Indigenous Knowledge of Hydrologic Change in the Yukon River Basin: A Case Study of Ruby, Alaska

In the Arctic and Subarctic, the contribution of Indigenous knowledge to understanding environmental change has been established over the last several decades. This paper explores the role of Indigenous knowledge of water in understanding hydrologic change within complex social-ecological systems. Observations of hydrology in the Yukon River Basin, contributed by 20 community experts from Ruby Village, Alaska, in semi-structured interviews, are compared with findings from scientific literature to illustrate the commonalities and differences. Research findings reveal the contribution of Indigenous knowledge to understandings of hydrologic change in the Yukon River and its tributaries, which includes insights regarding alterations in sediment and river ice regimes. Recommendations for future research that incorporates Indigenous knowledge of water to gain insight into hydrologic changes in the watershed include combining multiple case studies that are distributed geographically. Our findings suggest 1) that using participatory research approaches to research will help ensure that it benefits the communities whose livelihoods are affected by hydrologic changes, and 2) that a multidisciplinary approach that combines qualitative and quantitative methods from the social and biophysical sciences would be most effective to help us understand and respond to hydrologic changes.Dans l’Arctique et la région subarctique, l’apport des connaissances indigènes à l’égard de la compréhension de l’altération de l’environnement a été mis au clair au cours des dernières décennies. Cette communication explore le rôle des connaissances indigènes relativement à l’eau dans la compréhension des changements hydrologiques touchant les systèmes socioécologiques complexes. Les observations hydrologiques dans le bassin du fleuve Yukon, émanant de 20 experts communautaires de Ruby Village, en Alaska et prélevées dans le cadre d’entrevues semi-structurées, sont comparées aux constatations publiées dans des documents scientifiques pour illustrer les points communs et les différences. Les résultats de recherche révèlent l’apport des connaissances indigènes en matière de compréhension des changements hydrologiques caractérisant le fleuve Yukon et ses affluents, ce qui comprend un aperçu de l’altération des sédiments et des régimes de glaces fluviales. Les recommandations de recherches futures faisant appel aux connaissances indigènes de l’eau afin de mieux comprendre les changements hydrologiques du bassin hydrographique préconisent le fait de combiner de nombreuses études de cas géographiquement réparties. Nos constatations suggèrent 1) que le recours à des méthodes de recherche participative aidera à faire en sorte que les collectivités dont le mode de vie est touché par les changements hydrologiques bénéficient des travaux de recherche, et 2) qu’une approche multidisciplinaire dans les domaines des sciences sociales et biophysiques faisant appel à la fois à des méthodes qualitatives et à des méthodes quantitatives s’avérerait plus efficace, et nous aiderait à comprendre les changements hydrologiques puis à y réagir

Expression of Retroviral Transduced Human CD18 in Murine Cells: An In Vitro Model of Gene Therapy for Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency

Overview summary In developing human gene therapy clinical protocols, it is helpful to have an animal model that mimics the human disease to be treated. A natural animal model for leukocyte adhesion deficiency (LAD) does not exist. Krauss et al. have developed a clever strategy for producing a mouse model for LAD gene therapy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63397/1/hum.1991.2.3-221.pd

Development of Entrepreneurial Attitudes Assessment Instrument for Freshman Students

An increasing population of university programs and quantity of curricular content focused on entrepreneurship poses both enormous opportunities for student growth, and numerous practical challenges. Prior work has largely focused on pre-post assessment of student learning, shifts in‘mindset’, activity effectiveness, mapping of student outcomes, and implications of student learning on career success. A baseline of freshman student attitudes towards entrepreneurship,outside of specifically focused entrepreneurial leaning, has significant potential to identify and inform programming in entrepreneurship, as well as general curriculums and pedagogy. An improved understanding of student’s constructive and cognitive influences in entrepreneurial education will serve to better inform the way entrepreneurship education in engineering is historically and currently discussed. Improving entrepreneurship education models begins with understanding student backgrounds comprised of different experiences, knowledge, and preconceptions. When looking longitudinally, migratory information can better inform entrepreneurial programming to provide data and support for more organized and integrated approaches to entrepreneurship education.This work in progress provides initial results and validation on the quantitative instrument portion of a mixed methods study developed for assessing and tracking entrepreneurial behaviors, experiences, and attitudes in a way identifiable to engineering and business freshman.The instrument is modified from the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation (EAO) survey instrument developed by Robbins in the early 1990s. Additionally, a section for gathering student socioeconomic status and gender, using elements of the Academic Pathways of People Learning Engineering Survey (APPLES) is included. Based on the difficulties in operationalization of student socioeconomic status self-identification, normalizing question are added as suggested by Donaldson and Sheppard from results in the APPLES instrument development process.The quantitative portion, discussed here, survey will be deployed during winter of 2015, to business and engineering freshman at a large Midwestern university. The initial deployment will allow validation against prior uses of the EAO instrument. Results will be presented in the paper and conference presentation comparing gender and socioeconomic correlations to entrepreneurial attitudes with previous publications. The survey instrument is being developed as the quantitative element of a mixed method longitudinal study tracking student entrepreneurial attitudes, focus, and growth over student college experiences. Follow-on efforts are intended to help better inform educators about the nature of student construction and growth in an university space increasingly influenced by a move towards entrepreneurship education

Sex differences in binge-like EtOH drinking, corticotropin-releasing hormone and corticosterone: effects of β-endorphin

Binge drinking is an increasingly common pattern of risky use associated with numerous health problems, including alcohol use disorders. Because low basal plasma levels of βendorphin (β-E) and an increased β-E response to alcohol are evident in genetically at-risk human populations, this peptide is thought to contribute to the susceptibility for disordered drinking. Animal models suggest that the effect of β-E on consumption may be sex-dependent. Here, we studied binge-like EtOH consumption in transgenic mice possessing varying levels of β-E: wild-type controls with 100% of the peptide (β-E +/+), heterozygous mice constitutively modified to possess 50% of wild-type levels (β-E +/−) and mice entirely lacking the capacity to synthesize β-E (−/−). These three genotypes and both sexes were evaluated in a 4-day, two-bottle choice, drinking in the dark paradigm with limited access to 20% EtOH. β-E deficiency determined sexually divergent patterns of drinking in that β-E −/− female mice drank more than their wild-type counterparts, an effect not observed in male mice. β-E −/− female mice also displayed elevated basal anxiety, plasma corticosterone and corticotropin-releasing hormone mRNA in the extended amygdala, and all of these were normalized by EtOH self-administration. These data suggest that a heightened risk for excessive EtOH consumption in female mice is related to the drug\u27s ability to ameliorate an overactive anxiety/stress-like state. Taken together, our study highlights a critical impact of sex on neuropeptide regulation of EtOH consumption

Alpha(1)-adrenergic-mediated eNOS phosphorylation in intact arteries

Activation of arterial smooth muscle alpha(1)-adrenergic receptors results in vasoconstriction, as well as a secondary release of nitric oxide and slow vasodilation, presumably through gap junction communication from smooth muscle to endothelium. We hypothesized that this slow vasodilation is due to activation of eNOS through phosphorylation at Ser1179 and dephosphorylation at Thr495. Phosphorylation was measured by western blot using mouse mesenteric arteries that were cannulated and pressurized (75 mm Hg) and treated either by 1) 5 mm of phenylephrine superfusion (10(-5) M) (PE5), 2) 15 min of phenylephrine (PE15), 3) 15 min phenylephrine followed by acetylcholine (10(-4) M) (PE + ACh), or 4) 20 min time control with no treatment (NT) [4-5 arteries pooled per treatment per blot; 5 blots performed]. These treatments allowed correlation between vasomotor changes, namely maximal constriction (PE5), slow vasodilation (PE15), and maximal dilation (PE + ACh), and relative phosphorylation changes. Phosphorylation of eNOS at Ser1179 was increased relative to NT by more than 2-fold at PE5 and remained similarly increased at PE15 and PE + ACh. Phosphotylation of eNOS at Thr495 was less in all treatments relative to NT, but not significantly. Treatment with L-NAME (10(-4) M) or endothelial denudation indicated that the slow dilation in response to phenylephrine was completely due to nitric oxide synthase and was endothelial dependent. These results indicate that eNOS phosphorylation at Ser1179 occurs before the slow dilation and is not actively involved in this vasodilation or dilation to acetylcholine, but may play a permissive role in eNOS activation by other mechanisms. It is not yet known what mechanism is responsible for Ser1179 phosphorylation with phenylephrine stimulation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Sex and β-Endorphin Influence the Effects of Ethanol on Limbic Gabra2 Expression in a Mouse Binge Drinking Model

Binge drinking is a widespread problem linked to increased risk for alcohol-related complications, including development of alcohol use disorders. In the last decade, binge drinking has increased significantly, specifically in women. Clinically, sexually dimorphic effects of alcohol are well-characterized, however, the underlying mechanisms for these dimorphisms in the physiological and behavioral effects of alcohol are poorly understood. Among its many effects, alcohol consumption reduces anxiety via the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, most likely acting upon receptors containing the α-2 subunit (Gabra2). Previous research from our laboratory indicates that female mice lacking the endogenous opioid peptide β-endorphin (βE) have an overactive stress axis and enhanced anxiety-like phenotype, coupled with increased binge-like alcohol consumption. Because βE works via GABA signaling to reduce anxiety, we sought to determine whether sexually dimorphic binge drinking behavior in βE deficient mice is coupled with differences in CNS Gabra2 expression. To test this hypothesis, we used βE knock-out mice in a drinking in the dark model where adult male and female C57BL/6J controls (βE +/+) and βE deficient (βE -/-; B6.129S2-Pomctm1Low/J) mice were provided with one bottle of 20% ethanol (EtOH) and one of water (EtOH drinkers) or two bottles of water (water drinkers) 3 h into the dark cycle for four consecutive days. Following a binge test on day 4, limbic tissue was collected and frozen for subsequent qRT-PCR analysis of Gabra2 mRNA expression. Water-drinking βE +/+ females expressed more Gabra2 in central nucleus of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis than males, but this sex difference was absent in the βE -/- mice. Genotype alone had no effect on alcohol consumption or drug-induced increase in Gabra2 expression. In contrast, βE expression had bi-directional effects in females: in wildtypes, Gabra2 mRNA was reduced by binge EtOH consumption, while EtOH increased expression in βE -/- females to levels commensurate with drug-naïve βE +/+ females. These results support the contention that βE plays a role in sexually dimorphic binge-like EtOH consumption, perhaps through differential expression of GABAA α2 subunits in limbic structures known to play key roles in the regulation of stress and anxiety

Variance fluctuations in nonstationary time series: a comparative study of music genres

An important problem in physics concerns the analysis of audio time series generated by transduced acoustic phenomena. Here, we develop a new method to quantify the scaling properties of the local variance of nonstationary time series. We apply this technique to analyze audio signals obtained from selected genres of music. We find quantitative differences in the correlation properties of high art music, popular music, and dance music. We discuss the relevance of these objective findings in relation to the subjective experience of music.Comment: 13 pages, 4 fig

Detecting bubbles in exotic nuclei

The occurrence of a bubble, due to an inversion of s$_{1/2}$ state with the state usually located above, is investigated. Proton bubbles in neutron-rich Argon isotopes are optimal candidates. Pairing effects which can play against the bubble formation are evaluated. They cannot prevent bubble formation in very neutron-rich argon isotopes such as $^{68}$Ar. This pleads for a measurement of the charge density of neutron-rich argon isotopes in the forthcoming years, with the advent of electron scattering experiments in next generation exotic beam facilities such as FAIR or RIBF.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Nucl. Phys.

The first WASP public data release

The WASP (wide angle search for planets) project is an exoplanet transit survey that has been automatically taking wide field images since 2004. Two instruments, one in La Palma and the other in South Africa, continually monitor the night sky, building up light curves of millions of unique objects. These light curves are used to search for the characteristics of exoplanetary transits. This first public data release (DR1) of the WASP archive makes available all the light curve data and images from 2004 up to 2008 in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. A web interface () to the data allows easy access over the Internet. The data set contains 3 631 972 raw images and 17 970 937 light curves. In total the light curves have 119 930 299 362 data points available between them