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New Species, A New Combination, And A New Country Record In American Clytini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae), Juan Pablo Botero, Antonio Santos-Silva, James E. Wappes

Insecta Mundi

Two new species of Mexican Clytini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae) are described: Trichoxys giesberti Botero, Santos-Silva and Wappes (also added to a recent key) and Megacyllene giesberti Botero, Santos-Silva and Wappes. The geographical distribution of Megacyllene melanaspis (Chevrolat, 1862) is expanded to include Bolivia, new country record, and compared to the similar and sympatric Megacyllene proxima (Laporte and Gory, 1841); Megacyllene asteca (Chevrolat, 1860) is proposed as a new combination for the previous Plagionotus asteca, and Amyipunga armaticollis (Zajciw, 1964) is redescribed to correct previous errors regarding it in the literature. Additionally, characters to help separate it from the similar …

Fall Field Report, August - November 2019, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

By far the most striking feature of this fall’s report is the large number of lingering migrants, a trend that is continuing and apparently increasing, especially among passerines. Editor Jan Paseka counted 17 uses of the word “tardy” and 43 of “late” or “latest”. It is tempting to relate this to the warmer environment and resulting increased availability of food items at higher latitudes and later dates than in previous years. A sad note: a startling occurrence in Gering, Scotts Bluff 20 Aug was described by Marie Smith: “We had a huge hailstorm around 10:30. The hail was probably pea …

Quantifying Signpost Usage By Captive Male White-Tailed Deer, Cassie L. Auxt, Eric S. Michel, Jonathan A. Jenks

The Prairie Naturalist

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use rubbing of signpost structures to communicate during the breeding season. Rubbing of signpost structures allows deer to communicate via visual and chemical cues, which allows them to establish dominance hierarchies and maintain hierarchal status throughout the breeding season (Moore and Marchinton 1974, Miller et al. 1981, Hewitt 2011). Once a living tree is rubbed, the exposed light-colored sapwood creates a stark contrast in wooded areas, increasing visibility and further enticing deer to investigate the structure (Oehler et al. 1995). Anatomically, the tubular apocrine sudoriferous glands of white-tailed deer are located at the antler …

The Context And Challenges Of Interdisciplinarity In The Philippines, Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng

Leadership and Strategy Faculty Publications

The tension between disciplines and interdisciplinary initiatives has been present in different areas around the world. This paper discusses the roots of the tension in the world and in the Philippines, as well as issues and challenges of implementation. It begins with the meaning of discipline and the nuances in the interaction of multiple disciplines, (e.g. multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary) and traces and traces the development of disciplines in relation to the development of higher education. While academic departments and programs give life and power to the disciplines, there were pressures to work across disciplines to achieve the underlying goals …

Michigan Climate Assessment 2019: Considering Michigan's Future In A Changing Climate, Thomas Kovacs, Kimberly Barrett

Michigan Climate Assessment

No abstract provided.

Utilization Of Homoplasy-Free Sine Markers To Resolve The Phylogeny Of Peromyscus Species, Alec Wroblewski

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The Peromyscus genus consists of over 50 recognized species, providing a rare opportunity to study evolutionary mechanisms of mammalian speciation, which is enhanced by phylogenetic analyses. We propose utilizing short interspersed DNA elements (SINEs) to assess the evolutionary history of Peromyscus as these markers provide a "molecular fossil record" since shared genomic integrations of elements correspond to descent from common ancestors. We have identified "young" SINEs from sequences of P. aztecus to advance our study by assessing for the presence of elements at fourteen orthologous loci among twelve species, including three separate P. aztecus individuals, one of which was used …

Coaggregation Patterns And Surface Characteristics Of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus Gg Under Varying Nutrient Conditions, Amanda Rielinger

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) is one of the best studied probiotic organisms. The ability of probiotics to adhere to other microorganisms and the intestinal epithelium is thought to play a major role in their protective functions. Coaggregation is an important mechanism for biofilm formation by microorganisms. The goals of this study were to examine the ways in which nutrient variation affects intercellular interactions between LGG and other gut microbes and the hydrophobic character of LGG. We hypothesized that nutritional variation may affect the ability of LGG to coaggregate and form biofilms and thus affect its probiotic characteristics and ability to …

Analyzing Counter Improvised Explosive Device Equipment For Effectiveness In Preventing Casualty, Roxanne Reinhardt

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This research explores injury patterns of casualties from combat due to Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), which can vary due to the unique circumstances related to an injury. This research hopes to understand how decisions on equipment production and safety mechanisms are employed. Some of the preliminary research includes a meta-analysis of various IED events, with a focus on conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This research will also consider historical, current, and predictive analysis, to best understand the IED threat and to help save lives. Finally, this IED study is novel because it will approach this research from a holistic anthropological …

Imagining Queer Futures To Ensure Queer Survival, Leah A. Minadeo

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

For Lee Edelman. queen' lack of future is a, extension or the dominant social narrative that, thanks to reproductive futurism, reduces queerness to same-sex object-choice. That narrative renders queers strictly non-reproductive and children only accomplishable through the consummation of heterosexual pairings. Since queers cannot contribute life to the future in the form of children, queerness and queer life become aligned instead with death. This is a complex narrative that figures children as the stuff the future is made of and queer as a threat to both children and the symbolic Child. The stakes of this language is high because such …

Health Outcomes For Low-Income Older Adults With Diabetes Who Receive Services From Meals On Wheels, Monyca Johnson

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

INTRODUCTION: As the population continues to age and healthcare costs steadily increase, identifying what factors possibly add to the risk of hospitalization will help find effective solutions targeting these issues. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that Medicaid and Medicare dual eligibility, membership in a racial minority, and female gender would increase the risk of hospitalizations in the past year. We further hypothesized that receipt of food assistance would decrease the risk of hospitalization for older adults with diabetes. METHODS: For this study, we conducted a secondary analysis of data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHA TS) to test the …

Increasing Communication Through Improved Nursing Education: The Histories, Policies, And Manufacturing Process Of Vaccines, Alyssa R. Gruich

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Increasing nursing education of vaccines is incredibly important when nurses are attempting to educate families on the risks and benefits of many childhood vaccines. Through learning about the history of major vaccines, vaccine policies and the vaccine manufacturing process, nurses may better understand how to communicate with families.

Characterization Of Reproductive Tumors In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Shanti Nicole Gunda Bernstein

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Tumors are characterized by over-proliferation of cells. However, not all tumors behave the same or have the same effects on surrounding non-tumorous tissues. Using the model organism C. elegans, we established tumor rupture trends in tumorous animals of three different genotypes. The characteristics studied include the effect of a germline tumor on the distribution of intermediate filament proteins in the endotube of the intestine, rate of tumor rupture between the hermaphrodites of each genotype, and tumor nuclear morphology of males and hermaphrodites of two genotypes. We conclude that tumors in C. elegans behave differently among the genotypes studied and the …

Examination Of Behavioral Lateralizations In Juvenile Tarantulas In The Presence Of Prey Odors, Matthew Angelosanto

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The functional and/or structural specialization of the left or right side of the brain (behavioral lateralization) has substantial impacts on the interactions an animal makes with other organisms and its surroundings. While this has been extensively shown throughout vertebrates, it has recently been demonstrated in various taxa of invertebrates. Despite this, its presence in arachnids, and specifically tarantulas, remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether behavioral lateralization is present in the juvenile tarantulas Pterinochilus murinus and Brachypelma albopilosum in response to prey odors. If behavioral lateralization was found, I aimed to detennine how it differed …

An Overview Of The Causes Of Tropospheric Ozone Pollution With Regard To Meterological Factors In Ypsilanti, Michigan, Stephen Weger

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This thesis presents a study of several meteorological factors and their correlation to tropospheric ozone concentrations in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The meteorological factors studied were air pressure, absolute humidity, temperature, and wind speed and direction. Data was collected from the end of May 2019 to the end of August 2019, on the second story of the Sherzer building at Eastern Michigan University. This thesis also contains a case study, comparing data from Ypsilanti, Michigan to Nanjing, China, to further strengthen the significance of the results found. The study found that the most significant meteorological determinants to tropospheric ozone concentration at Eastern …

Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Socioeconomic Status, Access To Care And Depression In Adults, Sierra Powdhar

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

In the United States, estimates suggest that 45% of adults endorse having experienced at least one of the ten items of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (Sacks, 2018). Having adverse experiences in childhood is strongly related to the development of a wide range of health problems later in life, including depression (SAMHA, 2018; CDC, 2016). However, it is not fully understood what accounts for this association. One factor that may account for the relationship between ACEs and depression could be lower socioeconomic status (SES). Specifically, I am proposing an explanatory model built upon the following linkages that are supported in …

The Underwater Tidalectics Of Rukeyser's "Anemone", Aaron Pinnix

Essays & Other Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Effective High School Inquiry-Based Physics First Curriculum: Student And Alumni Perceptions, Fawzia Bibi Qazi

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to improve science education have resulted in proposed innovative teaching methods and changing course sequences such as the inquiry-based Physics First curriculum. This study examined student and alumni perceptions of a Physics First course in a modified curriculum that inverted the traditional course sequence of Biology-Chemistry-Physics (BCP) to an inquiry-based Physics First (PF) curriculum in which students take an inquiry-based physics course as freshman and chemistry as sophomores. This study explored the experiences of students in their ninth grade physics course and how the Physics First curriculum influenced students’ and alumni future STEM course choices and experiences. The qualitative …

Emerging Technologies And The Courts, Gary E. Marchant

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

The world is changing at a faster pace today than ever before, in large part fueled by an unprecedented rate of technology advances. This pace of technological change will only accelerate going forward. We all must take this reality of unprecedented change into account as we plan our futures, perform our professional duties, and in the case of judges, write judicial opinions. As Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Roberts stated in an interview at the time of his appointment, “politicians – and judges for that matter – should be wary of the assumption that the future will …

Synthesis And Study Of The Micellization Behavior Of A Dual Temperature- And Ph-Responsive Paa-B-Pnipam Block Copolymer, Ehsan Zarshenas Moghadam

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Amphiphilic diblock copolymers are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. When they are exposed to water, the hydrophobic blocks aggregate to form a hydrophobic core surrounded by hydrophilic regions outside to give a core-shell micelle. These micelles have many potential applications, such as a drug delivery system, surfactants, or nanoreactor. Many studies have been done to optimize the performance of these copolymers. In this thesis work, nine dual temperature- and pH-responsive poly(acrylic acid-block-N-isopropylacrylamide) (PAA-b-PNIPAM) diblock copolymers with different relative chain lengths of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic blocks were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The preliminary results showed …

The Cost Of Changing Our Minds, Nita A. Farahany

Faculty Scholarship

The neuroscience revolution poses profound challenges to the doctrine of avoidable consequences in tort law and exposes deep theoretical riddles about the right to our own mental experiences and memories. To address this profound question, this Article begins with a deceptively simple principle of tort law: A victim of tortious wrongdoing by another is held responsible for mitigating her own physical injuries. This Article addresses whether that same doctrine should require a tort victim to likewise mitigate her emotional injuries. The answer to that question is of great and increasing importance because it goes to the heart of how society …

“The Names Of Sickness”: Emily Dickinson, Diagnostic Reading, And Articulating Disability, Vivian Delchamps Wolf

English and Creative Writing | Faculty Scholarship

Emily Dickinson’s “There is a Languor of the Life” hints at her knowledge 1  about diagnostic and surgical approaches to bodymind pain during her time. Although the poem can be read as a metaphorical portrayal of spiritual suffering, it also demonstrates Dickinson’s familiarity with contemporary medical innovations as well as her skillful use of simile to poetically depict complex bodily states. For example, the poem describes a “languor” that envelops consciousness with a “Drowsiness” that “diffuses – / a Dimness like a Fog,” evoking literal sensations one might feel while under the influence of anesthesia.2 The poem goes on to …

Characterisation Of Porcine Cytomegalovirus And Development As A Vaccine Vector For Classical Swine Fever Virus, Thekla Mauch

School of Biomedical Sciences Theses

Classical swine fever (CSF) is a highly infectious viral disease found in domestic pigs and wild boar populations. Outbreaks have a large economic cost for the swine industry and cause significant morbidity and mortality in pigs. Only one compatible vaccine that allows the differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals (DIVA), Suvaxyn® CSF Marker vaccine, is commercially available. However, due to e.g. trading issues caused by vaccination of animals this vaccine is not used prophylactically and is only used in emergency situations to prevent spread of CSFV to wider areas. An urgent need exists for development of a safe, effective, DIVA …

So What? A Brief History Of Robert N. Ginsburg 1925-2017, Eugene A. Shinn

Marine Science Faculty Publications

This article summarizes the life and work of Robert Ginsburg.

Description Of A New Species Of Melanesiandra Santos-Silva Et Al. (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Parandrinae) Found In Vanuatu, Shunsuke Kakinuma

Insecta Mundi

Melanesiandra anatomensis Kakinuma, new species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Parandrinae), found in Aneityum Island (Vanuatu), is described and illustrated. An updated key is presented to separate the six known species of the genus.

Descripción De Una Especie Nueva Y Dos Nuevos Registros De Paraleurolobus Sampson Y Drews (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) De Guatemala, José Francisco García Ochaeta, Oscar Ángel Sánchez-Flores

Insecta Mundi

Se describe Paraleurolobus evansi García-Ochaeta y Sánchez-Flores sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) de Guatemala. Se comentan los caracteres diferenciales de esta especie con sus congéneres. Se incluye una clave para determinar las especies de Paraleurolobus Sampson y Drews, y se reportan por primera vez para Guatemala a P. chamaedoreae Russell y P. imbricatus Sampson y Drews.

Paraleurolobus evansi García-Ochaeta y Sánchez-Flores sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is described from Guatemala. Differential characters between this and related species are discussed. A key is included to identify Paraleurolobus Sampson y Drews species, and P. chamaedoreae Russell and P. imbricatus Sampson y Drews are reported …

Korean Encyrtids (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) Associated With Scale Insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha), Soo-Jung Suh

Insecta Mundi

Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) are sap-sucking plant parasites and economically important pests on agricultural and horticultural crops. Scale insects are often difficult to control since their body is protected by a wax cover. Parasitic wasps that live and develop in scale insects are important natural enemies and effective biological control agents of pest scale insects. Chalcid wasps of the family Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) comprise the largest group of parasitoids of scale insects, followed by the family Aphelinidae. Here, an updated list of all thirty-six species of encyrtids in twenty-three genera that have been identified or reported from South Korea is …

First Record Of Xysma Dominicum Antropov, 1995 (Hymenoptera: Pemphredonidae) In Puerto Rico, The Antilles, And Notes On The Nesting Behavior, Julio A. Genaro

Insecta Mundi

Xysma dominicum Antropov (Hymenoptera: Pemphredonidae) is recorded for the first time in Puerto Rico. It was found nesting in vertical banks in dry forest habitat in Guánica, Ponce. Notes about the nesting behavior are presented. The female, previously unknown, is described and illustrated.

Se registra por primera vez a Xysma dominicum Antropov (Hymenoptera: Pemphredonidae) para Puerto Rico. La especie fue encontrada nidificando en paredes verticales, en el bosque seco de Guánica, Ponce. Se presentan notas sobre la conducta de nidificación. Se describe e ilustra a la hembra, previamente desconocida.

Nomenclatural Changes In American Apomecynini Including Description Of New Genera And Species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), Antonio Santos-Silva, Francisco E. De L. Nascimento, James E. Wappes

Insecta Mundi

Nomenclatural and taxonomic changes are proposed for American Apomecynini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae). New synonymies: Parmenonta valida Thomson, 1868, type species of Parmenonta Thomson, 1868, is transferred to Adetus LeConte, 1852, making obligatory the synonymy of Parmenonta with Adetus; Adetus cylindricus Bates, 1866 = A. inaequalis (Thomson, 1868); Adetus leucostigma Bates, 1880 = Adetus binotatus (Thomson, 1868); Adetus tuberosus Galileo and Martins, 2003 = Typophaula melancholica Thomson, 1868; Adetus latericius Belon, 1902, and Adetus irregularis (Breuning, 1939) = Adetus nanus (Fairmaire and Germain, 1859). New records: Adetus binotatus for Chiapas, Guerrero, Tamaulipas, and Quintana Roo (Mexico), new state records; A. …

Observations On The Natural History Of Romulus Globosus Knull (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), Josef Vlasak

Insecta Mundi

Host plants of Romulus globosus Knull (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) are described for the first time. Notes on its natural history are provided. The larvae of R. globosus feed in living roots of scrub oaks, including Quercus geminata Small, Quercus myrtifolia Willd., and Quercus laevis Walter. Field observations show that the beetle emerges below ground, and females may burrow to lay eggs on the roots.

Traumatomutilla André Miscellanea: Revision Of The Bellica, Bifurca, Diabolica, And Vitelligera Species Groups, And A New Group For The New Species T. Pilkingtoni Bartholomay And Williams (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae: Sphaeropthalminae: Dasymutillini), Pedro R. Bartholomay, Kevin A. Williams, David R. Luz, Roberto A. Cambra, Marcio Luiz De Oliveira

Insecta Mundi

Five small species groups of Traumatomutilla André, 1901 are revised. A new species, T. pilkingtoni Bartholomay and Williams sp. nov. (Argentina) is described and placed within its own species group. All known species of the bellica, diabolica, vitelligera, and bifurca species groups are redescribed. New synonymies are proposed for T. vitelligera (Gerstaecker, 1874) = Mutilla fascinata Smith, 1879, syn. nov.; = Traumatomutilla comata André, 1906, syn. nov. and for T. bifurca (Klug, 1821) = T. ira Casal, 1969, syn. nov. The lectotypes of Mutilla bifurca Klug, 1821 and Mutilla comata André, 1906 are designated. The hitherto unknown males of T. …