Researching Critical Incidents of Transformation

This study examined transformation within individuals in a collaborative adult learning context. Using a combination of methods—surveys and critical incident technique (CIT)—the study explored in depth the experiences of 28 subjects from a population of 100 participants in an open-enrollment workshop, the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium produced by the Pachamama Alliance. The program employs high-impact training approaches to inform participants about social injustices and environmental practices that threaten the planet, and to encourage them to act on that information. The research focused on critical incidents at or shortly after the workshop that produced significant and meaningful change in the subjects. It also examined the stimuli and the internal processes experienced and reported by the subjects that appear to be most transformative. Its objective was to help inform the way in which transformative learning is studied. The study found that the research method was effective for examining transformative learning in adults. Six significant findings emerged from the data, among them that the critical incidents of transformative learning were the internal changes subjects described: initial changes in awareness or perspective, in connections, in decisions about future action, and in emotions or sensory perceptions. An understanding of this finding and the others can help educators and organizational leaders facilitate transformation within individuals and organizations. Limitations of the study are discussed and suggestions for future studies are offered. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink. edu/etd

Key aspects of stratospheric tracer modeling using assimilated winds

International audienceThis study describes key aspects of global chemistry-transport models and their impact on stratospheric tracer transport. We concentrate on global models that use assimilated winds from numerical weather predictions, but the results also apply to tracer transport in general circulation models. We examined grid resolution, numerical diffusion, air parcel dispersion, the wind or mass flux update frequency, and time interpolation. The evaluation is performed with assimilated meteorology from the "operational analyses or operational data" (OD) from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). We also show the effect of the mass flux update frequency using the ECMWF 40-year re-analyses (ERA40). We applied the three-dimensional chemistry-transport Tracer Model version 5 (TM5) and a trajectory model and performed several diagnoses focusing on different transport regimes. Covering different time and spatial scales, we examined (1) polar vortex dynamics during the Arctic winter, (2) the large-scale stratospheric meridional circulation, and (3) air parcel dispersion in the tropical lower stratosphere. Tracer distributions inside the Arctic polar vortex show considerably worse agreement with observations when the model grid resolution in the polar region is reduced to avoid numerical instability. The results are sensitive to the diffusivity of the advection. Nevertheless, the use of a computational cheaper but diffusive advection scheme is feasible for tracer transport when the horizontal grid resolution is equal or smaller than 1 degree. The use of time interpolated winds improves the tracer distributions, particularly in the middle and upper stratosphere. Considerable improvement is found both in the large-scale tracer distribution and in the polar regions when the update frequency of the assimilated winds is increased from 6 to 3 h. It considerably reduces the vertical dispersion of air parcels in the tropical lower stratosphere. Strong horizontal dispersion is not necessarily an indication of poor wind quality, as observations indicate. Moreover, the generally applied air parcel dispersion calculations should be interpreted with care, given the strong sensitivity of dispersion with altitude. The results in this study provide a guideline for stratospheric tracer modeling using assimilated winds. They further demonstrate significant progress in the use of assimilated meteorology in chemistry-transport models, relevant for both short- and long-term integrations

Comparative use of active searches and artificial refuges to detect amphibians in terrestrial environments

Artificial refuges (cover boards) are commonly used to survey and monitor herpetofauna in many parts of the world. Despite the extensive use of artificial refuges in mesic environments, their effectiveness for detecting amphibians in temperate zones has rarely been examined. We compared amphibian detection probabilities between two survey methods; active searches of natural habitat and artificial refuges of three different types (corrugated steel, roofing tiles and timber railway sleepers). Our study area included five bioregions encompassing a 1,180 km latitudinal gradient across a modified, temperate eucalypt woodland vegetation community in south-eastern Australia. We deployed 14,778 artificial refuges in terrestrial environments, within patches of remnant vegetation, and collected presence and abundance data on herpetofauna between 1999 and 2017. We used Bayesian logistic regression to identify the most effective survey method for detecting frog species across all bioregions. We modelled frog detections by fitting survey method, time since refuge deployment, and rainfall prior to each survey. We detected 3970 individuals from 18 frog species. Overall, we found active searches and timber substrates most effective for detecting a broad range of species, although detection rates were driven by the numerically abundant spotted marsh frog Limnodynastes tasmaniensis. Timber refuges were effective for detecting several burrowing species, whereas active searches were effective at detecting habitat generalists. Quadratic effects of rainfall prior to survey as opposed to linear effects of time since artificial refuge placement was important in explaining frog detection rates in some bioregions. Active searches, timber railway sleepers and sheets of corrugated steel provide complimentary survey methods for detecting amphibians, although detection rates are influenced by rainfall patterns. Artificial refuges provide a time-effective and standardised method for studying amphibians in their non-breeding terrestrial environment and should be incorporated into future surveys and biodiversity monitoring programs.The work was funded by the Australian Govern-ment's Caring for Our Country Initiative, the National Environmental Science Program's Threatened Species Recovery Hub and the Australian Research Council, and is supported by the Murray Local Land Services, Riverina Local land Services, Central Tablelands Local land Services, North East Catchment Management Authority, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, NSW Environment Trust, Ian Potter Foundation and the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation

Do Patients with Craniosynostosis Have an Increased Incidence of Auditory Neuropathy as Newborns?

Neuroscience - Vision & Functional Brain Imaging Poster SessionOBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of auditory neuropathy, abnormal auditory brainstem response (ABR) with normal otoacoustic emissions, in newborn patients with craniosynostosis as compared to published standards. DESIGN: A retrospective review of consecutive patients with single or multiple-suture craniosynostosis who were seen between 2002 and 2009. Patients identified by the diagnostic code of craniosynostosis were divided into groups based on suture involvement. The newborn ABR screening and, if patients were referred, diagnosis from audiologic diagnostic testing were obtained from the Missouri Department of Health. Institutional review board approval was obtained. PATIENTS: One hundred and thirty-five patients were identified. Seventy-two were excluded; 3 were listed as “missed” and 69 were not born in-state. The 63 patients included in the study were grouped by involved sutures: 2 left coronal, 7 right coronal, 2 nonsyndromic bicoronal, 3 syndromic bicoronal, 13 sagittal, 17 operative metopic, 15 nonoperative metopic, 1 pansynostosis, and 3 multiple-suture. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The newborn screening results for each patient were recorded as well as the diagnosis from audiologic diagnostics if the patient was referred. RESULTS: Of the 63 patients, 94% (59/63) passed their ABR screening. Four were referred for diagnostic exam in both ears. Of those, one had a normal exam (right coronal) and three did not have diagnostic exams on file (right coronal, bicoronal syndromic and bicoronal non-syndromic). CONCLUSIONS: According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1.8 percent of newborns failed their ABR screening in 2007. Of those, 37% were found to have normal hearing on diagnostic exam. Although our study was inconclusive due to inadequate state records, it does demonstrate an increased incidence in abnormal ABR's in patients with coronal craniosynostosis. This is consistent with a recent publication that demonstrated higher incidence of abnormal ABR's in syndromic coronal craniosynostosis. If auditory abnormalities are present at birth, as our study suggests, the etiology would be unrelated to increased intracranial pressures

Changes in aerosol properties during spring-summer period in the Arctic troposphere

The change in aerosol properties during the transition from the more polluted spring to the clean summer in the Arctic troposphere was studied. A six-year data set of observations from Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, covering the months April through June, serve as the basis for the characterisation of this time period. In addition four-day-back trajectories were used to describe air mass histories. The observed transition in aerosol properties from an accumulation-mode dominated distribution to an Aitken-mode dominated distribution is discussed with respect to long-range transport and influences from natural and anthropogenic sources of aerosols and pertinent trace gases. Our study shows that the air-mass transport is an important factor modulating the physical and chemical properties observed. However, the air-mass transport cannot alone explain the annually repeated systematic and rather rapid change in aerosol properties, occurring within a limited time window of approximately 10 days. With a simplified phenomenological model, which delivers the nucleation potential for new-particle formation, we suggest that the rapid shift in aerosol microphysical properties between the Arctic spring and summer is mainly driven by the incoming solar radiation in concert with transport of precursor gases and changes in condensational sink

Integration of microRNA changes in vivo identifies novel molecular features of muscle insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes

Skeletal muscle insulin resistance (IR) is considered a critical component of type II diabetes, yet to date IR has evaded characterization at the global gene expression level in humans. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are considered fine-scale rheostats of protein-coding gene product abundance. The relative importance and mode of action of miRNAs in human complex diseases remains to be fully elucidated. We produce a global map of coding and non-coding RNAs in human muscle IR with the aim of identifying novel disease biomarkers. We profiled >47,000 mRNA sequences and >500 human miRNAs using gene-chips and 118 subjects (n = 71 patients versus n = 47 controls). A tissue-specific gene-ranking system was developed to stratify thousands of miRNA target-genes, removing false positives, yielding a weighted inhibitor score, which integrated the net impact of both up- and down-regulated miRNAs. Both informatic and protein detection validation was used to verify the predictions of in vivo changes. The muscle mRNA transcriptome is invariant with respect to insulin or glucose homeostasis. In contrast, a third of miRNAs detected in muscle were altered in disease (n = 62), many changing prior to the onset of clinical diabetes. The novel ranking metric identified six canonical pathways with proven links to metabolic disease while the control data demonstrated no enrichment. The Benjamini-Hochberg adjusted Gene Ontology profile of the highest ranked targets was metabolic (P < 7.4 × 10-8), post-translational modification (P < 9.7 × 10-5) and developmental (P < 1.3 × 10-6) processes. Protein profiling of six development-related genes validated the predictions. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor protein was detectable only in muscle satellite cells and was increased in diabetes patients compared with controls, consistent with the observation that global miRNA changes were opposite from those found during myogenic differentiation. We provide evidence that IR in humans may be related to coordinated changes in multiple microRNAs, which act to target relevant signaling pathways. It would appear that miRNAs can produce marked changes in target protein abundance in vivo by working in a combinatorial manner. Thus, miRNA detection represents a new molecular biomarker strategy for insulin resistance, where micrograms of patient material is needed to monitor efficacy during drug or life-style interventions