The Introductory Geoscience Experience: A Study of Undergraduate Attitudes and Engagement at SUNY Buffalo State

Educational priorities in STEM at the undergraduate level include sparking leadership and innovation in emerging and rapidly changing fields and educating a scientifically literate populace. These priorities depend on the nature and quality of the undergraduate educational experience (NSF IUSE Program, 2015). This study focuses on investigating student attitudes and department engagement with the resulting data offering a snapshot of student interests, values, and resource awareness. During the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters, 359 students studying Introductory Geology, Introductory Geology Lab, Introductory Astronomy, or The Solar System and two professors who taught those classes were asked to take part in an anonymous survey, which asked them to reflect on different aspects of the introductory geoscience experience. Questions included reasons for taking the course, interpretations of course content, their personal impact on course outcomes, past experiences with science, and awareness of department and college offerings. Analyses show that introductory geoscience courses attract students from across different majors as well as from the natural science disciplines, and nearly one in four respondents is a first-generation college student. Most students in these classrooms are seeking to fulfill the State University of New York natural science requirement but also indicate a general interest prior to course selection. Students demonstrated a limited knowledge of campus and department offerings. Study results help inform the Department of Earth Sciences and Science Education about student attitudes toward introductory courses, which may lead to developments in future department offerings

Comparative genomics of Shiga toxin encoding bacteriophages

Background Stx bacteriophages are responsible for driving the dissemination of Stx toxin genes (stx) across their bacterial host range. Lysogens carrying Stx phages can cause severe, lifethreatening disease and Stx toxin is an integral virulence factor. The Stx-bacteriophage vB_EcoP-24B, commonly referred to as 24B, is capable of multiply infecting a single bacterial host cell at a high frequency, with secondary infection increasing the rate at which subsequent bacteriophage infections can occur. This is biologically unusual, therefore determining the genomic content and context of 24B compared to other lambdoid Stx phages is important to understanding the factors controlling this phenomenon and determining whether they occur in other Stx phages. Results The genome of the Stx2 encoding phage, 24B was sequenced and annotated. The genomic organisation and general features are similar to other sequenced Stx bacteriophages induced from Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), however 24B possesses significant regions of heterogeneity, with implications for phage biology and behaviour. The 24B genome was compared to other sequenced Stx phages and the archetypal lambdoid phage, lambda, using the Circos genome comparison tool and a PCR-based multi-loci comparison system. Conclusions The data support the hypothesis that Stx phages are mosaic, and recombination events between the host, phages and their remnants within the same infected bacterial cell will continue to drive the evolution of Stx phage variants and the subsequent dissemination of shigatoxigenic potentia

Data Preparation for Validation Study of Hazus Canada Flood Model

As our climate changes, the occurrence of extreme weather events and heavier rainfall becomes more common. This change in weather patterns and precipitation results in a greater number of recorded flood events and a larger magnitude of flood events. Canadian municipalities are therefore facing a pressing demand to perform hazard assessments to identify communities at risk and measure potential economic and societal losses due to flood events. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed a standardized tool, Hazus-MH, for loss estimation from natural disasters for use in the US. Recently, Hazus has been adapted for use in Canada. This paper introduces the Hazus flood loss assessment model and the adaption and development required for the Canadian Hazus release. Furthermore, the steps followed with respect to data acquisition and preparation of the required exposure and hazard input data and attribute translation methodology to conform to Hazus classifications for the pilot study in Fredericton, NB, are presented. A subsequent paper will report the flood model results and compare them to actual expenditures from the 2008 flood in Fredericton to verify the validity of the model, depth damage curves, and parameters employed

Temperature dependence of ice-on-rock friction at realistic glacier conditions

Using a new biaxial friction apparatus, we conducted experiments of ice-on-rock friction in order to better understand basal sliding of glaciers and ice streams. A series of velocity-stepping and slide–hold–slide tests were conducted to measure friction and healing at temperatures between −20°C and melting. Experimental conditions in this study are comparable to subglacial temperatures, sliding rates and effective pressures of Antarctic ice streams and other glaciers, with load-point velocities ranging from 0.5 to 100 µm s−1 and normal stress σn = 100 kPa. In this range of conditions, temperature dependences of both steady-state friction and frictional healing are considerable. The friction increases linearly with decreasing temperature (temperature weakening) from μ = 0.52 at −20°C to μ = 0.02 at melting. Frictional healing increases and velocity dependence shifts from velocity-strengthening to velocity-weakening behaviour with decreasing temperature. Our results indicate that the strength and stability of glaciers and ice streams may change considerably over the range of temperatures typically found at the ice–bed interface

An apparatus to measure frictional, inelastic, and viscous behavior in ice at temperate and planetary conditions

In this paper, we describe a cryogenic, servo-controlled biaxial friction apparatus designed to measure the deformational behaviors of ice. The apparatus is specifically designed to accurately achieve and measure the low differential stresses applicable to deforming ice on earth and on icy satellites. We can apply loads in the range ∼2–1800 kPa and velocities up to 4 mm/s, with resolution of 39 Pa and 0.7 μm, respectively. Precise temperature control, measurement, and insulation allow testing at constant temperature (from −2 to −30 °C) for prolonged periods of time. The apparatus is tested with various plastics as well as with polycrystalline ice samples and the results are consistent with previously published values. Critical components of the instrument are described along with examples of data collection schemes and preliminary results. The flexibility of the design allows for both glaciological and planetary applications over a range of deformational behaviors including friction, anelastic, and viscous

454-Pyrosequencing: A Molecular Battiscope for Freshwater Viral Ecology

Viruses, the most abundant biological entities on the planet, are capable of infecting organisms from all three branches of life, although the majority infect bacteria where the greatest degree of cellular diversity lies. However, the characterization and assessment of viral diversity in natural environments is only beginning to become a possibility. Through the development of a novel technique for the harvest of viral DNA and the application of 454 pyrosequencing, a snapshot of the diversity of the DNA viruses harvested from a standing pond on a cattle farm has been obtained. A high abundance of viral genotypes (785) were present within the virome. The absolute numbers of lambdoid and Shiga toxin (Stx) encoding phages detected suggested that the depth of sequencing had enabled recovery of only ca. 8% of the total virus population, numbers that agreed within less than an order of magnitude with predictions made by rarefaction analysis. The most abundant viral genotypes in the pond were bacteriophages (93.7%). The predominant viral genotypes infecting higher life forms found in association with the farm were pathogens that cause disease in cattle and humans, e.g. members of the Herpesviridae. The techniques and analysis described here provide a fresh approach to the monitoring of viral populations in the aquatic environment, with the potential to become integral to the development of risk analysis tools for monitoring the dissemination of viral agents of animal, plant and human diseases

Training University Students About Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Outreach to School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists

Training preprofessional students about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial, particularly since students with ASD are represented on the caseloads of approximately 90% of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). When this training can occur within the context of an outreach program, the results of such programming can be mutually beneficial for the individuals served as well as the students. Through the present program, six graduate students and four undergraduate students created materials for 15 SLPs working in the schools in a significantly underserved region of the United States. Students created nearly 800 materials for the SLPs to use in therapy with children with ASD. These included visual schedules and picture/icon cards and social stories. Students completed a survey and wrote a reflection paper about what they learned. Survey data from all participants indicated that the program met the needs of the SLPs and furthered students’ skills in creating materials and understanding more about the demands of working as an SLP in the schools. Implications for undergraduate and graduate training including increasing student knowledge and confidence as well as gaining student perspectives on the experience and collaboration are discussed. Future directions for extensions of this training program are proposed

Viromic Analysis of Wastewater Input to a River Catchment Reveals a Diverse Assemblage of RNA Viruses

Enteric viruses cause gastrointestinal illness and are commonly transmitted through the fecal-oral route. When wastewater is released into river systems, these viruses can contaminate the environment. Our results show that we can use viromics to find the range of potentially pathogenic viruses that are present in the environment and identify prevalent genotypes. The ultimate goal is to trace the fate of these pathogenic viruses from origin to the point where they are a threat to human health, informing reference-based detection methods and water quality management.Detection of viruses in the environment is heavily dependent on PCR-based approaches that require reference sequences for primer design. While this strategy can accurately detect known viruses, it will not find novel genotypes or emerging and invasive viral species. In this study, we investigated the use of viromics, i.e., high-throughput sequencing of the biosphere’s viral fraction, to detect human-/animal-pathogenic RNA viruses in the Conwy river catchment area in Wales, United Kingdom. Using a combination of filtering and nuclease treatment, we extracted the viral fraction from wastewater and estuarine river water and sediment, followed by high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis on the Illumina HiSeq platform, for the discovery of RNA virus genomes. We found a higher richness of RNA viruses in wastewater samples than in river water and sediment, and we assembled a complete norovirus genotype GI.2 genome from wastewater effluent, which was not contemporaneously detected by conventional reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR). The simultaneous presence of diverse rotavirus signatures in wastewater indicated the potential for zoonotic infections in the area and suggested runoff from pig farms as a possible origin of these viruses. Our results show that viromics can be an important tool in the discovery of pathogenic viruses in the environment and can be used to inform and optimize reference-based detection methods provided appropriate and rigorous controls are included

Transcriptomic Analysis of Shiga-Toxigenic Bacteriophage Carriage Reveals a Profound Regulatory Effect on Acid Resistance in Escherichia coli

Shiga-toxigenic bacteriophages are converting lambdoid phages that impart the ability to produce Shiga toxin to their hosts. Little is known about the function of most of the genes carried by these phages or the impact that lysogeny has on the Escherichia coli host. Here we use next-generation sequencing to compare the transcriptomes of E. coli strains infected with an Stx phage, before and after triggering of the bacterial SOS response that initiates the lytic cycle of the phage. We were able to discriminate between bacteriophage genes expressed in the lysogenic and lytic cycles, and we describe transcriptional changes that occur in the bacterial host as a consequence of Stx phage carriage. Having identified upregulation of the glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) operon, confirmed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), we used phenotypic assays to establish the ability of the Stx prophage to confer a greater acid resistance phenotype on the E. coli host. Known phage regulators were overexpressed in E. coli, and the acid resistance of the recombinant strains was tested. The phage-encoded transcriptional regulator CII was identified as the controller of the acid response in the lysogen. Infection of an E. coli O157 strain, from which integrated Stx prophages were previously removed, showed increased acid resistance following infection with a nontoxigenic phage, ϕ24B. In addition to demonstrating this link between Stx phage carriage and E. coli acid resistance, with its implications for survival postingestion, the data set provides a number of other potential insights into the impact of lambdoid phage carriage on the biology of E. coli