Kathleen Weaver | Loyola Marymount University (original) (raw)

Papers by Kathleen Weaver

This study examines the relationship between the introduction of a four-course writing-intensive ... more This study examines the relationship between the introduction of a four-course writing-intensive capstone series and improvement in inquiry and analysis skills of biology senior undergraduates. To measure the impact of the multicourse write-to-learn and peer-review pedagogy on student performance, we used a modified Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education rubric for Inquiry and Analysis and Written Communication to score senior research theses from 2006 to 2008 (pretreatment) and 2009 to 2013 (intervention). A Fisher-Freeman-Halton test and a two-sample Student's t test were used to evaluate individual rubric dimensions and composite rubric scores, respectively, and a randomized complete block design analysis of variance was carried out on composite scores to examine the impact of the intervention across ethnicity, legacy (e.g., first-generation status), and research laboratory. The results show an increase in student performance in rubric scoring categories most...

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Communication Booknotes, 1981

Clinical Informatics Study Guide, 2016

The Women's Review of Books, 1986

Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics, 1996

A syndrome consisting of unilateral duplication of the great toe in association with anterolatera... more A syndrome consisting of unilateral duplication of the great toe in association with anterolateral bowing of the tibia is described. Patients with this syndrome have significant pedal difficulties after surgical management, but the tibial bowing spontaneously resolves without treatment. Tibial shortening is noted relative to the fibula. Associated clinodactyly and dysharmonic maturation of carpals and metacarpals are also seen. Current data are most consistent with a developmental rather than a genetic etiology.

Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, <html_ent glyph="@amp;" ascii="&"/> Neonatal Nursing, 1988

Reasons for delays in initiating premature infant bottle-feeding and the complications associated... more Reasons for delays in initiating premature infant bottle-feeding and the complications associated with various methods of providing nutrition to premature infants are discussed. A quantitative, correlational study was undertaken to assess premature infants' readiness to bottle-feed. Thirty premature infants, weighing 1,230 to 2,020 g were studied to determine the relationship between integrated sucking pressures and bottle-feeding scores. Sucking pressures were measured with research nipples and an electronic suckometer. Feeding ability was measured using a complex research scale and a simpler clinical scale. Feeding scales correlated significantly (r = 0.79, p < 0.001) while sucking 7 Dextrose solution with electrolytes/ Peripheral vein and formula/ Orogastric tube Formula/Orogastric tube (if untderated) Formula/Orogastric tube and formula/ Bottle-feeding or breastfeeding Formula/Bottle-feeding or breastfeeding 4 4 4 4 Dextrose solution with electrolytes/ Peripheral vein

Annals of Internal Medicine, 2008

Animal Conservation, 2010

For many taxa, determining conservation status and priority is impeded by lack of adequate taxono... more For many taxa, determining conservation status and priority is impeded by lack of adequate taxonomic and range data. For these problematic groups, we propose combining molecular techniques with careful geographic sampling to evaluate the validity, extent and phylogenetic relatedness of the proposed units of diversity. We employed such a strategy to document monophyletic lineages, range extents and phylogenetic relatedness for talus snails (genus Sonorella) in the Pinale˜no Mountains of Arizona, an isolated range that has the most vertical relief of any of the sky islands in Arizona. Three of the four species found in the Pinale˜no Mountains have been considered candidate species for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Further, one of these taxa, Sonorella macrophallus, is of particular concern and was protected under an USFS conservation agreement until 2004, due to its presumed endemicity to a narrow portion of one canyon. We collected a large dataset of 12S and COI mitochondrial DNA, and subsamples of reproductive morphology from specimens collected throughout the Pinale˜nos and from adjacent ranges (e.g. the Huachucas, Chiricahuas and Santa Catalinas). We generated a phylogeny based on the mitochondrial data, and matched clades with named species utilizing reproductive morphology. Our results show that both S. macrophallus and Sonorella imitator are relatively widespread across the Pinale˜nos while Sonorella grahamensis and Sonorella christenseni are restricted to very small areas. These results dramatically change our previous knowledge about range extents, especially for S. macrophallus. Given these results, land managers may need to reassess the status of all four Sonorella species. Finally, all Sonorella species from the Pinale˜nos are more closely related to each other than to other taxa on other ranges. This result strongly suggests that diversification of the four Sonorella species in the Pinale˜nos occurred in situ.

Journal of Biogeography, 2016

Biology Open, 2016

A fundamental question in biology is how an organism&amp;amp;amp;#39;s morphology and phy... more A fundamental question in biology is how an organism&amp;amp;amp;#39;s morphology and physiology are shaped by its environment. Here, we evaluate the effects of a hypersaline environment on the morphology and physiology of a population of livebearing fish in the genus Limia (Poeciliidae). We sampled from two populations of Limia perugiae (one freshwater and one hypersaline) in the southwest Dominican Republic. We evaluated relative abundance of osmoregulatory proteins using western blot analyses and used a geometric morphometric approach to evaluate fine-scale changes to size and shape. Our data show that gill tissue isolated from hypersaline fish contained approximately two and a half times higher expression of Na(+)/K(+) ATPase proteins. We also show evidence for mitochondrial changes within the gills, with eight times more complex I and four times higher expression of ATP synthase within the gill tissue from the hypersaline population. The energetic consequences to Limia living in saline and hypersaline environments may be a driver for phenotypic diversity, reducing the overall body size and changing the relative size and shape of the head, as well as impeding the growth of secondary sex features among the males.

The Faseb Journal, Apr 1, 2014

Journal of Molluscan Studies, 2007

In this study, we explore factors influencing variation in adult shell morphology and life-histor... more In this study, we explore factors influencing variation in adult shell morphology and life-history characteristics (offspring size and number) in the ovoviviparous land snail, Oreohelix cooperi, from the Black Hills, South Dakota and Wyoming, USA. To date, no study of shell morphology and life-history characteristics in ovoviviparous land snails has included a combination of datasets including genetic data, lifehistory traits, shell morphology and multiple environmental factors. We report that differences in shell size among populations are strongly related to mean annual temperature (and the highly correlated variable elevation) and population density (measured as shell density). In addition, shell size varies among populations, despite an apparent lack of population genetic differentiation. Common factors thought to influence adult shell size, like precipitation and calcium levels, do not have a significant effect in this study. Adult size strongly influences per-clutch reproductive output, with larger snails having larger and more offspring. As mean annual temperature and shell density affect adult shell size, they also indirectly affect per-clutch output. The results suggest that a large portion of the lifehistory variation in O. cooperi is environmentally induced, as has been found in oviparous land snails and brooding freshwater bivalves.

Forest Ecology and Management, 2011

The restoration of natural fire regimes has emerged as a primary management objective within fire... more The restoration of natural fire regimes has emerged as a primary management objective within fireprone forests in the interior western US. However, this objective becomes contentious when perceived to be in conflict with the conservation of rare or endemic species. We monitored the effects of two forest restoration treatments, spring-vs fall-prescribed burning, on the density of the endemic Tiny Canyon mountainsnail (Oreohelix sp.). We used a randomized block design with three replicates of each of the treatments and controls, and analyzed our data using multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance. We conducted pre-treatment surveys for mountainsnails and post-treatment surveys at three time periods: within two weeks of the treatment, the next snail season following the treatment (next spring or fall), and one year following the treatments. We did not detect any statistically significant differences in mountainsnail densities as a result of the spring-burn or fall-burn treatments, time of survey, or treatment × time interaction. The burns resulted in a fine-scale mosaic that included un-burned and lightly burned areas that acted as refuge for mountainsnails. We recommend that the application of prescribed burning as a restoration treatment within mountainsnail habitat be conducted under prescriptions that create a mosaic of burn conditions, including small unburned areas, and that prescribed fire return intervals mimic natural fire intervals (10-40 years).

Diversity <html_ent glyph="@amp;" ascii="&"/> Distributions, 2006

We aim to show how a combination of molecular systematics and ecological niche modelling approach... more We aim to show how a combination of molecular systematics and ecological niche modelling approaches can be used to test historical biogeographical hypotheses for species of conservation concern. We focus on the land snail genus Oreohelix (Oreohelicidae), a group found throughout the Rocky Mountains. In addition to its larger distribution, a group of Oreohelix is also found in the Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota, an isolated, easternmost extension of the Rocky Mountains. We determine the number, distribution, and relationships of Black Hills Oreohelicids, which are a current conservation concern due to their fragmented distribution. We compared Black Hills groups to those in the main part of the Rockies to test historical biogeographical patterns that explain current diversity. We collected mtDNA data (COI and 12S sequences) from multiple populations of Oreohelix throughout the Black Hills and in adjacent populations in the Rocky Mountains to construct phylogenetic hypotheses. To determine whether favourable environmental conditions currently exist between the Black Hills and the north-eastern Rocky Mountains, we used DesktopGARP to generate an ecological niche model for distinct lineages discovered in the molecular phylogenetic analysis. Results show that all Black Hills populations are likely Oreohelix cooperi and that little genetic differentiation exists within this clade. In addition, Black Hills groups are genetically similar or identical to populations found in the Judith Mountains and Bighorn Mountains (northeastern Rockies). Ecological niche models show that suitable environmental conditions may exist between eastern Rockies and Black Hills O. cooperi samples. Taken together, the phylogenetic and niche model data, along with the low vagility of the snails, support passive long-distance dispersal as a likely explanation for current arrangement of biodiversity.