2018 Composition Recital

Kemp Recital Hall January 27, 2018 Saturday Evening 7.:30p.m

Senior Recital: Andrew McGowan, Euphonium

Kemp Recital Hall April 6, 2018 Friday Evening 8:30p.m

Collaborative Leadership Within a Residence Hall Staff: Forming Effective Leaders Working Towards a Common Goal

The presenters will define collaborative leadership and examine its application on residence hall staffs at Catholic colleges and universities. They will share what collaborative leadership looks like in Fields Hall, an undergraduate female residence hall at the University of Portland. They will share how resident assistants (RAs) are guided to take ownership of their communities and to develop an individual sense of spirituality that they integrate into their RA roles and careers. They will reveal how these ideas link to training from the University’s residence life department that develops RAs’ self-confidence and provides skills in areas like public speaking and conflict management. Finally, they will share steps to improve students’ residential learning experience and professional development using academic research conducted by one of their very own Fields Hall RAs

Comparison of Driving Transect Methods for Acoustic Monitoring of Bats

Acoustic monitoring for bats along driving transects typically involves recording call sequences (bat passes) continuously while driving. While this offers benefits over other survey techniques, it also poses challenges, including background noise on recordings. An alternative approach that may rectify this involves conducting sampling at discrete points along each transect instead. We compared these methods using the same bat detector, along with an additional higher sensitivity detector to determine which method yields the highest amount and quality of data per unit of time. Results from 26 18 km transects, each sampled continuously and at 10 point count sites indicate that, with a lower sensitivity detector, the two methods yield a similar number of passes per minute, percent of passes identified to species, and species documented. The higher sensitivity bat detector could not be used for continuous sampling due to background noise. However, at point count sites, the higher sensitivity detector recorded 17 times more passes per minute, 44 times more passes identified to species, and documented nearly twice as many species. Thus, while both sampling designs appear comparable, for most applications, a higher sensitivity detector trumps sampling design

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM HIM FOR TODAY?

In this article, the author gives an account of the life and theology of C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), the famous Reformed Baptist Minister, who preached in London in the second half of the nineteenth century.  The account demonstrates that Spurgeon was not only the most renowned preacher of his day, most of whose sermons were published and are still read widely today but also an author who published many volumes.  In addition to his work as preacher and writer, Spurgeon built children’s orphanages, started a theological college and assisted in many noble causes.  As part of this benevolent work, his church contributed large sums to support poor relief. Having told Spurgeon’s story, the article then indicates six areas of Spurgeon’s life and ministry which are helpful for us today: his Passion for Souls; his Devotion to Prayer and Study; His attitude to the Bible & Expository Ministry; his Pastoral Ministry; His Practical Christianity; and His refusal to compromise on the truth of the gospel. KEYWORDS: Spurgeon, ministry, preach, Bibl

Admixture between ancient lineages, selection, and the formation of sympatric stickleback species-pairs

Ecological speciation has become a popular model for the development and maintenance of reproductive isolation in closely related sympatric pairs of species or ecotypes. An implicit assumption has been that such pairs originate (possibly with gene flow) from a recent, genetically homogeneous ancestor. However, recent genomic data have revealed that currently sympatric taxa are often a result of secondary contact between ancestrally allopatric lineages. This has sparked an interest in the importance of initial hybridization upon secondary contact, with genomic reanalysis of classic examples of ecological speciation often implicating admixture in speciation. We describe a novel occurrence of unusually well-developed reproductive isolation in a model system for ecological speciation: the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), breeding sympatrically in multiple lagoons on the Scottish island of North Uist. Using morphological data, targeted genotyping, and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism data, we show that lagoon resident and anadromous ecotypes are strongly reproductively isolated with an estimated hybridization rate of only ∼1%. We use palaeoecological and genetic data to test three hypotheses to explain the existence of these species-pairs. Our results suggest that recent, purely ecological speciation from a genetically homogeneous ancestor is probably not solely responsible for the evolution of species-pairs. Instead, we reveal a complex colonization history with multiple ancestral lineages contributing to the genetic composition of species-pairs, alongside strong disruptive selection. Our results imply a role for admixture upon secondary contact and are consistent with the recent suggestion that the genomic underpinning of ecological speciation often has an older, allopatric origin

Modulation of proximal muscle function during level versus incline hopping in tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii)

Copyright © 2007 The Company of Biologists LtdWe examined the functional role of two major proximal leg extensor muscles of tammar wallabies during level and inclined hopping (12°, 21.3% grade). Previous in vivo studies of hopping wallabies have revealed that, unlike certain avian bipeds, distal hindlimb muscles do not alter their force–length behavior to contribute positive work during incline hopping. This suggests that proximal muscles produce the increased mechanical work associated with moving up an incline. Based on relative size and architectural anatomy, we hypothesized that the biceps femoris (BF), primarily a hip extensor, and the vastus lateralis (VL), the main knee extensor, would exhibit changes in muscle strain and activation patterns consistent with increased work production during incline versus level hopping. Our results clearly support this hypothesis. The BF experienced similar activation patterns during level and incline hopping but net fascicle shortening increased (–0.5% for level hopping versus –4.2% for incline hopping) during stance when the muscle likely generated force. Unlike the BF, the VL experienced active net lengthening during stance, indicating that it absorbs energy during both level and incline hopping. However, during incline hopping, net lengthening was reduced (8.3% for level hopping versus 3.9% for incline hopping), suggesting that the amount of energy absorbed by the VL was reduced. Consequently, the changes in contractile behavior of these two muscles are consistent with a net production of work by the whole limb. A subsidiary aim of our study was to explore possible regional variation within the VL. Although there was slightly higher fascicle strain in the proximal VL compared with the distal VL, regional differences in strain were not significant, suggesting that the overall pattern of in vivo strain is fairly uniform throughout the muscle. Estimates of muscle work based on inverse dynamics calculations support the conclusion that both the BF and VL contribute to the additional work required for incline hopping. However, on a muscle mass-specific basis, these two muscles appear to contribute less than their share. This indicates that other hindlimb muscles, or possibly trunk and back muscles, must contribute substantial work during incline hopping.C. P. McGowan, R. V. Baudinette and A. A. Biewene

Identification of optimum temperatures for photosynthetic production in subtropical coastal ecosystems – implications for CO2 sequestration in a warming world

Terrestrial ecosystems are often thought to be effective sinks of anthropogenic CO2 emissions with biosphere greening considered unequivocal evidence of this process. Increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 along with other greenhouse gases are however, responsible for global warming. As temperature increases, the rate at which biomes sequester CO2 may decline as the optimum temperature for photosynthetic production is exceeded, thereby reducing their potential to sequester CO2. Here we present evidence from three years of direct measurements of CO2 exchanges over subtropical coastal ecosystems in eastern Australia, that the optimum temperature range for photosynthesis of 24.1 to 27.4 °C is routinely exceeded. This causes a rapid decline in photosynthetic production made worse when soil water content decreases. As climate change continues, both rising temperatures and predicted decline in rainfall will see these coastal ecosystems ability to sequester CO2 decrease further rapidly. We suggest similar research is needed urgently over other terrestrial ecosystems