Digital Commons Network^™

Are We Providing Preferred Floral Resources For Bees In Our Neighborhoods? : Assessing The Relationship Between Small Scale Vegetation Metrics And Bee Presence In Se Portland, Hailey Wallace

Dissertations and Theses

Bee pollinators can thrive in highly urbanized environments if their preferred floral resources and habitat types are available. Enhanced pollinator habitats are being created globally, with a large local effort in Portland, Oregon. This project determined if we were providing the most preferred floral resources at enhanced pollinator sites for bees, if floral resources were available throughout the season, and if differences in dietary preferences between native and honey bees would allow for the identification of "native bee floral resources" in South East Portland. Bee pollinators were monitored from June to August at three enhanced pollinator sites in South East …

A Sparse Covarying Unit That Describes Healthy And Impaired Human Gut Microbiota Development, Arjun S Raman, Jeanette L Gehrig, Siddarth Venkatesh, Hao-Wei Chang, Matthew C Hibberd, Sathish Subramanian, Michael J Barratt, Jeffrey I Gordon, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Characterizing the organization of the human gut microbiota is a formidable challenge given the number of possible interactions between its components. Using a statistical approach initially applied to financial markets, we measured temporally conserved covariance among bacterial taxa in the microbiota of healthy members of a Bangladeshi birth cohort sampled from 1 to 60 months of age. The results revealed an "ecogroup" of 15 covarying bacterial taxa that provide a concise description of microbiota development in healthy children from this and other low-income countries, and a means for monitoring community repair in undernourished children treated with therapeutic foods. Features of …

Identification Of An Alternating-Access Dynamics Mutant Of Emre With Impaired Transport, Chao Wu, Samantha A Wynne, Nathan E Thomas, Eva-Maria Uhlemann, Christopher G Tate, Katherine A Henzler-Wildman

Open Access Publications

Proteins that perform active transport must alternate the access of a binding site, first to one side of a membrane and then to the other, resulting in the transport of bound substrates across the membrane. To better understand this process, we sought to identify mutants of the small multidrug resistance transporter EmrE with reduced rates of alternating access. We performed extensive scanning mutagenesis by changing every amino acid residue to Val, Ala, or Gly, and then screening the drug resistance phenotypes of the resulting mutants. We identified EmrE mutants that had impaired transport activity but retained the ability to bind …

Ampa Receptor Glua2 Subunit Defects Are A Cause Of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Vincenzo Salpietro, Christine L. Dixon, Hui Guo, Oscar D. Bello, Jana Vandrovcova, Stephanie Efthymiou, Reza Maroofian, Gali Heimer, Salman Kirmani, Shahnaz H. Ibrahim

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are tetrameric ligand-gated channels made up of combinations of GluA1-4 subunits encoded by GRIA1-4 genes. GluA2 has an especially important role because, following post-transcriptional editing at the Q607 site, it renders heteromultimeric AMPARs Ca²⁺-impermeable, with a linear relationship between current and trans-membrane voltage. Here, we report heterozygous de novo GRIA2 mutations in 28 unrelated patients with intellectual disability (ID) and neurodevelopmental abnormalities including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Rett syndrome-like features, and seizures or developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). In functional expression studies, mutations lead to a decrease in agonist-evoked current mediated by mutant subunits compared to …

Need Fulfillment And Happiness In Botswana, Carolyn Moe

Theses and Dissertations

Happiness has been an important aspect of people’s lives spanning centuries and continents; as such, it is a widely researched area. A current prominent theory in happiness research is Needs Theory which has the premise that there are universal human needs and having these needs met would lead to a person’s happiness. Most often, the needs referenced are those presented by Abraham Maslow including needs of physiology, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem, knowing and understanding, aesthetics, self-actualization and transcendence. However, some studies have found that there are individuals who do not fit this theory either through having their …

A Tribute To Richard G. Lugar, Elizabeth Gingerich

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

No abstract provided.

Summer/Fall 2019

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

No abstract provided.

Radical Imaginings: Indigenous Futurisms And The Decolonizing Possibilities Of Contemporary Indigenous Fiction, Sena Crow

Undergraduate Project Award

Sena Crow’s project analyzes three literary works by Indigenous authors to examine the ways science fiction and dystopian storytelling can further decolonization and center Indigenous futurity. Her research dives deep into the scholarly conversations and she regularly sought feedback and assistance throughout her project to ensure her work effectively communicated to a range of readers. Christina Roberts (English), her faculty member, comments “Sena’s project exemplifies the ways in which current academic projects can interrogate biases around what constitutes academic work, while also being attentive to the ways in which methodologies around research can influence cultural perceptions. In my mind, her …

Antibiotic Resistance And Microbial Diversity In The Puget Sound, Sienna Pallesen

Undergraduate Project Award

Sienna Pallesen’s independent research combined fieldwork and lab analysis to investigate microbial diversity and antibiotic resistance in the Puget Sound environment. Throughout the project, Sienna engaged all aspects of a comprehensive research project. She identified appropriate research methodologies, used a professional scientific network, and modified an established protocol to better fit her project needs. She demonstrated resiliency to challenges and a commitment to sustained, high-quality work. Her faculty member, Kristin Hultgren (Biology), observed that, “Sienna worked very independently in finding a publicly available protocol for studying antibiotic resistance, researching how to adapt it to marine sediments, troubleshooting her methods, finding …

Medieval Posthumanism: Embodiment And Gendered Cyborgs In Alex Garland’S Ex Machina And Chaucer’S The Pardoner’S Tale, Amanda Fawcett

Undergraduate Project Award

Amanda Fawcett’s Honors Thesis project is a deftly woven analysis of Alex Garland’s Ex Machina film and Chaucer’s The Pardoner’s Tale as storytelling that critiques and challenges our concepts of gendered bodies. Drawing from medievalism, postmodernism, philosophy, and film theory, Amanda examines Western concepts of dualism and cyborg technologies as ways to explore “the territories between male and female, denaturalizing the expectations for the manifestation of gender on the body” (Fawcett, 15). She takes a creative, exploratory, and thorough approach to research, organizing diverse sources in order to place them in conversation with each other. Dr. Kate Koppelman (English), her …

Mechanisms And Health Impact Of Insomnia As An Hiv Comorbidity, Brooke Genkin Rogers

Open Access Dissertations

Insomnia is a highly prevalent and interfering comorbidity to HIV infection, yet relatively understudied compared to other mental and behavioral health comorbidities. Nearly 80% of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) experience significant sleep difficulties characteristic of insomnia. This represents nearly 1 million of Americans with HIV/AIDS. Efforts have been made to identify factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of insomnia in PLWHA. However, no one pathway has been identified that could explain the overabundance of sleep problems in this population. Most limiting is that extant studies have studied sleep problems, but not clinical insomnia; and, often, those data …

An Unexpected Companion: Hope And Its Role In Dystopian Literature, Luis Alberto Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis establishes a framework for analyzing the role of hope in young adult and adult dystopian novels. The first chapter establishes what hope is and what facets are focused on in establishing a framework for hope in a dystopian novel. This framework is based on figures such as Aquinas and Aristotle and uses Gravlee and Cartwright to establish a consensus on hope. Hope is an integral part of the human experience that comes in two states: pseudo-hope and true hope. True hope is a future desire for something good that is difficult to obtain but not impossible. It is …

Postpartum Psychosis In A Non-Native Language-Speaking Patient: A Perspective On Language Barriers And Cultural Competency., Tatsuhiko Naito, Justin Chin, Jun Lin, Pritesh J Shah, Christine M. Lomiguen

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (New York) Publications and Research

Postpartum psychosis is a condition characterised by rapid onset of psychotic symptoms several weeks after childbirth. Outside of its timing and descriptions of psychotic features, minimal research exists due to its relative rarity (1 to 2 per 1000 births in the USA), with greater emphasis on postpartum sadness and depression. With the existing literature, cultural differences and language barriers previously have not been taken into consideration as there are no documented cases of postpartum psychosis in a non-English-speaking patient. Correctly differentiating postpartum psychosis from other postpartum psychiatric disorders requires adeptly evaluating for the presence of psychotic symptoms with in-depth history …

Increasing Nursing Competence And Confidence During Obstetric Emergencies Through Simulation: A Quality Improvement Project, Tram Wallen

Dissertations

Problem: This quality improvement project aimed to improve the knowledge and confidence of the mother/baby nursing staff during postpartum hemorrhages through in situ simulation. PPH is a leading cause of maternal death. Hospitals across the U.S. lack a standard approach to managing obstetric emergencies; the complications of childbirth are often identified too late. Multidisciplinary simulation-based team training has been associated with improved outcomes in obstetrics.

Methods: A convenience sample of 26 registered nurses (RNs) that care for postpartum patients attended a one-hour instructor-led presentation followed by in situ simulations of postpartum hemorrhage. A knowledge assessment and confidence survey were administered …

Evaluating The Delivery Of Diabetes-Related Care Among The Asian Population, Lyly Bui

Dissertations

Purpose: This project evaluated current practices for Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) screening and management among Asian Americans (AAs) presenting to a primary care clinic and determined whether these practices adhered to the American Diabetes Association (ADA)’s 2018 guidelines.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed to extract data from clinical case records of AAs who visited the Vietnamese Health Center (VHC) between November 1, 2017 and November 1, 2018. Descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze the data.

Results: Of 173 charts reviewed, 76.3% of AAs had no previous T2DM diagnosis and 23.7% had a previous diagnosis. Among those without …

Drought Analyses Of The Horn´E PoˇZitavie Region (Slovakia) In The Period 1966–2013, Jaroslav Vido, Paulina Nalevankova, Jan Valach, Zbysek Sustek, Tsegaye Tadesse

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

+is study focuses on the characterization of historical drought occurrences in the Horn´e Poˇzitavie region of Slovakia over the period 1966–2013 using Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Trend analyses were evaluated by the Mann–Kendall (MK) test as well as cumulative sum of rank difference (CRD) test. +e results showed that drought occurs in the region regularly (recurrent climate feature), while the trend analysis indicated the trend toward more arid climatic conditions. However, CRD trend analyses showed that the subtrend changed direction toward less drier conditions in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Analyses of SPEI trends in individual months showed a …

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? The Emergence Of Partitioned Land Use Among Human Foragers, Jacob Freeman, John M. Anderies, Raymond P. Mauldin, Robert J. Hard

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Taking inspiration from the archaeology of the Texas Coastal Plain (TCP), we develop an ecological theory of population distribution among mobile hunter-gatherers. This theory proposes that, due to the heterogeneity of resources in space and time, foragers create networks of habitats that they access through residential cycling and shared knowledge. The degree of cycling that individuals exhibit in creating networks of habitats, encoded through social relationships, depends on the relative scarcity of resources and fluctuations in those resources. Using a dynamic model of hunter-gatherer population distribution, we illustrate that increases in population density, coupled with shocks to a biophysical or …

Fall Tillage Reduced Nutrient Loads From Liquid Manure Application During The Freezing Season, Melanie N. Stock, Francisco J. Arriaga, Peter A. Vadas, Laura Ward Good, Michael D. Casler, Krishnapuram G. Karthikeyan, Zachariah P. Zopp

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Reducing agricultural runoff is important year round, particularly on landscapes that receive wintertime applications of manure. No-tillage systems are typically associated with reduced runoff loads during the growing season, but surface roughness from fall tillage may aid infiltration on frozen soils by providing surface depressional storage. The timing of winter manure applications may also affect runoff, depending on snow and soil frost conditions. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate runoff and nutrient loads during the freezing season from combinations of tillage and manure application timings. Six management treatments were tested in south-central Wisconsin during the winters of …

Justement In Line To Lead 'One Of The Most Powerful Forces For Science In America', Jeff Hansen

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Decomposition Of Sediment-Oil-Agglomerates In A Gulf Of Mexico Sandy Beach, Ioana Bociu, Boryoung Shin, Wm Brian Wells, Joel E Kostka, Konstantinos T Konstantinidis, Markus Huettel

C-IMAGE Publications

Sediment-oil-agglomerates (SOA) are one of the most common forms of contamination impacting shores after a major oil spill; and following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) accident, large numbers of SOAs were buried in the sandy beaches of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. SOAs provide a source of toxic oil compounds, and although SOAs can persist for many years, their long-term fate was unknown. Here we report the results of a 3-year in-situ experiment that quantified the degradation of standardized SOAs buried in the upper 50 cm of a North Florida sandy beach. Time series of hydrocarbon mass, carbon content, n-alkanes, PAHs, …

Ticks Talk And Other Mysteries Revealed In This Biology Class, Matt Windsor

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

July 11, 2019 Faculty Senate Minutes, University Of South Carolina

Faculty Senate

No abstract provided.

Seedling Emergence Patterns Of Six Restoration Species In Soils From Two Big Sagebrush Plant Communities, Lacey E. Wilder, Kari E. Veblen, Eugene W. Schupp, Thomas A. Monaco

Ecology Center Publications

Despite the critical need to improve degraded herbaceous understory conditions in many semiarid ecosystems, the influence of soil properties on seedling emergence of species seeded in shrubland plant communities is largely unexplored. We evaluated emergence patterns of 6 restoration species in soils from wyomingensis (i.e., Wyoming big sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S.L. Welsh) and vaseyana (i.e., mountain big sagebrush, A. t. ssp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle) plant communities that differed in soil texture, soil organic matter content, and soil water-holding capacity. We conducted 2 separate experiments that regularly wetted soils to standardized soil water potentials (i.e., …

Special Issue On The Application Of Trap And Cover Crops In Insect Pest Management, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Govinda Shrestha, Anamika Sharma

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Identifying Characteristics Of Actionable Science For Drought Planning And Adaptation, Adam Wilke, Amanda Cravens

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Changing climate conditions can make water management planning and drought preparedness decisions more complicated than ever before. Federal and State natural resource managers can no longer rely solely on historical trends as a baseline and thus are in need of science that is relevant to their specific needs to inform important planning decisions. Questions remain, however, regarding the most effective and efficient methods for extending scientific knowledge and products into management and decision-making. This project analyzed two unique cases of water management to better understand how science can be translated into resource management actions and decision-making, focusing particularly on how …

Causal Relationship Modeling Of The Implicit Theories Of Emotion And Emotion Regulation In View Of The Cognitive Reappraisal Strategy And Happiness, Abdelsalam Abdelrahman, Khaldoun I. Al Dbabi

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The purpose of this study was to unveil the causal relationship modeling of the implicit theories of emotion and emotion regulation in view of cognitive reappraisal strategy and happiness for the students of the Jordanian University of Science and Technology (JUST). Based on scientific foundations, the study has constructed a proposed causal relationship model using path analysis for interpreting happiness. To achieve this goal, the emotion regulation, by Gross and John (2003), the implicit theories of emotion Scale of Livingstone, (2012), and the Oxford Happiness Inventory were employed. The sample consisted of 350 students who were chosen on availability grounds. …

The Predictive Ability Of The Dimensions Of The Future Time Perspective In Self-Regulated Learning Among Yarmouk University Students, Faisal Al-Rabee, Abdelnaser D. Al-Jarrah, Mohammad A. Melhem

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The study aimed to identify the most common dimensions of the future time perspective and to know the level of self-regulated learning among Yarmouk University students. It also aimed to investigate the predictive ability of the dimensions of the future time perspective in self-regulated learning. The study sample consisted of 704 students, 335 males and 369 females, who were selected based on a convenience sample method from among the students enrolled in the compulsory university requirements during the summer semester of the academic year 2017/2018. To achieve the objectives of the study, the Zimbardo and Boyed’s (1999) measure was used …

Do Genetic Differences Explain The Ability Of An Alkaline Shrub To Grow In Both Uplands And Wetlands?, Carol A. Rowe, Paul G. Wolf, Robert W. Lichvar

Western North American Naturalist

The hydrophyte Allenrolfea occidentalis (S. Watson) Kuntze (iodinebush) is a halophytic shrub of the arid southwest that is listed as a facultative wetland species on the National Wetland Plant List. This rating means that the species is usually a hydrophyte but occasionally is found in uplands. We tested for genetic (ecotypic) differences between plants sampled from wetlands versus uplands. We used the technique of genotyping by sequencing to generate data from 132 plants from 30 locations representing both wetland and upland occurrences for over 1300 loci. Analyses indicated that the strongest genetic signal is from differences in geographic distribution: samples …

Seedling Emergence Patterns Of Six Restoration Species In Soils From Two Big Sagebrush Plant Communities, Lacey Wilder, Kari E. Veblen, Eugene W. Schupp, Thomas A. Monaco

Western North American Naturalist

Despite the critical need to improve degraded herbaceous understory conditions in many semiarid ecosystems, the influence of soil properties on seedling emergence of species seeded in shrubland plant communities is largely unexplored. We evaluated emergence patterns of 6 restoration species in soils from wyomingensis (i.e., Wyoming big sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S.L. Welsh) and vaseyana (i.e., mountain big sagebrush, A. t. ssp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle) plant communities that differed in soil texture, soil organic matter content, and soil water-holding capacity. We conducted 2 separate experiments that regularly wetted soils to standardized soil water potentials (i.e., …

A Comparison Of Diurnal Resting Sites Used By Sylvilagus Audubonii And Lepus Californicus In The Chihuahuan Desert, Robert L. Harrison

Western North American Naturalist

Sylvilagus audubonii (desert cottontail) and Lepus californicus (black-tailed jackrabbit) occur in sympatry in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. During the daytime, both species occupy shallow excavations under shrubs known as forms. Comparisons of form and shrub characteristics between the 2 species can provide insights into connections between body size, physiology, and behavior. I examined forms of the 2 species in the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico, USA, from 2014 to 2016. In response to temperature, S. audubonii varied the structure of its forms and dug burrows, whereas L. californicus did not. Sylvilagus audubonii forms were most commonly …