Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Considering Animals—Not “Higher” Primates, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

In this essay I argue that many nonhuman animal beings are conscious and have some sense of self. Rather than ask whether they are conscious, I adopt an evolutionary perspective and ask why consciousness and a sense of self evolved—what are they good for? Comparative studies of animal cognition, ethological investigations that explore what it is like to be a certain animal, are useful for answering this question. Charles Darwin argued that the differences in cognitive abilities and emotions among animals are differences in degree rather than differences in kind, and his view cautions against the unyielding claim that humans, …

Adding Semantics To Web Services Standards, Kaarthik Sivashanmugam, Kunal Verma, Amit P. Sheth, John Miller

Kno.e.sis Publications

With the increasing growth in popularity of Web services, discovery of relevant Web services becomes a significant challenge. One approach is to develop semantic Web services where by the Web services are annotated based on shared ontologies, and use these annotations for semantics-based discovery of relevant Web services. We discuss one such approach that involves adding semantics to WSDL using DAML+OIL ontologies. Our approach also uses UDDI to store these semantic annotations and search for Web services based on them. We compare our approach with another initiative to add semantics to support Web service discovery, and show how our approach …

A Research Agenda For Political Personality And Leadership Studies: An Evolutionary Proposal, Aubrey Immelman, Theodore Millon

Psychology Faculty Publications

Despite major neuroscientific advances in the past two decades and parallel conceptual refinement in evolutionary theory, personality-in-politics inquiry remains adrift, divorced from these broader spheres of scientific knowledge. This paper reviews the neurobiological substrates of three major domains of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology relevant to political personality assessment and the psychological examination of political leaders; furnishes a context and set of guiding ideas to revitalize the study of the person as biopsychosocial entity in politics; advances a generative theory of personality and political leadership performance; and proposes an agenda for advancing personality-in-politics and leadership inquiry, informed by insights derived …

Inside Unlv, Kevin Force, Gian Galassi, Carol C. Harter, Stuart Mann

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Semantic Web Process Lifecycle: Role Of Semantics In Annotation, Discovery, Composition And Orchestration, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Trigeminal Somatosensory Innervation Of The Head Of A Teleost Fish With Particular Reference To Nociception, Lynne U. Sneddon

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Trigeminal somatosensory receptors have not been characterised in teleost fish and studies in elasmobranchs have failed to identify nociceptors. The present study examined the trigeminal nerve of a teleost fish, the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to determine what types of somatosensory receptors were present on the head of the trout specifically searching for nociceptors. Single unit recordings were made from receptive fields on the head of the fish innervated by the trigeminal nerve. Each receptive field was tested for sensitivity to mechanical, thermal and chemical stimulation. Five different receptor types were found: fast adapting receptors responding to mechanical stimulation; slowly …

Healthcare Enterprise Process Development And Integration, Kemafor Anyanwu, Amit P. Sheth, Jorge Cardoso, John A. Miller, Krzysztof J. Kochut

Kno.e.sis Publications

Healthcare enterprises involve complex processes that span diverse groups and organisations. These processes involve clinical and administrative tasks, large volumes of data, and large numbers of patients and personnel. The tasks can be performed either by humans or by automated systems. In the latter case, the tasks are supported by a variety of software applications and information systems which are very often heterogeneous, autonomous, and distributed. The development of systems to manage and automate these processes has increasingly played an important role in improving the efficiency of healthcare enterprises. In this paper we look at four healthcare and medical applications …

Reconstructing Cetacean Brain Evolution Using Computed Tomography, Lori Marino, Mark D. Uhen, Nicholas D. Pyenson, Bruno Frohlich

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Until recently, there have been relatively few studies of brain mass and morphology in fossil cetaceans (dolphins, whales, and porpoises) because of difficulty accessing the matrix that fills the endocranial cavity of fossil cetacean skulls. As a result, our knowledge about cetacean brain evolution has been quite limited. By applying the noninvasive technique of computed tomography (CT) to visualize, measure, and reconstruct the endocranial morphology of fossil cetacean skulls, we can gain vastly more information at an unprecedented rate about cetacean brain evolution. Here, we discuss our method and demonstrate it with several examples from our fossil cetacean database. This …

Ρ-Queries: Enabling Querying For Semantic Associations On The Semantic Web, Kemafor Anyanwu, Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

This paper presents the notion of Semantic Associations as complex relationships between resource entities. These relationships capture both a connectivity of entities as well as similarity of entities based on a specific notion of similarity called ρ-isomorphism. It formalizes these notions for the RDF data model, by introducing a notion of a Property Sequence as a type. In the context of a graph model such as that for RDF, Semantic Associations amount to specific certain graph signatures. Specifically, they refer to sequences (i.e. directed paths) here called Property Sequences, between entities, networks of Property Sequences (i.e. undirected paths), or subgraphs …

Exception Handling For Conflict Resolution In Cross-Organizational Workflows, Zongwei Luo, Amit P. Sheth, Krzysztof Kochut, I. Budak Arpinar

Kno.e.sis Publications

Workflow management systems (WfMSs) are being increasingly deployed to deliver e-business transactions across organizational boundaries. To ensure a high service quality in such transactions, exception-handling schemes for conflict resolution are needed. The conflicts primarily arise due to failure of a task in workflow execution because of underlying application, or controlling WfMS component failures or insufficient user input. So far, little progress has been reported in addressing conflict resolution in cross-organizational business processes, though its importance has been recognized. In this paper, we identify the exception handling techniques that support conflict resolution in cross-organizational settings. In particular, we propose a novel, …

Draft Aboriginal Fishing Strategy. Frequently Asked Questions., Department Of Fisheries., Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Commission., Fisheries Research And Development Corporation., Department Of Indigenous Affairs.

Fisheries Management Papers

This document is not the draft Aboriginal Fishing Strategy report, but a summary of the most frequently asked questions about the draft report. Submissions should only be made on specific recommendations found in the draft report.

Self Defense Instruction And Its Impact On Physical Self-Efficacy Of Female Cadets At The United States Military Academy, Jason Matthew Winkle

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of self defense instruction of female cadets at the United States Military Academy on their physical self-efficacy. All95 female cadets enrolled in PE115 during the fall of2002 were surveyed on the first and last day of class to determine their levels of perceived physical ability (PPA) and physical self-presentation confidence (PSPC). Both the PP A and the PSPC are subscales ofthe Physical Self-Efficacy Scale (PSE). Completed data were collected from 80 (84 percent) ofthe subjects. Statistical data analysis included descriptive statistics and a 2x2 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOV A). …

Greenhouse, Land Management And Carbon Sequestration In Western Australia, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Wa, Department Of Conservation And Land Management, Forrest Products Commission, Department Of Environment, Water And Catchment Protection, Anne Bennett

Agriculture reports

This report examines options for greenhouse emissions abatement by changing land management practices and establishing terrestrial organic carbon sinks in Western Australia.

A Simple Reason For A Big Difference: Wolves Do Not Look Back At Humans, But Dogs Do, Ádám Miklósi, Eniko Kubinyi, József Topál, Márta Gácsi, Zsófia Virányi, Vilmos Csányi

Communication Skills Collection

The present investigations were undertaken to compare interspecific communicative abilities of dogs and wolves, which were socialized to humans at comparable levels. The first study demonstrated that socialized wolves were able to locate the place of hidden food indicated by the touching and, to some extent, pointing cues provided by the familiar human experimenter, but their performance remained inferior to that of dogs. In the second study, we have found that, after undergoing training to solve a simple manipulation task, dogs that are faced with an insoluble version of the same problem look/gaze at the human, while socialized wolves do …

2003 - The Eighth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Eighth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 18, 2003. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Agroecosystems Analysis From The Grass Roots: A Multidimensional Experiential Learning Course, Mary Wiedenhoeft, Steve Simmons, Ricardo Salvador, Gina Mcandrews, Charles A. Francis, James W. King, David Hole

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

An intensive, experiential travel course in Agroecosystems Analysis was conducted in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska (United States) during summers of 1998 and 1999. The intended student audience was advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students. Pretravel readings and a week-long series of farm visits, which consisted of in-depth interviews with the farmers and their families, prepared student teams to analyze and evaluate the production, economic, environmental, and social sustainability of 10 farms. Students shared their analyses both orally and in written reports. Based on a multifaceted student evaluation process, we found that participants were highly motivated, strongly engaged with the course …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 44 Number 4, Spring 2003, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - DREAMS REFLECT OUR WAKING WORLD By Kelly Bulkeley. A teacher of religious studies at SCU argues that dreams are much more than just personal - they reflect larger issues in culture, politics, and society.

12 - SCHOOL WORK By Jean Merl. High school students in South Central L.A. are gaining valuable job skills while they help pay for their private education. And SCU alumni are helping to make it all work.

18 - BELIEVING IN HEALTH By Thomas G. Plante. Research shows that religion may be good for your health, but that does not mean that doctors will …

The Bold And The Shy: Individual Differences In Rainbow Trout, L. U. Sneddon

Aquaculture Collection

Boldness and shyness were investigated as ‘personality’ traits in hatchery-reared rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Bold fish spent more time in an open area and were more active than shy fish and these behaviours could be used as indicators of boldness and shyness. These differences were related to learning ability in a simple conditioning task. Bold fish learned the task more quickly than shy fish.

The Development Of A Physical Education Teachers' Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Instrument, Jeffrey J. Martin, Pamela Hodges Kulinna

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

In the present investigation a questionnaire was developed to assess physical education teachers' self-efficacy for teaching classes in which their students were engaged in high levels of physical activity (i.e., at least 50% of class time). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in the development of a 16-item, 4-factor, multidimensional physical education teachers' physical activity self-efficacy scale (PETPAS) that produced reliable and valid scores. The Student factor reflected teachers' efficacy for managing students who didn't enjoy or value physical activity. The Time factor was indicative of teachers' efficacy when they didn't have enough time to teach. The Space factor reflected …

Identifying Patterns In Dna Change, Jason R. Gilder, Dan E. Krane, Travis E. Doom, Michael L. Raymer

Kno.e.sis Publications

Now that a draft sequence of the human genome is nearly complete, questions regarding both the information contained within our genetic blueprints as well as the manner in which that information content changes over time can be addressed in ways that had not previously been possible. By their very nature, some of the nucleotide sequences present within our genome allow detailed examination of the mode and pattern of evolution that has shaped our genetic instructions over time spans of tens of millions of years. Alu repeats are one example. Using these relatively short, ubiquitous DNA sequences we explore the problem …

Ontology Driven Information Systems In Action (Capturing And Applying Existing Knowledge To Semantic Applications), Amit P. Sheth

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

Smart Growth And Land Acquisition Priorities: A Cursory Review, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

It is well-known and generally accepted that all undeveloped land in New England cannot forever be protected from development; nor would this be a desirable goal, as continued economic development and population growth are near certainties. For these and other reasons, private land trusts and government agencies generally use explicit criteria to prioritize their land acquisition activities and prospects.

Effects Of Three Types Of Free-Stall Surfaces On Preferences And Stall Usage By Dairy Cows, Cassandra B. Tucker, Daniel M. Weary, David Fraser

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

One important criterion in choosing appropriate housing systems for dairy cattle is that the freestall provides a comfortable surface for the cow. This paper describes two experiments testing the effects of commonly used lying surfaces on stall preference and stall usage by Holstein cows. In both experiments, 12 cows were housed individually in separate pens. Each pen contained three free stalls with a different surface: deep-bedded sawdust, deep-bedded sand, and a geotextile mattress covered with 2 to 3 cm of sawdust. The animals were restricted to each surface in turn, in a random order for either 2 (Experiment 1) or …

Fisheries Statutory Management Authority Inquiry Background Paper, H. G. Brayford

Fisheries Management Papers

The objective of this paper is to provide factual background to the issues that are likely to be relevant to the Advisory Committee’s considerations and to the interests of stakeholders. It also pulls together relevant reference material and experiences from within WA and from other fisheries jurisdictions in Australia.

Enterobius Vermicularis: Ancient Dna From North And South American Human Coprolites, Alena M. Iñiguez, Karl J. Reinhard, Adauto Araújo, Luiz F. Ferreira, Ana Carolina P. Vicente

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A molecular paleoparasitological diagnostic approach was developed for Enterobius vermicularis. Ancient DNA was extracted from 27 coprolites from archaeological sites in Chile and USA. Enzymatic amplification of human mtDNA sequences confirmed the human origin. We designed primers specific to the E. vermicularis 5S ribosomal RNA spacer region and they allowed reproducible polymerase chain reaction identification of ancient material. We suggested that the paleoparasitological microscopic identification could accompany molecular diagnosis, which also opens the possibility of sequence analysis to understand parasite-host evolution.

Play And The Evolution Of Fairness: A Game Theory Model, Lee Alan Dugatkin, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Bekoff [J. Consci. Stud. 8 (2001) 81] argued that mammalian social play is a useful behavioral phenotype on which to concentrate in order to learn more about the evolution of fairness. Here, we build a game theoretical model designed to formalize some of the ideas laid out by Bekoff, and to examine whether ‘fair’ strategies can in fact be evolutionarily stable. The models we present examine fairness at two different developmental stages during an individual’s ontogeny, and hence we create four strategies--fair at time 1/fair at time 2, not fair at time 1/not fair at time 2, fair at time …

Trends. Security, Stigma, And Biological Weapons, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the political psychology of security concerns pertaining to unclassified information relating to biological weapons and/or biosecurity and how it might be used to harm US security.

Incorporating Local Knowledge Into Population And Habitat Viability Assessments: Landowners And Tree Kangaroos In Papua New Guinea, Philip J. Nyhus, J Williams, J Borovansky, O Byers, P Miller

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Taking The Bite Out Of Wildlife Damage: The Challenges Of Wildlife Compensation Schemes, Philip J. Nyhus, Hank Fisher, Steve Osofsky, Francine Madden

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Dangerous Animals In Captivity: Ex Situ Tiger Conflict And Implication For Private Ownership Of Exotic Animals, Philip J. Nyhus, Ronald L. Tilson, J L. Tomlinson

Faculty Scholarship

The risks associated with tiger attacks on people in the wild are well documented. There may currently be more tigers in captivity than in the wild, but relatively little is known about the risks of injury or death associated with owning and managing captive tigers and other large carnivores. The purpose of this study was to conduct a global assessment of attacks by captive tigers on people, with particular emphasis on cases in the United States. Our analysis of 30 international media sources and additional documents uncovered 59 unique incidents in 1998-2001 in which people were reportedly injured or killed …