Effects of Urbanization on Sediment Microbial Communities in Lotic Ecosystems

The world is becoming increasingly urbanized, with the majority of the world\u27s population now living in urban areas. Urbanization has the potential to significantly alter lotic ecosystems and the services they provide. Benthic microbial communities are key components of lotic ecosystems due to their contributions to primary production and nutrient cycling. Two types of human inputs associated with urbanization that may impact benthic microbial communities in lotic ecosystems are the input of wastewater treatment effluent and the input of emerging contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and personal care products. This work examines the effects of treated WWTP effluent on benthic microbial communities obtained from a field study of two streams in the Chicago metropolitan area. In addition, the presence and effects of a widely used antimicrobial, triclosan, was studied both in the field and using the artificial stream facility located at Loyola University Chicago. Our findings suggest that WWTP effluent significantly reduce both chemical and biological variation in the benthic ecosystems. These results raise questions about the impacts of anthropogenic ecosystem modifications and WWTPs on lotic ecosystems. Results also indicated that WWTPs were not significant point sources of triclosan, suggesting that non-point sources are more significant sources of triclosan into lotic ecosystems. However, sediment triclosan concentrations correlated closely with the degree of urbanization of the surrounding habitat. Using model streams we were able to generate a triclosan resistant bacterial community that was similar in size to control streams from a single dosing of triclosan

A deep-sea agglutinated foraminifer tube constructed with planktonic foraminifer shells of a single species

Agglutinated foraminifera are marine protists that show apparently complex behaviour in constructing their shells, involving selecting suitable sedimentary grains from their environment, manipulating them in three dimensions, and cementing them precisely into position. Here we illustrate a striking and previously undescribed example of complex organisation in fragments of a tube-like foraminifer (questionably assigned to Rhabdammina) from 1466 m water depth on the northwest Australian margin. The tube is constructed from well-cemented siliciclastic grains which form a matrix into which hundreds of planktonic foraminifer shells are regularly spaced in apparently helical bands. These shells are of a single species, Turborotalita clarkei, which has been selected to the exclusion of all other bioclasts. The majority of shells are set horizontally in the matrix with the umbilical side upward. This mode of construction, as is the case with other agglutinated tests, seems to require either an extraordinarily selective trial-and-error process at the site of cementation or an active sensory and decision-making system within the cell

Chinese herbal recipe versus diclofenac in symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized controlled trial [ISRCTN70292892]

BACKGROUND: Duhuo Jisheng Wan (DJW) is perhaps the best known and most widely used Chinese herbal recipe for arthralgia, but the clinical study to verify its efficacy is lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of DJW versus diclofenac in symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. METHODS: This study was a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, controlled trial. The 200 patients suffering from OA of the knee, were randomized into the DJW and diclofenac group. The patients were evaluated after a run-in period of one week (week 0) and then weekly during 4 weeks of treatment. The clinical assessments included visual analog scale (VAS) score that assessed pain and stiffness, Lequesne's functional index, time for climbing up 10 steps, as well as physician's and patients' overall opinions on improvement. RESULTS: Ninety four patients in each group completed the study. In the first few weeks of treatment, the mean changes in some variables (VAS, which assessed walking pain, standing pain and stiffness, as well as Lequesne's functional index) of the DJW group were significantly lower than those of the diclofenac group. Afterwards, these mean changes became no different throughout the study. Most of the physician's and patients' overall opinions on improvement at each time point did not significantly differ between the two groups. Approximately 30% of patients in both groups experienced mild adverse events. CONCLUSION: DJW demonstrates clinically comparable efficacy to diclofenac after 4 weeks of treatment. However, the slow onset of action as well as approximately equal rate of adverse events to diclofenac might limit its alternative role in treatment of OA of the knee

The Grail of original meaning : uses of the past in American constitutional theory

Originalist jurisprudence, which enjoins a faithful adherence to the values enshrined in the late eighteenth-century Constitution, has become a prominent feature of contemporary American conservatism. Recovering the original meaning of the Constitution is far from straightforward, and raises major issues of historical interpretation. How far do the assumed historical underpinnings of originalist interpretation mesh with the findings of academic historians? To what extent has the conservative invocation of the Founding Fathers obscured a lost American Enlightenment? Nor is ‘tradition’ in American Constitutional law an unproblematic matter. How far does a desire to restore the original meaning of the Constitution ignore the role of ‘stare decisis’ (precedent) in America's common law heritage? It transpires, moreover, that the various schemes of historical interpretation in American Constitutional jurisprudence do not map easily onto a simple liberal–conservative divide.PostprintPeer reviewe

The Lantern, 2017-2018

On Dissociation • Untouchable • After Rocket Man • The Science Fair • Cardinal Rule at Stephen J. Memorial • Quentin & Sylvie • Cabello • The Get Out • Painting Day • Black, White and Grey • Family Pruning • How to Remove a Stain • Becoming Ourselves • Wonderbread U • Overture • Pescadero • Gross • Stage Fright • Lucky Daddy • Sarah • Rumble • Silvermine • The Green Iguana • A Poem for Ghost Children • A Poem for Lost Boys • Mother • Drop of Grease • Don\u27t Wanna be White • I • Amelia Earhart Disappeared Into My Vagina: An Ode to Cunts, Menstrual Cups and All Things Woman • Suburban Summer • Nightmares and Dreams Induced by My Mother • Teacups, Skins, etc. • Three Thoughts About My Bedroom • Dear Siri • 2 Queens (Beyonce in Reference to Sonia Sanchez) • Voyeurs • In Front of the Bathroom Mirror • To a Rose • Howl • Mice • Mirror • Language Accordion Volcano Mouth • Lucky Woman • Butterscotch • To Persephone • Wolf • Notes Never Passed • Topple • Bust • Kyoto • Identity • Sunflower • Tornabuoni Bubbles • Olympia • Decayed Hall • Perspectivehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1186/thumbnail.jp

Genome variation and population structure among 1142 mosquitoes of the African malaria vector species Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii

Mosquito control remains a central pillar of efforts to reduce malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa. However, insecticide resistance is entrenched in malaria vector populations, and countries with a high malaria burden face a daunting challenge to sustain malaria control with a limited set of surveillance and intervention tools. Here we report on the second phase of a project to build an open resource of high-quality data on genome variation among natural populations of the major African malaria vector species Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii. We analyzed whole genomes of 1142 individual mosquitoes sampled from the wild in 13 African countries, as well as a further 234 individuals comprising parents and progeny of 11 laboratory crosses. The data resource includes high-confidence single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) calls at 57 million variable sites, genome-wide copy number variation (CNV) calls, and haplotypes phased at biallelic SNPs. We use these data to analyze genetic population structure and characterize genetic diversity within and between populations. We illustrate the utility of these data by investigating species differences in isolation by distance, genetic variation within proposed gene drive target sequences, and patterns of resistance to pyrethroid insecticides. This data resource provides a foundation for developing new operational systems for molecular surveillance and for accelerating research and development of new vector control tools. It also provides a unique resource for the study of population genomics and evolutionary biology in eukaryotic species with high levels of genetic diversity under strong anthropogenic evolutionary pressures

Resistance to pirimiphos-methyl in West African Anopheles is spreading via duplication and introgression of the Ace1 locus

Vector population control using insecticides is a key element of current strategies to prevent malaria transmission in Africa. The introduction of effective insecticides, such as the organophosphate pirimiphos-methyl, is essential to overcome the recurrent emergence of resistance driven by the highly diverse Anopheles genomes. Here, we use a population genomic approach to investigate the basis of pirimiphos-methyl resistance in the major malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae and A. coluzzii. A combination of copy number variation and a single non-synonymous substitution in the acetylcholinesterase gene, Ace1, provides the key resistance diagnostic in an A. coluzzii population from Coˆte d’Ivoire that we used for sequence-based association mapping, with replication in other West African populations. The Ace1 substitution and duplications occur on a unique resistance haplotype that evolved in A. gambiae and introgressed into A. coluzzii, and is now common in West Africa primarily due to selection imposed by other organophosphate or carbamate insecticides. Our findings highlight the predictive value of this complex resistance haplotype for phenotypic resistance and clarify its evolutionary history, providing tools to for molecular surveillance of the current and future effectiveness of pirimiphos-methyl based interventions

Handling newborn monkeys alters later exploratory, cognitive, and social behaviors

Touch is one of the first senses to develop and one of the earliest modalities for infant-caregiver communication. While studies have explored the benefits of infant touch in terms of physical health and growth, the effects of social touch on infant behavior are relatively unexplored. Here, we investigated the influence of neonatal handling on a variety of domains, including memory, novelty seeking, and social interest, in infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta; n = 48) from 2 to 12 weeks of age. Neonates were randomly assigned to receive extra holding, with or without accompanying face-to-face interactions. Extra-handled infants, compared to standard-reared infants, exhibited less stress-related behavior and more locomotion around a novel environment, faster approach of novel objects, better working memory, and less fear towards a novel social partner. In sum, infants who received more tactile stimulation in the neonatal period subsequently demonstrated more advanced motor, social, and cognitive skills—particularly in contexts involving exploration of novelty—in the first three months of life. These data suggest that social touch may support behavioral development, offering promising possibilities for designing future early interventions, particularly for infants who are at heightened risk for social disorders