Change Detection of Mount Nyiragongo Post Eruption

Because of the dangerous nature of volcanic eruptions, it makes them very difficult to study, however this makes them even more important for us to study because of how much destruction they can cause in such a short amount of time. We need to study all parts of an eruption to gain more insight into the specifics of how a volcano works. Having a better understanding of how large of an area is effected by an eruption will allow governments to decide on evacuation procedures. The goal of my project is to answer a very simple question, “How can we use remote sensing to quantify the area of land effected by a volcanic eruption?” Nyiragongo is a stratovolcano near the border of The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. This will be the study area. It erupted on January 17th, 2002, during which the lava lake that was located within the crater of the volcano drained. These lava flows made it all the way to Goma Town which caused massive destruction within the city, and left many people homeless. An unsupervised classification of Landsat 7 images from before and after the eruption will be used to show the amount of damage done to Goma Town during this eruption

INVESTIGATION OF OMNIVOROUS TROPHIC POSITION IN THE DRILLING GASTROPOD, UROSALPINX CINEREA, USING STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS

Drill-holes found in the fossil record are an important tool to study ecological patterns of the past. It is therefore important to gain a better understanding of the role of extant drilling snails in modern ecosystems. Although traditionally considered a predator, trophic position of 3.0, specimens of the muricid Urosalpinx cinerea from Long Island Sound revealed trophic positions between 2.3 and 2.5, suggestive of an omnivorous diet. This study addresses the generality of this result by examining a U. cinerea population from Wilmington, North Carolina. Preliminary whole body, soft tissue stable isotope analysis of nitrogen and carbon was conducted on five U. cinerea specimens. Isotopic baseline for the study area was calculated using proxy taxa, including Geukensia demissa for the pelagic baseline and Littoraria irrorata for the littoral baseline. Trophic position for these U. cinerea specimens ranged from 2.4 to 2.9. Working hypotheses to explain a trophic position lower than 3.0 in U. cinerea include: trophic omnivory driven by plant consumption, or a lower-than-average nitrogen discrimination factor. Although no studies on the nitrogen fractionation factors of muricids currently exist, the naticid Neverita duplicata from Long Island Sound has recently been demonstrated to have a normal nitrogen fractionation factor and omnivorous isotopic signatures. The difference between the trophic ranges of the two locations may indicate that U. cinerea have a more predatory diet in North Carolina than in Long Island Sound. However, further work is needed to confirm that these values reflect dietary differences, not a below average nitrogen fractionation factor

Trophic position of Otodus megalodon and great white sharks through time revealed by zinc isotopes

Diet is a crucial trait of an animal’s lifestyle and ecology. The trophic level of an organism indicates its functional position within an ecosystem and holds significance for its ecology and evolution. Here, we demonstrate the use of zinc isotopes (δ66Zn) to geochemically assess the trophic level in diverse extant and extinct sharks, including the Neogene megatooth shark (Otodus megalodon) and the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). We reveal that dietary δ66Zn signatures are preserved in fossil shark tooth enameloid over deep geologic time and are robust recorders of each species’ trophic level. We observe significant δ66Zn differences among the Otodus and Carcharodon populations implying dietary shifts throughout the Neogene in both genera. Notably, Early Pliocene sympatric C. carcharias and O. megalodon appear to have occupied a similar mean trophic level, a finding that may hold clues to the extinction of the gigantic Neogene megatooth shark.publishedVersio

PRN OPINION PAPER: Application of precision medicine across pharmacy specialty areas

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149551/1/jac51107_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149551/2/jac51107.pd

Enigmatic Carbonate Isotope Values in Shark Teeth: Evidence for Environmental and Diet Controls

Shark teeth are abundant in the fossil record and serve as ancient data buoys, recording physiological information, ecological interactions, and paleo-oceanographic conditions. A tool often used in paleobiological studies to access this recorded information is stable isotope analysis. Fossil shark teeth are well suited for stable isotope analysis because their enameloid is primarily fluorapatite, Ca5(PO4)3F, which is resistant to diagenetic alteration due to its high chemical stability. Although often used in paleoecological studies of mammals, carbonate carbon isotope compositions (δ13CCO3) in shark enameloid have remained enigmatic. Here, we investigate multiple stable isotope systems (δ13Corg, δ13CCO3, δ18OCO3, δ18OPO4) within modern shark teeth to determine relationships between the different systems and build an interpretative framework for future fossil studies. Interestingly, there is no correlation between δ18OPO4 and δ18OCO3 values in modern shark teeth, which contrasts with mammalian studies to date and suggests this metric is not an appropriate test for diagenetic alteration in fossil shark teeth. Organic carbon isotope composition (δ13Corg) measured from collagen in tooth dentine ranges from -16.0‰ to -10.8‰. Surprisingly, the δ13CCO3 values we measured are much higher, ranging from -6.0‰ to 10.3‰, and there is no direct relationship between δ13Corg and δ13CCO3 values in shark teeth. Instead, we found the fractionation (ε) between δ13Corg and δ13CCO3 values to correspond with δ18OCO3 values but not δ18OPO4 values. It is possible that the source of carbon in shark enameloid is partitioned between dietary carbon and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), similar to fish otoliths. We applied the fractionation factor from modern teeth to carbonate isotope composition of fossil shark teeth to predict organic carbon isotope values. The ability to estimate δ13Corg values in fossils will provide better insight into carbon cycling and food web dynamics of ancient marine ecosystems

Shark teeth zinc isotope values document intrapopulation foraging differences related to ontogeny and sex

Trophic ecology and resource use are challenging to discern in migratory marine species, including sharks. However, effective management and conservation strategies depend on understanding these life history details. Here we investigate whether dental enameloid zinc isotope (δ66Znen) values can be used to infer intrapopulation differences in foraging ecology by comparing δ66Znen with same-tooth collagen carbon and nitrogen (δ13Ccoll, δ15Ncoll) values from critically endangered sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) from Delaware Bay (USA). We document ontogeny and sex-related isotopic differences indicating distinct diet and habitat use at the time of tooth formation. Adult females have the most distinct isotopic niche, likely feeding on higher trophic level prey in a distinct habitat. This multi-proxy approach characterises an animal's isotopic niche in greater detail than traditional isotope analysis alone and shows that δ66Znen analysis can highlight intrapopulation dietary variability thereby informing conservation management and, due to good δ66Znen fossil tooth preservation, palaeoecological reconstructions

Trophic position of Otodus megalodon and great white sharks through time revealed by zinc isotopes

Diet is a crucial trait of an animal’s lifestyle and ecology. The trophic level of an organism indicates its functional position within an ecosystem and holds significance for its ecology and evolution. Here, we demonstrate the use of zinc isotopes (δ66Zn) to geochemically assess the trophic level in diverse extant and extinct sharks, including the Neogene megatooth shark (Otodus megalodon) and the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). We reveal that dietary δ66Zn signatures are preserved in fossil shark tooth enameloid over deep geologic time and are robust recorders of each species’ trophic level. We observe significant δ66Zn differences among the Otodus and Carcharodon populations implying dietary shifts throughout the Neogene in both genera. Notably, Early Pliocene sympatric C. carcharias and O. megalodon appear to have occupied a similar mean trophic level, a finding that may hold clues to the extinction of the gigantic Neogene megatooth shark

Cenozoic megatooth sharks occupied extremely high trophic positions.

Trophic position is a fundamental characteristic of animals, yet it is unknown in many extinct species. In this study, we ground-truth the 15N/14N ratio of enameloid-bound organic matter (δ15NEB) as a trophic level proxy by comparison to dentin collagen δ15N and apply this method to the fossil record to reconstruct the trophic level of the megatooth sharks (genus Otodus). These sharks evolved in the Cenozoic, culminating in Otodus megalodon, a shark with a maximum body size of more than 15 m, which went extinct 3.5 million years ago. Very high δ15NEB values (22.9 ± 4.4‰) of O. megalodon from the Miocene and Pliocene show that it occupied a higher trophic level than is known for any marine species, extinct or extant. δ15NEB also indicates a dietary shift in sharks of the megatooth lineage as they evolved toward the gigantic O. megalodon, with the highest trophic level apparently reached earlier than peak size

Cenozoic megatooth sharks occupied extremely high trophic positions.

Trophic position is a fundamental characteristic of animals, yet it is unknown in many extinct species. In this study, we ground-truth the 15N/14N ratio of enameloid-bound organic matter (δ15NEB) as a trophic level proxy by comparison to dentin collagen δ15N and apply this method to the fossil record to reconstruct the trophic level of the megatooth sharks (genus Otodus). These sharks evolved in the Cenozoic, culminating in Otodus megalodon, a shark with a maximum body size of more than 15 m, which went extinct 3.5 million years ago. Very high δ15NEB values (22.9 ± 4.4‰) of O. megalodon from the Miocene and Pliocene show that it occupied a higher trophic level than is known for any marine species, extinct or extant. δ15NEB also indicates a dietary shift in sharks of the megatooth lineage as they evolved toward the gigantic O. megalodon, with the highest trophic level apparently reached earlier than peak size

PRN OPINION PAPER: Application of Precision Medicine across Pharmacy Specialty Areas

Clinical pharmacists have been incorporating precision medicine into practice for decades. Drug selection and dosing based on patient-specific clinical factors such as age, weight, renal function, drug interactions, plasma drug concentrations, and diet are expected as part of routine clinical practice. Newer concepts of precision medicine such as pharmacogenomics have recently been implemented into clinical care, while other concepts such as epigenetics and pharmacomicrobiomics still predominantly exist in the research area but clinical translation is expected in the future. The purpose of this paper is to describe current and emerging aspects of precision medicine as it relates to clinical pharmacy across a variety of specialty areas of practice, with perspectives from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Practice and Research Network membership