “Cells in Motion: How Cells Move to Build Embryos, Create Patterns, and Cause Cancer.”

Speaking From The Grave. Should Copyright Listen?, Jessica Silbey

Faculty Scholarship

Should authors be able to control the use of their work after they die? It’s a question that touches deep personal and public concerns. It resonates with longstanding debates in literary studies over the “death of the author” and “authorial intent,” and is an issue that Professor Eva Subotnik tackles in her latest article, Artistic Control After Death (forthcoming in the Washington Law Review).

Currently, U.S. copyright expires 70 years after the author’s death so that control of an author’s copyrights extends far into the future. Long after an author creates a work, often decades after publication and the work’s …

Epithelial Cell Integrin Β1 Is Required For Developmental Angiogenesis In The Pituitary Gland, Kathleen M. Scully, Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, Michal Krawczyk, Daria Merkurjev, Havilah Taylor, Antonia Livolsi, Jessica Tollkuhn, Radu V. Stan, Michael G. Rosenfeld

Dartmouth Scholarship

As a key component of the vertebrate neuroendocrine system, the pituitary gland relies on the progressive and coordinated development of distinct hormone-producing cell types and an invading vascular network. The molecular mechanisms that drive formation of the pituitary vasculature, which is necessary for regulated synthesis and secretion of hormones that maintain homeostasis, metabolism, and endocrine function, remain poorly understood. Here, we report that expression of integrin β1 in embryonic pituitary epithelial cells is required for angiogenesis in the developing mouse pituitary gland. Deletion of pituitary epithelial integrin β1 before the onset of angiogenesis resulted in failure of invading endothelial cells …

St. Mark’S Catholic Community Of The Deaf, September 18, 2016

Saint Mark's Catholic Community of the Deaf

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Edmonton, Canada

Saint Mark's Catholic Community of the Deaf Finding Aid

Large Animal Genetic Engineering Summit 2016 Proceedings, Utah State University

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the first Large Animal Genetic Engineering (LAGE) Summit. Our objectives for the summit are twofold: 1) to provide an update on new approaches to the genetic modification of large animal species for development of better animal models for biomedical research, biomanufacturing, and improved agricultural production; and 2) to provide a forum for discussions on funding mechanisms and regulations effecting development of genetically engineered large animals. Our first summit is being held in Bethesda, Maryland, to facilitate participation by representatives from various federal agencies who either fund or regulate the production of …

Hispanic Heritage Month Begins Monday At Um, Staff Report

University of Mississippi News

Observance includes film series, lectures and music

Clinton And Trump Reveal Hairy Problems, Mary Stobie

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

Maybe because I have unruly hair, I stay awake at night thinking about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I wonder if they struggle with their hair the way I do. And what if they were to compare notes about their hair?

Diclofenac And Its Transformation Products: Environmental Occurrence And Toxicity - A Review, Linson Lonappan, Satinder K. Brar, Ratul Kumar Das, Mausam Verma, Rao Y. Surampalli

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Diclofenac (DCF) is a prevalent anti-inflammatory drug used throughout the world. Intensive researches carried out in the past few decades have confirmed the global ubiquity of DCF in various environmental compartments. Its frequent occurrence in freshwater environments and its potential toxicity towards several organisms such as fish and mussels makes DCF an emerging environmental contaminant. At typical detected environmental concentrations, the drug does not exhibit toxic effects towards living organisms, albeit chronic exposure may lead to severe effects. For DCF, about 30–70% removal has been obtained through the conventional treatment system in wastewater treatment plant being the major primary sink. …

The Effects Of Cultural Cognition And Parent Perceptions Of Autism Spectrum Disorder On Perceptions Of Intervention Efficacy, Jillian R. Reiher

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has identified many interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Some of these interventions are evidence-based; others are not. However, previous research has also found that parents select interventions for their children with ASD on the basis of several factors other than the evidence base, including their emotional representations of ASD and their perceptions of the timeline, consequences, and causes of ASD. Other research has found that people’s cultural worldviews influence their decision-making on a variety of social and political issues. The current study examined the relationships between these factors and parents’ perceptions of the efficacy of evidence-based and …

2016 8th Annual Student Center For Science Engagement Research Symposium, Student Center For Science Engagement

Student Center for Science Engagement Research Symposium

Student presentations in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, & Psychology

Culture And Conservation: Beyond Anthropocentrism, Nathan Poirier

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

No abstract provided.

The Utilization Of Aquatic Bushmeat From Small Cetaceans And Manatees In South America And West Africa, A. Mel Cosentino, Sue Fisher

Anthropogenics and Population Decline Collection

Aquatic bushmeat can be defined as the products derived from wild aquatic megafauna (e.g., marine mammals) that are used for human consumption and non-food purposes, including traditional medicine. It is obtained through illegal or unregulated hunts as well as from stranded (dead or alive) and bycaught animals. In most South American and West African countries aquatic mammals are or have been taken for bushmeat, including 33 small cetaceans and all three manatee species. Of these, two cetacean species are listed in the IUCN red list as “near threatened,” and one as “vulnerable,” as are all manatee species. Additionally, 22 cetacean …

Tau Phosphorylation At Alzheimer's Disease-Related Ser356 Contributes To Tau Stabilization When Par-1/Mark Activity Is Elevated., Kanae Ando, Mikiko Oka, Yosuke Ohtake, Motoki Hayashishita, Sawako Shimizu, Shin-Ichi Hisanaga, Koichi M. Iijima

Department of Neuroscience Faculty Papers

Abnormal phosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau is observed in many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD-related phosphorylation of two tau residues, Ser262 and Ser356, by PAR-1/MARK stabilizes tau in the initial phase of mismetabolism, leading to subsequent phosphorylation events, accumulation, and toxicity. However, the relative contribution of phosphorylation at each of these sites to tau stabilization has not yet been elucidated. In a Drosophila model of human tau toxicity, we found that tau was phosphorylated at Ser262, but not at Ser356, and that blocking Ser262 phosphorylation decreased total tau levels. By contrast, when PAR-1 was co-overexpressed with tau, …

Using Modeled Writing To Support English-Only And English-Learner Second-Grade Students, Kathleen A. J. Mohr

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study compared 70 English learners (ELs) and English-only (EO) second-grade students’ writing samples before and after a yearlong writing program. The school utilized Write From the Beginning (J. Buckner, 2006) and focused on personal narratives. A subgroup of students also participated in an intervention supporting expository writing on curricular topics. Sociocognitive theory framed the Modeled Writing (MW) used in this study. An analysis of covariance used prescores on 2 writing assessments to compare students’ writing achievement at the end of the year, and t tests compared students’ writing by gender, language, and group on various pre- and posttest scores. …

Daily Eastern News: September 16, 2016, Eastern Illinois University

September

No abstract provided.

M-Track: A New Software For Automated Detection Of Grooming Trajectories In Mice, Annalisa Scimemi, Lin Zhang, Kelsey E. Fleming, Sheldon L. Reeves

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Grooming is a complex and robust innate behavior, commonly performed by most vertebrate species. In mice, grooming consists of a series of stereotyped patterned strokes, performed along the rostro-caudal axis of the body. The frequency and duration of each grooming episode is sensitive to changes in stress levels, social interactions and pharmacological manipulations, and is therefore used in behavioral studies to gain insights into the function of brain regions that control movement execution and anxiety. Traditional approaches to analyze grooming rely on manually scoring the time of onset and duration of each grooming episode, and are often performed on grooming …

Kenyon Collegiate - September 16, 2016

Kenyon Collegiate

No abstract provided.

Nutrient Reduction Design For Sustainable Municipal Wastewater Treatment, Lisa Brandon Ellington

Student Theses and Dissertations

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were designed for the removal of pollutants during management of reclaimed water to protect and prevent impairment of water resources. Pollutants not eliminated from WWTP discharges could possibly cause damage to receiving streams and sources of drinking water. Eutrophication has degraded water quality, with the primary factors established as nitrogen and phosphorus contamination in discharges to receiving streams from point and nonpoint sources. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), through regulations established under the Clean Water Act (CWA), has been compelled to determine nitrogen and phosphorus limits for inclusion in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination …

The Anoikis Effector Bit1 Inhibits Emt Through Attenuation Of Tle1-Mediated Repression Of E-Cadherin In Lung Cancer Cells., Xin Yao, Tri Pham, Brandi Temple, Hector Biliran

Faculty and Staff Publications

The mitochondrial Bcl-2 inhibitor of transcription 1 (Bit1) protein is part of an anoikis-regulating pathway that is selectively dependent on integrins. We previously demonstrated that the caspase-independent apoptotic effector Bit1 exerts tumor suppressive function in lung cancer in part by inhibiting anoikis resistance and anchorage-independent growth in vitro and tumorigenicity in vivo. Herein we show a novel function of Bit1 as an inhibitor cell migration and epithelial±mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line. Suppression of endogenous Bit1 expression via siRNA and shRNA strategies promoted mesenchymal phenotypes, including enhanced fibroblastoid morphology and cell migratory potential with concomitant …