Digital Commons Network^™

Byron Ottoniel Archila-Lemus V. Attorney General United States

2017 Decisions

Agency

Human Milk And Allergic Diseases: An Unsolved Puzzle, Daniel Munblit, Diego G. Peroni, Alba Boix-Amorós, Peter S. Hsu, Belinda Van't Land, Melvin C. L. Gay, Anastasia Kolotilina, Chrysanthi Skevaki, Robert J. Boyle, Maria C. Collado, Johan Garssen, Donna T. Geddes, Ralph Nanan, Carolyn Slupsky, Ganesa Wegienka, Anita L. Kozyrskyj, John O. Warner

Public Health Sciences Articles

There is conflicting evidence on the protective role of breastfeeding in relation to the development of allergic sensitisation and allergic disease. Studies vary in methodology and definition of outcomes, which lead to considerable heterogeneity. Human milk composition varies both within and between individuals, which may partially explain conflicting data. It is known that human milk composition is very complex and contains variable levels of immune active molecules, oligosaccharides, metabolites, vitamins and other nutrients and microbial content. Existing evidence suggests that modulation of human breast milk composition has potential for preventing allergic diseases in early life. In this review, we discuss …

Office Of Scholarly Communications, Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017 (July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017), Paul Royster, Sue Ann Gardner, Margaret Mering, Linnea Fredrickson

Institutional Repository Information

This report covers the Scholarly Communications team, and activities involving the institutional repository (IR), library publishing operations, outreach and advocacy, and copyright consulting.

Highlights include services, size, usage metrics, recognition (Ranking Web of World Repositories), Zea Books, journals, and appendices. (32 pages)

At Us National Arboretum Helping Fern Valley Pollinators, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: August 17, 2017, Eastern Illinois University

August

No abstract provided.

Arthropod Communities And Passerine Diet: Effects Of Shrub Expansion In Western Alaska, Molly Tankersley Mcdermott

Biological Sciences

Across the Arctic, taller woody shrubs, particularly willow (Salix spp.), birch (Betula spp.), and alder (Alnus spp.), have been expanding rapidly onto tundra. Changes in vegetation structure can alter the physical habitat structure, thermal environment, and food available to arthropods, which play an important role in the structure and functioning of Arctic ecosystems. Not only do they provide key ecosystem services such as pollination and nutrient cycling, they are an essential food source for migratory birds. In this study I examined the relationships between the abundance, diversity, and community composition of arthropods and the height and cover of several shrub …

Networks Of Change: Extending Alaska-Based Communication Networks To Meet The Challenges Of The Anthropocene, Richard E. Hum

Communication

The Anthropocene is a contested term. As I conceptualize it throughout this dissertation, the Anthropocene is defined by an increased coupling of social and environmental systems at the global scale such that the by-products of human processes dominate the global stratigraphic record. Additionally, I connect the term to a worldview that sees this increased coupling as an existential threat to humanity's ability to sustain life on the planet. Awareness that the planet-wide scale of this coupling is fundamentally a new element in earth history is implicit in both understandings. How individuals and communities are impacted by this change varies greatly …

Science For Alaska: Place For Curious Learners, Diana L. Campbell

Communication

For over 25 years, Alaskans have been attending Science for Alaska Lecture Series, held during the coldest part of an Alaskan winter. The hour-long evening lectures would see from around 100 to almost 300 people attend each event. The scientific literature is quiet in regard to audience preferences in regard to the recieving end of science communication. This qualitative study looked at the audience of a science lecture series: who are they, why do they come and what do they do with the information. In nine taped audio interviews, the research participants described themselves as smart, curious lifelong learners who …

Effects Of Cultivar And Maternal Environment On Seed Quality In Vicia Sativa, Rong Li, Lijun Chen, Yanpei Wu, Rui Zhang, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin, Xiaowen Hu

Biology Faculty Publications

Production of high quality seeds is of fundamental importance for successful crop production. However, knowledge of the effects of increased temperature resulting from global warming on seed quality of alpine species is limited. We investigated the effect of maternal environment on seed quality of three cultivars of the leguminous forage species Vicia sativa, giving particular attention to temperature. Plants of each cultivar were grown at 1700 and 3000 m a.s.l., and mass, germination, electrical conductivity (EC) of leakage and longevity were determined for mature seeds. Seeds of all three cultivars produced at the low elevation had a significantly lower …

Compulsory Education And Resilience In Northern Alaska: The Role Of Social Learning And Youth In Healthy Sustainable Communities, Douglas Scott Cost

Indigenous Studies

How can education in the Arctic foster individual and community resilience in a time of rapid social-environmental change? Education and learning, have powerful potential to affect future social-environmental system resilience. This research unpacks and examines the connections and feedbacks among studies of social-environmental systems (SESs), resilience, compulsory education and Indigenous knowledge. The last few decades have witnessed global recognition of rapid climate change in the Arctic; primarily the diminishing cryosphere. This has led to discussion and debate over the role of schools in addressing local knowledge, environmental changes, and community priorities. In the U.S. state of Alaska and in other …

Toward Arctic Transitions And Sustainability: Modeling Risks And Resilience Across Scales Of Governance, Berill Blair

Natural Resources

The Arctic region has been the subject of international attention in recent years. The magnitude of impacts from global climate change, land-use change, and speculations about economic development and accessible polar shipping lanes have intensified this focus. As a result, the potential to manage complex ecological, social and political relationships in the context of changes, risks and opportunities is the focus of a large and growing body of research. This dissertation contributes to the expanding scholarship on managing Arctic social-ecological systems for resilience by answering the question: What conditions improve cross-scale learning and resilience in nested social-ecological systems experiencing rapid …

The Effects Of Freezing And Storage Time On The Quality Of Reindeer Meat, George A. Aguiar

Natural Resources

Restaurants, wholesalers and retailers of fresh meat require a year round consistent supply of uniform quality product to sustain demand and justify niche market costs such as advertisement and stocking product. Frozen reindeer meat could be stored, short or long term to increase availability provided there are no adverse effects of freezing. No studies to date have evaluated the effects of freezing and storage time on reindeer meat quality. Nine reindeer steers (castrated bulls; age 2.5 years) were fed a balanced milled ration at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Reindeer Research Program (RRP) facility at the Agricultural Forestry Experiment …

Building Student Capacity To Lead Sustainability Transitions In The Food System Through Farm-Based Authentic Research Modules In Sustainability Sciences (Farms), Selena Ahmed, Alexandra Sclafani, Estephanie Aquino, Shashwat Kala, Louise Barias, Jaime Eeg

Dartmouth Scholarship

Undergraduate courses provide valuable opportunities to train and empower students with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to advance society in more sustainable directions. This article emphasizes the value of bridging primary scientific research with undergraduate education through the presentation of an integrated experiential learning and primary research model called Farm-based Authentic Research Modules in Sustainability Sciences (FARMS). FARMS are collaboratively designed with agricultural stakeholders through a community needs assessment on pressing food system issues and opportunities with the objective for faculty and students to jointly identify evidence-based management solutions. We illustrate the implementation of FARMS in an undergraduate course in …

On The Rules For Aquatic Locomotion, M. Saadat, Frank E. Fish, A. G. Domel, G. V. Lauder, H. Haj-Hariri

Biology Faculty Publications

We present unifying rules governing the efficient locomotion of swimming fish and marine mammals. Using scaling and dimensional analysis, supported by new experimental data, we show that efficient locomotion occurs when the values of the Strouhal (St) number St(=f A/U) and A∗(=A/L), two nondimensional numbers that relate forward speed U, tail-beat amplitude A, tail-beat frequency f , and the length of the swimmer L are bound to the tight ranges of 0.2–0.4 and 0.1–0.3, respectively. The tight range of 0.2–0.4 for the St number has previously been associated with optimal thrust generation. We show that the St number alone is …

Sand Dune Field Paleoenvironment, Paleoecology, And Human Environmental Interaction In The Middle Tanana River Valley Near The Gerstle River, Subarctic Alaska: The Late Glacial To The Middle Holocene, Robert C. Bowman

Anthropology

This study was conducted to explore paleoenvironmental change within the Gerstle-Sawmill Dune Field (GSDF), located just west of the Gerstle River in the middle Tanana River valley, Interior Alaska from the late Glacial to the middle Holocene. Specifically, this study was undertaken to document human-environment interaction on the landscape. Geoarchaeological methods were used in order to determine the history of sand dune development across the area, how the local ecological systems changed through time, and determine prehistoric human use of environment and response to environmental and ecological change. The data collected from these locations was used to create a model …

Bibliography Of Published Reports And Articles Related To Hydrological Research On The Sagavanirktok River, Emily Youcha, Horacio Toniolo

WERC Other

Researchers from the Water and Environmental Research Center (WERC), University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), are conducting a study of sediment transport conditions along the Sagavanirktok River. This document, as part of the study, provides a compilation of published literature related to the Sagavanirktok River (or adjacent watersheds with similar characteristics) including previous or ongoing hydrological and sedimentological research in the Sagavanirktok River basin. The literature referenced includes research on climate change, hydrology, sedimentology, permafrost and soils, meteorology, field data, satellite or aerial imagery, geophysics, modeling, water quality, and geochemistry in the Sagavanirktok River basin.

Otters, Sea Stars, And Glacial Melt: Top-Down And Bottom-Up Factors That Influence Kelp Communities, Sarah B. Traiger

Marine Biology

Kelp beds are important features of the Alaska coastline and provide habitat, protect coastlines, and support commercial and subsistence harvests. Kelp beds are affected by top-down and bottom-up factors, which are changing due to human and climate-related impacts. The influences of these top-down and bottom-up factors on kelp beds are investigated in three chapters. My first chapter investigated the influence of glacial discharge on recruitment and early community development in subtidal kelp communities by monitoring benthic sessile algae and invertebrates on cleared rocks across a glacial gradient along with various physical and biological parameters in the summers of 2013-2014. It …

Inflammation And Bone Mineral Density: A Mendelian Randomization Study, Jian V. Huang, C. Mary Schooling

Publications and Research

Osteoporosis is a common age-related disorder leading to an increase in osteoporotic fractures and resulting in significant suffering and disability. Inflammation may contribute to osteoporosis, as it does to many other chronic diseases. We examined whether inflammation is etiologically relevant to osteoporosis, assessed from bone mineral density (BMD), as a new potential target of intervention, or whether it is a symptom/biomarker of osteoporosis. We obtained genetic predictors of inflammatory markers from genome-wide association studies and applied them to a large genome wide association study of BMD. Using two-sample Mendelian randomization, we obtained unconfounded estimates of the effect of high-sensitivity C-reactive …

Single-Step, Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition Of Methylammonium Bismuth Iodide Thin Films, Xiao Chen

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Lead halide perovskites (CH₃NH₃PbI₃ and its variants) are promising solar cell absorber materials. Though the reported power conversion efficiencies of lead halide perovskite solar cells (up to 21%) are competitive with commercial silicon solar cells, lead toxicity in these perovskites present a challenge to further scale-up and eventual commercialization. Recently, bismuth (Bi³⁺) based organic halide perovskite has drawn attention as a substitution for lead-free perovskites, since it is a non-toxic 6p-block element, isoelectronic with Pb²⁺. Methylammonium bismuth iodide ((CH₃NH₃)₃Bi₂I₉) is reported …

Jme 4110 Final Design Report - Plant Growth Chamber, Deontez Myers, Chad Szwargulski

Washington University / UMSL Mechanical Engineering Design Project JME 4110

To facilitate study of resource use efficiency in crop plants, it is necessary to pulse-saturate them with certain stable isotopes. This is done by exposing the shoots to gases and the roots to liquid. We were tasked with designing a system to deliver and control this process.

Jme 4110 Lens Mount System, Jennifer Beeman, Scott Messmer, Alec Rolwes, Chris Chastain

Washington University / UMSL Mechanical Engineering Design Project JME 4110

This document presents the design for a device to assist scientists at the Danforth Plant Science Center with gathering images of root systems. This report describes the rationale and the methodology behind the design decisions made based on customer needs gathered from an in-depth interview and consistent collaboration with the customer. Final changes we made once the prototype was made and the engineering analysis had been completed. Enclosed are all concept and final drawings of the project.

Jme 4110 Seed Aerodynamics, Kristin Gonzalez, Vladimir Sidorov

Washington University / UMSL Mechanical Engineering Design Project JME 4110

This is a report discussing the analysis and results of a wind tunnel that was created to find the terminal velocity of a variety of seeds.

Development Of Respiratory Centers In The Bullfrog Tadpole Brainstem, Mitchell D. Reed

Biological Sciences

Among vertebrates, rhythmic motor behaviors such as breathing, swallowing, and sucking are controlled by rhythm generators or neural oscillators located at various sites in the medulla of the brainstem. That all vertebrates exhibit these behaviors, leads investigators to hypothesize common ancestry for the cellular networks responsible for homeostatic rhythm generation in the brainstem. While the locations and functions of rhythm generating sites controlling some of these behaviors have been well investigated, details regarding the development of these sites remain largely unknown. Recent work has suggested that neural oscillators in the rostral and caudal medulla, which contribute to ventilation in amphibians, …

Taxonomy And Phylogeny Of The Rove Beetle Genus Phlaeopterus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Anthophagini), Logan J. Mullen

Biological Sciences

The rove beetle genus Phlaeopterus contained 15 species prior to this work, which are found in mountainous regions of northwestern North America, and in East Siberia for one species. These beetles can be found in perpetually cold, wet habitats, usually living in close association with permanent or long-lasting alpine snowfields. Very little is known of the life history of Phlaeopterus, but they have been observed on the surface of snowfields mating as well as feeding on windblown arthropods that have become stranded on snowfield's surface. In this thesis, I present a taxonomic revision of the genus Phlaeopterus as well as …

Divergence, Gene Flow, And The Speciation Continuum In Trans-Beringian Birds, Jessica F. Mclaughlin

Biological Sciences

Understanding the processes of divergence and speciation, particularly in the presence of gene flow, is key to understanding the generation of biodiversity. I investigated divergence and gene flow in nine lineages of birds with a trans-Beringian distribution, including pairs of populations, subspecies, and species, using loci containing ultraconserved elements (UCEs). I found that although these lineages spanned conditions from panmixia to fully biologically isolated species, they were not smoothly distributed across this continuum, but formed two discontinuous groups: relatively shallow splits with gene flow between Asian and North American populations, no fixed SNPs, and lower divergence; and relatively deeply split …

The Phylogenetics And Evolutionary History Of The Northern Latitude Plant Genus Therorhodion (Maxim.) Small (Ericaceae), Margaret G. Oliver

Biological Sciences

Taxonomic uncertainty in the Arctic-alpine flowering plant genus Therorhodion (Maxim.) Small (Ericaceae) can be attributed to two distinctly different viewpoints representing the taxonomic diversity. Russian taxonomists recognize two species, one with two subspecies, whereas three distinct species are recognized in North America following a broader species concept. Therorhodion redowskianum Hutch. is restricted to Asia, and is unambiguously recognized by both viewpoints. Therorhodion camtschaticum Small and T. glandulosum Standl. ex Small have an amphiberingian distribution in eastern Asia and Alaska with T. glandulosum sometimes recognized as a subspecies of T. camtschaticum. Investigating this taxonomic disagreement creates an opportunity to learn more …

Genomic Signatures Of Local Adaptation Reveal Source-Sink Dynamics In A High Gene Flow Fish Species, Katherine Cure, Luke Thomas, Jean-Paul A. Hobbs, David V. Fairclough, Winn Jason Kennington

Fisheries Research Articles

Understanding source-sink dynamics is important for conservation management, particularly when climatic events alter species’ distributions. Following a 2011 ‘marine heatwave’ in Western Australia, we observed high recruitment of the endemic fisheries target species Choerodon rubescens, towards the cooler (southern) end of its distribution. Here, we use a genome wide set of 14 559 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to identify the likely source population for this recruitment event. Most loci (76%) showed low genetic divergence across the species’ range, indicating high levels of gene flow and confirming previous findings using neutral microsatellite markers. However, a small proportion of loci showed strong …

Thermodynamic And Kinetic Analyses Of Iron Response Element (Ire)-Mrna Binding To Iron Regulatory Protein, Irp1, Mateen A. Khan, William E. Walden, Elizabeth C. Theil, Dixie J. Goss

Publications and Research

Comparison of kinetic and thermodynamic properties of IRP1 (iron regulatory protein1) binding to FRT (ferritin) and ACO2 (aconitase2) IRE-RNAs, with or without Mn2+, revealed differences specific to each IRE-RNA. Conserved among animal mRNAs, IRE-RNA structures are noncoding and bind Fe2+ to regulate biosynthesis rates of the encoded, iron homeostatic proteins. IRP1 protein binds IRERNA, inhibiting mRNA activity; Fe2+ decreases IRE-mRNA/IRP1 binding, increasing encoded protein synthesis. Here, we observed heat, 5 °C to 30 °C, increased IRP1 binding to IRE-RNA 4-fold (FRT IRE-RNA) or 3-fold (ACO2 IRE-RNA), which was enthalpy driven and entropy favorable. Mn2+ (50 μM, 25 °C) increased IRE-RNA/IRP1 …

Cabazitaxel In The Treatment Of Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Patient Selection And Special Considerations., Sheel Patel, Jean Hoffman-Censits

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Cabazitaxel is an effective chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) refractory to docetaxel. With the advent of new antiandrogen therapies, immune-based treatments, and radioactive-targeted therapy, there are now multiple effective and approved agents for this disease state. The optimal sequencing of these agents is unclear as there are no large-scale head-to-head comparisons. Clinicians must familiarize themselves with the most recent studies as well as drug toxicities to determine the best treatment option for their patients. In this review, we focus on the development of cabazitaxel for mCRPC, evaluate its efficacy, and highlight key strategies …

Alaska Sourdough: Bread, Beards And Yeast, Susannah T. Dowds

Arctic and Northern Studies

Sourdough is a fermented mixture of flour and water used around the world to leaven dough. In this doughy world wide web of sourdough, one thread leads to Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Commonly associated with the gold rush era, sourdough is known both as a pioneer food and as a title for a long-time resident. Less well known is the live culture of microbes, yeasts and bacteria that were responsible for creating the ferment for nutritious bread, pancakes, and biscuits on the trail. Through the lens of sourdough, this study investigates the intersection of microbes and human culture: how …