Digital Commons Network^™

Is The Life History Flexibility Of Cold Desert Annuals Broad Enough To Cope With Predicted Climate Change? The Case Of Erodium Oxyrhinchum In Central Asia, Huiliang Liu, Yanfeng Chen, Lingwei Zhang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Lan Zhang, Yan Liu, Daoyuan Zhang, Yuanming Zhang

Biology Faculty Publications

Interannual seasonal variability in precipitation may strongly affect the life history and growth of desert annual plants. We compared the effects of dry and wet springs and dry and wet autumns on growth and F2 seed dormancy of plants from spring (SG)- and autumn (AG)-germinated seeds of the cold desert annual Erodium oxyrhinchum. Vegetative and reproductive growth and F2 seed dormancy and germination were monitored from September 2016 to November 2020 in the sandy Gurbantunggut Desert in NW China in Central Asia. Dry autumns decreased the density of AG plants, and dry springs decreased the density of SG plants …

Thunderstorms Producing Sferic-Geolocated Gamma-Ray Flashes Detected By Tetra-Ii, Deirdre Smith, Jill Trepanier, Samer T. Alnussirat, Michael L. Cherry, Marc D. Legault, Donald J. Pleshinger

Faculty Publications

The terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) and Energetic Thunderstorm Rooftop Array (TETRA-II) detected 22 X-ray/gamma-ray flash events associated with lightning between October 2015 and March 2019 across three ground-based detector locations in subtropical and tropical climates in Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and Panama. Each detector array consists of a set of bismuth germanate scintillators that record X-ray and gamma-ray bursts over the energy range 50 keV–6 MeV (million electron volts). TETRA-II events have characteristics similar to both X-ray bursts associated with lightning leaders and TGFs: sub-millisecond duration, photons up to MeV energies, and association with nearby lightning (typically within 3 km). About …

Seed Treatment With Jasmonic Acid And Methyl Jasmonate Induces Resistance To Insects But Reduces Plant Growth And Yield In Rice, Oryza Sativa, Santhi Bhavanam, Michael Stout

Faculty Publications

When applied exogenously to plants, jasmonates [i.e., jasmonic acid (JA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA)] increase plant resistance against herbivores, and their use in pest management has been suggested. For integration into pest management programs, the benefits of the resistance induced by jasmonates must outweigh the costs of jasmonates on plant growth and yield. A previous field study in rice found that seed treatment with MeJA reduced densities of the rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus, but also reduced plant growth. Yields from MeJA plots were similar to yields from control plots. Because this study was conducted under field conditions with natural …

Utilizing Patient-Derived Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Tumor Organoids To Predict Carboplatin Resistance, Justin W. Gorski, Zhuwei Zhang, J. Robert Mccorkle, Jodi M. Dejohn, Chi Wang, Rachel W. Miller, Holly H. Gallion, Charles S. Dietrich Iii, Frederick R. Ueland, Jill M. Kolesar

Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Publications

The development of patient-derived tumor organoids (TOs) from an epithelial ovarian cancer tumor obtained at the time of primary or interval debulking surgery has the potential to play an important role in precision medicine. Here, we utilized TOs to test front-line chemotherapy sensitivity and to investigate genomic drivers of carboplatin resistance. We developed six high-grade, serous epithelial ovarian cancer tumor organoid lines from tissue obtained during debulking surgery (two neoadjuvant-carboplatin-exposed and four chemo-naïve). Each organoid line was screened for sensitivity to carboplatin at four different doses (100, 10, 1, and 0.1 µM). Cell viability curves and resultant EC₅₀ values …

Family & Friends, Volume 3, Number 8

Family & Friends, 1998-2006

Anita C. Moyt, Managing Editor. Contributers: J. Shane Wilson, Dana Ferguson, Steven Bradford, Melida McSparrin, Laine McNeil, Rex Wockner, Gip Plaster, John Anderson, Lam Medallion.

Special thanks to Rhodes College and the Paul Barret Jr. Library for providing initial scanning of this collection.

Family & Friends, Volume 5, Number 4

Family & Friends, 1998-2006

Anita C. Moyt, Managing Editor. Contributors: J. Shane Wilson, Laine McNeil, Rex Wockner, Lam Medallion, Alison Tate, Cole Walker, John Crossen, Anthony Hardaway.

Special thanks to Rhodes College and the Paul Barret Jr. Library for providing initial scanning of this collection.

Prospects In Connecting Genetic Variation To Variation In Fertility In Male Bees, Garett P. Slater, Nicholas M A Smith, Brock A. Harpur

Department of Entomology Faculty Publications

Bees are economically and ecologically important pollinating species. Managed and native bee species face increasing pressures from human-created stressors such as habitat loss, pesticide use, and introduced pathogens. There has been increasing attention towards how each of these factors impacts fertility, especially sperm production and maintenance in males. Here, we turn our attention towards another important factor impacting phenotypic variation: genetics. Using honey bees as a model, we explore the current understanding of how genetic variation within and between populations contributes to variation in sperm production, sperm maintenance, and insemination success among males. We conclude with perspectives and future directions …

Extension Of A Gaseous Dry Deposition Algorithm To Oxidized Volatile Organic Compounds And Hydrogen Cyanide For Application In Chemistry Transport Models, Zhiyong Wu, Leiming Zhang, John T. Walker, Paul A. Makar, Judith Perlinger, Xuemei Wang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The dry deposition process refers to flux loss of an atmospheric pollutant due to uptake of the pollutant by the Earth's surfaces, including vegetation, underlying soil, and any other surface types. In chemistry transport models (CTMs), the dry deposition flux of a chemical species is typically calculated as the product of its surface layer concentration and its dry deposition velocity (Vd); the latter is a variable that needs to be highly empirically parameterized due to too many meteorological, biological, and chemical factors affecting this process. The gaseous dry deposition scheme of Zhang et al. (2003) parameterizes Vd for 31 inorganic …

Deepsec: A Deep Learning Framework For Secreted Protein Discovery In Human Body Fluids, Dan Shao, Lan Huang, Yan Wang, Kai He, Xueteng Cui, Yao Wang, Qin Ma, Juan Cui

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Motivation: Human proteins that are secreted into different body fluids from various cells and tissues can be promising disease indicators. Modern proteomics research empowered by both qualitative and quantitative profiling techniques has made great progress in protein discovery in various human fluids. However, due to the large number of proteins and diverse modifications present in the fluids, as well as the existing technical limits of major proteomics platforms (e.g. mass spectrometry), large discrepancies are often generated from different experimental studies. As a result, a comprehensive proteomics landscape across major human fluids are not well determined.

Results: To bridge …

No Small Connection, Emma Joyce

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Factors Influencing Student Continuance In Instrumental Music Classes: A Quantitative Analysis, Andrew Duncan

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In this quantitative study I investigated relationships between motivation, music aptitude, academic achievement, race, gender, and instrument type and student continuance in their first year of instrumental music study. Beginning instrumental music students (n = 30) completed the EVC Survey (Kosovich et al., 2015) to determine expectancy, value, and cost. I collected data on music aptitude, gender, race, and instrument type from teacher and school records, and conducted binary logistic regression and Chi-Square tests in order to determine predictors of continuance in instrumental music classes. I excluded gender, race, and instrument type from the logistic regression model because they did …

Threshold Concentration And Random Collision Determine The Growth Of The Huntingtin Inclusion From A Stable Core, Sen Pei, Theresa C. Swayne, Jeffrey F. Morris, Lesley Emtage

Publications and Research

The processes underlying formation and growth of unfolded protein inclusions are relevant to neurodegenerative diseases but poorly characterized in living cells. In S. cerevisiae, inclusions formed by mutant huntingtin (mHtt) have some characteristics of biomolecular condensates but the physical nature and growth mechanisms of inclusion bodies remain unclear. We have probed the relationship between concentration and inclusion growth in vivo and find that growth of mHtt inclusions in living cells is triggered at a cytoplasmic threshold concentration, while reduction in cytoplasmic mHtt causes inclusions to shrink. The growth rate is consistent with incorporation of new material through collision and coalescence. …

Family & Friends, Volume 3, Number 7

Family & Friends, 1998-2006

Anita C. Moyt, Managing Editor. Contributors: J. Shane Wilson, Dana Ferguson, Steven Bradford, Melinda McSparrin, Laine McNeil, Rex Wockner, Gip Plaster, John Anderson.

Special thanks to Rhodes College and the Paul Barret Jr. Library for providing initial scanning of this collection.

High Tunnel Pest Management - Caterpillars, Nick Volesky, Marion Murray

All Current Publications

In Utah high tunnel production, there are various caterpillar pests (larvae of moth and butterfly species) that cause economic damage to crops. Common caterpillar pest species found in Utah include hornworms, tomato fruit worms, imported cabbage worms, diamondback moths, cabbage loopers, armyworms, and cutworms. Various weed species growing inside or outside high tunnels can attract and harbor caterpillar pests. Managing caterpillar pests in high tunnels involves various mechanical, chemical, biological, and cultural control practices.

Use Of Its‑1 To Identify Bactrocera Dorsalis And Bactrocera Occipitalis (Diptera: Tephritidae): A Case Study Using Flies Trapped In California From 2008 To 2018, Norman B. Barr, Martin Hauser, Jennifer Belcher, David Salinas, Erin Schuenzel, Peter Kerr, Stephen Gaimari

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Molecular methods are necessary to diagnose immature life stages of the agricultural pest fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), and are useful to corroborate identifications based on adults because morphological variation within the species can overlap with congeners. DNA sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS‑1) has been adopted by the International Plant Protection Convention as an internationally accepted method to distinguish between the 2 pestiferous fruit fly species Bactrocera dorsalis and Bactrocera carambolae (Drew & Hancock). Reported ITS‑1 sequences also are distinct and diagnostically informative to distinguish several other Bactrocera species related to B. dorsalis. In this …

High Taxonomic Resolution Surveys And Trait-Based Analyses Reveal Multiple Benthic Regimes In North Sulawesi (Indonesia), Miriam Reverter, Matthew Jackson, Sven Rohde, Mareen Moeller, Robert Bara, Markus T. Lasut, Reinach M Segre, Peter J. Schupp

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

As coral reef communities change and reorganise in response to increasing disturbances, there is a growing need for understanding species regimes and their contribution to ecosystem processes. Using a case study on coral reefs at the epicentre of tropical marine biodiversity (North Sulawesi, Indonesia), we explored how application of different biodiversity approaches (i.e., use of major taxonomic categories, high taxonomic resolution categories and trait-based approaches) affects the detection of distinct fish and benthic communities. Our results show that using major categories fails to identify distinct coral reef regimes. We also show that monitoring of only scleractinian coral communities is insufficient …

Powdery Mildews On Vegetables, Nick Volesky, Marion Murray, Claudia Nischwitz

All Current Publications

Powdery mildew is one of the most easily recognized fungal plant diseases. It is categorized by spots or patches of white-to-gray powder-like growth on foliage, stems, or fruit. Roughly 700 species exist that infect grasses, ornamentals, weeds, fruit trees, landscape trees, shrubs, and vegetables. The closely related species of fungi that cause powdery mildew are host-specific, meaning they cannot survive without the proper host. Powdery mildew fungi spread in conditions of low rainfall and hot temperatures, making Utah’s climate the perfect environment. This fact sheet provides information on powdery mildew and its management.

Amphibious Scales And Anticipatory Design, Andrew Morrison, Bastien Kerspern, Palak Dudani, Amanda Steggell

Nordes Conference Series

This paper considers dynamics between Anticipatory Design and relational ontological scales in imagining, articulating and shaping futures. This spans speculative, experimental and experiential engagement with imaginary futures for rethinking relations to the present and long-term sustainable ones. Such acts are situated as design futures literacies that encompass design fiction, extended choreography and arctic futurescaping. Drawing on three design fictive devices developed across two projects, a set of eight ‘Amphibious Scales’ we developed in the context of the Anthropocene. The scales are amphibious in their slipperiness and dynamic, and emergent status. Their genesis is given via accounts of the design fictive …

Scaling Bodily Fluids For Utopian Fabulations, Karey Helms, Marie Louise Juul Søndergaard, Nadia Campo Woytuk

Nordes Conference Series

This paper explores human bodily fluids for morethan- human collaborative survival. We present four utopian fabulations in which urine, menstrual blood, and human milk are designed with beyond the scale of a singular human body. Each fabulation illustrates queer scales and uses of bodily fluids through extended or improper uses as pathways towards caring multi-species relations within a damaged environment. From these narratives, we reflect on imagining generous collaborations for an openness towards unknowable possibilities and crafting different measures through the tensions of coinciding scales.

Closer To Earth: Scales Of Planning For Urban Waters, Kristine Holten-Andersen

Nordes Conference Series

Climatic changes of waterbodies calls for new scales and approaches to planning of urban surface waters. Learning from a real-time case of planning practice, I display and discuss how limitations of sectorial logics, operational scales and schemes of planning, in addition to inherent epistemological prisons of dominant dichotomies, are obstacles of an actual reorientation of planning practice. On this background, I call upon further research – of a designerly and transformative kind, to explore novel approaches to municipal planning of surface waters. I speculate how this could evolve around a multidisciplinary rubber-boot approach with landscape architects performing as Sherpas, process …

Tracing Matters Of Scale By Walking With Minerals, Petra Lilja

Nordes Conference Series

Most practices of design are dependent on materials, and an anthropocentric way of thinking matter as mere resource ready to exploit, dominates. This text attempts to counteract that mode of thinking about matter, by walking and thinking-with stones, minerals and fossils in a disused limestone quarry in southern Sweden. The text is folding together thoughts from philosophy of science and vital materialism with insights from the lithic, spatio-temporal scales of sedimented fossil archives of the quarry and situated experiential explorations taking place there. What emerged from the learnings of the minerals, and what this text contributes with, is a proposal …

Design For Noticing With Biodiversity Logbooks, Liz Edwards, Serena Pollastri, Linda Linda Linda, Robert Barratt

Nordes Conference Series

This paper introduces the use of design to improve noticing skills in order to address environmental issues at a variety of physical and temporal scales. We illustrate the application of ‘design for noticing’ through Biodiversity Logbooks – a pilot project intended to reduce ‘plant blindness’ amongst primary school children. Plant blindness is the inability to recognise, appreciate and value plants and it has far reaching social, environmental and economic implications. In this project, we designed pedagogical tools and processes to foster the skills of noticing plants in their environments, and connecting the small-scale of their individual features to large-scale systems. …

The Eco‐Integrity And Grassland Management — The Lessons From Biodiversity Conservation & Community Development In Imar, China, Weijie Deng

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Rangeland Day As A Tool For Monitoring Propagation, M. Azimi, Mehdi Farahpour, M. Borhani, Hossein Arzani

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Farmers' Perspectives On Local Feedstuffs And Introduced Forages: Case Study Of Four Villages In Northern Nigeria, G.-E. Akouègnon, Volker Hoffmann, R. Schultze‐Kraft

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

No abstract provided.

Dilated Inception U-Net (Diu-Net) For Brain Tumor Segmentation, Daniel E. Cahall, Ghulam Rasool, Nidhal Carla Bouaynaya, Hassan M. Fathallah-Shaykh

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is routinely used for brain tumor diagnosis, treatment planning, and post-treatment surveillance. Recently, various models based on deep neural networks have been proposed for the pixel-level segmentation of tumors in brain MRIs. However, the structural variations, spatial dissimilarities, and intensity inhomogeneity in MRIs make segmentation a challenging task. We propose a new end-to-end brain tumor segmentation architecture based on U-Net that integrates Inception modules and dilated convolutions into its contracting and expanding paths. This allows us to extract local structural as well as global contextual information. We performed segmentation of glioma sub-regions, including tumor core, enhancing …

Blood-Based Multi-Cancer Detection Using A Novel Variant Calling Assay (Deepgentm): Early Clinical Results, Rebecca M. Tuttle, Frederic Ris, Minia Hellan, Jonathan Douissard, Jorge J. Nieva, Frederic Triponez, Yanghee Woo, David Geller, Nicolas C. Buchs, Leo Buehler, Stefan Moenig, Christope E. Iselin, Wolfram Karenovics, Patrick Petignat, Giang Thanh Lam, Manuela Undurraga Malinervo, James R. Ouellette, Debashish Bose, Nael Ismail, Christian Toso

Department of Surgery Faculty Publications

This is an early clinical analysis of the DEEPGENTM platform for cancer detection. Newly diagnosed cancer patients and individuals with no known malignancy were included in a prospective open-label case-controlled study (NCT03517332). Plasma cfDNA that was extracted from peripheral blood was sequenced and data were processed using machine-learning algorithms to derive cancer prediction scores. A total of 260 cancer patients and 415 controls were included in the study. Overall, sensitivity for all cancers was 57% (95% CI: 52, 64) at 95% specificity, and 43% (95% CI: 37, 49) at 99% specificity. With 51% sensitivity and 95% specificity for all stage …

Platelet-Rich Plasma Vs. Traditional Surgical And Nonsurgical Interventions For Rotator Cuff Tendinopathies, Nick Slingerland

Theses and Graduate Projects

Background: Rotator cuff tendinopathies present as one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries of the upper extremity. The rotator cuff consists of four muscles: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis with the supraspinatus the most injured of the group. Over time, variations regarding treatment through surgical or nonsurgical interventions have remained constant. In recent years, the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as an additional alternative has become popular to promote healing and improve functionality of the shoulder. The purpose of this clinical review using various study designs is to assess if the platelet-rich plasma injections are more effective when …

The Adequacy Of Pa Didactic Psychiatric Education, Dean Berzins

Theses and Graduate Projects

With a shortage of mental health specialists, primary care providers, which increasingly include physician assistants (PAs), must be able to adequately recognize, diagnose, and treat common mental health disorders. Unfortunately, providers are not currently able to meet this challenge and frequently underdiagnose and undertreat psychiatric conditions. This paper examined the amount of didactic education in psychodiagnostics PA students receive compared to the amount of didactic psychodiagnostics training psychotherapists students receive in graduate school. Results indicated that while psychotherapists have, on average, more classroom time, the difference in seat time between PAs and psychotherapists is less than double, but the assigned …

In Patients With Cardiac Arrest, Does Early Defibrillation Reduce Mortality?, Nicholas Lueddecke

Theses and Graduate Projects

Background: Cardiac arrest is a devastating disorder that affects millions of people each year. Often having a sudden onset, cardiac arrest is almost certainly lethal if prompt treatment is not started. In hopes to both better understand how treatment of cardiac arrest has evolved and to quantitatively measure the outcome of defibrillation, multiple pieces of literature have been reviewed.

Methods: Articles were found that were pertinent by using PubMed and Google Scholar. Literature was obtained that researched a wide spectrum of topics relating to defibrillation and cardiac arrest that did not focus on traumatic cardiac arrests as it is beyond …