Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing Marsh Response From Sea-Level Rise Applying Local Site Conditions: Humboldt Bay Wetlands, Usgs

State & Federal Reports and Publications

The broad goal of our research was to use site-specific data to develop local and regionally applicable models that inform management of tidal wetlands within Humboldt Bay. Our overarching question was: how vulnerable are Humboldt Bay tidal marshes to different rates of SLR. This question was addressed with three broad objectives: (1) Assess past patterns in sedimentation to inform current SLR projections. This was accomplished by radioisotope dating of stratigraphic cores. (2) Measure baseline conditions in the tidal marshes. We characterized physical and biological properties at all study sites including topography, accretion rates, emergent vegetation, water level, salinity, and water …

The New Hampshire, Vol. 105 [106], No. 25 (Feb. 1, 2016), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 105, but it is the 106th volume in the series.

Network Equality, Olivier Sylvain

UC Law Journal

One of the clear goals of the federal Communications Act is to ensure that all Americans have reasonably comparable access to the Internet without respect to whom or where they are. Yet the main focus of policymakers and legal scholars of Internet policy today has been on promoting innovation, a concept that Congress barely invokes in the statute. The flagship regulatory intervention for this approach is “network neutrality,” a rule that forbids Internet providers from blocking or interfering with users’ connections. To the extent that net neutrality addresses the distributional goals of communications law, it posits that openness will foster …

Cells Activated For Wound Repair Have The Potential To Direct Collective Invasion Of An Epithelium., Brigid M Bleaken, A Sue Menko, Janice Walker

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Mechanisms regulating how groups of cells are signaled to move collectively from their original site and invade surrounding matrix are poorly understood. Here we develop a clinically relevant ex vivo injury invasion model to determine whether cells involved in directing wound healing have invasive function and whether they can act as leader cells to direct movement of a wounded epithelium through a three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix (ECM) environment. Similar to cancer invasion, we found that the injured cells invade into the ECM as cords, involving heterotypical cell-cell interactions. Mesenchymal cells with properties of activated repair cells that typically locate to …

Decorin As A Multivalent Therapeutic Agent Against Cancer., Thomas Neill, Liliana Schaefer, Renato V. Iozzo

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Decorin is a prototypical small leucine-rich proteoglycan that epitomizes the multifunctional nature of this critical gene family. Soluble decorin engages multiple receptor tyrosine kinases within the target-rich environment of the tumor stroma and tumor parenchyma. Upon receptor binding, decorin initiates signaling pathways within endothelial cells downstream of VEGFR2 that ultimately culminate in a Peg3/Beclin 1/LC3-dependent autophagic program. Concomitant with autophagic induction, decorin blunts capillary morphogenesis and endothelial cell migration, thereby significantly compromising tumor angiogenesis. In parallel within the tumor proper, decorin binds multiple RTKs with high affinity, including Met, for a multitude of oncosuppressive functions including growth inhibition, tumor cell …

The Ecological Succession Of Mosquitoes Inhabiting Waste Tires In A Subtropical Swamp And Upland Forest In Central West Florida, Emily Thuong Nguyen Dinh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literature has not yet seen a contribution involving the description of successional patterns of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) inhabiting discarded automobile tires in sylvan areas nor an investigation into the macro- and micro-environmental factors that may influence the seasonal shifts in species composition and abundance in that respective habitat. Waste tires in undeveloped forests are a hazard to human and animal health because they can support a population of vector mosquitoes. Locating productive waste tire mosquito habitats is problematic in wooded areas but is crucial for diminishing pathogen transfer in areas where humans have regular access to forests because of possible …

A Targeted Genetic Association Study Of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility, Madalene Earp, Stacey J. Winham, Nicholas Larson, Jennifer B. Permuth, Hugues Sicotte, Jeremy Chien, Hoda Anton-Culver, Elisa V. Bandera, Andrew Berchuck, Linda S. Cook, Daniel Cramer, Jennifer A. Doherty

Dartmouth Scholarship

BACKGROUND:

Genome-wide association studies have identified several common susceptibility alleles for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). To further understand EOC susceptibility, we examined previously ungenotyped candidate variants, including uncommon variants and those residing within known susceptibility loci.

RESULTS:

At nine of eleven previously published EOC susceptibility regions (2q31, 3q25, 5p15, 8q21, 8q24, 10p12, 17q12, 17q21.31, and 19p13), novel variants were identified that were more strongly associated with risk than previously reported variants. Beyond known susceptibility regions, no variants were found to be associated with EOC risk at genome-wide statistical significance (p <5x10(-8)), nor were any significant after Bonferroni correction for 17,000 variants (p< 3x10-6).

METHODS:

A customized genotyping array was used to assess over …

Design Of Introspective Circuits For Analysis Of Cell-Level Dis-Orientation In Self-Assembled Cellular Systems, Nicholas J. Macias, Christof Teuscher, Lisa J. K. Durbeck

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper discusses a novel approach to managing complexity in a large self-assembled system, by utilizing the self-assembling components themselves to address the complexity. A particular challenge is discussed – namely the question of how to deal with elements that are assembled in different orientations from each other – and a solution based on the idea ofintrospective circuitry is described. A methodology for using a set of cells to determine a nearby cell’s orientation is given, leading to a slow (O(n)) means of orienting a 2D region of cells. A modified algorithm is then describe …

Review Of Theory And Practice In Aristotle's Natural Science, Owen Goldin

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Nitrogen And Phosphorus Availability From Various Composted Wastes For Use In Irish Agriculture And Horticulture, Alan Lee

Doctoral

Current environmental EU legislation promotes recycling and recovery from organic waste products. Compost has been identified as an alternative to inorganic fertilisers and animal slurries as a nutrient source for crop plants. This study aimed to investigate nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability from various composted waste through detailed characterisations, complemented by short term lab incubations and long term plant growth experiments. Twenty-five composts were selected and classified by their groups. The composts were characterised by multiple different analytical techniques. Two incubation studies were conducted. One investigating N and P mineralisation potential of the composts and the second on the …

Electrodeposition Of High Magnetostrictive Cobalt Iron Alloy Films For Smart Tags And Sensor Applications, Jamin Pillars

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Magnetostrictive CoFe films were investigated for use as magnetoelastic tags or sensors. The ability to electrodeposit these films enables batch fabrication processes to pattern a variety of geometries while controlling the film stoichiometry and crystallography. In current research looking at CoFe, improved magnetostriction was achieved using a co-sputtering, annealing, and quenching method1. Other current research has reported electrodeposited CoFe films using a sulfate based chemistry resulting in film compositions that are Fe rich in the range of Co0.3-0.4Fe0.7-0.6 and have problems of co-deposition of undesirables that can have a negative impact on magnetic properties2, 3. The research presented here focused …

Relationally Constructing Sexual Identity: The Effect Of Friendship Networks On Same-Sex Sexuality Development, Alena Kuhlemeier

Sociology ETDs

Drawing upon social network and sexual identity literature, this study investigates the extent to which social integration can influence the development of non-normative sexuality. Existing literature demonstrates the significance of social support in predicting health outcomes. This study seeks to broaden existing understandings of the importance of friendships to encompass their influence on identity development among adolescents questioning their sexual identity. Specifically, this study uses logistic regression to analyze data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Logistic analyses examine the interactive effects of adolescent same sex attraction and each of three distinct friendship network variables …

Heidegger's Contributions To Education, Carolyn Thomas

Philosophy ETDs

This dissertation is a study of Martin Heideggers thinking on education, a neglected thematic in the extensive philosophical literature of Heidegger scholarship. Discussion of Heidegger and education inevitably evokes the fault of Heidegger's involvement in National Socialism at Freiberg University. However, the core of this dissertation project is to show that Heidegger contributes favorably to our philosophical thinking on education. Further, this study aims to suggest that to consider the matter of 'Heidegger and education' only in the dark light of the act and political implications of Heidegger's becoming the first Nazi rector of Freiburg University is to miss Heidegger's …

Effects Of Short-Term Cattle Exclusion On Plant Community Composition: Prairie Dog And Ecological Site Influences, Aaron Field, Kevin Sedivec, John Hendrickson, Patricia Johnson, Benjamin Geaumont, Lan Xu, Roger N. Gates, Ryan Limb

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

On the Ground

• Maintaining cattle and prairie dogs on rangelands is important ecologically, economically, and culturally. However, competition between these species, both actual and perceived, has led to conflict.
• We explored the effects of short-term (2-year) cattle exclusion on plant communities both on and off prairie dog towns and among three common ecological sites.
• Plant communities were different between on-town and off-town plots and among ecological sites but were similar between cattle-excluded and nonexcluded plots.
• Plant community composition did not differ between rangeland targeted for moderate forage utilization and that in which cattle had been excluded for 2 years.

Binding Of Transcription Factor Gabr To Dna Requires Recognition Of Dna Shape At A Location Distinct From Its Cognate Binding Site, Dali Liu, Walid A. Al-Zyoud, Robert Mg. Hynson, Lorraine A. Ganuelas, Adelle Cf. Coster, Anthony P. Duff, Matthew Ab. Baker, Alastair G. Stewart, Eleni Giannoulatou, Joshua Wk> Ho, Katharina Gaus, Lawrence K. Lee, Till Böcking

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Mechanisms for transcription factor recognition of specific DNA base sequences are well characterized and recent studies demonstrate that the shape of these cognate binding sites is also important. Here, we uncover a new mechanism where the transcription factor GabR simultaneously recognizes two cognate binding sites and the shape of a 29 bp DNA sequence that bridges these sites. Small-angle X-ray scattering and multi-angle laser light scattering are consistent with a model where the DNA undergoes a conformational change to bend around GabR during binding. In silico predictions suggest that the bridging DNA sequence is likely to be bendable in one …

How And Why Data Repositories Are Changing Academia, Phill Jones, Mark Hahnel

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Altmetrics: Documenting The Story Of Research, Lauren B. Collister, Timothy S. Deliyannides

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Timing Of Fluoride Intake And Dental Fluorosis On Late-Erupting Permanent Teeth, Pradeep Bhagavatula, Steven M. Levy, Barbara Broffitt, Karin Weber-Gasparoni, John J. Warren

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: Very few studies have examined the relationship between timing of fluoride intake and development of dental fluorosis on late-erupting permanent teeth using period-specific fluoride intake information. This study examined this relationship using longitudinal fluoride intake information from the Iowa Fluoride Study.

Methods: Participants’ fluoride exposure and intake (birth to 10 years of age) from water, beverages, selected food products, dietary fluoride supplements, and fluoride toothpaste was collected using questionnaires sent to parents at 3- and 4- month intervals from birth to 48 months of age and every 6 months thereafter. Three trained and calibrated examiners used the Fluorosis Risk …

Parent Training To Reduce Problem Behaviors Over The Transition To High School: Tests Of Indirect Effects Through Improved Emotion Regulation Skills, W. Alex Mason, Stacy-Ann A. January, Charles B. Fleming, Ronald W. Thompson, Gilbert R. Parra, Kevin P. Haggerty, James J. Snyder

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Adolescent problem behaviors are costly for individuals and society. Promoting the self-regulatory functioning of youth may help prevent the development of such behaviors. Parent-training and family intervention programs have been shown to improve child and adolescent self-regulation. This study helps fill gaps in knowledge by testing for indirect effects of the Common Sense Parenting® (CSP) program on reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions through previously identified short-term improvements in parents’ reports of their children’s emotion regulation skills. Over two cohorts, 321 low income families of 8^th graders were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the standard CSP …

Girls’ Empowerment Through Sports: Sports And Physical Activity With Life Skills, Weaam Mossallam Mohamed El Leithy

Theses and Dissertations

Social norms, myths, and misconceptions negatively impact girls’ self-esteem, self-confidence and self-efficacy. These harmful traditions and social norms often cause feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness. With limited opportunities provided to girls, in general, and rural girls, in particular, including limitation of mobility and exclusion from education and employment, girls often lack self-esteem. This study focuses on rural marginalized girls in Upper Egypt, which is a conservative setting characterized with harmful social norms and practices; such as, early marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). This thesis examines rural girls’ empowerment through sports and physical activities and argues that sports and play …

Passive Aeration Of Wastewater Using Tray Aerators, Ayman Mostafa El-Zahaby

Theses and Dissertations

Passive aeration units in water and wastewater treatment are aeration units that operate without the need for electric energy. They depend on dropping the water through the aerator, while increasing the surface area to volume ratio, and thus increasing the oxygen mass diffused into water. The passive units include cascade aerators, and tray aerators. On the contrary to cascade and spray aerators, tray aerators require a much smaller area for their installation. While researching the design of tray aerators, a shortage of literature pertaining to the topic was observed. The research objective is to develop a model for the design …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Antibacterial Herbal Drug-Loaded Polylactic Acid/Cellulose Acetate Composite Nanofiberous For Wound Dressing Application., Salma Fouad Khalifa

Theses and Dissertations

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a versatile biopolymer that is widely used as a biomaterial. However, one of the major issues which limits its further application in tissue engineering purposes is its hydrophobic nature and poor cellular interaction. Modification of PLA properties can be achieved by polymer blending techniques. Polymer blending is a simple yet attractive method to combine and optimize polymeric physical properties of interest. In this study, an antibacterial electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds, with diameters around 400–1000 nm, were prepared by physical blending PLA with a hydrophylic biopolymer, cellulose acetate (CA). In this stage, PLA was used as the main …

Analysis Of The D1s80 Vntr Locus Polymorphism In The Nubian Population, Soha Rabie Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

D1S80 (1p35-p36), variable Number of tandem repeat (VNTR,) is a minisatellite molecular genetic marker. It is known by its high polymorphism that makes it a powerful marker in the forensic applications, paternity testing, and evolutionary studies. Hypervariable D1S80 locus has been applied to study the genetic structure of the Nubian population in Southern Egypt. PCR has been applied for repeats amplification and analyzed on 2% agarose gel. 75 genotypes and 36 alleles with their frequencies were detected for 105 unrelated individuals. Allele 27 has the highest frequency 0.119% followed by allele 26 with frequency 0.09%. Heterozygosity was calculated as 0.69%. …

Determination Of The Antioxidant Activity Of Surface Treated Pet Films Coated With Natural Extracts, Hebatullah Hassan Farghal

Theses and Dissertations

Food oxidation is one of the major concerns that food producers and consumers face. In that regard, we are developing antioxidant polyethylene terephthalate (PET) filmthat could be employed for packaging fish products. Commercial PET films were surface treated and subsequently coated with either rosemary or clove extracts. Surface treatments involveda) corona treatment and b) chemical modification which are industrial means of surface treatment; Plasma treatment, at laboratory scale, was also used.Radical scavenging activities (RSA) of both pure plant extracts and coated film extractsweremeasured using the 2,2- Diphenyl-1-Picryl Hydrazyl(DPPH) method. Treated films coated with rosemary showed %RSA of 25.6%, 22.4% and …

Regulatory Networks In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Connecting Differentially Expressed Genes, Mirnas, And Incrnas, Jasmine Omran

Theses and Dissertations

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most prevalent class of lung cancer and the most common cancer worldwide. NSCLC accounts for 85% of total lung cancer cases and leads to the most cancer-related deaths worldwide. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are gene regulatory elements that play crucial roles in cancer biology such as cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. Understanding the gene regulatory elements that influence cancer biology is critical for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. A systems approach can help simulate interactions between these elements. In this study 110 microarray samples from NSCLC patients were analyzed …

Effectiveness Of Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy In Predicting Order Of Difficulty Of Relative Clauses For Afl Learners, Mohamed Amin

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the difficulty order of relative clause structures in Arabic second language acquisition by checking the applicability of NPAH to predict such order using data taken from the Arabic Learner Corpus (ALC). In order to examine the hypothesis, quantitative methodology is used to determine the hierarchies of frequency and accuracy of RC structures used in non-native learners’ written and spoken production, and to determine whether L1 transfer affects acquisition order or not. Results reveal that the hierarchy of frequency is different from the hierarchy of accuracy, and both are different from the order suggested in NPAH. Findings support …

Control Your Destiny Or Someone Else Will: The Value Of The Ged, Elisabeth Salazar

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact locus of control (LOC) had on the postsecondary achievement, as measured by self-reported GPA, of GED® recipients and traditional high school graduates (THSG) controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, and time in college. Data was collected from 767 GED® recipients and THSG enrolled in three postsecondary institutions in Northern New Mexico. LOC was assessed using the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale (Nowicki & Duke, 1974). The majority of respondents were Hispanic/Latino (47.34%) and Caucasian (37.34%). Responses were analyzed using Pearsons r. Although LOC did not contribute significantly to academic achievement as measured …

How Users Perceive And Respond To Security Messages: A Neurois Research Agenda And Empirical Study, Bonnie Anderson, Anthony Vance, C. Brock Kirwan, David Eargle, Jeffrey Jenkins

Faculty Publications

Users are vital to the information security of organizations. In spite of technical safeguards, users make many critical security decisions. An example is users' responses to security messages—discrete communication designed to persuade users to either impair or improve their security status. Research shows that although users are highly susceptible to malicious messages (e.g., phishing attacks), they are highly resistant to protective messages such as security warnings. Research is therefore needed to better understand how users perceive and respond to security messages. In this article, we argue for the potential of NeuroIS—cognitive neuroscience applied to information system (IS)—to shed new light …

A Hybrid Approach To Simultaneous Localization And Mapping In Indoors Environment, Amr Morssy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will present SLAM in the current literature to benefit from then it will present the investigation results for a hybrid approach used where different algorithms using laser, sonar, and camera sensors were tested and compared. The contribution of this thesis is the development of a hybrid approach for SLAM that uses different sensors and where different factors are taken into consideration such as dynamic objects, and the development of a scalable grid map model with new sensors models for real time update of the map.The thesis will show the success found, difficulties faced and limitations of the algorithms …

Russia's Resurgence In Syria: A New Cold War, Lubna Sadek

Theses and Dissertations

After the end of the first Cold War, scholars agreed that the United States became the dominant power in the Middle East. US hegemony created a certain degree of regional stability; titled by some as the “Pax Americana”. However, that stability has ended after the uprisings referred to as the Arab spring. This has been particularly evident since the beginning of Syrian civil war. The US has tried to influence events in Syria but has failed. In contrast, Russia has been actively intervening since the beginning of Syrian civil war; first diplomatically and then military. In this paper I argue …