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Low-nutrient adapted species have numerous mechanisms that aid in nutrient conservation. Hypothetically, species adapted to nutrient-poor soils should have tighter internal nutrient recycling, as evidenced by greater resorption. However, literature results are mixed. We suggest methodological factors may limit our understanding of this process. We hypothesized that plants adapted to serpentine soils would be more proficient in resorbing N and P than plants adapted to non-serpentine soils, although there would be differences among functional groups within each soil type. For six growing seasons, we sampled senescent leaf tissue from the dominant and co-dominant shrubs and trees found in serpentine and non-serpentine chaparral communities in the California Coast Range. Our study also explicitly included congener pairs found on both soil types. Most species were highly N proficient, but species adapted to serpentine soils were more P proficient. Surprisingly, two of the three potential N-fixing species were also highly N proficient. Evergreen Quercus congeners were more N proficient than their deciduous congener pairs, although there was no difference in P resorption proficiency. Overall, large inter-annual variation was observed among most species sampled, but at least in some years, maximum potential resorption likely was reached. However, climate (temperature and precipitation) was not strongly correlated with either N or P resorption proficiency. Our data suggest that controlling for phylogeny can aid in interpretation of resorption patterns. More importantly, our study clearly shows that resorption patterns can only be discerned through long-term datasets, of which few exist in the literature.

Little information is available on growth rates and reproductive effort in microchiropteran bats that breed in temperate areas, are not colonial, and do not hibernate. We measured growth in individual young of the hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus, a solitary, foliage-roosting, migratory species, and assessed growth rate using changes in forearm length. We tested the prediction that growth is slower in this than in other species because of the less stable thermal environment that adults and juveniles experience. Forearm length and mass of 1-day-old young ( plus or minus SE) were 19.11 plus or minus 0.30 mm and 4.73 plus or minus 0.20 g, respectively. Over 3 years, growth rate of young differed, with young growing slowest (1.14 mm/day) during the coldest year and fastest (1.45 mm/day) during the warmest year. Young were not weaned until 7 weeks of age and nearly 3 weeks after fledging and continued to gain mass over winter. Unlike other species, lactating females did not lose mass through the breeding season. Based on a Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm for nonlinear regression, the growth constant of young hoary bats (0.083 in females) is less than that documented for most other species breeding in temperate North America. Migratory habits of L. cinereus allow adults and young of the year to forage throughout winter and may be associated with slow growth in this species and production of relatively large litters in species of Lasiurus in general.

The diets of hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) within the first 2 weeks post-fledging were studied by means of fecal analysis. Results were compared to the diet of adult hoary bats within the same area. Juvenile bats consumed significantly fewer Odonata than did adults. Chironomidae (Diptera) were the major contributor to the diet of juveniles during the 1st week of flight, but were a negligible component in the diet of older juveniles or adults. Due to a lack of experience, juveniles likely have poor handling skills of larger insects. However, lower wing loading and greater maneuverability may make small prey more available to juveniles.

Little information is available on growth rates and reproductive effort in microchiropteran bats that breed in temperate areas, are not colonial, and do not hibernate. We measured growth in individual young of the hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus, a solitary, foliage-roosting, migratory species, and assessed growth rate using changes in forearm length. We tested the prediction that growth is slower in this than in other species because of the less stable thermal environment that adults and juveniles experience. Forearm length and mass of 1-day-old young (X̄ ± SE) were 19.11 ± 0.30 mm and 4.73 ± 0.20 g, respectively. Over 3 years, growth rate of young differed, with young growing slowest (1.14 mm/day) during the coldest year and fastest (1.45 mm/day) during the warmest year. Young were not weaned until 7 weeks of age and nearly 3 weeks after fledging and continued to gain mass over winter. Unlike other species, lactating females did not lose mass through the breeding season. Based on a Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm for nonlinear regression, the growth constant of young hoary bats (0.083 in females) is less than that documented for most other species breeding in temperate North America. Migratory habits of L. cinereus allow adults and young of the year to forage throughout winter and may be associated with slow growth in this species and production of relatively large litters in species of Lasiurus in general.

This dissertation examines education programming in a men’s maximumsecurity prison in rural Central New York. The provision of formal schooling has been a hallmark of prison reform efforts in New York for over a century, imagined to both ameliorate the conditions of confinement and, upon release, restore inmates to full civic participation and social membership. In documenting the everyday work of teaching and learning in one such school, this dissertation demonstrates that, rather than representing a formal break with punitive logics and practices, such reform efforts are instrumentalized and assimilated into the custodial management of the institution. For both staff and inmates, navigating the dissonances and incoherencies that emerge as “care” is integrated into “custody” is a defining feature of institutional life that conditions both the structural possibilities and particular socialities that emerge within reform-oriented programs in prison. In tracing structures of care (diagnostic and standardized testing) in the school as they intersect with disciplinary structures of custody (solitary confinement), this research demonstrates that inmates’ academic achievement is significantly attenuated by institutional conditions. These institutional conditions are both produced by and reflected in the “security mindset,” which affects particular forms of sociality in the school. In managing personal and emotional proximities, this “mindset” remakes a “caring” profession in the image of custodial relations of authority and in the interest of control. This “mindset” is instantiated in the documentary practices of the school, where staff not only track inmates’ academic progress, but contribute to the record of punishment. In considering staff and inmates’ deep ambivalences about the lived experience of prison reform, this dissertation provides an ethnographically rich account of a pervasive modern institution that is seldom frequented by social researchers. It suggests that processes of carceral subject-making are neither coherent, nor uncontested, but mediated by extensive self-reflexive and intersubjective critique and negotiation. Given the influence of the prison as a historical formation on anthropological investigations of modern power/knowledge, this dissertation demonstrates that the contemporary prison itself is a key analytical site for understanding the empirical realities, as much as theoretical implications, of the current era of hyperincarceration.

This study explores how engineering concepts are represented in secondary science standards across the nation by examining how engineering and technical concepts are infused into these frameworks. Secondary science standards from 49 states plus the District of Columbia were analyzed and ranked based on how many engineering concepts were found. Findings reveal that most state science standards infuse some engineering concepts into their documents under the umbrella of science, technology and society (STS) strands. In only a few expectations have states (e.g. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont) fully integrated engineering concepts into their existing state science curricula. Specific suggestions are offered regarding how scientific and technical literacy can together promote a richer experience for all students, and perhaps promote the consideration of STEM careers.

Airway inflammation is the hallmark of many respiratory disorders, such as asthma and cystic fibrosis. Changes in airway gene expression triggered by inflammation play a key role in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Genetic linkage studies suggest that ESE-2 and ESE-3, which encode epithelium-specific Ets-domain-containing transcription factors, are candidate asthma susceptibility genes. We report here that the expression of another member of the Ets family transcription factors ESE-1, as well as ESE-3, is upregulated by the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β （IL-1β） and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in bronchial epithelial cell lines. Treatment of these cells with IL-1β and TNF-α resulted in a dramatic increase in mRNA expression for both ESE-1 and ESE-3. We demonstrate that the induced expression is mediated by activation of the transcription factor NF-κB. We have characterized the ESE-1 and ESE-3 promoters and have identified the NF-κB binding sequences that are required for the cytokine-induced expression. In addition, we also demonstrate that ESE-1 upregulates ESE-3 expression and downregulates its own induction by cytokines. Finally, we have shown that in E/f3 （homologous to human ESE-1） knockout mice, the expression of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 （IL-6） is downregulated. Our findings suggest that ESE-1 and ESE-3 play an important role in airway inflammation.

This year long, qualitative, case study examines two, experienced, high school, biology teachers as they facilitated nature of science (NOS) understandings in their classrooms. This study explored three research questions: (1) In what ways do experienced teachers' conceptions of NOS evolve over one full year as a result of participating in a course that explicitly address NOS teaching and learning? (2) In what ways do experienced teachers' pedagogical practices evolve over one full year as a result of participating in a course that explicitly address NOS teaching and learning?, and (3) What are the challenges facing experienced teachers in their attempts to implement NOS understandings in their science, high school classrooms? This study was conducted in two parts. In Part I (fall 2004 semester), the participants were enrolled in a graduate course titled, Teaching the Nature of Science , where they were introduced to: (1) NOS, (2) a strategy, the Model for Teaching NOS (MTNOS), which helped them facilitate teaching NOS understandings through inquiry-based activities, and (3) participated in \"real\" science activities that reinforced their conceptions of NOS. In Part II (spring 2005 semester), classroom observations were made to uncover how these teachers implemented inquiry-based activities emphasizing NOS understanding in their classrooms. Their conceptions of NOS were measured using the Views of the Nature of Science questionnaire. Results demonstrated that each teacher's conceptions of NOS shifted slightly during course the study, but, for one, this was not a permanent shift. Over the year, one teacher's pedagogical practices changed to include inquiry-based lessons using MTNOS; the other, although very amenable to using prepared inquiry-based lessons, did not change her pedagogical practices. Both reported similar challenges while facilitating NOS understanding. The most significant challenges included: (1) time management; (2) the perception that NOS was a content area, and (3) using an inquiry-based model in their classroom. This study describes a curricular and pedagogical model for lesson planning and implementation of inquiry-based activities that promotes NOS understandings in the classroom. It defines the challenges encountered while fostering these understandings, and suggests that NOS needs to be integrated across the educational life span of all students.

Throughout its native range, the California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, exhibits substantial morphological and life-history variation, including variation in seed dormancy and ability to perennate. Populations from xeric southern California habitats have high seed dormancy over a range of habitats that span from coast to desert and across vegetation types of varying fire frequency. Understanding variation in the cues that break dormancy in this species is especially important to managing natural populations with prescribed fire, and in production and use of local ecotypes for restoration, erosion control, and ecological landscaping. We explored the influence of sequential treatments of low temperature and components of fire (heat, dry smoke, smoke water, a commercially concentrated smoke water we call \"liquid smoke\", charrate, and nitrate) on seed germination for both annual and perennial populations and compared results to those of widely used domesticated seeds. We also examined the effect of light and seed age. Domesticated seeds had no seed dormancy and, except for heat-treated seeds, germination was close to 100% across treatments, including water controls. In contrast, seeds of all wild southern California populations showed some dormancy, germination was highly conditional on test factors, and light inhibited germination. We found differences in dormancy rates among wild populations and years since seed collection, with annuals having higher dormancy than perennials in the first year following collection but not after aging > two years. Of the fire treatments, heat (85°C for 10 min), or heat plus smoke, resulted in significantly reduced germination and viability of all populations tested, including domesticated seeds. All smoke treatments significantly improved germination of dormant-seeded populations over water controls, but neither nitrate, water soaking, charrate, nor cold treatment alone broke dormancy. In the absence of cold treatment, both liquid and dry smoke yielded higher germination than controls in seeds aged 8-10 months (65-95% for liquid smoke, 21–60% for dry smoke, vs. 14-59% for controls). Moist cold treatment (3—9°C) by itself did not usually break seed dormancy but it did act synergistically to increase germination of smoke-treated seeds and did not harm controls. In contrast, for most populations colder pretreatment (~2°C) resulted in a small decrease in germination of water controls but not in seeds smoketreated before cold treatment. Seed age affected germination of controls and the ability of smoke to break dormancy. Germination of controls and smoke-treated seeds increased between 2 and 4 mo of aging in the lab, with no further increase at 8 mo. Dormancy of controls was substantially higher in seeds aged in the lab > 27 months from collection relative to seeds aged 8-10 months (n = 7 and 5 populations, means = 92% and 63% dormant, respectively). Smoke succeeded in breaking dormancy of older seeds to half the extent as in younger seeds, suggesting either a decline in germinability as seeds degrade, induction of a deep secondary dormancy, or both. Given the large differences between domesticated and wild populations in dormancy and germination requirements, and that seed dormancy is probably heritable and adaptive, non-dormant domesticated seeds are not appropriate for restoration, especially in xeric environments that naturally support plants with dormant seeds.