Preferences of the Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum, for Nutritionally Different Dog Foods

Triboliumcastaneum, known as the red flour beetle (RFB)is a common pest of stored grain and milled grain products.Thisresearch studied how RFBs orient to and lay eggs in their standard flour diet and in two kinds of dog food.We tested whether RFBs have a preference toward two different dog foods, one with low protein, the “Light” food, and the other with high protein, the “Dark” food. We predicted the beetles would prefer the Light kibble with the lower protein.When given the choice between the two foods, 60% of beetlespreferredthe Light product, which had only 20% of the protein as the dark food, which was chosen by 40% of beetles. When the beetles were given the choice between either Light or Dark kibble, vs. their regular flour-based lab diet, flour was the preferred food. However, the two-choice test showed a higher proportion of beetles were in the Light compared to Dark food. These results are important because they will help the pet food industry further understand what the RFBs prefer, and thus help us take appropriate measures to prevent infestation

Glandular Secretions of Male Pteropus (Flying Foxes): Preliminary Chemical Comparisons Among Species

Chemosignaling – passing information by means of chemical compounds that can be detected by members of the same species – is a very important form of communication for most mammals. Flying fox males have odiferous marking secretions on their neck-ruffs that include a combination of secretion from the neck gland and from the urogenital tract; males use this substance to establish territory, especially during the mating season. The secretions of flying fox males from three Australian species – spectacled (Pteropus conspicillatus), grey-headed (P. poliocephalus), and black (P. alecto) – were compared using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC); two spectacled females were also examined to compare secretion content without the addition of urogenital components, as female neck-ruff secretions originate solely from the neck glands. Male secretions showed five to six major components, and each species demonstrated a unique chemical profile. Further, female secretions revealed a greater volume of components than expected, though male secretions contained more major components that were generally at greater concentrations. It was found that spectacled, grey-headed, and black flying fox secretions had many shared components, which may be related to the ability of black flying foxes to interbreed with the other two species. Further examination is needed to determine the component identities, though this study hypothesizes them to be alcohols, esters, hydrocarbons, or ketones based on these compounds’ unique odors and common abundance in mammalian secretions

Financial Education and Financial Literacy by Income and Education Groups

This study examines associations between financial education and financial literacy among people with different levels of education and income using a large, national data set, the 2015 National Financial Capability Study. This study estimates whether financial education in high school, college, or through an employer, is associated with a person \u27s financial literacy score. Results show that people who received any financial education are likely to have higher financial literacy scores compared to those without financial education. Financial education has larger predicted probabilities for those with lower education and income, suggesting that financial education is especially important for this demographic group. This research emphasizes a need to teach financial education to people whom previous research suggests lacks financial literacy the most

Discovery and mapping of the Triton seep site, Redondo Knoll: fluid flow and microbial colonization within an oxygen minimum zone

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Wagner, J. K. S., Smart, C., & German, C. R. Discovery and mapping of the Triton seep site, Redondo Knoll: fluid flow and microbial colonization within an oxygen minimum zone. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (2020): 108, doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00108.This paper examines a deep-water (∼900 m) cold-seep discovered in a low oxygen environment ∼30 km off the California coast in 2015 during an E/V Nautilus telepresence-enabled cruise. This Triton site was initially detected from bubble flares identified via shipboard multibeam sonar and was then confirmed visually using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hercules. High resolution mapping (to 1 cm resolution) and co-registered imaging has provided us with a comprehensive site overview – both of the geologic setting and the extent of the associated microbial colonization. The Triton site represents an active cold-seep where microorganisms can act as primary producers at the base of a chemosynthesis-driven food chain. But it is also located near the core of a local oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), averaging 100 m across the seafloor, dominate the site, while typical seep-endemic macro-fauna were noticeably absent from our co-registered photographic and high-resolution mapping surveys – especially when compared to all adjacent seep sites within the same California Borderlands region. While such absences of abundant macro-fauna could be attributable to variations in the availability of dissolved oxygen in the overlying water column this need not necessarily be the case. An alternate possibility is that the zonation in microbial activity that is readily observable at the seafloor at Triton reflects, instead, a concentric pattern of radially diminishing fluxes of reductants from the underlying seafloor. This unusual but readily accessible discovery, in close proximity to Los Angeles harbor, provides an intriguing new natural laboratory at which to examine biogeochemical and microbiological interactions associated with the functioning of cold seep ecosystems within an OMZ.Ship time was funded by NOAA – Office of Exploration and Research and the Ocean Exploration Trust. This material is based upon work supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (to JW), the Office of Naval Research (to CS), and NASA’s Astrobiology program (to CG)

The Effects of Gender Differences in Financial Decision-Making on Household Financial Behaviors and Outcomes: Looking at the Nebraska Data in the 2018 National Financial Capability Study

Nationally, and in Nebraska, a persistent gender, racial, and ethnic wage gap exists. This session will explore women’s earnings, spending habits, and financial knowledge to understand their critical role in the economy

Social Studies Instruction in Nebraska

In the 1980s standardized testing began to emerge as a major component of P-12 education reform and by the late 1980s state standards, benchmarks and curriculum frameworks started to become more widely used in states (Vogler and Virtue 2007). Both elementary and secondary social studies classes have changed to adapt to the new standards and mandated standardized testing. With increasing focus on reading, mathematics, and science, many began to be concerned that social studies instruction may be limited. Social studies instruction is vital to educate civically engaged individuals. However, at the high school level, teachers emphasize memorization and recollection of facts and devote less time to the integration of social studies with other content areas or into daily life (Vogler and Virtue 2007). Also, studies have found that due to the influence of mandated testing at the elementary level, time allotments for social studies instruction have been reduced to allocate additional instructional time to content areas, such as mathematics, which are subjected to high-stakes testing. (Vogler and Virtue 2007; Lintner 2006; and VanFossen 2005). The goal of this survey was to gather information and examine Nebraska teachers’ perceptions related to the current status of social studies instruction in Nebraska. This report will describe how Nebraska teachers teach social studies—what methods of instruction they use and with what frequency, how confident they are with the Nebraska Social Studies Standards, and how often they are offered and utilize professional development opportunities. Results from the survey may be used to advocate and plan for social studies professional development by individual school districts, Education Service Units (ESUs), and/or the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). The survey was conducted in spring 2017 with 796 complete surveys submitted. Teachers completing the survey represent all Nebraska ESUs, grade levels (elementary, middle, and high school), and all district sizes..