Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating Relative Indices Of Groundfish Abundance From Multiple Fishery-Independent Data Sources: A Comparison Of Intercalibrating Model-Based Abundance Estimators, Tristan Noble Sebens

Fisheries

Stock assessments are critical tools for sustainable fisheries management, and abundance indices estimated from fishery-independent data represent a crucial data source for these assessments. However, financial constraints on these surveys limit the number of samples taken per year, and/or the frequency with which regions are sampled. Additionally, it remains challenging for any individual survey to sample the entire domain of a stock due to contact-selectivity of the sampling gear and the accessibility of specific habitats to specific gear types. Further, the cost of operating fishery-independent surveys can result in surveys conducted on biennial or triennial schedules, resulting in temporal gaps …

Relative Abundance And Movement Ecology Of Tiger Sharks Galeocerdo Cuvier In The Waters Surrounding Bimini, The Bahamas, Matthew J. Smukall

Fisheries

Shark populations are under increased anthropogenic pressures around the world. Large-bodied shark species are upper trophic level predators, and therefore there is concern that declining numbers of sharks may have significant implications for ecosystems. In response to these conservation concerns there has been increased focus on the implementation of regulations, fishery management plans, national plans of action, and marine management zones in some nations. However, large sharks are often highly mobile and can move readily across jurisdictional boundaries. Therefore, there is a need to monitor long-term relative abundances within regions and simultaneously examine the duration to which species remain in …

Emotional Labor In Front-Facing Jobs In University Settings, Khushboo Jain

Student Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to investigate how employees in front-facing/public-oriented positions engage in and experience the effects of emotional labor. Emotional labor is the unpaid, frequently unseen work a person must perform to manage their emotions for other people (Resnick, 2021). This kind of labor can manifest in multiple settings such as the workplace and interpersonal relationships. Emotional labor is often a problem in organizations because there is more focus on how the employee is representing them in customer interactions than the employee’s well-being. During face-to-face or voice-to-voice interactions with customers, employees are required to express proper emotions as a job …

Environmental And Biotic Habitat Attributes Affect Rocky Intertidal Community Variability In Glacially Influenced Estuaries, Madeleine G. Mcarthur

Marine Biology

Climate change is increasing the rate of glacial recession in high latitude coastal environments. The associated increase in cold, sediment-laden freshwater into the nearshore may alter a wide array of water attributes, which will likely have ecosystem-wide impacts. One of these potential impacts is a change in typical levels of ecological community variability, which can be an indicator of stress in response to an environmental impact. Fluctuation in community composition over time is natural and can be affected by environmental conditions, as well as by the presence of habitat forming, spatially dominant organisms. The goal of this study was to …

Eavesdropping On Killer Whales: Distribution, Calling Rates, And Acoustic Abundance Of Fish-Eating And Mammal-Eating Killer Whales In The Gulf Of Alaska, Hannah J. Myers

Marine Biology

The widespread loss of apex consumers in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems throughout the world has precipitated profound trophic cascades and switches to different ecological states. However, conserving top predators can deliver broad biodiversity benefits and improve ecosystem resiliency. Effective conservation and management policy is predicated on a species' distribution and abundance in a given area and time. In this dissertation, I provide new insight into killer whale (Orcinus orca) distribution, vocal behavior, and abundance in the Gulf of Alaska using passive acoustic monitoring and advance long-term monitoring capacity for this species. First, I describe the year-round spatiotemporal distribution and …

Tiny Machine Learning For Underwater Image Enhancement: Pruning And Quantizaition Approach, Dr Khaled Nagaty, The British University In Egypt, Andreas Pester Dr

Computer Science

Many people have expressed an interest in underwater image processing in a variety of fields, including underwater vehicle control, archaeology, marine biological studies, etc. Underwater exploration is becoming an increasingly important element of our lives, with applications ranging from underwater marine and creature research to pipeline and communication logistics, military use, touristic and entertainment use. Underwater images suffer from poor visibility, distortion, and poor quality for a variety of causes, including light propagation. The major issue arises when these images must be captured at depths greater than 500 feet and artificial lighting needs to be provided. Efficient algorithms and models …

Marine Methane: Sources And Potential Adverse Effects, Sadia Mahmuda

Engineering

Recently, there has been an increase in the occurrence of incidents involving spills of oil and natural gas, such as methane. The world experiences at least one major spill in each decade. An illustrative case is the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This catastrophe resulted in the discharge of about 205.8 million gallons of oil and 225,000 metric tons of methane gas into the Gulf of Mexico. More recently, in 2022, the Nord Stream pipeline leak occurred, which was the largest single methane release ever recorded. It released up to 500K tons of methane …

Movement Ecology, Survival, And Territorial Dynamics In Canada Lynx (Lynx Canadensis) Over A Cyclic Population Decline, Derek Arnold

Biological Sciences

As the quintessential predator-prey cycle, research into Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) and snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) have led to many discoveries in population biology; however, much remains unknown about the nuances of their populations. In this dissertation, I examined the ways in which population cycles influence survival, reproduction, territoriality, and connectivity. First, I examined ways in which climate change induced shifts in fire regimes have affected lynx persistence in their current refugia. Lynx mainly sought out areas of higher hare density and lower cover, such as intermediately aged coniferous and deciduous forests. This type of forest was predicted to persist …

Effects Of Browser Exclusion On The Willow Leafblotch Miner (Micrurapteryx Salicifoliella): Host Plant Availability, Oviposition, And Survival, Martha M. Cummings

Biological Sciences

Herbivores can affect the quality and quantity of their food plants in ways that indirectly influence the food resources and habitat available to other herbivores present. This study examined indirect interactions between a mammalian browser and an insect folivore that feed on shared plant species during different seasons. On a boreal floodplain in interior Alaska, we investigated how a history of winter browsing by moose (Alces alces) affected the behavior and performance of the willow leafblotch miner moth, Micrurapteryx salicifoliella in summer. Excluding moose browsing for 8 years did not change plant density, but strongly increased canopy height, vegetative cover …

Avian Divergence And Speciation Across Beringia Examined Using Comparative Mitogenomics, K. A. Collier

Biological Sciences

Accurate knowledge of divergence and speciation processes is critical for understanding key aspects of biodiversity. As a well-known, speciose group of vertebrates, an increased understanding of how birds diverge and speciate allows us to better manage extant avian diversity and understand how it develops over time. Additionally, birds often exhibit complex and variable patterns of divergence, resulting in complexes of taxonomic uncertainty. Filling gaps in our knowledge of divergence across time and space increases our ability to correctly identify and understand not just avian diversity but clade-level patterns in speciation processes. These higher-order findings give us tools to compare and …

Alnus Viridis Ssp. Fruticosa Modulates Local Conditions To Influence Intra And Interspecies Growth, Jackson W. Drew

Biological Sciences

The Arctic is warming rapidly due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Concurrent with warming, some Arctic plant communities have transformed from short statured evergreen and graminoid shrub tundra to tall deciduous shrubs in recent decades. As warming continues, plant-plant interactions will likely change and influence future community composition. Alnus viridis ssp. fruticosa (Siberian alder) is rapidly expanding across Arctic regions and is particularly important because Siberian alder is the Arctic's only large N-fixing shrub, may alter N-cycling to further influence both C-cycling and community composition as it spreads. This dissertation addressed two main questions to better understand how Arctic deciduous …

Microplastics In Spotted Seal Stomachs From The Bering And Chukchi Seas In 2012 And 2020, Alexandria Sletten

Biological Sciences

Microplastics pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems across multiple trophic levels. Spotted seals (Phoca largha) are piscivorous and occupy one of the higher trophic positions in the Bering and Chukchi seas, putting them at risk of ingesting microplastics through prey. This project aimed to determine if microplastics are present in the stomachs of spotted seals harvested for subsistence purposes and compare their presence spatially between two harvest locations, Gambell and Shishmaref, AK. Microplastics are predicted to increase in the Arctic over time due to climate warming and subsequent deposition of microplastics from melting sea ice. Therefore, we examined stomachs …

The Effect Of Cold Exposure And Activity On Skeletal Muscle Physiology: A Study Of Human And Animal Models, Michelle M. Johannsen

Biological Sciences

Environmental factors and physical activity have the potential to modulate skeletal muscle physiology in beneficial ways. Cold exposure and endurance exercise, specifically, may improve aerobic capacity and atrophy resistance. I utilized three models to examine the effect of cold exposure and activity level on skeletal muscle physiology: quantitation of body composition and energy expenditure estimates in humans participating in a transmountain race, comparative proteomic analysis of skeletal muscle in hibernating and summer active American black bears (Ursus americanus), and an experimental study of the combined effects of cold exposure and endurance training on white adipose tissue, and gastrocnemius and soleus …

Avian Divergence And Speciation Across Beringia Examined Using Comparative Mitogenomics, K. A. Collier

Biological Sciences

Accurate knowledge of divergence and speciation processes is critical for understanding key aspects of biodiversity. As a well-known, speciose group of vertebrates, an increased understanding of how birds diverge and speciate allows us to better manage extant avian diversity and understand how it develops over time. Additionally, birds often exhibit complex and variable patterns of divergence, resulting in complexes of taxonomic uncertainty. Filling gaps in our knowledge of divergence across time and space increases our ability to correctly identify and understand not just avian diversity but clade-level patterns in speciation processes. These higher-order findings give us tools to compare and …

Smoke Without Fire: Wildfire Smoke Affects Phenolic Composition Of Wild Blueberry Fruits (Vaccinium Uliginosum), Laura G. Weingartner

Biological Sciences

Wildfire smoke can induce changes in plant growth, phenology, and chemical composition. The frequency and intensity of wildfires have increased over the last thirty years in Alaska, and smoke has the potential to affect important wild fruit plants, such as bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum L.), a food source for many Alaskans and wild animals. We exposed bog blueberry plants to wood smoke at different stages in fruit development: early-season when the plants were flowering ("early-smoked"), mid-season when fruits were unripe ("mid-smoked"), and late-season when fruits were fully ripe ("late-smoked"). We measured anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, and total phenolics in the ripe fruits, …

Effects Of Desformylflustrabromine On Compulsive-Like And Social Behaviors In Mouse Models Of Ocd And Autism, Isaac Van Flein

Biological Sciences

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) share a number of similar deficits, including altered cholinergic activity in the central nervous system (CNS), manifestation of repetitive, restricted, and compulsive-like patterns of behavior, and frequent co-morbid presentation. Desformylflustrabromine is a novel positive allosteric modulator of α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which has recently been shown to be able to reduce compulsive-like behavior in a non-induced mouse model of OCD. In this study, I attempted to replicate the compulsive-like behavior-reducing effects of desformylflustrabromine in the mouse model of OCD, as well as expose the model to a novel assessment; social behavior, as …

Should Environmental Protection Be Through Anthropocentric Rights?, Christen Maccone

Pace Environmental Law Review

Environmental constitutional rights are increasingly used as a strategy to protect the environment, with more than seventy countries acknowledging environmental rights in their constitutions. However, constitutions are inherently anthropocentric, making environmental rights created therein of- ten inseparable from human rights. This paper will examine how environ- mental constitutional rights are insufficient due to the anthropocentric nature of constitutions and argue for the need for a more biocentric approach.

The Relationship Between Student Engagement And Act Aspire Reading Scores Among Ninth-Grade Students In One Northwest Arkansas Junior High School, Dwight Vincent Jr.

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic achievement and attendance. Reading proficiency is foundational to overall academic success. In this study, reading proficiency served as the operational definition for the level of student academic success. Out-of-school suspension is a disciplinary consequence as a result of student behavior and correlates to student attendance. This quantitative, correlational study examined the relationship between student engagement, as defined by student attendance and discipline, and reading proficiency, as measured by the 2021-22 ACT Aspire Reading scores for ninth-grade students in one northwest Arkansas junior high school.

Descriptive data analysis was …

Gifted And Talented Student Performance On State Achievement Tests, Dondre Harris

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The exploration of dissecting gifted and talented programs combined with student advancement and academic success is one daunting but doable. The purpose of this study was to investigate the equity of the gifted and talented program while analyzing the achievement scores of these students compared to their peers. This quantitative study includes an evaluation of third through fifth grade students in a central Arkansas school district while merging the relationships of the general education population versus the academically gifted and talented population. Both groups were examined through the independent variables classified as ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. A descriptive data …

Commencement [Program], December 16, 2023, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

The program of the commencement ceremonies, including a list of institutional leadership, a list of the departments by college, awards given at the ceremonies, and a list of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates. This commencement program is not an official graduate list.

Contents:

--- Iowa Board of Regents ... 2
--- Institutional Leadership ... 2
--- The Academic Procession ... 3
--- Academic Honorary Organizations ... 4
--- University Ambassador Organizations ... 5
--- University Honors Program ... 6
--- Legacy Graduates ... 6
--- Order of Events ... 7
--- College of Education ... 10
--- College of Humanities, …

Create Dangerously: An Introduction, Shann Ray Ferch, Jiying Song

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

There is something very communal to the art of servant-leadership. As you attend to a life of servant-leadership and engage with the articles here or the chapters in the anthologies, we encourage you to engage with generosity, grace, patience, and a life-affirming essence. Life is shot through with the art and science of servant-leadership, and once we encounter it we see just how directly servant-leadership informs, deepens, and shapes us here and now. As for our mutual quest for the essence of servant-leadership, let’s show care for each other and our work. Sisterhood. Brotherhood. Good intention and good humor. As …

Dryland Vegetation Mapping Using High Spatial-Temporal Resolution Satellite Imagery In New Mexico: A Comparison Of Phenological Time-Series Transformation Methods, Pratistha Sharma

Geography ETDs

New Mexico's drylands are undergoing notable vegetation changes due to rising aridity, higher temperatures, and shifts in precipitation with changing climate. Mapping drylands through remote sensing is challenging compared to mesic systems due to the irregular patterns of rainfall-driven phenology and weaker vegetation absorption signals. This study aims to enhance vegetation mapping in New Mexico, utilizing a high-resolution, frequently revisited PlanetScope dataset with multispectral capabilities, specifically chosen for its suitability for time-series analysis. The challenge with high spatial and temporal data lies in the overwhelming volume, leading to issues like the curse of dimensionality, overfitting, data redundancy, collinearity, and visualization …

Regulation Of Mrna And Circrna As A Cause And Consequence Of Aging In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Rebekah Napier-Jameson

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

A role for RNA binding proteins in regulating lifespan has emerged. We identified a pair of neuronal RBPs, exc-7 and mbl-1, which display synthetic lifespan defects. Such a strong synthetic phenotype represented an opportunity to use transcriptomics to search for potential causative targets that are synthetically regulated. We identified a small handful of genes synthetically dysregulated in double mutants and systematically tested each candidate gene for functional contribution to the exc-7; mbl-1 lifespan phenotype. We identified one such gene, the ion transporter nhx-6, which is highly upregulated in double mutants. Overexpression of nhx-6 causes reduced lifespan, and deletion …

A Symbiotic Content Caching Approach In Next-Generation Information-Centric Networks Based On Game Theory, Aisha B Rahman

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The continuous growth of mobile data traffic with strict time requirements calls for the development of sustainable edge content caching solutions. This becomes more prominent in the setting of Information-Centric Networking (ICN) architectures, where different ICNs are leasing caching slices to the available content providers (CPs), who in turn offer their services to the users. In this thesis, we introduce a novel symbiotic content caching framework that provides the necessary economic benefits to the ICNs and the CPs to mutualistically collaborate among each other. The corresponding mutualistic interactions among the ICNs and CPs are studied under the prism of two …

2023 Fall - Commencement Program, Office Of The Registrar, East Tennessee State University

ETSU Commencement Ceremonies and Programs

No abstract provided.

Isolation And Characterization Of Bacteriophages From Fish Tank Samples, Oluwaseyi Oluwagbeminiyi Oladele-Ajose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bacteriophages (phages) are viral obligate intracellular parasites that infect bacteria. Research has been carried out on alternative treatment plans for bacterial infections due to the increase in antibiotic resistance. Phages have been proposed as an alternative to antibiotics. This research focused on the isolation and characterization of bacteria from small aquariums. A total of 42 bacterial isolates were isolated from seven different fish tank water samples and were tested to determine if they possessed phages. Spot plaque assay revealed presence of lytic phage for only one of the isolated bacterial strains, which was determined to belong to Enterobacteriaceae family based …

The Effects Of Full Spectrum Hemp Oil On Extinction Of Stress Enhanced Fear Learning In A Rodent Model Of Ptsd, Tiphanie Chanel

Psychology ETDs

There are only 2 FDA-approved treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) despite the overwhelming evidence of the need for safer and more effective treatments. For example, roughly 50% of treatment seeking patients with PTSD experience relief from conventional pharmaceutical medications and only one third experience full remission. The Cannabis plant is a promising novel treatment for PTSD for several reasons. The endocannabinoid system plays a role in stress, emotion, cognition, suicidal phenotypes, fear memory consolidation, retrieval and reconsolidation and extinction. Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the most widely studied phytocannabinoids found in the Cannabis plant, has both anxiolytic and antidepressant qualities. …

Quantifying The Influences Of Abiotic And Biotic Factors On Post-Fire Vegetation In The Southwestern Us, Joseph Lafayette Crockett

Biology ETDs

The ongoing warming associated with climate change is increasing the flammability of southwestern US dry forests. As larger fractions of the landscape are impacted by high-severity fire, the potential exists for forests to convert to non-forest. Given that the forested area in the southwestern US is an important contributor of ecosystem services, quantifying limitations to vegetation establishment is critical to informing post-fire recovery efforts and understanding how ongoing climate change will limit seedling establishment in the future. To that end, this dissertation focuses on post-fire vegetation recovery of southwestern forests. First, I report on the influence of precipitation and topography …

A Bio-Inspired Alternative Positioning, Navigation, And Timing Approach Based On A Potential Game-Theoretic Model, Md Sadman Siraj

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This thesis addresses the challenge of designing of alternative Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions. Inspired by the evolution of biological ecosystems, we introduce a novel symbiotic PNT solution, based on the principles of Game Theory and the exploitation of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs). A set of actors, consisting of anchor nodes and RISs with known coordinates, collaborator nodes having a rough estimate of their positions, and targets of unknown positions, are cooperating to accurately determine the targets’ positioning and timing. The key objective is to minimize the estimation error of each target and collaborator node, as well as of …

Cultural Educational Narratives: An Exploration Of Latina Stories The Impact Of Cultural Educational Narratives On Decision-Making For Latinas, Marymargaret Carrillo

Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of cultural educational narratives for six Latinas earning an undergraduate or graduate degree. Each Latina earned their degree from Southern Methodist University, a private university in Dallas, Texas. Specifically, this study examined the college decision-making process based on the Perna Conceptual College Choice Model. Using the lens of Intersectionality and Latino Critical Race Theory, the focus of this study is to understand the narratives shared by Latinas about the stories told to them by the Latino culture about decision-making relating to education. This study employed a qualitative research design. During the study, Latinas were interviewed …