Philly Scientists: Blending Professional Development for In-School and Out-of-School Educators

In the fall of 2016, a team of Pennsylvania STEM educators received a generous grant from the National Science Foundation to provide STEM education to middle-school students in the Philadelphia Promise Zone. Entitled “Philly Scientists” and targeting both classroom teachers and out-of-school time (OST) staff, this grant combined biodiversity curriculum development, teacher training, career access activities, and modern technology to address the following three research questions: 1. What coherent set of experiences effectively support fourth, fifth and sixth grade students’ knowledge development (e.g., biodiversity content knowledge blended with science practices), motivation and career awareness about STEM-related work and jobs of today and the future? What are characteristics of their knowledge, motivation and career awareness competencies? 2. What professional development models and recognition systems can effectively engage teachers and OST providers in demonstrating Next Generation Science knowledge, pedagogy, and career awareness for fourth through sixth grade students? 3. How effective is the activity of Promise Zone fourth-sixth grade students as information providers and Urban Scientists interacting with scientist mentors towards increasing career awareness and understanding characteristics of STEM work? Our partners in this initiative were Drexel University, The Philadelphia Education Fund (PEF), The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (ANS), and the Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN). The project also engaged Research for Action (RFA) as the external evaluator. Staff from the Philadelphia Education Fund were primarily tasked with designing, implementing, and evaluating the professional development component of this initiative. The team recognized that in-school and OST teachers have different skill-sets, needs, and schedules - but that each group of educators also has a great deal to offer one another. For instance, we hypothesized that classroom teachers may have more experience connecting lessons to national standards and local educational initiatives; while OST providers may be more versed in working with families, with communities, and with blending social work and education. For these reasons, we were interested in both the logistical and pedagogical results and implications of our study. And while there is a great deal of research pertaining to STEM professional development for both in-school and out-of-school staff, we found little literature that referenced blending PD for both populations

Geothermal heating in the Panama Basin. Part II: abyssal water mass transformation

Diabatic upwelling of abyssal waters is investigated in the Panama Basin employing the water mass transformation framework of Walin [1982]. We find that, in large areas of the basin, the bottom boundary layer is very weakly stratified and extends hundreds of meters above the sea floor. Within the weakly stratified bottom boundary layer (wsBBL) neutral density layers intercept the bottom of the basin. The area of these density layer incrops increases gradually as the abyssal waters become lighter. Large incrop areas are associated with strong diabatic upwelling of abyssal water, geothermal heating being the largest buoyancy source. While a significant amount of water mass transformation is due to extreme turbulence downstream of the Ecuador Trench, the only abyssal water inflow passage, water mass transformation across the upper boundary of abyssal water layer is accomplished almost entirely by geothermal heating

Geothermal heating in the Panama Basin. Part I: hydrography of the basin

The Panama Basin serves as a laboratory to investigate abyssal water upwelling. The basin has only a single abyssal water inflow pathway through the narrow Ecuador Trench. The estimated critical inflow through the Trench reaches 0.34 ± 0.07 m s−1, resulting in an abyssal water volume inflow of 0.29 ± 0.07 Sv. The same trench carries the return flow of basin waters that starts just 200 m above the bottom and is approximately 400 m deeper than the depth of the next possible deep water exchange pathway at the Carnegie Ridge Saddle. The curvature of temperature‐salinity diagrams is used to differentiate the effect of geothermal heating on the deep Panama Basin waters that was found to reach as high as 2200 m depth, which is about 500 m above the upper boundary of the abyssal water layer

Documentação de Calidris pusilla (Aves, Charadriidae) no Paraguai

Se documenta por primera vez la presencia del playero Calidris pusilla en Paraguay, a través de fotografías tomadas de presumiblemente un solo individuo en Laguna Capitán, Departamento de Presidente Hayes durante el 12-13 de mayo de 2017. Se indican menciones previas (basadas en observaciones) de la especie en el país.The presence of Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla in Paraguay is documented for the first through photographs taken, of presumably the same individual, at Laguna Capitán, Presidente Hayes deparment, during 12-13 May 2017. A summary is provided of previous records (sight only observations) of the species in the country.A presença do maçarico-rasteirinho Calidris pusilla no Paraguai é documentada pela primeira vez, através de fotografias tiradas, presumivelmente, de um único indivíduo em Laguna Capitán, Departamento de Presidente Hayes, de 12 a 13 de maio de 2017. As menções anteriores (com base em observações) são indicadas das espécies no país.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Mitigation measures to reduce entanglements of migrating whales with commercial fishing gear

The West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (WCRLMF) transitioned to a quota based fishery, and year-round fishing, which corresponded with a spike in whale entanglements in 2013. This presented industry with a challenging social issue, to reduce entanglements without impacting on the financial benefits that the shift to year-round quota fishing had afforded

Fibrates as drugs with senolytic and autophagic activity for osteoarthritis therapy

Research paper[Abstract] Background. Ageing-related failure of homeostasis mechanisms contributes to articular cartilage degeneration and osteoarthritis (OA), for which disease-modifying treatments are not available. Our objective was to identify molecules to prevent OA by regulating chondrocyte senescence and autophagy. Methods. Human chondrocytes with IL-6 induced senescence and autophagy suppression and SA-β-gal as a reporter of senescence and LC3 as reporter of autophagic flux were used to screen the Prestwick Chemical Library of approved drugs. Preclinical cellular, tissue and blood from OA and blood from OA and ageing models were used to test the efficacy and relevance of activating PPARα related to cartilage degeneration. Findings. Senotherapeutic molecules with pro-autophagic activity were identified. Fenofibrate (FN), a PPARα agonist used for dyslipidaemias in humans, reduced the number of senescent cells via apoptosis, increased autophagic flux, and protected against cartilage degradation. FN reduced both senescence and inflammation and increased autophagy in both ageing human and OA chondrocytes whereas PPARα knockdown conferred the opposite effect. Moreover, PPARα expression was reduced through both ageing and OA in mice and also in blood and cartilage from knees of OA patients. Remarkably, in a retrospective study, fibrate treatment improved OA clinical conditions in human patients from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) Cohort. Interpretation. These results demonstrate that FDA-approved fibrate drugs targeting lipid metabolism protect against cartilage degeneration seen with ageing and OA. Thus, these drugs could have immediate clinically utility for age-related cartilage degeneration and OA treatment.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI14/01324Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI17/02059Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; P01 AG043376Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; U19 AG05627

Efecto del rolado y siembra de buffel sobre la evolución del estrato graminoso en un arbustal degradado del Chaco árido

In Argentinean Chaco Arid region, rolling and buffelgrass seeding is widespread. In this region, information related to its short and medium time effects on vegetation attributes is available. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long time impacts (10 years) of roller chopping and buffelgrass seeding on grass yield, precipitation use efficiency and cover in a degraded site of the mentioned region. The treatments were: T0 = No roller chopping-seeding (Control) and T1= Roller chopping+buffelgrass seeding. Forage grass yield and precipitation use efficiency tended to be higher in T1 than in T0 during the evaluation period. Forage grass yield increment in T1 was highly associated to increment in total perennial grass cover (R2=91%), mainly due to buffelgrass cover (R2=76%). In T1, native perennial grass cover showed a negative lineal tendency in relation to years. Annual native grass, perennial native grass, total perennial grass and buffelgras covers followed a quadratic tendency related to years. Results of this study suggest that roller chopping and simultaneous buffelgrass seeding is, from a point of view of animal production, an efficient strategy for rapid restoration of grass cover and grazing capacity of degraded areas and that its effects maintains in the long time.En el Chaco Árido, el rolado y siembra de buffel (Cenchrus ciliaris var. Texas 4464) está ampliamente difundido, contándose solo con información de los efectos a corto y mediano plazo de la aplicación de esta técnica sobre atributos de vegetación. El objetivo fue evaluar el impacto a largo plazo (10 años) del rolado y siembra de buffel sobre la producción de materia seca acumulada, eficiencia del uso de la precipitación y cobertura de gramíneas en un ambiente degradado de la región. Los tratamientos fueron: T0 = Sin rolado ni siembra (Testigo) y T1= Rolado + siembra simultanea de buffel. La producción de forraje y la eficiencia de uso de la precipitación tendieron a ser mayores en T1 respecto a T0, en todo el período evaluado. El incremento de la producción en T1 estuvo altamente relacionado al incremento en la cobertura de pastos perennes totales (R2=91%), principalmente a la cobertura de buffel (R2=76%). En T1, la cobertura de pastos nativos perennes tendió a disminuir en el tiempo, mientras que la cobertura de pastos nativos anuales, la de pastos perennes totales y la de buffel, presentaron una tendencia cuadrática. Estos resultados sugieren que el rolado y siembra de buffel, desde un punto de vista de la producción animal, es una eficiente estrategia para recuperar la capacidad de forrajera de sitios degradados del Chaco Árido

Non-song vocalizations of pygmy blue whales in Geographe Bay, Western Australia.

Non-song vocalizations of migrating pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) in Western Australia are described. Simultaneous land-based visual observations and underwater acoustic recordings detected 27 groups in Geographe Bay, WA over 2011 to 2012. Six different vocalizations were recorded that were not repeated in a pattern or in association with song, and thus were identified as non-song vocalizations. Five of these were not previously described for this population. Their acoustic characteristics and context are presented. Given that 56% of groups vocalized, 86% of which produced non-song vocalizations and 14% song units, the inclusion of non-song vocalizations in passive-acoustic monitoring is proposed

Associations of dietary energy density with body composition and cardiometabolic risk in children with overweight and obesity: role of energy density calculations, under-reporting energy intake and physical activity

This study examined (1) the association of dietary energy density from solid (EDS) and solid plus liquids (EDSL) with adiposity and cardiometabolic risk factors (CRF) in children with overweight and obesity, (2) the effect of under-reporting on the mentioned associations and (3) whether the association between ED and body composition and CRF is influenced by levels of physical activity. In a cross-sectional design, 208 overweight and obese children (8-12-year-old; 111 boys) completed two non-consecutive 24 h recalls. ED was calculated using two different approaches: EDS and EDSL. Under-reporters were determined with the Goldberg method. Body composition, anthropometry and fasting blood sample measurements were performed. Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was registered with accelerometers (7-d-register). Linear regressions were performed to evaluate the association of ED with the previously mentioned variables. Neither EDS nor EDSL were associated with body composition or CRF. However, when under-reporters were excluded, EDS was positively associated with BMI (P=0 019), body fat percentage (P=0 005), abdominal fat (P=0 008) and fat mass index (P=0 018), while EDSL was positively associated with body fat percentage (P=0 008) and fat mass index (P=0 026). When stratifying the group according to physical activity recommendations, the aforementioned associations were only maintained for non-compliers. Cluster analysis showed that the low-ED and high-MVPA group presented the healthiest profile for all adiposity and CRF. These findings could partly explain inconsistencies in literature, as we found that different ED calculations entail distinct results. Physical activity levels and excluding under-reporters greatly influence the associations between ED and adiposity in children with overweight and obesity.The research leading to these results has received funding from la Caixa Foundation and Triptolemos Foundation, the Ministry of Health (FIS PI081297), the Research Network on Preventative Activities and Health Promotion (RD06/0018/ 0038), the Henning and Johan Throne-Holst Foundation (F. B. O.), the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU14/03329 to M. M.), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (DEP2013-47540 and DEP2016-78377-R; BES-2014-068829 to C. C.-S.), Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01335), Fondos Estructurales de la Union Europea (FEDER), Una manera de hacer Europa, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC-2011-09011 to F. B. O.), the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016, Excellence Actions: Units of Excellence, Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), Programa de Captacion de Talento - UGR Fellows (L. G.-M.), the SAMID III network, RETICS (PN I +D+ I 2017-2021). This study has been partially funded by the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), and by the Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidades and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), reference SOMM17/6107/UGR. ISCIII-Sub-Directorate General for Research Assessment and Promotion, the European Regional Development Fund (RD16/ 0022), the EXERNET Research Network on Exercise and Health in Special Populations (DEP2005-00046/ACTI), and the University of the Basque Country (GIU14/21). J. M.-G. is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU14/06837). J. H. M. is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU15/02645)