Digital Commons Network^™

Animals Are Agents, Linda A.W. Brakel

Animal Sentience

Mark Rowlands’s (2016) target article invites us to consider individuals in a broad subset of the non-human animal world as genuine persons. His account features animals reacting to salient environmental stimuli as Gibsonian affordances, which is indicative of “pre-reflective self-awareness.” He holds that such pre-reflective self-awareness is both “immune to error through misidentification” (Shoemaker, 1968) and a necessary precursor to reflective consciousness and personhood. I agree. In this commentary I hope to extend Rowlands’s work with a view in which agency is an even more fundamental precursor and one can (and should) consider individuals throughout the entire animal kingdom as …

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part Vi. Compsobuthus Vachon, 1949 (Buthidae), With A Description Of C. Eritreaensis Sp. N., František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, Jana Plíšková, František Šťáhlavský

Euscorpius

All four Compsobuthus species of the Horn of Africa were newly collected, C. werneri firstly collected in Eritrea and C. eritreaensis sp. n. discovered during scorpiological expeditions in 2011–2016. Information is provided about their taxonomy, distribution, and ecology, fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as their habitat. The hemispermatophore of C. eritreaensis sp. n. is illustrated and described. In addition to morphological analysis, we also describe the karyotype of C. eritreaensis sp. n. (2n=22).

A New Species Of Diplocentrus (Scorpionidae: Diplocentrinae) From Western Izabal, Guatemala, Luis F. De Armas, Rony E. Trujillo

Euscorpius

Diplocentrus izabal sp. n. is herein described on basis to one male (holotype) and two females from El Estor municipality, Izabal department, eastern Guatemala. It seems to be a close relative of Diplocentrus lachua Armas, Trujillo & Agreda, 2012, from which it differs by having carapace almost smooth, with anteromedian notch V-shaped; pectines with 11 teeth in both sexes, and carapace clearly longer than pedipalp manus and metasomal segment V (D. lachua has carapace minutely granulate, with anteromedian notch U-shaped; pectines with 13 teeth in the males (female unknown), and carapace as long as both pedipalp manus and metasomal …

Information Processing In The Hippocampus And The Medial Prefrontal Cortex During Hippocampal Dependent And Independent Task: An Lfp Analysis, Jinah Yoon 4863671

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Cannabinoid Receptor Subtype 2 (Cb2r) Agonist Gw405833 Reduces Agonist-Induced Ca2+ Oscillations In Mouse Pancreatic Acinar Cells, Zebing Huang, Haiyan Wang, Jingke Wang, Mengqin Zhao, Nana Sun, Fangfang Sun, Jianxin Shen, Haiying Zhang, Kunkun Xia, Dejie Chen, Ming Gao, Ronald P. Hammer, Qingrong Liu, Zhengxiong Xi, Xuegong Fan, Jie Wu

Translational Neuroscience

Emerging evidence demonstrates that the blockade of intracellular Ca 2+ signals may protect pancreatic acinar cells against Ca 2+ overload, intracellular protease activation, and necrosis. The activation of cannabinoid receptor subtype 2 (CB 2 R) prevents acinar cell pathogenesis in animal models of acute pancreatitis. However, whether CB 2 Rs modulate intracellular Ca 2+ signals in pancreatic acinar cells is largely unknown. We evaluated the roles of CB 2 R agonist, GW405833 (GW) in agonist-induced Ca 2+ oscillations in pancreatic acinar cells using multiple experimental approaches with acute dissociated pancreatic acinar cells prepared from wild type, CB 1 R-knockout (KO), …

07-19-2016 Paula Jeanne Horsburgh Memorial Scholarship Awarded At Swosu, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

THE BARK ARCHIVE 2016

Southwestern Oklahoma State University student Alexis Ann Schroeder of Hydro has been named the 2016-2017 Paula Jeanne Horsburgh Memorial Scholar by the SWOSU Foundation, Inc., in Weatherford.

Professional Practices Of Graphic Design 2015 - 2016, Siriporn Peters

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

This is the first portfolio book of graphic design students in the Department of Art, Communication & Theatre, College of Arts and Sciences at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU). It was designed to display work samples of the students who studied in Professional Practices of Graphic Design course in Spring 2016. Showcases of the students who worked as graphic design interns and collaborated with local organizations and communities through their service learning between 2015-2016 are also included.

2016 July 19 - Medical Student Education Committee Minutes, Medical Student Education Committee, East Tennessee State University

Medical Student Education Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Control Of Networked Systems With Engineering Applications, Housheng Su, Michael Z.Q. Chen, Qing Hui, Yuan Fan, Zhiwei Gao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Recently, control of networked systems problems has attracted much attention among researchers in biology, physics, control engineering, and computer science for decades, partially due to the broad applications of control of networked systems in many engineering areas including cooperative control of mobile robots and estimation of mobile sensor networks. The study of complex network topology and modeling is to understand the influence of network structure on its function and consequently to find effective ways to improve network performance.

This special issue focuses on theoretical and technological achievements in control of networked systems. The contents of the accepted papers are summarized …

The Zebrafish's Growing Impact On Medical Research, Alicia Rohan

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Call Of The Cows, Lori Tyler Gula

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Cytotoxin Compounds And Methods Of Isolation, Bill J. Baker, Thushara Diyabalanage, James B. Mcclintock, Charles D. Amsler

USF Patents

The present invention concerns groups of compounds derived from tunicates of the Synoicum species, as well as to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds, and uses thereof. Extracts from tunicates show selective toxicity against several different cancer cell lines in the NCI 60 cell line panel. These compounds are useful in the effective treatment of cancers, particularly malignant melanomas, colon cancer, and renal cancer cell lines.

Cultural Hair Practice And Physical Inactivity Among Urban African-American Adolescent Girls In The U.S, Felesia Renee Bowen, Patricia Ann Richardson

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Session presented on Monday, July 25, 2016:

Purpose: Minority children in the United States (U.S.) are disproportionately affected by overweight and obesity. According to the Youth at Risk of Decreased Physical Activity Survey, minority preadolescent and adolescent girls of low socioeconomic status are at increased risk for obesity due to insufficient physical activity. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the physical activity levels of Adolescent females in an urban school environment and their perceived barriers to exercise. In the U.S. there has been a decrease in the overall obesity rates among children, however obesity among adolescents, …

The Confounding Effects Of Particle Size And Substrate Bulk Density On Phanerochaete Chrysosporium Pretreatment On Panicum Virgatum, Amanda N. Hickman, Sue E. Nokes, William S. Sympson, Mathew J. Ruwaya, Michael D. Montross, Barbara L. Knutson

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Phanerochaete chrysosporium treatment is less effective as a biological pretreatment on feedstock with larger particle sizes. We hypothesized that the improved effectiveness of the pretreatment when smaller particle sizes are used may be due to the inherently higher bulk density with smaller particle sizes. The effects of substrate bulk density and particle size on the efficacy of P. chrysosporium pretreatment of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) was tested experimentally. Phanerochaete chrysosporium was grown on senesced switchgrass (2 different particle sizes) with various bulk densities. In all treatments, the fungal-pretreated samples released more glucose during enzymatic saccharification than the control sample. …

Personality Types Of Pilot Students: A Study Of An Australian Collegiate Aviation Program, Yi Gao, Stephen Kong

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Many studies have explored personality types of civil and military pilots, however research into pilot students currently or recently undertaking flight training is relatively limited. By using the Australian Personality Inventory (API) as the survey instrument, this study explored personality scales of the pilot student cohort pursing academic degrees and flying qualifications in an Australian collegiate aviation program, and compared personality types of aviation students to non-aviation students. Results of the current study found that Agreeableness (A) and Conscientiousness (C) are the two most dominant personality scales for pilot students, accounting for over 60% of sample. The study also found …

American Pikas (Ochotona Princeps) Extirpated From The Historic Masonic Mining District Of Eastern California, Lyle B. Nichols, Kelly B. Klingler, Mary M. Peacock

Western North American Naturalist

American pikas (Ochotona princeps) are small alpine lagomorphs and talus obligates with a narrow range of temperature tolerance, along with physiological and ecological characteristics that make them especially vulnerable to local extirpation in the face of climate change. Since their initial colonization of the Great Basin during the Pleistocene geological epoch, the distribution of pikas in this region has become more restricted, with population losses occurring especially in lower-elevation sites characterized by relatively low precipitation and high temperatures. Even where pikas have persisted, many populations are now restricted to higher elevations. We surveyed several sites in the Bodie …

Noninvasive Identification Of Individual American Badgers By Features Of Their Dorsal Head Stripes, Robert L. Harrison

Western North American Naturalist

Identification of individual animals is a valuable and often essential procedure for studies of animal behavior and population size. I present evidence that individual American badgers (Taxidea taxus) may be identified by natural features of their dorsal head stripes.


La identificación individual de los animales es un procedimiento importante y, a menudo, esencial para estudiar el comportamiento animal y el tamaño de las poblaciones. Presento evidencia de que los individuos de tejón americano (Taxidea taxus) pueden ser identificados por características naturales como sus rayas dorsales en la cabeza.

Front Matter, Vol. 76 No. 2

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Cross Species Selection Scans Identify Components Of C4 Photosynthesis In The Grasses, Pu Huang, Anthony J. Studer, James C. Schnable, Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Thomas P. Brutnell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

C₄ photosynthesis is perhaps one of the best examples of convergent adaptive evolution with over 25 independent origins in the grasses (Poaceae) alone. The availability of high quality grass genome sequences presents new opportunities to explore the mechanisms underlying this complex trait using evolutionary biology-based approaches. In this study, we performed genome-wide cross-species selection scans in C₄ lineages to facilitate discovery of C₄ genes. The study was enabled by the well conserved collinearity of grass genomes and the recently sequenced genome of a C₃ panicoid grass, Dichanthelium oligosanthes. This method, in contrast to previous studies, …

Species Richness, Diversity, And Ecology Of Chironomidae (Diptera) In Fountain Creek: A Colorado Front Range Sandy-Bottom Watershed, Scott J. Herrmann, James E. Sublette, Lisa K. Helland, Del Wayne R. Nimmo, James S. Carsella, Lynn M. Herrmann-Hoesing, Brian D. Vanden Heuvel

Western North American Naturalist

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the chironomid species diversity of a high-gradient sandy-bottom watershed along the Colorado Front Range. Adult male Chironomidae were collected concurrently in 2007 and 2008 from 14 sites in the Fountain Creek Watershed (FCW), south central Colorado, USA, using ultraviolet night lights and sweep netting methods. Species-level identifications resulted in 151 species including 24 new species from 65 genera and 6 subfamilies. Forty species are reported here as new Colorado records, and many North American range extensions were recorded. Some species had geographical ranges that included the Neotropical, Afrotropical or Oriental regions. …

Investigating Project-Based Learning (Pbl) In A Stem School In Egypt: A Case Study, Hamada Ahmed Elfarargy

Theses and Dissertations

The initiative of STEM Schools in Egypt with a boys’ school in 6th of October and a girls’ school in Maadi can be considered a turning point in the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in Egypt. Applying Project-based learning (PBL) in STEM schools is innovative to the educational system in Egypt. Project-based learning is the main pedagogical method representing 60% of students’ final scores in grade one and two and 20% of students’ final scores in grade three for STEM School students. The goal of this study was to investigate PBL in 6th of October STEM High school …

Disease Introduction Is Associated With A Phase Transition In Bighorn Sheep Demographics, Kezia R. Manlove, E. Frances Cassirer, Paul C. Cross, Raina K. Plowright, Peter J. Hudson

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Ecological theory suggests that pathogens are capable of regulating or limiting host population dynamics, and this relationship has been empirically established in several settings. However, although studies of childhood diseases were integral to the development of disease ecology, few studies show population limitation by a disease affecting juveniles. Here, we present empirical evidence that disease in lambs constrains population growth in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) based on 45 years of population‐level and 18 years of individual‐level monitoring across 12 populations. While populations generally increased (λ = 1.11) prior to disease introduction, most of these same populations experienced an abrupt change …

Global Changes In Mycoplasma Gallisepticum Phase-Variable Lipoprotein (Vlha) Gene Expression In The Natural Host, Katherine Pflaum

Doctoral Dissertations

Mycoplasma gallisepticum is the primary etiologic agent of chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in poultry, a disease largely affecting the respiratory tract of poultry, and causing significant economic losses world-wide. Proteins of the variable lipoprotein and hemagglutinin (vlhA) gene family are thought to be important for host interaction, pathogenesis and immune evasion, but the exact role and mechanisms are not well understood. To better understand the phase variation of vlhA genes, we have conducted large scale, next generation sequencing analysis of M. gallisepticum sampled directly from the tracheal mucosa of experimentally infected chickens and those recovered and passaged in-vitro. …

Twelve Years Of High-Resolution Near-Surface Radiometer Data Provides Insight Into End-Of-Season Controls In A Dry Grassland, Lynn M. Moore, William K. Lauenroth

Western North American Naturalist

The onset of plant dormancy has proven difficult to explain in nearly all ecosystems. Most research has focused on the end-of-season dynamics of deciduous ecosystems, where leaf coloration and leaf fall are the primary phenological responses. More complex are the end-of-season dynamics of grasslands, where the mechanism of dormancy is a gradual response to climatic variables. These complications are magnified in dry grasslands, where the effects of temperature on phenology are modulated by the availability of soil water. Our objectives were to identify the primary drivers influencing the timing of end of season on the shortgrass steppe and determine if …

Caught Between A Rock And A Hard Mineral Encrustation: Long-Lived Aquatic Insects Accumulate Calcium Carbonate Deposits In A Montane Desert Stream, Eric K. Moody, Jessica R. Corman, Michael T. Bogan

Western North American Naturalist

Aquatic ecosystems overlying regions of limestone bedrock can feature active deposition of calcium carbonate in the form of travertine or tufa. Although most travertine deposits form a cement-like layer on stream substrates, mineral deposits can also form on benthic invertebrates. However, little is known about which taxa may be prone to calcium carbonate encrustation and which life history traits may make taxa more susceptible to becoming encrusted. Here we report the presence of calcium carbonate deposits on live insects collected from a montane stream in the Madrean Sky Islands (Huachuca Mountains) of Arizona between 2011 and 2013. Life history differences …

Response In Abert's Squirrel Abundance To Forest Treatments On Camp Navajo, Arizona, R. Nathan Gwinn, Jessica A. Gist, Joel M. Diamond, Hannah Telle

Western North American Naturalist

Abert’s squirrels (Sciurus aberti) are dependent upon ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests in northern Arizona. Abert’s squirrels feed primarily on the inner bark of ponderosa pine branches, as well as the tree’s seeds and the hypogenous fungi associated with ponderosa pines. Abert’s squirrels require interlocking tree canopies for escape cover and for feeding, particularly in winter months when snow impedes ground travel and the ability of Abert’s squirrels to access fungi and hoarded food. In the Southwest, land managers in the ponderosa pine belt are implementing large-scale forest restoration treatments to reduce fire risk and return …

Seed Selection By Desert Rodents: Implications For Enhancing Seedling Establishment Of Indian Ricegrass (Achnatherum Hymenoides), William S. Longland, Lindsay A. Dimitri

Western North American Naturalist

Seeds of many plant species are dispersed by seed-caching rodents that place groups of seeds in superficially buried scatterhoard caches. A case in point is Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides), an important forage plant on arid western rangelands for which seedling recruitment comes largely from scatterhoards made by desert heteromyid rodents. A “diversionary seeding” strategy has been attempted for enhancing Indian ricegrass seedling recruitment by deploying commercially available seeds on the soil surface to divert rodents from recovering scatterhoards of Indian ricegrass seeds. The probability of such a passive restoration approach succeeding is likely affected by the relative desirability …

End Matter, Vol. 76 No. 2

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Limitation Of Invasive Plant Colonization By Native Shrubs During Forested Wetland Restoration, Kaitlyn E. Moranz

Theses

Rapid colonization by invasive plants can lead to failures of wetland restoration, particularly in forested wetlands where mature plant communities are slow to develop. To develop more effective methods for reducing the spread of invasive plants, I tested the hypothesis that planting native shrubs during the early stages of wetland creation can provide an alternative to herbicides by enhancing competition for light and other resources with invasive herbaceous plants, such as Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass). Planting native shrub live stakes in two created forested wetlands in Western New York State, USA, increased overall native herbaceous plant cover and biodiversity …

Assessing Stress Responses To Atmospheric Cold Plasma Exposure Using Escherichia Coli Knock Out Mutants, Lu Han, Daniela Boehm, Sonal Patil, Patrick J. Cullen, Paula Bourke

Articles

Aim: This study investigated the effect of Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) exposure induced stress on microbial inactivation patterns and the regulation of genes involved in the microbial stress response in conjunction with key processing parameters of exposure time and post treatment storage time.

Methods and Results: Cell suspensions of Escherichia coli BW 25113 and its isogenic knock-out mutants in rpoS, soxR, soxS, oxyR and dnaK genes were treated with high voltage ACP in a sealed package for 1, 3 and 5 min followed by 0, 1 and 24 h post-treatment storage. ROS densities and colony formation were …