Meta-analysis reveals ammonia-oxidizing bacteria respond more strongly to nitrogen addition than ammonia-oxidizing archaea

Shifts in microbial communities driven by anthropogenic nitrogen (N) addition have broad-scale ecological consequences. However, responses of microbial groups to exogenous N supply vary considerably across studies, hindering efforts to predict community changes. We used meta-analytical techniques to explore how amoA gene abundances of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) respond to N addition, and found that N addition increased AOA and AOB abundances by an average of 27% and 326%, respectively. Responses of AOB varied by study type, ecosystem, fertilizer type, and soil pH, and were strongest in unmanaged wildland soils and soils fertilized with inorganic N sources. Increases in nitrification potential with N addition significantly correlated with only AOB. Our analyses suggest that elevated N supply enhances soil nitrification potential by increasing AOB populations, and that this effect may be most pronounced in unmanaged wildland soils

The effect of zinc supplemention on glycosylated hemoglobin in type II diabetic patients

زمینه و هدف: دیابت قندی یکی از شایع ترین اختلالات متابولیکی در جهان است که در نتیجه نقص کامل یا نسبی و یا مقاومت به عمل انسولین ایجاد و کنترل نشدن آن موجب بروز عوارض قلبی، عروقی، کلیوی و چشمی می شود. ارتباط روی با سنتز، ترشح وعملکرد انسولین در برخی مطالعات مورد تایید قرار گرفته است. با توجه به اهمیت روی و احتمال کمبود آن در مناطق مختلف ایران، این مطالعه با هدف بررسی تاثیر افزودن روی به رژیم غذایی بیماران دیابتی در میزان کنترل این بیماری انجام شد. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه کارآزمایی بالینی 60 بیمار دیابتی نوع 2 انتخاب و به طور تصادفی به دو گروه 30 نفره تقسیم شدند. به نیمی روزانه 25 میلی گرم و به نیم دیگر روزانه 50 میلی گرم روی به مدت 2 ماه داده شد. قبل و بعد از مداخله در بیماران گلوکز خون ناشتا، گلوکز دو ساعت پس از غذا، هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله و غلظت روی سرم اندازه گیری گردید. اطلاعات جمع آوری شده و نتایج حاصل از آنالیز بیوشیمیایی با استفاده از آزمون های آماری ویلکاکسون و من ویتنی مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت. یافته ها: میانگین غلظت روی سرم و هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله در دوز 25 میلی گرم پس از تجویز میزان روی تغییر معنی داری نشان نداد. ولی در دوز 50 میلی گرم میانگین غلظت روی سرم پس از تجویز روی (ug/dl30±160) نسبت به قبل از تجویز روی (ug/dl30±140) افزایش معنی داری نشان داد (01/0

Microbial associations with macrobiota in coastal ecosystems : patterns and implications for nitrogen cycling

Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14 (2016): 200-208, doi:10.1002/fee.1262.In addition to their important effects on nitrogen (N) cycling via excretion and assimilation (by macrofauna and macroflora, respectively), many macrobiota also host or facilitate microbial taxa responsible for N transformations. Interest in this topic is expanding, especially as it applies to coastal marine systems where N is a limiting nutrient. Our understanding of the diversity of microbes associated with coastal marine macrofauna (invertebrate and vertebrate animals) and macrophytes (seaweeds and marine plants) is improving, and recent studies indicate that the collection of microbes living in direct association with macrobiota (the microbiome) may directly contribute to N cycling. Here, we review the roles that macrobiota play in coastal N cycling, review current knowledge of macrobial–microbial associations in terms of N processing, and suggest implications for coastal ecosystem function as animals are harvested and as foundational habitat is lost or degraded. Given the biodiversity of microbial associates of macrobiota, we advocate for more research into the functional consequences of these associations for the coastal N cycle.University of Chicago-Marine Biological Laboratories (MBL

Focus Group Initiative: Increase Student Participation in Program Planning and Evaluation

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better insight into nursing student participation in governance activities of St. Catherine University Associate Degree Nursing Program. The Associate Degree Nursing Program (ADNP) has lacked student input into governance activities, and is missing a process to engage student input. Qualitative research was conducted to ascertain ways to improve student participation in program governance activities. The author completed two pilot focus groups with one cohort of ADNP students to test the process and determine feasibility throughout the program during fall term of 2010. The author took the results from that process to improve the method of data collection. Three focus groups were completed during fall term of 2010 and five during winter term 2011. There was at least one focus group for each cohort of students in the ADNP. Focus groups allowed the researcher to gain rich data about student perceptions of the course of study, providing a venue for participation in program planning and evaluation. The process also afforded the opportunity to ask students if they would participate in governance activities and if there were barriers to involvement that faculty might address. When evaluating the focus group data, the author analyzed both themes and outlier comments. The analysis mainly considered the student group comments as a whole, but occasionally data demanded immediate action for individual student needs

Expansion of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University and the Founding of the School of Mathematics at the Institute for Advanced Study: 1900-1950

From 1900 to 1950 Princeton, New Jersey, hosted two of the most prestigious institutions and provided a location for the expansive mathematical investigations taking place just before, during, and immediately after the Second World War. Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study housed, fed, and provided workspaces for an array of Mathematicians uncovering new research methodologies (resulting in the defeat of both the Nazi Party and the Empire of Nippon), the foundation for modern experimental Mathematics, and expansions of Theoretical and Applied Physics

Geometric Constructions

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Evaluation of Student Competence in Simulation Following a Prebriefing Activity: A Pilot Study

Background: Simulation-based learning (SBL) shows promise to potentially improve clinical competence in nursing education. The efficacy of evidence-based prebriefing activities and valid and reliable systems to evaluate those strategies is a gap in the literature. Preliminary evidence shows that prebriefing can improve participant outcomes. The goal of this pilot study was to compare the outcome of clinical competence for prelicensure nursing students based on assignment to one of the following prebriefing activities: standard, careplan, or concept mapping. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental double-blind, posttest only, comparison-group design, pilot study. The participants were from an associate degree professional nursing program. Out of a potential 30 students, 28 agreed to participate. The data collection occurred during two laboratory sessions of their medical-surgical course. The students were exposed to an assigned prebriefing activity and then engaged in a simulation scenario. Two faculty simulation evaluators (FSEs) watched the videoed performance and evaluated the students’ clinical competence using the Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument (C-CEI). Demographic data were used to analyze the homogeneity of the groups and to determine if other factors affected clinical competence. An ANOVA was used to answer the research questions. Results: Based on the analysis, gender, age, course grade, race and ethnicity, the groups were similar. Interrater reliability of the C-CEI overall (Kappa=0.096 with p=0.02) and communication (Kappa=0.349 with p=0.01) scores between the FSEs were significantly different. Based on their Cronbach’s alpha score (0.74) FSE Two’s ratings were used for analysis. There were no significant changes in C-CEI scores based on the students’ assigned prebriefing activity. There were significant differences between participant scores (communication 4.3(26), p = \u3c0.001; Clinical Judgement 2.7(26), p = 0.011; Overall 2.8(26), p = 0.01) based on their scenario. Conclusions: Issues with the FSFs and FSEs revealed ways to improved future simulation-based research. Ensuring scenario complexity is equivalent assures comparable participant performance. Measures to enhance FSE interrater reliability must be implemented. Limitations: The sample size was inadequate to determine statistically significant data. A lack of randomization of assignment to groups is also a limitation. An FSF provided additional cueing which could have affected some student’s C-CEI scores

Marine bacterial, archaeal and protistan association networks reveal ecological linkages

Microbes have central roles in ocean food webs and global biogeochemical processes, yet specific ecological relationships among these taxa are largely unknown. This is in part due to the dilute, microscopic nature of the planktonic microbial community, which prevents direct observation of their interactions. Here, we use a holistic (that is, microbial system-wide) approach to investigate time-dependent variations among taxa from all three domains of life in a marine microbial community. We investigated the community composition of bacteria, archaea and protists through cultivation-independent methods, along with total bacterial and viral abundance, and physico-chemical observations. Samples and observations were collected monthly over 3 years at a well-described ocean time-series site of southern California. To find associations among these organisms, we calculated time-dependent rank correlations (that is, local similarity correlations) among relative abundances of bacteria, archaea, protists, total abundance of bacteria and viruses and physico-chemical parameters. We used a network generated from these statistical correlations to visualize and identify time-dependent associations among ecologically important taxa, for example, the SAR11 cluster, stramenopiles, alveolates, cyanobacteria and ammonia-oxidizing archaea. Negative correlations, perhaps suggesting competition or predation, were also common. The analysis revealed a progression of microbial communities through time, and also a group of unknown eukaryotes that were highly correlated with dinoflagellates, indicating possible symbioses or parasitism. Possible ‘keystone’ species were evident. The network has statistical features similar to previously described ecological networks, and in network parlance has non-random, small world properties (that is, highly interconnected nodes). This approach provides new insights into the natural history of microbes

We’ve Come a Long Way (Baby)! Or Have We? Evolving Intellectual Freedom Issues in the US and Florida

This paper analyzes a shifting landscape of intellectual freedom (IF) in and outside Florida for children, adolescents, teens and adults. National ideals stand in tension with local and state developments, as new threats are visible in historical, legal, and technological context. Examples include doctrinal shifts, legislative bills, electronic surveillance and recent attempts to censor books, classroom texts, and reading lists. Privacy rights for minors in Florida are increasingly unstable. New assertions of parental rights are part of a larger conservative animus. Proponents of IF can identify a lessening of ideals and standards that began after doctrinal fruition in the 1960s and 70s, and respond to related occurrences to help mitigate the impact of increasingly reactionary social and political currents. At the same time, progressive librarians can resist erosion of professional independence that comes when censorship pressures undermine core values. This paper is a post-imprint of an article originally published in the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy (Winter, 2017), with minor edits from the original published article. Some end notes (1, 30, 41 and 51) have been added – re-ordering original numeration to link the reader to subsequent articles, websites and/or occurrences