Avian botulism in Hawaiʻi: an historical analysis of avian botulism outbreaks and the establishment of a Hawaiʻi waterbird network for improved wetland management

Master’s in Environmental Management (MEM) Capstone Report

Obesity and Diabetes: Two Growing Epidemics in California

Analyzes the 2001-07 increase in obesity and diabetes prevalence by race/ethnicity, age, income, education, and years lived in the United States. Outlines policy implications of the disproportionate effect on people of color, the poor, and less educated

The Intricacies of Adopting International “Norms” from the Bottom Up

This manuscript examines the socio-political climate that led San Francisco to adopt an ordinance based on the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), despite the United States’ failure to ratify the treaty. The publication also investigates the successes and shortcomings of the ordinance’s materialization

Believe and Achieve: An Examination of Predictors of Mathematical Achievement in Secondary Mathematics Students

This research addressed the following research question: which specific variable has the greatest predictive power of mathematical literacy and problem solving competency while controlling for socioeconomic status (SES)? The variables that were studied were categorized as follows: demographic and personal history variables, attitudinal variables, behavioral variables, and school organization and structure variables. Much of the existing literature cites SES as the most powerful predictor of math achievement. Using multiple linear regression modeling, this study found that many variables studied were determined to be significant predictors of mathematical literacy and/or problem solving competency while controlling for SES. Every category of variables had at least one statistically significant predictor: demographic and personal history variables, attitudinal variables, behavioral variables, and school organization and structure variables. The attitudinal variables had the most significant predictors of math literacy and problem solving competency and categorically proved to be the most powerful. The statistically significant predictors were categorized as major predictors and minor predictors of mathematical achievement. The variables with a significant but less powerful effect on math achievement are designated as minor predictors; these minor predictors include: gender, immigration status, student attribution to failure, perceived math support, number of minutes in math class, math education of teachers, and class size. The variables with the greatest significant and powerful effect on math achievement are designated as major predictors; these major predictors include: socioeconomic status, math self-efficacy, math anxiety, and math teacher certification. The associated predictive powers of the major predictors were greater than the predictive power of SES, the control variable. Even when not controlling for SES, the attitudes of students’ self-efficacy was the most powerful predictor of math literacy and problem solving competency. These results hold substantial implications in the areas of math literacy and problem solving competency for practitioners of math education and academic researchers. This study may be used to inform pedagogical practices, districts, policy makers, and future areas of research

Dynamic modeling and hardware in the loop testing of chemical processes

This thesis presents a framework for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing of chemical plants. HIL testing is a widespread tool used in industry and academia to bridge the gap between computer simulations and physical experimentation. It provides many advantages to the standard development path of building a physical prototype and then running tests. Benefits of HIL testing include decreased development time, reduced cost, increased safety, and better control algorithm development. For this work, HIL testing consists of an emulated real-time chemical plant and a real physical controller. This HIL testing setup requires two main thrusts – the development of a dynamic model for chemical plants and the implementation of an emulated real-time plant and a real physical controller in hardware. A user-friendly, modular, scalable, dynamic, and nonlinear first principles modeling toolkit is developed in Matlab Simulink. The toolkit contains individual chemical plant components such as a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR), pump, and valve. Experimental validation of the chemical concentration models and an example plant model are included. Next, for the hardware and control implementation tasks, National Instrument’s VeriStand software is used to integrate a Simulink model to run in real-time on NI hardware. A myRIO is used as a real physical controller, programmed in LabVIEW, to control the emulated real-time chemical plant running on a CompactRIO. A chemical plant which forms propylene glycol in a CSTR is utilized as a case study. However, the HIL testing framework developed is widely applicable to real physical systems to decrease development time and increase safety

The Ecological Significance of Emerging Deltas in Regulated Rivers

Sedimentary deltas forming in the world’s regulated rivers are a glaring gap in our knowledge of dammed riverine ecosystems. Basic ecological information is needed to inform the current debate about whether deltas should be retained and managed to gain ecosystem services lost under reservoirs or whether they should be partially removed to improve flow conveyance and to resupply sediment-starved reaches below dams. An examination of nine deltas on the heavily regulated upper and middle Missouri River showed the following: The sizes, dynamics, and biotic communities vary widely across deltas; riparian forest has established on portions of most deltas; the current delta area is over 1000 square kilometers, exceeding forest area in remnant unimpounded reaches and offering considerable land area for restoration actions; and small adjustments to reservoir operations could improve the restoration potential of deltas. Ecological studies are urgently needed to determine the future role that deltas could play in river ecosystem restoration

Normative Percent Differences between Inter-day and Inter-Limb Upper Extremity Volume in Healthy Adult Females

Lymphedema is a frequent complication of breast cancer treatments and can become a chronic condition. Diagnosing lymphedema early is essential to reverse the condition and prevent future complications. Segmental circumferential measurements are the most efficient, reliable, and clinically relevant method to measure UE volume. Diagnosing pre-clinical lymphedema requires an understanding of normal inter-day and inter-limb volume differences among healthy women.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/dpt_symposium/1016/thumbnail.jp

Rainfall Stimulation of Primary Production in Western Atlantic Ocean Waters: Roles of Different Nitrogen Sources and Co-Limiting Nutrients

Using shipboard bioassays, we examined the roles rainfall, individual and combined nutrients play in accelerating primary production in coastal, Gulf Stream and pelagic (Sargasso Sea) locations in the North Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina, USA, from 1993 to 1995. Photosynthetic CO2 fixation and net chlorophyll a (chl a) production were measured In replicated bioassays to assess individual and combined impacts of different constituents of atmospheric deposition, including natural rainfall, a synthetic rain mix, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN; NH4+ ,NO3-), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON; urea),phosphorus (PO43-) and iron (as EDTA-chelated and unchelated FeCl3).Natural rainfall and DIN additions most often stimulated CO2 fixation and chl a production, but frequencies and magnitudes of biostimulation, relative to controls, varied between these indicators. Spatial differences in the types and magnitudes of stimulation were also observed. When added in equimolar amounts, NH4+ was, at times, more stimulatory than NO3-. The NO3- stimulation was significantly enhanced by Fe-EDTA. Urea was marginally stimulatory at the coastal location. PO43- was never stimulatory. Fe-EDTA and EDTA by themselves stimulated production only at the offshore locations, suggesting increased Fe limitation with increasing distance from land. Synthetic rain, which contained both sources of DIN, but not Fe, generally proved less stimulatory per unit N than natural rainfall. Results indicate a broad sensitivity of these waters to N additions, which in the case of NO3- are enhanced by Fe-EDTA. At all locations, the high level of stimulation of primary production attributable to natural rain may be due to the supply of both DIN and CO-limiting nutrients (e.g. Fe), contributing to the eutrophication potential of waters downwind of urban, industrial and agricultural emissions

Provenance and Paleogeography of the 25-17 Ma Rainbow Gardens Formation: Evidence for Tectonic Activity at Ca. 19 Ma and Internal Drainage rather than Throughgoing Paleorivers on the Southwestern Colorado Plateau

The paleogeographic evolution of the Lake Mead region of southern Nevada and northwest Arizona is crucial to understanding the geologic history of the U.S. Southwest, including the evolution of the Colorado Plateau and formation of the Grand Canyon. The ca. 25–17 Ma Rainbow Gardens Formation in the Lake Mead region, the informally named, roughly coeval Jean Conglomerate, and the ca. 24–19 Ma Buck and Doe Conglomerate southeast of Lake Mead hold the only stratigraphic evidence for the Cenozoic pre-extensional geology and paleogeography of this area. Building on prior work, we present new sedimentologic and stratigraphic data, including sandstone provenance and detrital zircon data, to create a more detailed paleogeographic picture of the Lake Mead, Grand Wash Trough, and Hualapai Plateau region from 25 to 18 Ma. These data confirm that sediment was sourced primarily from Paleozoic strata exposed in surrounding Sevier and Laramide uplifts and active volcanic fields to the north. In addition, a distinctive signal of coarse sediment derived from Proterozoic crystalline basement first appeared in the southwestern corner of the basin ca. 25 Ma at the beginning of Rainbow Gardens Formation deposition and then prograded north and east ca. 19 Ma across the southern half of the basin. Regional thermochronologic data suggest that Cretaceous deposits likely blanketed the Lake Mead region by the end of Sevier thrusting. Post-Laramide northward cliff retreat off the Kingman/Mogollon uplifts left a stepped erosion surface with progressively younger strata preserved northward, on which Rainbow Gardens Formation strata were deposited. Deposition of the Rainbow Gardens Formation in general and the 19 Ma progradational pulse in particular may reflect tectonic uplift events just prior to onset of rapid extension at 17 Ma, as supported by both thermochronology and sedimentary data. Data presented here negate the California and Arizona River hypotheses for an “old” Grand Canyon and also negate models wherein the Rainbow Gardens Formation was the depocenter for a 25–18 Ma Little Colorado paleoriver flowing west through East Kaibab paleocanyons. Instead, provenance and paleocurrent data suggest local to regional sources for deposition of the Rainbow Gardens Formation atop a stripped low-relief western Colorado Plateau surface and preclude any significant input from a regional throughgoing paleoriver entering the basin from the east or northeast