Redesigning the Frederick Meijer Honors College Curriculum

Welcome reader, We appreciate your interest in our design challenge of reimaging the Frederik Meijer Honors College curriculum. Over the course of several months, we have worked diligently through the design thinking process to arrive at a solution that meets the needs of FMHC stakeholders. We have conducted interviews with these stakeholders in order to gain empathy and conducted secondary research which allowed us to broaden the scope of our insights and search for potential solutions. Many hours were spent ideating our own solutions and prototyping them through a collaborator debrief process. This portfolio contains the details of our process start to finish, showing how we used design thinking to redesign the FMHC curriculum. We are proud to be a part of the process of reinventing the Honors College curriculum.The effect of our efforts will create a more enriching college experience for future generations. Thank you for taking the time to explore and innovate with us. Sincerely, Team Vitality Kathryn Malia Brooks Bradley Williams Kelsey Rutkowski Andrew Dzierwa Bethany Chambe

Extrafollicular Dermal Melanocyte Stem Cells and Melanoma

Recent studies suggest that extrafollicular dermal melanocyte stem cells (MSCs) persist after birth in the superficial nerve sheath of peripheral nerves and give rise to migratory melanocyte precursors when replacements for epidermal melanocytes are needed on the basal epidermal layer of the skin. If a damaged MSC or melanocyte precursor can be shown to be the primary origin of melanoma, targeted identification and eradication of it by antibody-based therapies will be the best method to treat melanoma and a very effective way to prevent its recurrence. Transcription factors and signaling pathways involved in MSC self-renewal, expansion and differentiation are reviewed. A model is presented to show how the detrimental effects of long-term UVA/UVB radiation on DNA and repair mechanisms in MSCs convert them to melanoma stem cells. Zebrafish have many advantages for investigating the role of MSCs in the development of melanoma. The signaling pathways regulating the development of MSCs in zebrafish are very similar to those found in humans and mice. The ability to easily manipulate the MSC population makes zebrafish an excellent model for studying how damage to MSCs may lead to melanoma

In search of professionalism, bureaucracy and sustainable livelihoods for the 21st century

Summary In the 21st century, vastly more people will need to gain sustainable livelihoods in difficult environments. For this, changes are needed on the part of outsiders — professionals, officials and others — who have overlooked or underestimated the complexity and diversity of rural conditions, rural people's ability to take a long?term view, and their knowledge, creativity and competence in presenting and analysing complex information. To serve poor people better, much of the challenge now is methodological: for better learning from, with and by rural people, for enabling them to express and enhance their competence and creativity; and for the improvement and spread of new methods for changing the behaviour and attitudes of outsiders. Resumen En busca de profesionalismo, burocracia y sustento permanente para el siglo XXI En el siglo XXI, muchísimas mas personas deberán alcanzar sustento permanente en medio ambientes difíciles. Para esto, deberá haber cambios por parte de algunos sectores — profesionales, oficiales y otros — que han pasado por alto o subestimado la diversidad y complejidad de las condiciones rurales, la habilidad de los pobladores rurales para asumir una visión a largo plazo, y sus conocimientos, creatividad y competencia para presentar y analizar información intrincada. Para servir mejor a las comunidades carenciadas, la mayor parte del desafío actual es metodológica: para un mejor aprendizaje de, con y por pobladores rurales; para permitirles expresar e incrementar su competencia y creatividad; y para el mejoramiento y extensión de nuevas formas para cambiar el comportamiento y las posturas políticas de los sectores diversos. Résumé À la recherche du professionnalisme, la bureaucratie et le maintien soutenu au 21ème siècle Au 21ème siècle un nombre fortement accru d'êtres humains chercheront à exploiter des moyens soutenus d'existence dans des environnements difficiles. Ainsi, des changements doivent intervenir au niveau des tiers — professionnels, officiels et autres — qui auront soit passé outre, soit sous?estimé la complexité et la diversité des conditions rurales, ainsi que la capacité des ruraux mêmes de déterminer les politiques à long terme; leur propre créativité; et leur expertise en ce qui concerne la présentation et l'analyse des informations complexes. Si l'on veut offrir un meilleur service aux populations déshéritées, le défi sera désormais de savoir quelle méthodologie est la mieux adaptée non seulement à recevoir ce qu'ont à nous apprendre les peuples ruraux (tout en partageant cet apprentissage avec eux et en leur transferant nos propres connaissances); mais aussi, quelle méthodologie leur permettra d'exprimer et de mettre en valeur leur expertise et leur créativité; et pourra enfin améliorer et propager les nouvelles méthodes capables de modifier le comportement et les attitudes des tiers venus de l'extérieur

On collisional capture rates of irregular satellites around the gas-giant planets and the minimum mass of the solar nebula

We investigated the probability that an inelastic collision of planetesimals within the Hill sphere of the Jovian planets could explain the presence and orbits of observed irregular satellites. Capture of satellites via this mechanism is highly dependent on not only the mass of the protoplanetary disk, but also the shape of the planetesimal size distribution. We performed 2000 simulations for integrated time intervals $\sim 2$ Myr and found that, given the currently accepted value for the minimum mass solar nebula and planetesimal number density based upon the \citet{Nesvorny2003} and \citet{Charnoz2003} size distribution $dN \sim D^{-3.5} dD$, the collision rates for the different Jovian planets range between $\sim 0.6$ and \gtrsim 170 \, \Myr^{-1} for objects with radii, 1 \, \km \le r \le 10 \, \km. Additionally, we found that the probability that these collisions remove enough orbital energy to yield a bound orbit was $\lesssim 10^{-5}$ and had very little dependence on the relative size of the planetesimals. Of these collisions, the collision energy between two objects was $\gtrsim 10^3$ times the gravitational binding energy for objects with radii $\sim 100$ km. We find that, capturing irregular satellites via collisions between unbound objects can only account for $\sim 0.1$ of the observed population, hence can this not be the sole method of producing irregular satellites.Comment: 11 pages 4 figures 1 table; This replaces a prior submission, which contained some minor contradictions within the text accepted by MNRAS in pres

Benchmarking and parameter sensitivity of physiological and vegetation dynamics using the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES) at Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Plant functional traits determine vegetation responses to environmental variation, but variation in trait values is large, even within a single site. Likewise, uncertainty in how these traits map to Earth system feedbacks is large. We use a vegetation demographic model (VDM), the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator (FATES), to explore parameter sensitivity of model predictions, and comparison to observations, at a tropical forest site: Barro Colorado Island in Panama. We define a single 12-dimensional distribution of plant trait variation, derived primarily from observations in Panama, and define plant functional types (PFTs) as random draws from this distribution. We compare several model ensembles, where individual ensemble members vary only in the plant traits that define PFTs, and separate ensembles differ from each other based on either model structural assumptions or non-trait, ecosystem-level parameters, which include (a) the number of competing PFTs present in any simulation and (b) parameters that govern disturbance and height-based light competition. While single-PFT simulations are roughly consistent with observations of productivity at Barro Colorado Island, increasing the number of competing PFTs strongly shifts model predictions towards higher productivity and biomass forests. Different ecosystem variables show greater sensitivity than others to the number of competing PFTs, with the predictions that are most dominated by large trees, such as biomass, being the most sensitive. Changing disturbance and height-sorting parameters, i.e., the rules of competitive trait filtering, shifts regimes of dominance or coexistence between early- and late-successional PFTs in the model. Increases to the extent or severity of disturbance, or to the degree of determinism in height-based light competition, all act to shift the community towards early-successional PFTs. In turn, these shifts in competitive outcomes alter predictions of ecosystem states and fluxes, with more early-successional-dominated forests having lower biomass. It is thus crucial to differentiate between plant traits, which are under competitive pressure in VDMs, from those model parameters that are not and to better understand the relationships between these two types of model parameters to quantify sources of uncertainty in VDMs

Thank you to our 2017 peer reviewers

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2018. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 123 (2018): 6042-6052, doi:10.1029/2018JC014410.Similar to the construction of physical ships and laboratory buildings, scientific knowledge is built incrementally and requires solid components of data, theory, and methodology at each phase of the “construction.” The peer‐review process provides the necessary “inspection” and the assurance that every step of the construction is solid, particularly in regard to the proper use of the scientific method. The peer‐review process helps improve the published work by providing constructive suggestions and by safeguarding against scientific work that could later be found to be built on shaky foundations. Because no single scientist has intimate knowledge of today's many aspects of the Ocean Sciences, we rely on each other's expertise to serve as unbiased “inspectors” of published articles. Your considerable time and effort, spent reviewing JGR‐Oceans manuscript(s) during 2017, are sincerely appreciated by our editorial board and by the Ocean Science community at large. We thank you for rising to this professional challenge and for your wisdom, commitment, skill, and service.2019-03-1

The endoplasmic reticulum remains functionally connected by vesicular transport after its fragmentation in cells expressing Z-alpha(1)-antitrypsin

α1-Antitrypsin is a serine protease inhibitor produced in the liver that is responsible for the regulation of pulmonary inflammation. The commonest pathogenic gene mutation yields Z-α1-antitrypsin, which has a propensity to self-associate forming polymers that become trapped in inclusions of endoplasmic reticulum (ER). It is unclear whether these inclusions are connected to the main ER network in Z-α1-antitrypsin-expressing cells. Using live cell imaging, we found that despite inclusions containing an immobile matrix of polymeric α1-antitrypsin, small ER resident proteins can diffuse freely within them. Inclusions have many features to suggest they represent fragmented ER, and some are physically separated from the tubular ER network, yet we observed cargo to be transported between them in a cytosol-dependent fashion that is sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide and dependent on Sar1 and sec22B. We conclude that protein recycling occurs between ER inclusions despite their physical separation.—Dickens, J. A., Ordóñez, A., Chambers, J. E., Beckett, A. J., Patel, V., Malzer, E., Dominicus, C. S., Bradley, J., Peden, A. A., Prior, I. A., Lomas, D. A., Marciniak, S. J. The endoplasmic reticulum remains functionally connected by vesicular transport after its fragmentation in cells expressing Z-α1-antitrypsin

Resilience to Stress and Disturbance, and Resistance to Bromus tectorum L. Invasion in Cold Desert Shrublands of Western North America

Alien grass invasions in arid and semi-arid ecosystems are resulting in grass–fire cycles and ecosystem-level transformations that severely diminish ecosystem services. Our capacity to address the rapid and complex changes occurring in these ecosystems can be enhanced by developing an understanding of the environmental factors and ecosystem attributes that determine resilience of native ecosystems to stress and disturbance, and resistance to invasion. Cold desert shrublands occur over strong environmental gradients and exhibit significant differences in resilience and resistance. They provide an excellent opportunity to increase our understanding of these concepts. Herein, we examine a series of linked questions about (a) ecosystem attributes that determine resilience and resistance along environmental gradients, (b) effects of disturbances like livestock grazing and altered fire regimes and of stressors like rapid climate change, rising CO2, and N deposition on resilience and resistance, and (c) interacting effects of resilience and resistance on ecosystems with different environmental conditions. We conclude by providing strategies for the use of resilience and resistance concepts in a management context. At ecological site scales, state and transition models are used to illustrate how differences in resilience and resistance influence potential alternative vegetation states, transitions among states, and thresholds. At landscape scales management strategies based on resilience and resistance—protection, prevention, restoration, and monitoring and adaptive management—are used to determine priority management areas and appropriate actions

Drivers and mechanisms of tree mortality in moist tropical forests

Tree mortality rates appear to be increasing in moist tropical forests (MTFs) with significant carbon cycle consequences. Here, we review the state of knowledge regarding MTF tree mortality, create a conceptual framework with testable hypotheses regarding the drivers, mechanisms and interactions that may underlie increasing MTF mortality rates, and identify the next steps for improved understanding and reduced prediction. Increasing mortality rates are associated with rising temperature and vapor pressure deficit, liana abundance, drought, wind events, fire and, possibly, CO2 fertilization-induced increases in stand thinning or acceleration of trees reaching larger, more vulnerable heights. The majority of these mortality drivers may kill trees in part through carbon starvation and hydraulic failure. The relative importance of each driver is unknown. High species diversity may buffer MTFs against large-scale mortality events, but recent and expected trends in mortality drivers give reason for concern regarding increasing mortality within MTFs. Models of tropical tree mortality are advancing the representation of hydraulics, carbon and demography, but require more empirical knowledge regarding the most common drivers and their subsequent mechanisms. We outline critical datasets and model developments required to test hypotheses regarding the underlying causes of increasing MTF mortality rates, and improve prediction of future mortality under climate change