Natural Sciences at Parkland College

The Parkland College Natural Sciences Department Newsletter for Spring 2018 -- this issue features a review of ZipGrade, a summary of efforts to provide Green Infrastructure Certification at Parkland, a report on the Illinois Science Olympiad (Parkland has hosted the Regional Tournament for eight years), news from Phi Theta Kappa and the Natural Sciences Club, and on the Planetarium\u27s upcoming upgrade, as well as what what to expect with the new D2L/Cobra upgrade, a celebration of Parkland Teaching Excellence Award winner Chris Warren, and the second part in a series on the history of Natural Sciences at Parkland by former Parkland instructor and Department Chair, Rich Blazier

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Virology under the microscope—a call for rational discourse

Viruses have brought humanity many challenges: respiratory infection, cancer, neurological impairment and immunosuppression to name a few. Virology research over the last 60+ years has responded to reduce this disease burden with vaccines and antivirals. Despite this long history, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented attention to the field of virology. Some of this attention is focused on concern about the safe conduct of research with human pathogens. A small but vocal group of individuals has seized upon these concerns – conflating legitimate questions about safely conducting virus-related research with uncertainties over the origins of SARS-CoV-2. The result has fueled public confusion and, in many instances, ill-informed condemnation of virology. With this article, we seek to promote a return to rational discourse. We explain the use of gain-of-function approaches in science, discuss the possible origins of SARS-CoV-2 and outline current regulatory structures that provide oversight for virological research in the United States. By offering our expertise, we – a broad group of working virologists – seek to aid policy makers in navigating these controversial issues. Balanced, evidence-based discourse is essential to addressing public concern while maintaining and expanding much-needed research in virology

Using a Large Scale Service-Learning Project for Shaping Collaborative Outcomes and Skills

Being able to collaborate with others is often idealized but seldom operationalized. How do we teach students to do it? How do we model for students that collaboration is a process that they will increasingly be engaged in as organizations must increasingly think and act together to address issues that know no boundaries. How do we instill that being able to partner and think and act with others collaboratively will lend value to the organizations of which they will become future members? This case considers how large-scale service-learning projects that involve all members of a course in the same project, can serve to advance student understanding and experience of the process of collaboration and offer an opportunity for meta-talk that promotes learning about the underlying conditions and habits that need to exist to promote a collaborative environment

Stories Communities Tell: How Deliberative Practitioners Can Work with Community Narratives

How do past experiences of public engagement shape the way communities view the role of public input today? In this article, we examine the case of a community in a mid-Atlantic college town whose civic history is shaped by stories of skepticism and hope regarding past experiences of public decision-making. We use methods of interpretive analysis to surface their stories—the tensions, the plot, the actors, and complicating events—to understand how communities make sense of their roles in civic life, the norms they share, and the values they wish their communities can practice. We argue that being attuned to the storied nature of civic culture provides an invaluable resource for practitioners of dialogue and deliberation to adapt the design of public engagement in a way that speaks to past experiences and brings forth the communities’ shared aspirations

Enhanced acoustic reflectivity due to high abundance of sand dollars, Dendraster excentricus

Detailed acoustic surveys of benthic sediments were conducted in July 1995 and September 1998 in the vicinity of Humboldt Bay, California. During these surveys, a band of enhanced acoustic backscatter was observed offshore from the bay entrance, approximately parallel to the isobaths, in water depths ranging from 16–24 m. In order to assess the cause of the increase in backscatter levels, a more comprehensive study was conducted in August and September 1999 using 100 kHz side-scan sonar, bottom grab sampling and underwater video recording. New observations indicated that a dense population of sand dollars(Dendraster excentricus) coincided with the enhanced backscatter band. Compared to the two previousacoustic studies, the central section of the band expanded westward by 180 m and the southern section of the band shifted eastward by 160 m, possibly resulting from a change in the biological or physical factors which influence the location and breadth of sand dollars. The relationship between high sand dollar abundance and enhanced acousticbackscatter was further verified in the near shore region off Samoa Beach California, where a dense, banded population of sand dollars was previously observed. Video footage confirmed the presence of a band of sand dollars, also nominally parallel to the isobaths, in water depths of 8–15 m. A band of enhanced backscatter coincided with the dense sand dollar population. The identification of dense aggregations of sand dollarsthrough enhanced acoustic backscatter could lead to the use of acoustic techniques to study sand dollar distributions and abundance