Parasites are increasingly recognized for their significant roles in shaping community structure and ecosystem dynamics. Due to their cryptic nature, however, they are often neglected in measurements of energy flow and biomass in ecosystems. Past studies have demonstrated that parasites directly contribute to the flow of energy through marine estuaries...
Self-directed mobility is a fundamental human right. Typically developing children engage in mobility for a majority of their day, but children with disabilities do not have the same opportunities. Children with disabilities are at a disadvantage and have a greater risk for developmental delays in physical and cognitive skills, along...
The symbiotic relationship between cnidarians, such as corals and
sea anemones, and dinoflagellates plays a crucial role in supporting
the diversity and productivity of coral reefs. Critical to the symbiosis
is the recognition process between host and symbiont at the onset
of symbiosis, which involves the host innate immune system....
A novel approach for the colorimetric detection of creatinine in a paper/polycaprolactone hybrid microfluidic device using alkaline3,5-dinitrobenzoate (DNB) is described. The reaction parameters of reagent concentration, alkalinity, and analysis time are optimized for fast reaction times and high color yield. Microfluidic devices incorporating this assay are designed and fabricated to...
During fall term of 2015 and winter and spring term of 2016 I assisted in research within Dr. Emily Ho’s lab. The project that I assisted in looked at the effects of low zinc status and arsenic exposure in mice. Zinc is an essential micronutrient involved in numerous cellular processes...
When people think of fossils, they generally imagine the bones of large, charismatic animals. However, small mammals are an ecologically important group of organisms that show up frequently in the fossil record, and can frequently function as indicators for local environmental and ecological conditions (Terry, 2007, 2010). Rodent and rabbit...
Tyria jacobaeae was introduced as a biological control agent to control the noxious weed Jacobea vulgaris. Eventually introduced to the Cascade mountain range of Oregon, T. jacobaeae has been found to feed on Senecio triangularis, a native plant closely related to J. vulgaris. Nosema tyriae is a parasitic fungus under...
The Cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae, has been introduced to North America in an effort to control the invasive plant Jacobaea vulgaris. The Cinnabar moth is the main host of Nosema tyriae. When infection levels are high, N. tyriae can shorten the lifespan and affect reproduction of the Cinnabar moths. The...
Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. In 2012, over 220,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. It has been hypothesized that dairy may play a role in breast cancer; however, the evidence has been inconsistent and limited. Proposed mechanisms linking dairy and...
It has been found that youth who are involved in their own growing and harvesting of produce and also prepare and cook their own meals have been found to be more likely to consume the vegetables and meals they themselves cook and prepare.
Many youth are not consuming the recommended...
• Bladder Cancer in the United States has
progressively been one of the more common
cancers and is estimated to have 74,000 new
cases as well as 16,000 deaths in 2015.1
• This type of cancer also has one of the highest
rates of recurrence with an average of 60%...
Vitamin D sufficiency supports cardiovascular health and lower cancer risk. Rates of vitamin D insufficiency vary by racial/ethnic group, in part because skin pigment limits sunlight penetration. However race/ethnicity is an unreliable marker of vitamin D deficiency, given individual differences in skin pigment, or phototype, and other characteristics. Clarifying associations...
Childhood obesity is a nationwide concern of which rural, urban, and suburban communities must be aware in order to take action. The goal for the research project, GROW Healthy Kids and Communities (GROW HKC), is to prevent childhood obesity in rural communities through the use of participatory action research and...
The HEXACO personality framework is an emerging perspective to explain the phenotypic structure of personality, and is believed to replicate across natural language lexical studies better than the Five-Factor Model. Although similar to the “Big Five,” the primary difference between the two structural models is the recovery of the Honesty-Humility...
Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes the economically important plant disease, crown gall. These galls are the result of abnormal growth that manifests itself on either the root or the stem and can be devastating for the ornamental plant industry. Introduction of A. tumefaciens to a nursery can be highly detrimental and thus...
ASD is characterized primarily by deficits in social and communicative skills, however recent studies show differences in motor skills as well when compared to typically developing children. Because of these differences, parents of children with ASD may portray different behaviors than parents of typically developing children. This research aims to find...