Digital Commons Network^™

Ultraviolet Light Exposure Decreases Thyroid Cancer Risk: A National Perspective, Tessa R. Lavorgna, Mohammad Hussein, Peter P. Issa, Eman Toraih, Emad Kandil

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Ultraviolet (UV) light has been reported to have both pro-oncogenic and anti-oncogenic effects. Since patient pigmentation can influence the role of UV light exposure, we thought to investigate the recent trends in thyroid cancer incidence and survival with an emphasis on patient race and UV exposure. Patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were identified. A total of 284,178 patients were enrolled. Data were stratified according to population sex, race, and state. UV exposure data in Watt-Hours Per Square Meter for the state were obtained from the National Cancer Institute Cancer Atlas. Thyroid …

Investigations Into The Negative Impact Of Temperature Stress On Fertility In Wild Strains Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Nicholas B. Sepulveda

Dissertations (1934 -)

Sexual reproduction and its coincident genetic recombination are powerful adaptive strategies. However, sexual reproduction has disadvantages. One ancient and conserved disadvantage is temperature sensitivity. In organisms diverse as plants, insects, nematode worms, and humans, as temperatures increase, fertility decreases. The goal of this dissertation is to examine the negative impact of elevated temperature stress on fertility in sexually reproducing organisms using wild strains of Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans presents a unique opportunity to study these effects broadly in two contexts, as worms may be either self-fertile hermaphrodites that produce both egg and sperm or males which produce only sperm. In …

Evidence For The Effects Of Wind On The Biogeography Of Soil Mites In Urban Tree Wells, John R. Mceachern

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

The theoretical predictions of island biogeography have been applied successfully by a number of researchers studying the population and community structures of invertebrates living in large urban parks and remnant natural areas. Few, however, have examined the biogeography of smaller patches and the role that specific dispersal techniques play in shaping species distributions. In this study, I examine the impact of several biogeographical and environmental factors, including wind channelization effects, on the abundance of soil mites in small, urban tree wells in Westminster, Maryland. By testing five models that include the variables of well area, isolation, and dominate wind direction, …

Importance And Winter Ornithological Value Of Lake El-Golea (Ghardaïa, Algerian Sahara, Biad Radhia, Bounab Choayb, Guergueb El Yamine, Biad Mohamed Fetheddine, Houhamdi Moussa

Journal of Bioresource Management

This study is carried out on two winter period (2018-2019 and 2019-2020) in Lake El-Golea (Ghardaïa, northern Sahara of Algeria). Its objective is to determine the ornithological value of this lake and to in ferits importance in maintaining aquatic avifauna during the winter season. This inventory shows a diversity equivalent to forty-one species belonging to thirteen families and nine orders of which eighteen are protected by various Algerian and international laws. The most represented family is that of the Anatidae with twelve species while the family with the highest number is that of the Phenicopteridae represented only by one species, …

Biodiversity Of Culicidae (Insecta: Diptera) In The Region Of Khenchela (Northeast Algeria), Imane Halimi, Fatima Zohra Zohra Kara-Toumi, Salim Lebbal, Ruben Bueno Mari, Asma Ghorab, Fairouz Saidi

Journal of Bioresource Management

Mosquitoes are considered as vectors of serious human diseases. The prevention of parasitic and arboviral vector-borne diseases is based mostly on vector control strategies. This control cannot be effective unless a strong knowledge of mosquito biology and distribution in the working area. In this context, and in order to improve the knowledge on the specific diversity of the culicids fauna in the region of Khenchela (northeast of Algeria), an inventory of mosquitoes was carried out for the first time in this region. Larval collection was conducted in various types of habitats through continuous monitoring of seven sites from May 2020 …

New Microsatellite Markers For The Shallow Coral Madracis Auretenra From The Caribbean, Diana Carolina Ballesteros-Contreras, Lina Maria Barrios, Richard Preziosi

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Coral reefs species represent one-third of all marine species described in the ocean. They are also responsible for providing habitat and support to different species. Recently, Caribbean coral reefs ecosystems have suffered an alarming decrease in their populations as a result of overexploitation. Madracis auretenra in particular, is a widespread shallow coral in marine protected areas (MPAs) of the Caribbean. Due to the important role of MPAs as a biodiversity conservation tool, this species can be used as a model to estimate its dispersion/migration among Caribbean reefs through the use of informative genetic markers (microsatellites) specifically designed for it. Seventeen …

Ecological Consequences Of Historic Moorland ‘Improvement’, Francis M. Rowney, Ralph M. Fyfe, Philip Anderson, Robert Barnett, William Blake, Tim Daley, Katie Head, Alison Macleod, Ian Matthews, David N. Smith

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Next-Generation Technologies Unlock New Possibilities To Track Rangeland Productivity And Quantify Multi-Scale Conservation Outcomes, Caleb P. Roberts, David E. Naugle, Brady W. Allred, Victoria M. Donovan, Dillon T. Fogarty, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D. Maestas, Andrew C. Olsen, Dirac L. Twidwell Jr

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Historically, relying on plot-level inventories impeded our ability to quantify large-scale change in plant biomass, a key indicator of conservation practice outcomes in rangeland systems. Recent technological advances enable assessment at scales appropriate to inform management by providing spatially comprehensive estimates of productivity that are partitioned by plant functional group across all contiguous US rangelands. We partnered with the Sage Grouse and Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiatives and the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project to demonstrate the ability of these new datasets to quantify multi-scale changes and heterogeneity in plant biomass following mechanical tree removal, prescribed fire, and prescribed grazing. In Oregon’s sagebrush …

Effect Of The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games On Covid-19 Incidence In Japan: A Synthetic Control Approach, Daisuke Yoneoka, Akifumi Eguchi, Kentato Fukumoto, Takayuki Kawashima, Yuta Tanoue, Takahiro Tabuchi, Hiroaki Miyata, Cyrus Ghaznavi, Kenji Shibuya, Shuhei Nomura

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games (23 July-8 August 2021) were held in the middle of Japan's fifth wave of COVID-19, when the number of cases was on the rise, and coincided with the fourth state of emergency implemented by the host city, Tokyo.

AIM: This study aimed to assess whether the hosting of the Games was associated with a change in the number of COVID-19 cases in Japan using a synthetic control method.

METHODS: A weighted average of control countries with a variety of predictors was used to estimate the counterfactual trajectory of daily COVID-19 cases per 1 …

Poster Session, Kentucky Water Research Institute

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Evaluating the Effects of Beaver Dam Removal on the Hydrology, Water Quality, and Bioindicators of a Restored Wetland
• Predictive Sediment Flux Modeling of a Karst Spring Using High Resolution Sensors and Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes
• Development and Validation of qPCR Assays for Use in eDNA Detection of Four Species of Semiaquatic Salamanders .
• Analyzing Recent Spatio-Temporal Rainfall Erosivity Patterns and Trends Across Kentucky
• Development of eDNA Protocols for Detection of Four Darter (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) Species in Central Kentucky Streams
• Assessing Change in the Seasonality of Stable Isotopes δ18O and δ2H for Meteoric and Terrestrial Waters of Central Kentucky
• Coupling …

Montezuma Quail In The Edwards Plateau Of Texas: Detection, Occurrence, And Habitat, Zachary J. Pearson, Eric D. Grahmann, Fidel Hernández, Robert Perez, Leonard A. Brennan, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Montezuma quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) were historically found throughout nearly every county in the Edwards Plateau region of Texas, USA. Over the last century, shifting land use, reduction of fire on the landscape, and the subsequent encroachment of woody vegetation have constricted the distribution of Montezuma quail to a few counties in the southern portion of the Edwards Plateau. A renewed interest in management for Montezuma quail over the last decade has been met with a lack of information regarding their habitat requirements in this region. This lack of general information and increased sightings of this elusive species in …

Winter Survival And Resource Use Of Translocated Northern Bobwhite In The Mid-Atlantic United States, Kaili Stevens, Christopher K. Williams, Theron Terhune, Philip Coppola, John Parke, John Cecil

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite) in the Mid-Atlantic United States have been experiencing precipitous population declines due to a combination of habitat deterioration, urban and suburban sprawl, change in forest management regimes, and farming practices. In recent years, restocking of bobwhite through translocation efforts has gained interest to rebuild local populations. However, empirical studies are warranted to understand the limitations of translocation as it relates to its potential use for long-term population recovery and persistence in this region. Further, few studies nation-wide have evaluated resource use and survival during the non-breeding season on translocated sites. As such, …

Effect Of Food Distribution On Northern Bobwhite Resource Selection, Rachel R. Gardner, John Maerz, Theron M. Terhune Ii, Ira B. Parnell, James A. Martin

National Quail Symposium Proceedings

Supplemental feeding is a common management tactic used to increase survival and reproduction of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhite). Different supplemental feeding methods alter the distribution of resources across a landscape in unique ways and may influence the space use and resource selection of target species differently. Predators may concentrate their movements near fed sites, and different distributions of supplemental feed may encourage bobwhite to concentrate their movements closer to feed than other areas, thereby altering the potential for predator-prey interactions near feed. We used radio-tracked locations and movements in areas with stationary feeders (“feeder fed”) and …

Comparing The Evidence From Observational Studies And Randomized Controlled Trials For Nonskeletal Health Effects Of Vitamin D, William B. Grant, Barbara J. Boucher, Fatme Al Anouti, Stefan Pilz

All Works

Although observational studies of health outcomes generally suggest beneficial effects with, or following, higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have generally not supported those findings. Here we review results from observational studies and RCTs regarding how vitamin D status affects several nonskeletal health outcomes, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia, autoimmune diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease, COVID-19, major depressive disorder, type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension, all-cause mortality, respiratory tract infections, and pregnancy outcomes. We also consider relevant findings from ecological, Mendelian randomization, and mechanistic studies. Although clear discrepancies exist between findings of observational studies and RCTs on vitamin …

Edible Insect Consumption For Human And Planetary Health: A Systematic Review, Marta Ros-Baró, Patricia Casas-Agustench, Diana Alícia Díaz-Rizzolo, Laura Batlle-Bayer, Ferran Adrià-Acosta, Alícia Aguilar-Martínez, Francesc Xavier Medina, Montserrat Pujolà, Anna Bach-Faig

School of Health Professions

This systematic review aimed to examine the health outcomes and environmental impact of edible insect consumption. Following PRISMA-P guidelines, PubMed, Medline ProQuest, and Cochrane Library databases were searched until February 2021. Twenty-five articles met inclusion criteria: twelve animal and six human studies (randomized, non-randomized, and crossover control trials), and seven studies on sustainability outcomes. In animal studies, a supplement (in powdered form) of 0.5 g/kg of glycosaminoglycans significantly reduced abdominal and epididymal fat weight (5–40% and 5–24%, respectively), blood glucose (10–22%), and total cholesterol levels (9–10%), and a supplement of 5 mg/kg chitin/chitosan reduced body weight (1–4%) and abdominal fat …

Epidemiology Of Pre-Pregnancy Body Mass Index (Bmi) Among Mothers In Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates, Zainab Taha, Ahmed Ali Hassan, Dimitrios Papandreou

All Works

Pre-pregnancy obesity is a risk factor for several health problems such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, labor induction, postpartum hemorrhage, and neonatal hypoglycemia. Being underweight is a risk factor for fetal growth restriction. Despite the negative impact of abnormal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) (over and underweight) on pregnancy outcomes, a limited amount of studies has been conducted on the prevalence of pre-pregnancy over and underweight and associated factors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity among mothers with children under the age …

Phylogenetic Diversity Of Animal Oral And Gastrointestinal Viromes Useful In Surveillance Of Zoonoses, Anthony Michael Esposito, Michelle Marie Esposito, Albert Ptashnik

Publications and Research

Great emphasis has been placed on bacterial microbiomes in human and animal systems. In recent years, advances in metagenomics have allowed for the detection and characterization of more and more native viral particles also residing in these organisms. The digestive tracts of animals and humans—from the oral cavity, to the gut, to fecal excretions—have become one such area of interest. Next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic analyses have uncovered vast phylogenetic virome diversity in companion animals, such as dogs and cats, as well as farm animals and wildlife such as bats. Zoonotic and arthropod-borne illnesses remain major causes of worldwide outbreaks, as …

Site-Based Assessment Of Oyster Shellfisheries And Associated Bio-Physical Conditions In Ghana And The Gambia, E. O. Chuku, I. Okyere, J. Adotey, S. Abrokwah, E. Effah, R. Adade, D. W. Aheto

Coastal Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Nsf Supported Socio-Environmental Research: How Do Crosscutting Programs Affect Research Funding, Publication, And Citation Patterns?, Kendra E. Kaiser, Anna E. Braswell, Megan L. Fork

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recognizing the continued human domination of landscapes across the globe, social-ecological systems (SES) research has proliferated, necessitating interdisciplinary collaborations. Although interdisciplinary research started gaining traction in academic settings close to 50 years ago, formal frameworks for SES research did not develop until the late 1990s. The first National Science Foundation (NSF) funding mechanism specifically for interdisciplinary SES research began in 2001 and the SES-specific Coupled Natural Human (CNH) Systems program began in 2007. We used data on funded NSF projects from 2000 to 2015 to examine how SES research was funded, where the research is published, and the scholarly impact …

Recent Literature, C. John Ralph

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

Symptoms Of Paranoia Experienced By Students Of Pakistani Heritage In England: The Role Of Explicit And Implicit Identities And Perceived Discrimination, Anam Elahi, Jason C. Mcintyre, Justin Thomas, Louise Abernethy, Richard P. Bentall, Ross G. White

All Works

ABSTRACT: Individuals belonging to ethnic minority groups are less likely to experience symptoms of psychosis, such as paranoia, if they live in areas with high proportions of people from the same ethnic background. This effect may be due to processes associated with group belonging (social identification). We examined whether the relationship between perceived discrimination and paranoia was moderated by explicit and implicit Pakistani/English identification among students of Pakistani heritage (N = 119). Participants completed measures of explicit and implicit Pakistani and English identity, a measure of perceived discrimination, and a measure of paranoia. Perceived discrimination was the strongest predictor of …

County-Level Social Vulnerability And Breast, Cervical, And Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates In The Us, 2018, Cici Bauer, Kehe Zhang, Qian Xiao, Jiachen Lu, Young-Rock Hong, Ryan Suk

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Area-level factors have been identified as important social determinants of health (SDoH) that impact many health-related outcomes. Less is known about how the social vulnerability index (SVI), as a scalable composite score, can multidimensionally explain the population-based cancer screening program uptake at a county level.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the geographic variation of US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)-recommended breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening rates and the association between county-level SVI and the 3 screening rates.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This population-based cross-sectional study used county-level information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's PLACES and SVI data …

Spatial Analysis Of Seven Islands In Indonesia To Determine Stunting Hotspots, Tiopan Sipahutar, Tris Eryando, Meiwita Budiharsana

Kesmas

Indonesia is a vast country struggling to reduce its stunting prevalence. Hence, identifying priority areas is urgent. In determining areas to prioritize, one needs to consider geographical issues, particularly correlations among areas. This study aimed to discover whether stunting prevalence in Indonesia occurs randomly or in clusters; and, if it occurs in clusters, which areas are the hotspots. This ecological study used aggregate data from the 2018 National Basic Health Research and Poverty Data and Information Report from the Statistics Indonesia. This study analyzed 514 districts/cities across 34 provinces on seven main islands in Indonesia. The method used was the …

Mothers And Daughters: Reclaiming The Besieged Body Of Woman In Ashapurna Debi’S Trilogy, Subhadeep Ray, Goutam Karmakar

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper offers a close reading of the intergenerational trilogy by Ashapurna Debi, one of the first-canonized women-novelists of post-independence India: Pratham Pratisruti (The First Promise), 1965, Subarnalata, 1967, and Bakul Katha (Bakul’s Story), 1974. Reconstituting a history of almost two centuries and countering the colonial/postcolonial grand narratives, these novels act as a saga of Bengali Hindu lower and middle-class women’s plight under and resistance against a patriarchal social order operating at the most intimate levels of domestic relationships. Ashapurna Debi’s treatment of the intricacies of gender inequality and a woman’s response to the violence …

Niche Overlap In Sympatric Rocio (Teleostei: Cichlidae) Of Guatemala, Cesar Estuardo Fuentes Montejo

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Rocio is a small genus of Neotropical freshwater fishes that is distributed in Atlantic drainages of northern Middle America. Two species in the genus exhibit sympatry in the Río Dulce basin (in Izabal, Guatemala), where one species is endemic (R. spinosissima), while the other only includes this area as part of a larger geographic range (R. octofasciata). Unfortunately, the ecology of these species has been poorly studied. This study sought to determine the ecological and morphological differences between these two closely related sympatric freshwater fishes. We hypothesized that R. octofasciata would exhibit greater ecological and morphological …

Limited Rigor In Studies Of Raptor Mortality And Mitigation At Wind Power Facilities, Tara J. Conkling, Christopher J.W. Mcclure, Sandra Cuadros, Scott R. Loss, Todd E. Katzner

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Wind power is an expanding source of renewable energy. However, there are ecological challenges related to wind energy generation, including collisions of wildlife with turbines. Lack of rigor, and variation in study design, together limit efforts to understand the broad-scale effects of wind power infrastructure on wildlife populations. It is not clear, however, whether these types of limitations apply to groups of birds such as raptors that are particularly vulnerable to negative effects of wind energy. We reviewed 672 peer-reviewed publications, unpublished reports, and citations from 321 wind facilities in 12 countries to evaluate methods used to monitor and mitigate …

Spatial Analysis Of Burn Severity And Streamflow Response In The Western Conus, Will Brendan Long

Dissertations and Theses

Wildfire increases the magnitude of runoff in catchments, which can lead to the degradation of ecosystems, risk to infrastructure, and loss of life. The Labor Day Fires of 2020 provided an opportunity to compare multiple large and severe wildfires with the objective of determining potential changes to hydrologic processes in Oregon Cascades watersheds. Geographic information systems (GIS) were implemented to determine the total percentage burned and percentage of high burn severity class of six watersheds on the west-slope of the Oregon Cascade Range. In addition, two control watersheds were included to contrast the influence of climatic effects. Spatial arrangement of …

Absence Of Visitors During Lockdown Reveals Natural Variation In Carbon Dioxide Level In The Glowworm Cave, Waitomo, New Zealand, David J. Merritt, Chris Hendy Dr, Shannon Corkill Ms

International Journal of Speleology

Waitomo Glowworm Cave is a highly visited cave where the highlight is viewing the bioluminescence display of a large colony of glowworms. Anthropogenic carbon dioxide build-up in the cave is prevented by management of chimney-effect ventilation aided by a network of microclimate sensors. A cave door prevents ventilationunder drying conditions and promotes it when necessary to clear CO₂ and when inflowing air has high relative humidity. A COVID-19-related nationwide “lockdown” in New Zealand from March 2020 resulted in neither staff nor visitors being present in the cave for 60 days, and provided an opportunity to assess the natural microclimate …

Conjunctures, Commodities, And Social State Marxism, Stephen Shapiro

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In their article, “Conjunctures, Commodities, and Social State Marxism,” Stephen Shapiro discusses our current moment as the conjuncture of three temporalities: a secular trend of centrist liberalism, a Kress cycle of managerial capitalism, and three Kondratieff waves. These can be understood by the addition of implied terms in Marx’s advanced discussion of the commodity-form through an approach that Shapiro calls Social State Marxism.

Prevalence Of Mortality Among Covid-19 Patients In Kurdistan Region And Various Parts Of The World And The Role Of Ecological And Environmental Factors In Shaping Sars-Cov-2 Virulence, Muayad A. Mahmud

Polytechnic Journal

Evolutionary theories predict that virulence (host death due to a pathogen) positively associates with the pathogen transmission rates to new susceptible hosts. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) pandemic, like other RNA viruses, has quite variable genetic content due to its unique nucleus enzymes thus mutations can continuously occur during viral replications. Phenotype variations among new viral progeny can include individuals with different replication rates, infectivity, stability in the abiotic environment, and transmission rate. Here, the rate of transmission to new susceptible hosts may be affected by the pathogen’s vitality …