During traditional boat-based surveys of marine megafauna, behavioral observations are typically limited to records of animal surfacings obtained from a horizontal perspective. Achieving an aerial perspective has been restricted to brief helicopter or airplane based observations that are costly, noisy, and risky. The emergence of commercial small unmanned aerial systems...
During traditional boat-based surveys of marine megafauna, behavioral observations are typically limited to records of animal surfacings obtained from a horizontal perspective. Achieving an aerial perspective has been restricted to brief helicopter or airplane based observations that are costly, noisy, and risky. The emergence of commercial small unmanned aerial systems...
The equation of state for a fluid described by the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen (WCA) potential was solved to determine at what pressures and temperatures the fluid will theoretically freeze. A Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm was used to sample a system of 256 spheres for a set of thermodynamic averages to locate and...
Baleen whales store energy gained on foraging grounds to support reproduction and other metabolic needs while fasting for long periods during migration. Whale body condition can be used to monitor foraging success, and thus better understand and anticipate individual‐ and population‐level trends in reproduction and survival. We assessed the body...
The public health framework of harm reduction was evaluated in one care setting to determine its potential for use in other fields of healthcare. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 clients of the HIV Alliance’s needle exchange program. Analysis of client responses revealed three themes: 1) harm reduction methods work...
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Kelly Chandler, Committee Member, representing Human Development and Family Sciences
Drones provide a privileged birds’-eye view for collecting high-resolution imagery formorphometric and behavioral sampling of animals. Biologically meaningful measurements extracted from overhead images require an accurate estimate of altitude, but current commercial drones include inaccurate barometer estimates. Recent proposals for coupling altimeter systems to drones have provided customized, open-source solutions,...
Baleen whale fecal samples have high potential for endocrine monitoring, which can be used as a non-invasive tool to identify the physiological response to disturbance events and describe population health and vital rates. In this study, we used commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to validate and quantify fecal steroid (progestins, androgens...
Drones, or unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS), have become increasingly accessible and a widely used tool across disciplines. Off-the-shelf drones have, for instance, popularized and advanced wildlife research by providing a privileged birds’-eye view for collecting high-resolution imagery for morphometric and behavioral sampling, which was otherwise costly or impractical. Biologically meaningful...
Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUASs) are fostering novel approaches to marine mammal research, including baleen whale photogrammetry, by providing new observational perspectives. We collected vertical images of 89 gray and 6 blue whales using low cost sUASs to examine the accuracy of image based morphometry. Moreover, measurements from 192 images...
The studies presented here use the B- to Z-DNA transition and Z-DNA
crystallization as model systems to determine the contribution of solvent interactions to
macromolecular structures. The substituent groups of naturally occurring and modified
nucleotide bases affect the hydration and thus the stability of right-handed B-DNA and
left-handed Z-DNA. The...
