Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Tracheal Occlusion In The Embryonic Lung, Uduak George

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Movement And Dynamics Of Norway Rats In An Urban Landscape, Rosalyn Rael, Caz Taylor

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Modeling And Simulation Of Caenorhabditis Elegans Chemotaxis In Response To Multiple Chemoattractant Sources, Evan C. Haskell

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Abundance And Diversity Of Deep-Sea Crustaceans Of Bear Seamount, New England Seamount Chain, Valerie Miranda

HCAS Graduate Science Research Symposium

Bear Seamount (39° 55’ N; 67° 30’ W) is the westernmost peak of extinct undersea volcanoes in the New England Seamount Chain (Moore et al., 2003). It is located on the continental slope off Georges Bank, and is governed by unique environmental factors and currents that may be unlike those of the other seamounts (Moore et al., 2003). Previous cruises to this seamount have been successful in capturing abundant fishes, cephalopods and invertebrates (Moore et al., 2003; Moore et al., 2004; Moore et al., 2008), but only the distribution patterns of the fishes and cephalopods have been examined, leaving a …

Deterministic And Stochastic Mathematical Modeling Of Melanopsin's Light Response In Iprgcs And Hek Cell, Kathleen Hoffman, Hye-Won Kang, Phyllis Robinson

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Maximally Informative Next Experiments For Nonlinear Models, Reginald Mcgee

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Vision And Bioluminescence In Deep-Sea Crustaceans, Tamara Frank

HCAS Graduate Science Research Symposium

Adaptations of the visual systems of deep-sea crustaceans to dim light environments are driven not only by environmental light, but also biologically produced light, or bioluminescence. In the pelagic zone, the relationship is driven, at least in part, by intrinsic bioluminescence. The unusual possession of UV sensitivity, in additional to the expected blue sensitivity, in several species of deep-sea crustaceans appears to be linked to their two modes of bioluminescence. In the benthic zone, the relationship is not so clear. On several NOAA-OER funded research expeditions, electrophysiological studies were conducted on a number of species of decapod crustaceans collected with …

The Kabod Spring 2016

The Kabod

Completed issue of article publications for Spring 2016.

Dyadic Study Of Depression On Inflammation And Diurnal Cortisol Variation In Cancer Patients And Caregivers, Kelly M. Shaffer

Open Access Dissertations

Both cancer patients and their informal family caregivers develop chronic diseases earlier and more frequently than those who have not been affected by cancer. Elevated depressive symptoms, which are easily measureable and modifiable, have been linked to inflammation, dysregulated HPA axis functioning, and physical health decline in both cancer patients and healthy persons. Further, studies have shown patients’ and caregivers’ depressive symptoms to be correlated, and that patients’ distress relates to their caregivers’ poorer health, and vice versa. While it is known that one’s own depressive symptoms are a risk factor for one’s own inflammation and HPA axis dysregulation, and …

Regulation Of Trpc6 Podocyte Surface Expression By Synaptopodin, Hao Yu

Open Access Dissertations

Mutations of classic Transient Receptor Potential Channel 6 (TRPC6) were identified in hereditary FSGS, most of which are gain-of function. Increased expression of wild-type TRPC6 in glomeruli was observed in several human acquired proteinuric diseases. Synaptopodin, an actin binding protein that is important in maintaining podocyte function, is down-regulated in various glomerular diseases. Here, we provided evidence that synaptopodin maintains podocyte function by regulating podocyte surface expression and activity of TRPC6. We show indirect interaction and nonrandom association of synaptopodin and TRPC6 in podocytes. Knockdown of synaptopodin in cultured mouse podocytes increased the expression of TRPC6 at the plasma membrane, …

Tennis Player Receives One Of Two Big South Conference Graduate Fellowships, Winthrop University

Winthrop News 2016

• Winthrop tennis player Steven Patrick and the other recipient, Longwood University women’s soccer player Olivia Colella, will receive their awards of $2,000 each on June 2 to use for their respective graduate studies.
• Patrick graduated with a 3.960 GPA in biology and plans to attend medical school.

Hiv Vaccines: Progress, Limitations And A Crispr/Cas9 Vaccine, Omar A. Garcia Martinez

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

ABSTRACT: The HIV-1 pandemic continues to thrive due to ineffective HIV-1 vaccines. Historically, the world’s most infectious diseases, such as polio and smallpox, have been eradicated or have come close to eradication due to the advent of effective vaccines. Highly active antiretroviral therapy is able to delay the onset of AIDS but can neither rid the body of HIV-1 proviral DNA nor prevent further transmission. A prophylactic vaccine that prevents the various mechanisms HIV-1 has to evade and attack our immune system is needed to end the HIV-1 pandemic. Recent advances in engineered nuclease systems, like the CRISPR/Cas9 system, have …

One’S A Crowd: Gendered Language In Ursula Le Guin’S The Left Hand Of Darkness, Kayla Stephenson

Senior Capstone Theses

Deconstruction questions the very meaning of words put into an assigned use. Yet how can we imply meaning unto words that do not exist in our language? To have a word for an intended use is to have an implied concept behind it, and where there is no concept there can be no word. Consequently, to construct a concept outside of the realm of human and earthly possibility is to create something outside of the limits of the human language. Concerning gender, to imagine a third or a singular gender is to be unable to describe such a concept without …

Possible Radiation-Induced Damage To The Molecular Structure Of Wooden Artifacts Due To Micro-Computed Tomography, Handheld X-Ray Fluorescence, And X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopic Techniques, Madalena Kozachuk, Alexandra Suda, Lisa Ellis, Mary Walzak, Mark Biesinger, Sheila Macfie, Robert Hudson, Andrew Nelson, Ronald Martin, Arlen Heginbotham

Biology Publications

This study was undertaken to ascertain whether radiation produced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), micro-computed tomography (μCT) and/or portable handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) equipment might damage wood artifacts during analysis. Changes at the molecular level were monitored by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. No significant changes in FTIR spectra were observed as a result of μCT or handheld XRF analysis. No substantial changes in the collected FTIR spectra were observed when XPS analytical times on the order of minutes were used. However, XPS analysis collected over tens of hours did produce significant changes in the FTIR spectra.

Temporal And Spatial Patterns Of Barnacle Settlement Within The Southern, Ca Rocky Intertidal, Diana Fontaine

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Barnacles act as model species for understanding how larval transport processes influence settlement and adult population dynamics. Settlement of barnacle larvae was quantified in the Southern California intertidal from April 2014 through January 2015 and from April through December 2015. Settlement plates (PVC, ~1.9 cm²) were deployed daily at 12-14 locations within our study site in the Bird Rock, La Jolla, California intertidal. Time series of temperature and significant wave height was also collected within the study site. We compared temporal patterns in settlement with changes in temperature and significant wave height. In general, settlement was higher in …

Guidebook For Esl Teachers Of Chinese Students, John M. Tubbs

Master's Projects and Capstones

There are currently many Chinese speakers studying and working in the United States. Some of them find English pronunciation to be very challenging. The Guidebook is meant to be a tool for the teachers of Chinese speaking ESL students. English language instruction in China is often teacher centered, with the instructor lecturing and students taking notes. Most classes do not focus on communicative skills. Different language groups often vary in terms of which English sounds they find difficult to pronounce. Vowel sounds have been identified as a particular challenge for Chinese speaking students. The front-vowels in English are the focus …

When In Doubt, Art It Out: A Teacher's Guidebook To Arts Education Incorporation In The Esl Classroom, Nissa Badard

Master's Projects and Capstones

This thesis explores the relatively cast-aside world that is arts education. In it I review the literature on three topics: content-based instruction, arts education in the elementary classroom, and finally arts education in the ESL classroom. Based on the problems arts education integration meets I have come up with a project that fixes them and hopefully helps teachers, school boards and parents realize just how essential and easy arts education incorporation in the ESL classroom is.

Impacts To Anadromous Fish Through Groundwater Extraction, Aaron Hebert

Master's Projects and Capstones

California uses more groundwater than any other state in the United States in order to meet agricultural demand during the growing season when water is naturally least available due to the state’s Mediterranean climate. The state also hosts populations of anadromous fish that are otherwise found exclusively in the wetter Pacific northwest. Groundwater has historically helped maintain baseflow in the summer and fall low-flow periods and acted as a natural buffer against the regular droughts that occur in California. Today, groundwater provides 30-40% of the state’s water supply, but the pumping in many cases has reduced groundwater discharge and baseflow, …

Policy Options To Mitigate Cigarette Filter Litter In California, Max Wechsler

Master's Projects and Capstones

Approximately 16.2 billion cellulose acetate cigarette filters are littered in California annually. Cigarette filter litter (CFL) creates an annual financial burden of over $1.27 billion for California. CFL also poses unquantifiable damages to human and environmental health in the form of ingestion, toxicity, formation into microplastics, and quality of life degradation. These costs and damages warrant the adoption of policy measures in order to mitigate CFL. Cigarette taxes and fees raise government revenue, but they are politically challenging due to California Proposition 26. Locational smoking bans encourage anti-smoking cultural norms and may decrease consumption, although indoor smoking bans may increase …

Characterization Of The Marine Sponge Amphimedon Compressa Microbiome Across A Spatial Gradient, Renee Michelle Potens

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Diverse and ecologically important microbial communities (microbiomes) are symbiotic within marine sponges. In this study, the microbiome of Amphimedon compressa from three sample locations (Broward and Dade Counties, Southeast Florida, USA and the Southern Caribbean, Bocas del Toro, Panama) is characterized using 16S rRNA Illumina sequencing. The predominant taxa are Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria, as expected for Low Microbial Abundance sponges, accounting for over 53% of the total microbiome community. The numbers of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) decrease from Broward County (2,900) to Dade County (2,300) and then Bocas del Toro (1,200). The correlates to a decreasing north-south gradient of …

Factors Affecting Climate Change Mitigation Policy Implementation, Kelly M. Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Why do some states have policies that aggressively reduce carbon emissions, while others ignore the threat of climate change? In a world where increasingly extreme weather patterns threaten food production and species extinction, and where rising sea levels and frequent storms damage coastal infrastructure, it is now essential for states to mitigate these effects.

My paper analyzes the role of media attention on climate change and environmental association membership rates on the most recent climate change mitigation policies of South Africa, the United States, and Germany. It argues that media and environmental associations influence a population’s desire to reduce carbon …

Phylogenetic Analysis Of Human Cytomegalovirus Pus27 And Pus28: Ascertaining An Independent Or Linked Evolutionary History, Jessica A. Scarborough

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widespread pathogen that is particularly skilled at evading immune detection and defense mechanisms, largely due to extensive co-evolution with its host’s immune system. One aspect of this co-evolution involves the acquisition of four virally encoded GPCR chemokine receptor homologs, products of the US27, US28, UL33 and UL78 genes. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are the largest family of cell surface proteins, found in organisms from yeast to humans. In this research, phylogenetic analysis was used to investigate the origins of the US27 and US28 genes, which are adjacent in the viral genome. The results indicate that …

The Mexican Water Forest: Benefits Of Using Remote Sensing Techniques To Assess Changes In Land Use And Land Cover, Maria F. Lopez Ornelas

Master's Projects and Capstones

In the past 30 years, anthropogenic activities like urbanization, agriculture, road fragmentation and deforestation have resulted in changes in the land use and land cover (LULC) in the Mexican Water Forest. Due to the important ecosystem services, and the natural resources this forest provides, in Mexico, it has become increasingly necessary to use new technologies and tools to support the planning, implementation and integration of forest management and conservation plans, as well as ecological and socioeconomic analysis of this ecosystem. Remote Sensing techniques and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been a true technological and methodological revolution in the acquisition, management …

Educational Policies Committee Program Proposal, Emma Eccles Jones College Of Education And Human Services, May 20, 2016 – Combined Clinical/Counseling Psychology; School Psychology, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

The Department of Psychology at Utah State University requests to restructure its current specialization within the Psychology PhD program in Professional Scientific Psychology to two separate specializations: 1) Combined Clinical / Counseling Psychology and 2) School Psychology.

Pleistocene Footprints Show Intensive Use Of Lake Margin Habitats By Homo Erectus Groups, N. T. Roach, K G. Hatala, K R. Ostrofsky, Brian Villmoare, J. S. Reeves, A. Du, D. R. Braun, J. W.K. Harris, A. K. Behrensmeyer, B. G. Richmond

Anthropology Faculty Research

Reconstructing hominin paleoecology is critical for understanding our ancestorsâ € diets, social organizations and interactions with other animals. Most paleoecological models lack fine-scale resolution due to fossil hominin scarcity and the time-Averaged accumulation of faunal assemblages. Here we present data from 481 fossil tracks from northwestern Kenya, including 97 hominin footprints attributed to Homo erectus. These tracks are found in multiple sedimentary layers spanning approximately 20 thousand years. Taphonomic experiments show that each of these trackways represents minutes to no more than a few days in the lives of the individuals moving across these paleolandscapes. The geology and associated vertebrate …

Unh Manchester Celebrates Class Of 2016 At 31st Annual Commencement Ceremony, Kassidy Taylor

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Learning Through Reading: A Handbook Of Literature-Based Lessons For Esl, Lota I. Rygiel

Master's Projects and Capstones

Learning through Reading: A Handbook of Literature-based Lessons for ESL A Field Project written by Lota Rygiel in the spring of 2016. This project is a handbook of lessons for adult ESL students at intermediate or advanced proficiency levels of English as a Second Language. The handbook offers the use of authentic materials in the form of short stories and poems in English. The authentic materials serve as a challenge to students (Krashen's "i + 1" level): with careful guidance of the instructor they will be interesting and meaningful to students. The use of various literary genres corresponds to the …

Teaching Culture Through Social Situations In English As A Second Language Classes, Irina Andreeva

Master's Projects and Capstones

To develop communicative competence, second language learners in addition to mastering linguistic, strategic, structural and discoursal aspects of the language, have to acquire sociolinguistc rules and conventions. The project sought to design a handbook to teach communicative competence along with sociolinguistic competence, as second language learners can never succeed in being fluent speakers in the target language without developing both competences. The handbook includes series of lessons to promote a deeper appreciation of how culture and language interact.

Artificial Recharge Of Groundwater With Recycled Municipal Wastewater In The Pajaro Valley, Olivia Heir

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

The Pajaro Valley, located along California’s Central Coast, is the State’s 5^th most productive agricultural region. Groundwater is the main source of water for the region, and due to high agricultural demand, the Pajaro Valley is facing groundwater depletion and rapid seawater intrusion. Artificial recharge of recycled water into groundwater aquifers in other locations has proven to be an effective method of mitigating groundwater depletion and seawater intrusion while providing a sustainable water supply. Two methods of artificial recharge with recycled water exist: direct injection and surface spreading (infiltration). Case studies of both methods of recharge were analyzed …

The Privileged 3% Of College Students, Sara Sullivan

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone explored what it means to be a student athlete, what privileges student athletes receive that non- athletic students do not, and how academic performance comes second to being an athlete throughout college.