Digital Commons Network^™

China’S Three Gorges Dam: Development, Displacement, And Degradation, Trent M. Carney

Nebraska Anthropologist

China’s state-led push towards modernization and enhanced economic growth has been marked by environmentally unsustainable practices, the results of which are still being combated today (Sapiro 2001). The construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Hubei province, China, represents the largest civil engineering project of the modern era. The dam is capable of generating one-sixth of China’s total electrical capacity; however, China’s attempts to go green come at a substantial cost. (Gleick 2009; Morgan & Waretini 2013; Paerl et al. 2011; Xu et al. 2013). Some of these consequences include increased geologic activity: the forced resettlement …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Sympatric Bobcats (Lynx Rufus) And Coyotes (Canis Latrans) In An Agricultural Landscape, Marlin M. Dart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bobcat (Lynx rufus) populations experienced declines in the Midwest during the 20th century due to land conversion for agriculture and over exploitation and were practically nonexistent in areas by the 1970-80s. Populations have been recovering following changes in land-use practices and habitat improvement. Eastern South Dakota was closed to bobcat harvest in 1977 but reopened in 2012 to select counties. Bobcats are elusive, have large home ranges, and occur at low densities, making monitoring their populations difficult. Camera trapping is an effective tool for monitoring elusive carnivores but can be burdened by low detection rates. Researchers often employ …

Revegetating Salt-Impacted Soils In The Northern Great Plains, Abigail P. Blanchard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the northern Great Plains (NGP), an estimated 10.6 million hectares of land are affected by naturally occurring salt-impacted soil. Naturally occurring salt impaction results when rainfall causes salts in parent material to move upward through the soil profile and remain in the root zone causing osmotic and ionic stress, negatively affecting seed imbibition, germination, and plant growth. Common methods to remediate saltimpacted soils were developed in the irrigated soils of the Southwestern U.S., are ineffective in the non-irrigated soils of the NGP, and can exacerbate the problem. Therefore, new methods to remediate salt-impacted soil in the NGP are needed. …

Characterization Of The Rumen Bacterial Communities Of Bison Heifers Fed A Grass-Based Diet Vs A Grain-Based Free-Choice Diet, Anlly Miley Fresno Rueda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A century ago, the North American grasslands and prairie ecosystems were dominated by bison. At least 30 million bison roamed the Great Plains when the first explorers arrived. By 1900, there were little over a thousand bison remained in the United States and Canada. Recovery efforts has been made since the 20th century to reestablish the herds and increase the bison population. Today, over 500,000 bison are distributed across North America, with more than 90% of the existing bison population under commercial production. Modern conservation strategies are made via the collaborative efforts of conservationist, producers, and researchers, resulting in increased …

Effects Of Predator Management And Parasitism On Over-Water Nesting Diving Duck Production In Southwestern Manitoba, Trenton E. Rohrer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nest survival of upland nesting waterfowl (e.g., mallard [Anas platyrhynchos], blue-winged teal [Anas discors]) has been studied extensively in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America. Conversely, over-water nesting diving ducks’ nest survival is poorly understood, likely because over-water nests are more challenging to find, may be less concentrated, and searching for these nests is physically demanding. Nest depredation is considered a leading cause of duck nest failure and is considered a limiting factor on upland nesting waterfowl production in the PPR. Similar factors limiting upland nesting duck production may limit over-water nesting duck productivity, but studies of this …

Identification And Characterization Of Modulators Of Human Mrp1 (Abcc1) And Human Mrp2 (Abcc2) Expression, Vivian Osei Poku

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are known to play a critical role in conferring multidrug resistance (MDR) in various cancers. Several retrospective analyses of chemotherapy results have reported high expression of Multidrug Resistance Protein 1 (MRP1) and Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 (MRP2) in tumor cells exhibiting the MDR phenotype. High MRP1 and MRP2 expression in cancer patients predict a higher risk of treatment failure, resulting in relapse and disease recurrence as well as shortened survival rates. The key role of MRP1 and MRP2 play in the development of MDR makes them important therapeutic targets that hold a great promise for addressing …

Using New And Long-Term Multi-Scale Remotely Sensed Data To Detect Recurrent Fires And Quantify Their Relationship To Land Cover/Use In Indonesian Peatlands, Yenni Vetrita

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Indonesia has committed to reducing its greenhouse gases emissions by 29% (potentially up to 41% with international assistance) by 2030. Achieving those targets requires many efforts but, in particular, controlling the fire problem in Indonesia’s peatlands is paramount, since it is unlikely to diminish on its own in the coming decades. This study was conducted in Sumatra and Kalimantan peatlands in Indonesia. Four MODIS-derived products (MCD45A1 collection 5.1, MCD64A1 (collection 5.1 and 6), FireCCI51) were initially assessed to explore long-term fire frequency and land use/cover change relationships. The results indicated the product(s) could only detect half of the fires accurately. …

Use And Improvement Of Remote Sensing And Geospatial Technologies In Support Of Crop Area And Yield Estimations In The West African Sahel, Kaboro Samasse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In arid and semi-arid West Africa, agricultural production and regional food security depend largely on small-scale subsistence farming and rainfed crops, both of which are vulnerable to climate variability and drought. Efforts made to improve crop monitoring and our ability to estimate crop production (areas planted and yield estimations by crop type) in the major agricultural zones of the region are critical paths for minimizing climate risks and to support food security planning. The main objective of this dissertation research was to contribute to these efforts using remote sensing technologies. In this regard, the first analysis documented the low reliability …

Exploring Quantitative Trait Loci Mapping For Bud Fruitfulness And Bud Break Traits In Grapevine F2 Population, Seyma Bozkus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. subsp. vinifera) is one of the most important and valuable fruit crops around the world and grape industries in the USA have been growing increasingly regarding the demand for highly productive and quality grapes that can be grown in the cold region around the USA. The development of new cultivars with these features is performed through grape breeding with the help of quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and and other technologies. In this study, we evaluated grapevine bud fruitfulness by position and bud break in controlled conditions. These traits are multi-genetic and understanding …

Characterization Of Cucurbitacin-Inspired Estrone Analogues As Novel Inhibitors Of Human Atp- Binding Cassette Proteins (Abcb1 And Abcc1), Jennifer Kyeremateng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are a large class of integral membrane proteins that contribute to key physiological functions in all organisms by utilizing ATP binding and hydrolysis to transport diverse substrates across membrane barriers. P-glycoprotein (P-gp/ ABCB1) and Multidrug Resistance protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1) are widely reported ABC transporters associated with multidrug resistance in cancer. Multidrug resistance (MDR) mediated by P-gp and MRP1 is responsible for treatment failures of many metastatic cancers as a result of reduced accumulation, bioavailability and diminished potency of anticancer drugs. Currently, known P-gp and MRP1 inhibitors are limited due to toxicity, lack of selectivity and low …

Quantifying The Impacts Of Land Use, Management And Climate Change On Water Resources In Missouri River Basin, Arun Bawa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A location-specific evaluation of hydrological landscape responses concerning past and projected climate and land use land cover (LULC) changes can provide a powerful intellectual basis for developing efficient and profitable agroecosystems, and overcoming uncertain and detrimental consequences of LULC and climate shifts. This dissertation assessed the impacts of land use, management, and climate change on water resources in the Missouri River Basin (MRB) through four specific studies that included: (i) to study the responses of leached nutrient concentrations and soil health to winter rye cover crop (CC) under no-till corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation, (ii) to …

Assaying Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens Isolates 1ba And 1d3 For Biosurfactant Production And Utilization Of Petroleum Hydrocarbons And Phenolic Acids, Pavan Kulkarni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several Bacillus amyloliquefaciens isolates obtained from wheat residue have been studied as biological agents to control wheat diseases. Notable traits of isolates 1BA and 1D3 include growth with high salt (10% NaCl), at temperatures up to 50°C and over a wide pH range. BIOLOG Gen III plates were used to study and further characterize Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 1BA and 1D3. Both isolates showed tolerance to high salt concentration supporting previous studies. They also grew in the presence of lithium chloride, potassium tellurite, and sodium bromate. Both isolates grew at pH 5, with almost identical carbon source utilization fingerprints. However, D-serine, quinic …

Influence Of Cover Crops On Water And Nutrient Cycles In South Dakota, Sam Ireland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A major concern of farmers implementing cover crops into a crop rotation is a potential reduction in soil moisture and nutrients available for the following cash crop. If soil moisture or nutrients are limited, the following cash crop yield suffers. One option to conserve soil moisture is to terminate cover crops with herbicides prior to a killing freeze. The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of the impact of cover crops and termination timing to the water and nutrient cycles and furthermore, the agronomic impact to the following cash crop (corn). Field experiments were conducted in …

Investigating The Development Of Fecal Bacterial Communities In Growing Dairy Calves, Emily Fowler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The gut development of young calves is crucial for the producer and the calf's future. Many factors can affect the development of a young calf's gastrointestinal system, and there has been little research into the fecal microbiome development of calves from 0 to 12 weeks of age. To gain further insight into this process, development of the fecal microbiome in 12 dairy calves was investigated. Fecal bacterial composition was determined at four time points (weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12) using the 16S rRNA gene through PCR-amplification of the V1-V3 regions from fecal microbial genomic DNA, followed by Illumina MiSeq …

A Speciation Modeling Study Of Heavy Metal Adsorption To Plastic In Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Units, Kaitlyn Hague

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microplastics are an emerging concern due to their harmful effect to organisms and their ability to facilitate transport of contaminants including heavy metals. Microplastics can enter the environment through wastewater treatment plants, landfill leachate, and littering. Once in the environment microplastics can be distributed throughout rivers, the ocean, and lakes. In order to understand the adsorption of heavy metals to microplastics a geochemical modeling study was completed using Visual Minteq. Lab tests were completed to better understand what constituents are available in wastewater at four different locations: influent, clarifiers, digesters, and effluent. These constituents were then used to observe how …

Improved Biochar Based Controlled-Release Nitrogen Fertilizers For Sustainable Corn Production, Robiul Islam Rubel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is an essential factor to increase crop yield. When conventional nitrogen fertilizer (e.g. Urea, Ammonium Sulphate, etc.) is applied in the field, generally over 50% of the N of these fertilizers may lose into the air due to vaporization, or run-off and leaching in rivers and lakes. The N losses lead to not only low NUE but also serious environmental problems. The consequence of N losses results in insufficient N available to meet the demand of crop growth at the growing stages. Lack of sufficient N for crop growth puts a threat of nutrient deficiency and …

The Aoc In The Age Of Covid - Pandemic Preparedness Planning In The Federal Courts, Zoe Niesel

Faculty Articles

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic created a crisis for American society—and the federal courts were not exempt. Court facilities came to a grinding halt, cases were postponed, and judiciary employees adopted work-from-home practices. Having court operations impacted by a pandemic was not a new phenomenon, but the size, scope, and technological lift of the COVID-19 pandemic was certainly unique.

Against this background, this Article examines the history and future of pandemic preparedness planning in the federal court system and seeks to capture some of the lessons learned from initial federal court transitions to pandemic operations in 2020. The Article begins by …

The Citation Of Unpublished Cases In The Wake Of Covid-19, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

California's Rules of Court prohibit the citation of unpublished state court opinions. Courts and litigants, however, may still cite unpublished federal opinions and rulings and unpublished opinions from other states' courts. This may result in problems, such as limiting courts' and parties' authorities to a skewed sample set, and the covert importation of inapplicable, stricter federal court pleading standards in state court cases. COVID-19 was a stress-test that brought the problems with California's citation rules into focus. The pandemic led to a flood of claims for pandemic-related business interruptions by insured business owners against their insurance companies. While state courts …

R2u3d: Recurrent Residual 3d U-Net For Lung Segmentation, Dhaval D. Kadia, Md Zahangir Alom, Ranga Burada, Tam Nguyen, Vijayan K. Asari

Computer Science Faculty Publications

3D Lung segmentation is essential since it processes the volumetric information of the lungs, removes the unnecessary areas of the scan, and segments the actual area of the lungs in a 3D volume. Recently, the deep learning model, such as U-Net outperforms other network architectures for biomedical image segmentation. In this paper, we propose a novel model, namely, Recurrent Residual 3D U-Net (R(2)U3D), for the 3D lung segmentation task. In particular, the proposed model integrates 3D convolution into the Recurrent Residual Neural Network based on U-Net. It helps learn spatial dependencies in 3D and increases the propagation of 3D volumetric …

Winter 2021, University Of North Dakota Alumni Association

ALL: UND Alumni Review Master List

Winter 2021 issue of "The University of North Dakota Alumni Magazine." 52 pages

Volume 104, Number 4

Considerations In The Use Of Podcasts For Teaching And Learning In Occupational Therapy: A Scoping Study, Sarah Briand, Ingrid Malo-Leclerc, Michaël Beaudoin, Étienne Croisetière, Alexandre Tremblay, Mariane Côté-Boulanger, Annie Carrier

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Evidence-based practice integrates and supports the best interventions in clinical practice. However, a gap of about ten years may elapse between the production of evidence and integration of best practices in clinical settings. Some technologies, such as podcasting, have become increasingly popular and are emerging as an innovative teaching modality that can support knowledge acquisition and integration. This scoping study gathered and synthesized the information in the literature regarding the use of podcasts by occupational therapy clinicians and students as a means for teaching and learning evidence-based knowledge. A scoping study approach was used following the five stages defined by …

Is Compressed And Limited Synchronous Delivery Of Anatomy Content In A Hybrid Delivery Format Effective In Transitional Ot Student Learning?, Reivian Berrios Barillas, Kathy J. Lemley

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Hybrid occupational therapy (OT) students transitioning from certified OT assistants (COTAs) to OTs can successfully learn graduate-level anatomy in a compressed format with limited synchronous instruction time. The effectiveness of a human anatomy course with limited synchronous instruction time for transitional hybrid occupational therapy students was investigated. A retrospective, non-randomized study was used. A university graduate level human anatomy course for transitional OT students used prosected (previously dissected) cadavers. Students (n=46, 32 instruction hours over 16 weeks) final anatomy course grades for three cohorts were measured retrospectively. There was a 98% first-time pass rate and 100% second time …

The Impact Of Chilling On Selected Attributes Of The Blowfly, Calliphora Vicina(Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Under Laboratory Conditions, Meltem Kökdener, Nevran Eylem Akman Gündüz, Ünal Zeybekoğlu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of four different chilling periods, varying from 24 to 120 h, on the mean survival rate, larval and pupal development durations and the pupal and adult weight of Calliphora vicina (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) under laboratory conditions at 4 ºC in 2018 at Ondokuz Mayıs University. Chilling reduced the survival rate of the pupae of all developmental stages. The adult eclosion rate of first instar larvae and pupae was lower, especially after 72 and 120 h chilling periods, but it increased for the second instar, third instar and postfeeding larvae with …

First Report On Mild Insecticide Resistance In Newly Established Aegean Aedes Albopictus Populations Of Turkey, Sare İlknur Yavaşoğlu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The invasive nature of Aedes albopictus, a competent vector of dengue, zika, yellow fever, and chikungunya viruses, has spread to many parts of the world. To date, there have been no report regarding the insecticide resistance status of Aedes albopictus populations along the Aegean coasts of Turkey. This study aims to confirm the occurrence of Aedes albopictus populations in the Aegean region of Turkey and test their susceptibility against different insecticide classes. Bioassay for susceptibility to Dikloro difenil trikloroetan (DDT) (4%), propoxur (0.1%), fenitrothion (1%), bendiocarb (0.1%), permethrin (0.75%), and deltamethrin (0.05%) of each population was assessed through the World …

A Standardised Analytical Framework For Sampling Fish Communities: Relevance Toturkish Riverine Ecosystems, Lorenzo Vilizzi, Ali̇ Serhan Tarkan, Baran Yoğurtçuoğlu

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Fish communities are important indicators of the health of riverine ecosystems. Fish monitoring for The Living Murray (TLM) initiative, one of Australia's most ambitious restoration undertakings for the degraded river-floodplain biota of the River Murray system (south-eastern Australia), was carried out annually from 2005 to 2011 across six 'Icon Sites', including the habitats and reaches therein. These spatial and temporal components of variation in fish community abundance and composition must be taken explicitly into account for consistent assessment of riverine ecosystem health. To address this requirement, a standardised analytical framework, consisting of a sampling design and appropriate statistical methods, is …

Morphology And Phylogeny Of A New Soil Ciliate, Colpodidium Zelihayildizi N. Sp. (Ciliophora, Nassophorea, Colpodidiidae), From Van, Turkey, İsmai̇l Yildiz

Turkish Journal of Zoology

new ciliate species Colpodidium zelihayildizae n. sp., which was discovered in a dry irrigation channel in Van (Turkey), was investigated morphologically using standard live and silver impregnation methods, and its SSU rRNA gene phylogeny was provided. This new species was characterized as follows: body size about 40-60 × 15-20 ?m in vivo, elongated ellipsoidal with flat or slightly concave ventral surface; the buccal cavity slightly below equatorial plane; macronucleus spherical or slightly elliptical, usually located in the last third of the cell; cortex distinctly furrowed in the anterior half; 19-22 somatic kineties, 4 postoral kineties; paroral membrane has 20 dikinetids; …

Collaborative Learning And Critical Thinking: Use Of The Jigsaw Learning Activity In Occupational Therapy Teaching, Jessica L. Dashner, Christine Berg

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Collaborative team learning prepares future practitioners using well-crafted, guided collaborative learning activities. Collaborative learning distributes responsibility across team members as they engage socially to build knowledge and learner skills. Critical thinking is a learner skill that is fostered through challenging the team of learners’ assumptions through ill-defined, complex real-life cases that defy easy solutions. The ability of occupational therapists to create effective discharge plans has been found to positively alter hospital recidivism. By offering a Jigsaw Case focused on discharge planning at several points in time across the service delivery continuum of care, a team of learners engaged in collaborative …

The Admissions Process In Occupational Therapy Education: Investigating Academic And Non-Academic Metrics In The Applicant Selection Process, Zana A. Mcneil, Mallory Babin, Erin Pyles, Breanna Trueblood, Bailee Cloutier, Sharon M. Cosper

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The overall goal for any admissions process is to analyze criteria and identify the prospective students that have the highest potential for success in the program’s curriculum and in the field as a practicing clinician. The purpose of this study was to examine common academic and non-academic criteria utilized in occupational therapy (OT) admission processes and determine what criteria are used by programs with 100% student pass ratings on their National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam following completion of an OT program. Admissions criteria components and NBCOT pass rates were collected from the top 107 OT programs, …

Telehealth And Occupational Therapy Education, Angela Patterson, Diana R. Feldhacker, Bobbi S. Greiner, Marion Russell, Victoria Bergen

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Accredited occupational therapy education programs are required to include telehealth technology in their curricula as outlined by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. An innovative Doctor of Occupational Therapy program piloted a telehealth module with first- and second-year students. Both dynamic lecture content and active learning lab exercises were created to advance student knowledge in the use of telehealth technology and to inform occupational therapy telehealth education. The teaching approaches in lecture and lab were assessed using a mixed methods approach. A quantitative pre and posttest assessment of student self-efficacy and knowledge was collected at three time points. At …

Efficacy Of The In Vitro Splitting Of Human Preimplantation Embryos From Art Programs, Marjan Omidi, Mohammad Ali Khalili, Azam Agha-Rahimi, Stefania Nottola, Fatemeh Anbari, Azita Faramarzi, Maria Grazia Palmerini

Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of in vitro embryo splitting (IES) procedures. We also assessed the quality of the blastocysts developed from embryos obtained from different sources. Materials and methods: Good quality embryos at 6-8-cell stages were categorized according to their fertilization sources: 1) frozenwarmed donated embryos, 2) chromosomally abnormal embryos, 3) parthenogenetic embryos, and 4) embryos derived from fertilization of in vitro matured oocytes (rescue IVM). After IES, splitting and developmental efficiency was assessed. Furthermore, the quality of the developed blastocysts was evaluated by Hoechst and propidium iodide (PI) staining. Results: The data …