The development of thirty self-administering and self-scoring elaborative thinking exercises

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

‘Me and the Sky’: smashing the glass ceiling in Come from Away, neoliberal feminism, and climate change

This is the final version. Available on open access from Routledge via the DOI in this recordThis article considers neoliberal feminism and environmental concerns in Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s musical Come from Away. While the musical is not directly concerned with anthropogenic climate change, many types of sky appear as thematic and metaphorical preoccupations in the piece: feminist blue skies, stormy Newfoundland skies, the clear skies of the American Dream, skies of terror, and skies of war. I argue that Come from Away hides the tragedy of climate change in plain sight, in the sky. Undertaking a close analysis of the showstopping number ‘Me and the Sky,’ sung by the airline pilot Beverly Bass – based on the real-life woman of the same name – I observe the rift between neoliberal feminist success, acts of terror, and the slow-moving tempo of a changing climate. Come from Away’s celebration of neoliberal feminism is cut short in the song, but it foreshadows the possibilities of a more successful recognition of the conjunction between feminist and environmental awareness

BIOMARKERS IN PALEOZOIC CRINOIDS (BORDEN GROUP, MISSISSIPPIAN): IMPLICATIONS FOR PHYLOGENY

O'Malley, Christina E., Ausich, William I., and Chin, Yu Ping 2005, Biomarkers in Paleozoic crinoids (Borden Group, Mississippian): implications for Phylogeny [poster]: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 2005, Session 57, Paper 57-8. Abstract published: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 37, No. 7, p. 133; http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_95335.ht

Phenotypic plasticity of fine root growth increases plant productivity in pine seedlings

BACKGROUND: The plastic response of fine roots to a changing environment is suggested to affect the growth and form of a plant. Here we show that the plasticity of fine root growth may increase plant productivity based on an experiment using young seedlings (14-week old) of loblolly pine. We use two contrasting pine ecotypes, "mesic" and "xeric", to investigate the adaptive significance of such a plastic response. RESULTS: The partitioning of biomass to fine roots is observed to reduce with increased nutrient availability. For the "mesic" ecotype, increased stem biomass as a consequence of more nutrients may be primarily due to reduced fine-root biomass partitioning. For the "xeric" ecotype, the favorable influence of the plasticity of fine root growth on stem growth results from increased allocation of biomass to foliage and decreased allocation to fine roots. An evolutionary genetic analysis indicates that the plasticity of fine root growth is inducible, whereas the plasticity of foliage is constitutive. CONCLUSIONS: Results promise to enhance a fundamental understanding of evolutionary changes of tree architecture under domestication and to design sound silvicultural and breeding measures for improving plant productivity

How Causal are Microbiomes? A Comparison with the Helicobacter pylori Explanation of Ulcers

Human microbiome research makes causal connections between entire microbial communities and a wide array of traits that range from physiological diseases to psychological states. To evaluate these causal claims, we first examine a well-known single-microbe causal explanation: of Helicobacter pylori causing ulcers. This apparently straightforward causal explanation is not so simple, however. It does not achieve a key explanatory standard in microbiology, of Koch’s postulates, which rely on manipulations of single-microorganism cultures to infer causal relationships to disease. When Koch’s postulates are framed by an interventionist causal framework, it is clearer what the H. pylori explanation achieves and where its explanatory strengths lie. After assessing this ‘simple’, single-microbe case, we apply the interventionist framework to two key areas of microbiome research, in which obesity and mental health states are purportedly explained by microbiomes. Despite the experimental data available, interventionist criteria for explanation show that many of the causal claims generated by microbiome research are weak or misleading. We focus on the stability, specificity and proportionality of proposed microbiome causal explanations, and evaluate how effectively these dimensions of causal explanation are achieved in some promising avenues of research. We suggest some conceptual and explanatory strategies to improve how causal claims about microbiomes are made

Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework

This paper focuses on scoping studies, an approach to reviewing the literature which to date has received little attention in the research methods literature. We distinguish between different types of scoping studies and indicate where these stand in relation to full systematic reviews. We outline a framework for conducting a scoping study based on our recent experiences of reviewing the literature on services for carers for people with mental health problems. Where appropriate, our approach to scoping the field is contrasted with the procedures followed in systematic reviews. We emphasize how including a consultation exercise in this sort of study may enhance the results, making them more useful to policy makers, practitioners and service users. Finally, we consider the advantages and limitations of the approach and suggest that a wider debate is called for about the role of the scoping study in relation to other types of literature reviews

Paleocene depositional history of the Cretaceous-Paleogene impact basin, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2020In the spring of 2016, the International Ocean Discovery Program set out on Expedition 364 to recover core from the peak ring of Chicxulub Impact Crater at Site M0077. In total, 829 m of core was collected spanning granite to Paleogene sedimentary rocks. From this core, we have a well-preserved record of the Paleocene, which represents ~10 million years post impact in just under 10 m of sedimentary rock record. This has presented an incredible research opportunity, as we have gained invaluable information on how the environment responded and recovered from the global catastrophe that was the Chicxulub Impact. The Paleocene at M0077 is highly condensed and comprised of predominantly pelagic carbonate rocks. High resolution core logging and thin section analysis were used to identify facies in the Paleocene. Facies include marlstone, argillaceous wackestone, foraminiferal wackestone, and rare coarser grained lithologies such as packstone and grainstone. Overall, the Paleocene exhibits a succession of rhythmically bedded cycles composed of marlstones grading to argillaceous wackestones and capped by foraminiferal wackestones. Coarser grained lithologies only exist in the lower and uppermost portion of the core. In total, 72 cycles that ranged from 5-30 cm thick are identified and grouped into six larger packages based on pattern similarities in color, lithology, ichnofabric indices, and geochemical data. These cycles are interpreted as parasequences, and show predictable stacking patterns that allow us to make sequence stratigraphic analyses. Each package represents one to two systems tracts, and some can be correlated to eustatic sea level change. Recorded in this core is the progression of an initial sea level lowstand immediately post impact, and the fluctuation between highstands, lowstands, and transgressive systems tracts that follow. Major and trace elements were analyzed throughout the core, as well as delta¹³Corg and delta¹⁵Nbulk values. Three sets of geochemical proxies (paleoredox, detrital input, productivity) were used to provide insight into paleoecological conditions. Initial conditions in the crater show a period of high productivity, which tapers off within a million years post impact. Redox conditions vary, and show one major anoxic event, with other enrichments likely representing periods of pore water euxinia or increases in stratification leading to a more robust redox gradient.National Science Foundation grant OCE 1737199 (to M.Whalen) and the Barringer Family Fund for Meteorite Impact Research (2017

Atlantic Herring and Horse Mackerel in 6aS/7b; Industry Acoustic Survey Cruise Report

An acoustic survey of Atlantic herring Clupea harengus and horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus was conducted in ICES areas 6aS/7b in Nov 2018 using the pair trawl vessels MFV Eilean Croine S238 and MFV Sparkling Star D437. This survey is the third in a time series that is hoped will be developed into a long-term index of spawning/pre-spawning herring and horse mackerel in 6aS/7b, for use in stock assessments in the future. The survey design was based on the predicted distribution of herring and horse mackerel in this area during this time. In total 1,400nmi of cruise track was completed using 37 transects and related to a total area coverage of approximately 5,600 nmi². Parallel transect spacing was set at 7.5nmi for the wider area strata, and 3.5nmi for Donegal Bay and Achill strata. Coverage extended from inshore coastal areas to the 200 m contour in the west and north where possible. A survey was carried out in Lough Swilly using a zig-zag design. A Simrad ES-38B (38 kHz) split-beam transducer mounted on a towed body was used to collect acoustic raw data. Very strong herring marks were evident in Lough Swilly, an area where boats in the monitoring fishery were concentrating effort. There were a few herring marks in discreet areas around Glen Head, Bruckless Bay, Inishmurray and Inishbofin. A total of four commercial fishing hauls on horse mackerel were completed during the survey. Biological samples from the monitoring fishery of herring were used to augment the samples from the survey. Herring samples were taken from boats fishing in Lough Swilly and Bruckless Bay as close spatially and temporally as possible to the survey in these areas. Herring were dominated overall by 4-wr fish, 29% of the overall numbers. Horse mackerel were distributed throughout the survey area, but particularly throughout the area to the north and west of the Stags of Broadhaven. Horse mackerel length distribution was dominated by a mode at 25-26cm. This corresponded to a dominance of 4-wr fish (~89%) in all of the samples. The total stock biomass (TSB) estimate of herring for the combined 6aS/7b area was 50,145 tonnes (Lough Swilly = 32,372 tonnes, Donegal Bay = 9,517 tonnes, NW area = 7,710 tonnes and the remaining Achill strata = 545 tonnes). This is considered to be a minimum estimate of herring in the 6aS/7b survey area at the time of the survey. The TSB estimate of horse mackerel for the total surveyed area in 6aS/7b area was 57,162 tonnes, considered to be a minimum estimate of horse mackerel in the 6aS/7b survey area at the time of the survey. The CV estimates on biomass and abundance are high (~0.51 for herring and ~ 0.36 for horse mackerel) for the survey in 2018. For herring, this is mostly caused by the over-reliance on a few acoustic marks of herring in Lough Swilly and Bruckless Bay in particular. Horse mackerel are a widely distributed stock, therefore the stock was not contained by this survey