University of Idaho

Plain Language Summary Glacier speeds vary over time periods ranging from hours to centuries. Liquid water present at the base of glaciers affects ice speed but it is unclear whether the links between liquid water and ice speed are the same across all timescales. Recent efforts to model multi‐year cycles of fast glacier flow, known as glacier surges, show that a gradual build‐up of heat and/or water at the base of glaciers could drive ice flow instabilities. However, this modeling approach has thus far not accounted for seasonal variations in water flux through glaciers and their influence on glacier flow. In this work we implement seasonal variability in air temperatures within an existing model of glacier surges. We explore the effects of changing the water supply to the glacier base, finding that glaciers that do not transmit surface water through the glacier easily are more prone to surging and that glaciers with a poorly connected drainage system at their base might be more likely to surge. The simulation of surges here demonstrate that a single set of physical relationships between water within glaciers and glacier motion can reproduce a spectrum of observed behaviors, without the need for invoking more complicated physics.

Background SHANK3, a gene encoding a synaptic scaffolding protein, is implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is disrupted in Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS). Despite evidence of regression or worsening of ASD-like symptoms in individuals with PMS, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Although Shank3 is highly expressed in the cerebellar cortical granule cells, its role in cerebellar function and contribution to behavioral deficits in ASD models are unknown. This study investigates behavioral changes and cerebellar synaptic alterations in Shank3Δex4–22 mice at two developmental stages. Methods Shank3Δex4–22 wildtype, heterozygous, and homozygous knockout mice lacking exons 4–22 (all functional isoforms) were subjected to a behavioral battery in both juvenile (5–7 weeks old) and adult (3–5 months old) mouse cohorts of both sexes. Immunostaining was used to show the expression of Shank3 in the cerebellar cortex. Spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) from cerebellar granule cells (CGCs) were recorded by whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology. Results Deletion of Shank3 caused deficits in motor function, heightened anxiety, and repetitive behaviors. These genotype-dependent behavioral alterations were more prominent in adult mice than in juveniles. Reduced social preference was only identified in adult Shank3Δex4–22 knockout male mice, while self-grooming was uniquely elevated in males across both age groups. Heterozygous mice showed little to no changes in behavioral phenotypes in most behavioral tests. Immunofluorescence staining indicated the presence of Shank3 predominantly in the dendrite-containing rosette-like structures in CGCs, colocalizing with presynaptic markers of glutamatergic mossy fiber. Electrophysiological findings identified a parallel relationship between the age-related exacerbation of behavioral impairments and the enhancement of sEPSC amplitude in CGCs. Limitations Other behavioral tests of muscle strength (grip strength test), memory (Barnes/water maze), and communication (ultrasonic vocalization), were not performed. Further study is necessary to elucidate how Shank3 modulates synaptic function at the mossy fiber-granule cell synapse in the cerebellum and whether these changes shape the behavioral phenotype. Conclusions Our findings reveal an age-related exacerbation of behavioral impairments in Shank3Δex4–22 mutant mice. These results suggest that Shank3 may alter the function of glutamatergic receptors at the mossy fiber-cerebellar granule cell synapse as a potential mechanism causing cerebellar disruption in ASD.

Forest soil amendments are increasingly used in western US forests to dispose of unmerchantable woody residues, reduce wildfire risk, and improve soil properties. Our objective was to determine the effect of fertilizer and organic amendments on tree growth and organic matter decomposition after thinning. Treatments were a control, three single soil amendments (wood chips, fertilizer, and biochar), and one combined soil amendment (biochar + fertilizer), each applied after thinning a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws) stand. After 10 years, amendment treatments had no effect on tree diameter increment (p = 0.600), but the biochar + fertilizer and wood chip treatments significantly increased height growth (p = 0.006). To estimate belowground biological changes, we used wood stakes made from aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) as an index of microbial activity. Stakes were placed: (1) on top of the litter/amendments, (2) at the interface between the litter/amendments and mineral soil, and (3) vertically inserted into the mineral soil, and stake mass loss was measured over 5 years. Stake mass loss of each species was least on the soil surface and increased with increasing depth. Aspen stakes generally had greater mass loss at all three soil locations in the fertilizer and biochar treatments. In contrast, pine stake mass loss was lower than aspen and less affected by fertilizer. Using thinned tree biomass to create amendments can improve forest productivity by enhancing soil conditions and mitigating wildfire. However, the impact of amendments on tree growth may take decades to be detectable.

Digital twins represent a key technology for precision health. Medical digital twins consist of computational models that represent the health state of individual patients over time, enabling optimal therapeutics and forecasting patient prognosis. Many health conditions involve the immune system, so it is crucial to include its key features when designing medical digital twins. The immune response is complex and varies across diseases and patients, and its modelling requires the collective expertise of the clinical, immunology, and computational modelling communities. This review outlines the initial progress on immune digital twins and the various initiatives to facilitate communication between interdisciplinary communities. We also outline the crucial aspects of an immune digital twin design and the prerequisites for its implementation in the clinic. We propose some initial use cases that could serve as “ proof of concept ” regarding the utility of immune digital technology, focusing on diseases with a very different immune response across spatial and temporal scales (minutes, days, months, years). Lastly, we discuss the use of digital twins in drug discovery and point out emerging challenges that the scientific community needs to collectively overcome to make immune digital twins a reality.

The purpose of this study was to examine which early childhood (EC) teachers’ qualifications (i.e., degree, major, and teaching experience) are linked to teachers’ Metacognitive Awareness (MA) and science teaching efficacy, and to investigate the relation among EC teachers’ MA components and science teaching efficacy. A total of 153 Head Start teachers from eight U.S. states completed validated surveys that measured their science teaching efficacy and MA. Results from multilevel ANOVA and regression analysis showed that teachers with an early childhood education background were more positive about their ability to teach science, more mindful of their teaching strategies, and more likely to self-evaluate their teaching as compared to teachers without an EC education background. Also, teachers who were more aware of their teaching strategies and instructional goals, and monitored their teaching practices reported higher confidence in their ability to teach science. Our results revealed the role of MA in early science teaching efficacy and highlighted the importance of supporting EC teachers’ professional development, particularly for those whose backgrounds are not in EC.

Understanding global food production and productivity patterns is crucial for policy and investment decisions aimed at addressing poverty, food insecurity, and climate change. This paper develops comprehensive calorific-based production and yield indices for 144 crops, covering 98% of global agricultural land and food output. These indices provide standardized measures across various crops and varieties, facilitating comparison of agricultural productivity and consolidating country and regional contributions to global food production. Utilizing a Box-Cox transformation, we find that a linear model best approximates yield growth. Our findings reveal that, at an aggregate level, there has been no discernable slowdown in global yield growth over the past six decades. This translates into an average annual yield increase equivalent to nearly 33 kilograms of wheat per hectare. These results suggest that any observed deceleration in specific commodities, regions, or countries, has been offset by gains in others. While these findings are reassuring from a global food supply perspective, caution is warranted about the sustainability of production and the affordability of food. These concerns are particularly relevant as global food demand increases due to population and income growth, and as the pressures from climate change intensify. The study underscores the importance of adopting strategic and sustainable agricultural practices to ensure continued food security in the face of evolving global challenges.

In the late 1950s, Katahdin hair sheep were developed as a composite breed of medium size and moderate prolificacy, with potential to express resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes. With increasing popularity and the recent adoption of genomic prediction in their genetic evaluation, there is a risk of decreasing variation with selection based on genomically enhanced estimated breeding values. While Katahdin pedigrees are readily available for monitoring diversity, they may not capture the entirety of genetic relationships. We aimed to characterise the genomic population structure and diversity present in the breed, and how these impact the size of a reference population necessary to achieve accurate genomic predictions. Genotypes of Katahdin sheep from 81 member flocks in the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP) were used. After quality control, there were 9704 animals and 31,984 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms analysed. Population structure was minimal as a single ancestral population explained 99.9% of the genetic variation among animals. The current N e was estimated to be 150, and despite differences in trait heritabilities, the effect of N e on the accuracy of genomic predictions suggested the breed should aim for a reference population size of 15,000 individuals. The average degree of inbreeding estimated from runs of homozygosity (ROH) was 16.6% ± 4.7. Four genomic regions of interest, previously associated with production traits, contained ROH shared among > 50% of the breed. Based on four additional methods, average genomic inbreeding coefficients ranged from 0.011 to 0.012. The current population structure and diversity of the breed reflects genetic connectedness across flocks due to the sharing of animals. Shared regions of ROH should be further explored for incorporation of functional effects into genomic predictions to increase selection gains. Negative impacts on genetic diversity due to genomic selection are not of immediate concern for Katahdin sheep engaged in NSIP.

Prior studies have found an association between reduced P3 brain responses—a neural marker of task engagement—and increased depressive symptoms during adolescence. However, it is unclear whether P3 correlates with depression globally, or with certain facets. Existing depression studies have also typically quantified P3 as a cross-trial average, neglecting possible trial-by-trial effects. Among 72 adolescents (44% female), the current study evaluated relations of distinct depression symptom facets—anhedonia and negative mood—with P3s from a three-stimulus go/no-go task, quantified both in average- and trial-level terms. Although no relationship was evident between overall depressive symptoms and average P3 amplitudes, opposing relations were found for each symptom facet with P3 to frequent and infrequent ‘go’ stimuli: higher anhedonia predicted smaller P3, whereas increased negative mood predicted larger P3. Single-trial, multilevel modeling analyses clarified these effects by showing reduced P3 across stimuli types at task outset, along with greater trial-to-trial attenuation of P3 to infrequent-go stimuli, for adolescents experiencing greater anhedonia. Conversely, increased negative mood was distinctly related to larger P3 at task onset but was unrelated to amplitude change across trials. Results demonstrate differential relations for anhedonic and negative mood symptoms with P3—indicative of task disengagement versus heightened vigilance, respectively—that may be obscured in analyses focusing on overall depressive symptoms. The divergent associations for anhedonia and negative mood with P3 underscore the need to consider these distinct symptom facets in research aimed at clarifying the nature of neural-circuitry dysfunction in depression.

Dairy manure, a significant source of phosphorus (P), can potentially cause environmental risk due to P runoff when dairy manure is directly applied to cropland. Thus, there is an increasing interest in mitigating P loss from manure prior to land applications. This study aimed to investigate the potential of hydrochar produced by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) for P recycling from dairy manure with and without the addition of CaO, focusing on the plant bioavailability, stabilization, and transformation of P in the resultant hydrochar. Hydrochar was prepared under different temperatures (180–240°C). The effect of CaO addition (0–10% of raw manure on dry wt. basis) was also evaluated at 220°C. Results showed that water-soluble P (WSP), a key indicator of P runoff loss, was significantly reduced in hydrochar, particularly with CaO addition. In addition, the plant available P in hydrochar increased with HTC temperature increase till 220°C, which accounted for ∼90% of total P content, then decreased with temperatures higher than 220°C. The addition of CaO slightly reduced plant bioavailability when compared to hydrochar produced at 220°C without additive. The P fractionation and speciation analyses indicated the transformation of P into Ca-associated apatite P. Hydrochar produced at 220°C with 10% CaO addition resulted in a high P recovery (∼85%) and a reduced runoff risk by 97%. The results demonstrate the efficacy of P recycling through hydrochar produced from dairy manure through HTC, which offers a sustainable approach to managing dairy waste while mitigating the potential environmental risks of P runoff.

We describe the genomes of five lytic Klebsiella pneumoniae myophages, therapeutic candidates, that belong to the family Straboviridae and genus Jiaodavirus . The genomes ranged from 165,574 to 169,768 bp, with ca. 40% GC content, contained 289–300 coding sequences, had 15–16 tRNA genes, and no terminal repeats.

Heat stress can increase disease risk in fishes by reducing immune function. Interactions between redband trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri ) and Flavobacterium columnare , a causative agent of columnaris disease, provide an opportunity to investigate the effects of temperature on immune function and disease resistance during periods of thermal stress. We conducted three trials to characterise differences in immune function and mortality between redband trout held at 18°C and 21°C following challenge with F . columnare . In trial 1, cumulative per cent mortality (CPM) was low and not statistically different between 18°C and 21°C. In trials 2 and 2, we administered higher challenge doses and observed increased CPM overall and significantly greater CPM at 21°C than 18°C. Redband trout upregulated il‐8 , tnf‐α , igm and igt following infection by F . columnare , suggesting that all of these genes may be involved in immune responses to F . columnare infection. We found no differences in the strength of the immune responses between fish held at 21°C versus 18°C. This indicated that 21°C did not elicit sufficient thermal stress to impair immune function and that increased CPM at 21°C versus 18°C was due to enhanced F . columnare virulence.

Fusarium dry rot is a ubiquitous disease of potato affecting tubers in storage and at planting. A greater understanding of the current Fusarium species composition associated with Fusarium dry rot in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) will aid in refinement of current management strategies. In this study, the identity of 327 single-spore Fusarium isolates recovered from PNW tuber samples was confirmed using molecular phylogenetic analyses based on partial sequences of tef and pho loci. Of the twenty species recovered, Fusarium sambucinum was the most prevalent (44.6%), followed by Fusarium oxysporum (13.8%). Selected isolates were tested for pathogenicity to potato tubers. Pathogenicity was confirmed for fourteen species of Fusarium, including seven species not previously reported as Fusarium dry rot pathogens in the region. On potato cv. ‘Russet Burbank’ (RB), inoculation with isolates of F. sambucinum resulted in the largest lesions (19.5-27.7 cm2), followed by isolates of F. avenaceum, F. cerealis, F. culmorum, F. flocciferum, F. graminearum, F. oxysporum, F. redolens, F. sporotrichioides, and F. venenatum (2.0-13.1 cm2). Inoculation with F. acuminatum, F. equiseti, F. solani, and F. stercicola resulted in the smallest lesions (0.1 to <2.0 cm2). An isolate of F. redolens caused lesions that were 5.7-fold larger on potato cv. ‘Dark Red Norland’ compared to those on RB (13.1 and 2.6 cm2, respectively), indicating variety selection may play a role in managing Fusarium dry rot. Diversity of Fusarium species pathogenic to potato in the PNW is greater than previously reported. Management strategies should consider potato variety, pathogen species, and isolate aggressiveness.

Most ways of predicting flow resistance in shallow rivers with a partial or complete cover of coarse sediment use a bed‐sediment grain diameter as a roughness length scale. However, beds with the same grain size distribution differ in roughness and flow resistance depending on how the larger grains are arranged, the nature of any bedforms and the possible complications of bedrock or rough banks. This has led to interest in predicting flow resistance using metrics of the topographic roughness of the bed. Some researchers have used the standard deviation of bed elevation as a roughness length scale. An alternative for channels containing boulders is to regard the bed as an array of large roughness elements. Fluvial research to date using these two approaches is limited and inconclusive. We review potentially relevant findings from the much more extensive literature in boundary‐layer meteorology and various branches of engineering and note links between the distribution‐statistics and element‐array approaches. The skewness of the elevation distribution is widely seen as important but it is unclear how best to use it for flow prediction. Other open questions include the scale dependence of topographic metrics, and what type of flow resistance equation to use them in. Calibration and testing of new prediction methods require flow data from reaches with known roughness statistics. This need should be met partly by measurements at field sites or in flume models of them, but also by flume experiments and numerical simulations using synthetic roughness.

Scholars have provided impressive analyses of the transatlantic slave trade to the Americas and its demise over the past four decades, this led by contributions to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database ( https://www.slavevoyages.org/ ). England played a decisive role in the suppression of that traffic after prohibition of British participation in 1808, this partly achieved by British interceptions of slave vessels by its West Africa Squadron (1819–1867) and the establishment of Courts of Mixed Commission for the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1819–1871). Given a North Atlantic Ocean current clockwise gyre and South Atlantic counterclockwise gyre, a major northern slave vessel route connected Africa to the Caribbean and a second southern route connected Africa to Brazil.1 Africans disembarked in the Caribbean had diverse origins in West Africa (Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria) and West Central Africa (Congo, Angola). Brazil received fewer Africans from West Africa (there was a long-term connection between Benin and Bahia), large numbers of African slaves from West Central Africa and a small number from Southeast Africa (Mozambique) at or near Rio de Janeiro. Language difference (Spanish, French, English, Dutch, Danish in the North Atlantic, Portuguese in the South Atlantic) contributed to a conceptual separation of those two regions, particularly evident in historiographies related to slavery and abolition. The Scottish diplomat David Turnbull was one of the few observers of the nineteenth century who connected Caribbean islands with Brazil. Turnbull asserted to the British Foreign Office that subaltern resistance by slaves and free blacks in both the British and non-British Caribbean could aid in England’s quest to extinguish the transatlantic slave trade. Turnbull organized a petition campaign in Jamaica in the late 1840s to pressure England’s Foreign Office to pursue more aggressive actions at sea and on land to halt slave disembarkations in Cuba and Brazil. Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston’s positive response combined with slave resistance in Brazil contributed to Brazil’s imperial government decision to act decisively to halt further slave disembarkations in 1850–1851.

iFLOW is a free, open‐source, and python‐based framework and graphical user interface to visualize and analyze temperature time series, and extract one dimensional thermal velocity, vT, and bulk effective thermal diffusivity, ke. Information of thermal properties of the sediment‐water mixture (bulk) and water allows quantifying the one‐dimensional Darcian flux, q, and seepage velocity, v, from vT. Available software packages were developed to quantify q and ke only based on a specific mathematical model or focused on specific data processing or parameter estimation techniques, and all these steps were lumped together preventing users to identify potential source of errors. iFLOW proposes a novel organizational philosophy with a modular framework that parses the analysis process into three fundamental steps: (a) the mathematical model, (b) signal processing, and (c) parameter estimation. iFLOW houses a suite of models and analysis techniques. This suite can be readily added to and expanded through its modular framework. iFLOW contains a wizard to guide users through the selection process with respect to the three fundamental steps. Users can analyze and visualize intermediate results to identify problematic issues in the time series data and improve data interpretation. Here, we present iFLOW and summarize its performance using a set of one‐dimensional synthetic heat transport simulations.