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Wild Pigs: inciting factor in southern pine decline?
Get PDFDuring an investigation into southern pine decline at Fort Benning Georgia, the possibility of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) as an inciting factor became evident. Their rooting activity caused significant root damage on sites showing symptoms of pine decline. It was thought that perhaps the pigs may be moving around pathogenic fungi during their rooting activity in Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) stands. In 2008 and 2010, fungal isolates were obtained from the snouts of wild pigs captured from these stands, as well as, from root-feeding bark beetles and roots sampled 2003-2005. Micromorphology and DNA sequences of the ITS, elongation factor, and beta-tubulin gene regions were employed to identify the fungi recovered. Two new Ophiostoma species and a new Leptographium species were recovered. This study shows that wild pigs may exacerbate pine decline in this location by predisposing trees to bark beetles by reducing tree vigor when causing wounds for soil-borne or insect vectored pathogen infection and perhaps incidentally vectoring plant or tree pathogens during rooting activity
Understanding the growth rate patterns of ion Bernstein instabilities driven by ring-like proton velocity distributions
Get PDFFast magnetosonic waves in Earth's inner magnetosphere, which have as their source ion Bernstein instabilities, are driven by hot proton velocity distributions (f(p)) with partial derivative f(p)(v(perpendicular to))/partial derivative v(perpendicular to) > 0. Two typical types of distributions with such features are ring and shell velocity distributions. Both have been used in studies of ion Bernstein instabilities and fast magnetosonic waves, but the differences between instabilities driven by the two types of distributions have not been thoroughly addressed. The present study uses linear kinetic theory to examine and understand these differences. It is found that the growth rate pattern is primarily determined by the cyclotron resonance condition and the structure of the velocity distribution in gyroaveraged velocity space. For ring-driven Bernstein instabilities, as the parallel wave number (k(parallel to)) increases, the discrete unstable modes approximately follow the corresponding proton cyclotron harmonic frequencies while they become broader in frequency space. At sufficiently large k(parallel to), the neighboring discrete modes merge into a continuum. In contrast, for shell-driven Bernstein instabilities, the curved geometry of the shell velocity distribution in gyroaveraged velocity space results in a complex alternating pattern of growth and damping rates in frequency and wave number space and confines the unstable Bernstein modes to relatively small k(parallel to) In addition, when k(parallel to) increases, the unstable modes are no longer limited to the proton cyclotron harmonic frequencies. The local growth rate peak near an exact harmonic at small k(parallel to) bifurcates into two local peaks on both sides of the harmonic when k(parallel to) becomes large.PublishedYe
Sea level rise and inundation of island interiors: Assessing impacts of lake formation and evaporation on water resources in arid climates
Get PDFCoasts of many low-lying islands will be inundated should sea level rise by 1 m by 2100 as projected, thereby decreasing water resources through aquifer salinization. A lesser known impact occurs if rising sea level elevates water tables above interior topographic lows to form lakes. Impacts of lake formation on water resources, however, remain unquantified. Here we use hydrological models, based on islands in the Bahamian archipelago, to demonstrate that on islands with negative water budgets, evaporation following lake inundation can cause more than twice the loss of fresh groundwater resources relative to an equivalent amount of coastal inundation. This result implies that in dry climates, low-lying islands with inland depressions could face substantially greater threats to their water resources from sea level rise than previously considered.PublishedYe
Expanding access: An evaluation of Readcube as an interlibrary loan alternative
No full textObjective: Readcube is a patron-driven, document delivery system which provides immediate access to articles from all journals owned by the Nature Publishing group. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of Readcube as an ILL (interlibrary loan) alternative for a segment of non-subscribed journals.
Methods/Setting/Participants: Faculty, researchers, undergraduate and graduate students at a large, southeastern, research university which includes a School of Pharmacy and a School of Veterinary Medicine. Methodology: A questionnaire about Readcube use including satisfaction with, benefits realized, and challenges encountered was developed, approved by the institutional review board (IRB) and emailed to Readcube users. Results of the survey along with an analysis of ten month’s usage and costs are presented.
Results: There were a total of 169 unique Readcube users from 3/1/2014 to 12/31/2014. These users accessed from 1 to 30 articles apiece, for a total of 420 articles and an average of 2.5 articles per user. The largest group of users were graduate students (42%, n=71), second was faculty (19%, n=32). Most requested journals were Nature Communications (n=81), Nature Protocols (n=65), Nature Climate Change (n=39) and Nature Methods (n=37). Readcube access resulted in the provision of over four times as many articles as the previous year’s access through interlibrary loan (n=91). However, cost for the 420 articles accessed through Readcube was only a few hundred dollars move than the 91 articles obtained through ILL from 3/1/2013 to 12/31/2013. Most survey respondents reported they were able to use Readcube successfully and that increased access was the most significant benefit of using Readcube. However, many respondents mentioned challenges including problems with printing and the clunkiness of the Readcube interface. In addition, some patrons resented the necessity of creating an account and logging in each time they wished to access an article through Readcube.
Conclusions: Although Readcube costs were slightly higher than the prior year’s ILL costs, users accessed over four times as many articles. Patrons expressed some concerns about difficulties in using Readcube, particularly with printing, but still felt they benefited from increased and more immediate access. Auburn University Libraries has found Readcube to be an acceptable alternative to ILL for unsubscribed Nature journals and, at current levels of use and cost, consider Readcube to be financially sustainable
Is Pairing with a Relative Heritable? Estimating Female and Male Genetic Contributions to the Degree of Biparental Inbreeding in Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia)
Get PDFThe degree of inbreeding expressed within populations can profoundly shape evolutionary dynamics. The degree to which individuals inbreed is frequently assumed to evolve in response to selection, for example, resulting from inbreeding depression. Such evolutionary responses require additive genetic variance (V-A) in the degree to which individuals inbreed. However, the magnitude of V-A in the degree of biparental inbreeding has never been estimated. We devised a quantitative genetic model to estimate sex-specific V-A in the degree to which individuals inbreed while accounting for effects of individuals' own coefficients of inbreeding and genetic effects stemming from immigration. We applied this model to the degree of inbreeding expressed through social pairing in free-living song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Estimates of V-A for both sexes appreciably exceeded 0 and the cross-sex genetic covariance was strongly positive, creating substantial total V-A in the degree of inbreeding. Our analyses also revealed inbreeding depression in the degree of inbreeding, such that more inbred individuals paired with closer relatives, and immigrant effects, such that individuals with greater genomic contributions from immigrants paired with more distant relatives. We thereby demonstrate that the degree of biparental inbreeding can show substantial V-A in nature and might consequently evolve in response to selection.PublishedYe
Collecting Pre-class Information from First Year Pharmacy Students in Order to Increase Student Engagement with Library Instruction
No full textObjectives: To increase student engagement, both in a one-shot library instruction session and with the Pharmacy subject guide which provides supplemental instruction information.
Methods: Setting/Participants: 151 first year pharmacy students enrolled in an introductory drug literature class. Methodology: One week prior to library instruction, students were sent a link to the Pharmacy subject guide, asked to spend 10 to 15 minutes examining information on seven of the tabs, and then to answer three open-ended questions. The questions asked students to list at least one thing learned from the subject guide, one thing that confused them or that they would like more information about, and last what they believed to be most important for the librarian to cover in class. Information obtained was used to structure the library instruction session. Increased engagement was evaluated by comparing both student interactions in class (questions asked and answered by students) and use of the subject guide for six months after class to the previous year’s cohort.
Results: Seventy-six percent of students completed the pre-class questionnaire. Searching PubMed and Knowing which databases/resources to use ranked number 1 and 2 for the “Confused” question and number 3 and 2 for the “What should be covered” question. Number 2 for the “Confused” question was Finding full text with How to search more effectively ranking number 1 in “What should be covered”. Class interactions, both asking and replying to questions were greatly increased compared to the previous year’s cohort. Use of the Pharmacy subject guide for 6 months after the 2015 class was more than double use of the guide for 6 months after the 2014 class.
Conclusions: Current learning theories suggest that students are more engaged when they feel they have input into instruction. Asking students what confused them and what they would like to see covered seemed to increase engagement among first year Pharmacy students, both in class and after class with supplemental instruction material in the form of a subject guide
Comment on "Are polynuclear superhalogens without halogen atoms probable? A high-level ab initio case study on triple-bridged binuclear anions with cyanide ligands" [J. Chem. Phys. 140, 094301 (2014)]
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Using historical citizen science to understand wildlife in the longleaf pine ecosystem
Get PDFMuseum records and formal scientific information are essential, but not always sufficient, to adequately document the historical distribution, abundance, and cultural traditions associated with wildlife species. Though we know many species of conservation concern associated with the longleaf pine ecosystem, including gopher tortoises, southeastern pocket gophers, and indigo snakes, have declined alarmingly over the last 100 years, historical information on their distribution and abundance within this range is limited. Similarly, little scientific evidence is available for how or whether populations of these and other species such as northern bobwhite quail respond to longleaf pine restoration efforts on public and private lands. Such information does exist, however, in the observations and memories of non-expert area residents such as hunters and private landowners. This kind of firsthand knowledge is a largely untapped source of wildlife information. In an attempt to record it, we have been interviewing longstanding area residents and natural resource professionals about historical occurrence of longleaf-associated wildlife species in Alabama and adjacent areas. In this poster, we report on the data obtained from these interviews as well as how it will be used to inform wildlife management efforts for species of concern. Our research is ongoing, and we are currently recruiting members of the public to participate as interviewees in is this unique approach to wildlife management through historical citizen science.Ye
Modifying for Success: Designing a Bullying Prevention Program Evaluation within the context of Extension
Get PDFImplementing school-based programs can prove to be a difficult task, particularly when the programs are facilitated by outside organizations, like Extension. As an outside entity, leaders of these programs must strategize to overcome obstacles related to the evaluation and implementation of the program. While implementing and evaluating an Extension initiated school-based bullying program throughout Alabama middle schools, the challenges faced throughout the process helped to restructure parts of the program design and evaluation. This poster will discuss the complications faced while implementing and evaluating this school-based bullying prevention program. Changes were made to the program based on an evaluation of program feasibility, feedback, and outcomes