BIOGEOGRAPHY, INTERSPECIFIC INTROGRESSION, AND THE EVOLUTION OF HEMOGLOBIN GENES IN THE HIGH ANDES: THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN SISKINS (Spinus)

Landscape features, interspecific introgression, and adaptation work in concert to shape the evolutionary history of a clade. Understanding the independent and cumulative consequences of these evolutionary processes on diversification is critical to revealing the origins of extant biodiversity. Studying these processes within rapid radiations, a significant contributor to global biodiversity, can provide powerful insight into the process of diversification. To assess how diversification is shaped by these evolutionary forces, I examined the biogeographic history, patterns of interspecific introgression and adaptation to high elevation in a recent, rapid radiation of finches, the South American siskins (Fringillidae: Spinus). I found that this continental radiation colonized South America from North America and subsequently diversified at an exceptional rate in the high Andes. Further, my results show that sympatric siskin species within the high Andes form a monophyletic clade. I hypothesized that the close proximity of near relatives at high elevation could challenge species limits in Spinus. I investigated this hypothesis using a genome-wide SNP dataset to construct phylogenetic trees and performed formal tests of introgression among high elevation species. I developed an approach for assessing introgression despite persistent phylogenetic uncertainty, and discovered evidence for multiple introgressive events among different high elevation Spinus species. Cold temperatures and decreased partial pressure of oxygen are chronic stressors on organisms living at high elevation. Finally, to understand the consequences of high elevation on adaptive divergence in Spinus , I sequenced all genes which encode the oxygen-transport protein hemoglobin across the Spinus clade and among several populations of a species with a wide elevational range. I identified multiple instances of non-synonymous mutations at the inter- and intra-specific level in both adult and embryonic hemoglobin proteins. These patterns of genetic variation within functionally significant loci across elevation suggest that hemoglobin genes have had a significant impact on adaptation and potentially diversification within the South American siskins

The Role of Attachment and Language in Analogical Reasoning

The present study examined the relationships between attachment and analogical reasoning within two domains: social reasoning and physical reasoning. Verbal reasoning was assessed as a possible mediator of these relationships. This study was conducted with 67 typically-developed children between the ages of nine to 11 years of age who were recruited from The University of Southern Mississippi\u27s student population and from schools in Hattiesburg, MS and Ocean Springs, MS. Attachment security was assessed using the Kerns Security Scale (Kerns, Klepac, & Cole, 1996), and verbal reasoning was assessed with the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-3rd edition (Weschler, 1991). Analogical reasoning within social and physical domains was assessed using analogous match-to-sample tasks. To assess social reasoning, the participants were required to reason about others\u27 emotions such as happiness, sadness, fear, and anger. To assess physical reasoning, they were required to reason about physical tasks that others were engaged in, such as sports, cooking, art, and school activities. The results revealed that verbal reasoning was significantly related to social reasoning, while the relationship between verbal reasoning and physical reasoning approached significance. Attachment was not significantly related to any of the other variables in this study

Empathy as Direct Perception

This paper defends a perceptual account of empathy in opposition to purely cognitive theories on how we grasp the emotion of another. Empathy has to start with the perception of another human being before us. However, the often favored simulation argument (in which we imagine "what it's like" to be "in their shoes") seems to propose that perception stops right with surface features. We perceive there is someone in front of us, but the knowledge of their pain comes from simulation, the argument goes. While I do agree that simulation is likely employed across the spectrum of empathic experience and importantly adds to it, I see no reason that part of the understanding can’t come from perception itself. Instead, I argue two main points: one, it is possible to perceive, not infer, meaning, or emotion, just with visual stimuli (such as faces); two, environmental and physical regularities bias what we grasp and thus partially determine what we empathize with. The second point is supported by a causal story, provided by Mitch Green, in which forms of expression and communication arose due to evolutionary benefit and incur “organic meaning.”Bachelor of Art

Softly, softly: Introducing research-led education into a successful first year course

‘If it isn’t broken, why fix it?’ How do we introduce innovative elements of research-led education into first year courses that rate well on student evaluations and appear reasonably successful? Such courses are often well established, tend to have a great deal of content that ‘must’ be covered, and deal with large numbers of students from diverse backgrounds. This paper presents an interim report of an action learning project, supported by the Science and Mathematics network of Australian university educators (SaMnet), to review a first-year biology semester-long course and introduce new research-led components that address threshold concepts in the discipline. Our approach involved a ‘softly, softly’ approach to bringing about change. In the first iteration of the reviewed course, subtle changes were made to introductory and practical activities, and a major change introduced in the last module, involving a sequence of small-group inquiry-based learning activities leading to a mini-conference on parasitology. The signs are that already students are benefitting from the revised approach, and notably are reporting an appreciation of more feedback from lecturers and tutors

Long-distance dispersal of a sedentary Andean flycatcher species with a small geographic range, Ochthoeca piurae (Aves: Tyrannidae)

We report a Piura Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca piurae) ~300 km south of its known range. This record was unanticipated because the species is sedentary and restricted to a narrow eco-climatic zone in valleys of the dry western Andes of northwestern Peru. Southward dispersal would require crossing broad areas of unsuitable habitat. Riparian zones of the western Andes have been heavily impacted by humans over millennia. This observation suggests that native songbirds may be able to expand their distributions along the flanks of the Andes if woody vegetation is protected or restored

Continuous Lidocaine Infusions to Manage Opioid‐Refractory Pain in a Series of Cancer Patients in a Pediatric Hospital

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134501/1/pbc25870.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134501/2/pbc25870_am.pd

Racial differences in venous thromboembolism: A surveillance program in Durham County, North Carolina

BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) affects approximately 1–2 individuals per 1000 annually and is associated with an increased risk for pulmonary hypertension, postthrombotic syndrome, and recurrent VTE. OBJECTIVE: To determine risk factors, incidence, treatments, and outcomes of VTE through a 2‐year surveillance program initiated in Durham County, North Carolina (population approximately 280,000 at time of study). PATIENTS/METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of data actively collected from three hospitals in Durham County during the surveillance period. RESULTS: A total of 987 patients were diagnosed with VTE, for an annual rate of 1.76 per 1000 individuals. Hospital‐associated VTE occurred in 167 hospitalized patients (16.9%) and 271 outpatients who were hospitalized within 90 days of diagnosis (27.5%). Annual incidence was 1.98 per 1000 Black individuals compared to 1.25 per 1000 White individuals (p < 0.0001), and Black individuals with VTE were younger than White individuals (p < 0.0001). Common risk factors included active cancer, prolonged immobility, and obesity, and approximately half were still taking anticoagulant therapy 1 year later. A total of 224 patients died by 1 year (28.5% of patients for whom outcomes could be confirmed), and Black patients were more likely to have recurrent VTE than White patients during the first 6 months following initial presentation (9.4% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Ongoing surveillance provides an effective strategy to identify patients with VTE and monitor treatment and outcomes. We demonstrated that hospital‐associated VTE continues to be a major contributor to the burden of VTE and confirmed the higher incidence of VTE in Black compared to White individuals

Effects of BG9719 (CVT-124), an A1-Adenosine receptor antagonist, and furosemide on glomerular filtration rate and natriuresis in patients with congestive heart failure

AbstractOBJECTIVESTo determine the effects of furosemide and the selective A1adenosine receptor BG9719 on renal function in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).BACKGROUNDStudies suggest that adenosine may affect renal function by various mechanisms, but the effects of blockade of this system in humans is unknown. In addition, the effects of a therapeutic dose of furosemide on glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal plasma flow (RPF) in heart failure patients are controversial.METHODSOn different days, 12 patients received placebo, BG9719 and furosemide. Glomerular filtration rate, RPF and sodium and water excretion were assessed immediately following drug administration.RESULTSGlomerular filtration rate was 84 ± 23 ml/min/1.73m2after receiving placebo, 82 ± 24 following BG9719 administration and a decreased (p < 0.005) 63 ± 18 following furosemide. Renal plasma flow was unchanged at 293 ± 124 ml/min/1.73m2on placebo, 334 ± 155 after receiving BG9719 and 374 ± 231 after receiving furosemide. Sodium excretion increased from 8 ± 8 mEq following placebo administration to 37 ± 26 mEq following BG9719 administration. In the six patients in whom it was measured, sodium excretion was 104 ± 78 mEq following furosemide administration.CONCLUSIONSNatriuresis is effectively induced by both furosemide and the adenosine A1antagonist BG9719 in patients with CHF. Doses of the two drugs used in this study did not cause equivalent sodium and water excretion but only furosemide decreased GFR. These data suggest that adenosine is an important determinant of renal function in patients with heart failure

Multivariate Models of Adult Pacific Salmon Returns

Most modeling and statistical approaches encourage simplicity, yet ecological processes are often complex, as they are influenced by numerous dynamic environmental and biological factors. Pacific salmon abundance has been highly variable over the last few decades and most forecasting models have proven inadequate, primarily because of a lack of understanding of the processes affecting variability in survival. Better methods and data for predicting the abundance of returning adults are therefore required to effectively manage the species. We combined 31 distinct indicators of the marine environment collected over an 11-year period into a multivariate analysis to summarize and predict adult spring Chinook salmon returns to the Columbia River in 2012. In addition to forecasts, this tool quantifies the strength of the relationship between various ecological indicators and salmon returns, allowing interpretation of ecosystem processes. The relative importance of indicators varied, but a few trends emerged. Adult returns of spring Chinook salmon were best described using indicators of bottom-up ecological processes such as composition and abundance of zooplankton and fish prey as well as measures of individual fish, such as growth and condition. Local indicators of temperature or coastal upwelling did not contribute as much as large-scale indicators of temperature variability, matching the spatial scale over which salmon spend the majority of their ocean residence. Results suggest that effective management of Pacific salmon requires multiple types of data and that no single indicator can represent the complex early-ocean ecology of salmon