Digital Commons Network^™

Efficiency In The Upper Deschutes Basin: Understanding The Hydrosocial Implications Of Irrigation Canal Piping, Rebecca Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

In response to water scarcity, irrigation efficiency projects aim to conserve water for in-stream flow and agricultural use. Piping irrigation canals is a common irrigation efficiency method which reduces the loss of incidental recharge, resulting in trade-offs within a hydrosocial system. Few studies have focused on the consequences of canal piping and none have integrated a critical analysis of the social factors involved in deciding what constitutes 'efficient' water use. This study seeks to fill this gap by combining natural and social science to give attention to the scales and perspectives involved in irrigation efficiency canal piping and the material …

Illuminating Protist Diversity In Pitcher Plants And Bromeliad Tanks, Robin S. Sleith, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Many species of plants have evolved structures called phytotelmata that store water and trap detritus and prey. These structures house diverse communities of organisms, the inquiline microbiome, that aids breakdown of litter and prey. The invertebrate and bacterial food webs in these systems are well characterized, but less is known about microbial eukaryotic community dynamics. In this study we focus on microbes in the SAR clade (Stramenopila, Alveolata, Rhizaria) inhabiting phytotelmata. Using small subunit rDNA amplicon sequencing from repeated temporal and geographic samples of wild and cultivated plants across the Northeast U.S.A., we demonstrate that communities are variable within and …

Association Between Suicide Rate And Human Development Index, Income, And The Political System In 46 Muslim-Majority Countries: An Ecological Study, S. M. Yasir Arafat, Marthoenis Marthoenis, Murad Khan, Mohsen Rezaeian

Brain and Mind Institute

Very little has been researched assessing the relationship between the suicide rate and the ecological perspectives of the country, especially in the Muslim majority countries. We aimed to determine the association between suicide rate and the ecological parameters of 46 Muslim majority countries. We extracted the Muslim majority countries and their suicide rate, income distribution, distribution of the WHO region and continents, and Human Development Index (HDI). We assessed the correlation of the proportion of Muslim populations, the total population of the countries, number of suicides, continent, income group, political system, and HDI score with the suicide rate. The median …

Utilizing A Culturally Relevant Ecology Curriculum To Help Students See Intersections Between Their Scientific And Cultural Identities, Emma Singer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The purpose of this capstone was to create a two-week long ecology unit for high school biology students rooted in culturally relevant practices. The project sought to answer the question “How can utilizing a culturally relevant ecology curriculum help students see intersections between their scientific and cultural identities?” Data shows that people of color and women are underrepresented within the sciences. Disengagement and lack of interest in the sciences begins in middle and high school, suggesting students feel the material is irrelevant or disconnected from their lives. To address this gap, this project utilized a culturally relevant lens to create …

What Are Mycorrhizal Traits?, V. Bala Chaudhary, E. Penelope Holland, Suw Charman-Anderson, Aidee Guzman, Lukas Bell-Dereske, Tanya E. Cheeke, Adriana Corrales, Jessica Duchicela, Cameron Egan, Pushpa G. Soti

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

Highlights

• Applying trait-based approaches to ecological research on mycorrhizal symbioses broadens ecological inferences, but there is no single unified framework to unite disparate language, terminology, and methods across the many multidisciplinary scientists studying mycorrhizas.
• We propose an inclusive framework for trait-based mycorrhizal ecology aimed to stimulate scientists around the world to collect and use more mycorrhizal trait data, particularly in understudied areas. This would widen our understanding regarding the ecological role of mycorrhizal symbioses at individual, species, community, and ecosystem scales.
• Analyzing how mycorrhizal symbioses fit within existing trait definitions highlights significant theoretical and empirical knowledge gaps, novel questions, and …

Affective Risk Perceptions Toward Travel In A Covid Era: Policy And State Political Influences, Chloe Riley

Theses and Dissertations

This paper aims to analyze the influence of state political affiliation and policy on affective risk perceptions, in the context of COVID-19. The study of risk perceptions in the travel literature is important because it can help industry leaders predict tourist decision-making and ensure feelings of safety for travelers. The relevance of risk perceptions has become even more apparent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyzes three policies put into place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19: mask mandate, cancellation of public events, and school closures. Affective risk perceptions were measured by the Tourism Crisis Management Initiative’s …

Biological Hydrogen Gas Production From Food Waste As A Sustainable Fuel For Future Transportation, Pitiporn Asvapathanagul, Leanne Deocampo, Nicholas Banuelos

Mineta Transportation Institute

In the global search for the right alternative energy sources for a more sustainable future, hydrogen production has stood out as a strong contender. Hydrogen gas (H2) is well-known as one of the cleanest and most sustainable energy sources, one that mainly yields only water vapor as a byproduct. Additionally, H2 generates triple the amount of energy compared to hydrocarbon fuels. H2 can be synthesized from several technologies, but currently only 1% of H2 production is generated from biomass. Biological H2 production generated from anaerobic digestion is a fraction of the 1%. This study aims to enhance biological H2 production …

Assistive Technologies Used In Canadian University Libraries For The Visually Impaired, Ramina Mukundan, Nikesh Narayanan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Information has always been a catalyst for societal improvements. Libraries play a crucial role in ensuring equitable access to information resources. Enhanced accessibility helps in establishing an atmosphere that supports and promotes inclusive education. Information and resource access is quite a challenge for visually impaired people. The needs of people with varying levels of visual impairment differ in their range and magnitude. The use of assistive technologies greatly aids in closing this gap. Resource and accessibility provisions should be modified to meet the needs of visually impaired users, who need specialized equipment to access traditional and modern technology-based information resources. …

Conscious And Unconscious Bias: The Hidden Pandemic Of Biases In Healthcare Exacerbated By Covid-19, Ibtisam Rauf, Abigail Hartmann, Alexandre Koumtchev, Syed Anjum Khan, Rahul Kashyap

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

There are limited data on unconscious bias in healthcare, but there is consistent evidence that it alters clinical decision-making. COVID-19 exacerbated many pre-existing disparities, and this paper seeks to identify, deconstruct, and propose mitigation strategies for a few of them.

Discussion

Five of the largest disparities amplified by the pandemic are discussed in this paper. Older people, Black people, uninsured people, rural communities, and people with lower education levels have been disproportionally affected in both morbidity and mortality.

Conclusions

The disparities discussed above did not occur in a vacuum but are the result of systemic issues. Equity starts with …

Seasonality In Phytoplankton Species Composition And Their Influence On Small Pelagic Fish Along The Western Pemba Channel, Margareth S Kyewalyanga

Tanzania Journal of Science

The influence of phytoplankton biomass on small pelagic fish groups was studied at three sites along the Western Pemba Channel, to assess the contribution of seasonality. Sampling took place at the three sites in the coastal waters of Tanga, Tanzania. The study used in-situ data from July 2016 to January 2017, remotely-sensed chlorophyll-a data from August 2016 to August 2017 and 2019–2020, and small pelagic fish catch data from the same periods as the remotely-sensed data. The dominant groups at all the three sites were diatoms, dinoflagellates, and cyanobacteria, with diatoms having the highest number of species compared to the …

The Preservation Of Wildlife Habitat In Ecosystems: Towards A Direction Under International Law To Prevent Species' Extinction, Anne Batchelor

Florida Journal of International Law

This article will advocate that treaties based on international environmental policy which favor global ecosystem preservation are the best, perhaps the only solution, which will ensure the survival of wildlife for present and future generations. The article begins with an overview of the alarming rate of species’ extinction occurring presently on the earth. Particular emphasis will be placed on extinction rates occurring in tropical rainforests which provide habitats for the greatest diversity of the world’s life forms. Deforestation of tropical rainforests has been characterized as “one of the world's great ecological disasters in the closing decades of the twentieth century.” …

A New Species Of Epeolus Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) From Western North America, Thomas M. Onuferko, Cory S. Sheffield

Insecta Mundi

A new species of Epeolus Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae)—E. emiliae Onuferko and Shef­field, new species—is described from North America west of the Great Plains. It is morphologically most similar to Epeolus autumnalis Robertson, 1902, a species known exclusively from east of the Rocky Moun­tains. DNA barcode sequences from representatives of E. autumnalis and E. emiliae share a barcode index number (i.e., BIN: BOLD:AAF2361), but the two species exhibit marked and consistent differences in integu­ment coloration and the patterns of pubescence on the metasoma, and their distributional ranges, based on known specimens, show no overlap. This discovery increases …

Effects Of Forest Restoration On The Recovery Of Dead Wood, Associated Arthropods, And Insect-Mediated Wood Decomposition, Estefania Fernandez Barrancos

Dissertations

Dead wood represents 8% of terrestrial carbon stocks and is an important source of habitat and food for decomposer and non-decomposer arthropods. However, anthropogenic disturbance reduces the amount of dead wood, putting at risk the presence of a habitat that is essential for many arthropods and other organisms that rely on it for food and shelter. Forest restoration aims to assist the recovery of ecosystems that have been damaged or destroyed and could be a means to recover both dead wood and its associated arthropod communities. This doctoral dissertation lies at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity loss and ecological …

Citizens' Preferences On Green Infrastructure Practices And Their Enhancement In Portland, Oregon, Katsuya Tanaka, Hal T. Nelson, Nicholas Mccullar, Nishant Parulekar

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

Green infrastructure (GI) has been gaining increasing attention due to its efficiency in controlling and purifying urban stormwater runoff, creating environmental amenities, and biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, the existing knowledge of people's preferences for GI is not yet sufficient for evidence-based policymaking for enhancing GI. This study analyzes citizens' perceptions of the relative importance of six GI practices and estimates their willingness to pay (WTP) to enhance them. To this end, the study applies two types of stated preference methods (best-worst scaling and contingent valuation) to citizen survey data collected in Portland, Oregon. We found that GI practices that are more …

High Daily And Year-Round Variability In Denitrification And Nitrogen Fixation In A Northern Temperate River, Kevin Nevorski, Amy M. Marcarelli

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Rates of nitrogen (N) cycling processes like denitrification and dinitrogen (N2) fixation, which together are the primary contributors to N2 flux rates from surface waters, may change at different time scales from seasons to weeks to days. Yet, we know little about the magnitude, mechanisms or drivers of these temporal changes, especially at shorter daily and weekly timescales. Quantifying variation in rates and drivers across temporal scales is essential to understand how nutrient cycling processes operate in aquatic ecosystems and predict how they may respond to shifting seasonal dynamics caused by global change (i.e., earlier snowmelt and extreme weather events). …

Dampak Kebijakan Psbb Terhadap Konsentrasi Pm2.5 Di Indonesia, Erwin Dariyanto

Jurnal Kebijakan Ekonomi

The aims of this study was to examine the impact of implementation of the Large-Scale Social Restriction or PSBB policy on the concentration of particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5). The observation period lasted from September 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020 in five major cities in Indonesia, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Semarang, and Surabaya. The data was processed using the fixed effect least square dummy variable (LSDV) model to test the impact of the PSBB policy or restrictions on citizen mobility to reduce the spread of COVID-19 on PM_2.5 concentrations.

As a result, the PSBB policy had a …

A Decade Of Gigascience: A Perspective On Conservation Genetics, Stephen James O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

Wide interest in species conservation is young. To many it began early in 1903 when Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir set up a camp under the Grizzly Giant in the Mariposa Grove of California's Yosemite Valley. Over three days they decided to broaden the US National Park footprint across the USA. Conservationists were inspired in the coming decades by the writings of wildlife conservation pioneers—Osa Johnson (I Married Adventure), Karen Blixen (Out of Africa) and Rachel Carson (The Silent Spring). Countless crusaders developed a passion for preserving dwindling species in those early days, yet …

In Search For An Alternative To The Computer Metaphor Of The Mind And Brain, Damian G. Kelty-Stephen, Paul E. Cisek, Benjamin De Bari, James Dixon, Luis H. Favela, Fred Hasselman, Fred Keijzer, Vincente Raja, Jeffrey B. Wagman, Brandon J. Thomas, Madhur Mangalam

Biomechanics Books and Monographs

The brain-as-computer metaphor has anchored the professed computational nature of the mind, wresting it down from the intangible logic of Platonic philosophy to a material basis for empirical science. However, as with many long-lasting metaphors in science, the computer metaphor has been explored and stretched long enough to reveal its boundaries. These boundaries highlight widening gaps in our understanding of the brain's role in an organism's goal-directed, intelligent behaviors and thoughts. In search of a more appropriate metaphor that reflects the potentially noncomputable functions of mind and brain, eight author groups answer the following questions: (1) What do we understand …

Collaborative Research: From Cooperation To Exploitation: Context-Dependent Effects Of Nectar Microbes On Pollination Mutualisms, Robert Nelson Schaeffer

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Climate Change And The Global Nutrient Overload: The Microbial Response Of Extreme Waterbodies To Environmental Change, Samuel P. Bratsman

Theses and Dissertations

One of the defining characteristics of our current epoch—the Anthropocene—is modification of nutrient cycles. At regional to global scales, humans have fundamentally reshaped the availability of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. These changes are particularly apparent in freshwater ecosystems, which receive surface and groundwater inputs of nutrients from agriculture, fossil fuel use, and wastewater. In this thesis, I investigated how the addition of nutrients affects microbial community and biogeochemistry in two extreme environments: the hypereutrophic shallow Utah Lake and nutrient-limited Arctic permafrost streams. In my first chapter, I used bioassay and dilution bioassay experiments to identify what factors control harmful algal …

"We've Created Cheap Energy Off The Backs Of Salmon": Dam Removal Politics And Alliances In The Lower Snake River Basin, Krista Harrington

Dissertations and Theses

Dams, once considered by many to be good for water development in the Western U.S., might not be a part of a climate resilient future. Dams have come under increasing scrutiny due to undesirable ecological implications. Although dam removal proposals are growingly popular in recent decades, they are controversial since they impact different stakeholders in different ways. In the Pacific Northwest, the Lower four Snake River dams have long been criticized for their negative impacts on salmon. In February 2021, US Congressman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) proposed a comprehensive framework to deconstruct the Lower four Snake River dams as an attempt …

Darkness Matters: Understanding The Ecological Effects And Human Sensory Perception Of Night Lighting, Zitong (Shirley) Hui

Masters Theses

Night is 50% of the planetary experience. Nighttime visible illumination is strongly tied to progress, human activities and urban structure. As our cities become brighter, they bring huge impacts on ecology and human perception.

Darkness is still something worth pursuing in urban nightscapes. This thesis explores the potential of using darkness as the starting point for designing public spaces for use at night, and focuses on the restoration of the ideal habitat for fireflies in the Jamaica bay area, in New York City. The study of the dynamic relationship between light, culture and wildlife can produce a flexible strategy that …

The International Cannabis Toolkit (Icanntoolkit): A Multidisciplinary Expert Consensus On Minimum Standards For Measuring Cannabis Use, Valentina Lorenzetti, Chandni Hindocha, Kat Petrilli, Paul Griffiths

Faculty and Student Publications

Background: The lack of an agreed international minimum approach to measuring cannabis use hinders the integration of multidisciplinary evidence on the psychosocial, neurocognitive, clinical and public health consequences of cannabis use. Methods: A group of 25 international expert cannabis researchers convened to discuss a multidisciplinary framework for minimum standards to measure cannabis use globally in diverse settings. Results: The expert-based consensus agreed upon a three-layered hierarchical framework. Each layer—universal measures, detailed self-report and biological measures—reflected different research priorities and minimum standards, costs and ease of implementation. Additional work is needed to develop valid and precise assessments. Conclusions: Consistent use of …

Bio-Inspired Fire-Resistant Building Materials, Ryan Lee

Materials Engineering

An increased frequency of fires in California motivates the development of fire damage mitigation strategies, including environmentally-friendly fire-resistant materials. A novel succulent-inspired sandwich composite consisting of HardiePlank (a cement-fiber composite), waxed paper, cardboard, paper, and mucilage (here labeled HPWM) is proposed. Sample manufacturing considerations were investigated, and the resulting composite design was evaluated for aging, mechanical, and flammability performance. Variability in sample manufacturing was assessed by measurements of sample weight before and after applying mucilage. Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted on sample materials to better understand thermal degradation. HPWM samples using two different types of waxed paper (soy wax, beeswax) were …

Characterizing T Cell Features Of Atypical Lymphocytes For The Optimization Of Adoptive Immunotherapies, Taylor L. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

T lymphocytes with atypical antigen targets or mechanisms or antigen recognition have been implemented into therapeutic approaches for the treatment of disease with auspicious results. Two such populations are regulatory T cells (Tregs) and CAR (chimeric antigen receptor-modified) T cells. The functional role of Tregs in the immune system is non-canonical, in that they prevent hyper-inflammation and resolve immunopathology by constraining conventional immune cell effector functions and producing mediators that promote tissue repair. Similarly, the targets of CAR T cells are also self-derived but are recognized through an engineered receptor designed to bypass the conventional mechanism of antigen-recognition. Despite their …

Taxi Travel Time Based Geographically Weighted Regression Model (Gwr) For Modeling Public Housing Prices In Singapore, Yi’An Wang, Fangyi Cai, Shih-Fen Cheng, Bo Wu, Kai Cao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this research, a taxi travel time based Geographically Weighted Regression model (GWR) is proposed and utilized to model the public housing price in the case study of Singapore. In addition, a comparison between the proposed taxi data driven GWR and other models, such as ordinary least squares model (OLS), GWR model based on Euclidean distance and GWR model based on public transport travel time, have also been carried out. Results indicates that taxi travel time based GWR model has better fitting performance than the OLS model, and slightly better than the Euclidean distance-based GWR model, however, it is not …

The Relationship Between Voting Restrictions And Covid-19 Case And Mortality Rates Between Us Counties, Roman Pabayo, Erin Grinshteyn, Brian Steele, Peter Muennig, Sze Yan Liu

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Since the 2010 election, the number of laws in the U.S. that create barriers to voting has increased dramatically. These laws may have spillover effects on population health by creating a disconnect between voter preferences and political representation, thereby limiting protective public health policies and funding. We examine whether voting restrictions are associated with county-level COVID-19 case and mortality rates.

Methods

To obtain information on restricted access to voting, we used the Cost of Voting Index (COVI), a state-level measure of barriers to voting during a U.S. election from 1996 to 2016. COVID-19 case and mortality rates were obtained …

Optimizing Stable Isotope Sampling Design In Terrestrial Movement Ecology Research, Andrea Contina, Sarah Magozzi, Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Gabriel J. Bowen, Michael B. Wunder

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

1. The recognition of adequate sampling designs is an interdisciplinary topic that has gained popularity over the last decades. In ecology, many research questions involve sampling across extensive and complex environmental gradients. This is the case for stable isotope analyses, which are widely used to characterize large-scale movement patterns and dietary preferences of organisms across taxa. Because natural-abundance stable isotope variation in the environment is incorporated into inert animal tissues, such as feathers or hair, it is possible to draw inferences about the type of food and water resources that individuals consumed and the locations where tissues were synthesized. However, modern …

Rethinking Italy’S Margins Through Walking: Mobility, Activism And Positionality In Wu Ming 2’S Il Sentiero Luminoso (2016) And Giuliano Santoro’S Su Due Piedi (2012), Simone Brioni Dr.

Department of English Faculty Publications

The article argues that Wu Ming 2’s Il sentiero luminoso (2016) and Giuliano Santoro’s Su due piedi. Camminando per un mese attraverso la Calabria (2012) describe walking as an activity which allows one to recognize the social modifications of space, and to rethink the geographies of suburban areas in Italy. This analysis resounds with Robert P. Marzec’s invitation to study how literature has represented the privatization and the capitalist and neoliberal organization of space, revealing forms of internal colonization which epitomize a pillar of colonial ideology. Il sentiero luminoso and Su due piedi reconfigure walking as an epistemological, ecocritical …

The Shallow Benthic Invertebrate Recovery From The End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction Across The Gulf Coastal Plain, Ronan B. Beltracchi

Master's Theses

The Gulf Coastal Plain, in the southeastern United States, contains several sites with well-preserved fossil assemblages from the Cretaceous- Paleogene boundary (K/Pg). Changes in benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages after mass extinction events commonly include reduction in body size of surviving organisms and preferential survival based on ecospace occupation. This study examines patterns of functional ecology and body size change in mollusk fossils from bulk samples collected throughout the post-extinction recovery interval at a well-studied boundary site from Darting Minnow Creek in Brazos, Texas USA and a recently described K/Pg boundary section on the Ouachita River in Malvern, Arkansas USA. The proportional …