On Humans, Hogs, and Habitat: How Landscape Features and Vegetation Influence Wild Hog (Sus Scrofa) Detection on Private Lands and Using Existing Wild Hog Outreach Websites to Create an Effective Website for South Carolina

Invasive species are a source of human conflict with wildlife on a global scale and exist to the detriment of native wildlife species. Invasive species often possess the ability to respond rapidly to change and they often exist alongside humans. Wild hogs (Sus scrofa) are perhaps one of the most infamous examples of an invasive species. The spread of wild hogs necessitates effective communication with the public being impacted by them, as well as a continuation of research to learn more about wild hog behavior to promote effective management. Chapter 1 focuses on how we created a website that is tailored to residents of South Carolina. We compared existing websites dedicated to wild hogs grouped by United States geographic regions. We found that the southeastern region of the United States had a greater emphasis on control methods used to manage wild hogs. The south also had a greater emphasis on disease than other regions. We focused on other states within the southern region to build our own website for South Carolina. Chapter 2 explains how we used spatially explicit capture-recapture models and a baited camera array to determine how timber management practices on private lands in the Piedmont region of South Carolina impact the activity of a naturally marked population of wild hogs. We used 32 trail cameras and whole kernel corn as an attractant to capture photographs of wild hogs in late July and early August of 2019 and 2020. We then analyzed the data using spatially explicit capture recapture (‘SECR’) to estimate the distribution of wild hogs. We found that the minimum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values within 100 meters of a trap and the distance a camera trap was from a paved road were the most important factors influencing detection probability. These results could indicate wild hogs avoid roads in the Piedmont region of South Carolina and may have a minimum NDVI value they are willing to tolerate. We also had a significant difference in density estimates between 2019 and 2020 with 17 individuals detected in 2019 and 53 individuals detected in 2020. We hoped to gain information about wild hogs and determine how to effectively communicate that information with the public to promote effective management based on findings from sound-scientific studies. This thesis highlights two important aspects of effective wild hog management, which will continue to be relevant as wild hogs continue to spread

An interactive 3-D application for pain management: Results from a pilot study in spinal cord injury rehabilitation

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ElevierResearch on pain following spinal cord injury (SCI) has revealed that patients not only experience several types of pain that could prove to be challenging to address, but also that each individual can interpret such pain in different subjective ways. In this paper we introduce a 3-D system for facilitating the efficient management of pain, and thus, supporting clinicians in overcoming the aforementioned challenges. This system was evaluated by a cohort of 15 SCI patients in a pilot study that took place between July and October 2010. Participants reported their experiences of using the 3-D system in an adapted version of the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. Statistically significant results were obtained with regards to the usability and efficiency of the 3-D system, with the majority of the patients finding it particularly useful to report their pain. Our findings suggest that the 3-D system can be an efficient tool in the efforts to better manage the pain experience of SCI patients

The prevalence of viral agents in esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett’s esophagus: A systematic review

Background & Aims: Human papillomavirus (HPV), which may reach the esophagus via orogenital transmission, has been postulated to be associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma. A systematic review of the literature investigating the prevalence of infectious agents in esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus was undertaken.Methods: Using terms for viruses and esophageal adenocarcinoma, the Medline, Embase and Web of Science databases were systematically searched for studies published, in any language, until June 2016 that assessed the prevalence of viral agents in esophageal adenocarcinoma or Barrett’s esophagus. Random effects meta-analyses of proportions were used to calculate the pooled prevalence and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of infections in esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus.Results: A total of 30 studies were included. The pooled prevalence of HPV in esophageal adenocarcinoma tumour samples was 13% (n=19 studies, 95% CI: 2-29%) and 26% (n=6 studies, 95% CI: 3-59%) in Barrett’s esophagus samples. HPV prevalence was higher in esophageal adenocarcinoma tissue than in esophageal tissue from healthy controls (n=5 studies, pooled odds ratio=3.31, 95% CI: 1.15-9.50). The prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in esophageal adenocarcinoma was 6% (n=5, 95% CI: 0-27%). Few studies have assessed other infectious agents. For each of the analyses, considerable between-study variation was observed (I2=84-96%), however sensitivity analyses did not reveal any major sources of heterogeneity.Conclusions: The prevalence of HPV and EBV in esophageal adenocarcinoma is low compared to other viral associated cancers but may have been hampered by small sample sizes and detection methods susceptible to fixation processes. Additional research with adequate sample size and high quality detection methods is required

Fitness benefits of prolonged post-reproductive lifespan in women

Most animals reproduce until they die, but in humans, females can survive long after ceasing reproduction. In theory, a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan will evolve when females can gain greater fitness by increasing the success of their offspring than by continuing to breed themselves. Although reproductive success is known to decline in old age, it is unknown whether women gain fitness by prolonging lifespan post-reproduction. Using complete multi-generational demographic records, we show that women with a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan have more grandchildren, and hence greater fitness, in pre-modern populations of both Finns and Canadians. This fitness benefit arises because post-reproductive mothers enhance the lifetime reproductive success of their offspring by allowing them to breed earlier, more frequently and more successfully. Finally, the fitness benefits of prolonged lifespan diminish as the reproductive output of offspring declines. This suggests that in female humans, selection for deferred ageing should wane when one's own offspring become post-reproductive and, correspondingly, we show that rates of female mortality accelerate as their offspring terminate reproduction