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Defining the phylogenomics of Shigella species: A pathway to diagnostics
Get PDFShigellae cause significant diarrheal disease and mortality in humans, as there are approximately 163 million episodes of shigellosis and 1.1 million deaths annually. While significant strides have been made in the understanding of the pathogenesis, few studies on the genomic content of the Shigella species have been completed. The goal of this study was to characterize the genomic diversity of Shigella species through sequencing of 55 isolates representing members of each of the four Shigella species: S. flexneri, S. sonnei, S. boydii, and S. dysenteriae. Phylogeny inferred from 336 available Shigella and E. coli genomes defined exclusive clades of Shigella; conserved genomic markers were then identified that can identify each clade. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were developed for each clade-specific marker, which was combined with an amplicon for the conserved Shigella invasion antigen, IpaH3, into a multiplex PCR assay. This assay demonstrated high specificity, correctly identifying 218 of 221 presumptive Shigella isolates, and sensitivity, by not identifying any of 151 diverse E. coli isolates incorrectly as Shigella. This new phylogenomic-based PCR assay represents a valuable tool for rapid typing of uncharacterized Shigella isolates and provides a framework that can be utilized for the identification of novel genomic markers from genomic data
Tourism and economic growth
Get PDFWhether international tourism can lead to economic growth is an important macroeconomic question for both policy makers and investors. We extend the literature by investigating if tourism development is an additional determinant of income in the presence of the standard income determinants (such as capital accumulation), or if the effects of tourism development on economic growth work through the standard income determinants, instead. Empirically, we develop a tourism-growth model that is an extension of Solow (1956) and estimate our model with a cross-section of 109 countries. Our findings indicate that investments in tourism in and of itself appear to be insufficient for economic growth. Instead, tourism’s contribution to the long term growth of an economy comes through its role as an integral part of a broader development strategy that is more generally focused on standard income determinants
Pilgrimage and travel on Route 66: An ethnographic study of travelers and shrines
Get PDFPeople come from all over the world to drive the Mother Road. Eight states in America and 10 foreign countries have Route 66 associations. Individuals belonging to European Route 66 associations plan to hold the first European Route 66 Festival in the summer of 2016. Why is Route 66 such an important worldwide cultural phenomenon? This thesis explores how Route 66 travel has become so popular amongst travelers from both the United States and countries around the world. This research focuses on foreign travelers’ motivations, experiences, and revelations driving the Mother Road, and views travel along Route 66 as a form of secular pilgrimage. Pilgrimage travel on Route 66 allows an individual to transcend beyond the tourist experience and engage in events outside of their normal lives. During the journey, the traveler experiences the mythology, nostalgia, and authenticity surrounding the road and even encounters a shift in their identity. Foreign travelers adopt an “American” identity created by their experiences traveling Route 66. During the journey, the individual also engages in the communitas of Route 66 fellow travelers
Working Paper 35: Carbon Cycling in Southwestern Forests: Reservoirs, Fluxes, and the Effects of Fire and Management
Get PDFForests play a key role in regulating the carbon cycle
of the Earth system. Understanding carbon storage in forest ecosystems has become increasingly important as human activities release more carbon dioxide (CO2) into the Earth’s atmosphere. The intent of this working paper is to explain the basics of the carbon cycle detailing how much carbon moves through vegetation, water, and soils over time. The paper also summarizes where current science suggests that carbon cycling patterns are most likely to change in the coming years to decades, and how management can influence these changes.
Water (H2O) and atmospheric gases, particularly carbon dioxide, interact with living things, soils and rock to regulate natural habitats and sustain ecosystems (NRC 2001). The capacity of landscapes to transfer (“flux”) and store (“sequester”) elemental carbon has a direct effect on atmospheric concentrations of CO2 with further feedbacks on the water and nitrogen cycles. In the literature, carbon contained in vegetation and soils is typically referred to as “reservoirs” or “pools” (Post et al. 1990, Schimel 1995, Cole et al. 2007)
Characterization of stridulatory structures and sounds of the larger Mexican pine beetle, Dendroctonus approximatus (Coleoptera: Circulionidae: Scolytinae)
Get PDFWe report the first description and analysis of acoustic signals and structures in the larger Mexican pine beetle,
Dendroctonus approximatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). We recorded acoustic signals during two behavioral contexts, disturbance and male-female interactions. The relationship between size and sound production was assessed by comparing temporal and spectral chirp characteristics with body size and sound-producing organs. During male-female interactions, males first produce the interrupted chirp, a relatively long chirp (x = 214.36 ± 5 ms) interspersed with periods of silence. Once inside female galleries, males switch to a simple chirp. Females produce chirps in response to male acoustic signals and disturbances. For male chirps produced in response to disturbance, frequency was positively correlated with the density of ridges on stridulatory structures and inversely correlated with beetle size characteristics. Small males were more likely to produce high frequency chirps when disturbed, compared with larger males. These results indicate that acoustic signals may be limited by morphology and size in bark beetles
An information literacy snapshot: Authentic assessment across the curriculum
Get PDFThis paper outlines the process and results of an authentic assessment of student work using a revised version of the AAC&U’s Information Literacy VALUE rubric. This rigorous assessment, which included the scoring of nearly 900 student papers from four different stages across the undergraduate curriculum, revealed much about the process of authentic assessment of student learning, the struggles and competencies of our students, and a clear path forward for improving practice. It also gave us a broad view of student learning, allowing us to immerse ourselves in student work and providing a stronger narrative to share with stakeholders
Fact sheet: Implications of diameter caps on multiple forest resource responses in the context of the four forest restoration initiative
Get PDFDue to the ecological and social importance of large, old (presettlement) trees, it is often desirable to protect them when planning forest treatments, and a diameter cap is one way to try to accomplish this. A diameter cap is a limitation on cutting trees above a certain diameter during treatment implementation. Some environmental and conservation groups have advocated for them and caps have been implemented on a range of projects in the western U.S. Nevertheless, there is little knowledge of the potential effects of a diameter cap on forest resources. The large scale restoration treatments proposed by the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) in northern Arizona provide an opportunity to use current stand data (Fig. 1A) and treatment prescriptions targeting desired future conditions (Fig. 1B) to provide insights into the use of diameter caps on a variety of forest resource responses. This fact sheet's purpose is to give an overview of the effects of diameter cap implementation on a variety of forest resources in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stands within the Coconino National Forest, Arizona
Finding our way through phenotypes.
Get PDFDespite a large and multifaceted effort to understand the vast landscape of phenotypic data, their current form inhibits productive data analysis. The lack of a community-wide, consensus-based, human- and machine-interpretable language for describing phenotypes and their genomic and environmental contexts is perhaps the most pressing scientific bottleneck to integration across many key fields in biology, including genomics, systems biology, development, medicine, evolution, ecology, and systematics. Here we survey the current phenomics landscape, including data resources and handling, and the progress that has been made to accurately capture relevant data descriptions for phenotypes. We present an example of the kind of integration across domains that computable phenotypes would enable, and we call upon the broader biology community, publishers, and relevant funding agencies to support efforts to surmount today's data barriers and facilitate analytical reproducibility
Fact Sheet: Carbon Cycling in Southwestern Forests: Reservoirs, Fluxes, and the Effects of Fire and Management
Get PDFForest death from extreme drought and wildfires are reducing regional carbon reservoirs and overall forest sequestration capacity. At the same time, land use practices and development have increased the vulnerabil- ity of some forests during extreme droughts. The intent of this fact sheet is to explain the basics of the car- bon cycle in southwestern forests. It also summarizes how carbon cycling patterns are most likely to change in the coming years to decades in the Southwest
Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project: Creating Solutions through Community Partnerships
Get PDFIn the past two decades, communities in fire-prone forests across the West have faced increased danger of cata- strophic wildfires. These wildfires have been steadily growing in size and intensity, partly due to the amount of fuel built up from a century of fire suppression and also driven by rising temperatures and drought. These intense wild- fires have burned homes and infrastructure as well as critical natural resources such as watersheds and wildlife habitat. However, hazardous fuel reduction projects — especially on steep slopes adjacent to communities — can be difficult and costly.
Cities and towns throughout the West have been grappling with innovative ways to fund forest restoration and protect their water supplies and reduce flooding impacts. An example of one such effort is the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project, known as FWPP, in Flagstaff, Arizona. The FWPP emerged from proactive civic leadership that recognized the need to overcome funding limitations and implement hazardous fuel reduction treatments in critical, at-risk watersheds. Several factors contributed to its success, among them the fear of another extreme fire event in the mountains north of town.
The purpose of this white paper is to convey to other communities, municipalities, and/or government agencies the administrative functions and mechanisms used by the two primary partners, the City of Flagstaff (City) and the U.S. Forest Service (also referred to as USFS, the forest, the Coconino National Forest, and the National Forest), to develop and implement FWPP. The paper is designed as a case study for other entities considering a similar initiative. This case study spans the first two years of the project (see Figure 1, page 4), from the bond election in November 2012 to December 2014. Personal interviews were conducted with key personnel from the City and the USFS. This report summarizes findings from the interviews and information derived from review of City and USFS internal project documents.
The value of this case study is two-fold. First, it is an historical account of what led to the successful passage and start-up of the FWPP. Second, it serves as a guide to the steps (Appendix A) and the mechanisms used to develop and implement a successful private/public/agency partnership. These findings can be used as a foundation to develop a similar initiative designed to achieve community protection through forest management