Seasonality influences cuticle melanization and immune defense in a cricket: support for a temperature-dependent immune investment hypothesis in insects

To improve thermoregulation in colder environments, insects are expected to darken their cuticles with melanin via the phenoloxidase cascade, a phenomenon predicted by the thermal melanin hypothesis. However, the phenoloxidase cascade also plays a significant role in insect immunity, leading to the additional hypothesis that the thermal environment indirectly shapes immune function via direct selection on cuticle color. Support for the latter hypothesis comes from the cricket Allonemobius socius, where cuticle darkness and immune-related phenoloxidase activity increase with latitude. However, thermal environments vary seasonally as well as geographically, suggesting that seasonal plasticity in immunity may also exist. Although seasonal fluctuations in vertebrate immune function are common (because of flux in breeding or resource abundance), seasonality in invertebrate immunity has not been widely explored. We addressed this possibility by rearing crickets in simulated summer and fall environments and assayed their cuticle color and immune function. Prior to estimating immunity, crickets were placed in a common environment to minimize metabolic rate differences. Individuals reared under fall-like conditions exhibited darker cuticles, greater phenoloxidase activity and greater resistance to the bacteria Serratia marcescens. These data support the hypothesis that changes in the thermal environment modify cuticle color, which indirectly shapes immune investment through pleiotropy. This hypothesis may represent a widespread mechanism governing immunity in numerous systems, considering that most insects operate in seasonally and geographically variable thermal environments

Age-Related Changes in Detecting Unexpected Air Traffic and Instrument Malfunctions

The projected increase in elderly general aviation pilots in North America has raised concerns that aviation safety will be compromised. The present research used a flight simulator to examine change detection in young vs. older recreational pilots. Change detection was assessed in terms of the ability to detect unexpected and potentially critical events: the introduction of nearby air traffic and instrument malfunctions. The results show that older pilots missed more potentially critical events than their younger counterparts

The effects of radiolysis and hydrolysis on the stability of extraction systems for minor actinides

Industrial reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF) is one of the most complex procedures performed on a large scale; the process is intricate due to the mix of radionuclides present in INF. As a global trend for nuclear power and reprocessing continues, research is geared toward optimizing the extraction of targeted radionuclides from the assortment of byproducts with the aim to decrease the radioactivity of the stored waste and recycle the targeted radionuclides in mixed oxide fuel. Currently, simultaneous separation of radionuclides in one extraction cycle is the leading approach to processing spent nuclear fuel. The process implements a universal extraction mixture for one-step extraction of all targeted radionuclides, followed with selective stripping of individual metals with aqueous solutions. "Group Extraction of Actinides and Fission Products", one of the top approaches in this effort, is based on a modification of the Universal Extraction (UNEX) solvent. The process is currently performed using an extraction mixture composed of the organic complexant octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoyl methylphosphine oxide (CMPO), the cation exchanger, chlorinated cobalt dicarbollide (CCD), and polyethyleneglycol (PEG) in the diluent phenyltrifluoromethyl sulfonate (FS-13). The solution extracts both fission products and actinides. However, this composition was initially developed for low level waste, and it is of limited use when it comes to processing solutions containing large amounts of actinides and lanthanides, such as in INF. The current process is restricted by the limited solubility of CMPO and its complexes with metals. In order to more effectively process acidic aqueous solutions containing large amounts of actinides and lanthanides, modifications must be made to the current composition of the mixed solvent. Previously, it has been shown that diamides of dipicolinic acid have increased capacity to extract actinide and lanthanide metals, when compared to CMPO. Furthermore, these diamides exhibit synergistic behavior with CCD to extract cesium, strontium, and trivalent metals. This study investigated the possibility of replacing CMPO with diamides of 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (dipicolinic acid) with N,N' diethyl N, N' ditolyl dipicolinamide (EtTDPA). Stability of selected diamides was tested in a simulation of the harsh environment of dissolved nuclear fuel in order to determine their viability for use in reprocessing. Acidic hydrolysis and radiolysis conditions are always present in such systems. EtTDPA, in solution with CCD and FS-13, were exposed to nitric acid and irradiation by gamma photons (Co-60). The stability of EtTDPA was determined through analysis of distribution ratios for Am-241 and Eu-252 and Eu-254 extracted from acidic aqueous solutions. Mass spectrometry was also employed to determine if any structural changes occurred in the chemicals as a result of hydrolysis or radiolysis. Results showed that Et(o)TDPA was the most stable isomer across radiolysis, and also withstood hydrolysis

UAS Literary & Arts Journal

Proof copy provided by Tidal Echoes.The 2015 edition of Tidal Echoes presents an annual showcase of writers and artists who share one thing in common: a life surrounded by the rainforests and waterways of Southeast Alaska.Dedication -- Editor’s Note -- Mid-Air -- Acknowledgements -- Salmon (Gohan Desu Yo/It’s Dinner Time) -- Xwaayeenák Richard Dauenhauer -- Loon -- Burney Falls -- Richard Dauenhauer -- Egg Carton Fox -- August Afternoon at Helle’s Pool, Vancouver, Washington -- Oak Run -- Buddy Tabor teaches me to filet a halibut -- Icelander -- Home -- Season’s End -- Young Me, Old Me -- The Window Seat -- Wind -- UAS Student Back Study -- Paintbrush Conversations -- Grey River Soulshine -- Across the Universe -- Aurora-Skaters’ Cabin 1 -- Whiskey and Autumn -- Leaf Wolf -- Spring Cleaning the Perennials -- Ode to a Rose -- Final Point -- After Spring Recital -- Olympic Ceiling -- Rodda-Hard going (too little snow) -- Birch Bark Calligraphy No. 2 -- Fishtailing -- Working the Corks -- Modern Alaskan Storyteller: An Interview with Ishmael Hope -- Bailer at the Back of the Boat (Excerpt) -- Close Up -- Bothering the Dauenhauers -- In Memory of Andrew Hope III -- Wolf Brimhat -- I Am From -- Crossing -- Revelations and Realizations -- The Shrinking Girl -- Untitled (Andi in Niki’s Room) -- Afternoon Reading, Rainy Room -- My Grandmother’s House in Metlakatla -- Deacon Charles Rohrbacher, Icon of St. Nicholas -- Honoring Tibet -- Fumi Matsumoto: Finding Art in Culture -- Pathway of Thorns -- Minidoka Interlude -- Mountain Dew Parrots -- Watch Out for Falling Objects -- Loose Change -- An Unkind Demise -- A Place That Holds Names -- Immortality (skull side) -- Opening Again the Box of Wisdom -- Iff’n I Go -- Colorless Blues -- The Heartsdance -- King of Dreams -- Hungering -- Colonialism -- Inside Out -- Rachel Day -- Lying Here -- Note to Wife -- Death -- Round the Clock -- Untitled (trap) -- Seeds of Racism -- Auschwitz Remembrance -- Moab 1 -- Pearl of the Orient -- Moab 3 -- Scars -- Transporting -- In Eliason Harbor -- Poet Passes: Leaves Words Behind -- Tough Guy -- Wolf Helmet -- Biographie

Creating Change Agents: Teaching HBCU Undergraduates to Use Community-Based Research to Resist Racism

The rise of a “colorblind” vernacular among young adults’ limits how they understand race and racism in ways that allow white supremacists ideologies to thrive.  In the United States, for example, immigration policies, policies and practices regarding criminal justice and policing, health and housing are often framed using Black and Brown people as a cautionary tale for failing policies or to squelch policies that promote redress from historical oppression—conflating issues with race. Additionally, young Black and Latinx adults understand race and racism within this conflation—often to their communities’ detriment.  Liberatory research methodologies offer opportunities for young adults, specifically undergraduates at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to catalyze and expand their efforts for community change and social justice. This descriptive study explores the process of using problem-based learning to teach undergraduates liberatory methodology and qualitative research methods to affect community change and social justice.  Short surveys with student researchers, their personal reflections and classroom observations illustrate how student researchers’ use qualitative research methods to examine how racism and sexism manifest in contemporary social problems.  Additionally, the data describe how student researchers perceive their ability to use skills to resist oppression and make social change and continue anti-racist work