Digital Commons Network^™

Phataria Unifascialis Use Eyesight To Find Their Preferred Rock Location, December 2016, Erica Weed

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Sea stars living on the ocean substrate rely on multiple senses to detect touch, temperature, and chemicals in the water. They have rudimentary compound eyes similar to arthropod compound eyes on the tip of each arm. These eyes allow them to detect light and dark images and see in a wide range of directions. However, it is unclear whether sea stars use eyes in their environments, or if the ability to see influences sea star behavior. One species, Linckia laevigata, has been shown to rely on its eyesight to navigate back to its preferred reef location after being displaced. This …

Comparing Tardigrade Abundance And Diversity On Rock, Log, Live Tree, And Canopy In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2016, Lily Stander

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

This study surveyed the abundance and diversity of Phylum Tardigrada across four different substrates: rock, log, live tree, and canopy, in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Tardigrades are understudied micro-invertebrates that inhabit every biome on the planet. I collected twenty-eight samples, or 140 subsamples, by hand, soaked them in water for a minimum of four hours, and surveyed for tardigrades. I found and documented forty-five tardigrades. Ninety-one percent of tardigrades found were Class Eutardigrada, while the remaining nine percent were Class Heterotardigrada. Five genera were identified: Echiniscus, Pseudechiniscus, Macrobiotus, Paramacrobiotus, and Minibiotus. The canopy and live tree substrates produced equal abundance and …

The Effect Of Prey Danger Level On The Feeding Behavior Of Orchard Spiders, Leucauge Sp., December 2016, Chirag Govardhan

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Predatory animals often need to consider the costs and benefits of an attack, so as to avoid getting bitten or stung. Orchard spiders, Leucauge sp., manipulate their orb-webs to detect prey that lands on their web and attack them accordingly. Generally, they bite prey to inject venom and may also wrap them in silk. This study investigated the behavioral sequences of orchard spiders when they were presented with highly dangerous prey (Atta sp. minima ants) versus low danger prey (Drosophila sp. fruit flies). I tested 60 spiders, which I classified by body size (to account for size of the spider) …

Edge Effect On Moth Richness, Abundance, And Potential Pollination Activity In A Costa Rican Cloud Forest, December 2016, Christopher Cosma

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to biodiversity, especially in tropical forests which house most of the world’s species. Edge effects are important considerations when investigating the impact of forest fragmentation on biodiversity, as they can lead to large, and often detrimental shifts in population, community, and ecosystem stability. The taxa-specific effects of forest edges are complex, highly variable, and poorly understood. In this study, I investigated the edge effect on moth richness, abundance, and potential pollination activity in a fragmented tropical cloud forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica by sampling moths with light traps at two different locations: in …

Anti-Predator Behavior Of Octopus Vulgaris, December 2016, Emily Miao

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Cephalopoda is a varied and unusual class that has occupied oceanic habitats all over the world for millions of years. One species in particular, Octopus vulgaris, or the common octopus has a nearly global range. Because of their soft bodies and lack of hard, protective outer covering octopuses are highly vulnerable to numerous predators. However, octopuses have evolved to compensate for this loss with a number of other anti-predator defenses, namely camouflage and substrate-hiding. Camouflage allows the octopuses to alter their appearance into a variety of colors, textures and shapes as they move through their environments, hiding in plain sight …

Communicating Mobility And Technology: A Material Rhetoric For Persuasive Transportation (Book Review), Daniel L. Hocutt

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Humans are so enmeshed in mobility systems that they identify with themselves through those systems. In Communicating Mobility and Technology: A Material Rhetoric for Persuasive Transportation, Ehren Pflugfelder (2017) uses the term "automobility" to describe both "the specific kinds of mobility afforded by independent, automobile-related movement technologies" and "the complex cultural, bodily, technological, and ecological ramifications of our dependence on separate mobility technologies" (p. 4). Given identities enmeshed in ecologies of systems involving human and nonhuman actors through which transportation emerges, automobility is described as a "wicked problem" to be solved, in part, by technical communicators and communication designers naming …

Subspecific And Breeding Status Of The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis Trichas) At Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Hidalgo County, Texas, Timothy Brush, Mark H. Conway

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

ABSTRACT—We confirmed the breeding of the Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) during 2008–2015 at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and presented measurement evidence that individuals belong to the Brownsville Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas insperata. This expands the known breeding distribution for this rare and local subspecies.

RESUMEN—Se confirm´o la reproducci´on de la mascarita com´un (Geothlypis trichas) durante 2008-2015 en Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge y se presentaron pruebas de medici ´on que indican que los individuos pertenecen a la subespecie de mascarita com´un, Geothlypis trichas insperata. Esta informaci´on expande la distribuci´on de reproducci´on conocida de esta subespecie rara y local.

Cover Crop Establishment And Potential Benefits To Arkansas Farmers, Ashley Elizabeth Humphreys

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybean farmers in Arkansas need best management practices (BMPs) that maximize the benefits of using cover crops including planting date and fertilization recommendations. An evaluation of cover crop species, planting dates, seeding rates, fertilizer rates, and N accumulation aids in providing these BMPs. The first objective of this research is to assess the effect of planting date on biomass production, as well as looking at the interaction of seeding rate or fertilizer rate for legumes or non-legumes, respectively, using Austrian winter pea (Pisum sativum), cereal rye (Secale cereale), black oats (Avena strigosa), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and tillage radish (Raphanus sativus). …

Quantitative Trait Loci (Qtl) For Salt Tolerance In Soybean And Physiological Response To Salt Stress During Early Growth Stage, Cindy Massiel Lopez Ramirez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybean is a major cash crop used as a source of high–quality protein and oil. Salt stress is one of the main abiotic stresses causing significant yield losses in soybean, which is considered a moderately salt–sensitive crop. Breeding selection is a promising strategy to improve salt tolerance as soybean germplasm display wide variation in response to salinity stress. However, the physiological and genetic mechanisms for salt tolerance are not quite clear. The discovery of novel QTL/genes associated with salt tolerance facilitates the development of tolerant cultivars through marker-assisted selection (MAS). The objectives of this study were: 1) identify/confirm QTL associated …

Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping, Genome-Wide Association Analysis, And Gene Expression Of Salt Tolerance In Soybean, Ailan Zeng

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Salt stress is a common abiotic stress causing yield reduction in soybean. There are differential responses, namely tolerance (excluder) and intolerance (includer), among soybean germplasm. However, the genetic and physiological mechanism for salt tolerance is not clear. Identification of novel QTL for salt tolerance and genes that are differentially expressed under salt stress would help elucidate the salt tolerance mechanism and facilitate the development of salt tolerant cultivars through marker assisted selection (MAS). The objectives of this study were to identify new QTL or genes responsible for salt tolerance using three approaches: QTL mapping, association analysis, and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). …

Techniques To Improve The Retrieval Efficiency And Usability Of G-Bean, Yuanyuan Zhang

All Dissertations

Mary E. Kurz, Committee Chair

Creating Biomaterials From Plant-Derived Recombinant Spider Silk-Like Proteins, Congyue Peng

All Dissertations

Biomimetic fibers that resemble the structure and properties of the versatile yet tough spider dragline silk are in high demand. The assembled building blocks of major ampullate dragline silk sequences from Nephila clavipes [Spidroin 1 (Sp1) and Spidroin 2 (Sp2)] are expressed in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum. The plant derived spidroin analogs (mini-spidroins) consist of native Sp1 or Sp 2 N- and C-termini flanking 8, 16, or 32 copies of their respective consensus repeat domains. Gene insertion and RNA transcription were confirmed by PCR and reverse-transcriptase PCR, respectively. Produced mini-spridroins were purified from tobacco using affinity chromatography techniques. After a freeze-drying …

Mitigating Risks Of Oil Sands Process Affected Water Using Hybrid Constructed Wetland Treatment Systems, Andrew David Mcqueen

All Dissertations

Mining leases in the Athabasca Oil Sands (AOS) region produce extensive volumes of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) containing constituents that limit beneficial uses, including discharge into receiving aquatic systems. The aim of this research is to provide a scalable approach using hybrid constructed wetland treatment systems for the mitigation of problematic constituents in OSPW. In the first experiment in this dissertation, OSPW was characterized to identify constituents of concern (COCs) using chemical, physical, and toxicological analyses. Following identification of COCs, bench-scale manipulations (termed process-based manipulations [PBMs]) were used to remove or alter “classes” of COCs in an effort to …

Conjugated Polymers Under Confinement: Molecular Dynamics Simulations Study, Sabina Maskey

All Dissertations

The conformations and dynamics of luminescent polymers, polymeric nanoparticles or polydots and polymers grafted onto inorganic nanoparticles using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation have been studied. Rigidity of the backbones of polymers effects their properties. Model polymer, dialkyl poly para phenylene ethynylene (PPE), comprises rigid backbones substituted by flexible side chains. The degree of conjugation of these polymers depends on the conformation of their backbones, which in turn affects their electronic and luminescence characteristics. The results of single chain of PPEs followed by polydots and polymers grafted onto inorganic nanoparticles. PPEs as a function of molecular weight and the nature of …

Studies In Organic Synthesis: Copper Mediated Allylic Substitutions, Synthesis Of Spiro 3(2H)-Furanones, Intermolecular Halofunctionalization Of Alkenes And Synthesis Of Difluorovinyl Ethers, Alfredo Picado-Valenzuela

All Dissertations

This dissertation encompasses 4 independent projects in the field of Methodology Development in Organic Synthesis. Chapter 1 summarizes our efforts in the regio- and stereocontrol of copper mediated allylic substitutions with rearrangement of the double bond (SN2') in (Z)-α-halo-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (Z)-α-phosphate-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (Z)-α-mesylate-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (Z)-α-pentafluorobenzoate-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (E)-α-chloro-β,γ-unsaturated esters and allylic cyanophosphates. Different organocopper compounds bearing alkyl or aryl substituents were prepared from organolithium and Grignard reagents, and then added to these unsaturated substrates. When lithium cuprates were employed in combination with (Z)-α-nucleofuge-substituted-β,γ-enoates, exclusive formation of the SN2' products (e.g., γ-substituted-α,β-unsaturated esters) were obtained in good yields and with complete stereoselectivity …

Fluorescent Methods For Investigating Metabolic Processes In Trypanosoma Brucei, Sheng Lin

All Dissertations

Trypanosoma brucei is a unicellular kinetoplastid protozoan that is the causative agent of Human African Trypanosomiasis, or Sleeping Sickness. Combating these protozoan pathogens presents an ongoing challenge due to their efficient immune evasion strategies, lack of effective vaccines, poor drugs and emerging drug resistance, and the general lack of knowledge of their unique biological processes. Among one of the most important biological pathways for kinetoplastid protozoans is the synthesis of ATP from glucose within glycosome organelles. Glycosomes are related to mammalian peroxisomes, but differ in having a fully compartmentalized glycolysis pathway in addition to basic peroxisomal functions. While equivalent processes …

Solutions To Spatial And Computational Challenges For Large-Landscape Conservation Planning, Paul Leonard

All Dissertations

Systematic conservation planning is a fertile scientific discipline capable of examining global natural resource threats including land cover conversion, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Many of these threats are acting in concert to accelerate the rate of change which increases the urgency of action. The scale of these changes creates unique spatial analysis and computational challenges. This study was designed to address several of these challenges pertaining to the analyses of publically protected areas, habitat connectivity, and private lands conservation. I examine how using high-throughput and high-performance computing helps conservation practitioners ask and solve larger ecological questions. I …

Study Of Chemical Profiles Of Volatile And Non-Volatile Bioactive Compounds Of Muscadine Grapes (Vitis Rotundifolia) During Ripening Stages And Evaluation Of Their In Vitro Biological Properties, Bolim Lee

All Dissertations

Muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) have attracted consumers because of their unique flavors and high concentrations of bioactive phytochemicals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ripening stages (i.e., stage I, II, and III) of muscadine on physiochemical properties, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and phenolic compounds in the grapes, and explore the enzymatic inhibitory effects of the muscadine extracts and some of its inherent phenolics on some important enzymes, such as angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE), pancreatic lipase (PL), tyrosinase, collagenase and elastase, relevant to human chronic diseases. Physiochemical properties of the muscadine grapes were evaluated in …

Release And Degradation Of Microcystin-Lr Following Exposures Of Microcystis To Copper-Based Algaecides, Kyla Iwinski

All Dissertations

Microcystins (MCs) are hepatotoxic endotoxins produced by cyanobacteria such as Microcystis that can cause both ecological and human health risks, as well as economic losses in freshwater resources. The use of copper-based algaecides to manage MC-producing cyanobacteria is sometimes limited due to perceived risks of MC release from cyanobacterial cells and persistence of toxins in water resources. The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of copper concentration and form on MC release and persistence, as well as potential consequences of “no-action” management decisions (i.e. no treatment). To achieve these objectives, a tiered approach was employed utilizing both …

Understanding The Transcriptional Landscape Of Chinese Hamster Ovary (Cho) Cell Lines Using Next-Generation Sequencing Technology, Rna-Seq, Under Industrially Relevant Conditions, Yogender Kumar Gowtham

All Dissertations

Recombinant therapeutic proteins are widely used to treat life-threatening diseases including cancer. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have been used for over 25 years in the biopharmaceutical industry to produce recombinant therapeutics, where CHO cells produce almost one in three of the manufactured recombinant therapeutics. CHO cell lines are the preferred host for protein expression due to their ability to produce human-compatible protein glycosylation, mediate protein folding, ease of culturing in large-scale bioreactors and protein expression stability. However, several limitations exist in CHO cell bioprocessing, including low protein yields, resulting in high market prices of the biopharmaceuticals. Understanding of CHO …

On The Modal Effective Nonlinearity Of A Class Of Tapered-Cantilever Beams, Clodoaldo Jose Da Silva

All Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the influence of i) higher-order nonlinearities, and ii) assumed mode discretization on the approximate modal effective nonlinearity associated with the flexural response of thin metallic cantilever beams of a constant thickness and a linearly-varying width. To this end, in the first part of this dissertation, a nonlinear model of an Euler-Bernoulli metallic cantilever beam with an arbitrarily variable cross-section is derived. Unlike the common literature wherein the Lagrangian is truncated using a fourth-order Taylor series; here the series is truncated at the eighth order to study the influence of higher-order nonlinearities on …

Functionalized Cellulose Nanofiber Membranes For Heavy Metals Removal From Impaired Waters, Nithinart Chitpong

All Dissertations

This dissertation describes the development and performance of high-productivity nanofiber membranes for removal of heavy metal ions from impaired waters. Heavy metal pollutants such as cadmium and nickel are present in wastewaters discharged from facilities in various industries. Water purification systems such as ion-exchange processes have been used widely to remove and recover specific metal ion impurities from wastewaters for ensuring that the maximum discharge limits of heavy metals are not exceeded. However, the productivity of an ion exchange resin process is limited by the high pressure drop across the resin bed, which may increase over time due to media …

Glycosome Heterogeneity, Dynamics, And Er Association In Trypanosoma Brucei, Sarah Twitty Bauer

All Dissertations

Trypanosomatid parasites, including Trypanosoma and Leishmania, are the causative agents of lethal diseases threatening millions of people around the world. These organisms compartmentalize glycolysis in essential, specialized peroxisomes called glycosomes. Peroxisome proliferation can occur through growth and division of existing organelles and de novo biogenesis from the endoplasmic reticulum. The level that each pathway contributes is debated. Current evidence supports the concerted contribution of both mechanisms in an equilibrium that can vary depending on environmental conditions and metabolic requirements of the cell. Homologs of a number of peroxins, the proteins involved in peroxisome biogenesis and matrix protein import, have …

Preparedness To Counsel Transgender College Students: Perceptions Of College Mental Health Clinicians, Valerie G. Couture

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived preparedness levels of college mental health clinicians to counsel transgender college students. Multicultural counseling competency is required of professional counselors and transgender individuals are considered to be part of the multicultural population. A survey was completed by college mental health counselors (N = 84) from across the United States. The results showed a moderate amount of preparedness overall with no significant differences based on years of counseling experience nor graduation from a CACREP accredited program. Results did show the participants believed they do have a professional duty to be knowledgeable …

Fine-Scale Genetic Structure In Female Mule Deer (Odocoileus Hemionus), Cortney W. Noble, Jeremy M. Bono, Helen K. Pigage, David W. Hale, Jon C. Pigage

Western North American Naturalist

Fine-scale genetic structure in animal populations can have important consequences for evolutionary processes and can influence conservation and management decisions. Cervids often live in matrilineal social groups, and this spatial grouping can create fine-scale genetic structure among females. We used DNA and radio-location data at Fort Carson Military Reservation in south central Colorado, USA, to determine whether female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) living in close proximity were more likely to be related. Spatial data were obtained over an 18-month period using data transmitted from GPS collars. Average positions for each animal were correlated with relatedness estimates calculated using …

Update From The Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices., Jennifer E. Schuster, Sean O'Leary, David W. Kimberlin

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) consists of medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on vaccine use in the United States. The ACIP meets 3 times per year, and members and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) staff present findings and discuss vaccine research, vaccine effectiveness (VE) and safety, clinical trial results, and labeling/package insert information. Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and vaccine shortages are also discussed. Nonvoting representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society are present. The ACIP met on June 22-23, 2016 to discuss proposed recommendations for influenza vaccination, for human …

Mir-155 Expression And Correlation With Clinical Outcome In Pediatric Aml: A Report From Children's Oncology Group., Ranjani Ramamurthy, Maya Hughes, Valerie Morris, Hamid Bolouri, Robert B. Gerbing, Yi-Cheng Wang, Michael R. Loken, Susana C. Raimondi, Betsy A. Hirsch, A S. Gamis, Vivian G. Oehler, Todd A. Alonzo, Soheil Meshinchi

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Aberrant expression of microRNA-155 (miR-155) has been implicated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and associated with clinical outcome.

PROCEDURE: We evaluated miR-155 expression in 198 children with normal karyotype AML (NK-AML) enrolled in Children's Oncology Group (COG) AML trial AAML0531 and correlated miR-155 expression levels with disease characteristics and clinical outcome. Patients were divided into quartiles (Q1-Q4) based on miR-155 expression level, and disease characteristics were then evaluated and correlated with miR-155 expression.

RESULTS: MiR-155 expression varied over 4-log10-fold range relative to its expression in normal marrow with a median expression level of 0.825 (range 0.043-25.630) for the entire …

Evaluating The Success Of A Marine Protected Area: A Systematic Review Approach., J. Gallacher, N. Simmonds, H. Fellowes, N. Brown, N. Gill, W. Clark, C. Biggs, L. D. Rodwell

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), marine areas in which human activities are restricted, are implemented worldwide to protect the marine environment. However, with a large proportion of these MPAs being no more than paper parks, it is important to be able to evaluate MPA success, determined by improvements to biophysical, socio-economic and governance conditions. In this study a systematic literature review was conducted to determine the most frequently used indicators of MPA success. These were then applied to a case study to demonstrate how success can be evaluated. The fifteen most frequently used indicators included species abundance, level of stakeholder participation …

From Development As Disaster To Disaster As Development: Lessons From The Marseille Plague Of 1720

UBC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Phytotoxicity Of Silver Species To Egeria Densa And Applications To Phytoremediation, Leonard James Bernas

Theses and Dissertations

Silver species pose a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems because the use of silver nanoparticles (AgNps) for industrial applications is significantly increasing, as are discharges into waterways. The effects have only been studied on select fish and aquatic plants, so more research is needed to understand the risks associated with silver species in the environment. Egeria densa (E. densa, also known as Elodea densa), a common freshwater submerged macrophyte, was exposed to 0-1.25 ppm silver cations and 2 and 15 nm AgNps in an aqueous environment for 7 days. E. densa was chosen for this study because it is a …