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Unh Researchers Find Drastic Decline In N.H.’S Bumblebees, Lori Tyler Gula

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Newsroom, Georgia Southern University

Newsroom (2006-2023)

• Biology graduate student receives National Science Foundation fellowship
• Georgia Southern alumnus Nick Wiley named chief conservation officer of Ducks Unlimited

Emissions Of Organic Compounds From Produced Water Ponds, Seth Lyman

Browse all Datasets

We measured fluxes of methane, a suite of non-methane hydrocarbons (C2-C11), light alcohols, and carbon dioxide from oil and gas produced water storage and disposal ponds in Utah (Uinta Basin) and Wyoming (Upper Green River Basin) United States during 2013-2016. In this paper, we discuss the characteristics of produced water composition and air-water fluxes, with a focus on flux chamber measurements. In companion papers, we will (1) report on inverse modeling methods used to estimate emissions from produced water ponds, including comparisons with flux chamber measurements, and (2) discuss the development of mass transfer coefficients to estimate emissions and place …

Oceanic, Latitudinal, And Sex-Specific Variation In Demography Of A Tropical Deepwater Snapper Across The Indo-Pacific Region, Ashley J. Williams, C. Wakefield, Stephen J. Newman, Elodie Vourey, Francisco J. Abascal, Tuikolongahau Halafihi, Jeremie Kaltavara, Simon J. Nicol

Fisheries Research Articles

Deepwater tropical fisheries provide an important source of income and protein to Pacific and Indian Ocean coastal communities who are highly dependent on fish for food security. The development of quantitative assessments and management strategies for these deepwater fisheries has been hindered by insufficient biological and fisheries data. We examine the age-specific demography of the pygmy ruby snapper Etelis carbunculus, an important target species in tropical deepwater fisheries, across 90° of longitude and 20° of latitude in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Our results show that growth of E. carbunculus varies significantly between oceans and sexes and across latitudes …

Daphnia: A Possible Way To Combat A Deadly Amphibian Pathogen, Taylor Thomas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Globally there is a biodiversity crisis, with many groups of species threatened with extinction due to changes in the environment and human impacts. Amphibians are one such group and according to the IUCN, over 30% of amphibians are threatened by extinction. There are many factors have that can explain the decline of amphibians including pollution, habitat loss, climate change and disease. One factor is chytridiomycosis, an emerging infectious disease caused by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. The chytrid enters the keratinized skin of the amphibian and asexually reproduces, where it disrupts host functions, often leading to host death.

Due to …

Ticks, Ixodes Scapularis, Feed Repeatedly On White-Footed Mice Despite Strong Inflammatory Response: An Expanding Paradigm For Understanding Tick-Host Interactions, Jennifer M. Anderson, Ian N. Moore, Bianca M. Nagata, José M.C. Ribeiro, Jesus G. Valenzuela, Daniel E. Sonenshine

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ticks transmit infectious agents including bacteria, viruses and protozoa. However, their transmission may be compromised by host resistance to repeated tick feeding. Increasing host resistance to repeated tick bites is well known in laboratory animals, including intense inflammation at the bite sites. However, it is not known whether this also occurs in wild rodents such as white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus, and other wildlife, or if it occurs at all. According to the "host immune incompetence" hypothesis, if these mice do not have a strong inflammatory response, they would not reject repeated tick bites by Ixodes scapularis. To test …

A Gut Pathobiont Synergizes With The Microbiota To Instigate Inflammatory Disease Marked By Immunoreactivity Against Other Symbionts But Not Itself, João Carlos Gomes-Neto, Hatem Kittana, Sara Mantz, Rafael R. Segura Munoz, Robert J. Schmaltz, Laure B. Bindels, Jennifer L. Clarke, Jesse M. Hostetter, Andrew K. Benson, Jens Walter, Amanda Ramer-Tait

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are likely driven by aberrant immune responses directed against the resident microbiota. Although IBD is commonly associated with a dysbiotic microbiota enriched in putative pathobionts, the etiological agents of IBD remain unknown. Using a pathobiont-induced intestinal inflammation model and a defined bacterial community, we provide new insights into the immune-microbiota interactions during disease. In this model system, the pathobiont Helicobacter bilis instigates disease following sub-pathological dextran sulfate sodium treatment. We show that H. bilis causes mild inflammation in mono-associated mice, but severe disease in the presence of a microbiota, demonstrating synergy between the pathobiont and microbiota …

Material State Awareness For Composites Part Ii: Precursor Damage Analysis And Quantification Of Degraded Material Properties Using Quantitative Ultrasonic Image Correlation (Quic), Subir Patra, Sourav Banerjee

Faculty Publications

Material state awareness of composites using conventional Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) method is limited by finding the size and the locations of the cracks and the delamination in a composite structure. To aid the progressive failure models using the slow growth criteria, the awareness of the precursor damage state and quantification of the degraded material properties is necessary, which is challenging using the current NDE methods. To quantify the material state, a new offline NDE method is reported herein. The new method named Quantitative Ultrasonic Image Correlation (QUIC) is devised, where the concept of microcontinuum mechanics is hybrid with the experimentally …

Geographic Variation In Juniperus Drupacea: Dna Sequencing And Volatile Leaf Oils: Further Evidence Of Putative Pleistocene Genetic Isolation Between Europe And Asia, Robert P. Adams, Adam Boratynski, Magda Dou Dagher-Kharrat, Hagar V. Leschner, Tuğrul Mataraci, Andrea E. Schwarzbach

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Recently, Sobierajska et al. (2016), using nSSR and morphology, showed that Juniperus drupacea exhibited differentiation between Greece and Turkey/ Lebanon, suggestive of Pleistocene genetic isolation. Here, we report that leaf terpenoids and DNA sequence data support their hypothesis by confirming differentiation between Greece and Turkey/ Lebanon/ Israel. The leaf oils of the Turkey/ Lebanon plants contained one unique terpene (trans-verbenol, 0.1-1.4%) that was absent in the Greece plants. The Greece oil contained three terpenes not found in the Lebanon/ Turkey plants: (ar)-curcumene (2.2%), β-alaskene (0.3%) and α-alaskene (0.4%). Four other terpenes were in higher concentration in the Greece oils: camphene …

Season Of The Year Influences Infection Rates Following Total Hip Arthroplasty, Samuel Rosas, Alvin C. Ong, Leonard T. Buller, Karim G. Sabeh, Tsun Yee Law, Martin W. Roche, Victor H. Hernandez

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

To research the influence of season of the year on periprosthetic joint infections. METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of the entire Medicare files from 2005 to 2014. Seasons were classified as spring, summer, fall or winter. Regional variations were accounted for by dividing patients into four geographic regions as per the United States Census Bureau (Northeast, Midwest, West and South). Acute postoperative infection and deep periprosthetic infections within 90 d after surgery were tracked. RESULTS In all regions, winter had the highest incidence of periprosthetic infections (mean 0.98%, SD 0.1%) and was significantly higher than other seasons in the …

Neighborhood Cohesion, Neighborhood Disorder, And Cardiometabolic Risk, Jennifer N. Robinette, Susan T. Charles, Tara Gruenewald

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (trash, vandalism) and cohesion (neighbors trust one another) are related to residents’ health. Affective and behavioral factors have been identified, but often in studies using geographically select samples. We use a nationally representative sample (n = 9032) of United States older adults from the Health and Retirement Study to examine cardiometabolic risk in relation to perceptions of neighborhood cohesion and disorder. Lower cohesion is significantly related to greater cardiometabolic risk in 2006/2008 and predicts greater risk four years later (2010/2012). The longitudinal relation is partially accounted for by anxiety and physical activity.

Effect Of Aggregate Mineralogy And Concrete Microstructure On Thermal Expansion And Strength Properties Of Concrete, Jinwoo An, S. Sonny Kim, Boo Hyun Nam, Stephan A. Durham

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Aggregate type and mineralogy are critical factors that influence the engineering properties of concrete. Temperature variations result in internal volume changes could potentially cause a network of micro-cracks leading to a reduction in the concrete's compressive strength. The study specifically studied the effect of the type and mineralogy of fine and coarse aggregates in the normal strength concrete properties. As performance measures, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and compressive strength were tested with concrete specimens containing different types of fine aggregates (manufactured and natural sands) and coarse aggregates (dolomite and granite). Petrographic examinations were then performed to determine the …

Reaction To Safety Equipment Technology In The Workplace And Implications: A Study Of The Firefighter’S Hood, Brian W. Ward

The Qualitative Report

In the 1990s the firefighter’s hood became a standard article of safety equipment worn by municipal firefighters, eliciting a negative reaction among many of these firefighters. I used data from interviews with 42 firefighters to explain why this reaction occurred. Data analysis revealed that negative reactions ultimately stemmed from the hood’s disruption of autonomy, repudiation of the complex mental and physical skill needed to perform tasks required of firefighters, and hindrance in negotiating the life-threatening environment created by a fire. These findings indicate that when introducing new safety equipment technology to emergency response workers, their reaction to this equipment, and …

Exploring The Underlying Mechanisms Of Structure Building, Reshma Gouravajhala

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Structure building, the ability to build a coherent mental model of any narrative, requires the identification and integration of important parts of that narrative, as well as the suppression of irrelevant details. Critically, while individual differences in structure building have been shown to have important consequences in the classroom, little has been concluded about underlying deficits and causal mechanisms of low structure building ability. In the present study, we tested the theory that an impaired ability to suppress unimportant details is low structure builders’ sole deficit (Gernsbacher, 1990). We presented participants with educationally authentic text materials that offered varying degrees …

Enzyme Immobilization On Nanoporous Gold: A Review., Keith Stine

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Perimeters Of Familial Affection: Examples With The Metamorphosis, The Sooterkin, And "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings", Summer Dorr

English

This literary analysis--of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Tom Gilling's The Sooterkin, and Gabriel García Márquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"-- asserts that unconditional love is not possible without a supernatural impartation, because all humans have their limitations. To further this claim, I dissect the most sacred of interpersonal dynamics, society's subgroups--the family. The four guiding perimeters of affection are societal influence--its opinion of a person; money, financial prospect; communication aptitude, whether verbal and physical speech that is understood or enjoyed; and, lastly, aesthetics: are they nondescript or pleasant to the eye? These variables determine how long a person …

Social-Ecological Soundscapes: Examining Aircraft-Harvester-Caribou Conflict In Arctic Alaska, Taylor R. Stinchcomb

Biological Sciences

As human development expands across the Arctic, it is crucial to carefully assess the impacts to remote natural ecosystems and to indigenous communities that rely on wild resources for nutritional and cultural wellbeing. Because indigenous communities and wildlife populations are interdependent, assessing how human activities impact traditional harvest practices can advance our understanding of the human dimensions of wildlife management. Indigenous communities across Arctic Alaska have expressed concern over the last four decades that low-flying aircraft interfere with their traditional harvest practices. For example, communities often have testified that aircraft disturb caribou (Rangifer tarandus) and thereby reduce harvest opportunities. Despite …

Post-Fire Variability In Siberian Alder In Interior Alaska: Distribution Patterns, Nitrogen Fixation Rates, And Ecosystem Consequences, Brian Richard Houseman

Biological Sciences

The circumpolar boreal forest is responsible for a considerable proportion of global carbon sequestration and is an ecosystem with limited nitrogen (N) pools. Boreal forest fires are predicted to increase in severity, size, and frequency resulting in increased losses of N from this system due to volatilization. Siberian alder (Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa) N-fixation is a significant source of N-input within the interior Alaskan boreal forest and likely plays a pivotal, though poorly understood, role in offsetting losses of N due to fire. This study disentangles the effects of fire severity, post-fire age, and environmental variables on Siberian alder N-input …

Phylogeography And Molecular Phylogenetics Of The Hoary Marmot (Marmota Caligata), Nicholas John Kerhoulas

Biological Sciences

In this dissertation I documented the phylogeographic history of the Hoary Marmot (Marmota caligata) and its phylogenetic relationships with the Vancouver Island (M. vancouverensis) and Olympic (M. olympus) marmots. The Hoary Marmot is an iconic alpine mammal that is broadly distributed throughout the Pacific Northwest (PNW) from Washington and central Idaho in the south to Alaska in the north. Vancouver Island and Olympic marmots have much more restricted geographic distributions, occurring only on Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) and the Olympic Peninsula (Washington, USA), respectively. In my first chapter I used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data to document the existence …

Assessing Seasonal Trends In Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) Diet Using Stable Isotope Analysis Along The Whisker, Justin Arthur Smith

Biological Sciences

Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) that use tidewater glaciers in the summers to molt, pup, and breed have declined in recent years, which could be attributed to reduced prey availability caused by regime shifts in the coastal marine environment. Recording seasonal dietary trends of harbor seals in different years could improve our ability to test if regime shifts caused these declines. However, such analysis has not been possible, because wild harbor seals are difficult to recapture. Stable isotope analysis of serial sections of growing whiskers (mystacial vibrissae) can be used as a tool to assess diet over different seasons, but uncertainty …

Optimizing Landbird Surveys For Detecting Population And Spatial Dynamics, Jeremy D. Mizel

Biological Sciences

Landbird populations are undergoing concurrent changes in population size, spatial distribution, and phenology. The sensitivity of landbird monitoring programs to detect and distinguish these varied processes is of critical importance. Consequently, these efforts require inference methods that are efficient and fully leverage information about spatial, population, and phenological dynamics. The development of efficient inference methods can be addressed in part through a thorough understanding of how the data are actually generated, the application of sampling methods that attempt to maximize encounter probability, and the tailoring of sampling methods to maximize sensitivity to specific inference objectives. Chapter one of this dissertation …

One Health Toxicology: Expanding Perspectives And Methods To Assess Environmental Contaminants, John Robinson Harley

Chemistry and Biochemistry

The discipline of One Health is founded on the principal that environmental health, animal health, and human health are interconnected. Although the field has been largely focused on zoonotic diseases, examining concepts such as toxicology under a One Health lens can offer a more holistic and preventative approach to research and implementation and, in particular, how fish-based diets may be involved with One Health outcomes. Here we present three general case studies that demonstrate new approaches to investigating One Health toxicology. In Chapter One we show how Arctic canids can be used as environmental sentinels for human health. We discuss …

Glacier Contribution To Lowland Streamflow: A Multi-Year, Geochemical Hydrograph Separation Study In Sub-Arctic Alaska, Tiffany A. Gatesman

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Glacier melt affects the geochemical composition of rivers; however, quantifying the glacier contribution to subarctic watershed-scale runoff has attracted limited attention. To estimate glacier contribution, we conducted a 6-year geochemical hydrograph separation study in a geologically heterogeneous glacierized watershed in Interior Alaska. Water samples were collected daily from Jarvis Creek during late April through September. Source waters were collected synoptically each year from rain, snow, baseflow (winter discharge), and the glacier terminus discharge. All samples were analyzed for stable water isotopes and dissolved ion concentrations. Stream surface water samples have large seasonal and inter-annual geochemical variation, however, source waters show …

Modulation Of Ischemia- Reperfusion Injury In Mammalian Hibernators And Non-Hibernators: A Comparative Study, Saurav Bhowmick

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Events characterized by ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), such as stroke and cardiac arrest, are among the most frequent causes of debilitating neurological injury and death worldwide. During ischemia, the brain experiences oxygen and nutrition deprivation due to lack of blood flow, and tissue damage ensues. Arctic ground squirrel (AGS; Urocitellus parryii), a hibernating species has the innate ability to survive profound decreases in blood flow (ischemia) during torpor and return of blood flow (reperfusion) during intermittent euthermic periods without any neurological deficit. However, the mechanisms by which AGS tolerate the extreme fluctuations in blood flow remain unclear. The main focus of this …

Testing Environmental Dna Sampling And Predictive Modeling As Means To Investigate Wood Frog (Rana Sylvatica) Distribution In Alaska And Northern Canada, Mark Anthony Spangler

Biological Sciences

Global amphibian declines over the past 30+ years have led to a greater awareness of amphibian conservation issues. Few amphibian species occur in northern landscapes, however, and the species that do occur are widely dispersed and at the northern extent of their range. Accordingly, amphibian research is not prioritized in northern landscapes. Deficient monitoring practices have resulted in incomplete distribution knowledge that impedes the management of wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) in Alaska and northern Canada. I developed an environmental DNA detection assay to complement monitoring practices at the northern extent of the wood frog's range. This assay was tested to …

Integrating Herbivore Population Dynamics Into A Global Land Biosphere Model: Plugging Animals Into The Earth System, Shree R. S. Dangal, Hanqin Tian, Chaoqun Lu, Wei Ren, Shufen Pan, Jia Yang, Nicola Di Cosmo, Amy Hessl

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Mammalian herbivores are an essential component of grassland and savanna ecosystems, and with feedbacks to the climate system. To date, the response and feedbacks of mammalian herbivores to changes in both abiotic and biotic factors are poorly quantified and not adequately represented in the current global land surface modeling framework. In this study, we coupled herbivore population dynamics in a global land model (the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model, DLEM 3.0) to simulate populations of horses, cattle, sheep, and goats, and their responses to changes in multiple environmental factors at the site level across different continents during 1980–2010. Simulated results show …

Helping Veterans Through Outreach, Rodney B. Ebersole

Justice

The present Master's project seeks to develop a better understanding of Veterans and what they are going through. Research methods include extensive data on the high suicide rates of Veterans. Veteran and service members are in need of a service to them that will address the issue of suicide and what can be done to help and eliminate this problem. The programs that need to be designed to help needs should be in locations that have Veteran populations so as to serve them with their needs. Ultimately, Veterans Affairs (VA) officials have boosted their mental health personnel and suicide hotline …

Satellite Remote Sensing Of Active Wildfires In Alaska's Boreal Forest, Christine F. Waigl

Geosciences

This research addresses improvements to the detection and characterization of active wildfires in Alaska with satellite-based sensors. The VIIRS I-band Fire Detection Algorithm for High Latitudes (VIFDAHL) was developed and evaluated against existing active fire products from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This new algorithm is based on VIIRS 375 m spatial resolution imagery and was tuned using fires in Alaska's boreal forest. It provides improved fire detection of low-intensity fires, especially during daytime and at sensor zenith angles smaller than approximately 50° off nadir. Low-intensity active fires, which represent residual …

Circulation And Dynamics On The Northeastern Chukchi Sea Shelf, Ying-Chih Fang

Oceanography

The circulation on the northeastern Chukchi Sea shelf is controlled by the poleward pressure gradient between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Local winds modulate the upper ocean and can rapidly alter the flow field. Present understanding of the circulation is largely based on subsurface measurements, but the response of near-surface currents to the slowly-varying secular pressure gradient and rapidly-varying local winds has not been addressed. I analyzed surface current data, extending more ~150 km offshore in the northeastern Chukchi Sea, collected from shore-based high-frequency radar systems (HFR) during the open water season. I find three wind-induced circulation regimes. Two of …

Baseline Data Of Bird Populations In The Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Mexico: A Citizen Science Approach, Teresa S. Anderson

Natural Resources

This project tested the viability of converting a local environmental education group, "Eco Chavos" into a team of citizen scientists. In rural biosphere reserves in Mexico, with few resources and large resident populations, community-based biological inventory and monitoring has the potential to increase the impact of Mexican biosphere reserves by generating scientific information and engaging local residents in hands-on environmental education. To test this, I formed a citizen science birding group and trained them in bird identification, survey techniques, data collection, and data management. The project began in January 2016 and in December 2016 I stopped mentoring the program and …