Digital Commons Network^™

Forecasting Vibrio Parahaemolyticus In A Changing Climate, Meghan Ann Hartwick

Doctoral Dissertations

The distribution, transmission and adaptation patterns of infectious diseases are changing worldwide. Though there are many potential mechanisms that can transmit infectious agents to new areas, the ability of pathogens to persist in new locations can be largely attributed to changing climate conditions, especially in temperate regions. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a naturally occurring bacteria in most marine and estuarine systems, provides a model example of these globally observed climate-related changes to disease dynamics that are occurring locally in the Northeast, US. Like many Vibrio species, pathogenicity in human hosts is believed to be limited to a subset of strains, whereas the …

A Dangerous Concoction: Pharmaceutical Marketing, Cognitive Biases, And First Amendment Overprotection, Cynthia M. Ho

Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article argues that pharmaceutical marketing to doctors should be more critically evaluated and entitled to less First Amendment protection, contrary to a trend dating back to the Supreme Court's 2011 decision in Sorrell. In particular, the Article argues that more information to doctors in the form of pharmaceutical marketing does not necessarily result in better patient outcomes. The Article adds a significant critique based on the existence and impact of cognitive bias literature that has thus far not been recognized in this area. If courts fully embrace this understanding, they should recognize that the government, through the Food and …

Evaluation By Geospatial And Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Tularemia Cases In Arkansas, Toni Kathleen Beavers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Tularemia is a vector-borne disease of global concern with diverse regional foci. Arkansas is an endemic state with differences in case distribution and land suitability supporting host and vector sustainment. The aim of this study was to conduct a geospatial and spatiotemporal assessment of factors associated with case distribution and timeliness and completeness of public reporting. Guided with direction from spatial epidemiology and nidality, referring to the association of ecology, climate, and proximity of disease, analysis included secondary data collected from the Arkansas Department of Health between 1995 and 2018. Using Poisson-based software, 2 clusters were found: a high-risk cluster …

Long-Term Carbon And Copper Impact On Nutrient Removal Via Green Sorption Media In Dynamic Linear Ditch Environments, Diana Ordonez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient-laden stormwater runoff causes environmental and ecological impacts on receiving water bodies. Biosorption Activated Media (BAM) composed of the sand, tire crumb, and clay have been implemented in stormwater best management practices due to its ability to efficiently remove nutrients from stormwater runoff, such as in roadside linear ditches, via unique chemophysical and microbiological processes. In this study, a set of fixed-bed columns were set up to simulate some external forces in roadside linear ditches and examine how these external forces affect the performance of BAM. In our experiment, scenario 1 simulates the impact that animals such as tortoises, moles …

Comparative Nutrient Removal With Innovative Green Soprtion Media For Groundwater And Stormwater Co-Treatment, Dan Wen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As indicated by the National Academy of Engineering, the understanding of nitrogen cycle has been deemed as one of 14 grand challenges in engineering of the 21st century. Due to rapid population growth and urbanization, the stormwater runoff increased in quantity as well as its nutrient concentrations, which may trigger serious environmental issues such as eutrophication in aquatic systems and ecosystem degradation. This study focuses on stormwater and groundwater quality control via Biosorption Activated Media (BAM) which can be applied to enhance the nutrient removal potential as an emerging Best Management Practices (BMPs). BAM was tested in this study with …

Spread Of Emerging Contaminants In Water Distribution Systems, Danielle Pilarski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Emerging contaminants are a growing concern to humans and the environment. Studies have shown these contaminants are present in the environment through continuous release into surface waters from wastewater treatment effluent, manufacturing processes, and agricultural use. The effects of these contaminants have been observed in ecological studies, but they have not yet been well studied for long term exposure in humans. These emerging contaminants have also not been well studied to determine the rates at which they decay or how they move through distribution systems. This study aims to determine the importance of decay rate on concentration throughout a distribution …

Examining Aspen Expansion From Before And After Prescribed Burning In A Native Fescue Grassland Through Geospatial Techniques, Christopher Anderson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Native fescue (Fescue spp.) grasslands of the Intermountain West have become increasingly scarce due to the advent of modern agriculture, the loss of Indigenous people’s land management practices, modern wildfire management and the extirpation of bison (Bison bison bison). Native grassland is a biodiversity hot-spot, is significant for carbon sequestration, and essential to many species of flora and fauna that occur in the ecosystem. Our study site, on the Rocky Mountain Front in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta Canada, consists of 30 discrete aspen stands (Populous tremuloides) which are encroaching on this declining shortgrass fescue …

Gendered Recreational Fisheries Management And North American Natural Resource Policy, Erin Burkett

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation applies feminist theory to investigate women’s participation in wildlife-based recreation and how natural resource management organizations conduct stakeholder engagement in a North American context. Gendered social processes, including norms and expectations, as well as gendered cultures, can constrain women’s participation in recreation through social sanctions and disenfranchisement. Gender and leisure scholars have studied these dynamics in sport and leisure contexts, but how individuals negotiate these constraints is understudied in a wildlife-based recreation context. Social constructions of gender also contribute to imbalances of power within formal natural resource management organizations and influence how stakeholder engagement policies and programs are …

The Risk Spiral Model: Systemic Factors That Feed Mass Incarceration, High Risk Behaviors, Hiv And Other Sexually Transmitted Infections For African American Males, Lauresa Washington Mccoy

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. corrections system continues to have an over representation of black males. A long legacy of practices, including convict leasing, lynchings, and police brutality, have shaped the history of African American males and the criminal justice system (Mauer, 1999). Few studies exist on the impact of mass incarceration in African American communities and its contributory impact on the degradation of the public health infrastructure within these communities. In this qualitative study, the researcher will capture and analyze the flow of African American males before, during and after incarceration and the associated prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, other Sexually Transmitted …

Density And Distribution Of Piscivorous Fishes In The Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta, Christopher M. Loomis

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Predatory fishes, including numerous introduced species, are common to the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta, but abundance data for most species is insufficient to determine the Delta-wide distribution and ecological impacts of these species. Predatory fishes (e.g. Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass have long been suspected of contributing to the decline of native species, including salmonids, but data has been insufficient to investigate this hypothesis. In this study, I present a novel method to assess predator fish populations across the southern Delta using DIDSON acoustic cameras and analyze the environmental associations that form the landscape and fine-scale distribution of predatory fishes. …

Cannabis Consumption Patterns Explain The East-West Gradient In Canadian Neural Tube Defect Incidence: An Ecological Study, Albert Stuart Reece, Gary Kenneth Hulse

Research Datasets

While a known link between prenatal cannabis exposure and anencephaly exists, the relationship of prenatal cannabis exposure with neural tube defects (NTDs) generally has not been defined. Published data from Canada Health and Statistics Canada were used to assess this relationship. Both cannabis use and NTDs were shown to follow an east-west and north-south gradient. Last year cannabis consumption was significantly associated (P < .0001; cannabis use–time interaction P < .0001). These results were confirmed when estimates of termination for anomaly were used. Canada Health population data allowed the calculation of an NTD odds ratio) of 1.27 (95% confidence interval = 1.19-1.37; P < 10−11) for high-risk provinces versus the remainder with an attributable fraction in exposed populations of 16.52% (95% confidence interval = 12.22-20.62). Data show a robust positive statistical association between cannabis consumption as both a qualitative and quantitative variable and NTDs on a background of declining NTD incidence. In the context of multiple mechanistic pathways these strong statistical findings implicate causal mechanisms.

Isolation, Characterization, And Cross-Amplification Of 20 Microsatellite Markers For The Rare Conospermum Undulatum (Proteaceae), Nicola Delnevo, Andrea Piotti, Eddie J. Van Etten, William D. Stock, Margaret Byrne

Research Datasets

Premise of the study: Recent habitat fragmentation is posing a risk to the wavy-leaved smokebush, Conospermum undulatum, a rare plant species endemic to the south-western Western Australia. Microsatellites markers are required to characterize the genetic diversity and structure of the species for conservation purposes and to facilitate ecological studies. Methods and Results: Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing was used to develop 20 novel microsatellite markers for C. undulatum. Polymorphism at each locus was assessed using 72 individuals from three natural populations. Nineteen markers were polymorphic, with the number of alleles per locus ranging from two to 21, and observed and expected …

Dna Methylation And Genetic Divergence Associated With An Inducible Defensive Response In Mimulus Guttatus, David Farr

All Master's Theses

Phenotypic plasticity allows many organisms to respond to their environment by changing their phenotype, but the mechanisms to do so are not well understood. Yellow Monkeyflower (formerly Mimulus guttatus; now Erythranthe guttata) is one such organism that can serve as a model to promote our understanding of these mechanisms due to its striking response to insect herbivory. Monkeyflower responds to leaf damage by increasing the number of hair-like glandular trichomes, a putative defensive trait that reduces the magnitude of damage by insects. This plastic response is transgenerationally inherited in a way that is sensitive to genome-wide demethylation when …

Early Results – Salt Marsh Response To Changing Fine Sediment Supply Conditions, Humboldt Bay, Ca, Usgs

State & Federal Reports and Publications

This study uses direct measurements of vertical accretion, marsh elevation change, and suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) to investigate salt marsh response to changing fine-sediment.

What Lies Beneath? : Removal Sampling To Test For Biases In Surface Activity Of The Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon Cinereus), Amelia Tedesco

Honors Theses

In light of the current global amphibian extinction crisis from threats such as climate change and disease, reliable and repeatable sampling methods carry heavy importance for assessing North American salamander species.

Machine Learning To Classify Animal Species In Camera Trap Images: Applications In Ecology, Michael A. Tabak, Mohammad S. Norouzzadeh, David W. Wolfson, Steven J. Sweeney, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Nathan P. Snow, Joseph M. Halseth, Paul A. Di Salvo, Jesse S. Lewis, Michael D. White, Ben Teton, James C. Beasley, Peter E. Schlichting, Raoul K. Boughton, Bethany Wight, Eric S. Newkirk, Jacob S. Ivan, Eric A. Odell, Ryan K. Brook, Paul M. Lukacs, Anna K. Moeller, Elizabeth G. Mandeville, Jeff Clune, Ryan S. Miller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

1. Motion-activated cameras (“camera traps”) are increasingly used in ecological and management studies for remotely observing wildlife and are amongst the most powerful tools for wildlife research. However, studies involving camera traps result in millions of images that need to be analysed, typically by visually observing each image, in order to extract data that can be used in ecological analyses.

2. We trained machine learning models using convolutional neural networks with the ResNet-18 architecture and 3,367,383 images to automatically classify wildlife species from camera trap images obtained from five states across the United States. We tested our model on an …

The Diversity And Evolution Of Pollination Systems In Large Plant Clades: Apocynaceae As A Case Study, Jeff Ollerton, Sigrid Liede-Schumann, Mary E. Endress, Ulrich Meve, André Rodrigo Rech, Adam Shuttleworth, Héctor A. Keller, Mark Fishbein, Leonardo O. Alvarado-Cárdenas, Felipe W. Amorim, Peter Bernhardt, Ferhat Celep, Yolanda Chirango, Fidel Chiriboga-Arroyo, Laure Civeyrel, Andrea Cocucci, Louise Cranmer, Suzanne Koptur, Gretchen Ionta

Faculty and Staff Works

Background and Aims: Large clades of angiosperms are often characterized by diverse interactions with pollinators, but how these pollination systems are structured phylogenetically and biogeographically is still uncertain for most families. Apocynaceae is a clade of >5300 species with a worldwide distribution. A database representing >10 % of species in the family was used to explore the diversity of pollinators and evolutionary shifts in pollination systems across major clades and regions. Methods: The database was compiled from published and unpublished reports. Plants were categorized into broad pollination systems and then subdivided to include bimodal systems. These were mapped against the …

Soil And Tree Nutrient Status Of High Elevation Mixed Red Spruce (Picea Rubens Sarg.) And Broadleaf Deciduous Forests, Phillip M. Crim, Louis M. Mcdonald, Jonathan R. Cumming

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract: Anthropogenic and industrial emissions have resulted in historically high levels of acidic deposition into central Appalachian forests. Despite the reduction in acidic inputs due to legislation curbing industrial emissions in the United States, continued N deposition may impact forest ecosystems. Soil and foliar samples were collected from four high elevation red spruce sites along a modeled gradient of historic N deposition. The three most abundant tree species at all sites, Acer rubrum L., Betula alleghaniensis Britt., and Picea rubens Sarg., were sampled. Bulk soil beneath the canopies of individual trees were collected from the top 15-cm and separated into …

Morphological And Leaf Anatomical Variability Of Crocus Cf. Heuffelianus Herb. (Iridaceae) Populations From The Different Habitats Of The Balkan Peninsula, Irena Raca, Milica Jovanovic, Irena Ljubisavljevic, Marina Juskovic, Vladimir Randelovic

Turkish Journal of Botany

Crocus cf. heuffelianus Herb. belongs to the series Verni Mathew and presents one of the most complex and critical taxa within the whole genus Crocus L. Depending on different authors, C. cf. heuffelianus is sometimes split into different taxa (e.g., C. scepusiensis (Rehmer & Wol.) Borbás ex Kulcz., C. vittatus Schloss. & Vuk., nom. illeg.). In order to disentangle the complicated taxonomical status of this species and to determine the degree of its morphoanatomical variability in the different environmental conditions, a comparative investigation of plant morphology and leaf anatomy of seven populations from the Balkan Peninsula was carried out. Morphometric …

Understanding The Utilization Of Community-Based Services In Late Old Age: A Participatory Approach For Connecting Through The Communication Ecology, Carrie Leach

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the pool of eligible recipients continues to grow, understanding service system utilization and barriers can help ensure very old adults can access support from their communities when needed. Mounting research demonstrates that investment in community-based services to ensure seniors remain independent translates to saved government dollars. As a contributing researcher of a multi-year county-wide older adult needs assessment in Monroe County, Michigan, data collected from 1,870 people revealed a communication disjuncture between seniors and service providers. In response, officials convened a post assessment working group that focused on communication and outreach. Along with members of the Community Advisory Group …

Population Demographics And Active Foraging Behavior Of Copperheads (Agkistrodon Contortrix) At A Recreational Site In Eastern Kentucky, Jocelyn Hendricks

Online Theses and Dissertations

Recreational areas represent a significant source of human-wildlife interaction, which can have an especially negative effect on organisms, like snakes, that are generally perceived as dangerous by the public. Considering the projected increase in recreation rates in the United States, the threat to this already vulnerable group of organisms deserves attention. While habitat factors associated with recreational areas—fragmentation, decreased canopy cover, altered vegetation composition—have been shown to affect snake thermoregulatory behavior and abundance, detailed studies of wild snake behavior are uncommon due to their cryptic nature. The goal of this study was to reduce human-wildlife conflict at a recreational site …

Genome Size Variation Among Natural Populations Of Brachypodium Distachyon And B. Hybridum Collected From Different Regions Of Turkey, Gülsemi̇n Savaş Tuna, İsmet Başer, Meti̇n Tuna

Turkish Journal of Botany

Brachypodium distachyon (L.) P.Beauv. is a model grass species that is useful for studying temperate cereal, forage, and energy crops. In this study we aimed to determine the genome size and species identity in the collections of the B. distachyon complex that included samples from 56 different locations in Turkey, applying chromosome counting and nuclear genome size evaluation by flow cytometry method (FCM). Moreover, the study examined whether diverse geographical conditions at the collecting sites influence the genome size. Chromosomal analysis revealed that the number of B. distachyon (x = 5, 2n = 10) genotypes was 48 and the number …

California Floras, Manuals, And Checklists: A Bibliography, James P. Smith Jr

Botanical Studies

No abstract provided.

(And I Can't Stress This Enough) In My Mouth: Extradiegetic Affect As Material, C. Klockner

Theses and Dissertations

(and i can’t stress this enough) in my mouth: Extradiegetic Affect as Material is a non-linear exploration into the structures of feeling that exist in relation to cinema in its role as a technology for generating subjectivity. In the development of this research, a proposal of cinema’s likeness to the ecological circulation of microplastics is drawn in order to illustrate cinema’s materiality and nearly invisible ubiquity. The notion of extradiegetic affect is outlined as a post-cinematic condition in which lived experience becomes secondary to cinematic representation and which, simultaneously, becomes directly shaped by engaging with these representations.

Diurnal Habitat Selection Of Migrating Whooping Crane In The Great Plains, David M. Baasch, Patrick D. Farrell, Aaron T. Pearse, David A. Brandt, Andrew J. Caven, Mary J. Harner, Greg D. Wright, Kristine L. Metzger

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Available stopover habitats with quality foraging opportunities are essential for migrating waterbirds, including Whooping Crane (Grus americana). Several studies have evaluated habitats used by Whooping Crane for roosting throughout its migration corridor; however, habitats associated with foraging and other diurnal activities have received less attention. We used data collected from 42 Whooping Crane individuals that included 2169 diurnal use locations within 395 stopover sites evaluated during spring 2013 to fall 2015 to assess diurnal habitat selection throughout the U.S. portion of the migration corridor. We found that Whooping Crane selected wetland land-cover types (i.e., open water, riverine, and semipermanent wetlands) …

Viral Emergence In Marine Mammals In The North Pacific May Be Linked To Arctic Sea Ice Reduction, Elizabeth Vanwormer, J. A.K. Mazet, A. Hall, V. A. Gill, P. L. Boveng, J. M. London, T. Gelatt, B. S. Fadely, M. E. Lander, J. Sterling, V. N. Burkanov, R. R. Ream, P. M. Brock, L. D. Rea, B. R. Smith, A. Jeffers, M. Henstock, M. J. Rehberg, K. A. Burek-Huntington, S. L. Crosby, J. A, Hammond, T. Goldstein

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Climate change-driven alterations in Arctic environments can influence habitat availability, species distributions and interactions, and the breeding, foraging, and health of marine mammals. Phocine distemper virus (PDV), which has caused extensive mortality in Atlantic seals, was confirmed in sea otters in the North Pacific Ocean in 2004, raising the question of whether reductions in sea ice could increase contact between Arctic and sub-Arctic marine mammals and lead to viral transmission across the Arctic Ocean. Using data on PDV exposure and infection and animal movement in sympatric seal, sea lion, and sea otter species sampled in the North Pacific Ocean from …

Relationships Between Wildfire Burn Severity, Cavity-Nesting Bird Assemblages, And Habitat In An Eastern Ponderosa Pine Forest, Emma C. Keele, Victoria M. Donovan, Caleb P. Roberts, Sarah M. Nodskov, Carissa L. Wonkka, Craig R. Allen, Larkin A. Powell, David A. Wedin, David G. Angeler, Dirac Twidwell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Historically, eastern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests were described as sparse patches of old-growth trees maintained by frequent, low-severity fires; however, in recent decades, there have been a number of large mixed-severity wildfires throughout the range of these forests. Wildlife responses to severe fire disturbance in eastern ponderosa pine forests are not well understood. Our study investigates how cavity-nesting bird species in an eastern ponderosa pine forest are impacted by burn severity. The objectives of our study were to: (1) identify the community composition of cavity-nesting birds in a 27 y old burn of mixed severity, (2) assess …

United States Midwest Soil And Weather Conditions Influence Anaerobic Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen, Jason D. Clark, Kristen S. Veum, Fabian G. Fernandez, James J. Camberato, Paul R. Carter, Richard B. Ferguson, David W. Franzen, Daniel E. Kaiser, Newell R. Kitchen, Carrie A. M. Laboski, Emerson D. Nafziger, Carl J. Rosen, John E. Sawyer, John F. Shanahan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Nitrogen provided to crops through mineralization is an important factor in N management guidelines. Understanding of the interactive effects of soil and weather conditions on N mineralization needs to be improved. Relationships between anaerobic potentially mineralizable N (PMN_an) and soil and weather conditions were evaluated under the contrasting climates of eight US Midwestern states. Soil was sampled (0–30 cm) for PMN_an analysis before pre-plant N application (PP_0N) and at the V5 development stage from the pre-plant 0 (V5_0N) and 180 kg N ha−1 (V5_180N) rates and incubated for 7, 14, and …

Prep Uptake, Adherence, And Persistence: Qualitative Interviews With Women Experiencing Ipv, Ipv Service Providers, And Healthcare Providers, Amy Janet Caplon

Public Health Theses

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been associated with HIV susceptibility and

acquisition. Studies have found that women who had experienced IPV were at least three times more likely to have a diagnosis of HIV. Women are interested in taking PrEP, however barriers to uptake, adherence, and persistence are not widely known, and present knowledge excludes experiences of healthcare providers and IPV service providers. In this qualitative study, we examined the perceived facilitators and possible solutions to PrEP uptake, adherence, and persistence. This was done using a sample of women experiencing IPV, Reproductive Health Providers, PrEP Providers, and IPV service …

Declines In Human Papillomavirus (Hpv) – Associated High-Grade Cervical Neoplasia By Sociodemographic Factors After Introduction Of Hpv Vaccines In Connecticut, Usa 2008-2017, Mike Yepes

Public Health Theses

Abstract

Background: In 2006, the FDA approved the first vaccine against human papillomavirus. Trends in HPV-related sequalae are an effective method of analyzing HPV vaccine impact. Our primary objective was to measure trends in cervical neoplasia based on sociodemographic characteristics including race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Methods: Since 2008, Connecticut has required reporting of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia labeled grade 2+ and adenocarcinoma in situ. CIN 2+ diagnoses trends were modeled by area-based measures of age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status using negative binomial regression and change-point analysis. Incidence rate measurements were adjusted to reflect inclusion of women who had completed …