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2015

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Articles 691 - 720 of 1751

Full-Text Articles in Biology

The Origin Of Fleas And The Genesis Of Plague, Alan L. Gillen May 2015

The Origin Of Fleas And The Genesis Of Plague, Alan L. Gillen

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human history has been riddled by diseases spread by flea vectors including the bubonic plague. Recently, Madagascar has documented more than 100 cases. Fleas were part of God’s “very good” (Genesis 1:31) creation that transformed to an ectoparasitic condition after the Curse. Creation biologists continue to synthesize a working model of this conversion from environmental recyclers to parasites as a secondary state. Morphological design of the flea combined with its unique feeding ability has resulted in it being an exceptional vector for Yersinia pestis, the causative bacterium of the plague.

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Applications Of Latin Hypercube Sampling Scheme And Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient Analysis To Mathematical Models On Wound Healing, Hannah M. Pennington May 2015

Applications Of Latin Hypercube Sampling Scheme And Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient Analysis To Mathematical Models On Wound Healing, Hannah M. Pennington

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Latin hypercube sampling and Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient procedure (LHS/PRCC) can be used in combination to perform a sensitivity analysis that assesses a model over a global parameter space. Through this analysis, the uncertainty of the parameters and therefore the variability of the model output in response to this uncertainty can be observed. Latin hypercube sampling divides the parameter space into equiprobable regions and sample without replacement, producing a global, unbiased selection of parameter values. For montonic, non-linear relationships, the correlation between the outputs and parameters can be understood by performing a Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient procedure. This sensitivity analysis …

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The Effects Of New Materials And Teaching Methodologies On Low-Level Biology Courses, Rebecca L. Garrison May 2015

The Effects Of New Materials And Teaching Methodologies On Low-Level Biology Courses, Rebecca L. Garrison

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A new generation has entered higher education that learns differently from generations before. To meet the changing needs of this generation, Western Kentucky University’s Biology Department introduced e-textbooks and e-materials from McGraw Hill™ publishing in the fall of 2013 to most low-level classes. A foreseen product of this shift was a change in the way that some faculty taught and assessed their classes. This study assesses the changes in pedagogical techniques among professors of 100- and 200-level biology classes due to the new e-text and e-materials. Syllabi were collected from these classes pre- and post-implementation and common characteristics were inductively …

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The Effects Of Simulated Jet-Lag And Running-Wheel Access On The Symptoms Of Type-2 Diabetes In Tallyho/Jngj Mice, Nara F. Nascimento May 2015

The Effects Of Simulated Jet-Lag And Running-Wheel Access On The Symptoms Of Type-2 Diabetes In Tallyho/Jngj Mice, Nara F. Nascimento

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common form of human diabetes, accounting for about 90% of all cases and affecting about 27.85 million Americans. It is often accompanied by hyperglycemia and obesity. Diabetes has been linked to circadian rhythms (a 24-hour long daily biological clock) as it can affect critical clock genes and disruptions in the rhythm can lead to increased possibility of developing the disorder. Despite the connections between T2DM and the biological clock, there is still a gap of knowledge concerning how biological clock disruptions specifically affect body weight, blood glucose, and insulin levels in T2DM …

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Analysis Of Seed Preference Trials Of Red Veld Rats And Smith's Bush Squirrels And Trap Effectiveness In The Lowveld Of South Africa, Brooke A. Barber May 2015

Analysis Of Seed Preference Trials Of Red Veld Rats And Smith's Bush Squirrels And Trap Effectiveness In The Lowveld Of South Africa, Brooke A. Barber

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Large tree species in South Africa face reproductive decline, especially older trees that provide ecosystem connectivity. Management of Balule Nature Reserve, an extensive private nature reserve in South Africa, wanted to investigate the roles rodents play in the recruitment and survival of select tree species. Two large tree species of concern, marula (Sclerocarya birrea) and knobthorn acacia (Acacia nigrescens) are dominant, habitat providers and red bushwillow (Combretum apiculatum) is a smaller and more common, prolific seed producer. I investigated whether rodents, specifically red veld rats and Smith’s bush squirrels, may play a detrimental role …

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Seed Preference Trials Of Namaqua Rock Mice And Rodent Density In The Lowveld Savanna Of South Africa, Whitney L. Walker May 2015

Seed Preference Trials Of Namaqua Rock Mice And Rodent Density In The Lowveld Savanna Of South Africa, Whitney L. Walker

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Large trees important in the South African savanna are in decline. Initially, climate change and elephants were thought to be the cause. However, all reasons for the decline are unknown. I investigated how Namaqua rock mice potentially affect recruitment of tree seedlings through seed predation in South Africa. I used live traps to capture rodents during the dry season of June-August on Balule Nature Reserve (BNR). I exposed the mice to seed preference trials in enclosures to determine if they would eat seeds of three target tree species; marula (Sclerocarya birrea), knobthorn acacia (Acacia nigrescens), and …

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Dietary Overlap Of Native White Bass And Introduced Yellow Bass In Barren River, Micaela L. Montgomery May 2015

Dietary Overlap Of Native White Bass And Introduced Yellow Bass In Barren River, Micaela L. Montgomery

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the Barren River Lake of south central Kentucky, native white bass, Morone chrysops, has experienced a decline in population after the introduction of yellow bass, Morone mississippiensis. These species are competing for resources due to an overlapping diet, likely contributing to the decline of the white bass. To explore this hypothesis, I examined the stomach contents and otoliths of white and yellow bass caught during their spawning time in spring 2012. There were 40 yellow bass and 128 white bass collected in Barren River upstream of Barren River Lake. Analysis of stomach contents revealed that both white and …

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Cytoskeletal Dynamics: A View From The Membrane, Magdalena Bezanilla, Amy S. Gladfelter, David R. Kovar, Wei-Lih Lee May 2015

Cytoskeletal Dynamics: A View From The Membrane, Magdalena Bezanilla, Amy S. Gladfelter, David R. Kovar, Wei-Lih Lee

Dartmouth Scholarship

Many aspects of cytoskeletal assembly and dynamics can be recapitulated in vitro; yet, how the cytoskeleton integrates signals in vivo across cellular membranes is far less understood. Recent work has demonstrated that the membrane alone, or through membrane-associated proteins, can effect dynamic changes to the cytoskeleton, thereby impacting cell physiology. Having identified mechanistic links between membranes and the actin, microtubule, and septin cytoskeletons, these studies highlight the membrane’s central role in coordinating these cytoskeletal systems to carry out essential processes, such as endocytosis, spindle positioning, and cellular compartmentalization.

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Gene Expression Associated With White Syndromes In A Reef Building Coral, Acropora Hyacinthus, Rachel M. Wright, Galina V. Aglyamova, Eli Meyer, Mikhail V. Matz May 2015

Gene Expression Associated With White Syndromes In A Reef Building Coral, Acropora Hyacinthus, Rachel M. Wright, Galina V. Aglyamova, Eli Meyer, Mikhail V. Matz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Corals are capable of launching diverse immune defenses at the site of direct contact with pathogens, but the molecular mechanisms of this activity and the colony-wide effects of such stressors remain poorly understood. Here we compared gene expression profiles in eight healthy Acropora hyacinthus colonies against eight colonies exhibiting tissue loss commonly associated with white syndromes, all collected from a natural reef environment near Palau. Two types of tissues were sampled from diseased corals: visibly affected and apparently healthy. Results: Tag-based RNA-Seq followed by weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified groups of co-regulated differentially expressed genes between all health …

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Characterization Of Cell-Type Specific Responses In C. Elegans Experiencing Misfolded Protein Stress: How Do Some Cells Save Themselves While Others Die?, Courtney A. Matson, Erin N. Wallace May 2015

Characterization Of Cell-Type Specific Responses In C. Elegans Experiencing Misfolded Protein Stress: How Do Some Cells Save Themselves While Others Die?, Courtney A. Matson, Erin N. Wallace

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

To maintain viability, cells must resolve misfolded protein stress; the inability to do so often triggers cell death, most notably in neurons during neurodegenerative disease. The NAC is a highly conserved translational chaperone essential for protein folding and localization to organelles throughout the cell. In C. elegans, depletion of the NAC initiates misfolded protein stress specifically in the endoplasmic reticulum, inducing a response that upregulates the HSP-4 chaperone in an attempt to prevent cell death. This upregulation is robust but not uniform, and deficient in regions containing neurons. We are characterizing this non-uniform stress response to determine if HSP-4 upregulation …

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Comparative Analysis Of Anti-Bd Bacteria From Six Malagasy Frog Species Of Ranomafana National Park, Kelsey Savage May 2015

Comparative Analysis Of Anti-Bd Bacteria From Six Malagasy Frog Species Of Ranomafana National Park, Kelsey Savage

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

As Malagasy amphibians are facing an impending extinction crisis from the lethal skin fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), it has become imperative to proactively mitigate the threat. Bd sporangia develop in the skin of infected amphibians and cause the skin to thicken, leading to ionic imbalance and eventual heart failure. It has been shown that certain bacterial species are able to inhibit Bd growth on amphibians by producing antifungal metabolites. Community-based probiotics are one approach used to combat chytridomycosis by inoculating an environment with Bd-inhibitory bacteria so that many amphibian species are treated at once. With this method, it is important …

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Wrong Plus Wrong Equals Right: Exploring The Interaction Between Bacteriophage T7 Exonuclease And Ssdna-Binding Protein Using Suppressor Mutations, Stephanie Delzell May 2015

Wrong Plus Wrong Equals Right: Exploring The Interaction Between Bacteriophage T7 Exonuclease And Ssdna-Binding Protein Using Suppressor Mutations, Stephanie Delzell

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

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Fishing For A Sustainable Future: Aquaponics As A Method Of Food Production, Richard Ramsundar May 2015

Fishing For A Sustainable Future: Aquaponics As A Method Of Food Production, Richard Ramsundar

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis compares and explains the advantages aquaponics farming has over modern industrial intensive farming. Through a comparison natural capital usage, conservation, recycling and cost, the thesis advocates for the expansion of aquaponics usage in urban settings. The thesis also explains the history of intensive farming and aquaponics in America, the science of how aquaponics operates, the economic and environmental costs of modern intensive farming versus aquaponics farming, and the social implications of aquaponics. Lastly, I propose a policy that reallocates farm subsidies by modifying the Farm Bill. Then I propose policies that support creating a new standard of farm …

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Trypanosoma Cruzi Prevalence In The Domestic Canine Population In Central And Eastern Kentucky, Katelyn Cox May 2015

Trypanosoma Cruzi Prevalence In The Domestic Canine Population In Central And Eastern Kentucky, Katelyn Cox

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Domestic canines are regarded as natural sentinelsfor the transmission of vector-borne pathogens since infection in an owner’s dog suggests the presence of the vector in or around the household. In collaboration with the University of Kentucky’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Lexington, Kentucky, we have investigated the prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi (the causative agent of Chagas disease) in canines from central and eastern Kentucky via a serological test, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and DNA sequencing. In addition, Canine SNAP 4Dx plus tests (Idexx Laboratories, Inc.) were used to determine the prevalence of four other vector-borne pathogens: Ehrlichia canis/ewingii, Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma …

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The Spinning Apparatus Of Webspinners – Functional-Morphology, Morphometrics And Spinning Behaviour, Sebastian Büsse, Thomas Hörnschemeyer, Kyle Hohu, David Mcmillan, Janice Edgerly-Rooks May 2015

The Spinning Apparatus Of Webspinners – Functional-Morphology, Morphometrics And Spinning Behaviour, Sebastian Büsse, Thomas Hörnschemeyer, Kyle Hohu, David Mcmillan, Janice Edgerly-Rooks

Biology

Webspinners (Insecta: Embioptera) have a distinctly unique behaviour with related morphological characteristics. Producing silk with the basitarsomeres of their forelegs plays a crucial role in the lives of these insects – providing shelter and protection. The correlation between body size, morphology and morphometrics of the spinning apparatus and the spinning behaviour of Embioptera was investigated for seven species using state-of-the-art methodology for behavioural as well as for morphological approaches. Independent contrast analysis revealed correlations between morphometric characters and body size. Larger webspinners in this study have glands with greater reservoir volume, but in proportionally smaller tarsi relative to body size …

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Alzheimer's Disease And The Importance Of Music Therapy, Patricia Kautenberger May 2015

Alzheimer's Disease And The Importance Of Music Therapy, Patricia Kautenberger

Celebration of Learning

Worldwide, statistics suggest that by the year 2050 as many as 80 million individuals will be living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Because current pharmacological interventions can only slow its progression, the pathology eventually overcomes the benefits of the medications, thus leaving a deficit in long-term treatment. However, the preservation of the brain’s ability to work with and benefit from music has created a window of opportunity for an alternative treatment. Music therapy has been shown to be a promising alternative treatment because it has very little risk, and studies suggest that it is effective in improving familiarity and recollection in …

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Spatial Ecology, Genetic Diversity And Population Structure Of Armenian Vipers, Montivipera Raddei, In Two Different Landscapes, Jeffery Alan Ettling May 2015

Spatial Ecology, Genetic Diversity And Population Structure Of Armenian Vipers, Montivipera Raddei, In Two Different Landscapes, Jeffery Alan Ettling

Dissertations

In an effort to gain a better understanding of the impact that human-modified landscapes are having on snake populations I studied the spatial ecology, gene diversity and population structure of the Armenian Viper, Montivipera raddei in two different landscapes in Armenia. We first examined the spatial ecology and habitat use of Armenian Vipers in a human-modified landscape with a combination of agricultural fields and overgrazed native steppe habitat. While there were no differences in movement rates for either sex through croplands compared to steppe, we did find that males had larger home ranges during the spring if it included cropland. …

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E151 (Sym15), A Pleiotropic Mutant Of Pea (Pisum Sativum L.), Displays Low Nodule Number, Enhanced Mycorrhizae, Delayed Lateral Root Emergence, And High Root Cytokinin Levels, James M.C. Jones, Lindsey Clairmont, Emily S. Macdonald, Catherine A. Weiner, R.J. Neil Emery, Frédérique C. Guinel May 2015

E151 (Sym15), A Pleiotropic Mutant Of Pea (Pisum Sativum L.), Displays Low Nodule Number, Enhanced Mycorrhizae, Delayed Lateral Root Emergence, And High Root Cytokinin Levels, James M.C. Jones, Lindsey Clairmont, Emily S. Macdonald, Catherine A. Weiner, R.J. Neil Emery, Frédérique C. Guinel

Biology Faculty Publications

In legumes, the formation of rhizobial and mycorrhizal root symbioses is a highly regulated process which requires close communication between plant and microorganism. Plant mutants that have difficulties establishing symbioses are valuable tools for unravelling the mechanisms by which these symbioses are formed and regulated. Here E151, a mutant of Pisum sativum cv. Sparkle, was examined to characterize its root growth and symbiotic defects. The symbioses in terms of colonization intensity, functionality of micro-symbionts, and organ dominance were compared between the mutant and wild type. The endogenous cytokinin (CK) and abscisic acid (ABA) levels and the effect of the exogenous …

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Short Germ Insects Utilize Both The Ancestral And Derived Mode Of Polycomb Group-Mediated Epigenetic Silencing Of Hox Genes, Yuji Matsuoka, Tetsuya Bando, Takahito Watanabe, Yoshiyasu Ishimaru, Sumihare Noji, Aleksander Popadic, Taro Mito May 2015

Short Germ Insects Utilize Both The Ancestral And Derived Mode Of Polycomb Group-Mediated Epigenetic Silencing Of Hox Genes, Yuji Matsuoka, Tetsuya Bando, Takahito Watanabe, Yoshiyasu Ishimaru, Sumihare Noji, Aleksander Popadic, Taro Mito

Biological Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In insect species that undergo long germ segmentation, such as Drosophila, all segments are specified simultaneously at the early blastoderm stage. As embryogenesis progresses, the expression boundaries of Hox genes are established by repression of gap genes, which is subsequently replaced by Polycomb group (PcG) silencing. At present, however, it is not known whether patterning occurs this way in a more ancestral (short germ) mode of embryogenesis, where segments are added gradually during posterior elongation. In this study, two members of the PcG family, Enhancer of zeste (E(z)) and Suppressor of zeste 12 (Su(z)12), were analyzed in the …

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The Effect Of Dissolved Polyunsaturated Aldehydes On Microzooplankton Growth Rates In The Chesapeake Bay And Atlantic Coastal Waters, Peter J. Lavrentyev, Gayantonia Franze, James J. Pierson, Diane K. Stoecker May 2015

The Effect Of Dissolved Polyunsaturated Aldehydes On Microzooplankton Growth Rates In The Chesapeake Bay And Atlantic Coastal Waters, Peter J. Lavrentyev, Gayantonia Franze, James J. Pierson, Diane K. Stoecker

Biology Faculty Research

Allelopathy is wide spread among marine phytoplankton, including diatoms, which can produce cytotoxic secondary metabolites such as polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUA). Most studies on diatom-produced PUA have been dedicated to their inhibitory effects on reproduction and development of marine invertebrates. However, little information exists on their impact on key herbivores in the ocean, microzooplankton. This study examined the effects of dissolved 2E,4E-octadienal and 2E,4E-heptadienal on the growth rates of natural ciliate and dinoflagellate populations in the Chesapeake Bay and the coastal Atlantic waters. The overall effect of PUA on microzooplankton growth was negative, …

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Biological Sciences Newsletter - May 2015, Department Of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University May 2015

Biological Sciences Newsletter - May 2015, Department Of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University

Biological Sciences Newsletters

No abstract provided.

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Inactivation Of Mandelate Racemase By 3-Hydroxypyruvate Reveals A Potential Mechanistic Link Between Enzyme Superfamilies, Mitesh Nagar, Brittney N. Wyatt, Martin St. Maurice, Stephen L. Bearne May 2015

Inactivation Of Mandelate Racemase By 3-Hydroxypyruvate Reveals A Potential Mechanistic Link Between Enzyme Superfamilies, Mitesh Nagar, Brittney N. Wyatt, Martin St. Maurice, Stephen L. Bearne

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Mandelate racemase (MR), a member of the enolase superfamily, catalyzes the Mg2+-dependent interconversion of the enantiomers of mandelate. Several α-keto acids are modest competitive inhibitors of MR [e.g., mesoxalate (Ki = 1.8 ± 0.3 mM) and 3-fluoropyruvate (Ki = 1.3 ± 0.1 mM)], but, surprisingly, 3-hydroxypyruvate (3-HP) is an irreversible, time-dependent inhibitor (kinact/KI = 83 ± 8 M–1 s–1). Protection from inactivation by the competitive inhibitor benzohydroxamate, trypsinolysis and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry analyses, and X-ray crystallographic studies reveal that 3-HP undergoes Schiff-base formation with …

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Divergence Of Vertebrate And Insect Specific Toxin Genes Between Three Species Of Widow Spider, Shannon G. Kahn May 2015

Divergence Of Vertebrate And Insect Specific Toxin Genes Between Three Species Of Widow Spider, Shannon G. Kahn

Honors College Theses

The Brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus, is an introduced species to the southern United States (Brown 2008). The Brown widow is a member of the widow spider genus Latrodectus which includes the southern Black widow (L. mactans) and 29 other venomous species. All species of widow spiders produce venom which is used against both predator and prey. These venoms are composed of several different species-specific toxins, each encoded by a different gene (Graudins 2012). Previous research has shown that positive selection pressures affect the venom of snakes and snails, thus aiding in adaptive potential of the species …

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Environmental Processing In Meiothermus Ruber: The Inorganic Phosphate Abc Transporter, Mich A. Gehrig Jr., Emma M. Segura-Fernandez, Dr. Lori Scott May 2015

Environmental Processing In Meiothermus Ruber: The Inorganic Phosphate Abc Transporter, Mich A. Gehrig Jr., Emma M. Segura-Fernandez, Dr. Lori Scott

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Bioinformatics analysis of M. ruber

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Bio-Inspired Structural Colors Produced Via Self-Assembly Of Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles, Ming Xiao, Yiwen Li, Michael C. Allen, Dimitri D. Deheyn, Xiujun Yue, Jiuzhou Zhao, Nathan C. Gianneschi, Matthew D. Shawkey, Ali Dhinojwala May 2015

Bio-Inspired Structural Colors Produced Via Self-Assembly Of Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles, Ming Xiao, Yiwen Li, Michael C. Allen, Dimitri D. Deheyn, Xiujun Yue, Jiuzhou Zhao, Nathan C. Gianneschi, Matthew D. Shawkey, Ali Dhinojwala

Polymer Science Faculty Research

Structural colors arising from interactions of light with submicron scale periodic structures have been found in many species across all taxa, serving multiple biological functions including sexual signaling, camouflage, and aposematism. Directly inspired by the extensive use of self-assembled melanosomes to produce colors in avian feathers, we set out to synthesize and assemble polydopamine-based synthetic melanin nanoparticles in an effort to fabricate colored films. We have quantitatively demonstrated that synthetic melanin nanoparticles have a high refractive index and broad absorption spanning across the UV–visible range, similar to natural melanins. Utilizing a thin-film interference model, we demonstrated the coloration mechanism of …

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Genetic Diversity In Oxytocin Ligands And Receptors In New World Monkeys, Dongren Ren, Guoqing Lu, Hideaki Moriyama, Aaryn C. Mustoe, Emily B. Harrison, Jeffrey French May 2015

Genetic Diversity In Oxytocin Ligands And Receptors In New World Monkeys, Dongren Ren, Guoqing Lu, Hideaki Moriyama, Aaryn C. Mustoe, Emily B. Harrison, Jeffrey French

Biology Faculty Publications

Oxytocin (OXT) is an important neurohypophyseal hormone that influences wide spectrum of reproductive and social processes. Eutherian mammals possess a highly conserved sequence of OXT (Cys-Tyr-Ile-Gln-Asn-Cys-Pro-Leu-Gly). However, in this study, we sequenced the coding region for OXT in 22 species covering all New World monkeys (NWM) genera and clades, and characterize five OXT variants, including consensus mammalian Leu8-OXT, major variant Pro8-OXT, and three previously unreported variants: Ala8-OXT, Thr8-OXT, and Phe2-OXT. Pro8-OXT shows clear structural and physicochemical differences from Leu8-OXT. We report multiple predicted amino …

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Section Abstracts: Biology With Microbiology And Molecular Biology May 2015

Section Abstracts: Biology With Microbiology And Molecular Biology

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Biology with Microbiology and Molecular Biology Section for the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 21-23, 2015, James Madison University, Richmond, Virginia

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Section Abstracts: Natural History And Biodiversity May 2015

Section Abstracts: Natural History And Biodiversity

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Natural History and Biodiversity Section for the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 21-23, 2015, James Madison University, Richmond, Virginia

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A Unifying Gravity Framework For Dispersal, Eelke Jongejans, Olav Skarpaas, Matthew J. Ferrari, Eric S. Long, Joseph T. Dauer, Carrie M. Schwarz, Emily S.J. Rauschert, Randa Jabbour, David A. Mortensen, Scott A. Isard, David A. Lieb, Zeynep Sezen, Andrew G. Hulting, Katriona Shea May 2015

A Unifying Gravity Framework For Dispersal, Eelke Jongejans, Olav Skarpaas, Matthew J. Ferrari, Eric S. Long, Joseph T. Dauer, Carrie M. Schwarz, Emily S.J. Rauschert, Randa Jabbour, David A. Mortensen, Scott A. Isard, David A. Lieb, Zeynep Sezen, Andrew G. Hulting, Katriona Shea

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Most organisms disperse at some life-history stage, but different research traditions to study dispersal have evolved in botany, zoology, and epidemiology. In this paper, we synthesize concepts, principles, patterns, and processes in dispersal across organisms. We suggest a consistent conceptual framework for dispersal, which utilizes generalized gravity models. This framework will facilitate communication among research traditions, guide the development of dispersal models for theoretical and applied ecology, and enable common representation across taxonomic groups, encapsulating processes at the source and destination of movement, as well as during the intervening relocation process, while allowing each of these stages in the dispersal …

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Hayek Deserves A New Paradigm, Not Old Ideological Categories: Response To Searles, David S. Wilson, Robert Kadar, Steve Roth May 2015

Hayek Deserves A New Paradigm, Not Old Ideological Categories: Response To Searles, David S. Wilson, Robert Kadar, Steve Roth

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Like Harrison Searles, we’re confident that modern evolutionary science provides a useful toolkit for economics and public policy. Some progress has been made advancing a new paradigm. Searles rightfully calls attention to the pioneering work of Friedrich Hayek. We are in a much better position to approach these topics now than during Hayek’s time. We think that modern multilevel selection theory and complexity theory lead to conclusions different than those that Searles and others draw from Hayek’s work. But we suggest dropping terms such as “evolutionary left” as a first step toward acknowledging that new paradigms cannot be shoehorned into …

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