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THE GUT MICROBIOTA OF A WILD AMERICAN BLACK BEAR (Ursus americanus) POPULATION
Get PDFThe gut microbiome (GMB), the mutualistic microbial communities located in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), has co-evolved in vertebrates to perform micro-ecosystem services to facilitate physiological functions. Despite the key role of the GMB in host health, wildlife managers have been slow to consider the ramifications of anthropogenic pressures to wildlife-GMB diversity. For example, although diet is one of the most influential determinants of a host’s GMB, many wildlife agencies allow baiting with human-provisioned foods to facilitate the harvest of wildlife such as American black bear (Ursus americanus). Additionally, much of our knowledge of wildlife-GMB relationships is based on studies of colon GMB communities derived from the feces of captive specimens. To better understand wildlife-GMB relationships, I first aimed to characterize wild black bear GMB communities in the colon and jejunum, two functionally distinct regions of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Second, I estimated the proportional contribution of human-provisioned foods to the diets of black bear and evaluated the effect of human-provisioned foods on the GMB at each GIT site. I engaged hunters as citizen scientists to collect biological samples from legally harvested black bears, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to identify microbial taxa, and stable isotope analysis of black bear hair to estimate diet. My results suggest that the jejunum and colon of black bears do not harbor significantly different GMB communities, but that increased proportions of human-provisioned foods in black bear diet, specifically corn, and significantly reduces GMB diversity
The Wild Diamond Diaries: Healing Alongside America\u27s Wild Horses
Get PDFTo some, America’s free-roaming Mustangs and burros symbolize liberty and beauty. To others, these equines are feral at best, invasive at worst. They have a reputation for being useless, destructive, and untrainable. Yet my childhood horse—gifted to my family when I was three—was a gentled Mustang, W.D. Through W.D., I first encountered these horses’ kind dispositions, composure, and hardiness. After my younger sister died in a riding accident with another horse, my parents rehomed W.D. The devastating loss of both my sister and horse sparked my lifelong interest in Mustangs’ lives in the wild and journey into domestication, especially via the federal Wild Horse & Burro Program (WHBP). While visiting Mustang handling facilities with my mom and sister, interviewing dozens of adopters and trainers, and conducting supplemental research, I explored questions such as, can “useless” horses be redeemed? Can overused land be renewed? Can my family’s trauma be healed? And how long should it take free-roaming horses and burros to be considered wild (instead of feral) or for the bereaved to “move on” from our grief, as we’re often told to do? This thesis follows the trajectory of long-term grief and of American Mustangs and burros from wild to domestic, doing its best to answer these questions, to inform readers of the inherent value of America’s free-roaming equines, and to provide a case study of how long-term efforts to heal from trauma benefit the bereaved and those around them
GENE REGULATION CONTROLLED BY THE CRBS/R TWO-COMPONENT SYSTEM
Get PDFOne way in which bacteria are able to sense and respond to environmental changes is through two-component systems (TCSs). TCSs are composed of a membrane bound sensor protein that can pick up an environmental cue that then activates a cytoplasmic response regulator. The response regulator can, in turn, bind DNA and either activate or repress transcription of specific genes. One such TCS is the CrbS/R system, which is conserved among γ-Proteobacteria. This TCS has been shown to control the acsA gene, which is involved in acetate metabolism, however, other genes potentially under this TCSs’ control are unknown. The aim of this study was to further elucidate genes under the control of the CrbS/R TCS. RNAseq analysis showed us that acsA and actP, which encodes an acetate permease, which is responsible for bringing acetate across the cell membrane, are upregulated by the TCS. Furthermore, in P. aeruginosa and P. entomophila we were able to determine that genes involved in nitrogen metabolism are downregulated by CrbS. We did not see this regulation by CrbR. It appears that CrbR is solely dedicated to acetate metabolism pathway and CrbR itself is not part of a larger regulator network. CrbS, however, seems to be involved in multiple metabolic pathways, likely by interacting with multiple response regulatory proteins. While RNAseq allows us to determine genes controlled directly or indirectly by the CrbS/R TCS, a method called ChIPseq will allow us to determine genes that are controlled directly by the response regulator, CrbR
Resurgence in Dogs
Get PDFAfter a long tradition of using aversive training techniques, animal trainers have now widely adopted science-based methods using positive reinforcement. The field of applied behavior analysis routinely employs procedures to preempt problem behaviors by establishing and maintaining more acceptable alternative behaviors. Previous studies have shown that some of these procedures can nevertheless result in recurrence of original problematic behavior once training is completed and reinforcement of the alternative behavior is discontinued, a phenomenon called “resurgence.” Although observed in many species (e.g., rats, fish, and humans), resurgence has not been demonstrated with dogs, one of the most commonly trained animals in the world. Five experimentally naïve dogs served in the present study. Four were first trained to perform an arbitrary target behavior, which subsequently was extinguished completely, and then, an alternative target behavior was reinforced in its place. When reinforcement for both behaviors then was discontinued, none of these dogs showed resurgence as expected from the literature. A fifth dog with an existing minor problem behavior (begging) was taught a more acceptable alternative behavior (lying in a dog bed across the room). When that new behavior was subjected to extinction, the previous problem behavior recurred as expected. Finally, when the recurring begging was also subjected to extinction, lying in bed then returned and was successfully recaptured (maintained) through reinforcement. The results of these experiments suggest that resurgence does occur in dogs, but the specific contingencies of reinforcement employed to establish the competing repertoires are critical to producing the phenomenon
Mummy Cave; North Fork Shoshone River; Park County, Wyoming
No full textMummy Cave represents the silence of the Sheepeater Shoshone. Little evidence of human occupation can survive this close to the river. The bank is low and rocky, with a thin deposit of alluvial soil, from the present shoreline to the angle of the ridge, where the ruddy breccia and tuff rise acutely, providing a rockface where the erosive action of the frigid mountain water could lap over eons at the igneous wall to form a shallow overhang. Camp placement in this proximity to a river was likely common, making use of a broad level riverbank to live close to water and fishing, in a spot low in the valley where the winter is milder, but other riverside sites lack the unique utility of this one for use as a dwelling place; similar camps would usually be exposed to rising water levels, washing the record of the majority of them away. Before this overhang, a pile of rubble from the crumbling rock wall forms a protective barrier from rising water, and a deep depression behind this scant relief feature would have, at one time, formed a windbreak. The protection became diminished with the passage of time over the 9000 year history of human occupation of the locality, as the deposition of detritus on the cave floor progressively truncated the windbreak, perhaps necessitating the building of a travois-style lean-to to make use of the dry cave floor despite the mountain breeze. Although the accommodations were shrinking, access to the space became easier over time; the earliest deposits are three stories down, at the bottom of a shaft this artist posits may be an occluded sinkhole that carried water into the fractured joints in the surrounding rock. The authors of Mummy Cave: Prehistoric Record from Rocky Mountains of Wyoming say this process facilitated drainage, resulting in the quality of preservation of organic materials found at the site.
Wedel, Husted, and Moss (1968) state that Mummy Cave, on the North Fork of the Shoshone River, was occupied discontinuously from approximately 7000BCE to 1200CE. Excavation revealed separated strata of animal bone, leather, charcoal (available for use in carbon dating for about half of the 38 levels), plant fiber perhaps used as netting, and flint points. In a layer of strata dated to 750CE, approximately two meters below the surface, were discovered the remains of a human, mummified by the cold dry air of the Absaroka Range, and clothed in sheepskin. Sadly, some of the more detailed archeological metrics of osteology available for providing context to the life of the deceased are not included in the Wedel, et al. report, nor is this artist aware of the location of the remains.
This site, bearing a rarely-surpassed archeological record of the past reaching back millennia, like many archeological wonders in America, is not widely known. There are those who would argue that, for the sake of preserving the dignity of the status of the site as a grave, this site, and others like it scattered across America, should be shrouded in a deliberate pall of mystery.
This rendering of Mummy Cave is drawn with vine charcoal on paper. Though this site does not itself contain charcoal drawings, this medium was intentionally used to reflect prehistoric artistic technology. The style is impressionistic, as the piece was created from the artist’s memory, allowing the artist to convey the importance, through detail and size, of significantly memorable foci. These impressions have allowed the shallow curvature of the cave wall to fill much of the picture plane, diminished the size of the fence to reflect its inadequacy at restricting movement into the cave space, and allowed for the inclusion of a nearby keyhole feature and a gestural hint at the Beartooth Range which rises behind the cave to the north. The piece was created at the artist’s home in Ishpeming, Michigan.
Work Cited
Wedel, W., Husted, W., & Moss, J. (1968). Mummy Cave: Prehistoric Record from Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. Science, 160(3824), 184-186. Retrieved November 7, 2020, from https://nmu.idm.oclc.org/login?f3auth=RegularLogin&url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/172408
Critical Reflections on America’s Green New Deal: Capital, Labor, and the Dynamics of Contemporary Social Change
Get PDFThe increasing urgency of the current climate crisis has been accompanied by a growing desire for constructive answers on how to confront the situation effectively and meaningfully. Yet, the pace of global climate change (GCC) continues to accelerate more rapidly than societal, institutional, and individual responses can be formed. The gap between increasingly sophisticated knowledge of objective biophysical threat, on the one hand, and our ability to transform society in accordance with this awareness, on the other hand, highlights the importance of ideology. Ideological barriers have become a major stumbling block for climate change activists and researchers. Focusing on the recent U.S. House Resolution for a Green New Deal, this paper examines how the U.S. political establishment ignores the underlying dynamic of capital and its drive toward ecological devastation and the hollowing out of labor. Given the urgent political task posed by GCC, the paper considers the potential of work time reduction (WTR) as a strategy for overcoming capitalism. The paper concludes by discussing the importance of critical theory
Teaching With Primary Sources: A Report for Ithaka S + R from Northern Michigan University
Get PDFDuring the 2019-2020 academic year, Northern Michigan University (NMU) participated in the ITHAKA S + R Teaching Undergraduates with Primary Sources research study. Catherine Oliver, Metadata and Cataloging Services Librarian, and Marcus C. Robyns, University Archivist, conducted seventeen interviews with NMU faculty from a variety of disciplines on their research and instructional use of primary sources. Oliver and Robyns collected and analyzed qualitative data with the intent on producing a local report. The report concludes with four important recommendations for supporting faculty in teaching with primary sources. The report’s findings cover five major themes identified in the study: Preparation to Teach and Learn; Curation, Sharing, and Digital Formats; Finding and Using Primary Sources; Primary Source Literacy and Critical Thinking Instruction; and Active or Experiential Learning. Each section includes a discussion of several sub-themes. The report wraps up with a summary conclusion of the results and four recommendations
At Water\u27s Edge: Why Bangladesh Needs a Legal Definition of Climate Refugee
No full textA predicted 10 million or more Bangladeshi residents will be climate refugees by 2050. Extreme flooding, food insecurity, and the increasing frequency of severe weather events are causing mass domestic and international movement of Bangladeshi citizens. These people are especially at risk because over half of their landmass lays at less than 10 meters above sea level. Uncertainty surrounds the definition of a climate refugee , and the United Nations does not include rights for climate refugees in their international policies. This prevents those afflicted by damaging climatic events and changes from seeking asylum. The legal protections and rights received by refugees of war or persecution are not extended to people displaced by environmental stresses. A legal definition of a climate refugee and what climatic factors cause people to migrate must be formulated in order to protect those affected by climate change. To accomplish this goal, we will analyze what drives climate-related movement in threatened areas. Developing a clear definition of what conditions justify the need for this climate migration will lead to better legal protection and social acceptance for climate refugees worldwide
The Evaluation of Emotional Images is Related to Individual Differences in Anxiety and Stress
No full textIt has been shown that individuals with different levels of stress and anxiety perceive emotional stimuli differently. This study builds on previous research by combining multiple affect-related individual differences, rating dimensions, and image types to gain a better understanding of how these variables interact. This study assessed how individuals with different levels of anxiety and stress evaluate the valence and arousal of threatening versus non-threatening stimuli including non-facial and facial images. Our hypothesis was that individuals with higher levels of stress and anxiety would evaluate threatening non-facial and facial images with higher levels of arousal and lower levels of valence. Participants completed two questionnaires to measure their anxiety and stress levels before performing a stimuli rating task. Two sets of stimuli were used in the rating task: non-facial images and facial stimuli (fearful/threatening versus neutral). For non-facial stimuli, no significant correlation was found between levels of anxiety and ratings for threatening images. However, the results showed a significant positive correlation between anxiety and arousal evaluation in neutral non-facial images. For facial stimuli, there was a tendency for higher anxiety and stress levels to be positively associated with higher arousal ratings of neutral facial stimuli. We also found a significant positive correlation between stress level and the arousal rating of fearful facial stimuli. Our findings may indicate that the threatening images were perceived similarly arousing to individuals across all levels of anxiety whereas the neutral images were perceived as more threatening by those with higher anxiety