Utilizing GIS to Locate Endangered Gravel Hill Prairies of the Wabash River Valley

The Gravel Hill Prairies (GHP’s) of the Wabash River Valley are an endangered ecosystem in the state of Indiana and provide optimal growing conditions for a number of state endangered plants. Currently only four remnants are known to exist near Lafayette, IN, found by a previous study conducted in 1980 by Post, Bacone, and Aldrich (Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, 1984, vol. 94: 457-464). These unique ecosystems have been found to occur almost exclusively on soils classified as Rodman Gravelly Loams and Strawn-Rodman complexes which occur predominantly along the outwash terraces of the Wabash River and its tributaries. Seven Indiana-state endangered plant species, more typical of western shortgrass prairies, are documented on these soils. This research effort aimed to develop GIS maps to scout for and discover areas of unknown GHP remnants. The end goal of the project is to assist conservation groups in the development of a strategy to preserve previously undiscovered remnants. This project relied on spatial analyses with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and numerous databases including the USDA’s gridded Soil Survey Geographic (gSSURGO), which had not been used previously to develop maps and scouting plans. Analysis have identified a total of 972 areas of interest, of which 53 have been visited and had preliminary plant lists put together. These field scouting trips have found five fragments of gravel hill prairie remnants along the Wea Creek and the Wildcat Creek in Tippecanoe Co., one remnant fragment along Bee Run in Warren Co., and numerous high quality open-oak woodlands. These fragments are at varying stages of plant community degradation, however, one of the fragments along the Wea Creek contains the state endangered aromatic aster (Aster oblongifolius)

Core Forest Analysis along the WIldcat Creek for Niches Land Trust

A number of the properties that Niches Land Trust owns and manages are along the length of the Wildcat Creek, a waterway classified under the Rivers Preservation Act of 1973 as a “Natural, Scenic, and Recreational River System” in Indiana that flows through the counties of Tippecanoe, Carroll, Howard, and Clinton (with minor segments in Madison and Grant). The proper management of the land around the Wildcat Creek is crucial to the continued health of the waterway and the terrestrial ecosystems along its banks. Part of my volunteer work with Niches Land Trust involves the establishment of baseline data of forest area along the Wildcat Creek to be used in determining future ecosystem management and restoration projects. The study can also be used in the future as reference data to compare to in the future for determining the net change of forest habitat. My research involves the use of GIS to collect data and use spatial analysis to determine the amount of core forest habitat present in close proximity to the Wildcat Creek

Color\u27s Influence on Short-Term Memory In Each Gender

This study evaluated links between gender and short-term memory using coloration of three groups of 12 stimuli: numbers, non-emotion based words, and nonsense syllables. The participants were undergraduate students enrolled at South Dakota State University.The participants viewed these colored stimuli and recalled as many as possible.Using a between subjects design, each group of participants was assigned a specific color.When interpreted with an ANOVA and post-hoc t-tests, neither gender nor color significantly altered recall of stimuli

Utilizing GIS to Locate Endangered Gravel Hill Prairies of the Wabash River Valley

The Gravel Hill Prairies (GHP\u27s) of the Wabash River Valley are an endangered ecosystem in the state of Indiana and provide optimal growing conditions for a number of state endangered plants. Currently only four remnants are known to exist near Lafayette, IN, found by a previous study conducted in 1980 by Post, Bacone, and Aldrich (Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, 1984, vol. 94: 457-464). These unique ecosystems have been found to occur almost exclusively on soils classified as Rodman Gravelly Loams and Strawn-Rodman complexes which occur predominantly along the outwash terraces of the Wabash River and its tributaries. Seven Indiana-state endangered plant species, more typical of western shortgrass prairies, are documented on these soils. This research effort aimed to develop GIS maps to scout for and discover areas of unknown GHP remnants. The end goal of the project is to assist conservation groups in the development of a strategy to preserve previously undiscovered remnants. This project relied on spatial analyses with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and numerous databases including the USDA\u27s gridded Soil Survey Geographic (gSSURGO), which had not been used previously to develop maps and scouting plans. Analysis have located a total of 809 areas of interest, of which 47 have been visited and had preliminary plant lists put together. These field scouting trips have found four gravel hill prairie remnants along the Wea Creek and the Wildcat Creek, one prairie remnant along Bee Run in Warren Co., and numerous high quality open-oak woodlands

Dead Men Walking: An Analysis of Working-Class Masculinity in Post-2008 Hollywood Film

Working-class masculinity has lost its steam. Since 2008, a sub-genre of Hollywood films has emerged that depicts the current crisis, and imminent demise, of working-class masculinity in the United States. The 2008 financial crisis has had devastating effects on the American economy, and particularly the working-class, whose precarious economic position has only been exacerbated under neoliberalism. These effects have become the thematic focus of a fringe genre of films, which show how the destabilization of the American economy has incited greater instability in gender relations, and has had an acute impact on working-class men. This thesis proceeds by analyzing how these films articulate the current crisis of working-class masculinity in America. Using the framework outlined by R.W. Connell, I explore how working-class masculinity has become marginalized in relation to neoliberal hegemonic masculinity, and how its marginalization has become an excitatory factor for inter-masculine violence, constituting a social problem

Case Reports : Topiramate, a concealed cause of severe metabolic acidosis

Severe metabolic acidosis is common among critically ill patients, and topiramate is a rare cause that may fail recognition. We report a lady with acute encephalopathy who had severe non-anion gap metabolic acidosis that served as the clue leading to suspicion and diagnosis of topiramate toxicity and was confirmed by elevated blood topiramate levels. Additionally, we provide a review of literature on all reported cases of topiramate toxicity. Keywords: Topiramate, metabolic acidosis, migraine, altered mental status, carbonic anhydrase.Includes bibliographical reference

Cutting Force and Temperature Prediction for Turning Processes

The machining process modeling software allows researchers to run simulations of real world situations without the costs and risks of operating the machining tool and mining a work piece or cutting tool.We ran several simulations with combinations of high speed steel, carbide, and cubic-boron-nitride for our tool materials, and 1045 steel, 15-5PH, or Inconel 718 for workpiece material options. The numerical simulations or experiments assumed physical, mechanical, and thermal properties representative of work-piece materials and tool material. Cutting forces were determined in the numerical simulations