The respiratory basis of metabolic rate and life histories

Oxygen fuels aerobic metabolism and as such, plays an important role in the physiology, ecology, and evolution of organisms. Traits related to oxygen acquisition (respiratory surface area) and use (metabolic rate) or the balance of oxygen supply and demand (or its mismatch, termed ‘oxygen limitation’) have been proposed to underlie broad patterns such as the temperature-size rule and the geographic distributions of marine species. Moreover, traits related to oxygen acquisition and use form the central focus of seemingly disparate macroecological theories that aim to explain and predict the structure and dynamics of ecological systems and how these systems and their constituents will respond to a changing climate. While these existing theories and oxygen-related explanations offer a compelling story, the role of oxygen in shaping biological observations, responses, and patterns is hotly debated. Further, much work in this area is experimental in nature and typically focuses on a single species in laboratory settings. Broader scale, macroecological research stemming from meta-analysis and modeling is needed to understand the generality of patterns. To that end, this thesis takes a macroecological approach and examines the generality of the relationships among traits related to oxygen acquisition and use, ecology, and life histories. First, I reveal that respiratory surface area explains patterns of metabolic rate across the vertebrate tree of life. Second, I uncover that larger-bodied, active, pelagic sharks have greater gill surface areas (respiratory surface area in fishes) for a given size compared to their smaller-bodied, less active, benthic counterparts. Conversely, the rate at which gill surface area increases with body mass is the same for all species, regardless of activity level, habitat type, or maximum size. Third, I test a central prediction of the Gill Oxygen Limitation Theory and find that across fishes, growth and maximum size more strongly relate to activity level than gill surface area. Collectively, my thesis highlights the complexities of integrating data across scales and illustrates that oxygen acquisition and use is tightly correlated with activity level, but the relationships with life histories are less straightforward. This body of work builds on existing theory while empirically testing relationships among oxygen acquisition and use, ecological lifestyle, and the life histories among fishes and other vertebrates

System Dynamics And Nursing Lines: Cost Saving Measures at Eastern Connecticut Healthcare Network

The project addresses problems associated with usage and cost of disposable medical supplies on a nursing line. As hospitals look for methods to reduce costs without cutting performance or patient satisfaction, supply line inefficiencies are coming under heavy scrutiny. Working with representatives from a non-profit group, Eastern Connecticut Health Network, a major supply problem was identified and a system dynamics model was created in Vensim for a particular nursing line. The resultant model indicates that a lack of observable feedback and response has placed ECHN in a position where uncharged disposable medical supplies increase costs. It was concluded that based on current conditions, increasing disposable medical supply value awareness would create a net savings for the hospital

Community Targeting for Poverty Reduction in Burkina Faso.

The paper develops a method for targeting anti-poverty programs and public projects on poor communities in rural and urban areas. The method is based on the application of an extensive data-set from a large number of sources and the integration of the entire data-set in a Geographical Information System. This data-set includes data from the population census, household-level data from a variety of surveys, community-level data on the local road infrastructure, public facilities, water points, etc., and department-level data on the agro-climatic conditions. An econometric model that estimates the impact of household-, community-, and department-level variables on households’ consumption has been used to identify the key explanatory variables that determine the standard of living in rural and urban areas. This model was applied to predict poverty indicators for 3871 rural and urban communities across the country and to provide a mapping of the spatial distribution of poverty in Burkina Faso. Simulation analysis was subsequently conducted to assess the effectiveness of village-level targeting based on these predictions of the poverty indicators. The results show that village-level targeting based on these predictions provides an improvement over regional targeting by reducing the leakage of the targeted program and the percentage of the population that remains undercovered

Narrative Health Communication and Behavior Change: The Influence of Exemplars in the News on Intention to Quit Smoking.

This study investigated psychological mechanisms underlying the effect of narrative health communication on behavioral intention. Specifically, the study examined how exemplification in news about successful smoking cessation affects recipients\u27 narrative engagement, thereby changing their intention to quit smoking. Nationally representative samples of U.S. adult smokers participated in 2 experiments. The results from the 2 experiments consistently showed that smokers reading a news article with an exemplar experienced greater narrative engagement compared to those reading an article without an exemplar. Those who reported more engagement were in turn more likely to report greater smoking cessation intentions

Hashtag Activism: Exploring The Church Must Vote Campaign in Nigeria

Socio-political activism and its relationship with digital media diffusion is an on-going subject of considerable debate among observers and scholars globally. This work creates a research trajectory on Nigeria by investigating the contributions of social media in the implementation of The Church Must Vote campaign. It examines the effects of connective action and clicktivism on political mobilization and evaluates how Christians used social media to increase their civic vitality during the 2019 general elections. A total of 6,951 online content, including 42 YouTube videos posted by the users of the hashtag, #thechurchmustvote, were explored via social networking analysis. Findings show that social media played a significant role in the success of the campaign and served as education channels to advise Christians on the need to participate in the elections. The impressive outcome elicits the recommendation that Nigerians should consider hashtag activism or clicktivism as a valuable political engagement system

Hashtag Activism: Exploring The Church Must Vote Campaign in Nigeria

Socio-political activism and its relationship with digital media diffusion is an on-going subject of considerable debate among observers and scholars globally. This work creates a research trajectory on Nigeria by investigating the contributions of social media in the implementation of The Church Must Vote campaign. It examines the effects of connective action and clicktivism on political mobilization and evaluates how Christians used social media to increase their civic vitality during the 2019 general elections. A total of 6,951 online content, including 42 YouTube videos posted by the users of the hashtag, #thechurchmustvote, were explored via social networking analysis. Findings show that social media played a significant role in the success of the campaign and served as education channels to advise Christians on the need to participate in the elections. The impressive outcome elicits the recommendation that Nigerians should consider hashtag activism or clicktivism as a valuable political engagement system