Understanding evolutionary processes during past Quaternary climatic cycles: Can it be applied to the future?

Climate change affected ecological community make-up during the Quaternary which was probably both the cause of, and was caused by, evolutionary processes such as species evolution, adaptation and extinction of species and populations

Greeley Health Club, Inc. Accounting Systems Analysis and Design Continuous and Final Project

The following case was developed and used in an undergraduate Accounting Information Systems course at the University of Northern Colorado.  It is a continuous case because it is introduced as the topics and software are scheduled in class during the semester.  It is a final project because several components are not required to be handed in until the final week of the course.Teaching notes and portions of the course outline are provided.  The project uses transaction processing, word processing, flowcharting, spreadsheet, database, and web authoring software.  The software used by the author was AccPac Simply Accounting Pro Version 8.5, Microsoft Word, RFFlow Professional Flowcharting, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft FrontPage.Permission to use the material for your individual classroom use and to modify it to conform to your choice of software is hereby granted assuming proper references are provided.  You will find that some detailed changes are required to adapt the project to other software. The project text in Word format and suggested solutions using the software indicated in the paper can be downloaded by accessing the following web addresses:http://mcb.unco.edu/accounting/readme.doc  and  http://mcb.unco.edu/accounting/aiscaseghc.zip

Transaction Processing Software In Principles, Intermediate And Accounting Systems: An Effective Integration Tool

The problem examined in this study is threefold.  First, does a review of accounting principles at the beginning of an intermediate accounting course result in a significant improvement in students’ understanding of the major processes in the accounting cycle?  Second, does the packet of materials, developed by the authors, utilizing a transaction processing approach and an off-the-shelf transaction processing application package yield significantly better results on a post-test than teaching the material from an intermediate accounting text?  Third, to what extent do students believe the materials developed by the authors are beneficial to them in preparation for intermediate accounting and in introducing them to systems concepts? A review of accounting principles at the beginning of an intermediate accounting course resulted in a significant improvement in students’ understanding of the major processes in the accounting cycle regardless of the method of review used in the study.  The packet of material developed by the authors utilizing a transaction processing approach and an off-the-shelf transaction processing package yielded similar overall results to using an intermediate textbook review.  Overall student responses to the questionnaire were favorable and indicated satisfaction with the instructor prepared review material.  Completion of a supplementary problem using additional modules of a transaction processing software program can provide a transition to an accounting systems course

Gas Brooder Maintenance.

4 p

Changes in perceived scientific consensus shift beliefs about climate change and GM food safety.

Despite an overwhelming scientific consensus, a sizable minority of people doubt that human activity is causing climate change. Communicating the existence of a scientific consensus has been suggested as a way to correct individuals' misperceptions about human-caused climate change and other scientific issues, though empirical support is mixed. We report an experiment in which psychology students were presented with consensus information about two issues, and subsequently reported their perception of the level of consensus and extent of their endorsement of those issues. We find that messages about scientific consensus on the reality of anthropogenic climate change and the safety of genetically modified food shift perceptions of scientific consensus. Using mediation models we also show that, for both these issues, high consensus messages also increase reported personal agreement with the scientific consensus, mediated by changes in perceptions of a scientific consensus. This confirms the role of perceived consensus in informing personal beliefs about climate change, though results indicate the impact of single, one-off messages may be limited

The historic peat record: Implications for the restoration of blanket bog.

Peaty soils such as those found in blanket bogs lay down a history of their vegetation composition, along with the relative humification of these remains, which can be used to reconstruct bog surface wetness. These records highlight the variability of vegetation cover over time at blanket bog sites and could therefore be used to provide context to inform targets for the outcome of any restoration work. Because the vegetation present currently or in the recent past on the surface of a bog might be due to a relatively recent change, a longer-term history would give a different baseline to aim for. This should be relatively easy to achieve at some level for sites that have had cores taken, for which a database already exists. Historical records show a general picture of natural cycles in peat wetness and vegetation cover, and highlight a large level of variability that is sometimes found over even quite small areas in the timing of peat initiation and the types of vegetation present. This local variability suggests that topography (which varies more within a small spatial extent than climate or edaphic conditions) is a strong determinant of peat growth. However, climatic factors are also important. At some sites, past recovery of Sphagnum has been associated with wetter, cooler phases in the climate. Because rainfall and temperature are likely to change in future with continued climatic change, reconstructed climatic conditions at blanket peat sites could be used to determine whether the projected future climatic conditions at a potential restoration site are likely to fall within the range that supported peat formation in the past. This would help determine whether any restoration work has a chance of succeeding in the long term, and a database of sediment cores has been assembled for England that could be used as a starting point for this. One potential management strategy would be to accept that some vegetation that is currently considered undesirable has been present on blanket bogs in the past, and allow enough time and space for natural cycles to occur. However, what is not known is how much space would be needed to allow such natural cycles to continue, which sites are undergoing change as part of a natural cycle and which are not, or whether these natural cycles might be expected to continue in the same way in the future under climate change. There is some evidence for human impacts on blanket bogs in the past; the use of marginal lands for grazing and agriculture appear to have stopped the spread of peat in some areas, and in some other areas deforestation by humans appears to have been instrumental in initiating peat production. This demonstrates that there is considerable potential for management actions to impact the character of blanket bogs – based on inductive reasoning it seems likely that the reversal of some negative factors (such as blocking drains and removing plantation forestry) will result in the restoration of hydrological function, which could drive further changes in vegetation away from dry heath and trees to Sphagnum-dominated blanket bog that actively forms peat. However, care should be taken when choosing species to re-vegetate bare peat, since Calluna is associated with drier areas. What is not currently known is whether this is a cause or effect of drier conditions, but it is possible that the introduction of Calluna to the bog surface might result in drying of the peat, which would slow the rate of peat formation. Sphagnum is associated with lower emissions of methane and is a main peat forming species, so its suitability for re-vegetating bare peat is likely to be higher if it can become established. The timing of the initiation of erosion at some sites is well before the nitrogen deposition that is often implicated in this, and erosion has not always been caused by human activity. Indeed, some bogs have switched between erosion and accumulation over time, and others have recovered naturally from human impacts. However, what makes some bogs more resilient than others or causes the switch between erosion and accumulation is not known, and further research here would be beneficial to inform restoration management

Maximum Storm Surge Elevations in the Tuktoyaktuk Region of the Canadian Beaufort Sea

Storm surges are a significant concern in the siting and design of structures along the Beaufort Sea coast in that the coastal relief is low and the magnitude of surges in this region is large. Coastal storm surge elevations along the southern Canadian Beaufort Sea coast were documented by surveying log debris lines in the Kugmallit Bay/Tuktoyaktuk region. Careful attention to sire selection and survey technique resulted in estimated errors in surge elevation measurements of less than ±0.3 m. The data indicate a local surge maximum has occurred at Tuktoyaktuk at approximately 2.4 m above mean sea level (MSL); lower maximum surge elevations (2 m above MSL) were documented to the north and west of Tuktoyaktuk. There is no evidence that higher surges have occurred during the last 100 years. A surge that occurred in August 1986 measured approximately 1.6 m above MSL at Tuktoyaktuk and decreased to approximately 1.4 m above MSL 20 km to the north and west of Tuktoyaktuk. These surge elevation data provide a basis for the calibration of numerical models of surge and can be used directly in siting and design analysis of coastal structures.Key words: Beaufort Sea coast, storm surges, Kugmallit Bay, TuktoyaktukMots clés: côte de la mer de Beaufort, houle des tempêtes, baie de Kugmallit, Tuktoyaktu

Using single-cell technologies to map the human immune system - implications for nephrology.

Advances in single-cell technologies are transforming our understanding of cellular identity. For instance, the application of single-cell RNA sequencing and mass cytometry technologies to the study of immune cell populations in blood, secondary lymphoid organs and the renal tract is helping researchers to map the complex immune landscape within the kidney, define cell ontogeny and understand the relationship of kidney-resident immune cells with their circulating counterparts. These studies also provide insights into the interactions of immune cell populations with neighbouring epithelial and endothelial cells in health, and across a range of kidney diseases and cancer. These data have translational potential and will aid the identification of drug targets and enable better prediction of off-target effects. The application of single-cell technologies to clinical renal biopsy samples, or even cells within urine, will improve diagnostic accuracy and assist with personalized prognostication for patients with various kidney diseases. A comparison of immune cell types in peripheral blood and secondary lymphoid organs in healthy individuals and in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases that affect the kidney will also help to unravel the mechanisms that underpin the breakdown in self-tolerance and propagation of autoimmune responses. Together, these immune cell atlases have the potential to transform nephrology