Effects of Diameter-limit and Two-age Timber Harvesting on Songbird Populations on an Industrial Forest in Central West Virginia

Many studies examining forest fragmentation effects on songbirds have been conducted in landscapes significantly altered by urbanization or agriculturalization rather than forested landscapes. There is some evidence that forest fragmentation due to timber harvesting has different effects on bird abundance than fragmentation from other land uses. It is unknown how songbirds respond to different forms of timber harvesting as fragmentation events. Also, it is unclear if microhabitat-level or landscape-level characteristics are more important predictors of breeding bird occurrence in the central Appalachians. The objectives of my study were to determine the short-term effects of diameter-limit and two-age timber harvesting on the abundance and nest survival of songbirds and to determine the specific landscape-level and microhabitat-level features of a recently fragmented industrial forest that affect songbird abundance.;I examined songbird abundance at 50-m fixed-radius point counts and nest survival on eight 40-ha nest searching plots on the Westvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest in Randolph County, West Virginia, 1-yr before and 1--2-yr after partial harvesting. Microhabitat variables were measured within each 50-m radius point count plot, and landscape metrics were calculated within a 1-km radius of each point count.;For most songbird species present prior to harvest, abundances changed little following diameter-limit harvesting. Interior-edge species and total abundance of songbirds were more abundant in diameter-limit harvested areas. The abundance of most songbird species present prior to two-age harvesting also changed little after the harvest. Interior-edge species had higher abundance in two-age harvested areas. Two species, the Dark eyed-Junco (Junco hyemalis) and Veery (Catharus fuscescens), were found more frequently in nonfragmented landscapes than in landscapes fragmented by regeneration (two-age and seed tree) harvests, and two different species, the Ovenbird (Seirus aurocapillus) and Scarlet Tanager ( Piranga olivacea), were found more frequently in nonfragmented landscapes than in landscapes fragmented by diameter-limit harvests. However, these results might not apply to species that were rare or uncommon on the study area.;It appears that timber harvesting in this forested landscape is not having short-term deleterious impacts on most songbirds. These results could be used by land managers to maintain healthy and diverse populations of songbirds in extensively forested regions

Culturally Responsive Strategies to Support Multilingual Learners

Teachers must develop pedagogical practices to meet the needs of the growing number of multilingual learners in K-12 classrooms. Our inquiry- based research study analyzed ways that teachers can implement pedagogical strategies that are culturally responsive to multilingual learners. Thematic analysis of recent academic studies, class observations, and an interview with a language specialist affirm a set of culturally responsive instructional practices in the classroom that lead to the academic success of multilingual learners. These practices included teacher attitudes, translanguaging, and thinking routines to assist in English language acquisition. K-12 teachers, administrators, and community leaders working with multilingual learners can build on these findings

Dustin Harewood Pt. 1

Mr. Harewood is an art professor at Florida State College of Jacksonville. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of immigrant parents from Barbados. His history covers drawing comics in his youth, formal art education at the University of North Carolina, an internship at Marvel Comics, and as an art professor and community art advocate in Jacksonville. Mr. Harewood also describes several of his mural projects, his art influences, and what the COVID-19 pandemic was like for him.https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/jax_artists/1000/thumbnail.jp

Investigating the Contribution of Iron Acquisition to Serratia marcescens Pathogenesis during Bloodstream Infection

Although largely considered an environmental pathogen given its ability to infect insects and survive in nature, Serratia marcescens is an important cause of multi-drug resistant bloodstream infections with increasing prevalence. With its current status as an emerging pathogen, little is known about factors contributing to S. marcescens infection specifically regarding those that aid in iron acquisition. Iron uptake is well established in the field as being crucial for bacterial colonization and pathogenesis since it is an essential protein co-factor in many cellular functions. However, mammalian hosts tightly regulate iron, making it difficult for pathogens to access. Therefore, bacteria employ specialized systems to gather iron, including the use of siderophores, heme uptake, ferrous iron receptors, and others. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to comprehensively characterize the iron-uptake systems in a bloodstream isolate of S. marcescens, UMH9. Iron-depleted RNA-sequencing was used to identify all the genes regulated by iron concentration in UMH9. Through these experiments, seven independent iron acquisition systems were identified, including two siderophore loci and two previously described heme uptake systems. Seven additional orphan transporters were also identified. Further studies in this dissertation focused on characterizing the siderophore and heme uptake loci. Two siderophore systems, cbs and sch, identified by RNA-seq in UMH9, named after previously described siderophore loci to which they have similarity, were characterized. Deletions were made in the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) machinery in each siderophore locus and together in a double mutant. In vitro growth in iron-poor conditions revealed that the double NRPS mutant in both siderophore loci had defective growth, but still produced siderophore by chrome azurol S (CAS) and mass spectrometry. The single NRPS mutants behaved similarly to the wild type strain, suggesting that the deleted NRPS genes potentially have redundant roles in siderophore transport. These findings challenge the traditional exclusive role of NRPSs in siderophore biosynthesis. The siderophores were then examined from a pathogenesis perspective. Mutations were made deleting the entire siderophore loci individually and in combination. Mutants lacking the full sch locus lost their ability to chelate iron as quantified by the CAS assay, while the cbs single mutant retained wild-type activity. Using mass spectrometry, the chelating siderophore was found to be serratiochelin (sch) while the other was chrysobactin (cbs). Sch-mutants had defective growth in iron-limited conditions and deletion of the sch gene cluster resulted in attenuation of UMH9 in the mouse bacteria model. Therefore, serratiochelin is necessary for full virulence during bloodstream infection. The S. marcescens heme uptake systems, hem and has, were also studied. Deletion mutants were made in each system individually and together in a double mutant. Growth conditions supplemented with heme revealed that mutants with intact hem system experienced an abnormally long lag phase before reaching exponential growth and saturation. This suggests that the hem system may contribute to heme toxicity. Whole genome sequencing revealed new insights into potential heme detoxification mechanisms. Interestingly, the double heme uptake mutant did not display any in vivo fitness defects or attenuation, suggesting a nonsignificant contribution of heme uptake to UMH9 pathogenesis during bacteremia. Altogether, these studies provide an in-depth characterization of two major classes of iron acquisition, siderophore and heme uptake, and their contribution to pathogenesis in Serratia marcescens. This work challenges canonical understandings of Gram-negative iron acquisition and provides new insights into the virulence of emerging pathogens.PHDMicrobiology & ImmunologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/166136/1/danraewe_1.pd

The efficacy of group treatment for bulimia

Bulimia is ultimately a life threatening behavior which involves eliminating food or calories through self-induced vomiting, enamas, laxatives, diuretics, diet pills, and/or compulsive exercise (Beasley & Knightly, 1994). These methods can result in serious or fatal health risks such as dental problems, tearing and bleeding of the throat, kidney damage, muscle weakness, and cardiac malfunction (Tannenhaus, 1992)