The Influence of Pollinator Behavior on Patterns of Pollen Dispersal and its Implications for Floral Evolution

Despite a storied history of pollination research, little information exists on how the unique characteristics of individual pollinators effect patterns of pollen dispersal. As these patterns of pollen dispersal inform our understanding of floral evolution, filling in this knowledge gap is imperative. I attempted to do so by analyzing two different outcomes of pollen dispersal: 1) pollen carryover, and 2) geitonogamy (i.e., intra-plant movements). For the pollen carryover, I analyzed the results of an experimental study in which bats in flight cages removed pollen from the male flower of a Burmeistera glabrata plant, and then visited 10 female flowers of B.glabrata. The goal was to determine the proportions of pollen grains deposited by the bats on each female flower and how grooming in-between visits affected these proportions. In general, bat carryover-curves were similar to those of published work with bees, with the greatest proportion of pollen deposited on the first couple female flowers followed by a steep decline in the proportion reaching subsequent flowers. Grooming had a significant effect on the proportion of grains deposited. However, when the sexes were analyzed separately, significance only remained for female bats. Furthermore, I found females groom more than males. This suggests that increased grooming allows females to consume more pollen, an important way to increase nutrient uptake before and during pregnancy. Patterns of pollen dispersal may fluctuate annually based on the reproductive stage of female bats. I also analyzed results from a Missouri insect visitation study of Asclepias species to measure the potential for geitonogamous movements. Overall, Bombus sp. and Apis mellifera, were the most abundant visitors, with Halictidae sp., dominating at A.tuberosa. Visitors were more likely to move within the plant than to leave, increasing the possibility for geitonogamous pollen transfer. I discussed results within the context of how the unique traits and behaviors of each Bombus, Apis, and Halictidae may affect the rates of geitonogamy. Findings from both studies highlight the need for caution in generalizing patterns of pollen dispersal between pollination systems. Continued studies into pollinator behaviors will better inform our understanding of floral evolution

The ballot initiative process does not make people moregenerally knowledgeable about politics

Do ballot initiatives help to improve people’s knowledge about politics? In new research which uses election survey data from more than 120,000 voters across 48 states Nicholas R. Seabrook, Joshua J. Dyck and Edward L. Lascher, Jr. find that ballot initiatives have no positive effect on general political knowledge. They write that these results hold no matter how often ballot initiatives are used, how many initiatives are on the ballot during an election, and how much money was spent by the initiative’s supporters and opponents

Using Mobile Health (mHealth) and Geospatial Mapping Technology in a Mass Campaign for Reactive Oral Cholera Vaccination in Rural Haiti

Background: In mass vaccination campaigns, large volumes of data must be managed efficiently and accurately. In a reactive oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaign in rural Haiti during an ongoing epidemic, we used a mobile health (mHealth) system to manage data on 50,000 participants in two isolated communities. Methods: Data were collected using 7-inch tablets. Teams pre-registered and distributed vaccine cards with unique barcodes to vaccine-eligible residents during a census in February 2012. First stored on devices, data were uploaded nightly via Wi-fi to a web-hosted database. During the vaccination campaign between April and June 2012, residents presented their cards at vaccination posts and their barcodes were scanned. Vaccinee data from the census were pre-loaded on tablets to autopopulate the electronic form. Nightly analysis of the day's community coverage informed the following day's vaccination strategy. We generated case-finding reports allowing us to identify those who had not yet been vaccinated. Results: During 40 days of vaccination, we collected approximately 1.9 million pieces of data. A total of 45,417 people received at least one OCV dose; of those, 90.8% were documented to have received 2 doses. Though mHealth required up-front financial investment and training, it reduced the need for paper registries and manual data entry, which would have been costly, time-consuming, and is known to increase error. Using Global Positioning System coordinates, we mapped vaccine posts, population size, and vaccine coverage to understand the reach of the campaign. The hardware and software were usable by high school-educated staff. Conclusion: The use of mHealth technology in an OCV campaign in rural Haiti allowed timely creation of an electronic registry with population-level census data, and a targeted vaccination strategy in a dispersed rural population receiving a two-dose vaccine regimen. The use of mHealth should be strongly considered in mass vaccination campaigns in future initiatives

School-Based Prevention Of Depressive Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Study Of The Effectiveness And Specificity Of The Penn Resiliency Program

The authors investigated the effectiveness and specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP; J. E. Gillham, L. H. Jaycox, K. J. Reivich, M. E. P. Seligman, & T. Silver, 1990), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program. Children (N = 697) from 3 middle schools were randomly assigned to PRP, Control (CON), or the Penn Enhancement Program (PEP; K. J. Reivich, 1996; A. J. Shatté, 1997), an alternate intervention that controls for nonspecific intervention ingredients. Children\u27s depressive symptoms were assessed through 3 years of follow-up. There was no intervention effect on average levels of depressive symptoms in the full sample. Findings varied by school. In 2 schools, PRP significantly reduced depressive symptoms across the follow-up relative to both CON and PEP. In the 3rd school, PRP did not prevent depressive symptoms. The authors discuss the findings in relation to previous research on PRP and the dissemination of prevention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract

Latent Tuberculosis and Active Tuberculosis Disease Rates among the Homeless, New York, New York, USA, 1992–2006

We conducted a retrospective study to examine trends in latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and TB disease rates among homeless persons in shelters in New York, NY, 1992–2006. Although TB case rates fell from 1,502/100,000 population to 0, a 31% LTBI rate in 2006 shows the value of identifying and treating TB in the homeless

Use of Oral Cholera Vaccine in Haiti: A Rural Demonstration Project

A cholera epidemic has claimed the lives of more than 8,000 Haitians and sickened 650,000 since the outbreak began in October 2010. Early intervention in the epidemic focused on case-finding, treatment, and water and sanitation interventions for prevention of transmission. Use of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) as part of a complementary set of control activities was considered but initially rejected by policymakers. In December 2011, the Minister of Health of Haiti called for a demonstration of the acceptability and feasibility of the use of OCV in urban and rural Haiti. This paper describes the collaborative activity that offered OCV to one region of the Artibonite Department of rural Haiti in addition to other ongoing treatment and control measures. Despite logistics and cold chain challenges, 45,417 persons were successfully vaccinated with OCV in the region, and 90.8% of these persons completed their second dose

Why the lowest Landau level approximation works in strongly type II superconductors

Higher than the lowest Landau level contributions to magnetization and specific heat of superconductors are calculated using Ginzburg - Landau equations approach. Corrections to the excitation spectrum around solution of these equations (treated perturbatively) are found. Due to symmetries of the problem leading to numerous cancellations the range of validity of the LLL approximation in mean field is much wider then a naive range and extends all the way down to $H = {H_{c2}(T)}/13$. Moreover the contribution of higher Landau levels is significantly smaller compared to LLL than expected naively. We show that like the LLL part the lattice excitation spectrum at small quasimomenta is softer than that of usual acoustic phonons. This enhanses the effect of fluctuations. The mean field calculation extends to third order, while the fluctuation contribution due to HLL is to one loop. This complements the earlier calculation of the LLL part to two loop order.Comment: 20 pages, Latex file, three figure