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Review: Application Of Tick Control Technologies For Blacklegged, Lone Star, And American Dog Ticks, Alexis White, Holly Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Tick population control technologies have been studied for several decades but no method is successful in all situations. The success of each technology depends on tick species identity and abundance, host species identity and abundance, phenology of both ticks and hosts, geographic region, and a multitude of other factors. Here we review current technologies, presenting an overview of each and its effect on three common tick species in the eastern United States: blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis (Say; Ixodida: Ixodidae)), lone star ticks (Amblyomma americanum (Linnaeus; Ixodida: Ixodidae)), and American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis (Say; Ixodida: Ixodidae)). Moreover, …

Drivers Of Post-Fire Vascular Plant Regeneration In The Conifer-Dominated Boreal Forest Of Southern Northwest Territories, Alison White

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In recent years, climate warming has led to an increase in the severity and frequency of naturally occurring fires in boreal ecosystems globally. In 2014, an unprecedented 3.4 million hectares of boreal forest burned in the Northwest Territories (NWT). While much research has focused on post-fire succession of serotinous tree species such as Picea mariana (black spruce) and Pinus banksiana (jack pine), the understory community of vascular plants play an important role in ecosystem functioning but less is known about the response of this component of the system to changing fire regimes. Regeneration strategies such as the ability to resprout …

Oral Glucose Insulin Secretion Test For Identifying Patients With Insulin Resistance, David Kershner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Insulin resistance is an increasing public health issue with the current literature, suggesting reduced sensitivity of insulin leads to adult onset diabetes and associated downstream pathologies that reduce life expectancy. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the ability of the Oral Glucose Insulin Secretion Test (OGIST) to identify insulin resistance and examine differences in the insulin sensitivity based on gender, age, and ethnicity. This study was supported by the insulin resistance theory which focuses on the reduced ability of insulin to bind to the cellular insulin receptor, reducing the sensitivity of insulin. The OGIST lab results of …

Climate Change And Eutrophication: A Short Review, Mohammad Nazari-Sharabian, Sajjad Ahmad, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Water resources are vital not only for human beings but essentially all ecosystems. Human health is at risk if clean drinking water becomes contaminated. Water is also essential for agriculture, manufacturing, energy production and other diverse uses. Therefore, a changing climate and its potential effects put more pressure on water resources. Climate change may cause increased water demand as a result of rising temperatures and evaporation while decreasing water availability. On the other hand, extreme events as a result of climate change can increase surface runoff and flooding, deteriorating water quality as well. One effect is water eutrophication, which occurs …

The Effects Of Growth Hormone In Human Melanoma Cell Lines, Ashiya Buckels

All ETDs from UAB

Melanoma is less common than basal and squamous cell skin cancers, but is the most aggressive form of skin cancer. ~90% of melanomas carry a mutation in the RAS-RAF pathway, which promotes progression by constitutive activation of the extracellular sig-nal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling cascade. BRAF inhibition is an effective line of therapy for advance melanoma, but patients often progress due to the development of several forms of treatment resistance. Therapeutic resistance often results in increased invasion and migration of the cancer into proximal and distant tissues leading to the formation of metastasis. Examination of various cancer genomics data sets using …

An Examination Of Beta Diversity Indices And Their Predictors In Two Large-Scale Systems, Philip Schroeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biodiversity is what conservation biology was developed to conserve. It is the physical manifestation of life as a concept and, be it for practical or idealistic reasons, all conservationists seek to protect or, in some cases, enhance it. Because of its monolithic importance to the field, much effort has been expended trying to better measure and understand it. Recently, greater attention has been paid to the partition of diversity; the observation that the total diversity of a system (γ) can be broken down into within-site diversity (α) and between-site diversity (β). In particular, it has been noticed that the β …

Detection And Correction Of Case-Publication Bias, Edward K. Cheng

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The article proceeds as follows. Section 2 motivates the study by de scribing the reasons why case publication bias may be especially acute in the evidentiary context. Section 3 discusses methods for detecting and correcting publication bias. It surveys existing approaches, introduces the intuition behind MSE, and then develops a series of detection models. Section 4 turns to applications. To validate the method, I first apply the proposed model to simulated data sets in which I control the level of publication bias present. I then apply the model to a newly compiled data set of evidentiary rulings dealing with false …

Weathering The Storm: Effects Of Storm Periods On Ancient Populations Of Coastal Florida, Brett Parbus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding human response to natural disasters is a core problem for environmental archaeologists. Hurricanes are often devastating to coastal populations, and recognizing behavioral change in response to these major storm events provides context for the resilience and adaptability of ancient coastal people. This research project focuses on retrodicting periods of increased storm frequency and intensity for regions of the Florida coast and comparing those storm periods to the existing archaeological record in order to determine if there are correlations between increased storminess and periods of site abandonment and/or changes in subsistence strategy. These potential correlations may aid in our understanding …

Benthic Habitat Mapping And Its Applications To Coastal Resource Management, Monique Lafrance Bartley

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three chapters focused on benthic habitat mapping of coastal waters within northeast region of the United States to support science-based regulatory and management strategies. The first chapter is entitled: Shallow water benthic habitat mapping utilizing the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) to establish baseline conditions post-Hurricane Sandy at Fire Island National Seashore, New York. In response to Hurricane Sandy, a benthic habitat mapping study was conducted at Fire Island National Seashore (FIIS), New York, representing one of the first comprehensive mapping efforts undertaken by the National Park Service. FIIS was of particular interest …

Effects Of Management On Functional Diversity In Restored Tallgrass Prairie Plant Communities, Anna K. Farrell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

While recent studies have embraced evaluating ecosystems through functional diversity, the focus on interspecific trait changes may limit their usefulness and application. Functional traits (traits that explain species’ responses to environmental conditions and their ecosystem roles) can provide a more nuanced understanding of how disturbances shape plant communities and the functions they perform. Further, the inclusion of intraspecific trait responses can explain a significant portion of these relationships. In ecosystem restorations, management strategies can act as environmental drivers and disturbances that affect community structure. This study examined how three environmental drivers (grazer presence, prescribed fire, and age) in restored grasslands …

Dietary Constraints And Strategies In The Red-Bellied Lemur (Eulemur Rubriventer), And Their Implications For Conservation, Amanda Marie Du Bour

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Understanding the diet of the vulnerable red-bellied lemur ( Eulemur rubriventer) is essential for preventing its extinction. Previous E. rubriventer research focused on populations in Ranomafana National Park, located in the southeast part of the island, making research in other forest locations a priority for the understanding of dietary breadth and constraints in this species. My research questions consider whether protein is the nutritional driver for foraging choices in E. rubriventer, how fiber influences cathemeral activity, and seasonal variability in day and night time dietary items. My research team and I identified the plant and animal species that composed a …

Does Excluding A Top Mesopredator Induce A Trophic Cascade : Effects And Diet Of An Omnivorous Predator In A Restored Prairie, Kirstie Savage

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Predators can shape prey communities through consumptive and non-consumptive interactions. By inducing fear of predation, predators can cause changes to prey foraging behavior that can negatively impact prey reproduction and body-condition. Furthermore, both consumptive (density-mediated) and non-consumptive (trait-mediated) predator-prey interactions can cascade down the food web to have indirect impacts of vegetation (trophic cascade). As we continue to lose apex predators and undergo land change, understanding how the new top dogs shape prey communities and restorations is increasingly important. Through utilizing predator-exclosure fences, mark-recapture analysis, plant biomass and stable isotopes we evaluated the role of coyotes as top mesopredator in …

Under Pressure: Explaining Backlash Against Civil Society In The Andean Community, Noah Anders Levine

Pomona Senior Theses

In this thesis, I consider the trend of increasing backlash against civil society around the world. I focus on Ecuador and Peru, both democratic countries that have placed restrictions on NGOs receiving foreign funding. I examine both countries in terms of changes over time in the regulatory environment for NGOs. I ask: What factors motivated these changes? I analyze the countries with respect to three possible explanations: defending sovereignty against foreign powers, stifling internal dissent, and seeking rents. In answering this question, I draw upon the laws in question, press releases, and news reports as well as interviews with NGO …

Annual Climate Impacts On Tree Growth And Post-Fire Regeneration In Ponderosa Pine And Douglas-Fir In The Northern Rocky Mountains, Lacey Hankin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Widespread changes in climate and disturbance regimes, including prolonged drought and increases in the size and frequency of wildfires, have raised concerns regarding forest resilience to environmental change. Dry mixed-conifer forests have persisted for centuries under mixed-severity fire regimes; however, climatically driven increases in the frequency of large wildfires in recent decades may lead to increased tree mortality and declines in post-fire tree regeneration. Climatic warming and increased drought may also impact tree growth, with implications for the carbon cycle. Lower-treeline forests near the edge of their climatic tolerance may be particularly vulnerable to these impacts of future climate warming …

Managing Mining Pollution: The Case Of Water Quality Governance In The Transboundary Kootenai/Y, Ashley Juric

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis addresses current water quality management challenges in the transboundary Kootenai/y River Basin, and how these challenges are shaped by historical, economic, political, and social factors. The water quality of this basin, both in the United State and Canada, has been severely affected by coal mining that has occurred in British Columbia over the last hundred years and continues to be threatened by several proposed mining expansion projects. The goals of this research are to uncover the forces shaping water management and to determine the potential for interested and affected parties to participate in crafting water quality protection measures. …

Biotic Pulses, Bryotic Pulses And The Effects Of Mosses On Communities And Ecosystems, Mandy Lynn Slate

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Non-vascular mosses are known to be ecologically influential and structure communities through their physiological and physical attributes. My dissertation had two objectives. The first goal was to understand how fundamental differences in the physiology of mosses might drive much of their ecological impact. Mosses frequently and rapidly fluctuate between dehydration and rehydration. During these transitions, the cellular integrity of moss is compromised and intra-cellular contents (carbohydrates, amino acids, and ionic compounds) are released. Thus during wet-dry transition periods, mosses have the potential to release pulses of nutrients which may have important effects on other species. However, few studies have explored …

Conflicting Hydraulic Effects Of Xylem Pit Structure Relate To The Growth-Longevity Tradeoff In A Conifer Species, Beth Roskilly

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Consistent with a ubiquitous life history tradeoff, trees exhibit a negative relationship between growth and longevity among and within species. However, the mechanistic basis of this life history tradeoff is not well understood. In addition to tradeoffs among multiple traits based on resource allocation conflicts, life history tradeoffs may arise from tradeoffs based on single traits under opposing selection. While a myriad of factors likely contribute to the growth-longevity tradeoff in trees, we hypothesized that conflicting functional effects of xylem structural traits contribute to the growth-longevity tradeoff. We tested this hypothesis by examining the extent to which xylem morphological traits …

Several Household Chemical Exposures Are Associated With Pediatric‐Onset Multiple Sclerosis, Soe Mar, Manu Goyal, Et Al

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Fine-Scale Habitat Comparison Of Two Sympatric Cottontail Species In Eastern Connecticut, Amy E. Gottfried Mayer, Thomas J. Mcgreevy Jr., Mary E. Sullivan, Bill Buffum, Thomas P. Husband

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Changing landscapes in the Northeastern United States over the past century have had a profound effect on the abundance and distribution of native wildlife species that prefer early successional habitat, including New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). Populations of New England cottontail have been in decline for several decades, whereas during this same time period the nonnative eastern cottontail (S. floridanus) range has expanded. We conducted intensive vegetation analyses at 17 known locations of New England cottontail and 19 known locations of eastern cottontail in Connecticut to better describe their chosen habitat and identify any difference in habitat used by the …

Effect Of Socioeconomic And Neighborhood Factors On Stroke Hospitalization Rate In Virginia, Esther Musu Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The stroke rate in Virginia is above the national rate. Stroke results in poor quality health, morbidity, and mortality. This quantitative epidemiological study was conducted to investigate whether a significant association exists between stroke and (a) socioeconomic and (b) neighborhood factors among people who were admitted to Virginia hospitals between 2010 and 2015. An ecological design, including ecosocial theory, was used to examine associations between environmental factors and stroke. Data (746 census output areas) were acquired using patients' billing zip codes from the Virginia Health Information System in combination with socioeconomic and neighborhood data by Zip Code Tabulation Area from …

From Rhetoric To Response: Climate Change, Conflict, And Development In Karamoja, Uganda, Daniel Abrahams

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the broad question: How do the discourses of climate change and conflict travel across time and space to become policy, programming, and ultimately a development initiative that exist on the ground? To answer this question, I broke the research into three separate papers. The first examines how the US policy community approaches, understands and seeks to address the discourses of climatesecurity. The second examines the ways in which climate change affects conflict outcomes in Karamoja, Uganda. And the third, using the efforts of Mercy Corps in Karamoja as a case study, examines the realities and opportunities in …

Economic Resilience In Great Britain: An Examination Of The Determinants Of The 2008 Crisis Impact On Gb's Local Authority Districts, Anastasios Kitsos

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

In 2008, a severe economic crisis hit economies around the world. Its effects included a significant loss of GDP and employment which led to several social ills associated with recessions. However, the crisis did not impact all places with the same severity. This thesis investigates the crisis impact across GB Local Authority Districts during 2008-2014 within a framework that utilises the concept of economic resilience. However, this concept does not have a universally accepted definition or methodology of investigation. Hence, the study adopts an operational definition, comparing the conditions in local labour markets before and after the start of the …

Sibling Rivalry: A Comparison Of Giant Panda (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca) Twin Behavior, Taryn Chudo

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Expanded knowledge on an animal’s individual behavior would be useful in reintroduction programs for endangered species around the globe. Currently, reintroduction program criteria focus primarily on physical characteristics such as age, sex, and overall health for the selection of candidates. However, behavioral deficiencies have been found in captive populations, producing adverse effects on reintroduction program success. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a species that would benefit from understanding the impact of behavior on reintroduction success. This study focused on the relationship of behavior with kinship, birth weight and age. No significant correlation was found between birth weight …

Long-Term Impact Of Childhood Hepatitis B Vaccination Programs On Prevalence Among Aboriginal And Non-Aboriginal Women Giving Birth In Western Australia, Joanne Reekie, John M. Kaldor, Donna B. Mak, James Ward, Basil Donovan, Jane S. Hocking, David Preen, Bette Liu

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Background/Aims: To evaluate the long-term effect of infant and childhood hepatitis B (HBV) vaccination programs among birthing women in Western Australia.

Methods: A cohort of Western Australian women born from 1974 to 1995 was created using Birth Registrations and Electoral Roll records. They were linked to a perinatal register and notifiable diseases register to identify women having respectively their first births between 2000 and 2012 and diagnoses of HBV infections. HBV prevalence was estimated in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women, and according to maternal birth year cohorts.

Results: Of 66,073 women, 155 (0.23%) had a linked non-acute HBV notification. HBV prevalence …

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs And Opioid Poisoning: Evaluating The Impact Of Prescriber Use Mandates On Prescription Opioid Poisoning Emergency Department Visits, Sarah Almanie

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are one strategy established to curb the prescription opioid abuse epidemic. Prescriber use mandates has emerged as a promising practice to increase PDMPs impact on prescription opioid abuse; however, evidence of its effectiveness has not yet been established. Kentucky was the first state to implement comprehensive prescriber use mandates in July 2012.

Objective: To assess the relationship between prescriber use mandates policy and emergency department (ED) visits related to prescription opioid poisoning among adults in Kentucky and

North Carolina. Secondary aim: to evaluate the economic impact of prescriber use mandates in Kentucky.

Methods: A …

Importance Of Moss Habitats For Mesostigmatid Mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) In Romania, Minodora Manu, Raluca Ioana Bancila, Marilena Onete

Turkish Journal of Zoology

This study aimed to characterize the composition of soil mite populations (Acari: Mesostigmata) from 3 moss habitats (rock moss, bark moss, and soil moss). In total, 15 natural forest ecosystems were analyzed (3 deciduous forests, 5 beech forests, 1 fir forest, 5 spruce forests, and 1 mixed forest), from 8 counties in Romania. A total of 240 soil samples, 97 species, and 3018 individuals were analyzed. The samples were taken from April 2012 until October 2013. The highest numerical abundance and species diversity was found in the soil moss, in comparison with bark moss, where the lowest values were recorded. …

Mesostigmata Mites (Acari: Parasitiformes) Associated With Birds And Their Nests From, Mohamed Waleed Negm, Azza Abdelgawad Mohamed, Hosam Mohamed Khalil El-Gepaly, Safaa Mohamed Abdelaziz

Turkish Journal of Zoology

A survey of gamasid mites (Arachnida: Acari: Mesostigmata) associated with domestic and wild birds in Egypt was conducted. In total, 16 species within 10 families were collected from 22 bird species. The most abundant species belonged to the genera Dermanyssus Dugès (Dermanyssidae), Ornithonyssus Sambon, and Steatonyssus Kolenati (both Macronyssidae). Among various birds examined, the distribution and occurrence of mites were recorded. Taxonomic remarks about the morphology of the collected mites are presented to facilitate species discrimination for non-acarologists. Steatonyssus longipes Radovsky & Yunker, 1963, previously described as a new species from the Egyptian slit-faced bat, Nycteris thebaica Geoffroy (Chiroptera), is …

Variations In Afrolaophonte Pori Masry, 1970 (Copepoda: Harpacticoida: Laophontidae): A Contribution Towards The Revision Of The Genus, Serdar Sönmez, Süphan Karaytuğ, Serdar Sak, Alp Alper

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Afrolaophonte pori was originally described from the interstitial habitats of Israel and subsequently reported from Italy and the Aegean coasts of Turkey. It is the only representative of the genus in the Mediterranean Sea. The aim of this study is to present a detailed redescription of A. pori based on extensive material from different parts of the species' range to provide geographic distributional data and to reveal variations within and between the populations. We have examined numerous specimens collected from the Aegean and Mediterranean Turkish coasts and have presented a detailed redescription of both sexes. Despite the fact that the …

Climate Metric Coherence: Stationarity Of The Relationships Between North Pacific Climate Indices And Ecological Processes In The Gulf Of Alaska, Michael Opiekun

Theses and Dissertations

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) has been used to characterize the dominant basin-scale climate variability, in the North Pacific. The PDO index has been correlated to Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) population dynamics in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) during the late 1900s, but the stationarity of the statistical relationships between salmon production and the basin-scale index (and between the regional physical processes and the basin-scale index) has not been quantified. A change in the relationship between the PDO and salmon catches has been noted during the late 1980s, motivating further investigation of variability in climate and ecosystem properties during this …

Towards A Better Understanding Of Paleoindian Native American Settlement In Southern Ohio: A Multi-Scalar Approach, Matthew P Purtill

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

No abstract provided.