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Precise Repair Of Mping Excision Sites Is Facilitated By Target Site Duplication Derived Microhomology, David M. Gilbert, M. Catherine Bridges, Ashley E. Strother, Courtney E. Burckhalter, James M. Burnette Iii, C. Nathan Hancock Sep 2015

Precise Repair Of Mping Excision Sites Is Facilitated By Target Site Duplication Derived Microhomology, David M. Gilbert, M. Catherine Bridges, Ashley E. Strother, Courtney E. Burckhalter, James M. Burnette Iii, C. Nathan Hancock

Faculty Publications

A key difference between the Tourist and Stowaway families of miniature inverted repeat transposable elements (MITEs) is the manner in which their excision alters the genome. Upon excision, Stowaway-like MITEs and the associated Mariner elements usually leave behind a small duplication and short sequences from the end of the element. These small insertions or deletions known as “footprints” can potentially disrupt coding or regulatory sequences. In contrast, Tourist-like MITEs and the associated PIF/Pong/Harbinger elements generally excise precisely, returning the genome to its original state. The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanisms underlying these …

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Sediment Loss And Its Cause In Puerto Rico Watersheds, Y. Yuan, Y. Jiang, E. V. Taugas, Eric G. Mbonimpa Sep 2015

Sediment Loss And Its Cause In Puerto Rico Watersheds, Y. Yuan, Y. Jiang, E. V. Taugas, Eric G. Mbonimpa

Faculty Publications

A major environmental concern in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is increased sediment load to water reservoirs, to estuaries, and finally to coral reef areas outside the estuaries. Sediment deposition has significantly reduced the storage capacity of reservoirs, and sediments, with their associated contaminants and nutrients that are adsorbed, can stress corals and negatively impact reef health. To prevent and manage sediment loss it is therefore important to understand local soil erosion and sediment transport processes. The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of landscape characteristics on sediment loss. We analyzed available precipitation and sediment data …

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Comparative Effectiveness Of Potential Elicitors Of Plant Resistance Against Spodoptera Frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) In Four Crop Plants, John W. Gordy, B. Rogers Leonard, David Blouin, Jeffrey A. Davis, Michael J. Stout Sep 2015

Comparative Effectiveness Of Potential Elicitors Of Plant Resistance Against Spodoptera Frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) In Four Crop Plants, John W. Gordy, B. Rogers Leonard, David Blouin, Jeffrey A. Davis, Michael J. Stout

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Gordy et al. Feeding by insect herbivores activates plant signaling pathways, resulting in the enhanced production of secondary metabolites and other resistance-related traits by injured plants. These traits can reduce insect fitness, deter feeding, and attract beneficial insects. Organic and inorganic chemicals applied as a foliar spray, seed treatment, or soil drench can activate these plant responses. Azelaic acid (AA), benzothiadiazole (BTH), gibberellic acid (GA), harpin, and jasmonic acid (JA) are thought to directly mediate plant responses to pathogens and herbivores or to mimic compounds that do. The effects of these potential elicitors on the induction of plant …

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Climate Extremes Dominating Seasonal And Interannual Variations In Carbon Export From The Mississippi River Basin, Hanqin Tian, Wei Ren, Jia Yang, Bo Tao, Wei Jun Cai, Steven E. Lohrenz, Charles S. Hopkinson, Mingliang Liu, Qichun Yang, Chaoqun Lu, Bowen Zhang, Kamaljit Banger, Shufen Pan, Ruoying He, Zuo Xue Sep 2015

Climate Extremes Dominating Seasonal And Interannual Variations In Carbon Export From The Mississippi River Basin, Hanqin Tian, Wei Ren, Jia Yang, Bo Tao, Wei Jun Cai, Steven E. Lohrenz, Charles S. Hopkinson, Mingliang Liu, Qichun Yang, Chaoqun Lu, Bowen Zhang, Kamaljit Banger, Shufen Pan, Ruoying He, Zuo Xue

Faculty Publications

Knowledge about the annual and seasonal patterns of organic and inorganic carbon (C) exports from the major rivers of the world to the coastal ocean is essential for our understanding and potential management of the global C budget so as to limit anthropogenic modification of global climate. Unfortunately our predictive understanding of what controls the timing, magnitude, and quality of C export is still rudimentary. Here we use a process-based coupled hydrologic/ecosystem biogeochemistry model (the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model) to examine how climate variability and extreme events, changing land use, and atmospheric chemistry have affected the annual and seasonal patterns …

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Can We Identify Genes With Increased Phylogenetic Reliability?, V P. Doyle, R E. Young, G J. Naylor, J M. Brown, V P. Doyle Sep 2015

Can We Identify Genes With Increased Phylogenetic Reliability?, V P. Doyle, R E. Young, G J. Naylor, J M. Brown, V P. Doyle

Faculty Publications

Topological heterogeneity among gene trees is widely observed in phylogenomic analyses and some of this variation is likely caused by systematic error in gene tree estimation. Systematic error can be mitigated by improving models of sequence evolution to account for all evolutionary processes relevant to each gene or identifying those genes whose evolution best conforms to existing models. However, the best method for identifying such genes is not well established. Here, we ask if filtering genes according to their clock-likeness or posterior predictive effect size (PPES, an inference-based measure of model violation) improves phylogenetic reliability and congruence. We compared these …

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Can We Identify Genes With Increased Phylogenetic Reliability?, V P. Doyle, R E. Young, G J. Naylor, J M. Brown, V P. Doyle Sep 2015

Can We Identify Genes With Increased Phylogenetic Reliability?, V P. Doyle, R E. Young, G J. Naylor, J M. Brown, V P. Doyle

Faculty Publications

Topological heterogeneity among gene trees is widely observed in phylogenomic analyses and some of this variation is likely caused by systematic error in gene tree estimation. Systematic error can be mitigated by improving models of sequence evolution to account for all evolutionary processes relevant to each gene or identifying those genes whose evolution best conforms to existing models. However, the best method for identifying such genes is not well established. Here, we ask if filtering genes according to their clock-likeness or posterior predictive effect size (PPES, an inference-based measure of model violation) improves phylogenetic reliability and congruence. We compared these …

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Switch Between Morphospecies Of Pocillopora Corals, David A. Paz-García, Michael E. Hellberg, Francisco J. García-De-León, Eduardo F. Balart Sep 2015

Switch Between Morphospecies Of Pocillopora Corals, David A. Paz-García, Michael E. Hellberg, Francisco J. García-De-León, Eduardo F. Balart

Faculty Publications

© 2015 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Pocillopora corals are the main reef builders in the eastern tropical Pacific. The validity of Pocillopora morphospecies remains under debate because of disagreements between morphological and genetic data. To evaluate the temporal stability of morphospecies in situ, we monitored the shapes of individual colonies in three communities in the southern Gulf of California for 44 months. Twenty-three percent of tagged colonies of Pocillopora damicornis changed to Pocillopora inflata morphology during this time. This switch in identity coincided with a shift to a higher frequency of storms and lower water turbidity …

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The Human Shoulder Suspension Apparatus: A Causal Explanation For Bilateral Asymmetry And A Fresh Look At The Evolution Of Human Bipedality, Michelle L. Osborn, Dominique G. Homberger Sep 2015

The Human Shoulder Suspension Apparatus: A Causal Explanation For Bilateral Asymmetry And A Fresh Look At The Evolution Of Human Bipedality, Michelle L. Osborn, Dominique G. Homberger

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The combination of large mastoid processes and clavicles is unique to humans, but the biomechanical and evolutionary significance of their special configuration is poorly understood. As part of the newly conceptualized shoulder suspension apparatus, the mastoid processes and clavicles are shaped by forces exerted by the musculo-fascial components of the cleidomastoid and clavotrapezius muscles as they suspend the shoulders from the head. Because both skeletal elements develop during infancy in tandem with the attainment of an upright posture, increased manual dexterity, and the capacity for walking, we hypothesized that the same forces would have shaped …

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Environmental Gradients And The Evolution Of Successional Habitat Specialization: A Test Case With 14 Neotropical Forest Sites, Susan G. Letcher, Jesse R. Lasky, Robin L. Chazdon, Natalia Norden, S. Joseph Wright, Jorge A. Meave, Eduardo A. Pérez-García, Rodrigo Muñoz, Eunice Romero-Pérez, Ana Andrade, José Luis Andrade, Patricia Balvanera, Justin M. Becknell, Tony V. Bentos, Radika Bhaskar, Frans Bongers, Vanessa Boukili, Pedro H.S. Brancalion, Ricardo G. César, Deborah A. Clark, David B. Clark, Dylan Craven, Alexander Defrancesco, Juan M. Dupuy, Bryan Finegan, Eugenio González-Jiménez, Jefferson S. Hall, Kyle E. Harms, José Luis Hernández-Stefanoni, Peter Hietz, Deborah Kennard, Timothy J. Killeen, Susan G. Laurance Sep 2015

Environmental Gradients And The Evolution Of Successional Habitat Specialization: A Test Case With 14 Neotropical Forest Sites, Susan G. Letcher, Jesse R. Lasky, Robin L. Chazdon, Natalia Norden, S. Joseph Wright, Jorge A. Meave, Eduardo A. Pérez-García, Rodrigo Muñoz, Eunice Romero-Pérez, Ana Andrade, José Luis Andrade, Patricia Balvanera, Justin M. Becknell, Tony V. Bentos, Radika Bhaskar, Frans Bongers, Vanessa Boukili, Pedro H.S. Brancalion, Ricardo G. César, Deborah A. Clark, David B. Clark, Dylan Craven, Alexander Defrancesco, Juan M. Dupuy, Bryan Finegan, Eugenio González-Jiménez, Jefferson S. Hall, Kyle E. Harms, José Luis Hernández-Stefanoni, Peter Hietz, Deborah Kennard, Timothy J. Killeen, Susan G. Laurance

Faculty Publications

© 2015 British Ecological Society. Successional gradients are ubiquitous in nature, yet few studies have systematically examined the evolutionary origins of taxa that specialize at different successional stages. Here we quantify successional habitat specialization in Neotropical forest trees and evaluate its evolutionary lability along a precipitation gradient. Theoretically, successional habitat specialization should be more evolutionarily conserved in wet forests than in dry forests due to more extreme microenvironmental differentiation between early and late-successional stages in wet forest. We applied a robust multinomial classification model to samples of primary and secondary forest trees from 14 Neotropical lowland forest sites spanning a …

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Developmental Changes In Hypoxic Exposure And Responses To Anoxia In Drosophila Melanogaster, Viviane Callier, Steven C. Hand, Jacob B. Campbell, Taylor Biddulph, Jon F. Harrison Sep 2015

Developmental Changes In Hypoxic Exposure And Responses To Anoxia In Drosophila Melanogaster, Viviane Callier, Steven C. Hand, Jacob B. Campbell, Taylor Biddulph, Jon F. Harrison

Faculty Publications

© 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. Holometabolous insects undergo dramatic morphological and physiological changes during ontogeny. In particular, the larvae of many holometabolous insects are specialized to feed in soil, water or dung, inside plant structures, or inside other organisms as parasites where they may commonly experience hypoxia or anoxia. In contrast, holometabolous adults usually are winged and live with access to air. Here, we show that larval Drosophila melanogaster experience severe hypoxia in their normal laboratory environments; third instar larvae feed by tunneling into a medium without usable oxygen. Larvae move strongly in anoxia for many …

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Nonparametric Estimation Of Interspecific Spatio-Temporal Niche Separation Between Two Lady Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) In Bt Cotton Fields, Zeng Bin Lu, Pei Jian Shi, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Lin Mao Li, Xing Yuan Men, Feng Ge Sep 2015

Nonparametric Estimation Of Interspecific Spatio-Temporal Niche Separation Between Two Lady Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) In Bt Cotton Fields, Zeng Bin Lu, Pei Jian Shi, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Lin Mao Li, Xing Yuan Men, Feng Ge

Faculty Publications

Predaceous lady beetles are important natural enemies of many insect pests in agro-ecosystem. The altered agricultural practices associated with widespread adoption of Bt cotton may have potential effects on the spatio-temporal patterns of predaceous lady beetles, as the composition and abundance of nontarget sucking pests have been changed in Bt cotton fields. In the current study, the spatio-temporal patterns of two important lady beetles, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Propylea japonica (Thunberg) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), were surveyed in Bt cotton fields. A nonparametric method associated with Monte Carlo tests was used to address and test whether niche segregation occurred between …

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Sequence Analysis And Characterization Of Active Human Alu Subfamilies Based On The 1000 Genomes Pilot Project, Miriam K. Konkel, Jerilyn A. Walker, Ashley B. Hotard, Megan C. Ranck, Catherine C. Fontenot, Jessica Storer, Chip Stewart, Gabor T. Marth, Mark A. Batzer Sep 2015

Sequence Analysis And Characterization Of Active Human Alu Subfamilies Based On The 1000 Genomes Pilot Project, Miriam K. Konkel, Jerilyn A. Walker, Ashley B. Hotard, Megan C. Ranck, Catherine C. Fontenot, Jessica Storer, Chip Stewart, Gabor T. Marth, Mark A. Batzer

Faculty Publications

© The Author(s) 2015. The goal of the 1000 Genomes Consortium is to characterize human genome structural variation (SV), including forms of copy number variations such as deletions, duplications, and insertions. Mobile element insertions, particularly Alu elements, are major contributors to genomic SV among humans. During the pilot phase of the project we experimentally validated 645 (611 intergenic and 34 exon targeted) polymorphic "young" Alu insertion events, absent fromthe human reference genome. Here, we report high resolution sequencing of 343 (322 unique) recent Alu insertion events, along with their respective target site duplications, precise genomic breakpoint coordinates, subfamily assignment, percent …

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Production Of Inbred Larvae Through Self-Fertilization Using Oocytes And Cryopreserved Sperm From The Same Individuals After Sex Reversal In Eastern Oyster Crassostrea Virginica, Huiping Yang, Yan Wang, Ximing Guo, Terrence R. Tiersch Sep 2015

Production Of Inbred Larvae Through Self-Fertilization Using Oocytes And Cryopreserved Sperm From The Same Individuals After Sex Reversal In Eastern Oyster Crassostrea Virginica, Huiping Yang, Yan Wang, Ximing Guo, Terrence R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

The eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica can change sex which makes self-fertilization possible if sperm can be cryopreserved. In this study, small (~1 year old) and large (~2-3 years old) oysters were biopsied for sperm collection. Survival of the biopsied oysters after 1 year was 50% for small oysters and 17% for large oysters. Oocytes were collected from sex-reversed females, and self-fertilized with cryopreserved sperm. Of the 24 cryopreserved samples, 14 individuals had ≤1% fertility when crossed with oocytes from unrelated females, indicating that the cryopreserved sperm had reduced fertility. The other 10 individuals had a fertility of 39 ± 25% …

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The Challenges Of Resolving A Rapid, Recent Radiation: Empirical And Simulated Phylogenomics Of Philippine Shrews, Thomas C. Giarla, Jacob A. Esselstyn Sep 2015

The Challenges Of Resolving A Rapid, Recent Radiation: Empirical And Simulated Phylogenomics Of Philippine Shrews, Thomas C. Giarla, Jacob A. Esselstyn

Faculty Publications

Phylogenetic relationships in recent, rapid radiations can be difficult to resolve due to incomplete lineage sorting and reliance on genetic markers that evolve slowly relative to the rate of speciation. By incorporating hundreds to thousands of unlinked loci, phylogenomic analyses have the potential to mitigate these difficulties. Here, we attempt to resolve phylogenetic relationships among eight shrew species (genus Crocidura) from the Philippines, a phylogenetic problem that has proven intractable with small (< 10 loci) data sets. We sequenced hundreds of ultraconserved elements and whole mitochondrial genomes in these species and estimated phylogenies using concatenation, summary coalescent, and hierarchical coalescent methods. The concatenated approach recovered a maximally supported and fully resolved tree. In contrast, the coalescent-based approaches produced similar topologies, but each had several poorly supported nodes. Using simulations, we demonstrate that the concatenated tree could be positively misleading. Our simulations also show that the tree shape we tend to infer, which involves a series of short internal branches, is difficult to resolve, even if substitution models are known and multiple individuals per species are sampled. As such, the low support we obtained for backbone relationships in our coalescent-based inferences reflects a real and appropriate lack of certainty. Our results illuminate the challenges of estimating a bifurcating tree in a rapid and recent radiation, providing a rare empirical example of a nearly simultaneous series of speciation events in a terrestrial animal lineage as it spreads across an oceanic archipelago.

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Testosterone Might Not Be Necessary To Support Female Aggression In Incubating Northern Cardinals, M. Susan Devries, Caitlin P. Winters, Jodie M. Jawor Sep 2015

Testosterone Might Not Be Necessary To Support Female Aggression In Incubating Northern Cardinals, M. Susan Devries, Caitlin P. Winters, Jodie M. Jawor

Faculty Publications

Testosterone's (T) influence on male aggression has been well established in many vertebrate species, but the impact of T on female aggressive behaviour is poorly understood. Among birds, a link between T and female aggression is plausible, as females of many species exhibit a seasonal peak in T concentrations at the onset of breeding when social instability is greatest and they may have circulating T through much of the breeding season. However, investigations examining the relationship between T and female aggression are few and have yielded conflicting results, with experimentally or endogenously elevated T supporting aggressive behaviour in females of …

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Small Phytoplankton Drive High Summertime Carbonand Nutrient Export In The Gulf Of California And Eastern Tropical North Pacific, Viena Puigcorbé, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Pere Masqué, Elisabet Verdeny, Angelicque E. White, Brian N. Popp, Fredrick G. Prahl, Phoebe J. Lam Aug 2015

Small Phytoplankton Drive High Summertime Carbonand Nutrient Export In The Gulf Of California And Eastern Tropical North Pacific, Viena Puigcorbé, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Pere Masqué, Elisabet Verdeny, Angelicque E. White, Brian N. Popp, Fredrick G. Prahl, Phoebe J. Lam

Faculty Publications

Summertime carbon, nitrogen, and biogenic silica export was examined using 234Th:238U disequilibria combined with free floating sediment traps and fine scale water column sampling with in situ pumps (ISP) within the Eastern Tropical North Pacific and the Gulf of California. Fine scale ISP sampling provides evidence that in this system, particulate carbon (PC) and particulate nitrogen (PN) concentrations were more rapidly attenuated relative to 234Th activities in small particles compared to large particles, converging to 1–5 µmol dpm−1 by 100 m. Comparison of elemental particle composition, coupled with particle size distribution analysis, suggests that small particles are major contributors to …

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Removal Of Terrestrial Doc In Aquatic Ecosystems Of A Temperate River Network, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Robert J. Stewart, G. R. Aiken, K. D. Butler, N. B. Morse, Joseph E. Salisbury Aug 2015

Removal Of Terrestrial Doc In Aquatic Ecosystems Of A Temperate River Network, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Robert J. Stewart, G. R. Aiken, K. D. Butler, N. B. Morse, Joseph E. Salisbury

Faculty Publications

Surface waters play a potentially important role in the global carbon balance. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) fluxes are a major transfer of terrestrial carbon to river systems, and the fate of DOC in aquatic systems is poorly constrained. We used a unique combination of spatially distributed sampling of three DOC fractions throughout a river network and modeling to quantify the net removal of terrestrial DOC during a summer base flow period. We found that aquatic reactivity of terrestrial DOC leading to net loss is low, closer to conservative chloride than to reactive nitrogen. Net removal occurred mainly from the hydrophobic …

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Field Test Of A Remote Multi-Path Clads Methane Sensor, Genevieve Plant, Michal Nikodem, Phil Mulhall, Ruth K. Varner, David Sonnenfroh, Gerard Wysocki Aug 2015

Field Test Of A Remote Multi-Path Clads Methane Sensor, Genevieve Plant, Michal Nikodem, Phil Mulhall, Ruth K. Varner, David Sonnenfroh, Gerard Wysocki

Faculty Publications

Existing technologies for quantifying methane emissions are often limited to single point sensors, making large area environmental observations challenging. We demonstrate the operation of a remote, multi-path system using Chirped Laser Dispersion Spectroscopy (CLaDS) for quantification of atmospheric methane concentrations over extended areas, a technology that shows potential for monitoring emissions from wetlands.

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Scalemic And Racemic Imprinting With A Chiral Crosslinker, Britney Hebert, Danielle S. Meador, David A. Spivak Aug 2015

Scalemic And Racemic Imprinting With A Chiral Crosslinker, Britney Hebert, Danielle S. Meador, David A. Spivak

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. The development of molecularly imprinted chiral stationary phases has traditionally been limited by the need for a chiral pure template. Paradoxically, availability of a chiral pure template largely defeats the purpose of developing a chiral stationary phase. To solve this paradox, imprinting of scalemic and racemic template mixtures was investigated using both chiral (N-α-bismethacryloyl-. l-alanine) and achiral (N,O-bisacrylamide ethanolamine) crosslinkers. Imprinting of scalemic mixtures provided polymers capable of partial separation of Boc-tyrosine enantiomers with virtually the same results when using either the chiral or achiral crosslinker. However, the chiral crosslinker was required for chiral differentiation by …

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Genetic Divergence Of An Avian Endemic On The Californian Channel Islands, Amy G. Wilson, Yvonne Chan, Sabrina S. Taylor, Peter Arcese Aug 2015

Genetic Divergence Of An Avian Endemic On The Californian Channel Islands, Amy G. Wilson, Yvonne Chan, Sabrina S. Taylor, Peter Arcese

Faculty Publications

The Californian Channel Islands are near-shore islands with high levels of endemism, but extensive habitat loss has contributed to the decline or extinction of several endemic taxa. A key parameter for understanding patterns of endemism and demography in island populations is the magnitude of inter-island dispersal. This paper estimates the extent of migration and genetic differentiation in three extant and two extinct populations of Channel Island song sparrows (Melospiza melodia graminea). Inter-island differentiation was substantial (G''ST: 0.14-0.37), with San Miguel Island having the highest genetic divergence and lowest migration rates. Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Island populations were less diverged …

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Molecular Approaches For Improving Desiccation Tolerance: Insights From The Brine Shrimp Artemia Franciscana, Steven C. Hand, Michael A. Menze Aug 2015

Molecular Approaches For Improving Desiccation Tolerance: Insights From The Brine Shrimp Artemia Franciscana, Steven C. Hand, Michael A. Menze

Faculty Publications

© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Main conclusion: We have evaluated the endogenous expression and molecular properties of selected Group 3 LEA proteins fromArtemia franciscana, and the capacity of selected Groups 1 and 3 proteins transfected into various desiccation-sensitive cell lines to improve tolerance to drying. Organisms inhabiting both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems frequently are confronted with the problem of water loss for multiple reasons—exposure to hypersalinity, evaporative water loss, and restriction of intracellular water due to freezing of extracellular fluids. Seasonal desiccation can become severe and lead to the production of tolerant propagules and entry into the state of anhydrobiosis …

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Functional, Sub-100 Nm Polymer Nanoparticles Via Thiol-Ene Miniemulsion Photopolymerization, Douglas Amato, Dahlia Amato, Alex S. Flynt, Derek L. Patton Aug 2015

Functional, Sub-100 Nm Polymer Nanoparticles Via Thiol-Ene Miniemulsion Photopolymerization, Douglas Amato, Dahlia Amato, Alex S. Flynt, Derek L. Patton

Faculty Publications

In this work, sub-100 nm crosslinked polythioether nanoparticles were synthesized via thiol–ene photopolymerization in miniemulsion using high-energy homogenization. The effects of the miniemulsion formulation and homogenization parameters – including inhibitor concentration, surfactant concentration, organic weight fraction, ultrasonication time and amplitude – on nanoparticle size and size distribution were investigated. Thiol–ene nanoparticles with a mean particle diameter of 46 nm were obtained under optimized conditions for the current system at 2.5 wt% organic fraction and 20 mM surfactant concentration. In an effort to demonstrate potential utility of thiol–ene nanoparticles, we exploit the step-growth radical mechanism of thiol–ene photopolymerization under non-stoichiometric conditions …

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After The Bp Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Financial And Health Concerns Among Coastal Residents And Commercial Fishers, Katie E. Cherry, Bethany A. Lyon, Loren D. Marks, Pam F. Nezat, Rachel Adamek, S. Devon Walsh, Kristina B. Fitzgerald, Dina R. Anbinder, Claire V. Bernacchio Aug 2015

After The Bp Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Financial And Health Concerns Among Coastal Residents And Commercial Fishers, Katie E. Cherry, Bethany A. Lyon, Loren D. Marks, Pam F. Nezat, Rachel Adamek, S. Devon Walsh, Kristina B. Fitzgerald, Dina R. Anbinder, Claire V. Bernacchio

Faculty Publications

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is recognized as the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. In this article, we examine the impact of the BP oil spill on directly affected commercial fishers and indirectly affected residents of the greater New Orleans metropolitan area. A sample of 148 participants responded to an open-ended question on the impact of the oil spill on self, family, and their community at least 12 months after the oil spill began. Content analysis of their narrative text yielded four emergent themes which we present here: 1) Economic Impact on the Seafood Industry and Local …

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Co-Extinction In A Host-Parasite Network: Identifying Key Hosts For Network Stability, Tad Dallas, Emily Cornelius Aug 2015

Co-Extinction In A Host-Parasite Network: Identifying Key Hosts For Network Stability, Tad Dallas, Emily Cornelius

Faculty Publications

Parasites comprise a substantial portion of total biodiversity. Ultimately, this means that host extinction could result in many secondary extinctions of obligate parasites and potentially alter host-parasite network structure. Here, we examined a highly resolved fish-parasite network to determine key hosts responsible for maintaining parasite diversity and network structure (quantified here as nestedness and modularity). We evaluated four possible host extinction orders and compared the resulting co-extinction dynamics to random extinction simulations; including host removal based on estimated extinction risk, parasite species richness and host level contributions to nestedness and modularity. We found that all extinction orders, except the one …

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Externally And Internally Functionalized Copper(Ii) Β-Diketonate Molecular Squares, Jackson K. Cherutoi, Jace D. Sandifer, Uttam R. Pokharel, Frank R. Fronczek, Svetlana Pakhomova, Andrew W. Maverick Aug 2015

Externally And Internally Functionalized Copper(Ii) Β-Diketonate Molecular Squares, Jackson K. Cherutoi, Jace D. Sandifer, Uttam R. Pokharel, Frank R. Fronczek, Svetlana Pakhomova, Andrew W. Maverick

Faculty Publications

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Five functionalized bis(β-diketones) and their Cu(II) molecular squares are described. The new bis(β-diketones), m-pbhxH2 (3), 5-MeO-m-pbaH2 (4), 5-BuO-m-pbaH2 (5), 2-MeO-m-pbaH2 (6), and 2-MeO-m-pbprH2 (7), were prepared by reaction of the corresponding aldehydes with phospholenes, as we previously reported for m-pbaH2 (1) and m-pbprH2 (2). Ligand 3 has long alkyl chains in its β-diketone moieties, while ligands 4-7 have alkoxy substituents on their aromatic rings. When treated with Cu2+, the new bis(β-diketones) 3, 4, 5, and 7 afford molecular squares, Cu4(m-pbhx)4 (10), Cu4(5-MeO-m-pba)4 (11), Cu4(5-BuO-m-pba)4 (12), and Cu4(2-MeO-m-pbpr)4 (13), respectively. Two of the new …

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Co-Extinction In A Host-Parasite Network: Identifying Key Hosts For Network Stability, Tad Dallas, Emily Cornelius Aug 2015

Co-Extinction In A Host-Parasite Network: Identifying Key Hosts For Network Stability, Tad Dallas, Emily Cornelius

Faculty Publications

Parasites comprise a substantial portion of total biodiversity. Ultimately, this means that host extinction could result in many secondary extinctions of obligate parasites and potentially alter hostparasite network structure. Here, we examined a highly resolved fish-parasite network to determine key hosts responsible for maintaining parasite diversity and network structure (quantified here as nestedness and modularity). We evaluated four possible host extinction orders and compared the resulting co-extinction dynamics to random extinction simulations; including host removal based on estimated extinction risk, parasite species richness and host level contributions to nestedness and modularity. We found that all extinction orders, except the one …

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From Orphans To Families In Crisis: Parental Rights Matters In Maine Probate Courts, Deirdre M. Smith Aug 2015

From Orphans To Families In Crisis: Parental Rights Matters In Maine Probate Courts, Deirdre M. Smith

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the sources of the contemporary problems associated with the adjudication of parental rights matters in Maine’s probate courts and identifies specific reforms to address both the structural and substantive law problems. The Article first reviews the development of Maine’s probate courts and their jurisdiction over parental rights matters. It traces the expansion of jurisdiction over children and families from a limited role incidental to the administration of a decedent’s estate to the current scope: a range of matters that may result in the limitation, suspension, or termination of the rights of living parents. Maine probate courts now …

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Climate-Related Meteorological And Hydrological Regimes And Their Influence On Recruitment Of Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia Patronus) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Guillermo Sanchez-Rubio, Harriet Perry Aug 2015

Climate-Related Meteorological And Hydrological Regimes And Their Influence On Recruitment Of Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia Patronus) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Guillermo Sanchez-Rubio, Harriet Perry

Faculty Publications

Abundances of Gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) are heavily influenced by physical and biological processes that affect refuge and food availability. This study identified specific decadal and interannual responses in the recruitment of Gulf menhaden to local meteorological and hydrological regimes imposed by the coupling of Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phases and by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Numbers of age-0 menhaden in fishery-independent surveys and numbers and proportions of Gulf menhaden ages 1–6 in commercial purse-seine landings in the northern GOM were used to investigate …

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The Origin And Evolution Of Phototropins, Fay Wei Li, Carl J. Rothfels, Michael Melkonian, Juan C. Villarreal, Dennis W. Stevenson, Sean W. Graham, Gane K.S. Wong, Sarah Mathews, Kathleen M. Pryer Aug 2015

The Origin And Evolution Of Phototropins, Fay Wei Li, Carl J. Rothfels, Michael Melkonian, Juan C. Villarreal, Dennis W. Stevenson, Sean W. Graham, Gane K.S. Wong, Sarah Mathews, Kathleen M. Pryer

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Li, Rothfels, Melkonian, Villarreal, Stevenson, Graham, Wong, Mathews and Pryer. Plant phototropism, the ability to bend toward or away from light, is predominantly controlled by blue-light photoreceptors, the phototropins. Although phototropins have been well-characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana, their evolutionary history is largely unknown. In this study, we complete an in-depth survey of phototropin homologs across land plants and algae using newly available transcriptomic and genomic data. We show that phototropins originated in an ancestor of Viridiplantae (land plants + green algae). Phototropins repeatedly underwent independent duplications in most major land-plant lineages (mosses, lycophytes, ferns, and seed plants), but …

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Food Insecurity Reported By Children, But Not By Mothers, Is Associated With Lower Quality Of Diet And Shifts In Foods Consumed, Jennifer Bernal, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Juan A. Rivera Aug 2015

Food Insecurity Reported By Children, But Not By Mothers, Is Associated With Lower Quality Of Diet And Shifts In Foods Consumed, Jennifer Bernal, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Juan A. Rivera

Faculty Publications

Household food security shows little indication of nutrient inadequacy among children, according to reports made by parents. We examined the associations of food insecurity as reported by children and mothers with children’s consumption of energy, macronutrients such as vitamin A, calcium, iron and zinc, and selected foods, and whether these associations differed by child’s gender. This cross-sectional study had non-probabilistic 128 Venezuelan mother–child pairs. We assessed food insecurity and management strategies in children using 10- and nine-item instruments, respectively. Mothers’ report of food insecurity came from a previously validated 12-item instrument. Nutrient intake of children was assessed with a 67-item …

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