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SOMETHING OLD SOMETHING NEW: REFINING CHRONOLOGIES IN NORTHWEST INDIA THROUGH RADIOCARBON
No full textAlthough hundreds of sites with Ahar white painted black and red ware have been identified across northwest India, only a few dozen have been excavated, and even fewer have published radiocarbon dates. This paper systematically reviews both older published dates and newer recently processed dates and examines the contexts from which they come. After eliminating many dates due to incomplete publication data, mixed contexts, or other complications, remaining dates are used to re-assess and refine the accepted chronology for the pottery. All previously published dates are recalibrated using the INTCAL 20 Northern Hemisphere calibration curve and a subset of dates is further refined through basic phase and sequence models using OxCal 4.4 software. The results shift regional chronologies, suggesting that they may be later than commonly accepted
Understanding the Hemingway Measure of Adult Connectedness Survey by Utilizing Data Analysis
No full textWe analyze the dataset collected from students participating in the Boy With A Ball (BWAB) program, a faith-based community outreach group, through the Hemingway Measure of Adult Connectedness©, a questionnaire measuring the social connectedness of adolescents. First, we approach the data in the conventional method provided by the Hemingway website. We then identify which questions are strong determiners in deciding whether a student has completed the BWAB program or not. With the goal of utilizing the logistic regression, we reduce the set of questions to those only identified as significant in other methods. These methods include linear regression, decision tree, and random forest. The results are explained from a psychological perspective of social adolescent development
EVOLUTION OF THE CycG GENE OF THE INSULIN-SIGNALING PATHWAY ACROSS THE DROSOPHILA GENUS
No full textThe long-term goal of the Genomics Education Partnership Pathways Project is to analyze how the regulatory regions of the 64 insulin-signaling pathway genes have evolved across 28 Drosophila species, especially as it relates to the context of their positions within the network. The insulin-signaling pathway is well-conserved across animals and critical to growth and metabolic homeostasis. To facilitate the identification of the regulatory elements, we built gene models that identifed the start and stop codons and the boundaries between exons and introns. This research aimed to examine the evolution of the CycG gene across four species of fruit flies: D. melanogaster, D. sechellia, D. ficusphila, and D. grimshawi. CycG encodes a cyclin protein, which negatively regulates cell growth and cell cycle progression. Specifically, in each species, we identified the gene, examined its genomic neighborhood, built a model of the gene structure, and predicted the amino acid sequence of the protein products. We found that the genomic neighborhood and overall gene structures were highly conserved among the four species. As expected, the amino acid sequence conservation was inversely proportional to evolutionary distance. Specifically, the percent identities compared to D. melanogaster were 97.7% (D. sechellia), 91.7% (D. ficusphila), and 70.8% (D. grimshawi)
Ethogram Development of Trichoplusia ni**
No full textThe lepidopteran species, Trichoplusia ni, is an excellent model organism for studying behavior. They are easy to care for in a controlled environment, have short generation times, and exhibit distinct, observable behaviors. To our knowledge, there is no existing ethogram for T.ni, so we plan to establish this detailed behavioral analysis (an ethogram) for the larvae of this species. Our ethogram will serve as the foundation for future behavioral research connecting behaviors with their neurological basis in an organism with a relatively simple neurological system. It can then be used as the baseline for exploring behavior in organisms with more complex neurological systems. To create an ethogram of larval behaviors, we have taken fifteen 30-minute videos of individuals alone in an environment (arena). Currently, we are reviewing the videos to document operationalized behaviors and to establish a high inter-rater reliability so that multiple people can code videos in the future. These operationalized behaviors include, but are not limited to, upward movement attempts, spatial preference, which is measured by dividing the arena in quadrants, locomotion, unique locomotor behaviors, searching movements, and a lack of movement. We will then compare the behaviors of single individuals in the arena to pairs of larvae in the arena to observe how other individuals of the same species affect larval behavior. Ultimately, our goal is to establish T.ni as a model organism by describing its behavior in the format of an ethogram that can then be used as a framework for studying the impact of a variety of environmental conditions on behavior and the neurological system of T.ni larvae
IRIS METHODS FOR QUANTIFING IRON REDUCTION AND REDOX IN WETLAND SOILS**
No full textAccording to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), wetlands are areas that fluctuate between wet and dry periods or terrestrial and aquatic periods that contain at least one of the following factors: presence of hydrophytes, presence of hydric soils, or non-soil substrates that are covered in shallow waters during certain parts of the year. They rank number one in providing ecosystem services among all other ecosystems yet are degrading at alarming rates, thus wetland delineation and protection are of extreme importance. The Indicator of Reduction in Soil (IRIS) Method, accepted by the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils (NTCHS) can indicate iron reduction in soil which can identify hydric soil for wetland delineation efforts. The IRIS method has potential for other uses such as quantifying relative measurements of iron reducing bacteria and redox potential within soils. The goal of this research is to assess the relationships between the IRIS method, the amount of iron reducing bacteria (IRB), and REDOX potential. The project establishes the use of IRIS method data as surrogates for IRB and REDOX potential quantification. This will allow IRIS methods to potentially be used as more economical alternatives for identifying hydric soil, as well as enhance to use of the IRIS method in wetland delineation method and studies
CRITICAL MENTORING IN STEM LAB**
No full textThere is a lack of effective approaches and guidelines for mentoring undergraduate students who experience marginalization in STEM research in culturally responsive ways. The dearth of research in this area poses the following question: What mentoring practices are used on undergraduates who experience marginalization in STEM research? To address this issue, we will use a mixed-methodology approach to observe, measure, and understand how students, faculty, and staff at Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) engage in culturally responsive mentoring (CRM) practices. The Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) will be used as a guide to understand undergraduates who experience marginalization in STEM. The undergraduates who experience marginalization in STEM is analyzed through the results of the College Student Mentoring Scale (CSMS) survey. Data from the CSMS survey was collected on the experiences of undergraduate research fellows, faculty, and staff and will be used to aid in program development by highlighting mentoring components that undergraduate students may not be receiving at their institutions. Demographic information is also considered when looking at the CSMS data, such as the ways in which mentoring practices differ according to gender. The results of this study will provide insight on the current mentoring practices and how they are impacting undergraduate students who experience marginalization in STEM, which can lead to further studies on this topic
Effects of Captivity and Captive-Breeding on the Cutaneous Microbiome of Lungless Salamanders**
No full textCaptive breeding has become a critical tool for the restoration of amphibian populations decimated by diseases. However, much is unknown about effects of long-term captivity on amphibian health and particularly immune system function. Therefore, we have begun a project to understand the effects of captivity and captive breeding on the cutaneous microbiome of lungless salamanders. The community of microbes living in and on the skin of lungless salamanders (Plethodontidae) is an important predictor of the organisms’ ability to ward off diseases like chytridiomycosis. We compare the microbiome of wild and long-term (8 years) captive or captive-bred Ocoee and Blue Ridge two-lined salamanders (Desmognathus ocoee and Eurycea wilderae, respectively) all from the Charles H. Wharton Conservation Center in Union County, GA. Microbiome communities were estimated by amplifying the V4 region of the 16S rDNA gene and then comparing with sequences from the Greengenes database. We present our study design and preliminary results
COMPARISON OF INFECTION PREVALENCE AND INTENSITY BY THE TREMATODE METAGONIMOIDES OREGONENSIS BETWEEN TWO SPECIES OF DESMOGNATHAN SALAMANDER
No full textConcerns over amphibian declines have focused recent research on amphibian parasites and diseases. In the southern Appalachian Mountains, adults of the trematode Metagonimoides oregonensis dwell in the intestines of raccoons with aquatic snails (Elimia proxima) serving as the first intermediate host. Cercariae leave the snail host and infect the tissue of a second intermediate host, particularly the plethodontid Desmognathus quadramaculatus, where they encyst as metacercariae. However, the closely related D. folkertsi evidently does contract this parasite. We tested the hypothesis that D. marmoratus, the phylogenetic sister of D. folkertsi, is also resistant to infection. We compared infection rates in D. marmoratus and D. quadramaculatus in a stream (Beech Creek) where they are sympatric in Towns County, Georgia. We collected salamander larvae in June and in August and tested for differences in both prevalence and intensity of infection for each collection. During June, parasite prevalence was 4/15 for D. quadramaculatus and 2/12 for D. marmoratus. For the August sample, 6/10 D. quadramaculatus were infected while 13/16 D. marmoratus had metacercariae. Contingency analysis showed no significant difference in the June (χ2 = 0.4; P = 0.53) or the August (χ2 = 1.4; P = 0.23) sample. Two-way ANOVA of log-transformed metacercarial counts showed no significant difference between species in intensity (F1,42 = 0.65; P = 0.426) but showed a significant difference between samples (F1,42 = 12.38; P = 0.001); there was also a significant interaction between species and collection (F1,42 = 12.38; P = 0.001). Mean intensity in D. quadramaculatus increased from 1.5 per salamander in June to 2.0 in August, whereas mean intensity increased from 0.17 to 2.6 in D. marmoratus. Because this trematode also infects other salamander species (e.g., Eurycea wilderae), our results support the hypothesis that D. folkertsi is unique in its ability to resist infection
Disproving the Hierarchical Model of Science and Proposing a New Model of Science: The Overlapping Proteiform Bubble Model of Science
No full textThe current research tested the validity of the traditional Compteian hierarchical model of science that parses science into a hard, medium, and soft taxonomy. Categorical typicality demonstrates conceptual structures and each category has a prototype with some members of a category better representing the prototype than other members. It was assumed that science is a social construct and the overarching concept of science results from a social agreement derived from the combination of individual conceptual structures of science. As such, the structure of science could be investigated by examining the categorical representations of various sciences held by individuals. Participants (N = 188) ranked 15 fields from most sciency to least sciency. Spearman’s rho was calculated to examine the relationships between the rankings of the fields. There were two ways the correlations could have supported the existence of a hierarchical model of science. First, if science was made of fields on a linear continuum from hard to soft, the correlations should be greatest between items that were adjacent one another in the linear hierarchy than the correlations with fields not adjacent to one another. Second, if science was hierarchical and clustered in horizontal dimensions of hard, medium, and soft, the correlations of the fields inside each horizontal cluster should have been higher with one another than the correlations with fields in the other clusters. Typicality rankings failed to confirm the traditional hierarchical model of science. The Overlapping Proteiform Bubble Model of Science was proposed that assumes science is organic and, as opposed to an externally defined artificial concept, is a natural concept that results from an implicit social agreement derived from the combination of individual conceptual structures of science, which allows singular instances of knowledge to be shared by multiple fields of science