Lawrence University

Museum collections are indispensable for understanding biodiversity including parasites, hosts, and their interactions. Technological advances have revolutionized modern museum practices, changing the skills future scientists need to engage with museums and utilize their resources to address global environmental and health challenges. Concurrently, museum specimens and digital resources are becoming more accessible and relevant to formal classroom education, fostering the development of critical thinking, data analysis, and problem-solving skills among students. Parasitology collections offer unique insights into host-parasite dynamics and support training in systematic classification and diagnostic methods, counteracting the decline in organismal biology courses and expertise. In this review, we explore the evolving role of museums in parasitology education, highlighting current resources available and identifying areas for further development. We begin by uncovering the historical connections between early parasitology collections and teaching, where instructors collected specimens for educational purposes and students gained hands-on training and expertise in diagnosis and identification through creating their own collections. We describe how modern parasitology collections embody aspects of the extended specimen concept by incorporating comprehensive information about hosts and interactions along with parasite specimens. We outline the need for specialized education and training in museum methods for undergraduate students in parasitology. This includes planning and designing field collections with the extended specimen concept in mind, as well as preserving, curating, databasing, digitizing, and georeferencing specimens. We identify the positive impact of museum resources on enhancing educational opportunities, including Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). As more parasite specimens and collections become accessible through digitization, instructors can integrate virtual specimen images, data, inquiry-based teaching modules, CUREs, and mentored curatorial or research experiences in their classrooms and laboratories. We suggest that museum-based teaching materials can address knowledge gaps in biodiversity literacy, quantitative skills, and critical thinking, ultimately preparing students for future careers in parasitology and related fields such as conservation biology, ecology, natural resources, and veterinary and human medicine.

ABSTRACT Differences in body size and development can result in ecological variation with age, although juveniles often are understudied. Among bushveld lizards, juveniles are morphologically distinct from adults, with their movement and coloration mimicking beetles. We examined movement in a population of juvenile bushveld lizards in southwestern Botswana. In our study population, juveniles were active foragers, exhibiting both high moves per minute (MPM) and percent time moving (PTM) relative to other lizards. We also measured first passage time (FPT; radii = 1, 3, and 5 m), which revealed that foraging juveniles use area restricted searching. Across the limited range of scales we examined, FPT increased linearly, possibly indicating directional persistence. Further studies on the implications of our findings are merited.

Continuing his series for optical assistants and their supervisors, Tony Douglass explores capacity – a customer's ability to make decisions on the products they are purchasing

The optimal search strategy for foraging animals can vary based on environmental parameters, which can include information about the spatial distribution of prey. We tested the hypothesis that natural populations of foraging desert grassland whiptails (Aspidoscelis uniparens) structure their search strategies according to resource distribution. We experimentally provisioned prey in uniform, aggregated, and random distributions to characterize search effort (moves per minute and percent time moving) and search path (turn angles, movement duration, path straightness, step length, and two-step sequences). The search effort did not vary with treatment but animals adjusted their search path based on the presence and distribution of supplemental prey. With uniformly distributed prey, foragers took longer step lengths and more frequently engaged in two-step sequences that included long step lengths. When prey were randomly distributed, foragers made more moves of long duration and fewer straight moves, often pairing short step lengths with large turns. With an aggregated prey distribution, foragers had more moves of very short duration. Examining detailed search path characteristics can identify responses to environmental changes. Under experimental conditions, the search strategies of A. uniparens indicated behavioral responses to food distribution that could improve search efficiency.

Abstract To anticipate relationships between future climate change and societal violence, we need theory to establish causal links and case studies to estimate interactions between driving forces. Here, we couple evolutionary ecology with a machine-learning statistical approach to investigate the long-term effects of climate change, population growth, and inequality on intergroup conflict among farmers in the North American Southwest. Through field investigations, we generate a new archaeological dataset of farming settlements in the Bears Ears National Monument spanning 1,300 years (0 to AD 1300) to evaluate the direct and interactive effects of precipitation, temperature, climate shocks, demography, and wealth inequality on habitation site defensibility—our proxy for intergroup conflict. We find that conflict peaked during dry, warm intervals when population density and inequality were highest. Results support our theoretical predictions and suggest cascading effects, whereby xeric conditions favored population aggregation into an increasingly small, heterogenous area, which increased resource stress and inequality and promoted intergroup conflict over limited productive patches. This dynamic likely initiated feedback loops, whereby conflict exacerbated shortfalls and fostered mistrust, which drove further aggregation and competition. Results reveal complex interactions among socioclimatological conditions, all of which may have contributed to regional depopulation during the thirteenth century AD.

Urbanization was one of the most significant transitions in human history, yet explanations for the rise and expansion of early cities remain contentious. Here, we propose that simple models from population ecology can integrate existing theories for the development of early cities. Using newly synthesized paleoclimatological, paleoecological, demographic, and historical data from across the Classic Period Maya Lowlands (250-1000 CE) integrated with piece-wise structural equation models, we show that climate downturns, intergroup conflict, and strong economies of scale interact to promote the coevolution of urbanism and patron-client relationships, fueling city expansion, urban institutions, and systemic inequality. In addition, we elucidate how these nonlinear pathways structure the persistence or dissolution of cities. This study underscores the importance of robust economies of scale in the development of early cities and provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the conditions that promote or hinder urbanization, offering insights applicable to both ancient and contemporary urban dynamics.

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is a newly discovered phenomenon to modulate a multitude of cellular functions. Despite its importance, the full evolution mechanism of LLPS starting from intramolecular interactions to intermolecular condensations has yet to be revealed. In this study, we investigated a representative LLPS formed between negatively charged nucleic acids poly(G-quadruplex) and positively charged peptides poly(lysine). Harnessing the chiral nature of these two components, we elucidated an exquisite chirality effect on the LLPS formation using optical-tweezer-based single-molecule force spectroscopy, which revealed four states of intramolecular condensation at low component concentrations, and a microscopy-based ensemble clouding assay, which, in a complementary manner, discloses the shape and density of macroscopic intermolecular condensates at higher concentrations. We found that, with increasing concentrations, intramolecular interactions evolve to intermolecular condensations, resulting in liquid-like condensates followed by solid-like droplets. The entire evolution was facilitated by the matching chirality between poly(G-quadruplex) and poly(lysine), which confirmed that the intermolecular interaction is the driving force for the LLPS process. The elucidation of the full LLPS evolution offers ample opportunities to interfere with the LLPS process via chirality factors, which provides new avenues for targeted therapeutics and development of functional biomaterials.

The Early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE 1a) marks a period of global marine anoxia linked to volcanic activity and climate changes during the Cretaceous. This study analyzes a ~ 40-m-thick Lower Aptian succession from the Kazhdumi Intrashelf Basin, Iran, using I/(Ca + Mg) ratios, Ce anomalies, trace elements, δ¹³C, and REY parameters. Results reveal persistent suboxic to anoxic bottom-water conditions, with increased oxygenation in segments C3 and upper C5 + C6, driven by weathering and sea-level changes. Minimal diagenetic overprinting is indicated by C-isotope trends and low Mn/Sr ratios. The Kazhdumi Basin serves as a high-resolution archive of redox evolution during OAE 1a, emphasizing the utility of I/(Ca + Mg) and Ce anomalies as proxies in ancient carbonates.

ABSTRACTObjectiveWe explore how incarcerated brothers experience support from their non‐incarcerated siblings.BackgroundSibling incarceration is the most common type of family member incarceration, with more than one‐quarter of U.S. adults enduring a sibling's incarceration (and, most commonly, a brother's incarceration). Despite the prevalence of sibling incarceration and the importance of sibling relationships throughout the life course, little is known about sibling support in the context of incarceration from the receiver's perspective (or other family members' perspectives).MethodWe use longitudinal in‐depth interviews with 122 incarcerated adult brothers and 69 of their mothers to explore how system‐impacted families negotiate non‐incarcerated sibling support.ResultsWe find that incarcerated brothers and their mothers describe navigating four types of sibling support: (1) unconditional, intrinsic support to incarcerated brothers and other family members shaped by cultural expectations of family reliance; (2) mediated, reluctant support to incarcerated brothers prompted by mothers; (3) disengaged, infrequent support to incarcerated brothers due to constraints and/or to protect themselves; and (4) absent, no support to incarcerated brothers because siblings have grown tired of their brothers cycling through the criminal legal system.ConclusionWe advance scholarship on criminal legal contact and family life by documenting how incarcerated brothers experience support from their non‐incarcerated siblings and highlight the considerable and enduring consequences of incarceration for the entire family system.

The applicability of venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment models (RAMs), to breast cancer (BC) populations remains unclear. We aimed to compare the efficacy of current RAMs and examine the potential of additional hematologic parameters and thromboelastography (TEG); a point of care test, in improving VTE prediction in breast cancer (BC) patients. In this pilot study, female BC patients were recruited before chemotherapy and followed for 6-12 months for VTE. VTE risk was assessed using Khorana score, Vienna CATS, PROTECHT, COMPASS-CAT, New Vienna CATSCORE, MDACC CAT, and hypercoagulability status. TEG and hematologic parameters were analyzed, and a modified RAM was developed. Among 47 patients, 5 (10.6%) developed VTE. PROTECHT was the strongest predictor [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.844], followed by Vienna CATS (AUC = 0.781). Adding immature granulocytes and red blood cell count to PROTECHT optimized prediction (AUC = 0.856). Incorporating hematologic parameters into PROTECHT may improve VTE risk prediction in BC patients, warranting further evaluation in larger studies.