The utility of acorn barnacles (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Sessilia) in forensic investigations in marine environment

Estimating the minimum time since death (minimum Post Mortem Interval, minPMI) is a necessary part of a forensic investigation. Besides the coroner’s assessment of the typical signs of death, minPMI can be estimated using forensic entomology, the scientific discipline that considers insects and other arthropods that colonize the remains. In an aquatic environment, insects, as well as crustaceans, have the potential to provide data regarding the time spent in water of the remains (FT, floating time and PMSI, Post Mortem Submersion Interval), and this can also assist in determining the minPMI. Barnacles (Crustacea: Cirripedia) are common crustaceans that colonize hard substrates in marine environments and they can often be found in association with human and animal remains floating in the sea. The scientific literature reports that barnacles are typically found colonizing shoes. Barnacles can colonize both floating remains and submerged remains and their growth rate is dependent on the water temperature. Despite their potential to be indicative of the FT and/or PMSI, at present research is deplete and only a few case studies have considered it for this purpose. The present research is focused on the barnacle colonization of different type of shoes (sport vs patent leather) placed in the sea (Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts). The objectives of this study are 1) identification of the species of barnacles that colonize shoes; 2) identification of the settlement preferences of the barnacles associated with the shoes; 3) determination of the growth rate of the barnacles associated with the shoes. This research as initially conducted in early March 2016, with 64 sport and 64 patent leather shoes placed in the Boston Harbor at -8/-10 meters below the sea level. Four of each shoe type were collected every two weeks from April 2016 to November 2016 inclusive. Each shoe was photographed and the barnacles and other sea life colonization was documented. Individual barnacles from each shoe were sampled and measured to determine species, age as well as the overall colonization density and settlement preference. Data loggers were placed with the shoes to record temperature throughout the course of the study. Results show that Amphibalanus improvisus (Darwin) (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Sessilia) colonized the vast majority of shoes. Colonization occurred quickly and continued throughout the study period. A significant difference in colonization densities was found between the sport and patent leather shoes, with the patent leather seeing higher densities. Barnacles also showed preferential colonization of specific sections on both shoe types. Overall, higher quantities of barnacles were found on the exterior and bottom of shoes and low quantities of colonization on the inside, tongue, and laces. Barnacle growth was found to be significantly affected by water temperature. Statistical analysis of the effect of water temperature, time in the water, and shoe type on the size of the largest barnacle revealed a highly significant effect of temperature and shoe type but no significant effect of time. As well, time and shoe type had a highly significant effect on the total number of barnacles per shoe, whereas water temperature did not

Participatory Technology Assessment for Mars Mission Planning: Public Values and Rationales

Public support and interest are needed to design an ambitious human spaceflight program. However, it is difficult to understand what the public values and would support. And it is even more challenging and rare to consider public views prior to actually developing a mission. Participatory technology assessment (pTA) is a method that aims to understand public preferences and values in order to inform upstream government decision-making. We assess a recently completed experiment in pTA, the "Informing NASA's Asteroid Initiative" project. Through a cooperative agreement with NASA, the Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology (ECAST) network conducted a pTA-based forum on NASA's Asteroid Initiative and the Journey to Mars. ECAST organized two citizen forums in Phoenix, Arizona and Boston, Massachusetts in November 2014, with a total of 183 citizens selected so as to minimize self-selection biases. This paper focuses on the "Journey to Mars" session, which had the primary goal of soliciting citizen perceptions about different Mars exploration scenarios and mission planning approaches. Citizens were given background information about three potential Mars exploration scenarios that NASA could carry out: 1) Crewed orbital mission to direct robots on the surface of Mars; 2) Short exploratory crewed mission to the surface of Mars; and 3) establishing a permanent settlement. Citizens then engaged in structured facilitated discussions about their preferences among the scenarios and NASA's mission planning approach. Using a grounded theory coding approach, we analyzed participants' written rationales and dialogue about Mars exploration. In general, participants did not show a strong preference for any particular mission profile, but there was a slight preference for the crewed orbital robotics scenario. Participants who supported this approach saw it as the quickest, safest, and least costly road to a successful mission. However, many participants were interested in seeing "boots on the ground," as they believed this would propel scientific advancement, increase excitement about space exploration, and make humans a "two-planet species.

Habitat Function In Alaska Nearshore Marine Ecosystems

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010This research demonstrates how habitat structures subtidal communities and supports individual species in Alaska nearshore marine ecosystems. This was accomplished through a case study of southeast Alaska coastal regions, and an in-depth investigation of red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus early life stage ecology and nursery habitat. How subtidal communities reflect variation in the marine environment of southeast Alaska is poorly understood. The purpose of the first part of this body of research was to identify and compare patterns of community structure for macroalgae, invertebrate, and fish communities at shallow subtidal depths between inner coast and outer coast regions, and link patterns of community structure to environmental variability in southeast Alaska. The major hydrographic gradient of decreasing salinity and increasing temperature from the outer coast to the inner coast affected regional community structure, with greater species diversity at the outer coast. Species distribution for invertebrate communities was linked to variation in benthic habitat at local scales among sites within regions. This study improves understanding of processes that structure marine communities to better predict how environmental change will affect Alaska marine ecosystems. Many Alaska red king crab populations have collapsed and continue to experience little recovery, even for areas without a commercial fishery. Several aspects of red king crab early life stage ecology were investigated because reasons for the lack of recovery may be related to the early life history of this species. Field experiments were conducted in southeast Alaska. Settlement timing was consistent between study years (2008--09) and with historical data for this region. Local oceanographic processes that influence larval transport may be responsible for spatial variation in larval supply. In laboratory and field experiments, early juvenile crabs (age 0 and 1) demonstrated refuge response behavior to a predator threat that changed with crab ontogeny. When predators were absent, juvenile crabs preferred highly structured biogenic habitats due to foraging opportunities, and associated with any structural habitat to improve survival when predators were present. This research shows how availability of high quality nursery habitat affects red king crab early life stage success and potential for population recovery

Children affected by mental illness and parental involvement

The purpose of this study was to determine if parents are involved in services provided for children with mental illnesses or Severely Emotionally Disturbed (SED). Mental health issues are becoming more and more prevalent in youth and adolescents. The study was conducted at Bilingual Family Counseling which provides individual counseling, family counseling, couple/marital counseling, school-based counseling, anger management groups, and support groups for girls

Essential Fish Habitat project status report

: Groundfish that associate with rugged seafloor types are difficult to assess with bottom-trawl sampling gear. Simrad ME70 multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and video imagery were collected to characterize trawlable and untrawlable areas, and to ultimately improve efforts to determine habitat-specific groundfish biomass. The data were collected during two acoustic-trawl surveys of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) during 2011 and 2012 by NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) researchers. MBES data were collected continuously along the trackline, which included parallel transects (1-20 nmi spacing) and fine-scale survey locations in 2011. Video data were collected at camera stations using a drop camera system. Multibeamderived seafloor metrics were overlaid with the locations of previously conducted AFSC bottomtrawl (BT) survey hauls and 2011 camera stations. Generalized linear models were used to identify the best combination of multibeam metrics to discriminate between trawlable and untrawlable seafloor for the region of overlap between the camera stations or haul paths and the MBES data. The most discriminatory models were chosen based on the Akaike information criterion (AIC). The two best models were developed using data collected at camera stations with either oblique incidence backscatter strength (Sb) or mosaic Sb in combination with bathymetric position index and seafloor ruggedness and described over 54% of the variation between trawlable and untrawlable seafloor types. A map of predicted seafloor trawlability produced from the model using mosaic Sb and benthic-terrain metrics demonstrated that 58% of the area mapped (5,987 km2 ) had \u3e 50% probability of being trawlable and 42% of being untrawlable. The model predicted 69% of trawlable and untrawlable haul locations correctly. Successful hauls occurred in areas with 62% probability of being trawlable and haul locations with gear damage occurred in areas with a 38% probability of being trawlable. This model and map produced from multibeamderived seafloor metrics may be used to refine seafloor interpretation for the AFSC BT surveys and to advance efforts to develop habitat-specific biomass estimates for GOA groundfish populations

Major difficulties encountered by the beginning elementary school teacher

There are many beginning teachers who need assistance in achieving instructional competence. It is this problem with which the study was concerned. The problem may be stated as follows: What are the major difficulties encountered by beginning elementary school teachers, and what supervisory techniques are employed to assist these teachers? The specific purposes of this study were as follows: (1) To identify the major difficulties of beginning inexperienced teachers and to determine what skills, techniques, and resources are most helpful in assisting them.; (2) To identify the supervisory techniques that principals and supervisors employ in their supervision of beginning teachers.; (3) To make recommendations for improvement of supervision of beginning teachers