Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an area-based tool used to manage and protect areas along the coasts and ocean that face impacts from development and climate change. Local communities both impact and are affected by the creation of MPAs and as such, it is important to include their knowledge and...
In 2022, the Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth noted only 24% of children ages 6 to 17 years achieved the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity daily, with a drop in physical activity as children age (Barriss, 2022). More importantly, children with disabilities have been found...
The group of scientists that make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found in 2007 that the warming of Earth’s climate is unequivocal and largely due to human activity. Earth’s climate has changed in the past, though the recent magnitude and pace of changes are unprecedented in human existence....
Here the diversity and phylogeny of the genus, Sthereus Motschulsky, 1845, and its nearest associates in the large subfamily Molytinae are explored through molecular and morphological characters. Sanger sequencing of five genes determined that Sthereus is not monophyletic. Instead, the one species in the genus Gastrotaphrus Buchanan 1936, G. barberi...
Long-standing research has highlighted the critical role of physical and outdoor activities for children’s health and wellbeing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, children and youth around the world experienced heightened stress and poor mental health, which coincided with a decrease in active play and increase in screen-based activities. This work aims...
The focus of this thesis is to design, characterize, and apply novel computational methods and molecular systems to interrogate heterogeneous human gut microbiome-related phenomena. In Chapter 2, I design, implement, and characterize a method for embedding co-occurrence patterns derived from massive 16s amplicon datasets. I use this method to 1....
Over 100 years separate the 1918 Influenza and COVID-19 pandemics, and a multitude of science, public health and communication advancements have emerged. With the COVID-19 pandemic still underway, recently reaching the one million death mark in the United States alone (CDC, 2020), researchers are searching for clues as to how...
With Alzheimer’s disease being the most prominent form of dementia, finding potential treatments for the disease is imperative. This study explored the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen as a potential treatment to normalize the hyperactive N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) within the 5xFAD mice early in the disease pathology before cognitive decline. Female...
Through comparison and analysis of selected holidays in countries with significantly different features (Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and the United States), this study aims to gauge the impact of holiday celebrations in influencing cultural values in those countries studied. K. Zygulski’s classification system for holidays was applied to divide the holidays of...
Variations in ocean conditions influenced by climate fluctuations may impact fish populations by changing their spatial distribution, physiology, survival, and other ecological features. Somatic growth is a crucial aspect of the biology of fishes and an important contributor to biomass fluctuations. Climate variability also affects somatic growth rates along the...