Undergraduate Research in the Time of COVID-19: A Remote Imaging Protocol for Physically Distanced Students Studying Wildlife.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered many university research labs because campuses are closed, and faculty and students lack productive ways of working remotely. This presents major difficulties for students who need research opportunities to fulfill their intellectual growth potential and their undergraduate research and thesis requirements. Without research experiences, undergraduates may be less competitive for future jobs and graduate programs. Similarly, faculty need research avenues to advance their academic careers while maintaining physically distant protocols. We outline here a budget-friendly, COVID-friendly, adaptable protocol that aims to introduce students to the wildlife research opportunities surrounding their campus or home through observation and literature research. Student researchers learn the scientific method by getting first-hand experience with an original research project. The pedagogical goals include designing a study: defining a question or proposing a hypothesis, collecting, organizing, and analyzing data, and sharing results in the form of posters, theses, informal educational materials, and scientific publications. This protocol is flexible to allow for different budgets, opportunities, and constraints. The researchers monitor different locations using trail cameras to determine which species are present around campus or even students\u27 homes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when it is likely there will be few in-person meetings, this protocol offers students the opportunity to carry out research with limited or no in-person meetings, and it can be run remotely by sharing the data collected. In this paper, we provide instructions, details, and student handouts for instructors to help implement this research project

Prey Responses to Predator Chemical Cues: Disentangling the Importance of the Number and Biomass of Prey Consumed

To effectively balance investment in predator defenses versus other traits, organisms must accurately assess predation risk. Chemical cues caused by predation events are indicators of risk for prey in a wide variety of systems, but the relationship between how prey perceive risk in relation to the amount of prey consumed by predators is poorly understood. While per capita predation rate is often used as the metric of relative risk, studies aimed at quantifying predator-induced defenses commonly control biomass of prey consumed as the metric of risk. However, biomass consumed can change by altering either the number or size of prey consumed. In this study we determine whether phenotypic plasticity to predator chemical cues depends upon prey biomass consumed, prey number consumed, or both. We examine the growth response of red-eyed treefrog tadpoles (Agalychnis callidryas) to cues from a larval dragonfly (Anax amazili). Biomass consumed was manipulated by either increasing the number of prey while holding individual prey size constant, or by holding the number of prey constant and varying individual prey size. We address two questions. (i) Do prey reduce growth rate in response to chemical cues in a dose dependent manner? (ii) Does the magnitude of the response depend on whether prey consumption increases via number or size of prey? We find that the phenotypic response of prey is an asymptotic function of prey biomass consumed. However, the asymptotic response is higher when more prey are consumed. Our findings have important implications for evaluating past studies and how future experiments should be designed. A stronger response to predation cues generated by more individual prey deaths is consistent with models that predict prey sensitivity to per capita risk, providing a more direct link between empirical and theoretical studies which are often focused on changes in population sizes not individual biomass

Evolution of developmental plasticity in ambystomatid salamanders

Developmental plasticity was studied in three salamander species in the family Ambystomatidae. Two species (Ambystoma maculatum and Ambystoma texanum) have the ancestral reproductive mode of breeding in ponds while Ambystoma barbouri breeds in highly ephemeral yet highly oxygenated streams. The stream species has evolved larger egg size, more rapid development and earlier metamorphosis than its sister species, A. texanum. Oxygen and yolk reserve levels were experimentally manipulated to examine their roles in the evolution of the derived stream-breeding strategy. The response to oxygen in the pond species changed direction developmentally. Embryos grew larger in high oxygen while larvae grew larger in low oxygen. The stream species grew much larger in high oxygen throughout development. These results show oxygen\u27s effects on body size not only change developmentally, but evolve in magnitude and direction. In the embryonic manipulation experiments, surgical yolk removal in all three species showed suites of larval traits could cascade across multiple life stages. But the response to yolk removal varied between species. In A. maculatum and A. barbouri, embryonic yolk removal had persistent effects at hatching and well into the larval period. However in A. texanum, yolk removal had minimal effects. This dissertation shows the developmental responses to oxygen levels and yolk removal have evolved in three ambystomatid salamander species that experience very different developmental conditions in natural vernal pools and streams.

Nausea in Palliative Care: A Literature Review

Bakgrund:  Symtomkontroll är en viktig del i den palliativa vården. Sjuksköterskan har en central roll i denna vård. Fokus inom tidigare forskning har legat på smärthantering och därför gjordes denna litteraturöversikt som belyser vikten av hantering av illamående i palliativ vård.  Syfte: Att undersöka förekomsten av illamående hos palliativa patienter samt sammanställa sjuksköterskans kunskap kring hantering av dessa patienters illamående inom hälso- och sjukvård.  Metod: Litteraturöversikt som inkluderar 16 artiklar.  Resultat: Förekomsten av illamående hos palliativa patienter i litteraturöversikten var mellan 7-40 %. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskor tycker att de har god kunskap för att kunna symtomskatta, behandla och utvärdera behandling av illamående i palliativ vård. Det visade även en skillnad av sjuksköterskors upplevda kunskap kring palliativ vård beroende på arbetslivserfarenhet.  Det framkom i resultatet att symtomskattning inte alltid utfördes och att validerade skattningsinstrument för illamående inte alltid användes. En del palliativa patienter är medicinskt underbehandlade och utvärdering av behandling av illamående förekom inte alltid hos palliativa patienter i hälso- och sjukvården. Resultatet visade även på skillnader i hantering av illamående utifrån kön och ålder.  Konklusion: Sjuksköterskorna hade mer kunskap om symtomhantering desto mer erfarenhet de hade. Det behövs mer utbildning för att hantera illamående, både på grundnivå inom sjuksköterskeprogrammet men även fortsatt utbildning på arbetsplatserna. Det behövs mer forskning inom detta för att identifiera mer exakt vilken kunskap sjuksköterskor saknar. Det behövs även mer forskning för att undersöka hur sjuksköterskan fastställer illamåendets orsak.Background: Symptom management is an important part in palliative care. Nurses have a central role in this care. Previous research highlights pain management, this literature review aims to shed light on the importance of nausea management in palliative care.  Aim: To examine the prevalence of nausea in palliative patients and to compile nurses’ knowledge about management of these patient’s nausea in healthcare.  Method: A literature review based on 16 articles.  Result: Prevalence of nausea in palliative patients in the literature review was between 7-40%. The result shows that nurses rate their knowledge high when it comes to symptom estimation, treating symptoms and evaluate treatment of nausea in palliative care. Nurses knowledge of palliative care differed depending on their work experience. It also showed that symptom estimation doesn’t always occur and validated tools to estimate nausea are not always used. Some palliative care patients are medically undertreated for nausea and evaluation of nausea-treatment isn’t always done. The result also showed discrepancies of treatment between gender and age.  Conclusion: Nurses’ had more knowledge about symptom management the more work experience they had. There is a need for further education in how to manage nausea both in nursing school and at the workplace. Additional research is needed to identify exactly what knowledge nurses’ lack. There is also a need for research that examines how nurses determines the cause of nausea

Nausea in Palliative Care: A Literature Review

Bakgrund:  Symtomkontroll är en viktig del i den palliativa vården. Sjuksköterskan har en central roll i denna vård. Fokus inom tidigare forskning har legat på smärthantering och därför gjordes denna litteraturöversikt som belyser vikten av hantering av illamående i palliativ vård.  Syfte: Att undersöka förekomsten av illamående hos palliativa patienter samt sammanställa sjuksköterskans kunskap kring hantering av dessa patienters illamående inom hälso- och sjukvård.  Metod: Litteraturöversikt som inkluderar 16 artiklar.  Resultat: Förekomsten av illamående hos palliativa patienter i litteraturöversikten var mellan 7-40 %. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskor tycker att de har god kunskap för att kunna symtomskatta, behandla och utvärdera behandling av illamående i palliativ vård. Det visade även en skillnad av sjuksköterskors upplevda kunskap kring palliativ vård beroende på arbetslivserfarenhet.  Det framkom i resultatet att symtomskattning inte alltid utfördes och att validerade skattningsinstrument för illamående inte alltid användes. En del palliativa patienter är medicinskt underbehandlade och utvärdering av behandling av illamående förekom inte alltid hos palliativa patienter i hälso- och sjukvården. Resultatet visade även på skillnader i hantering av illamående utifrån kön och ålder.  Konklusion: Sjuksköterskorna hade mer kunskap om symtomhantering desto mer erfarenhet de hade. Det behövs mer utbildning för att hantera illamående, både på grundnivå inom sjuksköterskeprogrammet men även fortsatt utbildning på arbetsplatserna. Det behövs mer forskning inom detta för att identifiera mer exakt vilken kunskap sjuksköterskor saknar. Det behövs även mer forskning för att undersöka hur sjuksköterskan fastställer illamåendets orsak.Background: Symptom management is an important part in palliative care. Nurses have a central role in this care. Previous research highlights pain management, this literature review aims to shed light on the importance of nausea management in palliative care.  Aim: To examine the prevalence of nausea in palliative patients and to compile nurses’ knowledge about management of these patient’s nausea in healthcare.  Method: A literature review based on 16 articles.  Result: Prevalence of nausea in palliative patients in the literature review was between 7-40%. The result shows that nurses rate their knowledge high when it comes to symptom estimation, treating symptoms and evaluate treatment of nausea in palliative care. Nurses knowledge of palliative care differed depending on their work experience. It also showed that symptom estimation doesn’t always occur and validated tools to estimate nausea are not always used. Some palliative care patients are medically undertreated for nausea and evaluation of nausea-treatment isn’t always done. The result also showed discrepancies of treatment between gender and age.  Conclusion: Nurses’ had more knowledge about symptom management the more work experience they had. There is a need for further education in how to manage nausea both in nursing school and at the workplace. Additional research is needed to identify exactly what knowledge nurses’ lack. There is also a need for research that examines how nurses determines the cause of nausea

Appendix A. Detailed methods used for reassigning tanks to density treatments.

Detailed methods used for reassigning tanks to density treatments

Prey Responses to Predator Chemical Cues: Disentangling the Importance of the Number and Biomass of Prey Consumed

To effectively balance investment in predator defenses versus other traits, organisms must accurately assess predation risk. Chemical cues caused by predation events are indicators of risk for prey in a wide variety of systems, but the relationship between how prey perceive risk in relation to the amount of prey consumed by predators is poorly understood. While per capita predation rate is often used as the metric of relative risk, studies aimed at quantifying predator-induced defenses commonly control biomass of prey consumed as the metric of risk. However, biomass consumed can change by altering either the number or size of prey consumed. In this study we determine whether phenotypic plasticity to predator chemical cues depends upon prey biomass consumed, prey number consumed, or both. We examine the growth response of red-eyed treefrog tadpoles (Agalychnis callidryas) to cues from a larval dragonfly (Anax amazili). Biomass consumed was manipulated by either increasing the number of prey while holding individual prey size constant, or by holding the number of prey constant and varying individual prey size. We address two questions. (i) Do prey reduce growth rate in response to chemical cues in a dose dependent manner? (ii) Does the magnitude of the response depend on whether prey consumption increases via number or size of prey? We find that the phenotypic response of prey is an asymptotic function of prey biomass consumed. However, the asymptotic response is higher when more prey are consumed. Our findings have important implications for evaluating past studies and how future experiments should be designed. A stronger response to predation cues generated by more individual prey deaths is consistent with models that predict prey sensitivity to per capita risk, providing a more direct link between empirical and theoretical studies which are often focused on changes in population sizes not individual biomass