Decision 2020: Rural Pennsylvania

The 2020 election was a point of inflection for Democratic candidates across the United States. Securing tossup states like Pennsylvania and Arizona along with parts of the industrial Midwest, the performance of Joe Biden and other down ballot candidates raises serious questions about the future of the Democratic Party. In particular, the geographic distribution of voters in the 2020 election surprised many in election-watching circles.

While many have analyzed Biden’s over-performance in suburbia and underperformance with Hispanics in Texas and Florida, few have attempted to break down the results of the election in rural Pennsylvania. Because it is at such a unique intersection of the class, race, and conservative-liberal divide, understanding the rural election results is crucial to developing strategies for improving Democratic performance in the Midwest and South.

As the Campaign Manager for a Democrat in 85th District of Pennsylvania (Lewisburg, Selinsgrove, Mifflinburg), I had the opportunity to interact with thousands of voters and develop strategies to improve outcomes in a R +32 district. The statewide data tells us that the 2020 election in Pennsylvania was, as local organizer Jordi Comas coined, an example of the “choppy purple surf.” In other words, the Republican turnout was unusually large, but slightly over-crested by Democratic voter turnout.

I will review the results of the election for my campaign in both a historical and geographical context and answer the question, “how did the ‘choppy purple surf’ play out in the the 85th District and other parts of rural Pennsylvania?

Continue reading Jacob Feuerstein »

Fluoroquinolone-based therapy and onset of functional gastrointestinal disorders in human subjects

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are a broad class of antibiotics typically prescribed for several infectious diseases, including common infections for which the use of FQs is discouraged. Indeed, the FDA has proposed the existence of a permanent disability (Fluoroquinolone Associated Disability; FQAD), which, despite being fairly common after FQs use, has yet to be formally recognized by healthcare professionals worldwide. Previous studies suggest that FQs act as selective inhibitors of GABAA receptors, preventing the binding of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA in the central nervous system. GABA is a key regulator of the neural circuit regulating gastrointestinal function. In order to assess whether there is a correlation between the use of FQs and the onset of functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, a questionnaire was sent to 367 individuals who were prescribed FQ addressing their gut health in the last year. Survey participants were divided into three groups based on the type of FQ they were prescribed. Chi-square analysis revealed that while all participants had a significant degree of functional GI disorder, certain FQs are associated with more severe and more frequent gastric pain, difficulty producing a bowel movement and harder stools. Lastly, a significant portion of respondents also reported frequent swelling or bloating. In conclusion, these data indicated that permanent functional GI disorders may present after FQs administration, and that certain FQs produce more severe symptoms than others. Our study highlights the need to revisit current guidelines for the administration of FQs for individuals already potentially at risk to develop functional GI disorders.

Continue reading Maya Freeman »

What happens when you cross plant species with two distinct sexual systems? An ex situ hybridization approach

The transitions from the hermaphroditic sexual system to the andromonoecious and dioecious sexual systems have been an area of intrigue in biology since Darwin’s time. While the vast majority of angiosperms display the hermaphroditic sexual system, both dioecy and andromonoecy are observed in Australian Solanum, in addition to hermaphroditism. Australian Solanum are therefore particularly useful for understanding the evolution of these sexual systems. Hybrid offspring of Solanum dioicum (dioecious) and Solanum ultraspinosum (andromonoecious) crosses were used to study hybridization boundaries within the two different sexual systems. Our main goal was to understand how the differing sexual systems manifest in hybrids, especially relative to their role as the pollen donor and pollen recipient. Morphometric analyses currently indicate that the pollen recipient exhibits the greatest influence on morphology in the F1 generation. In hybrids with S. ultraspinosum acting as the pollen donor, the andromonoecious breeding system manifested, indicated most importantly by the architecture of the inflorescence and the absence of inaperturate pollen in hermaphroditic flowers. The F1 generation was unsuccessful with S. dioicum acting as the pollen recipient. With the F1 generation appearing so similar to the pollen recipient, it is not yet possible to recognize early-generation hybrids, although hybridization is occurring. We are currently continuing crosses between the F1 generation hybrids to observe whether the pollen donor may have effects on hybrids in less immediate generations, particularly looking for whether inaperturate pollen will manifest, indicating changes in the sexual system incurred from the pollen donor.

Continue reading Diamanda Zizis »

Solanum ‘Deaf Adder’, a New Bush Tomato Species from the Australian Monsoon Tropics

Australia is a unique island continent with many endemic species. Ongoing research and estimates suggest that over 70% of the flora and fauna have yet to be described across the continent. We are currently investigating one such potential new species currently known to field botanists as Solanum ‘Deaf Adder’, which is named for its only known location in the remote Deaf Adder Gorge within Kakadu National Park. It is currently designated as a localized variant of Solanum asymmetriphyllum, and is a close relative to Solanum sejunctum. However, based on the numerous morphological differences between these three solanums, as well as their geographical separation within the national park, it is more than likely that ‘Deaf Adder’ is a distinct and separate species. More than 30 morphological characters were measured on a greenhouse-grown female ‘Deaf Adder’ specimen, including leaf length, prickle density of the calyces, and seed count per fruit, and then used to document the differences among ‘Deaf Adder’, S. asymmetriphyllum, and S. sejunctum. Future research for this project will include using ImageJ to gather more information and measurements such as leaf area, and conducting data analyses between ‘Deaf Adder’, S. asymmetriphyllum, and S. sejunctum, which will include principal components analyses (PCA), analyses of variance (ANOVA), and post-hoc testing. The objective of this research is to determine if Solanum ‘Deaf Adder’ is its own species, and if so, to describe and name ‘Deaf Adder’ in order to introduce it to the scientific community and to protect it.

Continue reading Claire Marino »

Evaluating the Impact of Stream Restoration Techniques on Bank Erosion, Stream Morphology, and Soil Carbon at an Unnamed Tributary of Pine Creek near Woodward, central Pennsylvania

Live staking is a stream restoration technique in which live cuttings and stems taken from native species of trees and shrubs are placed into stream banks, eventually growing into new plants which aids in riverbank protection by increasing soil cohesion. Live staking is an economically viable and easy technique for stream restoration that is being widely implemented in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Because of the growing use of live staking in stream restorations, there is a growing need for research on the link between live staking and geomorphic resiliency. Here we investigate the impact of live staking on bank erosion, stream morphology, and soil carbon at an unnamed tributary of Pine Creek near Woodward, Pennsylvania. Restoration efforts of this tributary began in fall 2018 by the Penn’s Valley Conservation Association (PVCA) and live staking began in spring 2019 in the upstream section of the tributary.

In this study, we collected baseline data for a long-term study of the impact of live stakes on the floodplain and channel geomorphology, and we investigated the baseline soil carbon distribution. To do this, we mapped floodplain and channel topography and surveyed the stream channel using a Trimble RTK GPS unit. Floodplain soils were sampled along nine transects perpendicular to the channel to investigate soil properties and measure the spatial distribution of soil carbon (using a CHN analyzer). Results from stream channel surveying indicate undercut banks, channelization, very low stream velocity, and silt and clay on the stream bed. Throughout the field site, the soils are silty loams with thin O-horizons (2-8 cm) and some local variability within transects. Soil carbon analysis shows carbon values between 0.36% and 3.32%, which is low within the expected range of soil carbon for degraded floodplain soils. Although we did not observe significant spatial patterns in soil characteristics or in soil carbon content, we did document small increases in soil carbon near the channel, and high amounts of soil carbon near a protected wetland area. We predict that in future years, as the live stakes vegetate the stream banks at this site, there will be an increase in soil carbon, changes in stream bed character and channel sinuosity, and more soil variability, including a thicker O-horizon and possible changes in grain size.

Continue reading Emily Haas »