<p>Programmed death is often associated with a bacterial stress response. This behavior appears paradoxical, as it offers no benefit to the individual. This paradox can be explained if the death is `altruistic': the sacrifice of some cells can benefit the survivors through release of `public goods'. However, the conditions where bacterial programmed death becomes advantageous have not been unambiguously demonstrated experimentally. Here, I determined such conditions by engineering tunable, stress-induced altruistic death in the bacterium Escherichia coli. Using a mathematical model, we predicted the existence of an optimal programmed death rate that maximizes population growth under stress. I further predicted that altruistic death could generate the `Eagle effect', a counter-intuitive phenomenon where bacteria appear to grow better when treated with higher antibiotic concentrations. In support of these modeling insights, I experimentally demonstrated both the optimality in programmed death rate and the Eagle effect using our engineered system. These findings fill a critical conceptual gap in the analysis of the evolution of bacterial programmed death, and have implications for a design of antibiotic treatment.</p> / Dissertation

Wildlife reintroduction programs are a type of conservation initiative meant to preserve biodiversity through the restoration of damaged areas and the reintroduction of extirpated species. Unfortunately, such reintroductions have a history of limited success, ad hoc procedures, and little focus on hypothetico-deductive design. This study sought to identify some of the trends in the leadership, management, and structure of wildlife reintroduction programs through the use of a case study and survey. The survey was distributed to reintroduction practitioners and biologists worldwide in an attempt to identify patterns of organizational behavior within the field. Some general trends indicated that most reintroductions had active and monitoring phases of 4 or more years (59% and 75% of respondents respectively), adhered closely to World Conservation Union (IUCN) Reintroduction Guidelines (43% of respondents), had a somewhat hierarchical structure (50% of respondents), held annual long-term goal-setting meetings (56%), observed annual employee evaluations (63%), and underwent project evaluations annually, using both internal (74%) and external (39%) evaluative instruments. Opinion questions regarding the ultimate performance of the project indicated that although 75% of researchers felt that their project had made good progress, only 63% said that a formal evaluation had confirmed this statement.

The vast shale gas and tight oil reservoirs in North America cannot be economically developed without multi-stage hydraulic fracture treatments. Owing to the disparity in the density of natural fractures in addition to the disparate in-situ stress conditions in these kinds of formations, microseismic fracture mapping has shown that hydraulic fracture treatments develop a range of large-scale fracture networks in the shale plays. In this thesis, an approach is presented, where the fracture networks approximated with microseismic mapping are integrated with a commercial numerical production simulator that discretely models the network structure in both vertical and horizontal wells. A novel approach for reservoir simulation is used, where porosity (instead of permeability) is used as a scaling parameter for the fracture width. Two different fracture geometries have been broadly proposed for a multi stage horizontal well, orthogonal and transverse. The orthogonal pattern represents a complex network with cross cutting fractures orthogonal to each other; whereas transverse pattern maps uninterrupted fractures achieving maximum depth of penetration into the reservoir. The response for a vii single-stage fracture is further investigated by comparing the propagation of the stage to be dendritic versus planar. A dendritic propagation is bifurcation of the hydraulic fracture due to intersection with the natural fracture (failure along the plane of weakness). The impact of fracture spacing to optimize these fracture geometries is studied. A systematic optimization for designing the fracture length and width is also presented. The simulation is motivated by the oil window of Eagle Ford shale formation and the results of this work illustrate how different fracture network geometries impact well performance, which is critical for improving future horizontal well completions and fracturing strategies in low permeability shale and tight oil reservoirs. A rate transient analysis (RTA) technique employing a rate normalized pressure (RNP) vs. superposition time function (STF) plot is used for the linear flow analysis. The parameters that influence linear flow are analytically derived. It is found that picking a straight line on this curve can lead to erroneous results because multiple solutions exist. A new technique for linear flow analysis is used. The ratio of derivative of inverse production and derivative of square root time is plotted against square root time and the constant derivative region is seen to be indicative of linear flow. The analysis is found to be robust because different simulation cases are modeled and permeability and fracture half-length are estimated. / text

Hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a tremendous resource across the United States and around the world—shale. However, these processes have also come with a myriad of potential environmental effects, including a substantial demand for water. Hydraulic fracturing can require anywhere between two and four million gallons per well. The need for such large quantities of water can produce severe stresses on local water resources. In response to this issue, operators have developed several ways to alleviate some of the stresses brought on by the extensive water use such as alternative sourcing and reuse technologies. Companies are driven to exercise these options and decrease their fresh water usage for hydraulic fracturing processes for multiple reasons, including changes in regulation, to gain support of local communities, and to increase efficiencies of operations. Whatever the motivation may be, there are a variety of options companies have at their disposal to reduce fresh water demands—dependent on specific formation characteristics, the qualities and quantities of available water, among others. The Eagle Ford shale is one of the most rapidly growing shale plays in the country. However, this formation is located in a fairly arid part of the country. Because of meager average rainfall totals, water availability to meet demand is an issue of great concern. Due to nearly exponential increases in shale production, stresses on local water supplies have dramatically increased as well. The objectives of this thesis are as follows: 1) to establish the enormous resource that has become available; while still recognizing the environmental impacts associated with development processes, focusing primarily on water requirements and associated wastewater production; 2) to break down current water demand for shale development, as well as wastewater management practices in the Eagle Ford, with a brief comparison to other shale plays across the country; 3) to obtain an understanding of operator motivation—what factors affect wastewater management strategies; and 4) to analyze techniques operators presently have at their disposal to reduce fresh water demands, specifically through the use of brackish waters and recycling/reuse efforts, and finally to quantify these efforts to evaluate potential fresh water savings. / text

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, 2008. / "June 2008." Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-203). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

In most ways, The Mountain Eagle is an ordinary community oriented weekly newspaper, and indeed, a close examination of the paper will reveal that it focuses mostly on community news in Letcher County Kentucky, a small county in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. It carries holiday recipes, neighborhood news, and coverage of local government, school boards and sporting events. But a closer examination of the paper and its history reveals a different kind of community weekly. The Mountain Eagle is one of the most recognized, commented upon, and decorated community newspapers in the United States. Since Tom and Pat Gish took the paper over in 1957, the Gishes and their newspaper have been shunned by their neighbors, boycotted, and the paper’s offices were fire-bombed in 1974. And yet, the paper survived and continues to report the news, honesty and without bias. Although Tom Gish was born and raised in the coal fields of Letcher County both Gishes were “city journalists” when they came to Whitesburg. Pat worked for The Lexington Leader and Tom managed the United Press Desk in the state capital of Frankfort. They met while studying Journalism at the University of Kentucky, and pursued careers in the field. Their desire to run a small-town newspaper brought them to Whitesburg, Tom’s hometown. Their insistence on doing their jobs the way they had been trained soon put them at odds with the Fiscal Court, the School Board, the coal operators, and the elites who ran Letcher County. Coal mining drove the economy, and the county operated on a near feudal basis, with people owing fealty to elected officials and coal companies, and none of the controlling interests liked the idea of seeing their activities on the front page. This dissertation is a chronological examination of The Mountain Eagle and its publishers during period between 1957, when the Gishes took over the newspaper, to 1977, when the Federal Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act was signed into law. During that period, Letcher County and the United States experienced the assassination of a president, the War on Poverty, the Vietnam War, and the widespread use of strip mining to gouge rich veins of coal out of the Appalachian Coalfields. Strip mining soon became the most common method of extracting coal in the country, and its effects on the steep hillsides of eastern Kentucky became the focus of much of The Eagle’s news and editorial activity. Both Gishes said many times that it had never been their intention to become crusaders or to take on any particular group. But as they began to undertake what they saw as their primary job, that of reporting on the news of the county, they began to experience obstacles in reporting on civic activities, which by Kentucky law were supposed to be open to the public. In an introductory speech delivered to the Rotary Club in the county seat of Whitesburg, Tom Gish pointed out that while there were a lot of things about the newspaper that he liked and intended to keep, there were other areas where he thought the paper could be improved. One of those areas was in the coverage of civic events, primarily the meetings of the fiscal court, the various city councils, and the board of education, the first of the controlling bodies to come into conflict with the newspaper. Pat Gish did most of the reporting, and when she started attending school board meetings, she learned that while she might be tolerated, she would certainly not be welcomed. The board initially told the paper that their meetings were closed, only one person at a time was allowed into the board chamber, and they were there to discuss their business with the board and then leave. Tom Gish informed them that the Kentucky Open Meetings Law gave the press access to public meetings and grudgingly, the board allowed Pat to attend. But they refused to provide her with a chair, so she had to stand during meetings that often lasted for several hours, even while she was pregnant with her second child. Tom Gish also began to attend meetings to provide a basis for the editorials he wrote asking for improvements in county-wide education. This came during a period when Kentucky Schools were under investigation by the state legislature and Whitesburg Attorney Harry Caudill, who represented the county in the General Assembly, chaired a committee that delivered a scathing report on Kentucky schools, and called particular attention to education in eastern Kentucky. Caudill’s guest editorials and Letters to the Editor began to appear in The Mountain Eagle during this period and marked the first phase of a long collaboration between Caudill and Gish that addressed a broad range of issues that affected the region. Not long afterward, one of the board members, the physician who had delivered Tom Gish and owned several businesses in the county, announced that he would withdraw his advertising from the paper and the “word went out” that teachers had been forbidden to purchase the paper. Tom Gish later said that newsstand sales had skyrocketed during this and subsequent boycotts. Tom Gish joined his wife in covering the Letcher County Fiscal Court and they soon angered the judge and magistrates by reporting that magistrates had voted themselves a substantial pay raise. Although the court had initially welcomed the newspaper at meetings, they soon passed an ordinance to make at least part of their meetings closed. This was another violation of the Open Meetings Act and the Attorney General weighed in on the newspaper’s behalf. A long-running feud developed between The Eagle and the court that included several efforts to de-certify the paper as the newspaper with the largest circulation. This meant that all legal documents, including ordinances and other court actions had to be published in The Eagle before they became law. These publications, along with bond advertisements from coal companies and other legally required publications were a significant source of the newspaper’s income. The feud with the court finally came to a head in 1974 when the County Judge Executive and Sheriff ignored threats to blow the newspaper’s offices up just weeks before the paper was fire-bombed by a former Whitesburg City Police officer, who had resigned after being named in several articles concerning police brutality. The Mountain Eagle’s involvement with the War on Poverty and its advocacy for strip mine regulation brought the paper into the national spotlight. Many of the national reporters who published articles on Appalachian poverty that captured the nation’s imagination and sympathy came directly through the offices of The Mountain Eagle, and the Gishes often served as their guides to eastern Kentucky. The New York Times’ initial report on the endemic poverty that plagued eastern Kentucky, which captured Senator John F. Kennedy’s attention during his campaign for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination, came after Times Reporter Calvin Trillen spent time at the Gish home in Whitesburg and toured the region with them. Tom and Pat Gish became deeply involved in efforts to alleviate suffering in the region and spent so much time testifying before congressional committees and on other poverty related activities during the War on Poverty, the paper often came out late and suffered financially. Tom Gish frequently wrote editorials that praised the federal government’s efforts, but just as often, his editorials were among the most scathing in the country, when he felt that it was too little, too late. The newspaper had a complex relationship with the coal industry. Tom Gish’s father was a mine superintendent with South East Coal Company, one of the larger companies in the county. Tom saw underground coal mining as the logical basis for the economy in the region, but he also advocated for diversifying the economy so it would not be entirely dependent on a single industry. When he visited a strip mine in eastern Letcher County with his father Ben, both men were horrified at the destruction visited on a small community there and Tom began to call for strip mining to be outlawed all together or at the very least, strictly regulated. This began a twenty-year struggle that finally came to fruition with the 1977 Federal Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act. But the legislation was far from perfect and not only codified strip mining in federal law, but also opened the door for the even more destructive practice of mountain top removal. The Mountain Eagle’s involvement with the War on Poverty, along with their opposition to strip mining, also angered some people in Letcher County, and the Gish family was shunned by many of their neighbors, and the paper was boycotted by some advertisers. Efforts to undermine them were rampant and threats from coal operators were frequent. When a Molotov Cocktail was finally thrown through the window of the newspaper’s offices in 1974, many of the residents of Whitesburg turned their backs on the Gishes. They still managed to get the next edition out the week following the fire, although the paper was put together in the family’s living room, and the family moved their home to a rural part of the county, but kept the offices in Whitesburg because it was the county seat. For the next three years, the paper devoted a significant amount of space to the events surrounding the prosecution of the arsonists, but they still focused heavily on county news. The 1976 Scotia Mine disaster, when two methane explosions claimed the lives of 26 men at Oven Fork in Letcher County took their full attention for much of the entire following year. The Mountain Eagle has survived into the 21st Century, and the Gishes and their paper won a number of national awards for excellence and courage in journalism, along with several major awards for their contribution to freedom of the press. Both Tom (2008) and Pat (2014) have since died and their son Ben is the Editor and the only member of the Gish family still working at the newspaper. Letcher County has experienced many of the same changes as the rest of the country, but the economy never expanded past coal mining, so when the coal industry collapsed in 2015, the rest of the county economy failed with it. Unemployment is high now and many of the younger families have left seeking employment elsewhere. Tom Gish’s prediction that eastern Kentucky could eventually find itself mostly with very young and very old recipients of government assistance living there has come true and the region is currently struggling to find a way to manage. The Mountain Eagle has suffered too, but it still manages, and it still adheres to the masthead slogan, “It Screams."

Using aerial census techniques, I collected data on the population, reproduction and nesting habits of Bald Eagles in Florida Bay, Florida, for three consecutive breeding seasons (Oct - Mar, 1987 - 1990). For analysis I consolidated my data with those collected by Robertson et al. between 1959 and 1986 for a total of 26 seasons. The breeding population of Bald Eagles in Florida Bay has been stable since censuses began in 1959. However, numbers of subadult eagles in Florida Bay have declined sharply since the early 1960’s. Breeding density was apparently limited by territoriality. Nesting success was positively correlated with early commencement of nesting, number of active breeding territories and the history of individual breeding territories. Success was negatively correlated with the amount of rainfall during the breeding season. Most (87%) nesting failures occurred during the incubation stage. Nearly all nests were built in mangrove [Laguricularia racemosa, Avicenia germinans and Rhizophora mangle) trees and of these more than half were dead. The success of a nesting attempt was independent of changes in nests or nest sites.

The breeding behavior and feeding habits of the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus L.) were studied during 1962 and 1963 on San Juan Island, Washington. The primary aim of the study was to acquire information which would relate to the general decline in bald eagle numbers. Thirteen bald eagle nests were found on San Juan Island. On the basis of the spacing of these nests, the density of breeding eagles was considered to be low. The number of bald eagles varied throughout the year; the highest numbers were present in February and the lowest numbers in October. The change in eagle numbers was caused by the fluctuating numbers of juveniles. Two active nests were kept under observation, one in 1962 and another in 1963. The breeding eagles showed hostility toward intruders such as adult and juvenile bald eagles and man in the vicinity of their nesting site. The birds showed indifference toward intrusions of red-tailed hawks, crows and gulls. The chronology of breeding activities on San Juan Island was approximated with the aid of local information and with findings of former investigators. Egg-laying occurs between March 4 and 19; hatching between April 8 and 14. The young spend 12 to 1 3 weeks in the nest during which time parental attention gradually decreases. During the first 5 weeks of the youngs' life the nest is constantly guarded by one of the parents. Parental attention markedly decreases after the young start their wing exercises at the age of 8 to 9 weeks. In general, the female parent spent three times as much time at the nest as did the male. Food was brought to the nest at irregular intervals by both the female and male parents. The young were fed mainly by the female during the first seven weeks of their life; later the young fed themselves. No appreciable change in the amount of food supplied to the young during their nest life was observed. Young of the same nest were similar in size and indications of maltreatment from the others or from the parents were not observed. Most of the food brought to the nest consisted of rabbit carrion. This type of food item was available throughout the year due to the rabbits' high mortality resulting from collision with automobiles on the roads. Fish was fed to the young during the first six weeks of their life; thereafter, mainly rabbit was consumed. Rabbit carrion was the primary source of food for young eagles in their post-nestling period. The destruction of breeding habitat by real estate developments is the major cause of decline in numbers of bald eagles on San Juan Island. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate