Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Agenda: A Low-Carbon Energy Blueprint For The American West, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, University Of Colorado Boulder. Renewable And Sustainable Energy Institute, Western Resource Advocates, Rocky Mountain Research Station (Fort Collins, Colo.)

A Low-Carbon Energy Blueprint for the American West (Martz Summer Conference, June 6-8)

The future of the planet may depend upon our ability to increase energy supplies even as we reduce carbon emissions. This conference will address how a low-carbon energy program might evolve with a particular focus on the American West. It will focus on the future of energy in the West--on a “managed transition” to a different energy mix, on the need to nest this effort in a framework that acknowledges interconnections, and on identifying the most salient opportunities to consider the legal, political, financial, and technical challenges.

Prototype For Monitoring And Forecasting Fall Foliage Coloration In Real Time From Satellite Data, Xiaoyang Zhang, Mitchell D. Goldberg, Yunyue Yu

GSCE Faculty Publications

While determining vegetation phenology from the time series of historical satellite data has been widely investigated throughout the last decade, little effort has been devoted to real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting. The latter is more important for numerical weather modeling, ecosystem forecasting, forest and crop management, and health risk warning. In this study we developed a prototype approach for the real-time monitoring and short-term forecasting of fall foliage status (including low coloration, moderate coloration, near-peak coloration, peak coloration, and post-peak coloration) using temporal satellite observations. The algorithm combined the climatology of vegetation phenology and temporally available satellite observations to establish …

Agents Of Change: Three Women Who Made A Difference, Linda J. Lear '62

Reunion Addresses

No abstract provided.

Wild Justice Redux: What We Know About Social Justice In Animals And Why It Matters, Jessica Pierce, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Social justice in animals is beginning to attract interest in a broad range of academic disciplines. Justice is an important area of study because it may help explain social dynamics among individuals living in tightly- knit groups, as well as social interactions among individuals who only occasionally meet. In this paper, we provide an overview of what is currently known about social justice in animals and offer an agenda for further research. We provide working definitions of key terms, outline some central research questions, and explore some of the challenges of studying social justice in animals, as well as the …

Effect Of Pen Size, Group Size, And Stocking Density On Activity In Freestall-Housed Dairy Cows, E. Telezhenko, Marina A.G. Von Keyserlingk, A. Talebi, Daniel M. Weary

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The purpose was to determine the effects of the physical dimensions of the pen and group size and stocking density on cow activity. Cows (randomly assigned to 4 groups of 6 animals each) were tested in pens with 24 or 12 lying places and in groups with 12 or 6 cows. All groups were tested in each of the 4 treatments with treatment order allocated using a 4 × 4 Latin square. The distance moved and the number of movements were calculated using 5-min scan sampling of video recordings over a 48-h period. Time spent lying down, number of lying …

Topical Anomaly Detection From Twitter Streams, Pramod Anantharam, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Occasional Publications

This booklet is designed to assist you in exploring and appreciating the Houtman Abrolhos Islands. It provides a general overview on the attributes of the Abrolhos that make it so unique. A place rich in ecological, historical, economic and cultural significance for Western Australia.

Apart from being an introduction to the Abrolhos, the booklet also provides background and context for the various management plans and strategies developed and implemented to sustainably manage these Islands and their surrounding waters.

Prediction Of Topic Volume On Twitter, Yiye Ruan, Hemant Purohit, David Fuhry, Srinivasan Parthasarathy, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

We discuss an approach for predicting microscopic (individual) and macroscopic (collective) user behavioral patterns with respect to specific trending topics on Twitter. Going beyond previous efforts that have analyzed driving factors in whether and when a user will publish topic-relevant tweets, here we seek to predict the strength of content generation which allows more accurate understanding of Twitter users' behavior and more effective utilization of the online social network for diffusing information. Unlike traditional approaches, we consider multiple dimensions into one regression-based prediction framework covering network structure, user interaction, content characteristics and past activity. Experimental results on three large Twitter …

A Web-Based Study Of Self-Treatment Of Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms With Loperamide, Raminta Daniulaityte, Robert G. Carlson, Russel S. Falck, Delroy H. Cameron, Sujan Udayanaga, Lu Chen, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Aims: Many websites provide a medium for individuals to freely share their experiences and knowledge about different drugs. Such user-generated content can be used as a rich data source to study emerging drug use practices and trends. The study aims to examine web-based reports of loperamide use practices among non-medical opioid users. Loperamide, a piperidine derivative, is an opioid agonist approved for the control of diarrhea symptoms. Because of its general inability to cross the blood-brain barrier, it is considered to have no abuse potential and is available without a prescription. Methods: A website that allows free discussion of illicit …

Sustainable Agriculture, Charlene Mills

Social Sciences

This paper is about sustainable agriculture and how we can strive to achieve it. It discusses what is wrong with our food system today and how we can go about changing that. It incorporates Geography and Anthropology while discussing different issues around the world.

Enhancement And Suppression Of Ultradian And Circadian Rhythms Across The Female Hamster Reproductive Cycle, Brian J. Prendergast, Annaliese K. Beery, Matthew J. Paul, Irving Zucker

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

The impact of ovarian hormones on hamster ultradian rhythms (URs) is unknown. We concurrently monitored URs and circadian rhythms (CRs) of home cage locomotor activity during the estrous cycle, pregnancy, and lactation of Syrian hamsters. URs with a mean period of 4–5 h were evident during the dark phase in more than 90% of females on days 1 and 2 of the estrous cycle but were significantly less prevalent on cycle days 3 and 4. The period of the UR did not vary as a function of estrous cycle stage, but at all stages, the UR period was longer in …

Investigating The Role Of An Understudied North Atlantic Right Whale Habitat: Right Whale Movement, Ecology, And Distribution In Jeffreys Ledge, Kathryn Longley

Graduate Masters Theses

The critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) consistently visits five major habitats throughout the year; however, they are known to visit additional habitats. This project examines the role of Jeffreys Ledge as an additional habitat of importance for this species by investigating three aspects of its distribution and ecology. I first addressed the relationship of Jeffreys Ledge to a known significant right whale feeding ground, Cape Cod Bay, by quantifying the movement of right whales between the two habitats and comparing demographic characteristics of right whales seen in these habitats. Secondly, I measured the quality of the zooplankton …

An Analysis Of Coastal Marine Impacts Caused By Prehistoric And Historic Fishing Practices In Morro Bay, Ca, Darin Schmicking

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Preserving Wildlife In San Luis Obispo City By Way Of San Luis Obispo Creek, Sydni Nicolici

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

The effectiveness of San Luis Obispo wildlife easements and city open space utilized to preserve species of concern is correlated to the health and maintenance of the San Luis Obispo Creek. I propose that the health of the Creek be addressed before more open space is added to the green belt surrounding the city. This bottom-up approach to preservation will ensure all steps of habitat will function as they should.

Integrating Owl And Rules: A Syntax Proposal For Nominal Schemas, David Carral Martinez, Adila Krisnadhi, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper proposes an addition to OWL 2 syntax to incorporate nominal schemas, which is a new description-logic style extension of OWL 2 which was recently proposed, and which makes is possible to express "variable nominal classes" within axioms in an OWL 2 ontology. Nominal schemas make it possible to express DL-safe rules of arbitrary arity within the extended OWL paradigm, hence covering the well-known DL-safe SWRL language. To express this feature, we extend OWL 2 syntax to include necessary and minimal modifications to both Functional and Manchester syntax grammars and mappings from these two syntaxes to Turtle/RDF. We also …

Effect Of Nicotine On Body Composition, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Nicotine On Body Composition, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Planning And Designing A Sustainable Volunteer Based Organization: The Putney Food Shelf, Annik Yvette Paul

Capstone Collection

There are many reasons why issues of food insecurity and hunger exist. Individuals, families, and households have various barriers to food security, often facing more than one at a time. Barriers include limited fixed incomes, minimum wage not equaling a livable wage, unemployment and underemployment, poverty, lack of personal transportation and/or access to public transportation, limited access to shopping areas (food deserts), and health and medical issues.

Considering the current statistics listed below, combined with the ever-increasing cost of food, more households will be struggling to meet their basic nutritional needs. Food insecurity and hunger is a problem faced by …

Northern Lights: Fourth World Nations And The Geopolitical Dance In The Arctic, Heidi G. Bruce

Capstone Collection

Over the past decade, the Arctic region has received increased attention from climate scientists, politicians, and transnational corporations. Human-induced climate change is causing glaciers to recede, resulting in new northern sea passages that are highly sought after by businesses and governments alike. Deeply affected by this increased northern exposure are Arctic Fourth World nations – politically and culturally distinct nations encapsulated by states – that have lived in the Arctic for millennia. This paper examines the impacts that expanded northern sea routes are having on Arctic Fourth World nations and the conflict mitigation approaches being used in the region. Research …

Semantic Aspects Of Earthcube, Pascal Hitzler, Krzysztof Janowicz, Gary Berg-Cross, Leo Obrst, Amit P. Sheth, Timothy Finin, Isabel F. Cruz

Kno.e.sis Publications

In this document, we give a high-level overview of selected Semantic (Web) technologies, methods, and other important considerations, that are relevant for the success of EarthCube. The goal of this initial document is to provide entry points and references for discussions between the Semantic Technologies experts and the domain experts within EarthCube. The selected topics are intended to ground the EarthCube roadmap in the state of the art in semantics research and ontology engineering.

We anticipate that this document will evolve as EarthCube progresses. Indeed, all EarthCube parties are asked to provide topics of importance that should be treated in …

Trust Networks, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Pramod Anantharam, Cory Andrew Henson, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

Trust relationships occur naturally in many diverse contexts such as collaborative systems, e-commerce, interpersonal interactions, social networks, semantic sensor web, etc. As collaborating agents providing content and services become increasingly removed from the agents that consume them, the issue of robust trust inference and update become critical. There is a need to find online substitutes for traditional (direct or face-to-face) cues to derive measures of trust, and create efficient and secure system for managing trust, to support decision-making. Unfortunately, there is neither a universal notion of trust that is applicable to all domains nor a clear explication of its semantics …

Evaluating Vegetation Response To Water Stress Using Close-Range And Satellite Remote Sensing, Sharmistha Swain

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Drought is a weather related natural disaster that occurs in virtually all climatic zones of the world. In the last century, almost all parts of the contiguous United States have experienced several prolonged drought events with considerable impacts on the agricultural economy and environment. With changing climates, the droughts are expected to be more severe, longer, and widespread in many parts of the world including sections of the United States. Understanding the response of vegetation to water stress using remote sensing technologies will enhance our ability to detect and monitor drought. This research evaluates the response of vegetation to drought-related …

Of Mice And Mozart: Testing Spatial Reasoning And Memory Of Rats, Kaitlin O'Toole

Honors Theses

An increase in spatial-temporal reasoning has been documented in the presence of Mozart's sonata K.448; this enhancement of physical and psychological activities is called the "Mozart Effect" (Hughes 2001). This effect has been recorded in humans and animals alike, and its influence reaches a myriad of applications including calming wild animals to increasing test scores in college students to lowering high blood pressure. Using a cheeseboard apparatus to test spatial reasoning in rats, this experiment recorded the results from maze tasks completed in the presence of sonata K.448 compared to trials completed in silence. Results showed a significant difference between …

San Antonio High School Food Justice Program: A Handbook And Evaluation Of Edible Education, Katherine B. Tenneson

Pitzer Senior Theses

This senior environmental studies thesis explains and analyzes edible education through a food and gardening program at a continuation high school in Claremont, California. The first chapter situates the program-specific analysis by providing background information of the edible education movement, a history of the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, and an explanation of why food is a powerful teaching tool. The second chapter delineates the program by describing all of its components and compiling essential resources and teaching documents. The third chapter is based on interviews with 9 of 12 involved students and 7 teachers, and thoroughly explains the outcomes …

Various Gaits Of African Elephant Calves, Elizabeth Anne Jennings

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

It is commonly believed that elephants exhibit only one gait, a lateral sequence walk. However, recently there have been several interesting studies on the footfall patterns of adult African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Scientists have recognized that elephants actually exhibit two patterns of locomotion: a lateral sequence walk and an amble. The amble is a slight modification of the lateral sequence gait. The present study extends this work by examining the relationship between gait and speed in African elephant calves at the Indianapolis Zoo. I collected frame-by-frame observational video data from a newborn calf born at the Indianapolis Zoo across a …

Implications Of Land Development On Nomadic Pastoralism: Ecological Relaxation And Biosocial Diversity In Human Populations, Hannah R. Bradley

Scripps Senior Theses

Nomadic pastoralism is an ancient subsistence strategy, historically balanced and in continuity with sedentary societies. Sedentarization of nomads occurs normally because of ecological disasters, economic opportunities, urbanization, and government policy. In this paper, I examine the effect of changing land use patterns on nomadic pastoral populations in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, using biogeographic methodology to further explore the contemporary relationship between humans and their environments. Nomadic population information gleaned from diverse ethnographic studies, and GIS data on anthropogenic biome distributions, were used to calculate changes in nomadic population, area of developed land, and nomadic/sedentary population density over the …

Navigating The Diverse Dimensions Of Stereotypes, With Domain Specific Deficits: Processes Of Trait Judgments About Individuals With Disabilities, Christina G. Boardman

Scripps Senior Theses

Stereotype groups are interrelated. For example, in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, racial minorities are referred to special education at a much higher rate than are majority racial groups (Tse, Lloyd, Petchkovsky, and Manaia, 2005; Harry, Arnaiz, Klingner, Sturges, 2008). The Stereotype Content Model describes stereotype relationships in terms of an interaction between competence and warmth. Warmth is the more consistent dimension. The nature of competence remains elusive (Fiske, Cuddy, and Glick, 2007; Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, and Xu, 2002). Knowledge of relationships between stereotype groups, which themselves may be effects of bias, could factor into observed competence effects. …

Association Of Vitamin D Deficiency With Hypertension In Uninsured Women, Sreenivasa R. Chandana, Lakshmi P. Kocharla, Susan S. Harris, Radhika R. Kakarala

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic in the United States. Uninsured women are at high risk due to a lower intake of vitamin D and limited sun exposure. We examined the association between vitamin D deficiency and hypertension in 96 uninsured women at a County Free Medical Clinic in urban Michigan. Questionnaires were used to obtain information about demographics, medical history including hypertension, and dietary habits. Measurements including blood pressure and serum 25(OH)D level were also collected. Prevalence of hypertension was higher in subjects with 25(OH)D less than 50nmol/l compared with others (85% vs. 27.3%, p = 0.014). For every …

Differences In Race And/Or Gender In Attitudes And Beliefs Towards Obesity Among Students At The University Of Southern Mississippi, Erick Brown

Honors Theses

Overweight and obesity have been described by various experts as critical problems in populations around the world, especially in the United States. These issues are so characterized because they affect numerous facets of life in this society. Researchers in the medical community have repeatedly described the health-related risks associated with obesity rates, asserting that higher risks of debilitating or fatal disease are tied to one’s level of obesity. They also say that obesity rates of populations are related to other disease rates, and many imply or clearly state that obesity is the cause and therefore the problem to be contested. …

Iconic Memory Requires Attention, Marjan Persuh, Boris Genzer, Robert D. Melara

Publications and Research

Two experiments investigated whether attention plays a role in iconic memory, employing either a change detection paradigm (Experiment 1) or a partial-report paradigm (Experiment 2). In each experiment, attention was taxed during initial display presentation, focusing the manipulation on consolidation of information into iconic memory, prior to transfer into working memory. Observers were able to maintain high levels of performance (accuracy of change detection or categorization) even when concurrently performing an easy visual search task (low load). However, when the concurrent search was made difficult (high load), observers' performance dropped to almost chance levels, while search accuracy held at single-task …