Disaster Recovery and Resilience in Alimapu, “The Burnt Land”

From the Washington University Senior Honors Thesis Abstracts (WUSHTA), Spring 2018. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: Rebecca Leste

Fish in Waterfowl Habitat: Managing National Wildlife Refuges for Multiple Purposes using Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge as a Model

Anadromous river herring (including Blueback Herring Alosa aestivalis and Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus) spend most of their lives at sea but migrate to freshwater systems during the spring to spawn. The spawning success of the two species is impacted by barriers to upstream spawning sites as well as nursery habitat quality. At Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR), the effectiveness of side-opening versus top-hinged gates in low-head water control structures in Lake Mattamuskeet for diadromous fish passage is unknown. Additionally, water control structure design and the focus of refuge resource management on waterfowl habitat has potentially limited fishing opportunities and/or fishery habitat, creating feelings of mismanagement among the public based on anecdotal information collected. The MNWR founding documents leave much of the exact natural resource management requirements open to interpretation, although historical and current refuge management have focused resources and staffing to provide optimal habitat for migratory birds, especially wintering waterfowl. Results of a textual analysis of MNWR and four nearby National Wildlife Refuge founding documents and Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs, a more-updated guiding document currently used by the refuges) indicated that none of the subsampled NWRs had close associations between the founding documents and the Comprehensive Conservation Plans. This suggests that NWRs in coastal North Carolina are not being managed in accordance with founding documents. For fish management and passage at MNWR, I compared two flapgate designs: a new side-opening gate and the existing top-hinged design. The side-opening gate passed significantly more fish of all species and significantly more Alewife compared to the top-hinged flapgate design. The spawning run for adult Alewife through Waupoppin Canal into Lake Mattamuskeet is still present but small. Four push net surveys designed to determine Alewife spawning success within Lake Mattamuskeet showed that Alewife spawning occurs in lake habitats but none of the surveys indicated that juvenile Alewife were abundant in lake habitats

Effect of Pod Maturity and Plant Spacing on Isoflavone Content and Harvest Force of Edible Soybeans [\u3cem\u3eGlycine max\u3c/em\u3e (L.) Merrill]

In recent years consumer interest in edamame increased in part due to reported health benefits associated with vegetable soybeans. Consequently, interest in soybean production has increased steadily. This research consists of three related studies. A spacing and planting date study was performed to compare four soybean lines. This experiment utilized four plant spacings and three planting dates. The lines were grown at the Plateau Research and Education Center in Crossville, TN in 2005 and 2006. Seeds were harvested at the R6 and R8 reproductive stages. Samples were analyzed by HPLC for isoflavone content. Data from the R6 harvest confirmed previously published reports of high isoflavone concentration in line 5601T. At the R8 harvest there was a significant difference among lines for the isoflavone daidzein. The maturity and force studies were planted together in four row plots during the 2006 and 2007 growing seasons at the East Tennessee Research and Education Center, Knoxville, TN. Isoflavones were extracted from freeze-dried soybeans and measured by HPLC. Samples for the maturity study were harvested from the leftmost inner row. Samples for the force study were harvested from the rightmost inner row. The maturity study measured the concentration of isoflavones in the seed at reproductive stages R4.5, R5, R5.5, R6, R7, and R8. Reproductive stage was significantly different for 9 isoflavones and for total isoflavone concentration. There were differences between lines for 4 isoflavones and for total isoflavone concentration. Line 5601T had the highest isoflavone concentrations. There were also differences in growth stage by line interactions in 3 isoflavones and total isoflavone concentration. The force study investigated the amount of force needed to remove a pod from the plant in the weeks prior to maturity. Pod removal force was measured using two Imada PS gauges with maximum measurements of 2 kg and 5 kg. The reproductive stages sampled were R5, R5.2, R5.4, R5.6, R5.8, R6, R7, and R8. Pod removal force ranged from 0.055 kg to 2.6 kg. Pod removal force increased linearly from the R5 to R7 stage. There were significant differences due to reproductive stage, line, and combinations of the two (P \u3c.0001)

Investigating the structure of the autism-spectrum quotient using Mokken scaling

Traits similar to those shown in autism spectrum condition (ASC) are apparent in relatives of individuals with ASC, and in the general population without necessarily meeting diagnostic criteria for an ASC. We assess whether the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ), a self-report measure, has hierarchical properties using Mokken scaling. Hierarchical scales allow the presence of a latent trait to be identified by discovering whether and how many specific items form an ordered array along it. Data were collected from 2 groups: (1) people with ASC (n = 449: 240 males, 209 females, M age 35.4 years, SD = 12.8) and (2) university students (n = 943: 465 males, 475 females, M age = 23.0 years, SD = 8.4). A single Mokken scale was obtained in the data from university students and 3 scales were obtained in the data from people with ASC. The scales all showed moderate Mokken scaling properties with the single scale obtained from university students showing weak invariant item ordering and 2 of the scales from people with ASC showing weak invariant item ordering. The AQ formed reliable Mokken scales. There was a large overlap between the scale from the university student sample and the sample with ASC, with the first scale, relating to social interaction, being almost identical. The present study confirms the utility of the AQ as a single instrument that can dimensionalize autistic traits in both university student and clinical samples of ASC, and confirms that items of the AQ are consistently ordered relative to one another

Olympic proportions: Cost and cost overrun at the Olympics 1960-2012

Do different types of megaprojects have different cost overruns? This apparently simple question is at the heart of research at the University of Oxford aimed at understanding the characteristics of megaprojects, particularly in terms of how they are established, run and concluded. In this study, we set out to investigate cost overruns in the Olympic Games. To do so, we examined the costs of the Games over half a century, including both summer and winter Olympics. We looked at the evolution of final reported costs and compared these to the costs established in the Games bids, submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) up to seven years before the Games occurred. In so doing we established the largest dataset of its kind, and documented for the first time in a consistent fashion the costs and cost overruns for the Olympic Games, from 1960 to 2012. We discovered that the Games stand out in two distinct ways compared to other megaprojects: (1) The Games overrun with 100 per cent consistency. No other type of megaproject is this consistent regarding cost overrun. Other project types are typically on budget from time to time, but not the Olympics. (2) With an average cost overrun in real terms of 179 per cent – and 324 per cent in nominal terms – overruns in the Games have historically been significantly larger than for other types of megaprojects, including infrastructure, construction, ICT, and dams. The data thus show that for a city and nation to decide to host the Olympic Games is to take on one of the most financially risky type of megaproject that exists, something that many cities and nations have learned to their peril. For the London 2012 Games, we find that: (1) With sports-related real costs currently estimated at USD14.8 billion, London is on track to become the most costly Olympics ever. (2) With a projected cost overrun of 101 per cent in real terms, overrun for London is below the historical average for the Games, but not significantly so. (3) The London cost overrun is, however, significantly higher than overruns for recent Games since 1999. London therefore is reversing a positive trend of falling cost overruns for the Games

A Proposed Method for Monitoring U.S. Population Health: Linking Symptoms, Impairments, and Health Ratings

We propose a method of quantifying non-fatal health on a 0-1 QALY scale that details the impact of specific symptoms and impairments and is not based on ratings of counterfactual scenarios. Measures of general health status are regressed on health impairments and symptoms in different domains, using ordered probit and ordinary least squares regression. This yields estimates of their effects analogous to disutility weights, and accounts for complex non-additive relationships. Health measures used include self-rated health status on a 5-point scale, EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D) scores, and ratings of current health using a 0-100 rating scale and a time-tradeoff. Data are from the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) year 2002 (N=34,615), with validation in an independent sample from MEPS 2000 (N=21,067) and among 1420 adults age 45-89 in the Beaver Dam Health Outcomes Study. Decrement weights for symptoms and impairments are used to derive estimates of overall health-related quality of life, laying the groundwork for a detailed national summary measure of health. To purchase a copy of the earlier version of this paper, please contact the Working Papers department directly at (617) 588 1405.

Endocrine response to illness in sick horses

Endocrinological responses are under tight physiological control in healthy animals, with homeostatic adaptions made for diet, exercise and illness. Transient adrenal dysfunction with inadequate cortisol production, known as relative adrenal insufficiency (RAI), is a major component of critical illness–related corticosteroid insufficiency (CIRCI), which involves dysfunction of the entire HPA axis. Recognition and treatment of CIRCI improves human survival rates. Whereas a low-dose ACTH stimulation test appears to be the most sensitive method of diagnosing CIRCI in people, published doses for this test in horses were considerably higher, and the lowest dose of ACTH that will maximally stimulate the adrenal glands of horses was unknown. Critical illness is also associated with peripheral tissue insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia in many species, but insulin and glucose dynamics in spontaneously sick adult horses remains to be investigated. The overall aim was to document changes in cortisol, ACTH, insulin and glucose in sick horses; determine if adrenal or pancreatic dysfunction occurred, and which parameters were correlated with non-survival. A secondary aim was to validate the low-dose ACTH stimulation test in healthy adult horses and neonatal foals and then determine if CIRCI could be identified in sick horses. A dose of synthetic ACTH of 0.1 µg/kg in healthy adult horses and 0.25 µg/kg in neonatal foals resulted in maximal adrenal stimulation. In sick horses, cortisol, ACTH and ACTH/cortisol ratios were higher in non-survivors at admission. ACTH/cortisol ratios were higher in horses with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and those with an ischemic gastrointestinal lesion, suggesting adrenal dysfunction. Although horses with ischemic lesions had higher basal cortisol, they failed to respond to ACTH stimulation, further indicating adrenal dysfunction. RAI/CIRCI was diagnosed in 21% of sick horses and is associated with a poorer prognosis. Horses presenting with hyperglycaemia and corresponding relative hypoinsulinemia (suggestive of endocrine pancreas dysfunction) had a worse prognosis

The role of priming in the regulation of cytosolic Phospholipase A2

Work carried out in this Thesis tried to elucidate the factors involved in the regulation and priming of cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2). The 85 kDa cPLA2 originally identified and purified from U937 cells (Clark et al., 1991) was shown to be present in Rat-1 Raf ER4 fibroblasts, Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts and HL60 cells. This enzyme was shown to be acutely primed by cytochalasin B in 5 day DMSO-differentiated HL60 cells and chronically primed by serum in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts. These priming agents increased tyrosine phosphorylation, which did not result in arachidonate release, but enhanced subsequent agonist-stimulated arachidonate release. This increased tyrosine phosphorylation did not enhance the known regulatory moieties of cytosolic phospholipase A2, such as MAP kinase (Lin et al., 1993), calcium (Channon & Leslie, 1990) and GTP-binding proteins (Cockcroft, 1992), therefore suggesting that an additional factor was involved in both the acute and chronic priming of cPLA2. However, all of the above had a role to play in the regulation of cPLA2. GTPS did not enhance agonist-stimulated arachidonate release; however, a GTP-binding protein was involved in both LPA- and bombesin-stimulated arachidonate release as GDP?S inhibited both agonist-medited responses. Raf-1-stimulated MAP kinase activity enhanced LPA-stimulated arachidonate release, but did not stimulate arachidonate release alone, demonstrating that an additional agonist-stimulated signal was required. LPA, bombesin and fMLP all stimulated an immediate increase in intracellular calcium concentrations in their appropriate cells. The calcium chelator BAPTA inhibited agonist- stimulated arachidonate release to varying degrees in the cells studied, suggesting that calcium is essential for maximal agonist-stimulated arachidonate release. Channon & Leslie (1990) demonstrated that increased calcium concentrations resulted in a translocation of cPLA2 from the cytosol to a membrane fraction. Under all priming conditions, western blotting demonstrated that there was a translocation of phosphorylated cPLA2 from the cytosol to a membrane fraction, although there was no increased calcium concentrations. Therefore, calcium was not responsible for the translocation of the enzyme, but was essential for maximum arachidonate release. The membrane fraction to which cPLA2 translocated under both priming and agonist stimulation was shown to be in the nuclear area and not the plasma membrane as had been suggested. In the fibroblastic cell lines and HL60 cells, cPLA2 was expressed under all conditions studied. However, there was a differential expression of cPLA2 in B- lymphoid cell lines representative of distinct stages in B-lymphocyte development. Therefore, work presented within this Thesis will try to examine the regulation and priming of cytosolic phospholipase A2 in both the adherent and suspension cells studied. The involvement of the factors responsible will be discussed in relation to the nuclear location of the enzyme, compared to the predicted plasma membrane location