Consumer Preferences for Locally Made Specialty Food Products Across Northern New England

Does willingness to pay a premium for local specialty food products differ between consumers in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont? Two food categories are investigated: low-end ($5) and high-end ($20) products. Premia estimates are compared across states and across base prices within states using dichotomous choice contingent valuation methods. Results suggest that the three states of northern New England have many similarities, including comparable price premia for the lower-priced good. However, there is some evidence that the premium for the higher-priced good is greater for the pooled Vermont and Maine treatment than for the New Hampshire treatment. Vermont and New Hampshire residents are willing to pay a higher premium for a $20 than for a$5 food item, while the evidence suggests that Maine residents are not.local specialty foods, willingness to pay, contingent valuation, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

A Window of Opportunity: Subdominant Predators Can Use Suboptimal Prey

Introduced species have been linked to declines of native species through mechanisms including intraguild predation and exploitative competition. However, coexistence among species may be promoted by niche partitioning if native species can use resources that the invasive species cannot. Previous research has shown that some strains of the aphid Aphis craccivora are toxic to a competitively dominant invasive lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis. Our objective was to investigate whether these aphids might be an exploitable resource for other, subdominant, lady beetle species. We compared larval development rate, survival, and adult weight of five lady beetle species in no-choice experiments with two different strains of A. craccivora, one of which is toxic to H. axyridis and one that is nontoxic. Two lady beetle species, Cycloneda munda and Coleomegilla maculata, were able to complete larval development when feeding on the aphid strain that is toxic to H. axyridis, experiencing only slight developmental delays relative to beetles feeding on the other aphid strain. One species, Coccinella septempunctata, also was able to complete larval development, but experienced a slight reduction in adult weight. The other two lady beetle species, Hippodamia convergens and Anatis labiculata, demonstrated generally low survivorship when consuming A. craccivora, regardless of aphid strain. All five species showed increased survival and/or development relative to H. axyridis on the “toxic” aphid strain. Our results suggest that this toxic trait may act as a narrow-spectrum defense for the aphids, providing protection against only some lady beetle enemies. For other less-susceptible lady beetles, these aphids have the potential to provide competitive release from the otherwise dominant H. axyridis

Ecophysiology of coral reef primary producers across an upwelling gradient in the tropical central Pacific

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Johnson, M. D., Fox, M. D., Kelly, E. L. A., Zgliczynski, B. J., Sandin, S. A., & Smith, J. E. Ecophysiology of coral reef primary producers across an upwelling gradient in the tropical central Pacific. Plos One, 15(2), (2020): e0228448, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228448.Upwelling is an important source of inorganic nutrients in marine systems, yet little is known about how gradients in upwelling affect primary producers on coral reefs. The Southern Line Islands span a natural gradient of inorganic nutrient concentrations across the equatorial upwelling region in the central Pacific. We used this gradient to test the hypothesis that benthic autotroph ecophysiology is enhanced on nutrient-enriched reefs. We measured metabolism and photophysiology of common benthic taxa, including the algae Porolithon, Avrainvillea, and Halimeda, and the corals Pocillopora and Montipora. We found that temperature (27.2–28.7°C) was inversely related to dissolved inorganic nitrogen (0.46–4.63 μM) and surface chlorophyll a concentrations (0.108–0.147 mg m-3), which increased near the equator. Contrary to our prediction, ecophysiology did not consistently track these patterns in all taxa. Though metabolic rates were generally variable, Porolithon and Avrainvillea photosynthesis was highest at the most productive and equatorial island (northernmost). Porolithon photosynthetic rates also generally increased with proximity to the equator. Photophysiology (maximum quantum yield) increased near the equator and was highest at northern islands in all taxa. Photosynthetic pigments also were variable, but chlorophyll a and carotenoids in Avrainvillea and Montipora were highest at the northern islands. Phycobilin pigments of Porolithon responded most consistently across the upwelling gradient, with higher phycoerythrin concentrations closer to the equator. Our findings demonstrate that the effects of in situ nutrient enrichment on benthic autotrophs may be more complex than laboratory experiments indicate. While upwelling is an important feature in some reef ecosystems, ancillary factors may regulate the associated consequences of nutrient enrichment on benthic reef organisms.This work was supported by funding from the Moore Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Scripps family, and anonymous donors. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, or preparation of the manuscript

The Application of FAST-NMR for the Identification of Novel Drug Discovery Targets

The continued success of genome sequencing projects has resulted in a wealth of information, but 40-50% of identified genes correspond to hypothetical proteins or proteins of unknown function. The Functional Annotation Screening Technology by NMR (FAST-NMR) screen was developed to assign a biological function for these unannotated proteins with a structure solved by the Protein Structure Initiative. FAST-NMR is based on the premise that a biological function can be described by a similarity in binding sites and ligand interactions with proteins of known function. The resulting co-structure and functional assignment may provide a starting point for a drug discovery effort

Spirituality as a Life Line: Women Living With HIV/AIDS and the Role of Spirituality in Their Support System

For many women living with HIV/AIDS, incorporating spirituality into their lives helps them organize their experience, empower self-reconstruction, and manage stigma. (Stanley, 1999). Because of the potential relationship of spirituality and social support, the specific aim of this study is to examine the role of spirituality in the support experiences of women living with HIV or AIDS. In this case, spirituality or a connection to God, offered the women an opportunity to develop meaning and perspective taking, to have a source of support, to provide control through a more powerful being, and to offer a path to community

Rethinking Special Education Teacher Preparation for a Post-Pandemic World

The pivot to remote teaching was a wake-up call for institutions of higher education (IHE) teacher preparation programs. This discussion will share solutions and tips for successfully building capacity in a new teacher preparation era. Many IHEs problem-solved, resulting in a myriad of solutions to keep their teacher preparation programs running and relevant during the pivot to remote teaching and learning. This presentation discussion will assist in uncovering a list of teacher preparation program practices that evolved out of the Covid-19 pandemic that seeks to increase the number of pre-service teacher candidates enrolled in IHE teacher preparation programs. The presenters also argue a collaborative, curated post-pandemic pedagogical solution will improve outcomes for teacher preparation candidates and, in turn, advance the positive results for their future students in a post-pandemic world

Violence risk identification, assessment, and management practices in inpatient psychiatry

Serious mental illness is a major risk factor for violence. Research suggests that many committed psychiatric inpatients have perpetrated violence before, during, and after hospitalization. Despite the prevalence and implications of violence among committed psychiatric patients, the responsibility of health care professionals to identify, assess and manage violence risk, and the development of identification and assessment tools to assist health care professionals in discharging their responsibility, little is actually known about what practices are being used to identify, assess, and manage violence in inpatient psychiatry units. The purpose of this study is to obtain a better understanding of violence risk identification, assessment, and management practices used by inpatient psychiatric units. Specifically, this study involved semistructured interviews with key informants from 13 inpatient psychiatry units in the largest health region in Western Canada. Every inpatient psychiatry unit that was invited to take part in this study agreed to participate. Data were analyzed using frequency and content analysis. The analysis revealed limited use of formal identification and assessment instruments for violence and diversity with respect to strategies used to manage violence. These findings have implications for highlighting promising practices that are currently being used, and identifying potential areas for future improvement