Digital Commons Network^™

Information Densification Of Social Constructs Via Behavior Analysis Of Social Media Users – A Study On Twitter, Diogo F. Pacheco

Theses and Dissertations

We live in a digital era where everyday activities are increasingly being replaced by online interactions. In addition, technology advances and data availability are changing the way we expand our knowledge about ourselves, society, and the environment. The increasing availability of data, especially social media data, has called the attention of researchers, and we have been witnessing an outbreak in studies relying on this rich source of information. However, most social media research is tuned to improve the outcomes of specific problems. Therefore, the reuse of techniques used in different areas is limited to data specialists. We propose a straightforward …

Evaluation Of A Tool To Identify The Variables Responsible For Poor Parent Treatment Implementation: The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Parent, Jamie Villacorta

Theses and Dissertations

In applied behavior analysis, parents are often taught to implement treatment programs in order to decrease their child’s problem behaviors and increase appropriate behaviors. Unfortunately, many parents have trouble implementing these programs correctly. It has been suggested that higher treatment integrity for a specified treatment program may be associated with higher levels of its success. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the use of an assessment tool (i.e., the Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Parent, or PDC-P) to develop a treatment specifically targeted to address the variables responsible for poor program implementation by parents. First, the PDC-P was administered to …

The Montana Expression 2017: 2017’S Costly Fire Season, Jeremy L. Sage, Norma P. Nickerson

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Montana, along with many western states, experienced a severe fire season in the summer of 2017. According to the Northern Rockies Coordination Center (NRCC), fires consumed 1,276,456 acres of Montana lands. Nearly half of these lands are U.S. Forest Service owned (Table 1). The severity of the fire season led Montana’s Governor, Steve Bullock, to declare a state of emergency at the beginning of September. At this time, the state had already exceeded the $30 million in its firefighting fund by $14.5 million.1 The NRCC estimates the total costs of fighting Montana’s wildfires topped $390 million.2 The combination of extreme …

Genetic Variation And Gene Expression Across Multiple Tissues And Developmental Stages In A Non-Human Primate, Anna J. Jasinska, Ivette Zelaya, Susan K. Service, Christine B. Peterson, Rita M. Cantor, Oi-Wa Choi, Joseph Deyoung, Eleazar Eskin, Lynn A. Fairbanks, John Blangero, Thomas D. Dyer

School of Medicine Publications

By analyzing multitissue gene expression and genome-wide genetic variation data in samples from a vervet monkey pedigree, we generated a transcriptome resource and produced the first catalog of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in a nonhuman primate model. This catalog contains more genome-wide significant eQTLs per sample than comparable human resources and identifies sex- and age-related expression patterns. Findings include a master regulatory locus that likely has a role in immune function and a locus regulating hippocampal long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), whose expression correlates with hippocampal volume. This resource will facilitate genetic investigation of quantitative traits, including brain and behavioral …

Brook Trout Behavioral Thermoregulation And Habitat Selection In A Small Michigan Coldwater Stream: Implications For Successful Management, Justin Emory Wegner

Masters Theses

Global warming and conversion of forests for urbanization, agriculture and mineral extraction are increasing water temperatures throughout Brook Trout’s range causing population declines; particularly in populations persisting in marginal habitats and in the southern limits of their distribution. The Brook Trout is an ectotherm that can cope with elevated water temperature by moving to coldwater refuge such as groundwater seeps, coldwater tributary confluences, and headwaters. Availability of coldwater refuge is vital for the survival of Brook Trout populations threatened by increasing water temperatures. I used radio telemetry to study the movement, habitat use, and behavioral thermoregulation of Brook Trout living …

Phosphorus Retention In West Michigan Two-Stage Agricultural Ditches, Emily Kindervater

Masters Theses

Input of excess nutrients into a water body can negatively impact ecological structure and function, as well as the economic vitality of surrounding communities, by contributing to eutrophication. For example, phosphorus (P) and sediment inputs from agricultural drainage have facilitated the development of hypereutrophic conditions in Lake Macatawa, a drowned river mouth lake located in Holland, Michigan. Two-stage ditches, an agricultural best management practice (BMP), are used in some areas of the Midwest to reduce N export downstream via denitrification. This BMP simulates a mini-floodplain by replacing a traditional, trapezoidal ditch with a channel that has excavated benches on each …

Adapting Problem-Based Learning To Advancing Medical Students, Damon H. Sakai, Richard T. Kasuya, Sheri Ft Fong, Jill Sm Omori, Vanessa S. Wong, Kenton Kramer, Ivy Nip Asano, David T. Horio, Marcel D'Eon

Journal of Medical Education

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) should adapt to the growing knowledge and clinical sophistication of medical students as they progress through the curriculum. At the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), PBL is the primary instructional method for pre-clerkship education. In this article, we share specific strategies to enhance the PBL content and process for early and advancing learners. This includes increased support for beginning students in the development of their self-directed learning skills. For advancing learners, we advocate increasing the clinical and emotional complexity of the cases, and integrating PBL with clinical skills education. Finally, we share …

Visionmaker.Nyc: An Online Landscape Ecology Tool To Support Social-Ecological System Visioning And Planning, Bryce Dubois, Shorna Allred, Katherine Bunting-Howarth, Eric W. Sanderson, Mario Giampieri

Journal of Extension

The Welikeia project and the corresponding free online tool Visionmaker.NYC focus on the historical landscape ecologies of New York City. This article provides a brief introduction to online participatory tools, describes the Visionmaker tool in detail, and offers suggested ways to use the tool for Extension professionals based in and outside New York City. This information provides a basis for best practices Extension professionals can apply when using Visionmaker to support ecological thinking and participatory planning to catalyze change among urban residents.

Optimizing Bioengineered Vascular Systems: A Genetic Algorithm Approach, Sima Mehri Kochaki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Efficiency of current cell cultures producing biological products is limited due to accumulation of the product and waste on the cells. A previous work aims at assisting bioengineers in solving this problem by introducing a new set of cells which possess the ability to connect to one another and thus form a network. Once created, the network of cells can help the initial cellules by removing their waste and product as well as nourishing them. Our project explores a technique to be able to create the best network of such cells; hence maximizing the amount of metabolic product in the …

Integrating Social And Ecological Methods To Assess And Inform Park Monitoring And Management, Kelly A. Goonan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Managing outdoor recreation requires that managers do the following: (1) consider the user experience, environmental and cultural resources, and type and intensity of management actions; (2) specify desired conditions to be maintained, monitor conditions, and take appropriate action if unacceptable impacts occur; (3) adapt to new conditions and information; and (4) exercise good judgment based on their professional experience and the best information available to them. Social science studies of visitors and studies of significant recreation resources like campsites are important sources of information for managers and are commonly used in parks and protected areas to support planning and decision-making. …

Mechanistic Studies Of The Iron And Molybdenum Nitrogenases, Derek Harris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As a basic building block in many biological molecules the element nitrogen (N) is essential for life. Dinitrogen (N2) is abundant in Earth’s atmosphere, but this form is biologically unavailable. To be biologically available N2 must undergo an energy demanding reduction reaction to the fixed form, ammonia (NH3). The industrial Haber-Bosch process, which accounts for approximately 50% of the worlds fixed nitrogen, uses energy from fossil fuels to achieve high pressures and temperatures to facilitate the reaction. The energy used by Haber-Bosch accounts for approximately 2% of the world’s annual supply. The remainder of fixed nitrogen is produced biologically by …

Foundations Of Translational Ecology, Carolyn Af Enquist, Stephen T. Jackson, Gregg M. Garfin, Frank W. Davis, Leah R. Gerber, Jeremy A. Littell, Jennifer L. Tank, Adam J. Terando, Tamara U. Wall, Benjamin Halpern, J. Kevin Hiers, Toni Kyn Morelli, Elizabeth Mcnie, Nathan L. Stephenson, Matthew A. Williamson, Connie A. Woodhouse, Laurie Yung, Mark W. Brunson, Kimberly R. Hall, Lauren M. Hallett, Dawn M. Lawson, Max A. Mortiz, Koren Nydick, Amber Pairis, Andrea J. Ray, Claudia Regan, Hugh D. Safford, Mark W. Schwartz, M. Rebecca Shaw

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Ecologists who specialize in translational ecology (TE) seek to link ecological knowledge to decision making by integrating ecological science with the full complement of social dimensions that underlie today's complex environmental issues. TE is motivated by a search for outcomes that directly serve the needs of natural resource managers and decision makers. This objective distinguishes it from both basic and applied ecological research and, as a practice, it deliberately extends research beyond theory or opportunistic applications. TE is uniquely positioned to address complex issues through interdisciplinary team approaches and integrated scientist–practitioner partnerships. The creativity and context-specific knowledge of resource managers, …

Developing A Translational Ecology Workforce, Mark W. Schwarts, J. Kevin Hiers, Frank W. Davis, Gregg M. Garfin, Stephen T. Jackson, Adam J. Terando, Connie A. Woodhouse, Toni Lyn Morelli, Matthew A. Williamson, Mark W. Brunson

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

We define a translational ecologist as a professional ecologist with diverse disciplinary expertise and skill sets, as well as a suitable personal disposition, who engages across social, professional, and disciplinary boundaries to partner with decision makers to achieve practical environmental solutions. Becoming a translational ecologist requires specific attention to obtaining critical non-scientific disciplinary breadth and skills that are not typically gained through graduate-level education. Here, we outline a need for individuals with broad training in interdisciplinary skills, use our personal experiences as a basis for assessing the types of interdisciplinary skills that would benefit potential translational ecologists, and present steps …

Surgical Approaches To Adenocarcinoma Of The Gastroesophageal Junction: The Siewert Ii Conundrum., Andrew M. Brown, Danica N. Giugliano, Adam C. Berger, Michael J. Pucci, Francesco Palazzo

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The Siewert classification system for gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma has provided morphological and topographical information to help guide surgical decision-making. Evidence has shown that Siewert I and III tumors are distinct entities with differing epidemiologic and histologic characteristics and distinct patterns of disease progression, requiring different treatment. Siewert II tumors share some of the characteristics of type I and III lesions, and the surgical approach is not universally agreed upon. Appropriate surgical options include transthoracic esophagogastrectomy, transhiatal esophagectomy, and transabdominal extended total gastrectomy.

PURPOSE: A review of the available evidence of the surgical management of Siewert II tumors is presented. …

Determination Of The Effects Of Different Maillard Reaction Products On The Taxonomic Composition Of The Gut Microbiota, Nesreen Hamdan Aljahdali

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Maillard Reaction (MR) is a non-enzymatic chemical reaction which results in linkage between the amino group of amino acids and the carbonyl group of reduced sugars. This reaction generates Maillard reaction products (MRPs) which are not present naturally in foods, and are responsible for a range of colors, odors, flavors, and other sensory properties. Conflicting reports of MRPs impacts on human health are probably due to the fact that bioconversion of these digestible molecules by the gut microbiota has been marginally taken into account. This study aimed to determine the effects of different MRPs on rodent’s gut microbiota through16S …

Lamoureux's "Evolution: Scripture And Nature Say Yes!" (Book Review), Mary Ann Buhler

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Family Stressors On Depression In Latino Adolescents As Mediated By Interparental Conflict, Jenny Carolina Mondragon

Theses and Dissertations

Extensive literature suggests that Latino youth experience higher levels of depression when compared to youth from other ethnic backgrounds yet relatively little is known regarding why this particular population is especially susceptible to depression. This study focused on family level stressors and the link between interparental conflict and adolescent depressive symptoms in Latino families. The sample consisted of 400 girls and 290 boys, they were distributed into four groups based on gender and family structure. Written surveys were completed in their respective English classes measuring the aforementioned variables. Results indicated a significant relationship across all four groups between family stressors …

Phosphate Signaling Through Alternate Conformations Of The Pstscab Phosphate Transporter, Ramesh Krishna Vuppada

Theses and Dissertations

Phosphate is an essential compound for life. Escherichia coli employs a signal transduction pathway that controls the expression of genes that are required for the high-affinity acquisition of phosphate and the utilization of alternate sources of phosphorous. These genes are only expressed when environmental phosphate is limiting. The seven genes for this signaling pathway encode the two-component regulatory proteins PhoB and PhoR, as well as the high-affinity phosphate transporter PstSCAB and an auxiliary protein called PhoU. As the sensor kinase PhoR has no periplasmic sensory domain, the mechanism by which these cells sense environmental phosphate is not known. This paper …

Using Remote Cameras To Estimate The Abundance Of Ungulates, Jace C. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Many wildlife populations globally are experiencing unprecedented declines, and without accurate and precise estimates of abundance, we will not be able to conserve these vulnerable species. Remote cameras have rapidly advanced as wildlife monitoring tools and may provide accurate and precise estimates of abundance that improve upon traditional methods. Using remote cameras to estimate abundance may be less expensive, less intrusive, less dangerous, and less time consuming than other methods. While it is apparent that remote cameras have a place in the future of wildlife monitoring, research, and management, many questions remain concerning the proper use of these tools. In …

Dissolved Organic Carbon And Dissolved Metal Pulses During Snowmelt Runoff In The Upper Provo River Watershed, Utah, Usa, Hannah Nicole Checketts

Theses and Dissertations

Snowmelt river systems exhibit seasonal fluxes in water chemistry, potentially affecting the water supply of one-sixth of the worlds population. In this study, we examined water chemistry of the upper Provo River, northern Utah, which supplies water to over two million people along the urban Wasatch Front. Seasonal changes in water chemistry were characterized by analyzing discharge and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) with dissolved trace metal and cation concentrations (La, Pb, Cu, Al, Be, Sr and K) over three consecutive water years 20142016, with intensive sampling during snowmelt runoff. To better understand links between metal movement and DOC, we sampled …

Assembly, Annotation And Optical Mapping Of The A Subgenome Of Avena, Rebekah Ann Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Common oat (Avena) has held a significant place within the global crop community for centuries; although its cultivation has decreased over the past century, its nutritional benefits have recently garnered increased interest for human consumption. No published reference sequences are available for any of the three oat subgenomes. Here we report a quality sequence assembly, annotation and hybrid optical map of the A-genome diploid Avena atlantica Baum and Fedak. The assembly is composed of a total of 3,417 contigs with an N50 of 11.86 Mb and an estimated completeness of 97.6%. This genome sequence will be a valuable research tool …

Capacity Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Targeting Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells To Eliminate Follicular Dendritic Cells Bearing Human Immunodeficiency Virus Immune Complexes, Matthew T. Ollerton

Theses and Dissertations

An important obstacle to a functional cure for HIV/AIDS is the persistence of viral reservoirs found throughout the body in various cells and tissues. Reservoirs can be latently infected cells, or in the case of follicular dendritic cells (FDC), non-infected cells that trap infectious virus on their surface through immune complexes (HIV-IC). Although several strategies have been employed to target and eliminate viral reservoirs, they are short-lived and ineffective. In an attempt to provide a long-term approach, chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells were designed to eliminate native HIV on FDCs. Although effective at eliminating HIV-infected cells, and halting spreading …

Butyl Benzyl Phthalate (Bbp) Induces Caudal Defects During Embryonic Development, Nicole M. Roy, Ewelina Zambrzycka, Jenna Santangelo

Biology Faculty Publications

Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) is commonly added during the manufacturing of plastics to increase flexibility and elasticity. However, BBP leaches off of plastic and environment presence has been detected in soil, groundwater and sediment potentially effecting organisms in the environment. Given the widespread uses of BBP in household, consumer goods and the presence of BBP in the environment, studies on developmental toxicity are needed. Here, we use a zebrafish model to investigate the early developmental toxicity of BBP. We treated gastrula staged embryos with increasing concentrations of BBP and noted concentration-dependent defects in caudal tail development, but the effect was …

Design And Validation Of An Experimental Setup To Study Single Phase Heat Transfer Enhancement Of Femtosecond Laser Processed Metallic Surfaces, Sarah Jane Wallis

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the present work, a single phase flow heat transfer experimental loop was designed with the intention of studying the effects of femtosecond laser surface processing (FLSP) on metallic surfaces with the specific goal of enhancing heat transfer in compact heat exchangers currently in use by NASA. This experimental setup went through two major design iterations which are detailed in this thesis. The first iteration consisted of a counterflow fluid-to-fluid heat exchanger, which measured overall heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops, where the overall heat transfer coefficient is defined in terms of the total thermal resistance to heat transfer between …

Impact Assessment Of Push-Pull Pest Management On Incomes, Productivity And Poverty Among Smallholder Households In Eastern Uganda, Ruth T. Chepchirchir, Ibrahim Macharia, Alice W. Murage, Charles A.O. Midega, Zeyaur R. Khan

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The paper evaluates the impact of adoption of push-pull technology (PPT) on household welfare in terms of productivity, incomes and poverty status measured through per-capita food consumption in eastern Uganda. Push-pull is a habitat management strategy for the integrated management of stemborers, striga weeds and poor soil fertility involving the use of a natural repellent (push) and an attractant (pull). This biological technology simultaneously reduces the impact of three major production constraints to cereal-livestock farming in Africa − pests, weeds and poor soil. Cross sectional survey data were collected from 560 households in four districts in the region (Busia, Tororo, …

Relationship Between Oviposition, Virulence Gene Expression And Parasitism Success In Cotesia Typhae Nov. Sp. Parasitoid Strains, R. Benoist, C. Chantre, C. Capdevielle-Dulac, M. Bodet, F. Mougel, P. A. Calatayud, S. Dupas, E. Huguet, R. Jeannette, J. Obonyo, C. Odorico, J. F. Silvain, B. Le Ru, L. Kaiser

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Studying mechanisms that drive host adaptation in parasitoids is crucial for the efficient use of parasitoids in biocontrol programs. Cotesia typhae nov. sp. (Fernández-Triana) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a newly described parasitoid of the Mediterranean corn borer Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefebvre) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Braconidae are known for their domesticated bracovirus, which is injected with eggs in the host larva to overcome its resistance. In this context, we compared reproductive success traits of four Kenyan strains of C. typhae on a French and a Kenyan populations of its host. Differences were found between the four strains and the two most contrasted ones were …

Diversity And Abundance Of Lepidopteran Stem Borer Natural Enemies In Natural And Cultivated Habitats In Botswana, Reyard Mutamiswa, Eva Moeng, Bruno P. Le Ru, Des E. Conlong, Yoseph Assefa, Muluken Goftishu, Casper Nyamukondiwa

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Lepidopteran stem-borers in Africa are attacked by diverse natural enemies in natural and cultivated environments. Field surveys of stem-borer natural enemies and associated host plants were conducted during the austral summers of 2014/15 and 2015/16 on natural and cultivated habitats across Botswana to determine their diversity and relative abundance. In cultivated habitats, the most common parasitoids of larvae were Cotesia flavipes Cameron, C. sesamiae (Cameron), and of pupae, Pediobius furvus Gahan and Gambroides nimbipennis Seyrig. In natural habitats, the larval parasitoids Chelonus curvimaculatus Cameron and Goniozus indicus Ashmead were recorded, along with the pupal parasitoid, Dentichasmias busseolae Heinrich. Furthermore, the …

Detection Of Survival And Proliferation Of Sulfate Reducers Under Simulated Martian Atmospheric And Soil Conditions, Sergio Mosquera Mora

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies have tried to determine the survivability and proliferation of microorganisms under simulated Martian conditions. Furthermore, most of them have been focused on the ability of these microbes to cope with high brines’ salt (NaCl) concentrations inherent of the Martian surface. However, there are not studies related to the ability of bacteria to survive on subsurface environments that have increasing concentrations of sulfate compounds. For this research, a group of microorganisms known as sulfate-reducing bacteria or simply sulfate reducers were chosen due to their ability to use sulfate compounds as terminal electron acceptors to produce metabolic energy, their tolerance …

Literary And Cinematic Representations Of Neoliberal Forms Of Contemporary Violence In Latin America With Special Interest In Mexico And Colombia, Ivan De Jesus Iglesias

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last decades, with an increased rhythm and greater intensity, the so-called neoliberal violence has come to play a relevant role within the history of world societies. The Latin American institutional, political, social, and economic changes of the 1970’s and 1980’s, especially those produced under dictatorships, contributed to create the conditions for the implementation of the processes of economic liberalization and global market as part of the concept of institutional modernization and cultural globalization that gave rise to the neoliberal mentality. In this context, neoliberalism becomes hegemonic as a mode of discourse and is incorporated into the way individuals …

Characterization Of Glyphosate-Resistant Amaranthus Palmeri (Palmer Amaranth) Tolerance To Als- And Hppd-Inhibiting Herbicides, Shilpa Singh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Palmer amaranth is a principal weed problem across the United States and is resistant to several herbicide modes of action. By 2008, Palmer amaranth in Arkansas was reported to be resistant to both ALS- and EPSPS-inhibitors, but the predominant resistance mechanisms are yet to be explored. Herbicide options with different modes of action are needed to provide effective Palmer amaranth control and HPPD-inhibitors (e.g. mesotrione) are among these. The goal of this research was to elucidate the resistance profile of Palmer amaranth in Arkansas to ALS herbicides and glyphosate (EPSPS-inhibitor) as well as evaluate the differential tolerance of Palmer amaranth …