Literature and Environment: Imaginative Interventions in the Climate Crisis

In the fall semester of 2019, the members of ENGL374 engaged in critical conversations about the climate crisis, its impacts on various communities, and the systems that shape how people are affected by the crisis. To share this with the greater community and invite others to participate in these necessary conversations, ENGL374 sponsored an event comprised of a conversation hour and an open mic, both encouraging community growth, bonding, and shared conversations the climate crisis. The event was dedicated to creating a space where people could share works that connected to their personal feelings about the state of the natural world. This took the form of prose, stories, and personal narratives, all reiterating the need for climate mitigation and systemic action. The event explored different dialogues, feelings, and reactions surrounding the issue of the climate crisis, and sought to unite the participating members over a common denominator: advocating and fighting for climate justice. The event took place on the eve of the Youth Climate Strike on December 5, 2019, and was a part of a series of creative climate events hosted by the University of Puget Sound. This archive is meant to document and commemorate the works of climate fiction created by the Fall 2019 ENGL374 class, as well as the works shared during the open mic. This collection of climate fiction are not only imaginative interventions of the climate crisis, but are diverse, thoughtful, and straight from the heart. If green studies and ecocriticism are to be about affecting and inspiring change, then the hope is that this collection of creative climate writing can be sparks of change. We hope to continue the conversation on the climate crisis, not just through our climate fiction but in our everyday choices. It is important that we understand what is happening in our world and who is getting affected. For those not sure how to get involved, Tacoma is a great place to start. We have included a resource section comprised of helpful links to let you know exactly what is going on in our town and what we can do to help combat the climate crisis and be powerful advocates of climate justice. Resources for learning and getting involved: Tacoma 350 Tacoma: https://www.350tacoma.org - 350 Tacoma uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, take money out of the companies that are heating up the planet, and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all. Learn how to get involved! City of Tacoma: https://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?pageId=1972 - Make your voice heard and learn and get involved in Tacoma city council meetings. University of Puget Sound Eco Club Official Instagram: @pugetsoundeco - Join a community of fellow UPS Eco-warriors and see what we, as a campus, can do to help combat the climate crisis. NWD Resistance: https://www.nwdcresistance.org/mobile/ - NWDC Resistance is a grassroots undocumented led movement that works to end the detention of immigrants and stop all deportations. Sunrise Movement Washington Official Instagram: @sunrisemvmt_wa - Go outside the UPS bubble and join the larger Tacoma community of Eco-warriors. Instagram is a great way to stay up to date and involved with current climate issues and events happening right here in Tacoma. Pacific Northwest Washington Public Disclosure Commission: https://www.pdc.wa.gov - Does your elected representative represent you or the fossil fuel industry? This resource lets you see who funds local, county, and statewide political campaigns. Sightline: https://www.sightline.org - Sightline equips the Northwest’s citizens and decision-makers with the policy research and practical tools they need to advance long-term solutions to our region’s most significant challenges. Indigenous Media Links Ancestral Waters Documentary: https://vimeo.com/353151077 - Produced by the founders of Native Daily Network, Ancestral Waters is a story of the Puyallup Tribe’s fight for their treaty, their water and their way of life as they battle against a Liquefied Natural Gas plant built illegally upon the Tribe\u27s traditional lands. Two Spirit Media: https://www.facebook.com/IndependentTwoSpiritMedia/ - Two Spirit Media is a non-profit media source for all Indigenous issues. Stay up to date, educated, and involved. Native Daily Network: http://www.nativedailynetwork.com - Aside from being intentional indigenous activism through media, the goal of Native Daily Network is to be a learning tool for all natives to share their culture so that new generations will grow up understanding the various ways native culture is practiced. Support the Protectors of the Salish Sea: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectorsOfTheSalishSea/ - The mission of Protectors of the Salish Sea is to bring long lasting harmony and true peace among all things back to our Salish Sea and beyond through the recognition and understandings of who we all are as human beings. Activist Media Links Todd Hay: http://toddhay.com - This is a personal blog run by a member of the Sustainable Tacoma Commission which strives to inform the public about the dangers of Liquified Natural Gas. Sunrise Movement: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/hubs - Sunrise Movement is an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across America, end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives on our politics, and elect leaders who stand up for the health and wellbeing of all people. ○ https://www.facebook.com/SunriseWashington/ ○ Sunrise Movement Washington Official Instagram: @sunrisemvmt_wa Previous work from past ENGL374 classes: SP15 ENGL374, Literature and Environment: The Ends of Nature - Neoliberalism and Ecological Collapse “On Divestment” Zine: https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/englishcourses/1/ SP17 ENGL374, Literature and Environment: Neoliberalism and Ecological Crisis Podcast: https://374podcast.atavist.com/literature-and-the-environment-podcast#chapter-242968

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

The history and evolution of the Denisovan-EPAS1haplotype in Tibetans

Recent studies suggest that admixture with archaic hominins played an important role in facilitating biological adaptations to new environments. For example, interbreeding with Denisovans facilitated the adaptation to high altitude environments on the Tibetan Plateau. Specifically, the EPAS1 gene, a transcription factor that regulates the response to hypoxia, exhibits strong signatures of both positive selection and introgression from Denisovans in Tibetan individuals. Interestingly, despite being geographically closer to the Denisova cave, East Asian populations do not harbor as much Denisovan ancestry as populations from Melanesia. Recently, two studies have suggested two independent waves of Denisovan admixture into East Asians, one of which is shared with South Asians and Oceanians. Here we leverage data from EPAS1 in 78 Tibetan individuals to interrogate which of these two introgression events introduced the EPAS1 beneficial sequence into the ancestral population of Tibetans, and we use the distribution of introgressed segment lengths at this locus to infer the timing of the introgression and selection event. We find that the introgression event unique to East Asians most likely introduced the beneficial haplotype into the ancestral population of Tibetans around 43,000 (15,700–60,000) years ago, and selection started 12,000 (1,925-50,000) years ago. Our estimates suggest that one of the most convincing examples of adaptive introgression is in fact selection acting on standing archaic variation

The history and evolution of the Denisovan-EPAS1 haplotype in Tibetans

Recent studies suggest that admixture with archaic hominins played an important role in facilitating biological adaptations to new environments. For example, interbreeding with Denisovans facilitated the adaptation to high-altitude environments on the Tibetan Plateau. Specifically, the EPAS1 gene, a transcription factor that regulates the response to hypoxia, exhibits strong signatures of both positive selection and introgression from Denisovans in Tibetan individuals. Interestingly, despite being geographically closer to the Denisova Cave, East Asian populations do not harbor as much Denisovan ancestry as populations from Melanesia. Recently, two studies have suggested two independent waves of Denisovan admixture into East Asians, one of which is shared with South Asians and Oceanians. Here, we leverage data from EPAS1 in 78 Tibetan individuals to interrogate which of these two introgression events introduced the EPAS1 beneficial sequence into the ancestral population of Tibetans, and we use the distribution of introgressed segment lengths at this locus to infer the timing of the introgression and selection event. We find that the introgression event unique to East Asians most likely introduced the beneficial haplotype into the ancestral population of Tibetans around 48,700 (16,000–59,500) y ago, and selection started around 9,000 (2,500–42,000) y ago. Our estimates suggest that one of the most convincing examples of adaptive introgression is in fact selection acting on standing archaic variation

Population genetics of wild Macaca fascicularis with low‐coverage shotgun sequencing of museum specimens

Objectives Long‐tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) are widely distributed throughout the mainland and islands of Southeast Asia, making them a useful model for understanding the complex biogeographical history resulting from drastic changes in sea levels throughout the Pleistocene. Past studies based on mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of long‐tailed macaque museum specimens have traced their colonization patterns throughout the archipelago, but mitogenomes trace only the maternal history. Here, our objectives were to trace phylogeographic patterns of long‐tailed macaques using low‐coverage nuclear DNA (nDNA) data from museum specimens. Methods We performed population genetic analyses and phylogenetic reconstruction on nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from shotgun sequencing of 75 long‐tailed macaque museum specimens from localities throughout Southeast Asia. Results We show that shotgun sequencing of museum specimens yields sufficient genome coverage (average ~1.7%) for reconstructing population relationships using SNP data. Contrary to expectations of divergent results between nuclear and mitochondrial genomes for a female philopatric species, phylogeographical patterns based on nuclear SNPs proved to be closely similar to those found using mitogenomes. In particular, population genetic analyses and phylogenetic reconstruction from the nDNA identify two major clades within M. fascicularis: Clade A includes all individuals from the mainland along with individuals from northern Sumatra, while Clade B consists of the remaining island‐living individuals, including those from southern Sumatra. Conclusions Overall, we demonstrate that low‐coverage sequencing of nDNA from museum specimens provides enough data for examining broad phylogeographic patterns, although greater genome coverage and sequencing depth would be needed to distinguish between very closely related populations, such as those throughout the Philippines

Nannochloropsis limnetica: A freshwater microalga for marine aquaculture

Despite the availability of inert commercial feeds, microalgae are still the preferred feed for mass production and enrichment of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. Although good growth results can be obtained with different freshwater Chlorella species, marine species of the genus Nannochloropsis are most commonly used due to their high growth rate and content in polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly EPA. In this work we explored the response of the freshwater species Nannochloropsis limnetica to different temperatures in semi-continuous cultures and compared its nutritional value for the rotifer B. plicatilis to that of the marine species Nannochloropsis gaditana both at laboratory scale and in hatchery facilities. N. limnetica could be cultured in the range 15–27 °C with highest dry-weight productivities at 22 °C. When compared with N. gaditana in semicontinuous cultures at laboratory scale, with a daily 40% harvesting rate, productivity of both species was similar, reaching a daily production of 0.64 g L−1 day−1. Both species have an almost identical fatty acid profile. In laboratory-scale cultures with high algal rations, growth and egg-ratios of the rotifer B. plicatilis cultured with N. limnetica were more than twice than with the same doses of N. gaditana, while maintaining the same fatty acid profile in the filter-feeder, confirming the potential of this freshwater species for marine aquaculture. In hatchery-scale experiments in which B. plicatilis was fed with baker's yeast supplemented either with on-site produced fresh microalgal cultures or with concentrated algae, similar growth results were obtained for both microalgal species in 5-day batch cultures, although higher dry weights and slightly better egg ratios were observed with the freshwater species. Results indicate the potential of this freshwater species as a substitute of freshwater Chlorella in live-feed production protocols, due to its better fatty acid profile. Statement relevance: The freshwater microalga Nannochloropsis limnetica promotes higher growth in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis than the marine species N. gaditana. Results indicate the potential of this species as a substitute of freshwater Chlorella due to its better fatty acid profile. Moreover, no potentially pathogenic marine bacteria would be present in cultures of the freshwater species in comparison to its marine counterparts.Versión del editor2,041

The MUC19 gene in Denisovans, Neanderthals, and Modern Humans: An Evolutionary History of Recurrent Introgression and Natural Selection

Abstract All humans carry a small fraction of archaic ancestry across the genome, the legacy of gene flow from Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other hominids into the ancestors of modern humans. While the effects of Neanderthal ancestry on human fitness and health have been explored more thoroughly, there are fewer examples of adaptive introgression of Denisovan variants. Here, we study the gene MUC19 , for which some modern humans carry a Denisovan-like haplotype. MUC19 is a mucin, a glycoprotein that forms gels with various biological functions, from lubrication to immunity. We find the diagnostic variants for the Denisovan-like MUC19 haplotype at high frequencies in admixed Latin American individuals among global population, and at highest frequency in 23 ancient Indigenous American individuals, all predating population admixture with Europeans and Africans. We find that some Neanderthals––Vindija and Chagyrskaya––carry the Denisovan-like MUC19 haplotype, and that it was likely introgressed into human populations through Neanderthal introgression rather than Denisovan introgression. Finally, we find that the Denisovan-like MUC19 haplotype carries a higher copy number of a 30 base-pair variable number tandem repeat relative to the Human-like haplotype, and that copy numbers of this repeat are exceedingly high in American populations. Our results suggest that the Denisovan-like MUC19 haplotype served as the raw genetic material for positive selection as American populations adapted to novel environments during their movement from Beringia into North and then South America

sj-docx-1-try-10.1177_11786469241244603 – Supplemental material for Fetal Sex as Moderating Factor for the Relationship Between Maternal Childhood Trauma and Salivary Kynurenic Acid and Tryptophan in Pregnancy: A Pilot Study

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-try-10.1177_11786469241244603 for Fetal Sex as Moderating Factor for the Relationship Between Maternal Childhood Trauma and Salivary Kynurenic Acid and Tryptophan in Pregnancy: A Pilot Study by Bruno Pedraz-Petrozzi, Eva Kathrin Lamadé, Marta Marszalek-Grabska, Alicja Trzpil, Ole Lindner, Pascal Meininger, Emilia Fornal, Waldemar A Turski, Stephanie H Witt, Maria Gilles and Michael Deuschle in International Journal of Tryptophan Research</p