Hawaiian stream ecology as exemplified by the streams of the Kipahulu District, Haleakala National Park

Western Region, National Park Servic

Your Institutional Report 2020: Step by Step

Bob Gonyea and Jillian Kinzie review the institutional reports and provide strategies for utilizing and disseminating your results

Sponges and ascidians control removal of particulate organic nitrogen from coral reef water

10 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables.-- This is HIMB contribution 1199 and SOEST contribution 6596We studied removal rates of plankton and total particulate organic nitrogen (PON) by benthic reef communities from the overlying water in a large experimental flume. The flume was filled with mixtures of coral and coral rubble, and biomass of plankton was measured as water was recirculated over the experimental benthic community. All planktonic particle types, picoplankton, nanoplankton, microplankton, and total PON, decreased in concentration at rates proportional to their biomass. The mean first-order rate constant for the decrease in particle concentration was 96 ± 61 × 10-6 m s-1, corresponding to PON uptake of 10 mmol N m-2 d -1. Synechococcus sp. and heterotrophic bacteria were the major sources of PON. Particulate organic nitrogen removed by rubble and live coral assemblages was directly related to sponge and ascidian biomass (number and area) on the coral and coral rubble. Uptake of PON was about the same as the previously measured uptake of dissolved inorganic nitrogen into these coral reef communities, making it an important flux of nitrogen into the reef. © 2005, by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Inc.Support for this work was provided by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Ministerio de Educación y Cultura (MEC) and a Ramón y Cajal research contract to M.R. This paper was funded in part by NOAA project R/CR-1, which is sponsored by the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, School of Ocean and Earth Science Technology (SOEST), under grant NA 86RG0041. Additional funding was provided by CISNet (NOAA project NA 870A0531) and TransCom (Transfer at Community level) project (REN2002-01631/MAR)Peer Reviewe

HB 2320, Relating to Anguilla - Statement for House Committee on Agriculture Public Hearing - January 31, 1990

150A-

Assessing Quality and Equity in High-Impact Practices: Comprehensive Report

The Assessing Quality and Equity in High-Impact Practices: Comprehensive Report is the inial report on findings from the Lumina Foundation supported examination of High-Impact Practice (HIP) quality and equity. This report summarizes the project purpose, research design and questions, development and testing HIP quality instrument, and early findings about assessment feasibility, evidence of elements of HIP quality, measuring high-quality HIPs, and evidence of equity. The report also explores measures of students' satisfaction with their HIP experience, differences by racial identity, and evidence of high quality and equity by HIP.Lumina Foundatio

NSSE & FSSE 2020: Guidance on COVID-19 Disruptions

COVID-19 is causing unprecedented disruptions to campuses and communities everywhere. To provide guidance to institutions participating in NSSE 2020 and FSSE 2020, we invite you to attend a free webinar on Thursday, March 26 at 2:00 pm (Eastern). We will discuss questions and concerns about the 2020 administration, suggested modifications to reminders and delivery dates, guidance for communicating with students and faculty about survey plans and delivery of incentives, the potential impact on response rates and student engagement results, plans for identifying and analyzing respondents by completion date, and other timely topics. NSSE webinars are live and interactive, providing participants the opportunity to ask questions via a text chat. When you register you will be invited to submit questions and suggestions in advance

Schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms in families of two American Indian tribes

Abstract Background The risk of schizophrenia is thought to be higher in population isolates that have recently been exposed to major and accelerated cultural change, accompanied by ensuing socio-environmental stressors/triggers, than in dominant, mainstream societies. We investigated the prevalence and phenomenology of schizophrenia in 329 females and 253 males of a Southwestern American Indian tribe, and in 194 females and 137 males of a Plains American Indian tribe. These tribal groups were evaluated as part of a broader program of gene-environment investigations of alcoholism and other psychiatric disorders. Methods Semi-structured psychiatric interviews were conducted to allow diagnoses utilizing standardized psychiatric diagnostic criteria, and to limit cultural biases. Study participants were recruited from the community on the basis of membership in pedigrees, and not by convenience. After independent raters evaluated the interviews blindly, DSM-III-R diagnoses were assigned by a consensus of experts well-versed in the local cultures. Results Five of the 582 Southwestern American Indian respondents (prevalence = 8.6 per 1000), and one of the 331 interviewed Plains American Indians (prevalence = 3.02 per 1000) had a lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia. The lifetime prevalence rates of schizophrenia within these two distinct American Indian tribal groups is consistent with lifetime expectancy rates reported for the general United States population and most isolate and homogeneous populations for which prevalence rates of schizophrenia are available. While we were unable to factor in the potential modifying effect that mortality rates of schizophrenia-suffering tribal members may have had on the overall tribal rates, the incidence of schizophrenia among the living was well within the normative range. Conclusion The occurrence of schizophrenia among members of these two tribal population groups is consistent with prevalence rates reported for population isolates and in the general population. Vulnerabilities to early onset alcohol and drug use disorders do not lend convincing support to a diathesis-stressor model with these stressors, commonly reported with these tribes. Nearly one-fifth of the respondents reported experiencing psychotic-like symptoms, reaffirming the need to examine sociocultural factors actively before making positive diagnoses of psychosis or schizophrenia.</p

Abrolhos Bank Reef Health Evaluated by Means of Water Quality, Microbial Diversity, Benthic Cover, and Fish Biomass Data

The health of the coral reefs of the Abrolhos Bank (southwestern Atlantic) was characterized with a holistic approach using measurements of four ecosystem components: (i) inorganic and organic nutrient concentrations, [1] fish biomass, [1] macroalgal and coral cover and (iv) microbial community composition and abundance. The possible benefits of protection from fishing were particularly evaluated by comparing sites with varying levels of protection. Two reefs within the well-enforced no-take area of the National Marine Park of Abrolhos (Parcel dos Abrolhos and California) were compared with two unprotected coastal reefs (Sebastião Gomes and Pedra de Leste) and one legally protected but poorly enforced coastal reef (the “paper park” of Timbebas Reef). The fish biomass was lower and the fleshy macroalgal cover was higher in the unprotected reefs compared with the protected areas. The unprotected and protected reefs had similar seawater chemistry. Lower vibrio CFU counts were observed in the fully protected area of California Reef. Metagenome analysis showed that the unprotected reefs had a higher abundance of archaeal and viral sequences and more bacterial pathogens, while the protected reefs had a higher abundance of genes related to photosynthesis. Similar to other reef systems in the world, there was evidence that reductions in the biomass of herbivorous fishes and the consequent increase in macroalgal cover in the Abrolhos Bank may be affecting microbial diversity and abundance. Through the integration of different types of ecological data, the present study showed that protection from fishing may lead to greater reef health. The data presented herein suggest that protected coral reefs have higher microbial diversity, with the most degraded reef (Sebastião Gomes) showing a marked reduction in microbial species richness. It is concluded that ecological conditions in unprotected reefs may promote the growth and rapid evolution of opportunistic microbial pathogens