Digital Commons Network^™

2b: "Copy Of Carbon Dioxide Data Illinois Natural Gas", U.S. Energy Information Administration

Ecosystem Disruption & Climate Change

No abstract provided.

2b: "Copy Of Carbon Dioxide Data Illinois Totals", U.S. Energy Information Administration

Ecosystem Disruption & Climate Change

No abstract provided.

2b: "Copy Of Carbon Dioxide Data Illinois Petroleum Products", U.S. Energy Information Administration

Ecosystem Disruption & Climate Change

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Volume 5, Issue 2

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Volume 6, Number 1

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

Cancer And You, Diah-Aldeen Judeh

A with Honors Projects

This project discusses ways a person can identify cancer and what to do if cancer is present.

2b: "Copy Of Carbon Dioxide Data Illinois Coal", U.S. Energy Information Administration

Ecosystem Disruption & Climate Change

No abstract provided.

Monitoring Occupancy And Abundance Of New England Cottontails Using Non-Invasive Genetic Tools, Daniel Brubaker

Master's Theses and Capstones

The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis ) is a species of conservation concern. Efficient monitoring methods are needed to guide and assess conservation decisions in an adaptive management framework. I used genetic tools and non-invasively collected fecal DNA to determine New England cottontail detection rates during presence/absence surveys and to identify the environmental and behavioral factors that influence detection.

I found New England cottontail detection rates to be high (>90%) when surveys were conducted under ideal conditions. Prior knowledge of cottontail activity, low snow depth, and allowing 2-4 days without high winds following a snowfall are the most important …

Development And Evaluation Of Interspecific Cucurbita Maxima X Cucurbita Moschata Hybrids For Processing Squash, Jacob Uretsky

Master's Theses and Capstones

Interspecific hybrids derived from crosses of Cucurbita maxima Duch. x C. moschata Duch. have been utilized for taxonomic studies and introgression of advantageous traits, as well as for cultivation for fresh market squash. The present study involves the development and evaluation of C. maxima x C. moschata F1 hybrids for use as processing squash. Crosses were performed in the summers of 2009, 2010, and 2011 between inbred bush C. maxima breeding lines and vine C. moschata cultigens, and the resulting progeny were evaluated in the greenhouse and field in 2010 and 2011 for phenological growth traits, fruit traits, and fruit …

Detection Of Trehalose In Porphyra Extracts Using Mass Spectrometry And Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Ying Huo

Master's Theses and Capstones

It is known that trehalose helps many plants to survive under desiccated environment26. This property of trehalose has also been proposed to explain why Porphyra could survive desiccation when left on dry land for a long period of time25. However, after extensive study25, effort at identifying trehalose in Porphyra has been unsuccessful, leaving the question of whether trehalose really exists in Porphyra unanswered. In my thesis research, in collaboration with Dr. Anita Klein, I set out to use ion-trap mass spectrometry and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry to identify and quantify the amount of trehalose in Porphyra extracts. Using …

Effects Of Whole-Tree Harvesting On Site Productivity And Species Composition Of A Northern Hardwood Forest, Gabriel Ethan Roxby

Master's Theses and Capstones

Whole-tree harvesting is widely used in the northeastern United States to supply biomass energy plants with fuel, but questions remain regarding its long-term sustainability. To assess its effects on the northern hardwood forests that make up a significant portion of northern New England, we conducted two regeneration surveys in 2010 and 2011 covering thirty-three small clearcuts. We measured whole-tree (WTH) and conventionally harvested (CH) sites in New Hampshire and Maine, and compared the productivity and species composition of the 10-14 year old regeneration. No significant difference was observed in height, diameter or calculated biomass of stems > 2m in height. Despite …

Field And Laboratory Observations Of Two Gulf Of Maine Sacoglossans, Seth W. Goodnight

Master's Theses and Capstones

The ecology of the sacoglossan Alderia modesta and its ability to retain active chloroplasts from the yellow-green alga Vaucheria spp. was examined with field and laboratory studies. Field surveys found no A. modesta, because Vaucheria spp. was absent or sparse in surveyed marshes. A grass removal experiment tested whether interspecific competition was causing the algal absence. The alga appeared in some plots, but did not promote A. modesta settlement. Absence of Vaucheria spp. is likely due to factors other than competition. Lack of animals prevented laboratory studies.

Placida dendritica and its food Codium fragile ssp. fragile were then chosen for …

Cryopreservation Spermiation Induction And Computer Assisted Analysis Of Summer Flounder (Paralicthys Dentatus) Spermatozoa, Ryan T. Brown

Master's Theses and Capstones

The objective of this thesis was to improve the aquaculture practices for summer flounder Paralichthys dentatus. The experiments in this thesis examined male reproduction. First a practical method for summer flounder sperm cryopreservation was developed. These experiments examined the various parameters required to successfully freeze and store summer flounder spermatozoa. Success of cryopreservation was measured by examining post thaw viability and fertility.

One of the problems facing summer flounder aquaculture is sexually dimorphic growth rates, with females growing larger than males. To overcome this, meiogynogenetic summer flounder were developed, allowing the production of all female stocks. The second set of …

A Comparison Of Standard And Ventless American Lobster Trap Dynamics, Abigail S. Clark

Master's Theses and Capstones

The American lobster, Homarus americanus, is the most valuable marine resource in New England and, as with any fishery, effective management depends on accurate stock assessment. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of standard and ventless traps, focusing on determining which trap provides a better index of lobster abundance. While ventless traps caught approximately five times as many lobsters as standard traps, the size of captured lobsters did not differ significantly between trap types. Ventless traps saturated after 16 - 24 hours, but standard traps did not saturate at all. Despite saturating at all densities, ventless …

Genotyping On Custom Arrays Using A Parallel Data Pipeline, Brian Albere

Master's Theses and Capstones

In the past, genotyping (determining a set of alleles in an organism) has been an extremely challenging process. The time, monetary, and technology demands of the task have limited genotype data to a small variety of scientific model organisms with the capacity to conduct genetic crosses. New sequencing technology from companies such as NimbleGen, however, can generate custom organism-specific microarrays at relatively low cost. The combination of these arrays and the knowledge of species' genome-wide SNPs allow genotype experiments, such as generation maps, QTL studies, and natural population variation studies, to be conducted on virtually any organism. Although the NimbleGen …

The Role Of Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L) Source Population Characteristics In Resilience To Stress And Restoration Success, Holly K. Bayley

Master's Theses and Capstones

Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.), an underwater marine flowering plant, has a high degree of morphological plasticity that allows it to survive and grow under a range of conditions and adapt to environmental changes. The degree to which resilience to stress varies among eelgrass populations is important for eelgrass conservation and management. Eelgrass plants from ten genetically differentiated populations were used in a mesocosm experiment where light availability and sediment organic content were manipulated. Productivity and survival were inhibited and morphology was altered by the stress treatments, with these plant responses differing significantly among populations. To further test differences in resilience, …

Adaptation Of A Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Population To A Biofilm Lifestyle: Why Is Polyphosphate Kinase Important?, Keith Ferguson

Master's Theses and Capstones

In the environment, bacterial populations often exist as communities called biofilms. During this sessile state, bacteria excrete exopolysaccharides that form a sticky, protective matrix. This protective matrix also presents a prominent medical challenge since chronic infections of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are commonly biofilm associated. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one bacterium that can colonize the CF lung and persist in a biofilm community. During chronic infections, P. aeruginosa adapts to its lung environment and displays genetic and phenotypic diversification. To model evolution during chronic infections, biofilm populations were experimentally evolved for 540 generations and the genetic variation was sampled at 100, …

Multi-Scale Analysis Of Northern Goshawk (Accipiter Gentilis) Breeding Habitat In New Hampshire, Angela Karedes

Master's Theses and Capstones

I compared characteristics of northern goshawk ( Accipiter gentilis) breeding areas (n = 44) to available habitat (n=100 random sites) across New Hampshire at four spatial scales (162, 405, 809 and 1619 ha). Differences in forest composition between breeding areas and available habitat were present (Hotelling-Lawley p = 0.009) with least squares analysis revealing hay/pasture (p < 0.001) and beech/oak (p = 0.004) present less than expected and birch/aspen (p = 0.039) and white pine (p = 0.008) present more than expected, within breeding areas. Analyses also showed that as distance from the core of the breeding area (centered on the nest tree) increased differences between breeding areas and available habitat decreased. Results suggest that, in New Hampshire, goshawks select breeding areas based on nest stand composition and landscape-scale patterns.

The Distribution Of Direct And Indirect Fitness Effects Of Beneficial Mutations, Rachel Katherine Staples

Master's Theses and Capstones

Rare, beneficial mutations that increase an organism's fitness provide the basis by which adaptation proceeds. Current theory predicts that the individual fitness effects of these beneficial mutations are exponentially distributed, suggesting that mutations conferring a small fitness increase are more numerous than those of large benefit. However, there is little empirical evidence describing measurable fitness effects of individual mutations, nor their availability or effects across a range of environments. We experimentally evolved a single strain of the cystic fibrosis pathogen Burkholderia cenocepacia under both physically structured (biofilm) and unstructured (planktonic) conditions, collected a sample of mutants, and measured the fitness …

Distribution Of Mysis Diluviana In Nearshore Lake Ontario, Sean J. Maxwell

Master's Theses and Capstones

Opossum shrimp Mysis diluviana are an important trophic link in Lake Ontario, and in all of the lakes where they occur. Their temporal and spatial distributions are not well documented in the nearshore area (<30 m bottom depth), where alewives and other fish increasingly depend on them as a food source. This study describes their distributions over three years (2009 to 2011) from April through November using data collected from Tucker trawls and multi-frequency hydroacoustics; both deployed over incremental depths. Mysis was found to occur in the nearshore area in 69.6% of the trawl surveys. Maximum densities occurred in April and early May and were located in the deepest (30-m) contour. The density and frequency of occurrence of Mysis increased exponentially from shore. Hydroacoustic methods were effective in quantifying of Mysis density in 42% of the echograms when they were present in simultaneously obtained samples.

Ecosystem Structure And Function In An Urban, Piped Stream, Amanda Hope

Master's Theses and Capstones

Piped streams, or streams that run underground, are common features in urban areas. However, there is little empirical evidence regarding their ecological structure and function. This study measured ecosystem metabolism, nutrient uptake, and related characteristics of Pettee Brook -- an urban stream that flows through several pipes under impervious surfaces near the UNH (Durham) campus.

Piped and open reaches of Pettee Brook had similar water quality, nutrient uptake, and ER. However, the absence of light in piped reaches led to their complete loss of GPP. Benthic AFDM and chlorophyll a biomass were also significantly reduced in piped reaches. For both …

Monitoring Australian Year 8 Student Achievement Internationally : Timss 2011, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Nicole Wernert

TIMSS 2011 and PIRLS 2011

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2011) is an international study directed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). In Australia, TIMSS was managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and funded by the Australian and state and territory governments.

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different educational systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices and to enable this, TIMSS collects …

Technology In The Classroom: Effect Of Student Blogging On Learning Gains In A High School Classroom, Mandy Lynn Lebourgeois

LSU Master's Theses

This study explores the benefits of student use of web logs (blogs) in a high school Biology classroom. Students were assigned to blog by answering questions on topics from the Miller and Levine (2010) Biology textbook, which correlated to the Louisiana Grade-Level Expectations (GLEs), benchmarks that should be familiar to students at the end of a course. Raw gains (from pretest to posttest) were compared for the study group of 124 ninth and tenth grade students to determine if blogging increased student learning gains by increasing student accountability. The Louisiana Enhanced Assessment of Grade-Level Expectations (EAGLE) test bank was used …

Why Wasp Foundresses Change Nests: Relatedness, Dominance, And Nest Quality, Perttu Seppä, David C. Queller, Joan E. Strassmann

Biology Faculty Research

The costs and benefits of different social options are best understood when individuals can be followed as they make different choices, something that can be difficult in social insects. In this detailed study, we follow overwintered females of the social wasp Polistes carolina through different nesting strategies in a stratified habitat where nest site quality varies with proximity to a foraging area, and genetic relatedness among females is known. Females may initiate nests, join nests temporarily or permanently, or abandon nests. Females can become helpers or egglayers, effectively workers or queens. What they actually do can be predicted by a …

A Pre-Embedding Immunogold Approach Reveals Localization Of Myosin Vi At The Ultrastructural Level In The Actin Cones That Mediate Drosophila Spermatid Individualization, Marta Lenartowska, Mamiko Isaji, Kathryn G. Miller

Biology Faculty Research

Stable actin structures play important roles in the development and specialization of differentiated cells. How these structures form, are organized, and are used to mediate physiological processes is not well understood in most cases. In Drosophila testis, stable actin structures, called actin cones, mediate spermatid individualization, a large-scale cellular remodeling process. These actin cones are composed of two structural domains, a front meshwork and a rear region of parallel bundles. Myosin VI is an important player in proper actin cone organization and function. Myosin VI localizes to the cones' fronts and its specific localization is required for proper actin cone …

Mscs-Like10 Is A Stretch-Activated Ion Channel From Arabidopsis Thaliana With A Preference For Anions, Grigory Maksaev, Elizabeth S. Haswell

Biology Faculty Research

Like many other organisms, plants are capable of sensing and responding to mechanical stimuli such as touch, osmotic pressure, and gravity. One mechanism for the perception of force is the activation of mechanosensitive (or stretch-activated) ion channels, and a number of mechanosensitive channel activities have been described in plant membranes. Based on their homology to the bacterial mechanosensitive channel MscS, the 10 MscS-Like (MSL) proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana have been hypothesized to form mechanosensitive channels in plant cell and organelle membranes. However, definitive proof that MSLs form mechanosensitive channels has been lacking. Here we used single-channel patch clamp electrophysiology to …

Amino Acid Repeats Cause Extraordinary Coding Sequence Variation In The Social Amoeba Dictyostelium Discoideum, Clea Scala, Xiangjun Tian, Natasha J. Mehdiabadi, Margaret H. Smith, Gerda Saxer, Katie Stephens, Prince Buzombo, Joan E. Strassmann, David C. Queller

Biology Faculty Research

Protein sequences are normally the most conserved elements of genomes owing to purifying selection to maintain their functions. We document an extraordinary amount of within-species protein sequence variation in the model eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum stemming from triplet DNA repeats coding for long strings of single amino acids. D. discoideum has a very large number of such strings, many of which are polyglutamine repeats, the same sequence that causes various human neurological disorders in humans, like Huntington’s disease. We show here that D. discoideum coding repeat loci are highly variable among individuals, making D. discoideum a candidate for the most variable …

Whole Genome Sequencing Of Mutation Accumulation Lines Reveals A Low Mutation Rate In The Social Amoeba Dictyostelium Discoideum, Gerda Saxer, Paul Havlak, Sara A. Fox, Michael A. Quance, Sharu Gupta, Yuriy Fofanov, Joan E. Strassmann, David C. Queller

Biology Faculty Research

Spontaneous mutations play a central role in evolution. Despite their importance, mutation rates are some of the most elusive parameters to measure in evolutionary biology. The combination of mutation accumulation (MA) experiments and whole-genome sequencing now makes it possible to estimate mutation rates by directly observing new mutations at the molecular level across the whole genome. We performed an MA experiment with the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and sequenced the genomes of three randomly chosen lines using high-throughput sequencing to estimate the spontaneous mutation rate in this model organism. The mitochondrial mutation rate of 6.76×10(-9), with a Poisson confidence interval …

A Role For Mechanosensitive Channels In Chloroplast And Bacterial Fission., Margaret E. Wilson, Elizabeth S. Haswell

Biology Faculty Research

The division site in both chloroplasts and bacteria is established by the medial placement of the FtsZ ring, a process that is in part regulated by the evolutionarily conserved components of the Min system. We recently showed that mechanosensitive ion channels influence FtsZ ring assembly in both Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts and in Escherichia coli; in chloroplasts they do so through the same genetic pathway as the Min system. Here we describe the effect of heterologous expression of the Arabidopsis MS channel homolog MSL2 on FtsZ ring placement in E. coli. We also discuss possible molecular mechanisms by which MS channels …

Plastids And Pathogens: Mechanosensitive Channels And Survival In A Hypoosmotic World, Kira M. Veley, Elizabeth S. Haswell

Biology Faculty Research

In bacteria, MscS-type mechanosensitive channels serve to protect cells from lysis as they swell during extreme osmotic stress. We recently showed that two MscS homologs from Arabidopsis thaliana serve a similar purpose in the epidermal plastids of the leaf, indicating that the plant cell cytoplasm can present a dynamic osmotic challenge to the plastid. MscS homologs are predicted to be targeted to both plastids and mitochondrial envelopes and have been found in the genomes of intracellular pathogens. Here we discuss the implications of these observations, and propose that MS channels provide an essential mechanism for osmotic adaptation to both intracellular …