Hunting Billbug Sphenophorus venatus (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae) adult feeding and attraction to warm- and cool-season turfgrasses

The hunting billbug Sphenophorus venatus Say (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Dryophothorinae) is a generalist stem-boring pest on warm- and cool-season grasses. The objectives of this work were to (1) investigate adult feeding preference for four common turfgrass host species and (2) explore whether adults are attracted to the volatile odors emitted by these grasses. In laboratory feeding assays, S. venatus adults preferred zoysiagrass Zoysia japonica Steud ‘Meyer’ over all other species tested: Bermudagrass Cynodon dactylon ‘Patriot’, Kentucky bluegrass Poa pratensis ‘Barron’, and creeping bentgrass Agrostis stolonifera ‘Penncross’. In y-tube olfactometry assays, only males were attracted to bermudagrass. Our findings suggest that although S. venatus odor recognition potentially influence dispersal and host-seeking behavior, it may not ultimately determine feeding preference, where more close-range cues may be important. Further investigations on the mechanisms that cause variation in these behaviors could aid in the pursuit of more sustainable management techniques, such as strategic plant species selection and development of synthetic semiochemical lures for monitoring and trapping

Emputada: A Transnational Critique of Trafficking, Prostitution, and Global Sex Worker Organizing

This thesis provides a genealogy of the international sex trafficking discourse, as defined juridically through the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, by annotating how the category and definition of sex trafficking emerged from multiple articulations of race, sexuality, and migration. By providing a comparative example of how trafficking and sex work is conceptualized within the sociopolitical infrastructures of three distinct locations-- St.Paul/Minnneapolis, San Francisco, and Cochabamba--I demonstrate how trafficking, as defined in international discourse, both has its historical roots in the west and continues to serve as a method of (neo)colonial control

On the cross-correlation of sub-mm sources and optically-selected galaxies

Bright sub-mm galaxies are expected to arise in massive highly-biased haloes, and hence exhibit strong clustering. We argue that a valuable tool for measuring these clustering properties is the cross-correlation of sub-mm galaxies with faint optically-selected sources. We analyze populations of SCUBA-detected and optical galaxies in the GOODS-N survey area. Using optical/IR photometric-redshift information, we search for correlations induced by two separate effects: (1) cosmic magnification of background sub-mm sources by foreground dark matter haloes traced by optical galaxies at lower redshifts; and (2) galaxy clustering due to sub-mm and optical sources tracing the same population of haloes where their redshift distributions overlap. Regarding cosmic magnification, we find no detectable correlation. Our null result is consistent with a theoretical model for the cosmic magnification, and we show that a dramatic increase in the number of sub-mm sources will be required to measure the effect reliably. Regarding clustering, we find evidence at the 3.5-sigma level for a cross-correlation between sub-mm and optical galaxies analyzed in identical photometric redshift slices. The data hint that the sub-mm sources have an enhanced bias parameter compared to the optically-selected population (with a significance of 2-sigma). The next generation of deep sub-mm surveys can potentially perform an accurate measurement of each of these cross-correlations, adding a new set of diagnostics for understanding the development of massive structure in the Universe.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

Skeletal Frailty at Kałdus, a Medieval Poland Early Piast Dynasty Cemetery

The objective of this project is to assess skeletal frailty, as estimated using a skeletal frailty index (SFI), at the medieval Polish site of Kałdus to better evaluate the impacts of living and social environments on individuals within this urban­izing population. We assessed biological frailty in adults from the Global History of Health Project database. 11 skeletal and dentoalveolar biomarkers were selected as representative of childhood and adulthood frailty and aggregated into an SFI by summing their occurrence in each individual. Cumulative skeletal frailty scores were tabulated for each individ­ual and could range from 0 (no skeletal markers of stressors present) to 11 (all skeletal markers of stressors present) based on the presence or severity of lifetime stressors that altered their living bones. As many skeletal frailty markers correlate with age, SFIs were compared between individuals within specific age groups: 18–25 (n = 21), 26–35 (n = 31), 36–45 (n = 31), and >45 (n = 25) years. In the overall sample, SFI averaged 4.13 (range 0–9, sd = 1.98). Among males (n = 56), SFI averaged 4.45 (sd = 1.90; range 1–8); among females (n=52), it was 3.79 (sd = 2.03; range 0–9). SFI was lowest in the youngest age group, 2.38 (sd = 1.83; range 0–6) and highest in the oldest, 5.48 (sd = 1.50; range 2–9; p < 0.001). In these medieval skeletons, SFI distributions were significantly different between males and females only when accounting for age (p = 0.044), with females exhibiting higher mean frailty within each age group. Skeletal frailty, as estimated from biomarkers of skeletal stress, suggests these individuals were exposed to considerable stress throughout their lives. As Poland’s written history in the medieval period is sparse, assessing skeletal frailty provides an alternative way to under­stand the lives and experienced stressors of its inhabitants. Further research connecting skeletal frailty to burial context and isotopic evidence will illuminate connections of SFI with diet, lifestyle, and health in medieval Poland

SIM – strengthened through diversity? An examination of the origins and effects of cultural diversity within a multi-national Christian mission agency 1975-2015

Through a historical analysis of the mission theology and practice of SIM, an evangelical mission organisation that was originally dominated by North Americans but is now increasingly multi-national, this thesis seeks to understand where the organisation’s vision and commitment to diversity originated and how it has adapted to accommodate its stated goal: ‘strengthened through diversity’. Focusing on 1975- 2015, this research explores the experience of one ‘faith mission’ in the context of the growth of Christianity as a global religion and the developing mission vision of churches in countries which previously only received missionaries. It asks how SIM has adapted to embrace diversity, a process of change not previously addressed through academic research. Through archival research and interviews with past and present SIM leaders and serving missionaries, this thesis illuminates the challenges of cultural diversity SIM has faced. It reflects on the role of individuals in SIM’s history who have worked out the lessons of their own mission experience during a later period of leadership at international level. Relating SIM’s experience to other evangelical mission organisations, this thesis suggests that SIM’s story is indicative of wider trends, and that it was at the forefront of organisations seeking to encourage cultural diversity. This study employs a primarily historical methodology, but also makes use where appropriate of anthropological perspectives and of concepts from management science in order to offer some theoretical exploration of issues faced by SIM in the outworking of everyday multiculturalism. After setting SIM in the context of conservative evangelical missions in the 20th century and wider debates taking place amongst mission thinkers, the thesis traces the origins of diversity in SIM and the process of internationalisation, demonstrating the way in which the emphasis on strength through diversity recaptured something of the original vision of SIM’s founders. It then explores the ways in which diversity has been defined within SIM, recognising different understandings, the primary emphasis on cultural diversity, and the limitations to diversity. The following three chapters explore the effects of increased cultural diversity in SIM through examination of the changing shape of mission-church relations as the organisation broadened its approach to a new model for mission which supported missionaries from new sending nations; the governance and structural changes implemented to move from a shareholder to stakeholder model of governance, and give voice to an increasingly diverse mission workforce; and an exploration of the challenges and benefits of multicultural teams, highlighting the complex layers and nuances of culture and ethnicity. Two case studies of leaders - one Singaporean and one Nigerian - who made significant contributions to the organisation illuminate different contexts and attitudes towards the process of change in SIM as it intentionally pursued its aim of strength through diversity. The thesis concludes with wider reflections on the significance of the cultural diversification of SIM, and the potential applications of SIM’s experience for other similar organisations

The Infrared Properties of Submillimeter Galaxies: Clues From Ultra-Deep 70 Micron Imaging

We present 70 micron properties of submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) North field. Out of thirty submillimeter galaxies (S_850 > 2 mJy) in the central GOODS-N region, we find two with secure 70 micron detections. These are the first 70 micron detections of SMGs. One of the matched SMGs is at z ~ 0.5 and has S_70/S_850 and S_70/S_24 ratios consistent with a cool galaxy. The second SMG (z = 1.2) has infrared-submm colors which indicate it is more actively forming stars. We examine the average 70 micron properties of the SMGs by performing a stacking analysis, which also allows us to estimate that S_850 > 2 mJy SMGs contribute 9 +- 3% of the 70 micron background light. The S_850/S_70 colors of the SMG population as a whole is best fit by cool galaxies, and because of the redshifting effects these constraints are mainly on the lower z sub-sample. We fit Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) to the far-infrared data points of the two detected SMGs and the average low redshift SMG (z_{median}= 1.4). We find that the average low-z SMG has a cooler dust temperature than local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) of similar luminosity and an SED which is best fit by scaled up versions of normal spiral galaxies. The average low-z SMG is found to have a typical dust temperature T = 21 -- 33 K and infrared luminosity L_{8-1000 micron} = 8.0 \times 10^11 L_sun. We estimate the AGN contribution to the total infrared luminosity of low-z SMGs is less than 23%.Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 14 pages, 6 figures. Minor revisions 20th Dec 200

Effect of Cueing on Learning Transfer Among Pre-professional Undergraduate Healthcare Students Engaged in a Case-based Analogical Reasoning Exercise

To examine the extent of transfer of cued versus non-cued pre- professional healthcare undergraduates engaged in a case-based analogical reasoning exercise. Independent t-test analysis and effect size was calculated to assess transfer between cued and non-cued participants (N = 192). Cued participants (n = 98, M = 2.30, SD = .89) demonstrated significantly more transfer (t (175.91) = 2.65; p = .009; CI95 = (.10, 0.68); d = .39) than non-cued participants (n = 94, M = 1.9, SD = 1.14). Learning transfer improves among pre- professional undergraduates when cued during a case-based analogical reasoning experience

Age, Geochemistry and Origin of the Ardara Appinite Plutons, Northwest Donegal, Ireland

In northwest Donegal, Ireland, a large number of coeval appinitic (hornblende-plagioclase-rich) plutons and lamprophyre dykes occur around the Ardara pluton, a granitic satellite body and one of the oldest phases of the ca. 428–400 Ma composite Donegal Batholith. The appinite units form a bimodal (mafic–felsic) suite in which hornblende is the dominant mafic mineral and typically occurs as large prismatic phenocrysts within a finer grained matrix. Lamprophyre dykes are mafic in composition with a geochemistry that is very similar to that of the mafic appinite bodies. Both mafic rocks are subalkalic, with calc-alkalic and tholeiitic tendencies, and show trace element abundances indicating that the mantle source was contaminated by subduction zone fluids. 40Ar/39Ar analysis of hornblende separated from two samples of appinite yield mid-Silurian (434.2 ± 2.1 Ma and 433.7 ± 5.5 Ma) cooling ages that are interpreted to closely date the time of intrusion. Hence, according to the available age data, the appinite bodies slightly predate, or were coeval with, the earliest phases of the Donegal Batholith. Sm–Nd isotopic analyses yield a range of initial εNd values (+3.1 to –4.8 at t = 435 Ma) that, together with trace element data, indicate that the appinitic magmas were likely derived from melting of metasomatized sub-continental lithospheric mantle and/or underplated mafic crust, with only limited crustal contamination during magma ascent. The appinitic intrusions are interpreted to have been emplaced along deep-seated crustal fractures that allowed for mafic and felsic magma to mingle. The magmas are thought to be the products of collisional asthenospheric upwelling associated with the closure of Iapetus and the ensuing Caledonian orogeny, either as a result of an orogen-wide delamination event or as a consequence of more localized slab break-off.RÉSUMÉDans le nord-ouest du Donegal, en Irlande, un grand nombre de plutons appinitiques (riches en hornblendes ou en plagioclases) et de dykes de lamprophyres contemporains se retrouvent autour du pluton d’Ardara, un corps satellite granitique et l’une des phases les plus anciennes du batholite composite de Donegal, âgé d’environ 428–400 Ma. Les unités de l’appinite forment une suite bimodale (mafique–felsique) dans laquelle la hornblende est le minéral mafique dominant et se présente généralement sous forme de grands phénocristaux prismatiques au sein d’une matrice à grains plus fins. Les dykes de lamprophyres ont une composition mafique dont la géochimie est très similaire à celle des corps d’appinite mafique. Les deux roches mafiques sont subalcaliques, avec des tendances calcoalcalines et tholéiitiques, et elles montrent des teneurs en éléments traces indiquant que la source du manteau a été contaminée par des fluides de zone de subduction. L'analyse 40Ar/39Ar des hornblendes provenant de deux échantillons d'appinite donne des âges de refroidissement du Silurien moyen (434,2 ± 2,1 Ma et 433,7 ± 5,5 Ma) qui sont interprétés comme étant proches de la date de l’intrusion. Par conséquent, selon les données d’âge disponibles, les corps d’appinite sont légèrement antérieurs ou contemporains des toutes premières phases du batholite de Donegal. Les analyses isotopiques Sm–Nd aboutissent à une gamme de valeurs εNd initiales (+3,1 à -4,8 à t = 435 Ma) qui, associées aux données des éléments traces, indiquent que les magmas appinitiques sont probablement dérivés de la fusion d'un manteau lithosphérique souscontinental métasomatisé et / ou d’une croûte mafique sousplaquée, avec une contamination crustale limitée lors de l'ascension du magma. Les intrusions appinitiques sont interprétées comme s'étant mises en place le long de fractures profondes de la croûte qui ont permis au magma mafique et au magma felsique de se mélanger. On pense que les magmas sont les produits de la remontée (upwelling) asthénosphérique collisionnelle associée à la fermeture de l’océan Iapetus et à l'orogenèse calédonienne qui s'ensuit, soit à la suite d'un délaminage à l'échelle de l'orogène, soit à la suite d'une rupture plus localisée de la plaque