The effect of communication type on knowledge retention of brain injuries

Misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries have been seen in the general population since 1988. Previous research has demonstrated that the misconceptions are not limited to geographical area and have been seen in health care professionals. A possible explanation for these misconceptions could be the ineffective transmission of knowledge. The current study examined the effect of an educational intervention on eight misconceptions and their ‘real life’ applications, as well as the general knowledge surrounding traumatic brain injuries. Comparative and absolute risk were also examined. Thirty undergraduate students were given a pre-test consisting of four surveys (misconceptions, application of misconception, general knowledge, and comparative risk), randomly assorted into an educational intervention group (verbal or verbal and written), and then given a post-test consisting of the same surveys. There was a significant time effect for the misconceptions survey. A significant interaction was seen in the general knowledge demonstrating the participant’s capability to learn. Future research is needed to examine why participants endorse particular beliefs

Microbial Community Structure And Ecosystem Function In A Changing World

Understanding the effects climate change will have on the structure and function of global ecosystems is a pressing ecological and social issue. Global change driven changes in atmospheric warming and precipitation régimes have begun to alter the distribution of plants and animals in, as well as the function of, ecosystems. Using two large-scale climate change manipulations, I assessed the effect of changing precipitation and temperature regimes on soil microbial community structure and function. Soil microbial communities regulate decomposition and nutrient cycling rates in ecosystems, thus understanding their response to climatic changes will enable scientists to better predict carbon feedbacks to the atmosphere as well as functional shifts within ecosystems. My first two chapters took advantage of a large-scale precipitation manipulation in a semi-arid woodland. My first chapter aimed to understand how changing precipitation amounts altered the structure and abundance of soil bacteria and fungi; while my second chapter measured how changing precipitation altered soil nitrogen cycling. Overall, I found that soil microbial community composition and function were responsive to changes in precipitation, but these responses were contingent upon seasonal variability in precipitation and the aboveground plant community. My final experiment examined how changing temperature altered soil microbial community structure and function in two temperate forests. Using a large scale warming experiment at two locations, I examined how changes in temperature altered microbial composition, abundance, potential enzyme activity, and decomposition. I found that the effects of warming were contingent upon location; microbial community composition responded to alterations in soil temperature and soil moisture at the warmer site, but not at the cooler site. Unexpectedly, the change in microbial community composition did not result in changes in the rate of decomposition. I conclude that the soil is relatively buffered from atmospheric warming thus changes in microbial community structure and function may take longer than a few years to develop. Taken together, my research demonstrates that understanding the effects of climate change on microbial community structure and function is complex and contingent upon the background abiotic and biotic variability within an ecosystem

Investigation of Stiffening Effects on Notch Growth Trajectory of Composite Stiffened Panels with Large Transverse Notches

Design of robust aircraft structure requires consideration of the load-carrying capability with large damage. Large notches, typically introduced as machined cracks (aka notches) severing a single skin bay and a central stiffening member, are often used to conservatively address the wide range of possible large damage scenarios. The objective of current effort was to explore the viability of developing preliminary laminate-based methods for predicting crack turning at the adjacent stiffener using traditional fracture mechanics concepts

Materials research for high-speed civil transport and generic hypersonics: Composites durability

This report covers a portion of an ongoing investigation of the durability of composites for the High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) program. Candidate HSCT composites need to possess the high-temperature capability required for supersonic flight. This program was designed to initiate the design, analysis, fabrication, and testing of equipment intended for use in validating the long-term durability of materials for the HSCT. This equipment includes thermally actuated compression and tension fixtures, hydraulic-actuated reversible load fixtures, and thermal chambers. This equipment can be used for the durability evaluation of both composite and adhesive materials. Thermally actuated fixtures are recommended for fatigue cycling when long-term thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) data are required on coupon-sized tension or compression specimens. Long term durability testing plans for polymer matrix composite specimens are included

The effects of insects, nutrients, and plant invasion on community structure and function above- and belowground

Soil nutrient availability, invasive plants, and insect presence can directly alter ecosystem structure and function, but less is known about how these factors may interact. In this 6-year study in an old-field ecosystem, we manipulated insect abundance (reduced and control), the propagule pressure of an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant (propagules added and control), and soil nutrient availability (nitrogen added, nitrogen reduced and control) in a fully crossed, completely randomized plot design. We found that nutrient amendment and, occasionally, insect abundance interacted with the propagule pressure of an invasive plant to alter above-and belowground structure and function at our site. Not surprisingly, nutrient amendment had a direct effect on aboveground biomass and soil nutrient mineralization. The introduction of invasive nitrogen-fixing plant propagules interacted with nutrient amendment and insect presence to alter soil bacterial abundance and the activity of the microbial community. While the larger-scale, longer-term bulk measurements such as biomass production and nutrient mineralization responded to the direct effects of our treatments, the shorter-term and dynamic microbial communities tended to respond to interactions among our treatments. Our results indicate that soil nutrients, invasive plants, and insect herbivores determine both above-and belowground responses, but whether such effects are independent versus interdependent varies with scale

Investigation of Stiffening and Curvature Effects on the Residual Strength of Composite Stiffened Panels with Large Transverse Notches

Design of robust aircraft structure requires consideration of the load-carrying capability with large damage. Large notches, typically introduced as machined cracks (aka "notches") severing a single skin bay and a central stiffening member, are often used to conservatively address the wide range of possible large damage scenarios. The objective of the current effort was to develop more generalized and rapid analysis methods addressing large-notch residual strength of stiffened panels to support preliminary design activities.

The effects of insects, nutrients, and plant invasion on community structure and function above- and belowground

Soil nutrient availability, invasive plants, and insect presence can directly alter ecosystem structure and function, but less is known about how these factors may interact. In this 6-year study in an old-field ecosystem, we manipulated insect abundance (reduced and control), the propagule pressure of an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant (propagules added and control), and soil nutrient availability (nitrogen added, nitrogen reduced and control) in a fully crossed, completely randomized plot design. We found that nutrient amendment and, occasionally, insect abundance interacted with the propagule pressure of an invasive plant to alter above- and belowground structure and function at our site. Not surprisingly, nutrient amendment had a direct effect on aboveground biomass and soil nutrient mineralization. The introduction of invasive nitrogen-fixing plant propagules interacted with nutrient amendment and insect presence to alter soil bacterial abundance and the activity of the microbial community. While the larger-scale, longer-term bulk measurements such as biomass production and nutrient mineralization responded to the direct effects of our treatments, the shorter-term and dynamic microbial communities tended to respond to interactions among our treatments. Our results indicate that soil nutrients, invasive plants, and insect herbivores determine both above- and belowground responses, but whether such effects are independent versus interdependent varies with scale

Automated segmentation of tissue images for computerized IHC analysis

This paper presents two automated methods for the segmentation ofimmunohistochemical tissue images that overcome the limitations of themanual approach aswell as of the existing computerized techniques. The first independent method, based on unsupervised color clustering, recognizes automatically the target cancerous areas in the specimen and disregards the stroma; the second method, based on colors separation and morphological processing, exploits automated segmentation of the nuclear membranes of the cancerous cells. Extensive experimental results on real tissue images demonstrate the accuracy of our techniques compared to manual segmentations; additional experiments show that our techniques are more effective in immunohistochemical images than popular approaches based on supervised learning or active contours. The proposed procedure can be exploited for any applications that require tissues and cells exploration and to perform reliable and standardized measures of the activity of specific proteins involved in multi-factorial genetic pathologie

Greening Brownfield Properties

In this project we provide a framework for analyzing the benefits of greening brownfield properties. The work completed includes a mail survey on the attitudes of Houston residents toward brownfields and greenspaces, a hedonic pricing analysis examining the extent which the conversion of brownfields into greenspaces impacts nearby property values, a valuation of ecosystem services on a City of Houston brownfield site (Bellfort), and three alternative designs for the brownfield site. The survey results demonstrate that parks in Houston are farther from the respondents who had relatively lower incomes and that respondents prefer ecosystem services that have direct benefits, such as flood control and air quality improvements. The hedonic pricing analysis shows mixed results: one of the brownfield to park conversions had a positive impact on nearby properties while another brownfield to park conversion had a negative impact on nearby properties. For the conversion that had a positive impact, nearby property values increased between 4.6% and 11.9% depending on the distance from the park. The brownfields/parks studied differed in their size and location in Houston. The ecosystem services analysis for the Bellfort site includes an examination of air quality improvement, carbon sequestration, and stormwater management, which in total currently provide around $64,000 of annual benefits. The alternative designs for the 300-acre Bellfort site, which includes a former landfill and incinerator, propose ideas to increase the benefits the land provides, such as by increasing habitat and recreation areas and constructing stormwater management systems. All of the project’s components aim to provide insight into the benefits of greening brownfield properties. The results of this project should inform the scope and design ultimately approved for the redevelopment on the Bellfort site. More generally, our project has identified some expectations and methodologies for future brownfield redevelopment projects.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69248/1/Greening_Brownfield_Properties_MP.pd

Microbial communities respond to experimental warming, but site matters

Because microorganisms are sensitive to temperature, ongoing global warming is predicted to influence microbial community structure and function. We used large-scale warming experiments established at two sites near the northern and southern boundaries of US eastern deciduous forests to explore how microbial communities and their function respond to warming at sites with differing climatic regimes. Soil microbial community structure and function responded to warming at the southern but not the northern site. However, changes in microbial community structure and function at the southern site did not result in changes in cellulose decomposition rates. While most global change models rest on the assumption that taxa will respond similarly to warming across sites and their ranges, these results suggest that the responses of microorganisms to warming may be mediated by differences across the geographic boundaries of ecosystems