Mitochondrial DNA phylogenetic analysis of Myrmecolacidae (Insecta: Strepsiptera) va

Due to the character of the original source materials and the nature of batch digitization, quality control issues may be present in this document. Please report any quality issues you encounter to [email protected], referencing the URI of the item.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-29).The relationship between Caenocholax fenyesi Pierce (Myrmecolacidae) males (host: Solenopsis invicta) and females (host: Hapithus agitator) is examined. Further, the relationships between several unidentified myrmecolacid females from Papua New Guinea are determined. Methods were developed for extraction, amplification, and sequencing of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Strepsiptera. High-resolution mtDNA sequences obtained by these methods were used in the phylogenetic analysis of Myrmecolacidae. Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (PAUP) was employed in the analysis of myrmecolacid family structure using segments of the mitochondrial genes Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (COI, 284 bases) and 12S rRNA (12S, 272 bases). Analysis of the COI region showed 30% variation between the C. fenyesi male and putative female, 0.7% variation between two unknown myrmecolacid from West New Britain (WNB-A and WNB-B), and 20% variation between the WNB unknown species and an unknown myrmecolacid species from Popondetta (POP). Elenchus japonicus (Strepsiptera: Elenchidae) was used as an outgroup to generate a phylogenetic tree of the COI region. Analysis of the 12S region showed 37% variation between the C. fenyesi male and putative female, 0.3% variation between WNB-A and WNB-B, and 19% variation between a WNB-A/B and a third unknown species from West New Britain (WNB-C). Stichotrema dallatoraneum (Strepsiptera: Myrmecolacidae) was also included in the 12S analysis for confirmation of a monophyletic myrmecolacid family. The high degree of variation between the C. fenyesi male and putative female sequences indicate these individuals are not the same species. Additionally, this data provides evidence of at least two unidentified species from Papua New Guinea (WNB-A/B, WNB-C, and POP)

Improvements to the Measurement of Atmospheric Reactive Mercury, and Contributions to the Investigation of Reactive Mercury at Six Sampling Sites

Mercury (Hg) is a globally transported hazardous pollutant. In the atmosphere, reactive mercury (RM), composed of gaseous oxidized and particulate-bound Hg, comprises the minority of Hg fractions, but contributes significantly to wet and dry deposition. Unfortunately, the standard instrument used for the past twenty years has been shown to inaccurately measure atmospheric RM. Therefore, the University of Nevada, Reno – Reactive Mercury Active System (RMAS) was developed to improve measurements of RM concentrations, in addition to identification of the chemistry of RM compounds, which was previously impossible. The work presented in this thesis focused on investigating the impact of flow rates on RMAS RM collection and whether the RMAS cartridge that holds membranes collected RM. In addition, alternate surfaces for RM collection were tested. The results of this work are presented in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 summarizes contributions made to a multi-year field campaign aimed at collecting RM using the RMAS at: Amsterdam Island, Indian Ocean; Atlanta, GA; the Great Salt Lake, UT; Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX; and Reno, NV and the adjacent Peavine Peak. Chapter 3 was focused on understanding the chemistry and concentrations of RM at locations with different ambient air chemistry. Lastly, in Chapter 4, the thesis work was summarized, and the direction of future work discussed

Social Distance: Isolating Relevant Variables Using a Prisoners Dilemma Game

Social discounting describes the devaluation of an outcome as the recipient increases in social distance. The social discounting paradigm allows for a behavioral analysis of altruism and cooperation; however, the social distance variable has remained unexamined. Two studies were conducted to examine how social distance and cooperation change as a function of probability of reciprocation (Experiment 1) and delay to reciprocate (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, three probabilities were assessed (25% for a strategy favoring defection, 75% for a strategy favoring neither defection nor cooperation, and 100% for a strategy favoring cooperation). Results across forty-eight participants indicated that while 100% probability of reciprocation resulted in the highest cooperation and closest social distance, social distance did not change precisely with probability of reciprocation. In Experiment 2, probability of reciprocation was held constant (100%) and delay to reciprocate was manipulated (3 s, 8 s, and 13 s). Results across forty participants showed that order of delays affected cooperation. Across all groups, the 3 s CP was ranked closest in social distance. Overall results suggest that delay to reciprocate influences social distance rankings. Both studies contribute to the social discounting literature by providing an empirical investigation of social distance and its influences

Shedding Light on Biological and Ecological Function

Electronic spectroscopy is a technique which can be used to understand inter- and intra- molecular interaction, structure, coloration and function within biological and ecological systems. Herein, electronic spectroscopy will be utilized to evaluate novel fluorescence probes for studies of peptide-protein interactions and viscosity. The efficacy of three non-natural amino acid probes will be evaluated for their ability to uncover crucial peptide-protein interactions important for understanding the functionality, providing information for drug design and disease treatment. Additionally, lanthanide complexes will be evaluated as viscosity probes, with unique two-photon absorption properties, for bioimaging studies. Utilizing these developed fluorescence and luminescence probes a variety of biological systems can be investigated such as drug binding and changes in viscosity within the blood. In addition to these biosystems, ecological systems are also explored through various electronic spectroscopy and imaging techniques. Cabbage white butterfly wings were evaluated to determine the source of wing reflectance and coloration. The techniques developed within this study could easily be expanded to a variety of different butterflies, or perhaps even other insects and animals, to potentially uncover mate selection mechanisms as well as aid in designing mimics for material design. Finally, the field of electronic spectroscopy was expanded through the proposal of a novel design for two-dimensional white-light spectroscopy studies. This new design utilizes a novel nonlinear crystal to generate supercontinuum which will access the deep-UV, a region not easily accessible by prior techniques. Access to this region will pave the way to utilize our newly developed and evaluated fluorescence and luminescence probes within this work. Through this spectroscopy, new biological and ecological samples will be investigated with higher spatial and temporal resolution then the typical methods used. Overall, the combination of electronic spectroscopy and these newly developed fluorescence/luminescence probes has expanded the spectroscopic toolkit available for investigating structure and function of biological and ecological systems. These developments will benefit further scientific endeavors in a large variety of fields such as of biophysics and ecology

Supporting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of looked after children and young people: multiple perspectives within one London borough.

School based mental health support is currently cited as an effective approach to addressing the growing levels of mental health needs amongst children and young people in the UK. However, it is not yet known whether this approach will sufficiently meet the needs of looked after children and young people who not only experience significantly higher levels of emotional wellbeing and mental health needs but are also reported to experience difficulties in accessing support services. The current research therefore aimed to explore the perspectives of key stakeholders in this discussion, namely looked after children and young people and professionals, using Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Theory of Human Development’ as an organising framework (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). In order to achieve this, a small-scale qualitative inquiry within one English Local Authority, Borough X, was undertaken (Creswell, 2013). Looked after children and young person’s views were explored at a group level via a workshop of eight young people and at an individual level with one young person, via a semi-structured interview. Professional views were explored at an individual level only via semi-structured interviews with fourteen professionals across a variety of backgrounds including health, social, educational and psychological services. The use of a qualitative approach to data analysis was chosen in order to ensure the data was sufficiently rich as to reflect the participants’ phenomenological experience in accordance with a social constructivist ontology. Using thematic analysis (Braun &Clarke, 2006), four themes were identified by young people: ‘Hear us’; ‘Be there for us’; ‘Help us to feel understood’; and ‘Provide us with opportunity’, and four by professionals: ‘Schools as providing therapeutic support’; ‘External therapeutic support’; ‘The professional network’; and ‘The wider context’. These findings were then used to consider implications for educational psychology practice and future research in order to contribute to understandings of how best to support young people in care with reference to their mental health and emotional wellbeing both across services and within schools

THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER, SELF-ESTEEM, AND COMPUTER SELF-EFFICACY ON THE INTERNET USAGE PATTERNS OF SELECTED HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BANGKOK

The current study attempted to examine the influence of gender, self-esteem, and computer self-efficacy on the Internet usage patterns of high school students in Bangkok, aged between 13 and 19 years who have access to the Internet for social and academic purposes. Reliability analysis was conducted on the self-esteem and computer self-efficacy scales for the purpose of maximizing the internal consistency of these two measures. MANOVA was conducted to test for gender differences in the variables of self-esteem and computer self-efficacy and the three Internet usage patterns of number of hours of computer use at home, hours spent on the Internet at home, and hours of computer use at school. The results indicated that: (1) female participants reported spending more time using the computer at home and at school than their male counterparts, whereas the male participants reported spending more time on the Internet at home than their female counterparts. (2) MANOVA results indicated that there was no overall gender effect for all variables of this study, namely: Internet usage patterns, self-esteem, and computer self-efficacy. (3) To test the impact of the male and female participants’ levels of self-esteem and computer self-efficacy on the number of hours of computer use at home, Internet at home, and the hours of computer use at school, multiple regression analysis was conducted for the male and female participants. The results showed that for both the male and female participants, levels of self-esteem and computer self-efficacy were not significantly related to their Internet usage pattern

STEM Active Learning Vignette Series: Leveraging Evidence-based Practice, Community, and Systems of Support at California State University, Fresno

In 2017, Equal Measure visited five campuses representing four of the initial seven STEM Active Learning Networks to delve into site-level changes supporting progress toward network goals. In this vignette, we highlight the work of Fresno State, which designed the Building Opportunities with Networks of Discovery (BOND) program.Led by two junior faculty in the Fresno State College of Science and Mathematics (CSM), the CSM BOND program aims to "increase students' sense of self efficacy, sense of belonging, as well as their critical thinking and quantitative learning in order to increase student retention rates, graduation rates, and minimize the achievement gap of CSM students."The CSM BOND team developed tools and frameworks to enhance instructor efficacy, and experimented with a comprehensive model of wraparound support services for students by building and strengthening relationships with the Advising and Resources Center and the Learning Center, among other campus entities

An Investigation into Heating Pads as an Effective Means of Combating Varroa Mite Infestation of Honey Bee Hives

In Volusia County, Florida, one of the most commonly used methods of combating infestations of Varroa destructor (colloquially known as varroa mites) in honey bee hives is to place a metal heating pad beneath the bottom board of a vertical Langstroth. This pad raises the temperature of the hive to at least 104 degrees Fahrenheit, above what the mites can survive and below any temperature that could seriously affect the bees. The purpose of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of these heating pads in the treatment and elimination of an infestation of varroa mites. We will use two hives in our research, one equipped with a heating pad and the other functioning as a control. Over a period of three months, we will record both qualitative data in the number of dead varroa mites that accumulate on the heating pad as well as qualitative observations of the apparent health of the hive and severity of the varroa infestation. Data taken into account will include overall activity of the bees and frequency of mites spotted on bees, larvae, and eggs. At the end of the experimental period, we hope to have some preliminary information for use in the guidance of further investigations into the effectiveness of hive heating pads