University System of Georgia

1. Anthropogenic food subsidies can have profound influences on wildlife behavior and health, including exposure to parasites. In many host-macroparasite systems, parasite exposure is tied to foraging behavior, but how different distributions of food subsidy shape macroparasite encounter and population-level impacts is poorly understood. 2. Here we modify a mathematical model of macroparasite transmission to explore how food subsidies could change parasite encounter rates and between-host variation in parasite burdens, reflecting changes in host foraging and conspecific overlap. 3. Hosts experience the highest average parasite abundance, and associated reductions in population size, when food subsidies increase and homogenize parasite encounter rates, for example when hosts center their home ranges on a point food source and overlap with many conspecifics. Conversely, hosts experience the lowest parasite abundance and impacts when subsidies result in lower and more heterogeneous parasite encounter rates, for example when multiple, patchily-distributed subsidies subdivide host populations and increase host commute times to food at the expense of time spent foraging. Even when resources affect other processes such as improving host immunity or fecundity, the overall effect of subsidies on infection is more strongly driven by changes in parasite encounter rates through altered foraging behavior. These patterns are robust to different effect sizes of resource subsidy on foraging and non-foraging parameters. 4. The finding that host foraging behavior strongly influences infection outcomes in environmentally-acquired parasites has implications for the provisioning of wildlife for recreation, conservation, and management. We advocate for distributing food subsidies in ways that reduce artificial aggregation of hosts and the time animals spend at feeding stations, or that reduce environmental parasite encounters while feeding.

Este artículo analiza la producción poética de Pablo Neruda durante sus últimos años, la cual se ha dividido en tres apartados: poemas tardíos, póstumos, y perdidos (inéditos). La fama literaria de Neruda se cimentó en su obra anterior a los años 60 del siglo pasado, Veinte poemas de amor y una canci ó n desesperada (1924), Residencia en la Tierra (1933, 1935, 1947), Canto General (1950) y Odas elementales (1954–1957). Desafortunadamente, muchos críticos y lectores en general han pasado por alto este corpus en el que Neruda habla profundamente sobre el futuro, post el año 2000. Sin embargo, el poeta ya había anunciado un cambio fundamental y visionario en su poética a partir de Extravagario (1958), concretándose en Aún (1969), y Fin de mundo (1969), y manifestándose en sus libros póstumos, en particular en 2000 (1974).

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> Understanding the mechanisms that shape the geographic distribution of plant species is a central theme of biogeography. Although seed mass, seed dispersal mode and phylogeny have long been suspected to affect species distribution, the link between the sources of variation of these attributes and their effects to the distribution of seed plants are poorly documented. This study aims to quantify the joint effects of key seed traits and phylogeny on species&rsquo; distribution. We collected seed mass and seed dispersal mode from 1,426 species of seed plants representing 501 genera of 122 families and used 4,138,851 specimens to model species distributional range size. Phylogenetic generalized least squares regression and variation partitioning were performed to estimate the effects of seed mass, seed dispersal mode and phylogeny on species distribution. We found that species distributional range size was significantly constrained by phylogeny. Seed mass and its intraspecific variation were also important in limiting species distribution, but their effects were different among species with different dispersal modes. Variation partitioning revealed that seed mass, seed mass variability, seed dispersal mode and phylogeny together explained 46.82 % of the variance in species range size. Although seed traits are not typically used to model the geographic distributions of seed plants, our study provides direct evidence showing seed mass, seed dispersal mode and phylogeny are important in explaining species geographic distribution. This finding underscores the necessity to include seed traits and the phylogenetic history of species in climate-based niche models for predicting the response of plant geographic distribution to climate change.

Integration of clinical skills during graduate training in dual-degree programs remains a challenge. The present study investigated the availability and self-perceived efficacy of clinical continuity strategies for dual-degree trainees preparing for clinical training. Survey participants were MD/DO-PhD students enrolled in dual-degree-granting institutions in the USA. The response rate was 95% of 73 unique institutions surveyed, representing 56% of the 124 MD-PhD and 7 DO-PhD recognized training programs. Respondents were asked to indicate the availability and self-perceived efficacy of each strategy. Reported available clinical continuity strategies included clinical volunteering (95.6%), medical grand rounds (86.9%), mentored clinical experiences (84.2%), standardized patients/ practice Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) (70.3%), clinical case reviews (45.9%), clinical journal clubs (38.3%), and preclinical courses/review sessions (37.2%). Trainees rated standardized patients (µ = 6.98 ± 0.356), mentored clinical experiences (µ = 6.94 ± 0.301), clinical skills review sessions (µ = 6.89 ± 0.384), preclinical courses/review sessions (µ = 6.74 ± 0.482), and clinical volunteering (µ = 6.60 ± 0.369), significantly (p < 0.050) higher than clinical case review (µ = 5.34 ± 0.412), clinical journal club (µ = 4.75 ± 0.498), and medicine grand rounds (µ = 4.45 ± 0.377). Further, 84.4% of respondents stated they would be willing to devote at least 0.5-1 hour per week to clinical continuity opportunities during graduate training. Less than half of the institutions surveyed offered strategies perceived as the most efficacious in preparing trainees for clinical reentry, such as clinical skills review sessions. Broader implementation of these strategies could help better prepare dual-degree students for their return to clinical training.

Los principales principios de instrucción de Merrill proporcionan un marco para el diseño de instrucción centrada en el alumno. En este artículo examinamos cómo esos Principios de Instrucción proporcionan un marco para examinar formas efectivas de aprovechar el uso de tecnologías de video para mejorar el diseño e implementar el aprendizaje profesional para los profesores de matemáticas. Sintetizamos los Primeros Principios de la Instrucción, el ciclo de lecciones Launch-Explore-Discuss en matemáticas (Polly, 2017b; Tools4NCTeachers, s.f.), y los principios del aprendizaje profesional centrado en el alumno (Polly y Hannafin, 2010). Luego describimos viñetas sobre cómo las tecnologías de video pueden mejorar las experiencias de aprendizaje profesional que se alinean con los Primeros Principios de Instrucción y el aprendizaje profesional centrado en el alumno. Cerramos con implicaciones y recomendaciones para la investigación y la práctica para futuros esfuerzos. Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction provide a framework for the design of learner-centered instruction. In this article we examine how those Principles of Instruction provide a framework to examine effective ways to leverage the use of video technologies to enhance the design and implement professional learning for mathematics teachers. We synthesize the First Principles of Instruction, the Launch-Explore-Discuss lesson cycle in mathematics (Polly, 2017b; Tools4NCTeachers, n.d.), and principles of learner-centered professional learning (Polly &amp; Hannafin, 2010). We then describe vignettes about how video technologies can enhance professional learning experiences that align to the First Principles of Instruction and learner-centered professional learning. We close with implications and recommendations for research and practice for future endeavors.

Abstract Background: The ability of blood feeding arthropods to successfully acquire and transmit pathogens of medical and veterinary importance has been shown to be interfered with, or enhanced by, the arthropod’s native microbiome. Mosquitoes transmit viruses, protozoan and filarial nematodes, the majority of which contribute to the 17% of infectious disease cases worldwide. Dirofilaria immitis , a mosquito transmitted by filarial nematodes of dogs and cats, is vectored by several mosquito species including Aedes aegypti . Methods: In this study, we investigated the impact of D. immitis colonization on the microbiome of laboratory reared female A. aegypti . Metagenomic analysis of the V3-V4 variable region of the microbial 16SRNA was used for identification of the microbial differences down to species level. Results: We generated a total of 1068 OTUs representing 16 phyla, 181 genera and 271 bacterial species. Overall, in order of abundance, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were the most represented phylum with D. immitis infected mosquitoes having more of Proteobacteria (71%) than uninfected mosquitoes (56.9%). An interesting finding in this study is the detection of Klebsiella oxytoca in relatively similar abundance in infected and uninfected mosquitoes, suggesting a possible endosymbiotic relationship, and has been previously shown to indirectly compete for nutrients with fungi on domestic housefly eggs and larva. While D. immitis colonization has no effect on the overall species richness, we identified significant differences in the composition of selected bacteria genus and phylum between the two groups. We also reported distinct compositional and phylogenetic differences in the individual bacteria species when commonly identified bacteria were compared. Conclusions: In conclusion, this is the first study to the best of our knowledge to understand the impact of a filarial infection on the microbiome of its mosquito vector. Further studies are required to identify bacteria species that could play an important role in the mosquito biology. While the microbiome composition of A. aegypti mosquito have been previously reported, our study shows that in an effort to establish itself, a filarial nematode modifies and alters the overall microbial diversity within its mosquito host.