Test Environmental Research Collection

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https://hdl.handle.net/1911/118256

This is a test collection created as part of a Fondren Fellows project (2024-2025). This collection is intended to serve as a proof of concept for a permanent collection that showcases environmental research conducted by Rice researchers. All items currently in this collection have been mapped from other collections in R-3.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 1450

The 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty as a Constitutional Document
(James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, 2019) Mumme, Stephen; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy
2013 Policy Recommendations for the Obama Administration
(2013) James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy; James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy
37+
(2015-04-21) Trotty, William M; Schaum, Troy; Wittenberg, Gordon; Colman, Scott
Walls are edges between two distinct entities; urban forms that attempt to express neutrality as infrastructure while firmly rejecting interaction between opposing constituencies. Walls are usually contiguous lines; establishing absolute boundaries and absolute limits. Belfast, Northern Ireland is no stranger to walls. Over 100 currently exist in the city as peace-keeping mechanisms separating Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. These highly visible urban forms create parallel communities with parallel services; producing redundant infrastructures and multiplying territorial subjectivities. The City of Belfast wants all the Interface Walls removed by 2020, but the citizens want them to stay. Of the 100 walls, it is estimated that 37 will remain. As Belfast struggles to create a new marketable image for world of a city moving forward, the interface walls spread out across the city remain a marker of its conflicted past. But there may be hope for reclaiming the city, and in turn, pushing Belfast into a more transnational urban landscape. Unlike the Berlin Wall, the walls in Belfast are non-contiguous boundaries between communities; navigating the city means commuting around and through the walls on a daily basis. The Interface Walls in Belfast do not act as literal walls dividing the city, but as symbolic walls. And as a symbol, the meaning and function of the walls can change. 37+ proposes creating this shift in the symbolic nature of the Interface Walls in Belfast by introducing more walls; a network of 221 insertions in the walls that house schools, clinics, pubs, and parks. These new lengths of Interface Walls create a datum in the city that redefines the symbol of the Interface Wall as a divisive edge; exacerbating the multiplication of infrastructures and subjects to a positive effect through serial deployment of shape, materiality, and program. This new urban identity for Belfast acknowledges and rejects the contentious territoriality extant in the city, converting urban forms dedicated to separating communities into attractors for the city that negotiate contentious space.
3D Modern Reef Morphologies along the Upper Slopes of the Lighthouse Reef (Belize): Potential Archive of Punctuated Sea Level Fluctuations, Using a Global Comparative Basin Analysis Approach
(2020-12-18) Baykut, Tanyel; Droxler, André
In the past 500 ky, Earth has witnessed unprecedented extreme glacial/interglacial cyclic changes in climate that translated into unusually high amplitude sea-level fluctuations. During the most recent glacial to interglacial, or deglacial, transition, sea level rose ~125 m since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), or during the last 20 kyr. The Belize offshore isolated carbonate platforms, one of them the Lighthouse Reef (LR), and the Barrier Reef itself were fully exposed during the LGM, forming islands and coastlines with imposing coastal cliffs, contrasting with the thriving coral reef systems we know today. High-Resolution Multi-beam Echo Sounder (MBES) data sets were recently acquired along segments of the Lighthouse Reef leeward and windward margins, from a few meters to 400 m of water depth. Once the data sets were processed, high-resolution 3D bathymetric and slope models, and hypsometric analysis, display a series of characteristic morphological features on the LR upper slopes: (a) a marked change of slope angle at ~120-130 m at the base of a sub-vertical wall, (b) the wall itself ubiquitously occurs between ~60 and ~120 m, (c) two major terraces centered at ~77 m and ~52 m, separated by steep cliffs, and, (d) another terrace in front of the modern reef crest centered at ~20 m. The slope terraces are more developed on the leeside, while its windward margin is systematically much steeper. Because these morphologies compare well with similar ones observed along the upper slopes of atolls in the Maldives Archipelago or drowned reefs in the Great Barrier Reef and south Texas shelf edge, they are assumed to be related to well established punctuated global sea level rises. The abrupt change of the slope at ~120-130 m water depth marks where sea-level was located during the Last Glacial Maximum 21 ka. The two terraces, centered at water depths ~77 and ~52 m, most likely drowned by the fast rates of sea-level rise (m/century) during Meltwater Pulses 1-b and 1-c (11.5 and 9.5 ka). The rapid sea-level rise during MW-1d (~7.5 ka) could explain the drowning of the ~ 20 m terrace. Alternatively, these terraces could correspond to the re-occupation of older terraces formed during the sea-level stepwise lowering at sub-glacial and interglacial Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 d-c-b-a and MIS 3, following the MIS 5e interglacial sea-level highstand.
66 ° N
(2007) Hofstede, Nicholas Anton; Lee, Clover
'66°N' is the design for a large-scale ecotourism hotel that takes advantage of dynamic and shifting environmental conditions of Greenland to visually and physically register the changes in the fragile arctic environment. Located on the Western coast of Greenland near one of the largest potential sources of direct sea-level rise, the Ilulissat Ice-Fjord, the design explores the intersection of two global trends: the effects of global climate change and the increase in popularity of ecotourism in the arctic. The techniques of building in an extreme and remote environment to provide infrastructure for ecotourist activities result in a permanent structure that is subjected to the continuously shifting site conditions of water and landscape. The relationship between rigid and responsive forms is used as an architectural register to these conditions that change the patterns and use of the hotel over time.
ABA Mineral Water,
(Asian Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, 2003)
Above and below ground impacts of terrestrial mammals and birds in a tropical forest
(Blackwell Publishing, 2008) Dunham, Amy E.
Understanding the impact of losing trophic diversity has global significance for managing ecosystems as well as important theoretical implications for community and ecosystem ecology. In several tropical forest ecosystems, habitat fragmentation has resulted in declines and local extinctions of mammalian and avian terrestrial insectivores. To assess the ability of a tropical rainforest community in Ivory Coast to resist perturbation from such loss of trophic diversity, I traced feedbacks in above and below ground communities and measured changes in nutrient levels and herbivory rates in response to an experimental exclosure of avian and mammalian terrestrial insectivores. I present evidence that loss of this functional group may result in increased tree seedling herbivory and altered nutrient regimes through changes in the abundance and guild structure of invertebrates. Exclusion of top predators of the forest floor resulted in increased seedling herbivory rates and macro-invertebrate ( 5 mm) densities with strongest effects on herbivorous taxa, spiders and earthworms. Densities of microbivores including Collembola, Acarina and Sciaridae showed the opposite trend as did levels of inorganic phosphorus in the soil. Results were evaluated using path analysis which supported the presence of a top down trophic cascade in the detrital web which ultimately affected turnover of phosphorus, a limiting nutrient in tropical soils. Results illustrate the potential importance of vertebrate predators in both above and belowground food webs despite the biotic diversity and structural heterogeneity of the rainforest floor.
Academic Libraries Join the Fight Against Climate Change
(2020) Spiro, Lisa; Fitzpatrick, Ashley
In 2017, Hurricane Harvey dumped over 50 inches of rain on Houston, causing approximately 100 deaths and $125 billion in damage. Research indicates that Harvey’s impact was worsened by climate change. More recently wildfires, floods, and droughts - as well as concerted action by climate activists - have demonstrated the urgency of fighting climate change. The library community is beginning to take action; for example, the American Library Association (ALA) recently adopted sustainability as a core value and launched the “Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change” grant program. Rice University’s Fondren Library is one of five academic libraries to have won this grant. Fondren’s core grant-funded activities include organizing a panel discussion featuring four Houston women at the forefront of climate justice work, screening a documentary on queer responses to climate change, becoming a climate resilience hub, and developing a workshop for middle school students focused on understanding air quality data in their neighborhood, a frontline community. The grant is part of a broader series of sustainability initiatives at Fondren, including the development of a sustainability plan, the formation of a staff “Green Team,” and the appointment of a student “eco-rep.” This interactive presentation will examine how and why academic libraries should prioritize sustainability initiatives, using Fondren’s experiences as a model for community and student engagement around climate change. Participants will then engage in discussion about how the library community can come together to fight climate change. https://library.rice.edu/sustainability
Accessing Opportunity: Employment and Community Patterns among Low-, Medium-, and High-Wage Workers in Houston
(Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2018) Wu, Jie; Hu, Yujie; Zhang, Mingming; Patterson, Grant
Proximity to jobs is important for all residents as it can affect employment outcomes, but it is especially crucial for low-income households whose budgets can be disproportionately impacted by transportation costs and long commutes. This report uses data from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program, the American Community Surveys and other survey data to explore the geographical movement of workers in an urban setting. The purpose of the work presented here is to document differences in commuting patterns among different income groups and to inform the development of programs designed to enhance the physical and economic mobility of Houston’s labor force.
Acknowledging Impostor Phenomenon: How Does It Affect and Individual's Likability?
(Rice University, 2019) Lee, Jennifer
The impostor phenomenon (IP) is the feeling of being an intellectual fraud regardless of any external evidence of incompetency. Research on the effects of IP on mental health is important in understanding how to nurture positive experiences through the duration of undergraduate life. However, the social interactions of individuals who experience IP are not well understood. We surveyed Rice undergraduates to understand how the disclosure of feelings of impostor might affect how an participant might perceive the individual.We analyzed how a hypothetical individual’s disclosure (N=148) or non-disclosure (N=144) of feelings of IP and participant’s own feelings of IP affect how participants rate the individual in likeability. Results indicated no strong effect of participant’s own IP on the likeability rating of the hypothetical individual. However, additional findings suggest that many Rice students experience some level of IP. These findings suggest that IP is an issue that deserves attention on how it affects the undergraduate life and research on methods for reducing the level of IP that students experience
Action, alienation and Bacchus
(1993) Brain, Ariel Fernando; McKee, Elysabeth Yates-Burns
In order to counter the alienated condition of man it is necessary to promote the reconciliation of the Dionysian and Apollonian. These are the forces that characterize the eternal swing from nature to artifice. While evidence of the Apollonian will to construct an ordered reality abounds in the contemporary city, the ability to access the Dionysian realm of truth is not provided for. The ancient urban form of the stoa--by giving shape to the space of the agora--allowed for an immersion into the sensuous world of Dionysos. The stoa defined the space and established an experience where a Dionysian immersion was mediated by Apollonian determination and order. By reviving the function of the stoa in the contemporary city, much can be done to ameliorate the alienated condition of man.
Activities Matter: Personality and Resource Determinants of Activities and their Effect on Mental and Physical Well-being and Retirement Expectations
(Oxford University Press, 2018) Beier, Margaret E.; Torres, W. Jackeline; Gilberto, Jacqueline M.
Remaining active throughout the lifespan is central to healthy aging. The current study tests a model derived from investment and resource theories that examines the extent to which activities mediate the relationship between individual differences in personality and resources on mental and physical well-being and retirement expectations. A subsample (N = 400; 58% women) of participants from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was used. Self-reported activities were grouped into 4 broad categories: productive, physical, social, and leisure. Activity variety, operationalized as the number of different activity categories in which a person reported participating over a specified period of time, was also examined. Correlations and path analysis results suggest small but significant effects between personality traits and activity participation, and more consistent effects of personality for predicting activity variety. Personality was also significantly correlated with well-being and retirement expectations as was activity variety. There was limited evidence, however, that activity variety mediated the relationship between personality and resources and mental and physical well-being and retirement expectations as would be predicted by investment theory.
ADAM8 signaling drives neutrophil migration and ARDS severity
(American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2022) Conrad, Catharina; Yildiz, Daniela; Cleary, Simon J.; Margraf, Andreas; Cook, Lena; Schlomann, Uwe; Panaretou, Barry; Bowser, Jessica L.; Karmouty-Quintana, Harry; Li, Jiwen; Berg, Nathaniel K.; Martin, Samuel C.; Aljohmani, Ahmad; Moussavi-Harami, S. Farshid; Wang, Kristin M.; Tian, Jennifer J.; Magnen, Mélia; Valet, Colin; Qiu, Longhui; Singer, Jonathan P.; Eltzschig, Holger K.; Bertrams, Wilhelm; Herold, Susanne; Suttorp, Norbert; Schmeck, Bernd; Ball, Zachary T.; Zarbock, Alexander; Looney, Mark R.; Bartsch, Jörg W.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) results in catastrophic lung failure and has an urgent, unmet need for improved early recognition and therapeutic development. Neutrophil influx is a hallmark of ARDS and is associated with the release of tissue-destructive immune effectors, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and membrane-anchored metalloproteinase disintegrins (ADAMs). Here, we observed using intravital microscopy that Adam8–/– mice had impaired neutrophil transmigration. In mouse pneumonia models, both genetic deletion and pharmacologic inhibition of ADAM8 attenuated neutrophil infiltration and lung injury while improving bacterial containment. Unexpectedly, the alterations of neutrophil function were not attributable to impaired proteolysis but resulted from reduced intracellular interactions of ADAM8 with the actin-based motor molecule Myosin1f that suppressed neutrophil motility. In 2 ARDS cohorts, we analyzed lung fluid proteolytic signatures and identified that ADAM8 activity was positively correlated with disease severity. We propose that in acute inflammatory lung diseases such as pneumonia and ARDS, ADAM8 inhibition might allow fine-tuning of neutrophil responses for therapeutic gain.
Adaptation of a Counseling Intervention to Address Multiple Cancer Risk Factors Among Overweight/Obese Latino Smokers
(Sage, 2015) Castro, Yessenia; Fernández, Maria E.; Strong, Larkin L.; Stewart, Diana W.; Krasny, Sarah; Robles, Eden Hernandez; Heredia, Natalia; Spears, Claire A.; Correa-Fernández, Virmarie; Eakin, Elizabeth; Resnicow, Ken; Basen-Engquist, Karen; Wetter, David W.
More than 60% of cancer-related deaths in the United States are attributable to tobacco use, poor nutrition, and physical inactivity, and these risk factors tend to cluster together. Thus, strategies for cancer risk reduction would benefit from addressing multiple health risk behaviors. We adapted an evidence-based intervention grounded in social cognitive theory and principles of motivational interviewing originally developed for smoking cessation to also address physical activity and fruit/vegetable consumption among Latinos exhibiting multiple health risk behaviors. Literature reviews, focus groups, expert consultation, pretesting, and pilot testing were used to inform adaptation decisions. We identified common mechanisms underlying change in smoking, physical activity, and diet used as treatment targets; identified practical models of patient-centered cross-cultural service provision; and identified that family preferences and support as particularly strong concerns among the priority population. Adaptations made to the original intervention are described. The current study is a practical example of how an intervention can be adapted to maximize relevance and acceptability and also maintain the core elements of the original evidence-based intervention. The intervention has significant potential to influence cancer prevention efforts among Latinos in the United States and is being evaluated in a sample of 400 Latino overweight/obese smokers.
Addition of a Magnetite Layer onto a Polysulfone Water Treatment Membrane to Enhance Virus Removal
(2012) Raciny, Isabel; Alvarez, Pedro J.
The applicability of low-pressure membranes systems in distributed (point of use) water treatment is hindered by, among other things, their inability to remove potentially harmful viruses and ions via size exclusion. According to the USEPA and the Safe Drinking Water Act, drinking water treatment processes must be designed for 4-log virus removal. Batch experiments using magnetite nanoparticle (nano-Fe 3 O 4 ) suspensions and water filtration experiments with Polysulfone (PSf) membranes coated with nano-Fe 3 O 4 were conducted to assess the removal of a model virus (bacteriophage MS2). The membranes were coated via a simple filtration protocol. Unmodified membranes were a poor adsorbent for MS2 bacteriophage with less than 0.5-log removal, whereas membranes coated with magnetite nanoparticles exhibited a removal efficiency exceeding 99.99% (4-log). Thus, a cartridge of PSf membranes coated with nano-Fe 3 O 4 particles could be used to remove viruses from water. Such membranes showed negligible iron leaching into the filtrate, thus obviating concern about colored water. Further research is needed to reduce the loss of water flux caused by coating.
Addresses of welcome and responses at a luncheon given at the City Auditorium by the Municipal Government of Houston
(Rice University, 1916-10) Electronic version made possible with funding from the Rice Historical Society and Thomas R. Williams, Ph.D., class of 2000.
Addressing the Mind/Body Connection Rebecca Clearman MD, FAAFM&R, FACSM, FPASSOP
(The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, 2014) Clearman, Dr. Rebecca; Rarick, Janet
Dr. Clearman suggests several resources that can help integrate mind and body for greater ease of movement and better health.
Addressing the Social Support Paradox with a Multidomain Complementary Fit of Desired and Perceived Support
(2021-04-16) Paoletti, Jensine; King, Eden B.
The social support paradox describes inconsistent findings on the role of social support for wellbeing, as some studies have found a negative correlation between social support and wellbeing, while others have found a positive correlation between social support and wellbeing. Thus far, some researchers have addressed this paradox by considering an individual’s relative desired support and perceived support, but often in only one domain (i.e. either focused on home or work). This study extends research by considering both the work and nonwork domains at the within-person level. Thus, complementary fit between perceived and desired support from both domains was hypothesized to predict mood and burnout such that when perceived support matches desired support, fit would be directly related to positive mood and indirectly related to negative mood and burnout. Similarly, there was a hypothesized partial mediation from support fit to burnout through mood. Testing these models did not result in strict congruence effects, although a dearth of perceived support (relative to desired support) predicted higher burnout at the within- and between-person levels. Unexpectedly, the results also imply that some cases of excess perceived support (relative to desired support) predict lower burnout at the between-person level. Results demonstrate the value of examining social support and burnout at the within-person level, as the study indicates that social support may be a response to acute burnout such that it stops feedback loops leading to chronic burnout.
The Adequacy of Technology for Pollution Abatement
(Rice University, 1967-04) Daddario, Emilio Q.; Electronic version made possible with funding from the Rice Historical Society and Thomas R. Williams, Ph.D., class of 2000.
Adherence to treatment guidelines and survival for older patients with stage II or III colon cancer in Texas from 2001 through 2011
(Wiley, 2018) Zhao, Hui; Zhang, Ning; Ho, Vivian; Ding, Minming; He, Weiguo; Niu, Jiangong; Yang, Ming; Du, Xianglin; Zorzi, Daria; Chavez-MacGregor, Mariana; Giordano, Sharon H.
BACKGROUND: Treatment guidelines for colon cancer recommend colectomy with lymphadenectomy of at least 12 lymph nodes for patients with stage I to stage III disease as surgery adherence (SA) and adjuvant chemotherapy for individuals with stage III disease. Herein, the authors evaluated adherence to these guidelines among older patients in Texas with colon cancer and the associated survival outcomes. METHODS: Using Texas Cancer Registry data linked with Medicare data, the authors included patients with AJCC stage II and III colon cancer who were aged ?66 years and diagnosed between 2001 and 2011. SA and adjuvant chemotherapy adherence rates to treatment guidelines were estimated. The chi-square test, general linear regression, survival probability, and Cox regression were used to identify factors associated with adherence and survival. RESULTS: The rate of SA increased from 47.2% to 84% among 6029 patients with stage II or stage III disease from 2001 to 2011, and the rate of adjuvant chemotherapy increased from 48.9% to 53.1% for patients with stage III disease during the same time period. SA was associated with marital status, tumor size, surgeon specialty, and year of diagnosis. Patient age, sex, marital status, Medicare state buy-in status, comorbidity status, and year of diagnosis were found to be associated with adjuvant chemotherapy. The 5-year survival probability for patients receiving guideline-concordant treatment was the highest at 87% for patients with stage II disease and was 73% for those with stage III disease. After adjusting for demographic and tumor characteristics, improved cancer cause-specific survival was associated with the receipt of stage-specific, guideline-concordant treatment for patients with stage II or stage III disease. CONCLUSIONS: The adherence to guideline-concordant treatment among older patients with colon cancer residing in Texas improved over time, and was associated with better survival outcomes. Future studies should be focused on identifying interventions to improve guideline-concordant treatment adherence.

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