Long-term impacts of disturbance on nitrogen-cycling bacteria in a New England salt marsh

Recent studies on the impacts of disturbance on microbial communities indicate communities show differential responses to disturbance, yet our understanding of how different microbial communities may respond to and recover from disturbance is still rudimentary. We investigated impacts of tidal restriction followed by tidal restoration on abundance and diversity of denitrifying bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in New England salt marshes by analyzing nirS and bacterial and archaeal amoA genes, respectively. TRFLP analysis of nirS and betaproteobacterial amoA genes revealed significant differences between restored and undisturbed marshes, with the greatest differences detected in deeper sediments. Additionally, community patterns indicated a potential recovery trajectory for denitrifiers. Analysis of archaeal amoA genes, however, revealed no differences in community composition between restored and undisturbed marshes, but we detected significantly higher gene abundance in deeper sediment at restored sites. Abundances of nirS and betaproteobacterial amoA genes were also significantly greater in deeper sediments at restored sites. Porewater ammonium was significantly higher at depth in restored sediments compared to undisturbed sediments, suggesting a possible mechanism driving some of the community differences. Our results suggest that impacts of disturbance on denitrifying and ammonia-oxidizing communities remain nearly 30 years after restoration, potentially impacting nitrogen-cycling processes in the marsh. We also present data suggesting that sampling deeper in sediments may be critical for detecting disturbance effects in coastal sediments

Bio-Butadiene from Waste Carbon Monoxide

This report describes a two-step process that creates 1,550 lb/hr 1,3-butadiene from a feed of effluent steel mill gas. The goal for this plant was 100,000 gallons of 1,3- butadiene per year, but preliminary economic analysis suggested a 20x scale up was necessary for economic viability. The first step of this process uses fermenters inoculated with cl. autoethanogenum to convert carbon monoxide-rich effluent gas to 2,3- butanediol. This intermediate is fed to a thermo-catalytic converter to produce 1,3- butanediene. Ethanol and MEK are both byproducts of this process that were initially isolated and sold for greater profit. In the pages to follow, a detailed design and economic analysis for this process is presented for a plant in China. Process flow sheets, energy and utility requirements, and equipment summaries are provided and analyzed. Process profitability is highly sensitive to the pricing of butadiene and ethanol. It is shown that the plant is likely will be unprofitable at prevailing commodities prices. The investment has an internal rate of return of 0.7%, and net present value of $-74.4MM using a discount rate of 15$126.2MM. The return on investment (ROI) is 2.0%, with a payback period of 10.3 years. Alternatives can be explored for different process configurations and varying product goals. A few possibilities are presented within this paper

How does God answer back?

A central question in the study of prayer is how people determine God’s response. Much of the literature in cognition and religion answers this question by using a particular understanding of the divine agent (God), as superhuman, agentic, transcendent, and anthropomorphic. But not all religious traditions articulate the divine in this way, and religious people do not pray to abstractions or general ideas. This paper takes seriously the consideration that people pray to divine interlocutors whom they understand and experience as having specific capacities and interests, which are shaped both in practice and in theological traditions. Different types of divinities demand different kinds of listening on the part of those who pray, and religious traditions are active producers of different religious schema that shape cognitive possibilities for hearing the divine. This essay explores how some modern Americans are taught to listen for and hear the response of an immanent, non-anthropomorphic God. It explores the practices and techniques through which individuals learn to hear God, and considers the implications for cognitive studies of religion. It argues that scholars concerned about religion and cognitions should pay more attention to the specific practices that emanate from and reproduce dissimilar theological understandings of God

American Reincarnations: What the Many Lives of Past Lives Tell us about Contemporary Spiritual Practice

This paper explores how contemporary “past life” and “reincarnation” practices in the United States draw upon and reproduce visions of divine connection formed in nineteenth-century metaphysical investigations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with spiritual seekers in Cambridge, MA, in 2002–04, I demonstrate how contemporary past life beliefs and practices resonate with older concerns, questions, and understandings of the self in history. These practices allow contemporary American spiritual seekers to augment and creatively rethink (and replace) their relations with intimate others, providing rich experiential resources for placing the self in history and relation. At the same time, these practices displace practitioners’ interests in the metaphysical histories that scholars of religion have been most interested in recovering, raising new questions for historians and sociologists alike about how traditions are carried and recognized

The negative impacts public opinion can have on wildlife management plans

Certain wildlife management plans are in place to balance overpopulated species. Years of scientific research and monitoring are done to come up with the most beneficial way of maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Wildlife managers have a single goal of trying to maintain a balanced ecosystem to ensure the ecosystem is healthy. Some wildlife management plans are controversial, with annuals culls or extra hunting seasons needed to bring over-abundant populations back down to a sustainable number. This controversy is caused from strong public opinion not in favour of killing animals. In most cases, these opinions are from people that are not directly affected by the species in question or the wildlife management plan. This thesis looks at many different examples where a management plan either changed or received a lot of backlash because public opinion strongly disagreed with the wildlife management plan in place. This thesis will show the negative impacts that public opinion can have on wildlife management plans

Constructing Buddhism(s): Interreligious Dialogue and Religious Hybridity

This paper presents data from interviews with senior Catholic and Buddhist nuns living in the United States who participated in an interreligious dialogue. We focus on how Catholic nuns develop, appropriate, and adapt Buddhist forms and ideas in their daily religious practices and how Buddhist nuns respond. We describe and analyze three distinct discursive constructions of Buddhism that Catholic and Buddhist nuns draw upon, and discuss the significance of these constructions for members of both traditions as they think about their groups' futures. This material contributes to research on religious syncretism, appropriation, and the hybrid nature of religious traditions in practice

Sleep Health, Individual Characteristics, Lifestyle Factors, and Marathon Completion Time in Marathon Runners: A Retrospective Investigation of the 2016 London Marathon

Despite sleep health being critically important for athlete performance and well-being, sleep health in marathoners is understudied. This foundational study explored relations between sleep health, individual characteristics, lifestyle factors, and marathon completion time. Data were obtained from the 2016 London Marathon participants. Participants completed the Athlete Sleep Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) along with a brief survey capturing individual characteristics and lifestyle factors. Sleep health focused on the ASSQ sleep difficulty score (SDS) and its components. Linear regression computed relations among sleep, individual, lifestyle, and marathon variables. The analytic sample (N = 943) was mostly male (64.5%) and young adults (66.5%). A total of 23.5% of the sample reported sleep difficulties (SDS ≥ 8) at a severity warranting follow-up with a trained sleep provider. Middle-aged adults generally reported significantly worse sleep health characteristics, relative to young adults, except young adults reported significantly longer sleep onset latency (SOL). Sleep tracker users reported worse sleep satisfaction. Pre-bedtime electronic device use was associated with longer SOL and longer marathon completion time, while increasing SOL was also associated with longer marathon completion. Our results suggest a deleterious influence of pre-bedtime electronic device use and sleep tracker use on sleep health in marathoners. Orthosomnia may be a relevant factor in the relationship between sleep tracking and sleep health for marathoners

Planning for Implementation Success Using RE-AIM and CFIR Frameworks: A Qualitative Study

Background: RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) and CFIR (Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research) dissemination and implementation frameworks define theory-based domains associated with the adoption, implementation and maintenance of evidence-based interventions. Used together, the two frameworks identify metrics for evaluating implementation success, i.e., high reach and effectiveness resulting in sustained practice change (RE-AIM), and modifiable factors that explain and enhance implementation outcomes (CFIR). We applied both frameworks to study the implementation planning process for a technology-delivered asthma care intervention called Breathewell within an integrated care organization. The goal of the Breathewell intervention is to increase the efficiency of delivering resource-intensive asthma care services. Methods: We reviewed historical documents (i.e., meeting agendas; minutes) from 14 months of planning to evaluate alignment of implementation team priorities with RE-AIM domains. Key content was extracted and analyzed on topics, frequency and amount of discussion within each RE-AIM domain. Implementation team members were interviewed using questions adapted from the CFIR Interview Guide Tool to focus their reflection on the process and contextual factors considered during pre-implementation planning. Documents and transcripts were initially coded using RE-AIM domain definitions, and recoded using CFIR constructs, with intent to help explain how team decisions and actions can contribute to adoption, implementation and maintenance outcomes. Results: Qualitative analysis of team documents and interviews demonstrated strong alignment with the RE-AIM domains: Reach, Effectiveness, and Implementation; and with the CFIR constructs: formal inclusion of provider and staff stakeholders in implementation planning, compatibility of the intervention with workflows and systems, and alignment of the intervention with organizational culture. Focus on these factors likely contributed to RE-AIM outcomes of high implementation fidelity. However, team members expressed low confidence that Breathewell would be adopted and maintained post-trial. A potential explanation was weak alignment with several CFIR constructs, including tension for change, relative priority, and leadership engagement that contribute to organizational receptivity and motivation to sustain change. Conclusions: While RE-AIM provides a practical framework for planning and evaluating practice change interventions to assure their external validity, CFIR explains why implementation succeeded or failed, and when used proactively, identifies relevant modifiable factors that can promote or undermine adoption, implementation, and maintenance.Ye

Neoamphimedine Circumvents Metnase-Enhanced DNA Topoisomerase IIα Activity Through ATP-Competitive Inhibition

Type IIα DNA topoisomerase (TopoIIα) is among the most important clinical drug targets for the treatment of cancer. Recently, the DNA repair protein Metnase was shown to enhance TopoIIα activity and increase resistance to TopoIIα poisons. Using in vitro DNA decatenation assays we show that neoamphimedine potently inhibits TopoIIα-dependent DNA decatenation in the presence of Metnase. Cell proliferation assays demonstrate that neoamphimedine can inhibit Metnase-enhanced cell growth with an IC50 of 0.5 μM. Additionally, we find that the apparent Km of TopoIIα for ATP increases linearly with higher concentrations of neoamphimedine, indicating ATP-competitive inhibition, which is substantiated by molecular modeling. These findings support the continued development of neoamphimedine as an anticancer agent, particularly in solid tumors that over-express Metnase