Digital Commons Network^™

Clearing Muddied Waters: Capture Of Environmental Dna From Turbid Waters, Kelly E. Williams, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Antoinette J. Piaggio

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Understanding the differences in efficiencies of various methods to concentrate, extract, and amplify environmental DNA (eDNA) is vital for best performance of eDNA detection. Aquatic systems vary in characteristics such as turbidity, eDNA concentration, and inhibitor load, thus affecting eDNA capture efficiency. Application of eDNA techniques to the detection of terrestrial invasive or endangered species may require sampling at intermittent water sources that are used for drinking and cooling; these water bodies may often be stagnant and turbid. We present our best practices technique for the detection of wild pig eDNA in water samples, a protocol that will have wide …

Genetic Structure Across A Contact Zone Between Xerospermophilus Ground Squirrels In Southern California, Philip Leitner, Jennifer Rippert, Majorie D. Matocq

Western North American Naturalist

The Mohave ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus mohavensis) is endemic to the western Mojave Desert of California and is state-listed as Threatened. This species is of conservation concern because of the potential for large-scale renewable energy development within its range. Recent evidence suggests that this threatened species may at least occasionally hybridize with the closely related round-tailed ground squirrel (Xerospermophilus tereticaudus) where the species come into contact. As a result, there is great interest in the distribution of the Mohave ground squirrel, especially where it may come in contact with the round-tailed ground squirrel. One of the least …

Modeling The Influence Of El Niño On Parasite Transmission In Sand Crab Populations And Seabird Abundance Along The Californian Coast, Aboubacar Dio Seck

Theses and Dissertations

Pacific mole crabs (Emerita analoga) are one of the most important and abundant

invertebrates in sandy beach environments. Consequently, they are a common food source

for seabirds and sea otters. Since the mole crab serves as the primary intermediate host for

acanthocephalan parasites, they have been linked to a number of mortality events. It is

currently estimated that 13-16% of deaths in the threatened California sea otter population

have been caused by infection. In addition, unusually high loads of acanthocephalan

parasites have been linked to episodic deaths of thousands of surf scoters. Studies suggest

that acanthocephalan development and transmission may …

The Politics Of Knowledge: Challenges And Opportunities For Social Justice In Higher Education, Timothy J. Shaffer

eJournal of Public Affairs

Social justice is a topic that few in higher education oppose, but university faculty members and academic professionals face structural challenges in their efforts to engage with social justice issues. By exploring four dimensions of the university—institutional mission, academic scholarship, professional identity, and pedagogical approaches—the author argues for a rethinking of how faculty and academic professionals approach these dimensions of their work. The author also identifies other fields of scholarship and practice that can help to address pressing public problems in which social justice issues are of central importance.

Not Just A Year Of Social Justice Education: A University-Community Collaboration To Enhance And Support Social Justice, Linda P. Thurston

eJournal of Public Affairs

This article describes an educational initiative originating in a college of education and engaging both the larger university and the community; it examines the role of leadership for social justice through an educational leadership lens and analyzes the role of the university in promoting social justice education across a university-community context. The case study examined in the article, an initiative called “Not Just a Year of Social Justice Education” (NJAY), was a practice in distributed and transformative leadership, community engagement, and informal social justice education. The author explores the theoretical and pedagogical foundations of the initiative and analyzes the case …

Linguistics And Lis: A Research Agenda, Mary K. Bolin

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Multiscale Modeling Study Of The Mammary Gland, Joseph D. Butner

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Multiscale, hybrid computer modeling has emerged as a valuable tool in the fields of computational systems biology and mathematical oncology. In this work, we present an overview of the motivations for, and development and implementation of, three hybrid multiscale models of the mammary gland system and early stage ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in the gland. Pubertal mammary gland development was described first using a two-dimensional, lattice-based hybrid agent-based model description of the mammary terminal end bud (TEB), and then with a three-dimensional lattice-free TEB model. Both models implement a discrete, agent-based description of the cell scale, and a continuum, …

The Final Battle: Constructs Of Hegemonic Masculinity And Hypermasculinity In Fraternity Membership, Alex Zernechel, April L. Perry

College Student Affairs Leadership

This article explores the correlation between membership in a fraternal organization and masculinity identity development. Masculinity is embedded into the very foundation of the American fraternity culture. Fraternal organizations have served as a haven for young men that support the development of hegemonic masculinity and hypermasculinity, while preventing those same students from being exposed to opposing personality traits and challenges to their own idea of masculinity. In this paper, we present literature on hypermasulinity, fraternities, and a synthesis of the two. Based on the information presented, we make a call to action to educators and university administrators to help young …

New Or Incompletely Known Species Of Feltria From North America (Acarina: Feltriidae), David R. Cook

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The genus Feltria has a widespread Holarctic distribution. A few species (Lundblad, 1941, 1969) have also been reported from northern Burma but this latter area. as far as its water mite fauna is concerned, might better be considered part of the southern border of the Palearctic, rather than a part of the Oriental Region. Previously. thirty apparently valid species and subspecies of Feltria were known from North America. The present paper describes nine additional forms and brings the total from the Nearctic area to 39, which is nearly identical with the number known from Europe. Most North American species are …

A Key And Annotated List Of The Scutelleroidea Of Michigan (Hemiptera), J.E. Mcpherson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: Although Hussey (1922) compiled a list of the Hemiptera of Berrien County, and Stoner (1922) contributed a list of the Scutelleroidea of the Douglas Lake region, no publications have dealt with Michigan Scutelleroidea on a state-wide basis. However, collections in the Entomology Museum of Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, and in the Museum of Zoology of the University of Michigan (UMMZ), Ann Arbor, indicate that collecting has been extensive throughout the state (Fig. 1). The key and annotated list are based on material I identified in these two collections

Eternal Quest: The Story Of The Great Naturalists. Alexander B. Adams. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1969. 509 Pp. $10.95., Ronald S. Wilkinson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: Alexander Adams seems, if unconsciously, to be following in the footsteps of Donald Culross Peattie. Like Peattie, he wrote a volume on Audubon and then essayed a biographical survey of a number of important naturalists. Eternal Quest is the latter, and interestingly enough, it is the first book of its precise kind since Peattie's Green Laurels (1936) to evoke the same emotion.

Theories On The Nature Of Life. Giovanni Blandino, New York: Philosophical Library, 1969. Xiv, 374 Pp. $6.00., Ronald S. Wilkinson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

In a short span, this encyclopedic work summarizes the historical problems of the nature of life. Blandino conducts his narrative in a condensed and highly-packed form that assumes the nature of an outline. His own ideas are explained in the second part of the book. In the author's words, his conception is that vegetative biological phenomena (1) are material deterministic phenomena and therefore, in order to produce them, fixed laws inherent in matter are both necessary and sufficient...

The Flies Of Western North America. F.R. Cole, With The Collaboration Of Evert I. Schlinger. Berkeley And Los Angeles: University Of California Press, 1969. Xi, 693 Pp. $25.00., George C. Steyskal

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: Knowing of the excellence of the author's work especially as an artist of Diptera, entomologists have been waiting for this much-needed volume since the completion of the first manuscript in 1932. The work deals with two-winged flies (Diptera) of North America west of the 104th meridian, south of the 70th parallel and north of Mexico, but including Baja California.

Some Tetranychoid Mites Of Michigan, V. Prasad

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: Tetranychoid mites are plant feeders, and many of them are of considerable economic importance. Prior to the present study, only seven species of these mites were known from Michigan; Oligonychus ilicis (McGregor) (McGregor, 1931); Tertranychus mcdanieli McGregor (McGregor, 1931; Pritchard and Baker, 1955); Euryteranychus buxi (Garman) (Ries, 1935; McGregor 1950); Tettranychus atlanticus McGregor (Tuttle and Baker, 1964); Bryobia praetiosa Koch, Panoychus ulmi (Koch), and Tetranychus telarius (L.) (Ghate and Howitt, 1965).

Food Plants Of Some Adult Sphinx Moths (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), Richard C. Fleming

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: While food plants of many species of sphinx moth larvae are well known, food plants of the adults are not. Many observations of the feeding habits of adult sphinx moths undoubtedly have been made, but much of the information is probably resting in the field notebooks and memories of the observers.

To my knowledge no summary of known feeding information has been presented previously for American Sphingidae. A rather thorough list of food plants for adult European sphinx moths has been published by Wahlgren (1941). This list also includes other moth families as well and it can be a …

An Annotated List Of The Spittlebugs Of Michigan (Homoptera: Cercopidae), Murray Hanna

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Excerpt: Representatives of the family Cercopidae are commonly known as "spittlebugs" because the nymphs cover themselves with saliva-like frothy masses composed of bubbles of air trapped by motions of the abdomen in fluids discharged from the alimentary canal. Spittle protects nymphs from desiccation, but they are able to abandon it for brief periods while migrating to new feeding sites or to other host plants where new masses are produced. Gas exchange by nymphs immersed in spittle is accomplished through spiraculae situated in a protective chamber formed on the ventral side of the abdomen by extended tergites.

Commissioning Innocence And Restoring Confidence: The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission And The Missing Deliberative Citizen, Mary Kelly Tate

Maine Law Review

Since 1989, the United States has witnessed 289 DNA exonerations, with exonerees serving an average of thirteen years in prison. Although DNA an its unmatched power for the conclusive results is what brought popular attention to wrongful convictions, the scope of the problem is vastly larger than the number of known DNA exonerations. The actual number of convicted individuals who are factually innocent is unknown. The state of North Carolina has recently responded to this national crisis via a newly created state agency. This essay applauds North Carolina’s response, but urges that ordinary citizens, qua jurors, be active participants in …

Regulation Of Cholesterol Homeostasis In Atherosclerosis And Alport Syndrome, Wen Ding

Open Access Dissertations

Cholesterol (C27H46O) is the precursor of steroid hormones, Vitamin D and bile acid and is a key component of the plasma membrane. Cholesterol levels are tightly regulated through biosynthesis, cellular uptake or efflux pathways to remain within a certain range for normal cell survival and function. Disturbed cholesterol homeostasis can be an independent risk factor for human diseases including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorder and chronic kidney disease. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern cholesterol homeostasis has the potential to reveal important insights into disease pathogenesis and new therapeutics. Elevated plasma LDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for cardiovascular events …

Usa V. Carolyn Jackson

2017 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Catharine Mackinnon, Feminism, And Continental Philosophy: Comments On Toward A Feminist Theory Of The State—Twenty-Five Years Later, Natalie Nenadic

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Catharine MacKinnon’s feminist work on sexual abuse and violence has had a major impact on law and on policy in the United States and internationally. However, her complex theoretical writings, which are a foundation of that work, have yet to be adequately appreciated by philosophy, especially continental philosophy, that tradition with which she identifies her project. I explain her project in continental terms, especially Heidegger’s thought, so that we may better grasp the philosophical nature and significance of her work. In doing so, I also open paths by which those within the continental tradition may make it more relevant to …

The American Child Welfare System: The Inconspicuous Vehicle For Social Exclusion, Zachary Auspitz

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

No abstract provided.

Structure And Function Of Protein Kinase R, Christopher B. Mayo

Doctoral Dissertations

Protein Kinase R (PKR) is a central component of the innate immunity antiviral pathway and is activated by dsRNA. PKR contains two tandem dsRNA binding domains and a C-terminal kinase domain. In the canonical activation model, binding of multiple PKR monomers to dsRNA enhances dimerization of the kinase domain, leading to enzymatic activation. A minimal dsRNA length of 30 bp is required for activation. However, short (~15 bp) stem-loop RNAs containing flanking single stranded tails (ss-dsRNAs) are capable of activating PKR. Here, we characterize the structural features of ss-dsRNAs that contribute to activation. We have designed a model ss-dsRNA containing …

Écrire Et Lire Le Caribou Au Lieu De L’Achever, Jonathan Hope

The Goose

Dans un acte sans précédent de gestion de la faune, le gouvernement libéral du Québec a décidé de capturer les derniers membres d’une harde de caribous des bois en Abitibi et de les enfermer dans un zoo. Biologistes et écologistes ont exprimé, avec raison, leur inquiétude et leur colère; cette situation est aussi consternante d'une perspective littéraire.

Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: Multiple Hypotheses, Few Answers, Fei Tang, Anika M. S. Hartz, Björn Bauer

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that affects over 70 million people worldwide. Despite the recent introduction of new antiseizure drugs (ASDs), about one-third of patients with epilepsy have seizures refractory to pharmacotherapy. Early identification of patients who will become refractory to ASDs could help direct such patients to appropriate non-pharmacological treatment, but the complexity in the temporal patterns of epilepsy could make such identification difficult. The target hypothesis and transporter hypothesis are the most cited theories trying to explain refractory epilepsy, but neither theory alone fully explains the neurobiological basis of pharmacoresistance. This review summarizes evidence for and against …

Bibliographic Review About Anthropometric Measurements In Mother-Child Dyads, Rubi Chantal Casco Ojeda, Monserrat Morales Alducin, Corina M. Alba-Alba

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: Anthropometric techniques are diverse and they do require skilled levels in order to be executed. It is important for the nursing workforce to know about the most practical anthropometric techniques to be applied at community or research interventions, especially when mother-child dyads are assessed to know the relationship between Body Mass Index of both. Anthropometric measurements of mother-child dyads are useful in clinics or research, as alterations can be detected on time for preventing health-related issues. Therefore, the objective of this research is to identify the most practical, reliable, and precise anthropometric indicators for mother-child dyads.

Methods: A systematic …

Physical Activity Habits And Its Relationship To The Weight Of Children, Ana Luisa Rivera Villanueva, Sandra Patricia Gutierrez Castro, Antonia Linares Valdez, Karla Mestizo Hernandez, Corina M. Alba-Alba

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: The objetive of this study was to identify the state of art in reference to the relationship between Physical Activity Habits and Weight.

Methods: A systematic research in the databases: EBSCO, SCIELO, MEDLINE, GOOGLE SCHOLAR, DIALNET was made with the next keywords: Physical Activity Habits, Children, Body Mass Index, and the boolean operators "and" & "not [Adolescents]". A total of 5214 articles published in the last 5 years was retrieved; then 450 relevant titles were chosen, the irrelevant abstracts were rejected and finally 150 articles in English and Spanish were chosen were considered relevant to the knowledge of the …

Sex Education In The Mosque: An Abstinence-Based Approach To Prevent Hiv, Stds, And Pregnancy, Shaakira Lateefa Abdul Razzaq, Suzanne Willard, Prudence Arthur, Radhika Patel

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: Premarital sex among adolescents is very common in today's society throughout the globe. Adolescents often lack the maturity and mental capacity to navigate through the potential physical, psychological, and emotional consequences of sex. In order to reduce teenage pregnancy rates and the spread of sexually transmitted disease, it is important to focus on adolescent sexual education. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that "about 1 in 4 (26%) of all new HIV infections occur among American youth ages 13 to 24 years" (CDC, 2013, p 1). There is unique and particular need for education in the …

Divergent Secular Trends In Blood Pressure And Body Mass Index In Children And Adolescents In Hong Kong, Man Ki Kwok, Gabriel M. Leung, Thomas H.W. Chung, Karen K.Y. Lee, C. Mary Schooling

Publications and Research

Secular trends in blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI) during childhood and adolescence are sentinels for the future population cardiovascular disease burden. We examined trends in BP z-score (ages 9-18 years from 1999 to 2014) and BMI z-score (ages 6-18 years from 1996 to 2014) in Hong Kong, China. Overall, BP z-score fell, systolic BP from 0.08 to -0.01 in girls and from 0.31 to 0.25 in boys. However, the trends were not consistent, for both sexes, systolic BP z-score was stable from 1999, decreased slightly from 2002 to 2005 and increased slightly to 2014, diastolic BP z-score …

Emotional Cue Validity Effects: The Role Of Neurocognitive Responses To Emotion, Samantha Denefrio, Akeesha Simmons, Amishi Jha, Tracy A. Dennis-Tiwary

Publications and Research

The beneficial effect of valid compared to invalid cues on attention performance is a basic attentional mechanism, but the impact of emotional content on cue validity is poorly understood. We tested whether the effect of cue validity on attention performance differed when cues were angry, happy, or neutral faces. Moreover, we used scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) reflecting the capture of early visual attention (P1, N170) to test whether effects were strengthened when neurocognitive responses to angry or happy cues were enhanced (larger P1 and N170 amplitudes). Twenty-five participants completed a modified flanker task using emotional face cues to measure the …

Advanced Treatment Technologies For Mitigation Of Nitrogen And Off-Flavor Compounds In Onsite Wastewater Treatment And Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, Laura C. Rodriguez-Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Non-point sources (NPS) of pollution are non-discernable, diffuse sources of pollution that are often difficult to localize and in turn mitigate. NPS can include stormwater runoff, agricultural/aquaculture wastes and wastes from small decentralized wastewater treatment systems, such as conventional septic systems. The mitigation of these NPS is imperative to reduce their potential detrimental effects on the water environment. This dissertation addresses novel treatment technologies for the mitigation of nutrients, particularly nitrogen, in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS). The removal of trace organics limiting RAS production and water reuse were also investigated.

The first question this …