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Microbial Communities of Selected Regions of the Deep Springs Lake Aquifer System
No full textDeep Springs Lake is a small, isolated, highly alkaline soda lake in Inyo County of Eastern California, USA. It is a seasonally filled salt lake or playa, and is part of a closed aquifer system. Such closed systems are globally rare, occurring only in arid zones where annual evaporation is greater than annual rainfall. Deep Springs Lake’s hydrology and geology have been well studied, and it is home to a unique toad species, but its microbiome remains unexplored. Here we perform 16S, 18S, and ITS amplicon sequencing of the lake water, dried salt crust at the edges the lake, and nearby feeder springs to investigate the community composition of prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and fungi. Bacterial communities in the lake water consist predominantly of Pseudomonadota and Bacteroidota. Nearby springs and salt crust contain different genera of Pseudomonadota than the lake water but similar Bacteroidota, along with an abundant population of Chlorobiota. Noticeably rare in the lake itself but abundant in the biofilms and crust are populations of photosynthetic Cyanobacteria. Archaea are found only in the lake water, largely Halobacterota. Fungi are mostly Ascomycota, with some Chytridiomycota and Rozellomycota; chytrid fungi show no evidence of pathogens related to amphibian die-offs. Eukaryotes in the lake water consist mostly of flagellates, notably the photosynthetic Dunaliella, and brine shrimp (Artemia). In order to compare these sites with source waters elsewhere in the watershed, we also perform 16S amplicon sequencing of three feeder springs found at higher elevations remote from the lake. The Pseudomonadota found in the remote sites differ from those in the lake at the genus level or higher. Some of the genera of Bacteroidota found in the lake are also seen in the remote springs, while most are unique to the springs. Taxonomy and Bayesian source/sink analysis show that the microbiome of Deep Springs Lake derives very little input from the remote feeder springs, but contains extremophiles similar to those of soda lakes worldwide. Further investigation of the lake and its surrounding springs may lead to the identification of new species of bacteria, fungi, and eukaryotes and allow comparisons with other closed aquifer systems
Why Teens are Particularly Vulnerable to the Harms of Vaping Addiction: A Literature Review
No full textThis literature review examines the factors that have been found to place teens aged 12-18 at particular risk of the harms of vaping addiction. Sixteen relevant research studies are cited, along with four other sources containing information from the FDA, CDC, and NPR, to determine which themes are the most significant and widely identified as risk factors adding to teens\u27 vulnerability. While the body of research on teen vaping addiction is relatively new, strong consensus exists: the most significant factors placing teens at risk of vaping addiction\u27s harms are sweet flavoring appealing to young people, marketing of vapes that has been designed to intentionally and effectively target young people, and the reality of teens\u27 decision-making capabilities and naturally immature assessments of risks and consequences. Teen vaping addiction has become a significant public health concern in the United States, and research findings highlight the situation\u27s need for urgent attention and continued intervention, and the importance of widespread awareness about vaping\u27s potential harms
Early-Stage Detection of Copper Ion Release from Bronze Corrosion Using UV/Vis Spectroscopy and Hydrogel Sensing
No full textDetecting copper(I) (Cu⁺) release at early corrosion stages is important for preserving bronze heritage materials. This study investigated the use of neocuproine (NC), a Cu⁺-specific ligand, for simple and selective colorimetric detection of Cu⁺ in solution. NC reacts with Cu⁺ to form a Cu(NC)₂ complex, which produces a distinct orange-red color with peak absorbance at 455 nm. Solutions were prepared with varying concentrations of Cu⁺ generated by reducing Cu²⁺ with excess ascorbic acid. Ultraviolet/Visible (UV/Vis) spectroscopy was used to quantify absorbance changes. The absorbance at 455 nm increased linearly across the tested Cu⁺ concentration range (6.25–200 µM) with an R² value above 0.98. Neocuproine enabled reliable, sensitive detection of Cu⁺ in solution via a visible color change and quantifiable spectrophotometric response. This method offers a simple, selective approach for monitoring early Cu⁺ release from corroding bronze materials, with potential applications in conservation diagnostics
A House With No Walls Where Persimmons Grow in the Garden: Photography as a Collaborative Feminist Practice and Using Archives to Reframe the Present
No full textA House With No Walls is an investigation of the idea of chosen family, as it exists apart from the influence of any institution. It alludes to the home as a place that exists within space shared with the people we choose as family and within our own free bodies. This project investigates the collaborative potential of photography, and uses it as a tool in creating a feminist representation of family. All the photographs were made with close friends, in an unplanned and spontaneous manner, to document intimate moments of our everyday lives.
Where Persimmons Grow In The Garden is an investigation of the origin of home and reframing women as the life givers that allow us to build our home. It challenges the idea that family and home comes from the institutional concept of marriage that is heavily influenced by religion and imposes binary ideologies within the concept of home and family
Stardust Crucader: Is the Marine Protist \u3ci\u3eCarpediemonas Membranifera\u3c/i\u3e the First Known Crucivirus Host?
No full textCruciviruses are a unique class of ssDNA viruses that have not been isolated to date. To investigate the host-virus relationship in further detail, cruciviral activity and the association with Carpediemonas membranifera has been studied under heat stress. Using crucivirus-targeting probes, fluorescent in-situ hybridization was performed to determine crucivirus genome replication under varying temperature regimes. Potential viral induction was detected under temperatures ranging from 20-30°C, suggesting that the pro-cruciviral sequences integrated in this protist genome are functional, revealing Carpediemonas membranifera as a bonafide crucivirus host. The analysis of Carpediemonas membranifera and crucivirus relationship was carried out with different techniques. Wide field microscopy and flow cytometry were used to authenticate our suspicion that Carpediemonas membranifera may be the first known host organism to cruciviruses
Business Capstone Review: Analysis of a Portland Based Chili Oil Company
No full textThe paper is a review of the Portland State University\u27s school of business senior capstone project. The team in this paper worked with a Portland based chili oil company for their project. There will first be an introduction to the capstone project then the paper will dive into two main sections that include a discussion of the capstone project experience and a reflection
Biofluid Biomarkers Aid in Diagnosing and Developing Improved Treatments for People with Alzheimer\u27s Disease
No full textDementia is a disease in which daily life is disrupted by a loss of cognitive function. Late-onset Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the most common dementia that largely begins to affect individuals in their mid 60s or older. AD was selected as the focus of this paper because it is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 50-70% of dementia cases. A typical diagnostic approach used by physicians starts with a simple clinical test, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), when cognitive decline is suspected in a patient. Then if there is enough evidence to suggest AD, a physician would order tests for positron emission tomography (PET) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While useful, the problem with these tests is that they tend to be used when cognitive decline is advanced and reflect changes in the brain that likely began 10-20 years before diagnosis. In addition, current medications can only slow but not stop or reverse cognitive decline. Thus, studies are also focused on the use of biofluid markers that may be detected earlier in the disease. Biomarkers show promise in measuring cognitive decline, while being less expensive than imaging tests. Thus, as amyloid beta fragment 1-42 (AB1-42) and total tau (t-tau) have been heavily researched among several biomarkers these will be discussed within this paper, as well as newer biomarkers including phosphorylated tau (p-tau), neurofilament light (Nfl), synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25), microRNA (miRNA), and extracellular vesicles (EVs)
Seedlings of Pacific Northwest Plants: A Photographic Guide
No full textThis document presents a visual, non-technical field guide of native and exotic/invasive seedlings that grow wild in the Pacific Northwest. It contains over 550 taxa representing a broad range of families and ecosystems, focusing on species that occur in Oregon and Washington. Species were selected to reflect ecological importance, frequency of occurrence, and relevance to land management, restoration, and conservation. It is intended for a broad audience, including restoration practitioners, land managers, botanists, ecologists, students, naturalists, and others interested in identifying plants at early life stages
Bird Community Changes One Year Post-Wildfire in Mesic Temperate Rainforests: A Case Study in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Oregon, USA
No full textIn the Cascade region of the Pacific Northwest, the productive, mesic, Douglas-fir dominated temperate rainforest is experiencing an increase in wildfire frequency. As an area with a history of mixed severity fire regimes, there is a need to better understand the immediate, and often long-lasting, ecological impacts of these altered fire regimes on ecological functions. My study uses pre- and post-fire bird population data, fire severity, and remotely sensed pre-fire forest structure data in a long term ecological research site to assess the impacts of a wildfire one year post event using birds as bioindicators. Using non-metric multidimensional scaling as the ordination method, bird community patterns were visualized as shifting towards warmer microclimate, and towards a more complex forest, which affected an increase in community variation post-wildfire. Using general linear mixed models, Relativized differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (RdNBR) was found to be the most significant predictor of bird community turnover which was displayed through temporal beta diversity. The interactions with RdNBR and plantations show that at low RdNBR values, plantations tend to have higher temporal beta diversity turnover than old-growth plots. This pattern reverses at higher RdNBR values, where turnover in old-growth plots trends upwards while that in plantations trends downwards. Overall, my findings highlight the need to protect structural diversity in forests, aiming to have mixed severity wildfires that promote a complex avian community - something that will be increasingly important as wildfire regimes shift with climate change. By linking burn severity, forest structure, and bird community responses, my study provides a foundation for understanding how complex ecosystems reorganize after disturbance and adapt to a changing climate
Mitigating Risk of Premature Ovarian Insufficiency Using Adjunct Chinese Herbal Medicines: A Nested Patient-Control Study in Female Cancer Patients with Chemotherapy
No full textPremature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a common late effect of chemotherapy among survivors of adolescent and young-adult cancer (AYAC). Given on the widespread use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) in restoring individual health, we performed a cohort-based nested patient-control study with the aim of exploring the effect of blending CHM into routine care on the reduction of chemotherapy-induced POIrisk among females with AYAC