Digital Commons Network^™

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug In The Mid-Atlantic States: Assessing Grower Perceptions, Economic Impact, And Progress, Theresa A. Dellinger, Eric R. Day, Douglas G. Pfeiffer

Journal of Extension

Attendees at mid-Atlantic grower meetings were surveyed in 2012 and 2014 regarding their knowledge of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) and its impact. Responses to individual questions were paired and analyzed for independence between survey years. Despite a large-scale effort by Extension to inform growers and others about BMSB, there remains a clear need for more training on the identification of BMSB nymphs. Respondents also want more information on effective chemical options, scouting methods for BMSB, and BMSB biology, and they prefer to receive this information from Cooperative Extension.

Implementing Good Practices Programs To Encourage Production Of High-Quality, Safer Produce In Mississippi, Barakat S.M. Mahmoud, Eric T. Stafne, Christine H. Coker, Gary R. Bachman

Journal of Extension

Fifty-four growers/producers attended four 1-day good agricultural practices (GAP) and good handling practices (GHP) workshops at four locations in Mississippi. Pre- and postworkshop survey data indicated that the participants' food safety knowledge increased by 15%. Furthermore, the workshops helped producers develop their own food safety plans. The workshops also trained the producers to be prepared for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) GAP and GHP audits. To assist producers in preparing for these audits, two mock audits were conducted after the workshops. As a result of the program, several producers became ready to be audited, and at least one producer became …

Getting Growers To Go Digital: The Power Of A Positive User Experience, Brian P. Mccornack, Wendy A. Johnson

Journal of Extension

Using web-based applications is an innovative approach for delivery of Extension resources. For example, myFields.info is a mobile-friendly application focused on directing stakeholders to information at the field level. Acceptance and diffusion of such applications depends on initial experiences resulting from traditional face-to-face interactions with Extension personnel. We found that crop school participants involved in an Extension training event for a web-based sampling plan showed increased willingness after the training to incorporate sampling plans in their management decisions and share relevant data with others. Specifically, our study demonstrated the value of providing hands-on experience when attempting to encourage stakeholders to …

Inside The Black Box—An Implementation Evaluation Case Study, Patricia Rector, Michele Bakacs, Amy Rowe, Bruce Barbour

Journal of Extension

The case study presented in this article is an example of an implementation evaluation. The evaluation investigated significant components of the implementation of a long-term environmental educational program. Direct observation, evaluation-specific survey data, and historical data were used to determine program integrity as identified by adherence to original expectations, dosage, quality of delivery, participant responsiveness, and differentiation from other programs. The evaluation provided key information for replicating and expanding a successful program and exploring areas in which positive changes can be made. The article illustrates how the evaluation methodology that was applied can be useful for other Extension programs.

The Feasibility Of Using Drones To Count Songbirds, Andrew M. Wilson, Janine M. Barr, Megan E. Zagorski

Environmental Studies Student Conference Presentations

Point and transect counts are the most common bird survey methods, but are subject to biases and accessibility issues. To eliminate some of these biases, we propose attaching a recorder to a consumer-grade quadcopter (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV) to estimate songbird populations from audio recordings. We conducted a blind experiment using broadcast recordings to estimate the detection radius of a compact recorder attached to a UAV, and found that the detection radius did not vary significantly when the UAV was flown at elevations of 20, 40 and 60m. We field tested our system by comparing UAV-based bird counts with …

2016-2017 Bulletin

Undergraduate Bulletins

After 2003 the University of Dayton Bulletin went exclusively online. This copy was downloaded from the University of Dayton's website in March 2018.

2016-17 Graduate Bulletin

Graduate Bulletins

After 2003 the University of Dayton Bulletin went exclusively online. This copy was downloaded from the University of Dayton's website in March 2018.

General Solutions To Temperature Distribution In Orthotropic Systems Subject To Variable Heat Transfer And Biological Systems During Bioheat Transfer, Daipayan Sakar

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Bioheat transfer is the phenomenon of heat transfer in biological systems where the dominant modes of heat transfer are conduction and advection. Other factors such as rate of metabolism that are unique to biological systems contribute significantly towards bioheat transfer. In the present work, the Pennes bioheat equation has been solved for a multilayer system to derive steady state and transient temperature solutions in the multilayer skin tissue with a tumor. In nanoparticle based hyperthermia therapy, the body temperature elevates from the physiological core body temperature, 37 deg. C. Analytical solutions for three different therapeutic techniques have been developed to …

Experimental Investigation Of Methane Reformer With A Continuous Flow Reactor, Xiao Zhang

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Over the decades, seeking for an alternative energy source has been more and more significant because of increasing demand with rapid industry expansion. Liquid hydrocarbon from Fischer-Tropsch process is considered as an alternative fuel source because the product is considered as subtle for petroleum-derived. Syngas as feedstock for F-T process plays a crucial role in liquid hydrocarbon production. Among several commercial and experiment technologies, the most common technology for syngas production is natural gas reforming. The product from reforming process has proper carbon monoxide/hydrogen ratio for direct application in F-T synthesis. Meanwhile, combined carbon dioxide into reforming reaction has attracted …

Complex Multidisciplinary Systems Decomposition For Aerospace Vehicle Conceptual Design And Technology Acquisition, Amen Omoragbon

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Although, the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) industry is a significant contributor to the United States’ economy, national prestige and national security, it experiences significant cost and schedule overruns. This problem is related to the differences between technology acquisition assessments and aerospace vehicle conceptual design. Acquisition assessments evaluate broad sets of alternatives with mostly qualitative techniques, while conceptual design tools evaluate narrow set of alternatives with multidisciplinary tools. In order for these two fields to communicate effectively, a common platform for both concerns is desired. This research is an original contribution to a three-part solution to this problem. It discusses the …

Understanding The Alchemilla Leaf And Its Hydrophobicity, Atul Mohandas Kootathil

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The Alchemilla leaf has been well known and studied frequently for its hydrophobic ability. However, much difficulty has been met in replicating its microstructure for hydrophobic applications. Also, not much experimental data was found on the behavior of leaf’s microstructure. Gathering information from experimental results may provide new understanding of its wetting properties before attempting to mimetic its wetting behavior. In this research, the focus is to detail the observed solid-water-air interaction on Alchemilla leaf by simulating condensation, evaporation and rainfall conditions, which are the common ways that a plant may interact with water drops in nature. Documenting these observations …

Gold-Nanoparticle-Based Theranostic Agents For Radiotherapy Of Malignant Solid Tumors, Sina Moeendarbari

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Radiation therapy is one of the three major methods of cancer treatment. The fundamental goal of radiotherapy is to deliver high radiation doses to targets while simultaneously minimizing doses to critical structures and healthy normal tissues. The aim of this study is to develop a general, practical, and facile method to prepare nanoscale theranostic agents for more efficacious radiation therapy with less adverse side effects. First, a novel type of gold nanoparticle, hollow Au nanoparticles (HAuNPs) which was synthesized using the unique bubble template synthesis method developed in our lab, are studied in vitro and in vivo to investigate their …

Osteogenic Differentiation In Preosteoblast Mc3t3-E1 Cells Induced By Beta Tricalcium Phosphate Bioglass Composite, Chien-Ning Yao

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The use of bioactive material from bioceramic and composite components to support bone cell and tissue growth is an interesting area of medical field. Calcium phosphate ceramics are biocompatible and may develop interactions with human living bone tissues. Bioactive calcium phosphates, beta -tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), have been intensively investigated as the cell scaffold for bone tissue engineering because it is well recognized that they are compatible to natural bone tissue and osteoconductive. In this research we will discuss two types of biomaterial with different kind of composition—(a) a cement type and (b)a scaffold type of biomaterial that can be applied …

Functional Studies Of The Human Telomerase Holoenzyme, Mohammed E. Sayed

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Telomeres are the DNA structures that cap the ends of linear chromosomes. In humans, telomeres are composed of the hexameric repeats TTAGGG. The reverse transcriptase, telomerase maintains the telomeres by adding the TTAGGG repeats to the chromosomes during cell division. In the absence of telomerase, telomere length limits the self-renewal capabilities of cells. Telomerase is expressed in approximately 90% of all human cancers, making it an almost universal therapeutic target as well as an important player in the progression from healthy to cancerous cell. The biophysical studies discussed in this thesis focus on expanding the understanding of the function and …

Intuitive Human Robot Interfaces For Upper Limb Prosthetics, Oguz Yetkin

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Modern robotic prosthetic devices for upper limb amputees promise to alleviate an important disability, but are underutilized due to the inability to properly control them. Specifically, the devices afford more degrees of freedom (DOFs) than are con- trollable by easily decoded biological signals. These devices, such as the DEKA arm, can have as many as 18 DOFs, although six is a more typical number (control of each finger plus thumb rotation). Unfortunately, the use of these devices remains limited by the ability of users to simultaneously control more than one degree of freedom at a time with commercially deployed technology. …

Centimeter-Deep Tissue Fluorescence Microscopic Imaging, Bingbing Cheng

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Fluorescence microscopic imaging in centimeter-deep tissue has been highly sought-after for many years because much interesting in vivo micro-information—such as microcirculation, tumor angiogenesis, and cancer metastasis—may deeply locate in tissue. However, it is very challenging because of strong tissue light scattering. This includes: how to confine the fluorescence emission into a small volume to achieve high spatial resolution; how to increase fluorescence emission efficiency to compensate the signal attenuation caused by small emission volume and tissue scattering/absorption; and how to reduce background fluorescence noise and exclusively differentiate signal photons from background photons to increase signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity. Ultrasonic …

Nanosturctured Biomaterials For Tissue Regeneration And Repair, Primana Punnakitikashem

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Nanostructured materials have been explored in biomedical field especially in tissue engineering over a past decade. This type of material can be processed into biomaterial scaffolds; revealed many advantages to be used in human living system such as restoring, healing, replacing and improving the function of interested tissues or organs. In this work, nanostructured materials were synthesized as a nanofibrous scaffold or nanoparticles, which were characterized and tested for their biofunctions in the regeneration of blood vessels, lung and skin tissues. Firstly, biodegradable polyurethane nanofibrous scaffolds with dipyramole were electrospun to create a vascular graft, and results demonstrated that this …

Mapping Of Prefrontal Hemodynamic Responses To Noxious Stimulation And Chronic Pain Related Resting-State Functional Networks Assessed By Fnirs, Amarnath Yennu

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Neural representations of chronic pain are complex and are least understood. Numerous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have revealed structural and functional abnormalities in several cortical and sub-cortical regions in subjects with chronic low-back pain (CLBP). A more recent MRI study has reported that structural and functional brain abnormalities in pain-treated patients with CLBP are reversible, demonstrating that an appropriate treatment of chronic pain can restore normal brain functions for the patients. Due to high cost, non-portability, and other restrictions of MRI, the development of a complementary brain imaging tool is therefore crucial in order to improve the understanding of …

Reproductive Numbers For Periodic Epidemic Systems, Christopher David Mitchell

Mathematics Dissertations - Archive

When using mathematics to study epidemics, often times the goal is to deter- mine when an infection can invade and persist within a population. This can be done in a variety of ways but the most common is to use threshold quantities called reproductive numbers. For models with only one infection, the basic reproductive number (BRN) is used to determine the stability of the disease-free equilibrium. For many years this was done solely for autonomous systems; however, many diseases exhibit seasonal behavior. If this seasonality is incorporated into models, it gives nonautonomous systems, which while more accurate in their description, …

Effects Of Model Physics On Hypoxia Simulations For The Northern Gulf Of Mexico: A Model Intercomparison, Katja Fennel, Arnaud Laurent, Robert Hetland, Dubravko Justić, Dong S. Ko, John Lehrter, Michael Murrell, Lixia Wang, Liuqian Yu, Wenxia Zhang

Faculty Publications

A large hypoxic zone forms every summer on the Texas-Louisiana Shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico due to nutrient and freshwater inputs from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River System. Efforts are underway to reduce the extent of hypoxic conditions through reductions in river nutrient inputs, but the response of hypoxia to such nutrient load reductions is difficult to predict because biological responses are confounded by variability in physical processes. The objective of this study is to identify the major physical model aspects that matter for hypoxia simulation and prediction. In order to do so, we compare three different circulation models (ROMS, …

Biological Sciences Newsletter - Fall 2016, Department Of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University

Biological Sciences Newsletters

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Environmental Values In The Asian, Developing-World Context Of Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark, Vietnam, Madeline Duda

All Theses

It has been generally assumed that individuals’ environmental values are influenced by culture, experiences, social norms, economic standing, among others. However, to date research on held environmental values has focused primarily on the developed world context. To address this gap, this research explores the environmental values of local people in a developing world context, specifically the Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark (DVKPG) in Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. To examine individual’s value orientation related to sense of place and held environmental values we asked residents of DVKPG a set of two open-ended questions: (1) what is most important to you …

2016-2017 Faculty Senate Roster, Faculty Senate, East Tennessee State University

Faculty Senate Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

Romans, Barbarians, And Franks In The Writings Of Venantius Fortunatus, Erica Buchberger

History Faculty Publications

This paper aims to contribute to the broader discussion of strategies of identification and of Romanness by exploring the changing meaning of Roman, barbarian, and Frankish identity in the writings of Venantius Fortunatus. A close examination of the cultural, ethnic and political nuances of these terms in Fortunatus's works highlights the ways he used the resources available to him within his social context to promote Roman identity as still prestigious and as compatible with a barbarian‐ruled society.

Should The New England Education Research Organization Start A Journal In The Age Of Audit Culture? Reflections On Academic Publishing, Metrics, And The New Academy, Edward Lehner, Kate Finley

Publications and Research

A large regional educational research association can straightforwardly establish a scholarly journal associated with its annual meeting. However, this work underscores the complicated scholarly ecosystem that an association enters when publishing a journal. The social sciences’ scholarly literature exists in a related series of networks that could be described as a type of “audit culture.” Within audit culture, two major academic publishers, Elsevier and Thomson Reuters, have established competing, yet strikingly collinear, journal metrics systems: Scopus and Web of Science, respectively. These and other bibliometrics systems are used to assess, order, and rank the supposed value of a researcher’s work. …

Nanoparticle-Based Electrochemical Sensors For The Detection Of Lactate And Hydrogen Peroxide, Aytekin Uzunoglu

Open Access Dissertations

In the present study, electrochemical sensors for the detection of lactate and hydrogen peroxide were constructed by exploiting the physicochemical properties of metal ad metal oxide nanoparticles. This study can be divided into two main sections. While chapter 2, 3, and 4 report on the construction of electrochemical lactate biosensors using CeO2 and CeO2-based mixed metal oxide nanoparticles, chapter 5 and 6 show the development of electrochemical hydrogen peroxide sensors by the decoration of the electrode surface with palladium-based nanoparticles. First generation oxidase enzyme-based sensors suffer from oxygen dependency which results in errors in the response current of the sensors …

Tremblings, August 2016, Western Aspen Alliance

Tremblings

Can aspen persist in conifer dominated forests?

Douglas H. Page

John D. Shaw

In 1998 we measured a large, old aspen in a mixed spruce-fir-aspen forest on the Utah State University T.W. Daniel Experimental Forest in northern Utah. The tree was 297 years old – about the same age as the oldest spruce in the stand. A search of the forestry literature revealed that the oldest published age for an aspen came from a tree in the Sierra Nevada Range in California, and that tree would have been had been 266 years old, if it was still alive at the …

Rio’S 2016 Olympic Golf Course: City’S Last Remaining Ecosystems Left “In The Rough”, Charles Vercillo

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

The sport of golf returned as an official event at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro following a prolonged absence from the Games. To accommodate golf’s return, the city of Rio endorsed the construction of the Olympic golf course on land adjoining the Marapendi lagoon—land historically known to be ecologically valuable and environmentally protected. With the Games rapidly approaching, the city quickly passed complementary Law 125, stripping this land of its environmental protection, and instead authorizing a golf course as a sustainable use of the land.

Local environmentalists have challenged the legislation and the city’s decision, arguing …

Evaluation Of Food Waste Diversion Potential And Economics Of Using Food Waste Dehydrators, Arindam Dhar

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

According to US EPA (2013), food waste is the second largest component (14.6%) of MSW composition in the US, preceded only by paper. Apart from the negative environmental impacts of food waste through methane and leachate generation, it also incurs huge cost to landfill them. Hence, food waste diversion from landfills is becoming a major issue in landfills across many US states. Though biological treatment of food waste is a potential alternative for food waste diversion, the existing scale of this type of treatment is very narrow. On-site treatment of food waste is a suitable alternative as it can be …

The Effects Of Ketamine Exposure On Nmda Receptor Mediated Synaptic Transmission In The Developing Brain - A Mechanistic Study Of Ketamine-Induced Neuroapoptosis, Saurabh Kokane

Psychology Theses - Archive

Ketamine is a widely used pediatric anesthetic because of its high potency in pediatric patients. Side-effects produced by ketamine anesthesia in adults are also not seen in children after ketamine use. However, several preclinical studies have shown that prolonged or repeated exposure of neonates to ketamine resulted in widespread death of neurons (neuroapoptosis) in almost all areas of the neonatal brain (Brambrink et al, 2012; Hayashi et al, 2002; Ikonomidou et al, 1999; Scallet et al, 2004; Zou et al, 2009a, b). Increasing evidence shows that this neuroapoptosis affects prenatal and neonatal brain adversely, specifically in brain areas involved in …