Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Historical Analysis Of The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agencies (Fema) Response And Recovery To Gulf Coast Hurricane And Other Weather-Related Disasters, Lauren Marie Denning

Graduate Research Papers

The growing changes in our environment combined with the increased number of catastrophic climate and weather- related events are occurring more frequently and continuing to intensify in the United States and Worldwide. These events are resulting in mass destruction in our environment and infrastructure, significant loss in human lives, and costing billions of dollars in response and recovery. Although there is no way to prevent these events, governments and populations can take steps to adapt and prepare for these events. This will ultimately decrease the overall impacts that these events have on our environment and future generations to come.

This …

Analysis Of A Paleoglacier Reconstruction Model For Valley Glaciers Of The Wind River Range, Wyoming, Taylor Rae Garton

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Various approaches, ranging from in-field morphological reconstructions to more technology-based modelling practices allow us to reconstruct and understand the long-term geomorphic evolution of landscapes. The study of paleo-environments by reconstruction can also give us profound insight into paleo-climate. A new model, GlaRe (Glacial Reconstruction), has been introduced into the alpine glacier modeling community to facilitate glacier reconstruction. In this research the mathematical equations representing the basal shear stress parameter are tested to determine the applicability of the GlaRe model to alpine glaciers in the American West. Known ages and extents of past glacier advances were used to test the reconstructions …

Money Matters: An Analysis Of Campaign Finance In United States House Of Representatives Elections, 2010-2016, Destiny Leitz

Honors Program Theses

Money in politics is the single largest threat to the democratic system in the United States. It influences everything in politics, from the candidates to the issues debated. Every American knows that running for office requires large amounts of funding, and being elected requires even more. People worry that only the wealthiest voices are being heard; of course, candidates who depend on money from wealthy donors for campaign strength would never support unfavorable policies for their donors. Clearly, money in politics threatens the core democratic principles upon which America was founded. However, few people discuss whether the money really makes …

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Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Perturbations Observed In The Orbital Elements Of The Spectroscopic Binary 57 Cygni, Kenneth W. Mclaughlin, Janak Panthi

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

We present spectroscopy that confirms periodic Doppler-shifts along with photometry that reinforces a lack of eclipsing in the double-lined spectroscopic binary 57 Cygni. Our spectroscopy concentrates on a range encompassing H-alpha and the helium 667.8 nm line, where we find Doppler-shifts of both stars resolved in the helium line but less so in the broader H-alpha profile. Although we find the radial velocities derived from both lines reasonably consistent, we retained only the helium-line derived velocities for sinusoidal curve-fits to the orbital dependence. The fit-amplitudes specify the ratio of the stellar masses as 1.03 ± 0.05, in agreement with previous …

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Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Herbaceous Vascular Flora Of Forested Seep Wetlands In Winneshiek County, Iowa, Usa, Elizabeth A. Lynch, Anna Burke Weckwerth

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Forested seep wetlands dominated by skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) occur frequently in the Canoe Creek watershed of the Upper Iowa River, but this type of wetland has not been described systematically in the upper Midwest. The goal of this study is to document the herbaceous plant flora of five seeps. Although individual seeps are small (200-500 m²), they provide habitat for a high number of plant species. Five seeps with total area less than 0.2 ha supported more than 120 native vascular herbaceous taxa, 20 of which have a coefficient of conservatism (C-value) of 7 or …

A Statistical, Spatial, And Hydrologic Comparison Of Gauge-Based And Mpe-Based Rainfall Measurements, Richard Bernatz

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Gauge-based and multi-sensor precipitation estimation (MPE) data are compared on hourly, daily, monthly and event time scales at site locations over a 12-year period. Gauge data is collected at 16 sites within a 950 km2 portion of the Upper Iowa River in northeast Iowa. Average relative MPE bias is positive for all but the event time scale, and has a magnitude of less than 0.10 for all scales. Gauge and MPE average correlation coefficients range from 0.73 on the hourly scale to 0.92 on the event and monthly scales. The MPE relative bias standard deviation decreases from 1.70 mm on …

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Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V11n2, Summer 2015, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Table of Contents

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science --- 1, 3
ICTM-ISTS Math Science Conference --- 2, 3
ISTS Pre-conference Event --- 3
IAS Education Programs --- 4, 5
National Congress on Science Education --- 6
128th IAS Annual Meeting --- 7
New Horizon's Flyby --- 7
Corporate Members --- 7
Contact IAS --- 8
Institutional Members --- 8

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V11n1, Winter 2015, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Table of Contents

Executive Director Message --- 1
Annual Meeting --- 2, 3
Candidate Profiles --- 4, 5, 6
Donations --- 7
Institutional and Corporate Members --- 8

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Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Population Genetic Structure Of Asclepias Tuberosa In Northwest Iowa: A Comparison Within And Between Remnant Prairies And Commercially Available Seed, Jeffrey T. Ploegstra, Brittany De Ruyter, Tony Jelsma

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Isolated in scattered remnants, less than 0.1% of Iowa’s original tallgrass prairie remains. The small populations remaining are at risk for reduced genetic diversity, inbreeding depression, and outbreeding depression. In light of these concerns, we used microsatellite analysis to assess the genetic structure of butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) populations on prairie remnants in northwest Iowa. We compared remnant populations with a restoration population at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, and with an Oklahoma seed source. Microsatellites identified for use in common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) had sufficient polymorphism information content (PIC) across the butterfly milkweed ( …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V10n3, Fall 2014, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Member Only Website Log-in

--ICTM-ISTS Math Science Fall Conference

--New IAS Program Coordinator

--New REAP Grant

--New Academy Website

--Iowa Science Foundation

--Recognizing Excellence

--Events and Deadlines

--Excellence in Science Teaching Award

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V10n2, Spring 2014, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Candidates for IAS President –Elect

--Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

--Iowa Academy of Science 2014 Ballot

--Specify where your IAS donation goes

--2013 Member Donations to the Academy

--Announcements, Events & Deadlines

In Defense Of Defense: A Statistical Look At Roster Construction, Coaching Strategy, And Team Defense In The National Basketball Association, Luke Ronald Peterson

Honors Program Theses

The three major organized sports featured in the United States – baseball, basketball, and football – cover the spectrum of analytic probability. Baseball, with its basic two parts, pitcher and batter, lies at the easy or low end of the analytic spectrum and so it was the first sport to be studied. From early baseball cards first appearing in the 1890s to The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstracts of the 1980s to the SABRmetrics of today, baseball coaches and fans everywhere are adding a page on analytic probability to their playbooks. Football lies at the high or difficult end of …

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Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Gene Expression Of Components Of The Insulin/Insulin-Like Signaling Pathway In Response To Heat Stress In The Garter Snake, Thamnophis Elegans, Tonia S. Schwartz, Anne M. Bronikowski

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

The insulin/insulin-like signaling (IIS) pathway is an evolutionary conserved molecular signaling pathway that regulates growth, reproduction, stress resistance, and longevity in response to nutrition and external stress. While the constituents of this pathway and their functions are relatively well understood in laboratory model animals, they have not been explored in many other organisms, with notable exceptions in the fisheries literature. We tested for the gene expression of four key components of this pathway in the garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) liver, and determine how the transcription of these components responds to heat stress. We found that the two insulin-like …

Improved Functional Prediction Of Hypothetical Proteins From Listeria Monocytogenes 08-5578, Michael J. Lagier, Brittany Bowman, Kelsey Brend, Katherine Hobbs, Michael Foggia, Mark Mcdaniel

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne human pathogen responsible for listerosis. The genomes of several L. monocytogenes strains have been recently sequenced. The genome of L. monocytogenes 08-5578, which was in part responsible for a significant listerosis outbreak in 2008, contains an unexpectedly high percentage of protein-encoding genes (1,927 out of 3,161; 60.96%) autonomously annotated as hypothetical proteins. The aim of this study was to test whether a manual annotation strategy could be used to assign more meaningful functional names to the hypothetical proteins of 08-5578. A holistic, manual gene annotation strategy that utilized sequence homology, cellular localization predictions, structure-based evidence, …

The Role Of An Urban Tallgrass Prairie Remnant In Conservation: A Case Study In Central Iowa (Usa), Jimmie D. Thompson, Deborah Q. Lewis, William R. Norris

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Although more than 85% of Iowa (USA) was covered by tallgrass prairie at the time of settlement by Europeans in the early 19th century, less than 0.1% remains. The Richard W. Pohl State Preserve at Ames (IA) High School, surrounded on three sides by structures, roads, and other development, protects 4 ha of tallgrass prairie. The preserve, commonly referred to as Ames High Prairie (AHP), was grazed but never plowed under private ownership until its acquisition by the Ames School District in 1959.

Although considered for development as a parking lot or football field in the 1960s, the residents of …

Synchronous Rotation In The Eclipsing Binary 68 Herculis Inferred From Doppler Shifts In Its Spectrum And Light Curve Modeling, Kenneth W. Mclaughlin, Janak Panthi

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Our differential photometry of the eclipsing binary 68 Herculis through V- and R-filters shows periodic minima consistent with a previously established period. As a function of its orbital motion, we report spectra over a limited wavelength range encompassing H-alpha 656.3 nm and helium 667.8 nm lines. Doppler shifts of both stars were resolved in H-alpha, while only the more massive star rendered the helium line with Doppler shifts that agree with the radial velocity we derive for it from the H-alpha profile. Sinusoidal curve-fits to the orbital dependence of the radial velocities imply circular orbits for both components, with amplitudes …

Understanding The Impact Of Vegetation On Surface Roughness Length For Enhancing Wind Resource Characterization In Iowa, Andrei Vladimirovich Kushkin

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Wind energy development shows a rapid growth in the United States. This renewable energy source not only mitigates environmental concerns by reducing greenhouse gas emission, but also provides energy independence. Wind is clean and abundant, and is one of the most promising sources of alternative energy. Iowa is among the top wind energy producers in the nation, it is third by installed capacity and first in per capita production. In order to utilize wind resource potential most efficiently, accurate wind resource assessments are required. Changes in the aerodynamic characteristics of a site can have a major influence on the wind …

A Study Of College Student Attitudes And Behaviors Related To Recycling, Mark Allen Wilcox

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

There is an abundance of research on environmental attitudes and recycling; specifically however college students are very under represented. This population is one that is very important as these individuals will be the ones making decisions, privately and politically, with regards to recycling programs in their communities. By understanding their attitudes and behaviors in college, those designing recycling programs can develop and modify programs to suit their needs, and education programs can be prepared to better inform these individuals. The purpose of this study was to study the attitudes and behaviors of college students related to recycling. To accomplish this, …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V09n2, Fall 2013, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--ICTM-ISTS Math Science Fall Conference

--Next Generation Science Standards Updates

--Academy to Host NGSS Alignment Workshop

--Abstract Submission Deadline

--All Puns Intended: New Facilitators Dive into Project WET

--Iowa Science Foundation

--Recognizing Excellence

--Events and Deadlines

--New Excellence in Science Teaching Award

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V09n1, Spring 2013, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Seeking Project WET Facilitators

--125th Annual Meeting of the Iowa Academy of Science

--Candidates for IAS President –Elect

--Iowa Academy of Science 2013 Ballot

--Announcements, Events & Deadlines

--2012 Member Donations to the Academy

--Ag Energy Webinars

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V10n1, Winter 2013, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

--2013 ICTM-ISTS Fall Conference Photo Album

--New Facilitators Dive into Project WET

--Attention Teachers: New Environmental Education Opportunities

--Experiencing REAP

--Students as Part of School Leadership for Promoting Reforms in Science

--Starr Student Research Grants

Cover

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

No abstract provided.

Degradation Of Algal Palynomorphs On 34-Yr-Old Microscope Slides, Lynn A. Brant

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Reexamination of 34-yr-old microscope slides of palynological preparations reveals the loss and degradation of algal palynomorphs, in particular the green alga Pediastrum and the desmid Pleurotaenium. Results from this study suggest that great caution should be used when referring co archived palynological slides.

A New Plant Record For Iowa: Lactuca Hirsuta (Asteraceae), Thomas L. Eddy

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

A new record of a native vascular plant, Lactuca hirsuta Muhlenberg ex Nuttall var. sanguinea (Bigelow) Fernald, is reported for Iowa. A specimen was collected in 1983 by the author during a study of the Swaledale railroad prairie in Cerro Gordo County, north central Iowa (Eddy 1988). The plant was inexplicably excluded in the species catalogue when a Swaledale railroad flora was published in 1988; thus, this “new” Iowa record in 2013 was collected 30 years prior. The voucher specimen was “re-discovered” by Dr. Neil A. Harriman at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (OSH), and its identification verified.

Smaf: A Soil Health Assessment Tool, D. L. Karlen, C. D. Nance, D. L. Dinnes, D. W. Meek

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

The Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) was developed to help quantify soil quality/health effects of tillage, crop rotation, and other soil management practices. Our objective was to determine if the SMAF could detect soil health differences after growing a single winter triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack) crop. Soil samples were collected from 0 to 7.5- and 7.5 to 15- cm depth increments during the 2003 – 2004 and 2004 – 2005 growing seasons near Ames and Lewis, IA, and analyzed for several potential soil quality indicators. The SMAF analysis showed higher soil quality ratings for surface than subsurface samples. It also …