TRADITIONAL MASCULINITY & ADVERTISING IMAGE APPROVAL

This project investigates the relationship between adherence to traditional masculinity and approval of selected advertising images. Because traditional masculinity includes characteristics supportive of aggression and dominance; I hypothesize that an increase in adherence to traditional masculinity will correlate with approval of the violence found in some print advertisements. Participants include 259 men who completed an anonymous, online, survey. Adherence to masculinity is measured using the Male Role Norm Inventory-Revised (MRNI-R) (Levant, et. al, 2007). Each picture is scored on a 5-point Likert Scale. As hypothesized, an increase in total MRNI-R score, is significantly correlated with an increase in the approval of the depiction of women, men and male/female interactions, with (r=.340, a=0.01) (r=.244, a=0.01) (r=.360, a=0.01), respectively. The results indicate that men reporting adherence to traditional masculinity also see violence in advertising positively. Future research should further examine marketing and its relationship with gender role acquisition, and violence in intimate partners

Validation of a sea lice dispersal model : principles from ecological agent-based models applied to aquatic epidemiology

Sea lice are one of the most economically costly and ecologically concerning problems facing the salmon farming industry. Here, we validated a coupled biological and physical model that simulated sea lice larvae dispersal from salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago (BA), British Columbia, Canada. We employed a concept from ecological agent-based modeling known as ‘pattern matching’, which identifies similar emergent properties in both the simulated and observed data to confirm that the simulation contained sufficient complexity to recreate the emergent properties of the system. One emergent property from the biophysical simulations was the existence of sub-networks of farms. These were also identified in the observed sea lice count data in this study using a space−time scan statistic (SaTScan) to identify significant spatio-temporal clusters of farms. Despite finding support for our simulation in the observed data, which consisted of over a decade’s worth of monthly sea lice abundance counts from salmon farms in the BA, the validation was not entirely straightforward. The complexities associated with validating this biophysical dispersal simulation highlight the need to further develop validation techniques for agent-based models in general, and biophysical simulations in particular, which often result in patchiness in their dispersal fields. The methods utilised in this validation could be adopted as a template for other epidemiological dispersal models, particularly those related to aquaculture, which typically have robust disease monitoring data collection plans in place

Investigating the Effects of Homocysteine as an Agonist on Invertebrate Glutamatergic Synapses

Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) in mammals can produce neurological deficits, such as memory loss. The cause of the neurological issues is assumed to be due to homocysteine (HCY) binding to glutamatergic receptors in the central nervous system (CNS). High levels of HCY in the CNS are also associated with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease. Thus, understanding the detailed mechanisms of HCY in model preparations could be useful in developing potential treatments to neurodegenerative diseases with overlapping symptoms to HHcy. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of HCY as an agonist at glutamatergic synapses in invertebrates. The glutamatergic synapses of the larval Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster) and Procambarus clarkii (P. clarkii) neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) were utilized to examine the effects of applying HCY. Measurements of evoked synaptic transmission in both preparations revealed that 100 mM of HCY did not have any consistent effect. The expectation was that the acute action of HCY would have activated the glutamate receptors and then desensitized them so evoked transmission would be blocked. The pharmacological receptor profile of these NMJ receptors are of a quisqualate subtype and not a kainate, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) or N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) subtype. Consequently, HCY may not have any action on quisqualate glutamate receptor subtypes. The findings of this experiments could provide clinical implications regarding relevant pharmacological treatments in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease

Effects of Clove Oil (Eugenol) on Proprioceptive Neurons, Heart Rate, and Behavior in Model Crustaceans

Clove oil contains eugenol as an active ingredient and is used as a topical anesthetic in mammals to remedy pain and to anesthetize fish and other seafood for short periods; however, the exact mechanism of action of eugenol is not fully understood. We examined use of eugenol as a reversible anesthetic in crustaceans by examining its effect on sensory and motor neurons in the Red Swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and Whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) with electrophysiological recordings. The neurogenic heart rate in the three species was also monitored along with behaviors and responsiveness to sensory stimuli. The activity of the primary proprioceptive neurons was reduced at 200 ppm and ceased at 400 ppm for both crayfish (i.e., muscle receptor organ) and crab (i.e., leg PD organ) preparations when exposed to saline containing eugenol. Flushing out eugenol resulted in recovery in the majority of the preparations within five to ten minutes. Administering eugenol to crayfish and crabs both systemically and through environmental exposure resulted in the animals becoming lethargic. Direct injection into the hemolymph was quicker to decrease reflexes and sensory perception, but heart rate was still maintained. Eugenol at a circulating level of 400 ppm decreased electromyogram activity in the claw muscle of crabs. Surprisingly, this study found no change in heart rate despite administering eugenol into the hemolymph to reach 400 ppm in crabs or crayfish but heart rate in shrimp preparations decreased. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of eugenol as a short-term anesthetic for crustaceans to decrease stress during handling or transportation, considering its effectiveness at decreasing sensory input and the quick recovery of upon removal of eugenol. A neurophysiology course took this project on as an authentic course-based undergraduate research experience (ACURE)

The relevance of larval biology on spatiotemporal patterns of pathogen connectivity among open-marine salmon farms

Warming waters are changing marine pathogen dispersal patterns and infectivity worldwide. Coupled biological-physical modelling has been used in many systems to determine the connectivity of meta-populations via infectious disease particles. Here we model the connectivity of sea lice larvae (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) among salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada, using a coupled biological-physical model. The physical model simulated pathogen dispersal, while the biological component influenced the survival and developmental rates of the sea lice. Model results predicted high temporal variability in connectivity strength among farms; an emergent effect from the interacting parts of the simulation (dispersion vs. survival/development). Drivers of temporal variability were disentangled using generalized additive modeling, which revealed the variability was most strongly impacted by the spring freshet, which can act as a natural aid for sea lice control in the Broughton Archipelago. Our results suggest that farm management strategies can benefit by taking into account short-term spikes in regional pathogen connectivity among farms. Additionally, future scenarios of a warming climate with reduced snowpack can make sea lice control more challenging

Effects of biomass feedstocks and gasification conditions on the physiochemical properties of char

Char is a low-value byproduct of biomass gasification and pyrolysis with many potential applications, such as soil amendment and the synthesis of activated carbon and carbon-based catalysts. Considering these high-value applications, char could provide economic benefits to a biorefinery utilizing gasification or pyrolysis technologies. However, the properties of char depend heavily on biomass feedstock, gasifier design and operating conditions. This paper reports the effects of biomass type (switchgrass, sorghum straw and red cedar) and equivalence ratio (0.20, 0.25 and 0.28), i.e., the ratio of air supply relative to the air that is required for stoichiometric combustion of biomass, on the physiochemical properties of char derived from gasification. Results show that the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of most of the char were 1-10 m2/g and increased as the equivalence ratio increased. Char moisture and fixed carbon contents decreased while ash content increased as equivalence ratio increased. The corresponding Fourier Transform Infrared spectra showed that the surface functional groups of char differed between biomass types but remained similar with change in equivalence ratio.Peer reviewedBiosystems and Agricultural EngineeringBiobased Products and Energy Cente

Genome sequencing of the lizard parasite Leishmania tarentolae reveals loss of genes associated to the intracellular stage of human pathogenic species

The Leishmania tarentolae Parrot-TarII strain genome sequence was resolved to an average 16-fold mean coverage by next-generation DNA sequencing technologies. This is the first non-pathogenic to humans kinetoplastid protozoan genome to be described thus providing an opportunity for comparison with the completed genomes of pathogenic Leishmania species. A high synteny was observed between all sequenced Leishmania species. A limited number of chromosomal regions diverged between L. tarentolae and L. infantum, while remaining syntenic to L. major. Globally, >90% of the L. tarentolae gene content was shared with the other Leishmania species. We identified 95 predicted coding sequences unique to L. tarentolae and 250 genes that were absent from L. tarentolae. Interestingly, many of the latter genes were expressed in the intracellular amastigote stage of pathogenic species. In addition, genes coding for products involved in antioxidant defence or participating in vesicular-mediated protein transport were underrepresented in L. tarentolae. In contrast to other Leishmania genomes, two gene families were expanded in L. tarentolae, namely the zinc metallo-peptidase surface glycoprotein GP63 and the promastigote surface antigen PSA31C. Overall, L. tarentolae's gene content appears better adapted to the promastigote insect stage rather than the amastigote mammalian stage

Ecological responses to blue water MPAs

Marine protected areas (MPAs) can contribute to protecting biodiversity and managing ocean activities, including fishing. There is, however, limited evidence of ecological responses to blue water MPAs. We conducted the first comprehensive evaluation of impacts on fisheries production and ecological responses to pelagic MPAs of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. A Bayesian time series-based counterfactual modelling approach using fishery-dependent data was used to compare the temporal response in the MPAs to three reference regions for standardized catch rates, lengths, trophic level of the catch and species diversity. Catch rates of bigeye tuna, the main target species (Kingman/Palmyra MPA, causal effect probability >99% of an 84% reduction; 95% credible interval: -143%, -25%), and blue shark (Johnston MPAs, causal effect probability >95%) were significantly lower and longnose lancetfish significantly higher (Johnston MPAs, causal effect probability >95%) than predicted had the MPAs not been established, possibly from closing areas near shallow features, which aggregate pelagic predators, and from 'fishing-the-line'. There were no apparent causal impacts of the MPAs on species diversity, lengths and trophic level of the catch, perhaps because the MPAs were young, were too small, did not contain critical habitat for specific life-history stages, had been lightly exploited or experienced fishing-the-line. We also assessed model-standardized catch rates for species of conservation concern and mean trophic level of the catch within and outside of MPAs. Displaced effort produced multi-species conflicts: MPAs protect bycatch hotspots and hotspots of bycatch-to-target catch ratios for some at-risk species, but coldspots for others. Mean trophic level of the catch was significantly higher around MPAs, likely due to the aggregating effect of the shallow features and there having been light fishing pressure within MPAs. These findings demonstrate how exploring a wide range of ecological responses supports evidence-based evaluations of blue water MPAs