Blowing Open the Bottleneck: Designing New Approaches to Increase Nurse Education Capacity

Outlines the challenges of expanding the nurse education capacity to meet nursing shortages. Explores strategies such as partnerships among stakeholders, faculty development, revised curricula, and policy and regulatory advocacy, and offers case studies

I'm a Student, I'm a Tutor, I'm Confused!: Peer Tutor and Classroom Student

Writing centers that employ undergraduates offer the tutors invaluable experiences, and the undergraduate tutors bring a distinctive perspective and skill set to their work. Indeed, undergraduate peer tutors are in a unique position: as we work with writers to decipher instructor comments we may suddenly realize why “awk” was scribbled in the margins of our own papers; as we are writing a 10-12 page paper we may suddenly discover a new way to tackle paper organization with a tutee. Although all writing consultants wear many hats as diagnosticians, audience members, devil’s advocates, and guides, being an undergraduate adds another layer that influences the way peer tutors wear these other hats. Like other undergraduate tutors, my experiences in the classroom shape my abilities as a peer tutor and my experiences as a tutor impact my class work by providing me with useful tools and inspirationUniversity Writing Cente

Principled Parentage: Abandoning the Gender-Based Underpinnings of Legal Parentage Analysis as Applied in the Context of Gestational Surrogacy

While reproductive technology has provided new options for women who want children, our legal understanding of parentage is still informed by the traditional conception model of two parents: one male and one female. A parent who both is a biological parent and has developed a parent-child relationship with a genetic child ought to be considered a legal parent as well. This conclusion ought not to be vulnerable to attack based on the gender of the other parent; rather, each parent’s claims should be evaluated independently. When gender becomes irrelevant and we abandon the gender-based underpinnings of legal parentage analysis as applied in gestational surrogacy cases, correct parentage decisions can be more easily reached when considering families created by non-traditional means

Surface water inundation in the boreal- Arctic: potential impacts on regional methane emissions

Northern wetlands may be vulnerable to increased carbon losses from methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, under current warming trends. However, the dynamic nature of open water inundation and wetting/drying patterns may constrain regional emissions, offsetting the potential magnitude of methane release. Here we conduct a satellite data driven model investigation of the combined effects of surface warming and moisture variability on high northern latitude (≥45° N) wetland CH4 emissions, by considering (1) sub-grid scale changes in fractional water inundation (Fw) at 15 day, monthly and annual intervals using 25 km resolution satellite microwave retrievals, and (2) the impact of recent (2003–11) wetting/drying on northern CH4 emissions. The model simulations indicate mean summer contributions of 53 Tg CH4 yr−1 from boreal-Arctic wetlands. Approximately 10% and 16% of the emissions originate from open water and landscapes with emergent vegetation, as determined from respective 15 day Fw means or maximums, and significant increases in regional CH4 efflux were observed when incorporating satellite observed inundated land fractions into the model simulations at monthly or annual time scales. The satellite Fw record reveals widespread wetting across the Arctic continuous permafrost zone, contrasting with surface drying in boreal Canada, Alaska and western Eurasia. Arctic wetting and summer warming increased wetland emissions by 0.56 Tg CH4 yr−1 compared to the 2003–11 mean, but this was mainly offset by decreasing emissions (−0.38 Tg CH4 yr−1) in sub-Arctic areas experiencing surface drying or cooling. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring changes in surface moisture and temperature when assessing the vulnerability of boreal-Arctic wetlands to enhanced greenhouse gas emissions under a shifting climate

Comprehensive EST analysis of Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus), a commercially relevant aquaculture species

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An essential first step in the genomic characterisation of a new species, in this case Atlantic halibut (<it>Hippoglossus hippoglossus</it>), is the generation of EST information. This forms the basis for subsequent microarray design, SNP detection and the placement of novel markers on genetic linkage maps.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Normalised directional cDNA libraries were constructed from five different larval stages (hatching, mouth-opening, midway to metamorphosis, premetamorphosis, and post-metamorphosis) and eight different adult tissues (testis, ovary, liver, head kidney, spleen, skin, gill, and intestine). Recombination efficiency of the libraries ranged from 91–98% and insert size averaged 1.4 kb. Approximately 1000 clones were sequenced from the 5'-end of each library and after trimming, 12675 good sequences were obtained. Redundancy within each library was very low and assembly of the entire EST collection into contigs resulted in 7738 unique sequences of which 6722 (87%) had matches in Genbank. Removal of ESTs and contigs that originated from bacteria or food organisms resulted in a total of 7710 unique halibut sequences.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A Unigene collection of 7710 functionally annotated ESTs has been assembled from Atlantic halibut. These have been incorporated into a publicly available, searchable database and form the basis for an oligonucleotide microarray that can be used as a tool to study gene expression in this economically important aquacultured fish.</p

Surface water inundation in the boreal-Arctic: potential impacts on regional methane emissions

Northern wetlands may be vulnerable to increased carbon losses from methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas, under current warming trends. However, the dynamic nature of open water inundation and wetting/drying patterns may constrain regional emissions, offsetting the potential magnitude of methane release. Here we conduct a satellite data driven model investigation of the combined effects of surface warming and moisture variability on high northern latitude (>= 45 degrees N) wetland CH4 emissions, by considering (1) sub-grid scale changes in fractional water inundation (Fw) at 15 day, monthly and annual intervals using 25 km resolution satellite microwave retrievals, and (2) the impact of recent (2003-11) wetting/drying on northern CH4 emissions. The model simulations indicate mean summer contributions of 53 Tg CH4 yr(-1) from boreal-Arctic wetlands. Approximately 10% and 16% of the emissions originate from open water and landscapes with emergent vegetation, as determined from respective 15 day Fw means or maximums, and significant increases in regional CH4 efflux were observed when incorporating satellite observed inundated land fractions into the model simulations at monthly or annual time scales. The satellite Fw record reveals widespread wetting across the Arctic continuous permafrost zone, contrasting with surface drying in boreal Canada, Alaska and western Eurasia. Arctic wetting and summer warming increased wetland emissions by 0.56 Tg CH4 yr(-1) compared to the 2003-11 mean, but this was mainly offset by decreasing emissions (-0.38 Tg CH4 yr(-1)) in sub-Arctic areas experiencing surface drying or cooling. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring changes in surface moisture and temperature when assessing the vulnerability of boreal-Arctic wetlands to enhanced greenhouse gas emissions under a shifting climate

Satellite microwave assessment of Northern Hemisphere lake ice phenology from 2002 to 2015

A new automated method enabling consistent satellite assessment of seasonal lake ice phenology at 5 km resolution was developed for all lake pixels (water coverage  ≥  90 %) in the Northern Hemisphere using 36.5 GHz H-polarized brightness temperature (Tb) observations from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR-E/2) sensors. The lake phenology metrics include seasonal timing and duration of annual ice cover. A moving t test (MTT) algorithm allows for automated lake ice retrievals with daily temporal fidelity and 5 km resolution gridding. The resulting ice phenology record shows strong agreement with available ground-based observations from the Global Lake and River Ice Phenology Database (95.4 % temporal agreement) and favorable correlations (R) with alternative ice phenology records from the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (R = 0.84 for water clear of ice (WCI) dates; R = 0.41 for complete freeze over (CFO) dates) and Canadian Ice Service (R = 0.86 for WCI dates; R = 0.69 for CFO dates). Analysis of the resulting 12-year (2002–2015) AMSR-E/2 ice record indicates increasingly shorter ice cover duration for 43 out of 71 (60.6 %) Northern Hemisphere lakes examined, with significant (p  \u3c  0.05) regional trends toward earlier ice melting for only five lakes. Higher-latitude lakes reveal more widespread and larger trends toward shorter ice cover duration than lower-latitude lakes, consistent with enhanced polar warming. This study documents a new satellite-based approach for rapid assessment and regional monitoring of seasonal ice cover changes over large lakes, with resulting accuracy suitable for global change studies

Feminization of Male Brown Treesnake Methyl Ketone Expression via Steroid Hormone Manipulation

Pheromones are useful tools for the management of invasive invertebrates, but have proven less successful in field applications for invasive vertebrates. The brown treesnake, Boiga irregularis, is an invasive predator that has fundamentally altered the ecology of Guam. The development of control tools to manage Boiga remains ongoing. Skin-based, lipophilic pheromone components facilitate mating in brown treesnakes, with females producing the same long-chain, saturated and monounsaturated (ketomonoene) methyl ketones known to function as pheromones in garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis. Boiga also express novel, diunsaturated methyl ketones (ketodienes) with a purported function as a sex pheromone. In our study, we implanted 17 β- estradiol in adult male brown treesnakes in order to manipulate methyl ketone expression as sex attractants, an effect that would mirror findings with garter snakes. Specifically, estrogen promoted production of two ketomonoenes, pentatriaconten-2-one and hexatriaconten-2-one, and suppressed production of one ketodiene, heptatriacontadien-2-one. In bioassays, estrogen-implanted males elicited tongue-flicking and chin rubbing behavior from unmanipulated males, though the responses were weaker than those elicited by females. On Guam, wild males exhibited greatest responses to whole female skin lipid extracts and only weak responses to the methyl ketone fractions from females and implanted males. Our results suggest that sex identity in brown treesnakes may be conferred by the ratio of ketomonoenes (female) to ketodienes (male) from skin lipids and may be augmented by a sex-specific endocrine signal (estradiol). However, a blend of long-chain methyl ketones alone is not sufficient to elicit maximal reproductive behaviors in male Boiga

Evolutionary Responses of Invasive Grass Species to Variation in Precipitation and Soil Nitrogen

1.Global climate models suggest that many ecosystems will experience reduced precipitation over the next century and the consequences for invasive plant performance are largely unknown. Annual invasive species may be able to quickly evolve traits associated with drought escape or tolerance through rapid genetic changes. 2.We investigated the influence of five years of water and nitrogen manipulations on trait values in a southern California grassland system. Seeds from two annual grass species (Avena barbata, Bromus madritensis) were collected from experimental plots and grown in a common environment over two generations. We measured 14 physiological, morphological, phenological, and reproductive traits. 3.Both species displayed phenotypic differences depending on the water treatment from which they were collected, but not depending on the nitrogen treatment. Both species displayed trait values characteristic of drought escape (e.g., earlier flowering in A. barbata and B. madritensis, lower water-use efficiency in B. madritensis) when grown from seeds collected from plots that experienced five years of reduced precipitation. Furthermore, A. barbata individuals grown from seeds collected from drought plots had higher reproductive output and higher photosynthetic performance than individuals grown from water addition plots, with individuals grown from ambient plots displaying intermediate trait values. Notably, we found no phenotypic variation among treatments for six root traits. 4.Synthesis. Trait differences were observed following two generations in a common garden, suggesting that treatment differences were genetically based. This suggests that populations were responding to selection over the five years of water manipulations, a remarkably short time period. The rapid evolutionary responses observed here may help these two widespread invasive grass species thrive under reduced precipitation scenarios, which could have important implications for fire dynamics, invasive species management, and native plant restoration in communities invaded by annual grasses