Other Life Sciences Commons^™

Constraining The Atmospheric Limb Of The Plastic Cycle, Janice Brahney, Natalie Mahowald, Marje Prank, Gavin Cornwell, Zbigniew Kilmont, Hitoshi Matsui, Kimberly Ann Prather

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental and social issues of the 21st century. Recent work has highlighted the atmosphere’s role in transporting microplastics to remote locations [S. Allen et al., Nat. Geosci. 12, 339 (2019) and J. Brahney, M. Hallerud, E. Heim, M. Hahnenberger, S. Sukumaran, Science 368, 1257–1260 (2020)]. Here, we use in situ observations of microplastic deposition combined with an atmospheric transport model and optimal estimation techniques to test hypotheses of the most likely sources of atmospheric plastic. Results suggest that atmospheric microplastics in the western United States are primarily derived from secondary re-emission …

Killing The Planet But Saving The People: How The American Healthcare Industry Impacts The Environment, Malorie Webb

Senior Theses

The American population is rapidly growing and aging. In order to accommodate such a large population and its associated challenges, the healthcare industry has had to continually expand and adapt. The United States healthcare industry is now one of the largest, most expensive components of the economy. As such, it produces vast amounts of waste. Healthcare waste can damage the environment and contribute to climate change, which in turn can contribute to worsening health outcomes in the population. This thesis aims to explore both the immediate and prolonged impacts of the American healthcare industry on the environment, as well as …

A Dynamic Energy Budget Model Of Ornate Box Turtle Shell Growth, Tyler Skorczewski, Brandon Andersen

Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics

Many aspects of box turtle development may depend on size rather than age. Notable examples include sexual maturity and the development of the fully closing hinge in the shell that allows box turtles to completely hide in their shells. Thus, it is important to understand how turtles grow in order to have a complete understanding of turtle biology. Previous studies show that turtle shell growth behaves in a logistic manner. These studies use functional models that fit the data well but do little to explain mechanisms. In this work we use the ideas found in dynamic energy budget theory to …

Exploring Factors In Choosing Stem Majors And Careers: Improving Science Education Through The Lens Of Self-Determination Theory, Lauren Mott

Honors Theses

Several barriers currently exist for students who could be successful in science/STEM careers but have not had the support they needed throughout their science/STEM education. This study of the literature applies Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to existing research to identify steps educators can take to remove these unnecessary barriers for their students. SDT defines competence, relatedness, and autonomy as three innate psychological needs that must be met for well-being. An exploratory review of the literature was conducted, and findings were organized using SDT. The results showed that competence, relatedness, and autonomy were all key factors in students’ self-determination of science/STEM careers. …

Geographic Distribution: Eleutherodactylus Coqui (Common Coqui). Usa: Florida., Louis A. Somma

Papers in Herpetology

A geographic interception record for Eleutherodactylus coqui in Suwanee County, Florida.

Geographic Distribution: Iguana Iguana (Green Iguana): Usa: Florida., Louis A. Somma, Mark T. Bailey

Papers in Herpetology

A geographic distribution record for Iguana iguana in Marion County, Florida.

Functional Influence Of 14-3-3 (Ywha) Proteins In Mammals, Elizabeth Barley, Santanu De

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

The 14-3-3 (YWHA) proteins are homologous, ubiquitous, and conserved in most organisms ranging from plants to animals and play important roles in regulating key cellular events such as cell signaling, development, apoptosis, etc. These proteins consist of seven isoforms in mammals, termed under Greek alphabetization: beta (β), gamma (γ), epsilon (ε), eta (η), tau/theta (τ), sigma (σ), and zeta (ζ). Each of these isoforms can interact with a plethora of binding partners and has been shown to serve a distinct role in molecular crosstalk, biological processes, and disease susceptibility. Protein 14-3-3 isoforms are scaffolding proteins capable of forming homodimers and …

Decreased Cortisol Among Hikers Who Preferentially Visit And Value Biodiverse Riparian Zones, Ellie Opdahl, Kathryn Demps, Julie A. Heath

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

While outdoor recreationists often report increases to their well-being for time spent in nature, the mechanisms through which local ecologies affect human health have been difficult to quantify, and thus to manage. We combine data from pre-post salivary cortisol measures, GPS tracks, visitor photos, and surveys from 88 hikers traversing several types of landscape within peri-urban public lands in southwest Idaho, USA. We find that time in biodiverse riparian areas and areas of perceived aesthetic value correlates with decreases in salivary cortisol and improved well-being for hikers. Wildlife sightings were not associated with changes in salivary cortisol, but were associated …

Comparison Of A One-Step Real-Time Rt-Pcr And A Nested Real-Time Rt-Pcr For A Genogroup Ii Norovirus Reveals Differences In Sensitivity Depending Upon Assay Design And Visualization, Clyde S. Manuel, Cassandra Suther, Matthew D. Moore, Lee-Ann Jaykus

Food Science Department Faculty Publication Series

Human norovirus (NoV) is the leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis and a major source of foodborne illness. Detection of NoV in food and environmental samples is typically performed using molecular techniques, including real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and less frequently, nested real-time PCR. In this study, we conducted a controlled comparison of two published NoV detection assays: a broadly reactive one-step real-time RT-PCR and a two-step nested real-time PCR assay. A 20% human fecal suspension containing a genogroup II human NoV was serially diluted, genome extracted, and subjected to amplification using the two assays compared via PCR …

Dielectric Screening In Perovskite Photovoltaics, Rui Su, Zhaojian Xu, Jiang Wu, Deying Luo, Qin Hu, Wenqiang Yang, Xiaoyu Yang, Ruopeng Zhang, Hongyu Yu, Thomas P. Russell

Polymer Science and Engineering Department Faculty Publication Series

The performance of perovskite photovoltaics is fundamentally impeded by the presence of undesirable defects that contribute to non-radiative losses within the devices. Although mitigating these losses has been extensively reported by numerous passivation strategies, a detailed understanding of loss origins within the devices remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the defect capturing probability estimated by the capture cross-section is decreased by varying the dielectric response, producing the dielectric screening effect in the perovskite. The resulting perovskites also show reduced surface recombination and a weaker electron-phonon coupling. All of these boost the power conversion efficiency to 22.3% for an inverted perovskite …

Protocols For Rearing Fall Webworm (Hyphantria Cunea) In A Colony And Basic Methods For Laboratory And Field Experiments, Maelah Robinson-Castillo, Audrey Mitchell, Amanda Fasching, Mayra C. Vidal, Mariana Abarca, Gina M. Wimp, Blyssalyn Bieber, Dhaval K. Vyas, Shannon M. Murphy

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Standardized protocols are an essential asset for research requiring the maintenance of live organisms. Ecological studies often involve collaborations between multiple teams that are spread across locations, and these collaborations benefit from sharing successful laboratory procedures. Our research team is studying the ecology of the fall webworm moth (Hyphantria cunea, hereafter FW) in North America for >10 years, during which time we have established reliable procedures for starting and maintaining FW colonies under laboratory conditions. FW is a North American species that has been introduced to Europe and Asia where it is a major pest. Here, we present a detailed …

Dominance Style Is A Key Predictor Of Vocal Use And Evolution Across Nonhuman Primates, Anna H. Weyher, Eithne Kavanagh, Sally E. Street, Felix O. Angwela, Thore J. Bergman, Maryjka B. Blaszczyk, Laura M. Bolt, Margarita Briseño-Jaramillo, Michelle Brown, Chloe Chen-Kraus

Anthropology Department Faculty Publication Series

Animal communication has long been thought to be subject to pressures and constraints associated with social relationships. However, our understanding of how the nature and quality of social relationships relates to the use and evolution of communication is limited by a lack of directly comparable methods across multiple levels of analysis. Here, we analysed observational data from 111 wild groups belonging to 26 non-human primate species, to test how vocal communication relates to dominance style (the strictness with which a dominance hierarchy is enforced, ranging from 'despotic' to 'tolerant'). At the individual-level, we found that dominant individuals who were more …

Open Neuroscience Initiative, Austin Lim

College of Science and Health Full Text Publications

The Open Neuroscience Initiative is a free-to-use textbook

This project began as a means to overcoming the financial burden that face undergraduate neuroscience students when buying textbooks. By compiling and writing a completely free-to-access textbook that covers the foundations of a typical college introduction to neuroscience course, students would have one less obstacle to overcome in their educational career, allowing them to focus their valuable time and attention on learning rather than finances. To make this project a reality, I began with a humble tweet in May 2019 that managed to gain a tiny bit of traction among the neuroscience …

What’S Water Got To Do With It? Place-Related Symbolic Meanings Alter Residents’ Perceived Effects Of Coastal Infrastructure, Bryce B. Dubois, Katherine Lacasse, Aaron J. Ley

Faculty Publications

The symbolic meanings residents associate with their local bodies of water and coastal infrastructure can shape their perceptions of the infrastructure’s effects. In this case, we conduct a survey (N = 168) to examine residents’ perceptions of visibly disruptive, yet environmentally

protective cooling towers attached to a long-standing coal-fired power plant on Mount Hope Bay. Residents’ symbolic meanings of the bay corresponded predominantly with aesthetic,

ecological, or recreational themes, whereas their symbolic meanings of the towers also focused on aesthetics as well as the towers’ function or uselessness. Although residents generally perceived the towers as having negative effects on …

Pre-Covid-19 Social Determinants Of Health Among Mexican Migrants In Los Angeles And New York City And Their Increased Vulnerability To Unfavorable Health Outcomes During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Pablo Gaitán‐Rossi, Lucía Félix‐Beltrán, Arturo V. Bustamante

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

COVID-19 has disproportionally affected underrepresented minorities (URM) and low-income immigrants in the United States. The aim of the study is to examine the underlying vulnerabilities of Mexican immigrants in New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles (LA), its correspondence with area-level COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, and to document the role of trusted and culturally sensitive services offered during the pandemic through the Ventanillas de Salud (i.e. VDS, Health Windows) program. The study uses a mixed-methods approach including a cross-sectional survey of Mexican immigrants in LA and NYC collected in the Mexican Consulates at the onset of the pandemic, complemented with …

Comparison Of Standard And Environmental Dna Methods For Estimating Chinook Salmon Smolt Abundance In The Klamath River, California, Doyle Joseph Coyne

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Evaluating abundance of juvenile salmonids is critical to conservation and management. Current abundance estimation involves use of rotary screw traps and mark-recapture studies. Use of environmental DNA (eDNA) in water samples offers a noninvasive and less expensive approach that may potentially improve or eventually replace traditional monitoring. Here I evaluate the utility of eDNA to predict weekly abundance estimates of outmigrating Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) smolts in the Klamath River, California. A total of 15 water samples were collected per week over the 17-week smolt outmigration in both 2019 and 2020. Chinook salmon eDNA concentration in each water …

Modeling Vegetation Effects On Barrier Island Evolution, Eric W. Schoen

Theses and Dissertations

Barrier islands play a significant role in protecting coastlines and harboring coastal habitats. In an effort to study and better understand the evolution of barrier island systems, a cellular model capturing various meteorological and environmental processes is proposed. Erosion due to wind, gravity, and marine processes are coupled with plant population effects. We demonstrate the inhibition of plant cover on sediment mobility, island migration, and erosion in the presence of sea level rise.

Age, Growth, And Mortality Of Atlantic Tripletail In The North-Central Gulf Of Mexico, Amanda E. Jefferson, Matthew B. Jargowsky, Meagan N. Schrandt, Pearce T. Cooper, Sean P. Powers, John Dindo, J. Marcus Drymon

University Faculty and Staff Publications

In the southeastern USA and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Atlantic Tripletail Lobotes surinamensis are increasingly targeted by recreational anglers, indicating that stock status should be assessed. A critical need for such assessments is age-specific data; however, previous studies have drawn conflicting conclusions regarding the most appropriate structure for aging. Moreover, growth parameters and mortality rates for GOM Atlantic Tripletail are unknown. Therefore, the goals of this study were to (1) evaluate sagittal otoliths and first dorsal spines as aging structures; (2) model combined and sex-specific growth; and (3) estimate mortality rates for GOM Atlantic Tripletail. From 2012 to 2019, …

Trabecular Bone Organoid Model For Studying The Regulation Of Localized Bone Remodeling, Yongkuk Park, Eugene Cheong, Jun-Goo Kwak, Ryan Carpenter, Jae-Hyuk Shim, Jungwoo Lee

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publication Series

Trabecular bone maintains physiological homeostasis and consistent structure and mass through repeated cycles of bone remodeling by means of tightly localized regulation. The molecular and cellular processes that regulate localized bone remodeling are poorly understood because of a lack of relevant experimental models. A tissue-engineered model is described here that reproduces bone tissue complexity and bone remodeling processes with high fidelity and control. An osteoid-inspired biomaterial-demineralized bone paper-directs osteoblasts to deposit structural mineralized bone tissue and subsequently acquire the resting-state bone lining cell phenotype. These cells activate and shift their secretory profile to induce osteoclastogenesis in response to chemical stimulation. …

A Decision Tool To Identify Population Management Strategies For Common Ravens And Other Avian Predators, Andrea F. Currylow, Brenda J. Hanley, Kerry L. Holcomb, Timothy Shields, Stephen Boland, William I. Boarman, Mercy Vaughn

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Some avian species have developed the capacity to leverage resource subsidies associated with human manipulated landscapes to increase population densities in habitats with naturally low carrying capacities. Elevated corvid densities and new territory establishment have led to an unsustainable increase in depredation pressure on sympatric native wildlife prey populations as well as in crop damage. Yet, subsidized predator removal programs aimed at reducing densities are likely most effective longer-term when conducted in tandem with subsidy control, habitat management, and robust assessment monitoring programs. We developed decision support software that leverages stage structured Lefkovitch population matrices to compare and identify treatment …