Poor taste

In regards to Mr. Bondeson\u27s and Mr. Sandblom\u27s comments in the Nov. 11 edition of the Maine Campus, I\u27m safe to say they were in poor taste

Cardiac cine magnetic resonance fingerprinting for combined ejection fraction, T1 and T2 quantification

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156191/2/nbm4323_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156191/1/nbm4323.pd

The Evolution of Anti-Bat Sensory Illusions in Moths

Prey transmit sensory illusions to redirect predatory strikes, creating a discrepancy between what a predator perceives and reality. We use the acoustic arms race between bats and moths to investigate the evolution and function of a sensory illusion. The spinning hindwing tails of silk moths (Saturniidae) divert bat attack by reflecting sonar to create a misleading echoic target. We characterized geometric morphometrics of moth hindwings across silk moths, mapped these traits onto a new, robust phylogeny, and found that elaborated hindwing structures have converged on four adaptive shape peaks. To test the mechanism underlying these anti-bat traits, we pit bats against three species of silk moths with experimentally altered hindwings that created a representative gradient of ancestral and extant hindwing shapes. High-speed videography of battles reveals that moths with longer hindwings and tails more successfully divert bat attack. We postulate that sensory illusions are widespread and are underappreciated drivers of diversity across systems

Dynamic Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting During Vasoactive Breathing Maneuvers: First Results.

BACKGROUND Cardiac magnetic resonance fingerprinting (cMRF) enables simultaneous mapping of myocardial T1 and T2 with very short acquisition times. Breathing maneuvers have been utilized as a vasoactive stress test to dynamically characterize myocardial tissue in vivo. We tested the feasibility of sequential, rapid cMRF acquisitions during breathing maneuvers to quantify myocardial T1 and T2 changes. METHODS We measured T1 and T2 values using conventional T1 and T2-mapping techniques (modified look locker inversion [MOLLI] and T2-prepared balanced-steady state free precession), and a 15 heartbeat (15-hb) and rapid 5-hb cMRF sequence in a phantom and in 9 healthy volunteers. The cMRF5-hb sequence was also used to dynamically assess T1 and T2 changes over the course of a vasoactive combined breathing maneuver. RESULTS In healthy volunteers, the mean myocardial T1 of the different mapping methodologies were: MOLLI 1,224 ± 81 ms, cMRF15-hb 1,359 ± 97 ms, and cMRF5-hb 1,357 ± 76 ms. The mean myocardial T2 measured with the conventional mapping technique was 41.7 ± 6.7 ms, while for cMRF15-hb 29.6 ± 5.8 ms and cMRF5-hb 30.5 ± 5.8 ms. T2 was reduced with vasoconstriction (post-hyperventilation compared to a baseline resting state) (30.15 ± 1.53 ms vs. 27.99 ± 2.07 ms, p = 0.02), while T1 did not change with hyperventilation. During the vasodilatory breath-hold, no significant change of myocardial T1 and T2 was observed. CONCLUSIONS cMRF5-hb enables simultaneous mapping of myocardial T1 and T2, and may be used to track dynamic changes of myocardial T1 and T2 during vasoactive combined breathing maneuvers

Reprint of: Participant engagement in environmentally focused social network research

Environmentally focused social network analysis (Env. SNA) has increasingly benefited from engagement, which refers to the process of incorporating the individuals, organizations, actors, stakeholders or other study participants into the research process. Research about engagement in the wider field of environmental management shows that successful engagement often requires significant planning and exchange among researchers and stakeholders. While there is no one size fits all approach, several important guiding principles have been established. To date, this engagement literature has not focused specifically on SNA, even though several examples of engaged SNA exist in the literature and point to some specific challenges to engagement when working with relational data. Drawing upon data from a survey of researchers who have incorporated engagement into Env. SNA, we focus specifically on the goals, scope, effectiveness, benefits and challenges of doing engaged Env. SNA research. We additionally highlight four case studies and demonstrate that researchers and participants find engagement to be a valuable experience with benefits in the researchers’ understanding of the context and meaning of their findings. Finally, we provide recommendations to scholars looking to embark on engaged Env. SNA research

Lipid biomarker record documents hydroclimatic variability of the Mississippi River Basin during the common era

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Munoz, S. E., Porter, T. J., Bakkelund, A., Nusbaumer, J., Dee, S. G., Hamilton, B., Giosan, L., & Tierney, J. E. Lipid biomarker record documents hydroclimatic variability of the Mississippi River Basin during the common era. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(12), (2020): e2020GL087237, doi:10.1029/2020GL087237.Floods and droughts in the Mississippi River basin are perennial hazards that cause severe economic disruption. Here we develop and analyze a new lipid biomarker record from Horseshoe Lake (Illinois, USA) to evaluate the climatic conditions associated with hydroclimatic extremes that occurred in this region over the last 1,800 years. We present geochemical proxy evidence of temperature and moisture variability using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) and plant leaf wax hydrogen isotopic composition (δ2Hwax) and use isotope‐enabled coupled model simulations to diagnose the controls on these proxies. Our data show pronounced warming during the Medieval era (CE 1000–1,600) that corresponds to midcontinental megadroughts. Severe floods on the upper Mississippi River basin also occurred during the Medieval era and correspond to periods of enhanced warm‐season moisture. Our findings imply that projected increases in temperature and warm‐season precipitation could enhance both drought and flood hazards in this economically vital region.This project was supported by grants to S. E. M and L. G. (NSF EAR‐1804107), T. J. P. (NSERC Discovery Grant), and S. G. D. (NOAA‐NA18OAR4310427)

Prepubertal exposure to arsenic(III) suppresses circulating insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) delaying sexual maturation in female rats

Arsenic (As) is a prevalent environmental toxin readily accessible for human consumption and has been identified as an endocrine disruptor. However, it is not known what impact As has on female sexual maturation. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the effects of prepubertal exposure on mammary gland development and pubertal onset in female rats. Results showed that prepubertal exposure to 10 mg/kg of arsenite (As(III)) delayed vaginal opening (VO) and prepubertal mammary gland maturation. We determined that As accumulates in the liver, disrupts hepatocyte function and suppresses serum levels of the puberty related hormone insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in prepubertal animals. Overall, this is the first study to show that prepubertal exposure to As(III) acts peripherally to suppress circulating levels of IGF-1 resulting in delayed sexual maturation. Furthermore, this study identifies a critical window of increased susceptibility to As(III) that may have a lasting impact on female reproductive function