Can Large-Scale Climatic Models Be Linked with Multiscale Ecological Studies? *

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72151/1/j.1523-1739.1993.07020256.x.pd

Alan Richardson: Reappraising the life and work of a twentieth-century Christian theologian, cleric and educator

This thesis reappraises the life and work of Alan Richardson (1905 – 1975) Anglican theologian, ecumenist and educator in the context of theological and ecclesiological developments in the middle third of the twentieth century. This is the first study of this well-known figure in twentieth-century theology since his death in 1975. Appraising his work the thesis questions why a muchpublished theological author, broadcaster and teacher whose clerical career included a leading role in the SCM, and in post-war ecumenical discussion, a canonry at Durham, a professorship at Nottingham and the deanery of York, should have disappeared from both academic and historical view after his death. The thesis follows a chronological scheme with thematic discussions in each era, utilising the results of oral history and archival research together with field work and a review of Richardson‘s literary corpus. Discussion of his early academic career, first clerical appointments and theological publications draws on his engagement with English Modernism. Analysis of his time as Study Secretary of the SCM and canonry at Durham follow, the latter role impacted by the introduction of the1944 Education Act. The thesis fulcrum reviews Richardson‘s post-war publications, particularly Science, History and Faith, within the context of continental historicism seen as a legacy of German Wissenschaft ideology. This leads to a discussion of Richardson‘s correspondence and discontinuity with the theological historicism of Troeltsch and Harnack. A further key aspect of Richardson‘s theological paradigm, the search for ecumenical agreement, drives his work in that area for both the Church of England and the World Council of Churches. Richardson was a biblical theologian and a neo-orthodox Anglican and an investigation of his time as Professor of Christian Theology at Nottingham, considers those characteristics in the context of his interlocution with Rudolf Bultmann‘s theology and the Christian radicalism of Honest to God and similar Cambridge publications. Finally a review of Richardson‘s work draws conclusions regarding his possible legacy whilst also addressing questions of the lack of academic and historical recognition after his death. It will be argued that Richardson‘s long term impact was limited by the decline in the type of biblical theology that he espoused, his tendency to write for populist audiences and his carelessness with regard to the conventions of academic writing. However it will be further argued that there remain aspects of his thought which repay a fresh appraisal and his life presents an intriguing insight into central churchmanship played out in the mid-twentieth century Church of England

An introduction to Trends in Extreme Weather and Climate Events: Observations, Socioeconomic Impacts, Terrestrial Ecological Impacts, and Model Projections

Weather and climatic extremes can have serious and damaging effects on human society and infrastructure as well as on ecosystems and wildlife. Thus, they are usually the main focus of attention of the news media in reports on climate. There are some indications from observations concerning how climatic extremes may have changed in the past. Climate models show how they could change in the future either due to natural climate fluctuations or under conditions of greenhouse gas-induced warming. These observed and modeled changes relate directly to the understanding of socioeconomic and ecological impacts related to extremes.Integrative Biolog

Recycling Argon through Metamorphic Reactions: the Record in Symplectites

The 40Ar/39Ar ages of metamorphic micas that crystallized at high temperatures are commonly interpreted as cooling ages, with grains considered to have lost 40Ar via thermally-driven diffusion into the grain boundary network. Recently reported laser-ablation data suggest that the spatial distribution of Ar in metamorphic micas does not always conform to the patterns predicted by diffusion theory and that despite high metamorphic temperatures, argon was not removed efficiently from the local system during metamorphic evolution. In the Western Gneiss Region (WGR), Norway, felsic gneisses preserve microtextural evidence for the breakdown of phengite to biotite and plagioclase symplectites during near isothermal decompression from c. 20–25 to c. 8–12 kbar at ~700°C. These samples provide an ideal natural laboratory to assess whether the complete replacement of one K-bearing mineral by another at high temperatures completely ‘resets’ the Ar clock, or whether there is some inheritance of 40Ar in the neo-crystallized phase. The timing of the high-temperature portion of the WGR metamorphic cycle has been well constrained in previous studies. However, the timing of cooling following the overprint is still much debated. In-situ laser ablation spot dating in phengite, biotite-plagioclase symplectites and coarser, texturally later biotite yielded 40Ar/39Ar ages that span much of the metamorphic cycle. Together these data show that despite residence at temperatures of ~700°C, Ar is not completely removed by diffusive loss or during metamorphic recrystallization. Instead, Ar released during phengite breakdown appears to be partially reincorporated into the newly crystallizing biotite and plagioclase (or is trapped in fluid inclusions in those phases) within a close system. Our data show that the microtextural and petrographic evolution of the sample being dated provides a critical framework in which local 40Ar recycling can be tracked, thus potentially allowing 40Ar/39Ar dates to be linked more accurately to metamorphic history

Demographic Factors Associated With Prevalence Of Antibody To Sin Nombre Virus In Deer Mice In The Western United States

We used long-term data collected for up to 10 yr (1994–2004) at 23 trapping arrays (i.e., webs and grids) in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, and New Mexico to examine demographic factors known or suspected to be associated with risk of infection with Sin Nombre virus (SNV) in its natural host, the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Gender, age (mass), wounds or scars, season, and local relative population densities were statistically associated with the period prevalence of antibody (used as a marker of infection) to SNV in host populations. Nevertheless, antibody prevalence and some of the risk factors associated with antibody prevalence, such as relative population density, gender bias, and prevalence of wounding, varied significantly among sites and even between nearby trapping arrays at a single site. This suggests that local micrositespecific differences play an important role in determining relative risk of infection by SNV in rodents and, consequently, in humans. Deer mouse relative population density varied among sites and was positively and statistically associated with infection prevalence, an association that researchers conducting shorter-term studies failed to demonstrate. Both wounding and antibody prevalence increased with mass class in both males and females; this increase was much more pronounced in males than in females and wounding was more frequent in adult males than in adult females. Prevalence of wounding was greatest among seropositive deer mice, regardless of mass class, but many deer mice without detectable wounds or scars eventually became infected. Many of these patterns, which will be useful in the development of predictive models of disease risk to humans, were only detected through the application of data collected over a long (10-yr) period and with abundant replication

Extended Viral Shedding of a Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus by Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis)

Background: Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) are susceptible to infection with some influenza A viruses. However, the viral shedding capability of this peri-domestic mammal and its potential role in influenza A virus ecology are largely undetermined. Methodology/Principal Findings: Striped skunks were experimentally infected with a low pathogenic (LP) H4N6 avian influenza virus (AIV) and monitored for 20 days post infection (DPI). All of the skunks exposed to H4N6 AIV shed large quantities of viral RNA, as detected by real-time RT-PCR and confirmed for live virus with virus isolation, from nasal washes and oral swabs (maximum #106.02 PCR EID50 equivalent/mL and #105.19 PCR EID50 equivalent/mL, respectively). Some evidence of potential fecal shedding was also noted. Following necropsy on 20 DPI, viral RNA was detected in the nasal turbinates of one individual. All treatment animals yielded evidence of a serological response by 20 DPI. Conclusions/Significance: These results indicate that striped skunks have the potential to shed large quantities of viral RNA through the oral and nasal routes following exposure to a LP AIV. Considering the peri-domestic nature of these animals, along with the duration of shedding observed in this species, their presence on poultry and waterfowl operations could influence influenza A virus epidemiology. For example, this species could introduce a virus to a naive poultry flock or act as a trafficking mechanism of AIV to and from an infected poultry flock to naive flocks or wild bird populations

Disentangling canid howls across multiple species and subspecies: Structure in a complex communication channel.

Wolves, coyotes, and other canids are members of a diverse genus of top predators of considerable conservation and management interest. Canid howls are long-range communication signals, used both for territorial defence and group cohesion. Previous studies have shown that howls can encode individual and group identity. However, no comprehensive study has investigated the nature of variation in canid howls across the wide range of species. We analysed a database of over 2000 howls recorded from 13 different canid species and subspecies. We applied a quantitative similarity measure to compare the modulation pattern in howls from different populations, and then applied an unsupervised clustering algorithm to group the howls into natural units of distinct howl types. We found that different species and subspecies showed markedly different use of howl types, indicating that howl modulation is not arbitrary, but can be used to distinguish one population from another. We give an example of the conservation importance of these findings by comparing the howls of the critically endangered red wolves to those of sympatric coyotes Canis latrans, with whom red wolves may hybridise, potentially compromising reintroduced red wolf populations. We believe that quantitative cross-species comparisons such as these can provide important understanding of the nature and use of communication in socially cooperative species, as well as support conservation and management of wolf populations.Recording work was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of Tennessee. AK is supported by a Herchel Smith postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge. Part of this work was carried out while AK was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, an Institute sponsored by the National Science Foundation through NSF Award #DBI-1300426, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. BH is thankful to the State Forest Departments of Himachal Pradesh, J&K, and Maharashtra, and to various zoos in India for permitting us to record howls. HRG is grateful to all who helped with the project: the staff at Colchester Zoo; the Wildwood Trust, the Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics; the British Library; Lupus Laetus; Polish Mammal Research Institute; Tigress Productions; the BBC Natural History Unit; Longleat Safari Park; Tierstimmen Archiv; Wild Sweden; Wolf Park; the Macaulay Sound Library and the UK Wolf Conservation Trust; and Mike Collins, Teresa Palmer, Monty Sloan, Karl-Heinz Frommolt, Yorgos Iliopoulos, Christine Anhalt, Louise Gentle, Richard Yarnell, Victoria Allison Hughes and Susan Parks. BRM thanks the USDA/APHIS/WS/National Wildlife Research Center for supporting his doctoral research and providing access to captive coyotes; recording work was approved by the NWRC IACUC. SW thanks Mariana Olsen for assistance with data collection, and Yellowstone National Park for permission to record.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2016.01.00

The receptor TREML4 amplifies TLR7-mediated signaling during antiviral responses and autoimmunity

The genes and pathways that fine-tune TLR7-mediated innate inflammatory responses remain to be fully elucidated. Using an unbiased genome-scale shRNA screen, we identified the receptor TREML4 as an essential positive regulator of TLR7 signaling. Macrophages from Treml4–/– mice were hyporesponsive to TLR7 agonists and failed to produce type I interferon due to impaired phosphorylation of the transcription factor STAT1 by the MAP kinase p38 and decreased recruitment of MyD88 to TLR7. TREML4 deficiency reduced production of inflammatory cytokines and autoantibodies in SLE-prone MRL/lpr mice and inhibited the antiviral immune response to influenza. Our data identify TREML4 as a positive regulator of TLR7 signaling and provide insight into the molecular mechanisms that control antiviral immunity and the development of autoimmunity

Antimicrobial Resistance among Campylobacter Strains, United States, 1997–2001

We summarize antimicrobial resistance surveillance data in human and chicken isolates of Campylobacter. Isolates were from a sentinel county study from 1989 through 1990 and from nine state health departments participating in National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for enteric bacteria (NARMS) from 1997 through 2001. None of the 297 C. jejuni or C. coli isolates tested from 1989 through 1990 was ciprofloxacin-resistant. From 1997 through 2001, a total of 1,553 human Campylobacter isolates were characterized: 1,471 (95%) were C. jejuni, 63 (4%) were C. coli, and 19 (1%) were other Campylobacter species. The prevalence of ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter was 13% (28 of 217) in 1997 and 19% (75 of 384) in 2001; erythromycin resistance was 2% (4 of 217) in 1997 and 2% (8 of 384) in 2001. Ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter was isolated from 10% of 180 chicken products purchased from grocery stores in three states in 1999. Ciprofloxacin resistance has emerged among Campylobacter since 1990 and has increased in prevalence since 1997