PIA : more accurate taxonomic assignment of metagenomic data demonstrated on sedaDNA from the North sea

Assigning metagenomic reads to taxa presents significant challenges. Existing approaches address some issues, but are mostly limited to metabarcoding or optimized for microbial data. We present PIA (Phylogenetic Intersection Analysis): a taxonomic binner that works from standard BLAST output while mitigating key effects of incomplete databases. Benchmarking against MEGAN using sedaDNA suggests that, while PIA is less sensitive, it can be more accurate. We use known sequences to estimate the accuracy of PIA at up to 96% when the real organism is not represented in the database. For ancient DNA, where taxa of interest are frequently over-represented domesticates or absent, poorly-known organisms, more accurate assignment is critical, even at the expense of sensitivity. PIA offers an approach to objectively filter out false positive hits without the need to manually remove taxa and so make presuppositions about past environments and their palaeoecologies

Undergoing Political Experience. A Book Review of \u3cem\u3eEducational Politics for Social Justice\u3c/em\u3e

The persistent reports and video evidence of the brutality against people of color, the swell of protest and community organizing in response, and also the noxious swell of white supremacy in the current political climate all amount to a desperate reminder that we must not only continually interrogate our public institutions but thoughtfully pursue the many fronts necessary to dismantle the structural forms of oppression that most U.S. institutions have been built upon. Catherine Marshall, Cynthia Gerstl-Pepin, and Mark Johnson provide an analysis of the political arenas making up the public education system—what they explain as the micro, district, state, federal, and global realms. In Educational Politics for Social Justice, the authors argue that an understanding of these arenas can help guide the efforts of those who care about education such that they might better “center justice” in their effort to work toward greater equity in the public schools. This review explores some of the merits and applicability of their ideas and provides a few suggestions about where else we might look for hope and guidance amid the chaos of this current political experience

Predation of Belugas and Narwhals by Polar Bears in Nearshore Areas of the Canadian High Arctic

On 18 August 1988 we found four narwhals and two dead belugas stranded on a low beach at Creswell Bay, Somerset Island. All of the narwhals and two of the belugas had been attacked and partially eaten by polar bears. At Cunningham Inlet, where belugas concentrate in large numbers, we have noted ten strandings over the period 1980-88, without bear predation on these occasions. One bear, hunting from an ice floe in deep water at Cunningham Inlet, killed two sub-adult belugas in July 1985. Belugas seem to exhibit curiosity towards swimming polar bears that might serve to drive bears out of the area and reduce the risk of predation. The potential large summer food resource for bears represented by odontocete whales in the High Arctic Archipelago seems to be underutilized. The timing and location of beluga concentrations are known and dates of probable strandings are somewhat predictable, which might allow us to assess the extent of bear predation on whales in the future.

Winds of Change: The Creation of Wind Law

This article discusses the beginnings of wind law and national development in judiciary and state law. Identifying it as the state standing at the forefront of wind law, the authors review the development of wind law in Texas. A review of wind-related statutes provides insight into how those statutes (and the lack of others) lead to growth in the wind industry. This article also discusses select wind cases and statutes from other states to further explore how wind law is developing, and it examines areas where case law is lacking, but likely to appear soon.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

A study of the effect of movement of outdoor pigs to a new site on Salmonella prevalence

Outdoor breeding of pigs in Great Britain constitutes a substantial proportion of the British pig industry, with at least 40% of the breeding herd kept outdoors. Outdoor production is viewed as more welfare friendly and forms a break between cereal crops. Outdoor pig production has a tendency for high Salmonella seroprevalence at slaughter, with evidence for a wide diversity of resident and transient infections on farm, often showing some overlap with local environmental and wildlife isolates. Outdoor pigs may be at increased risk of infection due to: the lack of a controlled environment that can be cleaned and disinfected between batches of pigs; less control over exposure of pigs to factors such as cold and heat stress; and increased exposure to Salmonella through difficulties in applying biosecurity for personnel and vehicles as well as increased contact with the environment and wildlife. Anecdotal information has shown that moving outdoor pigs to new land is usually followed by an improvement in herd health and productivity. It is believed that outdoor herds in the UK typically move site every 2-3 years. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the effect on the occurrence of Salmonella of moving pigs to new land and the sustainability of any improvements over a one year period

Obtaining a Clearer Picture through Format Upgrades

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