Digital Commons Network^™

The Inexplicable Logic Of My Life, Emma Patton

Children's Book and Media Review

What’s more important: nature or nurture? Sal is trying to figure out the answer to that question in his own life. He doesn’t know who his biological father is, and he barely remembers his mother. All his life, Sal has tried to be like his adoptive father, but he feels himself turning into someone he doesn’t recognize. Tragedy strikes in Sal's personal life, as well as in the lives of his friends and family, and the changes happening within him that distance himself from the person he thought he was become even more pronounced. Senior year of high school is …

George, Amanda Bishop

Children's Book and Media Review

George is the story of a young girl who, biologically, was born male. Everyone sees George as if she were a boy, but George knows that inside she is female. George sees her opportunity to let the world know who she really is inside when the school play is announced. She desperately wants to be cast as Charlotte in the upcoming school play, but her teachers and fellow classmates don’t think that a boy should play Charlotte. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George devises a plan to show everyone that she can make a great Charlotte. She …

Far From The Tree, Emma Patton

Children's Book and Media Review

Grace, Maya, and Joaquin are three teenagers living independent lives. But when events in Grace’s life prompt her to start looking for her birth mother and possible birth siblings, she finds Maya and then Joaquin and breaks the news that the three of them have the same biological mother. Though the three siblings came this far in their life without knowing one another, they soon create strong family bonds and re-discover what it means to be a sister or a brother. The three are in a unique position: they will always be biologically related, but they have the opportunity to …

The Way To Game The Walk Of Shame, Meagan Andrus

Children's Book and Media Review

Taylor Simmons' reputation is officially ruined. She was seen leaving a party with none other than Evan McKinley, resident playboy at their high school. When she wakes up in his bedroom the next morning, neither of them can remember what actually happened that night. Rumors abound, and Taylor has to come up with a plan, and fast, before her chances at valedictorian and a full-ride to Columbia are jeopardized. She coerces Evan into signing a contract stating that they will fake a relationship so that their leaving the party together makes sense and is not scandalous. Evan is at first …

Science Comics: Sharks: Nature's Perfect Hunter, Olivia Hales

Children's Book and Media Review

Science Comics: Sharks: Nature’s Perfect Hunter is a brief yet in depth exploration of sharks with topics ranging from shark biology to behavior, evolution to biodiversity, and even folklore. The facts are woven into a story featuring a marine biologist. Sharks are helpfully compared and contrasted to each other, animals, and humans, emphasizing their stunning diversity and unique adaptations. Scientific explanations of how a shark’s body works are illustrated in great detail.

Science Comics: Dogs: From Predator To Protector, Mavanee Farnsworth

Children's Book and Media Review

Rudy, a four-legged friend who loves humans and balls, is taken to the park with his owner. While at the park, Rudy explains about the species of dogs, and then jumps back into time (25,000 BC to be exact). During this time wolves were the closest animal to a dogs, but they weren’t the best human companion because wolves aren’t naturally tame. Through evolution, changes in wolves’ traits resulted in the dog that man loves today. Each dog has many different qualities and characteristics that make that dog unique to specific environments and tasks. Through this journey, one will come …

And She Was, Meagan Andrus

Children's Book and Media Review

Eighteen-year-old Dara has just graduated high school and wants her mother’s support for her to go pro in the tennis world. While searching for some legal documents, Dara discovers a major secret: her mother is actually her biological father, and transitioned when Dara was very young. Without waiting for a bigger explanation, Dara leaves to find some answers about her extended family. Along the way, her mother writes her e-mails to explain what she went through growing up and why she did what she did. Dara is at first happy with her new extended family but later realizes that large …

A Blackthorn Key Adventure: The Assassin's Curse, Tessa Mcmillan

Children's Book and Media Review

King Charles II invites Christopher and Tom to a party, where Christopher stumbles upon a poisoned guest and is attacked by an assassin. Acting quickly, Christopher and Tom save Charles and the king’s sister, Minette. Charles asks Christopher, Tom, and Sally to join Minette’s entourage to Paris so they can stop the assassins. Once in Paris, the three friends learn the origin of the curse on the French royal line. Christopher realizes the curse is being resurrected by a group of servants and nobles who want the Templar treasure for themselves. The mastermind servant over the assassination attempts flees, but …

Infandous, Meagan Andrus

Children's Book and Media Review

Sephora Golding lives in Venice Beach with her mother, Rebecca, whom Seph has always imagined as a mermaid: wildly beautiful and captivating, like the ocean. Seph is nothing like her, instead preferring to wear baggy jeans and make unique art out of items found on the beach where she lives. Her summer at first seems to be relatively boring, but she spends one night with a mysterious but gorgeous older surfer. Throughout the meandering storyline, Seph hints at a dark secret, though it is not until later that she reveals what has been hidden in plain sight for the reader …

We Are ... Marshall, December 12, 2018, Office Of Marshall University Communications

We Are ... Marshall: the Newsletter for Marshall University 1999-2023

No abstract provided.

Gene Network Analysis Of Poplar Root Transcriptome In Response To Drought Stress Identifies A Ptajaz3ptarap2.6-Centered Hierarchical Network, Madhumita Dash, Yordan S. Yordanov, Tatyana Georgieva, Hairong Wei, Victor Busov

College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Publications

Using time-series transcriptomic data from poplar roots undergoing polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced drought stress, we built a genetic network model of the involved putative molecular responses. We found that the network resembled a hierarchical structure. The highest hierarchical level in this structure is occupied by 9 genes, which we called superhubs because they were primarily connected to 18 hub genes, which are then connected to 2,934 terminal genes. We were only able to regenerate transgenic plants overexpressing two of the superhubs, suggesting that the majority of the superhubs might interfere with the regeneration process and did not allow recovery of transgenic …

Neuroethics Guiding Principles For The Nih Brain Initiative, Henry T. Greely, Christine Grady, Khara M. Ramos, Winston Chiong, James Eberwine, Nita A. Farahany, L. Syd M. Johnson, Et. Al.

Department of Humanities Publications

Neuroscience presents important neuroethical considerations. Human neuroscience demands focused application of the core research ethics guidelines set out in documents such as the Belmont Report. Various mechanisms, including institutional review boards (IRBs), privacy rules, and the Food and Drug Administration, regulate many aspects of neuroscience research and many articles, books, workshops, and conferences address neuroethics. (Farah, 2010; https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown.edu/pcsbi/studies.html; http://www.neuroethicssociety.org/annual-meeting). However, responsible neuroscience research requires continual dialogue among neuroscience researchers, ethicists, philosophers, lawyers, and other stakeholders to help assess its ethical, legal, and societal implications. The Neuroethics Working Group of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Brain Research through Advancing Innovative …

Sleep Duration, Postprandial Metabolic Function, And The Role Of Insulin Resistance In Nondiabetic Individuals, Karin A. Garcia

Open Access Dissertations

The influence of sleep duration on metabolic pathogenic pathways associated with Type 2 diabetes mellitus are not well understood but may be operational long before the development of clinical diabetes or even prediabetes is detected. This study was designed to examine in preclinical nondiabetic adults whether the association of insulin sensitivity and postprandial metabolic function is moderated by sleep duration. The sample was comprised of 143 individuals (65% men), aged 18–55 years, who had no diabetes or other diagnosed conditions. Metabolic function outcomes were assessed in response to an OGTT, and two 14-h serial mixed carbohydrate-meal tests administered, over 3 …

Conservation Biology Class Seeks To Save Box Turtles From Urbanization, Winthrop University

Winthrop News 2018

HIGHLIGHTS

• They received three grants – from the North American Box Turtle Conservation Committee, Sigma Xi and the Winthrop Research Council – and used the funds to purchase radio transmitters.

Quantitative Behavioral Analysis Of First Successful Captive Breeding Of Endangered Ozark Hellbenders, Rachel A. Settle, Jeffery A. Ettling, Mark D. Wanner, Chawna D. Schuette, Jeffrey T. Briggler, Alicia Mathis

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Understanding behaviors associated with reproductive events is vital to management of captive breeding programs for threatened and endangered species. The Ozark hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi) is a federally endangered aquatic salamander with only one successful captive breeding program (the Saint Louis Zoo's Ron Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation). Although anecdotal observations have been reported for hellbender reproductive behavior from field observations, no quantitative assessments have been made. We quantified hellbender behavior from video-recordings of three successful breeding events at the Saint Louis Zoo that occurred in 2012, including aggressive, sexual, social, and locomotory behaviors. We used transition matrices to organize …

Faculty Senate Minutes December 2018, Uno Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

These are the official minutes of the Faculty Senate Meetings at the University of Nebraska - Omaha (UNO) for Academic year 2018-2019. The Faculty Senate supports faculty governance and believes that shared governance is essential to creating productive and rewarding environment for faculty and students. The Faculty Senate is a representative body of members elected by the faculty of the various academic departments and units of UNO. The Faculty Senate features representation from each academic college, Criss Library , and Omaha-base University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) colleges.

Evolution Of The Natural Transformation Protein, Comec, In Bacteria, Zachary T. Pimentel, Ying Zhang

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Natural transformation enables the incorporation of exogenous DNA into host genomes and plays a fundamental role in the evolution of microbial populations. At the center of the natural transformation machinery, the ComEC protein mediates DNA import and serves potential functions in DNA recognition and single strand degradation. Despite its importance, the evolution of ComEC is not fully understood. Here, we aim to fill this knowledge gap by surveying putative ComEC proteins across 5,574 bacteria that span diverse phyla. We first derived the presence of a universal, core Competence domain through the analysis of ComEC proteins from known naturally competent species. …

Examining The Relationship Of Textbooks And Labs On Student Achievement In Eighth Grade Science, Don Jones, Marie-Ann Mundy, Lavonne Fedynich, Anacita Sugalan

Administrative Issues Journal

One of the most important objectives of teachers, parents, school administrators, and students is to improve student scores on standardized tests, such as the State of Texas Assessment for Academic Readiness (STAAR) in eighth-grade science. This quasi-experimental study examined the science achievement scores between schools that used different textbooks and labs when delivering instruction. This study utilized a quantitative approach, using archival data and survey design. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and multiple regression were used to analyze the data while controlling STAAR eighth-grade reading scores to reveal significant differences between classes. The sample and population for this study were predominantly …

Obesity-Induced Peritoneal Dissemination Of Ovarian Cancer And Dominant Recruitment Of Macrophages In Ascites, Rosa Mistica C. Ignacio, Eun-Sook Lee, Andrew J. Wilson, Alicia Beeghly-Fadiel, Margaret M. Whalen, Deok-Soo Son

Chemistry Faculty Research

One-fifth of cancer deaths are associated with obesity. Because the molecular mechanisms by which obesity affects the progression of ovarian cancer (OC) are poorly understood, we investigated if obesity could promote the progression of OC cells using the postmenopausal ob/ob mouse model and peritoneal dissemination of mouse ID8 OC cells. Compared to lean mice, obese mice had earlier OC occurrence, greater metastasis throughout the peritoneal cavity, a trend toward shorter survival, and higher circulating glucose and proinflammatory chemokine CXCL1 levels. Ascites in obese mice had higher levels of macrophages (Mφ) and chemokines including CCL2, CXCL12, CXCL13, G-CSF and M-CSF. Omental …

Triggers And Damages Of Organizational Defensive Routines, Yumei Yang, Davide Secchi, Fabian Homberg

European Management Studies

According to research, organizational defensive routines (ODRs) have strong and intertwined individual and organizational components. However, the literature has yet to systematically isolate and analyse ODR-triggering factors at both levels. In this paper, we shall first refer to organizational routine theory to expound the characteristics of ODRs. Next, it identifies their individual and organization-level triggers. At the individual level factors generating ODRs are general self-efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism, while those operating at the organizational level are organizational politics, red tape, and organizational structure. Finally, the chapter explores potential damage ODRs could cause to individuals and organizations related to …

Incarcerated Parenting: How Family Relationships Can Be Beneficial, Bailey Porter

Liberal Arts Capstones

The United States maintains one of the highest incarceration rates in the entire world. The disturbing reality of these mass incarcerations is that they do not exclusively impact the offender, but the friends, family, and most importantly, the children of these incarcerated individuals. A startling number of children in the United States are separated from their biological parents through incarcerations. The effects of separation are rarely considered in legislation.

In the past few years, there has been a rise in programs designed to help maintain relationships between families and incarcerated individuals. One of the goals of these family programs is …

"This Doesn't Happen Here": Child Sex Trafficking In Rural Oklahoma, Denise Blum, Tania Benoiton, Sean Kinder

Administrative Issues Journal

The sex trafficking of minors is a hard-to-detect and underreported crime. Its insidiousness makes it exceedingly difficult to recognize, and treatment, once a victim is recovered, is long-term and costly. Urban areas are in the spotlight when it comes to the trafficking of minors. However, the unsuspecting rural context consists of specific dynamics that may make children in the countryside more vulnerable than in the city. Using the case of an Oklahoma town, the researchers conducted a presentation on child sex trafficking for school personnel at a K-8 rural school. They administered pre- and post-surveys and conducted follow-up interviews with …

Student Demo Day Features New Student Startup Companies, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Author Correction: Extracting Intercellular Signaling Network Of Cancer Tissues Using Ligand-Receptor Expression Patterns From Whole-Tumor And Single-Cell Transcriptomes., Joseph X Zhou, Roberto Taramelli, Edoardo Pedrini, Theo Knijnenburg, Sui Huang

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

Shedding Light On The Role Of Opaque1 In Asymmetric Cell Division In Maize, Janette Yuseil Mendoza

Biology ETDs

Asymmetric cell division (ACD) is important for cell fate and tissue patterning. Many aspects of ACD in plants, however, are still unclear. The process of ACD can be broadly broken down into three phases: (1) cell polarization, (2) division plane establishment and maintenance, and (3) cell division and cytokinesis. Stomatal development in maize has proven to be a useful model for understanding the ACD mechanism. Previous studies have identified several proteins important for all three phases of ACD. Actin is important in each of the phases of ACD, suggesting an actin motor such as myosin may also be important for …

Physella Acuta, Comparative Immunology And Evolutionary Aspects Of Gastropod Immune Function, Jonathan H. Schultz

Biology ETDs

Gastropod immunobiology has benefitted from investigations focused on the planorbid snail Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host for the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. Though such concentrated efforts have elucidated fascinating aspects of invertebrate immunity, they have not provided full knowledge regarding the evolution of immune function among other gastropod species. This dissertation presents the importance of making strategic choices regarding which organisms to select for comparative immunology. Herein, the choice was made to investigate the immunobiology of Physella acuta, a freshwater snail species of the Physidae, a sister family to Planorbidae to which B. glabrata belongs. Benefiting greatly from …

Effect Of Temperature Change On Synaptic Transmission At Crayfish Neuromuscular Junctions, Yuechen Zhu, Leo De Castro, Robin L. Cooper

Biology Faculty Publications

Ectothermic animals in areas characterised by seasonal changes are susceptible to extreme fluctuations in temperature. To survive through varied temperatures, ectotherms have developed unique strategies. This study focuses on synaptic transmission function at cold temperatures, as it is a vital component of ectothermic animals' survival. For determining how synaptic transmission is influenced by an acute change in temperature (20°C to 10°C within a minute) and chronic cold (10°C), the crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) neuromuscular junction (NMJ) was used as a model. To simulate chronic cold conditions, crayfish were acclimated to 15°C for 1 week and then to 10°C for …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session December 12, 2018, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

• Acceptance of the Agenda
• Approval of the Minutes
• Remarks by the Chair
• Remarks by the President
• Comments by the Faculty Senate President
• Comments by the Western Student Association President
• Comments by the Graduate Student Association President
• Retention Success
• Public Comments Regarding Action Items
• President Montgomery's Performance Evaluation
• WMU Apartment Rates 2019-2020
• Emeritus Status for Trustee Kenneth V. Miller
• Consent Items
• General Public Comments

Changing Land-Use From Pinus Elliottii To Eucalyptus Bentamii In Southwest Louisiana Affects Understory Vegetation Richness, Diversity, And Functional Diversity Patterns, Andrea De Stefano

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the Western Gulf region of the United States cold-tolerant eucalyptus have been explored as pulpwood feedstock. However, non-native plantations may alter understory species diversity, modifying environmental conditions and soil characteristics. Few studies have compared eucalyptus plantations with other ecosystems to understand the impacts of converting these land uses on understory vegetation in the United States. Three plantations were selected: (1) slash pine (Pinus elliottii) established in 2008, (2) slash pine established in 2013, and (3) and Camden white gum (Eucalyptus benthamii) established in 2013. The objectives of this study were to: (1) investigate potential changes …

Dissertation Year Fellows Get To Work, Kristen Melamed

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.