Environmental, Developmental, and Genetic Conditions Shaping Monarch Butterfly Migration Behavior.

Monarch butterflies in North America migrate south each autumn, but the mechanisms that initiate their migratory flight remain incompletely understood. We investigated environmental, developmental, and genetic factors that contribute to directional flight by testing summer and autumn-generation monarchs in three flight simulators: two at ground level (with and without wind blockage) and a novel balloon-based system that raised butterflies 30 meters into the air. Monarchs reared under autumn-like conditions in a growth chamber during the summer were also tested to explore the influence of developmental cues.

Differences in C and N values for monarch butterflies raised on milkweeds from within and outside of crop fields: implications for inferences about natal origins.

Stable isotope (H, C) measurements of wing tissue have been used to determine the natal geographic origin of migrant monarch butterflies that overwinter in Mexico. This study examines the possibility of using C and N to identify the milkweed habitat used by monarchs in their natal region. Milkweeds were common in corn and soybean fields before herbicide use led to their extirpation around 2006, and the loss of those milkweeds has been proposed as a reason for the monarch population decline.

Rethinking the Nature of Engineering: Attending to the Social Context of Engineering.

As part of a growing emphasis on "STEM," engineering has gained prominence in precollege education. In response to that trend, an emerging area of educational research focuses on the "Nature of Engineering" (NOE), a collection of ideas about what engineering is, what engineers do, and how engineering is related to science and society. In recent years, multiple NOE frameworks have been developed, along with associated NOE instruments.

Monarch Butterfly Ecology, Behavior, and Vulnerabilities in North Central United States Agricultural Landscapes.

The North American monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Multiple factors are associated with the decline in the eastern population, including the loss of breeding and foraging habitat and pesticide use. Establishing habitat in agricultural landscapes of the North Central region of the United States is critical to increasing reproduction during the summer.

The Medical Device Unique Device Identifier as the Single Source of Truth in Healthcare Enterprises - Roadmap for Implementation of the Clinically Integrated Supply Chain.

Documentation and tracking of supplies, equipment and medical devices is central to operational, financial, and clinical aspects of safe, efficient, and effective patient care. The labeling of medical devices with a unique device identifier (UDI) creates the opportunity to tightly integrate device information across health information systems by using the UDI as the index "source of truth". Across 3 hospitals of the Duke University Health System, we executed a comprehensive implementation of UDI-based device and supply information management in our cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology laboratories.

Neutralizing Antibody Response to Pseudotype Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Differs Between mRNA-1273 and BNT162b2 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccines and by History of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Background: Data on the development of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 after SARS-CoV-2 infection and after vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are limited.

Methods: From a prospective cohort of 3975 adult essential and frontline workers tested weekly from August 2020 to March 2021 for SARS-CoV-2 infection by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay irrespective of symptoms, 497 participants had sera drawn after infection (170), vaccination (327), and after both infection and vaccination (50 from the infection population). Serum was collected after infection and each vaccine dose.

Evaluating Native Bee Communities and Nutrition in Managed Grasslands.

Native pollinators are important for providing vital services in agroecosystems; however, their numbers are declining globally. Bees are the most efficient and diverse members of the pollinator community; therefore, it is imperative that management strategies be implemented that positively affect bee community composition and health. Here, we test responses of the bee and flowering plant communities to land management treatments in the context of grasslands in the upper Midwestern United States, a critical area with respect to bee declines.

Monarch butterfly population decline in North America: identifying the threatening processes.

The monarch butterfly () population in North America has sharply declined over the last two decades. Despite rising concern over the monarch butterfly's status, no comprehensive study of the factors driving this decline has been conducted. Using partial least-squares regressions and time-series analysis, we investigated climatic and habitat-related factors influencing monarch population size from 1993 to 2014.

Milkweed Matters: Monarch Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Survival and Development on Nine Midwestern Milkweed Species.

The population of monarch butterflies east of the Rocky Mountains has experienced a significant decline over the past 20 yr. In order to increase monarch numbers in the breeding range, habitat restoration that includes planting milkweed plants is essential. Milkweeds in the genus Asclepias and Cynanchum are the only host plants for larval monarch butterflies in North America, but larval performance and survival across nine milkweeds native to the Midwest is not well documented.

Interpreting surveys to estimate the size of the monarch butterfly population: Pitfalls and prospects.

To assess the change in the size of the eastern North American monarch butterfly summer population, studies have used long-term data sets of counts of adult butterflies or eggs per milkweed stem. Despite the observed decline in the monarch population as measured at overwintering sites in Mexico, these studies found no decline in summer counts in the Midwest, the core of the summer breeding range, leading to a suggestion that the cause of the monarch population decline is not the loss of Midwest agricultural milkweeds but increased mortality during the fall migration. Using these counts to estimate population size, however, does not account for the shift of monarch activity from agricultural fields to non-agricultural sites over the past 20 years, as a result of the loss of agricultural milkweeds due to the near-ubiquitous use of glyphosate herbicides.

Density estimates of monarch butterflies overwintering in central Mexico.

Given the rapid population decline and recent petition for listing of the monarch butterfly ( L.) under the Endangered Species Act, an accurate estimate of the Eastern, migratory population size is needed. Because of difficulty in counting individual monarchs, the number of hectares occupied by monarchs in the overwintering area is commonly used as a proxy for population size, which is then multiplied by the density of individuals per hectare to estimate population size.

Quasi-extinction risk and population targets for the Eastern, migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus).

The Eastern, migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), an iconic North American insect, has declined by ~80% over the last decade. The monarch's multi-generational migration between overwintering grounds in central Mexico and the summer breeding grounds in the northern U.S.

Amorphous iron-(hydr) oxide networks at liquid/vapor interfaces: in situ X-ray scattering and spectroscopy studies.

Surface sensitive X-ray reflectivity (XR), fluorescence (XF), and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) experiments were conducted to determine the accumulation of ferric iron Fe (III) or ferrous iron Fe (II) under dihexadecyl phosphate (DHDP) or arachidic acid (AA) Langmuir monolayers at liquid/vapor interfaces. Analysis of the X-ray reflectivity and fluorescence data of monolayers on the aqueous subphases containing FeCl(3) indicates remarkably high levels of surface-bound Fe (III) in number of Fe(3+) ions per molecule (DHDP or AA) that exceed the amount necessary to neutralize a hypothetically completely deprotonated monolayer (DHDP or AA). These results suggest that nano-scale iron (hydr) oxide complexes (oxides, hydroxides or oxyhydroxides) bind to the headgroups and effectively overcompensate the maximum possible charges at the interface.

Blending technology and teamwork for successful management of product recalls.

Patient safety programs have been developed in many hospitals to reduce the risk of harm to patients. Proactive, real-time, and retrospective risk-reduction strategies should be implemented in hospitals, but patient safety leaders should also be cognizant of the risks associated with thousands of products that enter the hospital through the supply chain. A growing number of recalls and alerts related to these products are received by health care facilities each year, through a recall process that is fraught with challenges.

Preferential affinity of calcium ions to charged phosphatidic acid surface from a mixed calcium/barium solution: X-ray reflectivity and fluorescence studies.

X-ray reflectivity and fluorescence near total reflection experiments were performed to examine the affinities of divalent ions (Ca(2+) and Ba(2+)) from aqueous solution to a charged phosphatidic acid (PA) surface. A phospholipid (1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphate, DMPA), spread as a monolayer at the air/water interface, was used to form and control the charge density at the interface. We find that, for solutions of the pure salts (i.

Impact of Bt corn pollen on monarch butterfly populations: a risk assessment.

A collaborative research effort by scientists in several states and in Canada has produced information to develop a formal risk assessment of the impact of Bt corn on monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) populations. Information was sought on the acute toxic effects of Bt corn pollen and the degree to which monarch larvae would be exposed to toxic amounts of Bt pollen on its host plant, the common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, found in and around cornfields. Expression of Cry proteins, the active toxicant found in Bt corn tissues, differed among hybrids, and especially so in the concentrations found in pollen of different events.

Corn pollen deposition on milkweeds in and near cornfields.

The density of corn pollen on leaves of milkweed plants inside and outside of cornfields was measured in several studies from different localities. The purpose was to obtain a representative picture of naturally occurring pollen densities to provide a perspective for laboratory and field studies of monarch larvae feeding on milkweed leaves with Bt corn pollen. Pollen density was highest (average 170.

Temporal and spatial overlap between monarch larvae and corn pollen.

To assess the likelihood that monarch larvae will be exposed to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) pollen, we studied milkweed and monarch densities in habitats which comprise much of the land available to breeding monarchs, e.g., cornfields, cornfield edges, other agricultural fields, and nonagricultural areas, in four regions of the monarch breeding range.

The regulation of expression of MHC products in mice. Factors determining the level of expression in kidneys of normal mice.

Cytokines, especially IFN, have been shown to increase MHC expression above basal levels in many immunologic processes, but their contribution to normal MHC expression is unknown. Environmental stimuli, such as bacterial LPS, may provoke the secretion of cytokines which could influence MHC expression in the normal host. We therefore studied the factors influencing the normal expression of MHC products in mice, by using kidney as a representative nonlymphoid tissue.

Ecophysiological consequences of non-random leaf orientation in the prairie compass plant, Silphium laciniatum.

The prairie compass plant (Silphium laciniatum L.) has vertical leaves that are characteristically oriented in a north-south plane (i.e.

Serum immunoglobulin levels and naturally occurring antibodies against carbohydrate antigens in germ-free BALB/c mice fed chemically defined ultrafiltered diet.

This study investigates the influence of exogenous antigenic stimulation on the serum immunoglobulin levels and the levels of circulating natural antibodies against carbohydrate antigens. Thus, BALB/c mice, raised in a germ-free environment and fed a chemically defined, ultrafiltered diet (GF-CD), were employed. These mice had normal serum IgM levels, but IgG and IgA levels were approximately 5% of conventionally reared littermates.