Diet and Environment Shape Fecal Bacterial Microbiota Composition and Enteric Pathogen Load of Grizzly Bears

Background: Diet and environment impact the composition of mammalian intestinal microbiota; dietary or health disturbances trigger alterations in intestinal microbiota composition and render the host susceptible to enteric pathogens. To date no long term monitoring data exist on the fecal microbiota and pathogen load of carnivores either in natural environments or in captivity. This study investigates fecal microbiota composition and the presence of pathogenic Escherichia coli and toxigenic clostridia in wild and captive grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and relates these to food resources consumed by bears. Methodology/Principal Findings: Feces were obtained from animals of two wild populations and from two captive animals during an active bear season. Wild animals consumed a diverse diet composed of plant material, animal prey and insects. Captive animals were fed a regular granulated diet with a supplement of fruits and vegetables. Bacterial populations were analyzed using quantitative PCR. Fecal microbiota composition fluctuated in wild and in captive animals. The abundance of Clostridium clusters I and XI, and of C. perfringens correlated to regular diet protein intake. Enteroaggregative E. coli were consistently present in all populations. The C. sordellii phospholipase C was identified in three samples of wild animals and for the first time in Ursids. Conclusion: This is the first longitudinal study monitoring the fecal microbiota of wild carnivores and comparing it to that o

Secondary literacy across the curriculum: Challenges and possibilities

This paper discusses the challenges and possibilities attendant upon successfully implementing literacy across the curriculum initiatives – or ‘school language policies’ as they have come to be known - particularly at the secondary or high school level. It provides a theoretical background to these issues, exploring previous academic discussions of school language policies, and highlights key areas of concern as well as opportunity with respect to school implementation of such policies. As such, it provides a necessary conceptual background to the subsequent papers in this special issue, which focus upon the Secondary Schools’ Literacy Initiative (SSLI) – a New Zealand funded programme that aims to establish cross-curricular language and literacy policies in secondary schools

Correcting for enzyme immunoassay changes in long term monitoring studies

Enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) are a common tool for measuring steroid hormones in wildlife due to their low cost, commercial availability, and rapid results. Testing technologies improve continuously, sometimes requiring changes in protocols or crucial assay components. Antibody replacement between EIA kits can cause differences in EIA sensitivity, which can hinder monitoring hormone concentration over time. The antibody in a common cortisol EIA kit used for long-term monitoring of stress in wildlife was replaced in 2014, causing differences in cross reactivity and standard curve concentrations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a method to standardize results following changes in EIA sensitivity. We validated this method using cortisol concentrations measured in the hair of brown bears (Ursus arctos). • We used a simple linear regression to model the relationship between cortisol concentrations using kit 1 and kit 2. • We found a linear relationship between the two kits (R2 = 0.85) and used the regression equation (kit2 = (0.98 × kit1) + 1.65) to predict cortisol concentrations in re-measured samples. • Mean predicted percent error was 16% and 72% of samples had a predicted percent error <20%, suggesting that this method is well-suited for correcting changes in EIA sensitivity.publishedVersio

The density of anthropogenic features explains seasonal and behaviour-based functional responses in selection of linear features by a social predator

Anthropogenic linear features facilitate access and travel efficiency for predators, and can influence predator distribution and encounter rates with prey. We used GPS collar data from eight wolf packs and characteristics of seismic lines to investigate whether ease-of-travel or access to areas presumed to be preferred by prey best explained seasonal selection patterns of wolves near seismic lines, and whether the density of anthropogenic features led to functional responses in habitat selection. At a broad scale, wolves showed evidence of habitat-driven functional responses by exhibiting greater selection for areas near low-vegetation height seismic lines in areas with low densities of anthropogenic features. We highlight the importance of considering landscape heterogeneity and habitat characteristics, and the functional response in habitat selection when investigating seasonal behaviour-based selection patterns. Our results support behaviour in line with search for primary prey during summer and fall, and ease-of-travel during spring, while patterns of selection during winter aligned best with ease-of-travel for the less-industrialized foothills landscape, and with search for primary prey in the more-industrialized boreal landscape. These results highlight that time-sensitive restoration actions on anthropogenic features can affect the probability of overlap between predators and threatened prey within different landscapes

Sorghum grain hardness and its relationship to mold susceptibility and mold resistance

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] cultivars exhibiting contrasting reactions to the gram mold complex were grown at Patancheru, India, in one postrainy (1988-1989) and two consecutive rainy seasons (1989 and 1990). Sorghum grain hardness was measured by four methods: grinding time required to obtain a fixed volume of flour from grains in a Stenvert hardness tester, force required to break the grains using Kiya and Instron food testers, and density grading in sodium nitrate solution measured as percentage of floating grains. Ergosterol concentration was determined in grains to assess the extent of mold damage. The Stenvert method was convenient and rapid and was significantly correlated with the other three methods but negatively and significantly correlated with the ergosterol concentration. Grains grown in the postrainy season exhibited higher hardness than those grown in the rainy seasons. Mold-resistant cultivars exhibited significantly greater hardness than mold-susceptible cultivars. Ergosterol concentration indicating the extent of mold attack was negatively and significantly( P < 0.01) correlated with Stenvert hardness values in mold-resistant phenotypically white sorghum grains (without testa) in both the rainy seasons

Communities in university mathematics

This paper concerns communities of learners and teachers that are formed, develop and interact in university mathematics environments through the theoretical lens of Communities of Practice. From this perspective, learning is described as a process of participation and reification in a community in which individuals belong and form their identity through engagement, imagination and alignment. In addition, when inquiry is considered as a fundamental mode of participation, through critical alignment, the community becomes a Community of Inquiry. We discuss these theoretical underpinnings with examples of their application in research in university mathematics education and, in more detail, in two Research Cases which focus on mathematics students' and teachers' perspectives on proof and on engineering students' conceptual understanding of mathematics. The paper concludes with a critical reflection on the theorising of the role of communities in university level teaching and learning and a consideration of ways forward for future research

Collaborative action research through technologically mediated agoras.

ABSTRACT: The study presented in this article forms part of a wider project promoting collaboration between junior researchers from different universities with the objective of rethinking and improving teaching practice in relation to the use of technology. The article describes research carried out during the 2012/13 academic year aimed at developing collaborative action research through technologically mediated agoras involving students from three Spanish universities. The main results of this study show that junior researchers improved their teaching practice through technologically mediated inside and outside agoras. In addition, the transformation of university classrooms into agoras enabled the negotiated reconstruction of knowledge for the analysis of good practice in the use of technology. Likewise, these agoras helped reduce limitations by breaking down the barriers of time, distance and resources for sharing findings and limitations between junior researchers. Furthermore, they pave the way for improvements and their implementation in learning processes during initial teacher training

Pre-service teachers’ engagement in a cross-curricular television news project: impact on professional identity

This paper focuses on the impact of pre-service teachers’ engagement in the annual BBC News School Report project on their emerging professional identity and on the evidence they provide as part of the process of becoming qualified. The research reported on is drawn from three years of enquiry. Respondents included pre-service teachers themselves, their tutors as representatives of teacher education providers and their mentors as representatives of schools in which they were placed. The methodological approach was interpretative and phenomenological with qualitative and quantitative data being analysed for emergent themes. Two years of evaluations were followed by a third year in which a set of case studies were developed. The research showed that professional identity is enhanced through being in a leading role in respect of curriculum and working with other staff. Through engagement in such projects, this paper moots that preservice teachers develop richer evidence of emerging professionalism as defined by standards of initial teacher training. Moreover, self-perception of role was modified to one in which they saw themselves, and were seen, as equals to qualified staff rather than subservient to or dependent on them. A new more equal power relationship developed as they took on responsibility for the project. Preservice teachers’ move to become full members of the professional community for which they are training was accelerated

Inclusive research in education: contributions to method and debate

Education is not necessarily associated with inclusive research and the label of inclusive research is little used in our discipline. It is an umbrella term encompassing participatory, emancipatory and community/peer-led research. This is research in which those (such as learners and teachers) who tend to be the objects of other people’s research become agents in the conduct of research, ensuring that such research addresses issues that are important to them and includes their views and experiences (see Walmsley & Johnson, 2003 and Nind, 2014 for more on definitions). Conceptualising some research as inclusive is part of a concern with the democratization of the research process and with social justice - in and through - research; it represents an interest in the people outside of academia being active and credible producers of knowledge