Strategic plans and their contents: What are the important issues in higher education?

Strategic planning has become a virtual requirement in higher education management. Huge amounts of time, energy, and money are committed to the process by individuals representing every level in a university’s hierarchy. Despite widespread adoption and commitment, researchers have frequently questioned whether the content of these plans varies significantly among institutions, or if they are essentially interchangeable compendiums of buzzwords and cliches. Our study quantified the presence of various ideas, or themes, in strategic plans from 150 public higher education institutions in the United States. Our analyses provide evidence of what is important to strategic planners in higher education, where in the plans these themes tend to be discussed, and how patterns of usage vary across Carnegie classifications and geographic settings. Such information can be useful to planners in identifying concepts that should be present in their strategic plans, as well as those that can distinguish an institution from its peers

How Michigan Can Leverage Early College High School Programs To Increase Post-Secondary Enrollment and Graduation Rates

Michigan has experienced a significant and sustained decline in postsecondary enrollment rates. A continued shortage of college graduates poses serious implications for the state’s economic future and workforce preparedness. In response to this trend, Early College High School (ECHS) programs have emerged as a promising strategy to increase college enrollment and degree attainment by reducing financial barriers and supporting traditionally underrepresented populations. This capstone paper draws on document analysis and a quantitative survey of student interests to advocate for the expansion of ECHS programs in Michigan

The Effects of Short-Term Rental Regulation on Neighborhoods in Traverse City, MI

With the increase in popularity of Short-Term Rentals (STRs) and the increase in housing and rental prices throughout the United States, this study aims to explore the effects STRs have on housing and rental prices in Traverse City, MI. Traverse City is a popular tourist area and has experienced significant price increases over the last decade. STRs have been a topic of regulation by many local units of government and the area lacks unified regulation. The study area is confined to two census block groups of adjacent neighborhoods that occupy different townships. The townships have two different approaches to STR regulation with one banning whole house STRs and no monitoring and the other allowing them by permit with density requirements and actively monitoring listing sites for violations. By comparing the increases in housing and rental prices and the number of active STR listings in the two neighborhoods, this study aims to explore the effects regulation has on compliance and housing cost. This study should provide a framework for implementing effective regulations that can be used as a primer for unifying regulations across the state of Michigan

Anarcho-Syndicalism in the Negaunee Branch of the Finnish Socialist Association

Socialism reached a prominence as a movement in the United States during the early 20th century. Fueled by the machinations of industrial capitalism and labor reform, many workers, immigrants, and other individuals would arrive to the precepts of socialism, a political movement avowing to shirk the constraints of capitalism on the proletariat. Specifically, the question of why and how labor unions should function in a socialist society was a central tenet of debate within the faction of the American Socialist Party. The central question of this article is to examine why anarcho-syndicalists argued against traditional socialist reformist arguments in the ASP and advocated for revolutionary actions to rectify the plights of workers. An analysis of the writings of local figures of the anarcho-syndicalist factions, such as William Risto, provide a humanizing perspective into the socialist movement, deriving individual motives, contexts, and attitudes that individuals undertook. Specifically, examining the relationship between the individual writings and actions of the anarcho-syndicalists of the Negaunee Branch and the ASP allows introspection into how these figures wished to utilize their historical agency. This split in the FSA exemplifies the dichotomy of how individuals will utilize their individual agency in reformist and revolutionary forms to mobilize change

ELUCIDATING THE ROLE OF MIR-10A/B IN THE WOUND HEALING PROCESS IN LARVAL ZEBRAFISH

This study explores the regulatory role of microRNA-10 (miR-10) in larval zebrafish caudal fin regeneration, a model with broad implications for the future of regenerative medicine. Building on prior research from the lab, which indicated that miR-10 knockdown impairs regeneration, we verified this finding through rescue experiments, assessed its influence on healing projections, and examined its role in the innate immune response during the wound healing process. To address these questions, we employed a multi-faceted approach, including timed matings, microinjections, immunohistochemistry, fixed sample microscopy, and live imaging. Our results show that the experimental introduction of exogenous miR-10 can rescue the regenerative defect caused by morpholino-mediated knockdown. In addition, miR-10 participates in cellular proliferation without altering apoptosis during the healing process, further eliminating off-target concerns for the morpholino. miR-10 also influences the formation of healing projections, as confocal imaging revealed a decrease in vimentin expression at the wound site 20 hours post-injury in miR-10-deficient larvae. This suggests a potential link between miR-10 and vimentin expression, a known regulator of healing projections. Additionally, knockdown of miR-10 reduced both overall neutrophil and macrophage development, as evidenced by total cell counts at 2 days post-fertilization, suggesting a role for miR-10a/b in proper hematopoiesis in developing zebrafish. Not surprisingly, a marked decrease in leukocyte recruitment to the wound site was also observed. Together, these findings highlight miR-10 as a key regulator of the healing process, particularly through its roles in modulating immune cell dynamics and promoting healing projections

MICROBIAL GUARDIANS OF THE SAVANNAH: UNRAVELING THE GUT MICROBIOME FOR AFRICAN CARNIVORE CONSERVATION

Non-invasive fecal sampling is essential for wildlife gut microbiome (GMB) research, yet field conditions often limit preservation options. I compared gut bacterial communities in paired fecal samples preserved in stabilization tubes and air-dried in paper bags collected from anesthetized African lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in Etosha National Park, Namibia. Additional opportunistic samples from carnivore kill sites were also analyzed. No significant differences in alpha or beta diversity were detected between preserved and dried samples, although bacterial beta diversity differed between preserved and opportunistic samples (PERMANOVA). Core bacterial communities remained consistent across sample conditions, supporting the use of opportunistic samples for GMB studies in remote arid settings. I also evaluated how parasite presence, abundance, and co-infection related to GMB diversity and composition. Parasite richness and composition differed between hosts, with cestodes such as Echinococcus prevalent in both. Several parasite taxa were significantly associated with bacterial beta diversity, particularly in opportunistic samples. Strongyloides in lions and Echinococcus in hyenas were linked to altered bacterial composition and reduced abundance of beneficial taxa. These findings validate low-cost preservation methods and suggest that parasites may modulate gut microbiota in wild carnivores, with implications for host health and conservation

Estimation of the Ground Reaction Forces During Golf Swing Using Recurrent Neural Networks

Accurate ground reaction force (GRF) measurement is essential for in-depth golf swing analysis, but force plates are costly and require complex installation. This study develops an AI-based GRF estimation method using a Bi-LSTM model. Motion capture and force plate data from 1,032 swings by 344 golfers were used to train the model, while data from 29 unseen golfers were reserved for validation to prevent overfitting. A total of 864 models were trained using cross-validation and grid search, with the best-performing model selected based on ICC. The model achieved high accuracy (ICC up to 0.983), particularly for lead foot vertical GRF. This approach provides a scalable, cost-effective solution for movement analysis, with potential applications beyond golf

Prediction of Anterio-Posterior and Medio-Lateral Force from Vertical Force in different frequency of movement pattern

Ground reaction forces (GRFs) are essential in human motion analysis for understanding biomechanics in sports and rehabilitation. While vertical GRFs (VGRFs) are commonly studied due to ease of measurement, their relationship with horizontal forces (anteroposterior and mediolateral) across different movement speeds remains unclear. This study aimed to predict horizontal forces from VGRFs during walking, jogging, running, and sprinting. The three Kistler force plates and the force data were collected from 60 male intercollegiate athletes (ages 18 - 25) over a 30-meter path. Pearson correlation and linear regression revealed significant correlations between VGRF and both braking and propulsive forces (y-axis), as well as mediolateral force (x-axis), in jogging, running, and sprinting. However, VGRF did not consistently predict horizontal forces at all speeds. These findings may enhance gait analysis models and support injury prevention, performance improvement, and rehabilitation efforts

IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF HANDLE USE ON A NEW SWIMMING STARTING BLOCK

The purpose of this study was to compare kinematic variables between the handle start (using a starting block equipped with handles) and the kick start (without a handle) in male competitive swimmers and assess the immediate effects of adopting the handle start. Eight high school swimmers participated. Each participant performed two trials for each start type after two practice trials. Hand-release time, block time, 15-m time, attitude angles, and horizontal velocity were measured using two video cameras. Paired two-sample t-tests and effect size analyses were conducted to compare these variables. The 15-m time was significantly longer in the handle-start group (p = 0.03), with no differences in other variables. Handle starts without prior practice are not recommended

NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MALES AND FEMALES IN THE NEURAL CONTROL OF EXPLOSIVE CONTRACTIONS

Males and females exhibit comparable explosive relative to maximal strength. Given the greater proportion of type I fibres area in female muscles, motor units discharge rate (MUDR) in explosive efforts may be higher to compensate for slower contractile properties. To verify this, 22 females and 12 males (20-34 y), performed 10 rapid isometric ankle dorsiflexors, while recording high-density electromyography from tibialis anterior. Relative rate of torque development (RTD) measures (normalised to maximal torque) in the first 150 ms from contraction onset were not different (P \u3e 0.07) between sexes, nor MUDR at the beginning of the explosive efforts (61 ± 15 vs. 67 ± 16 Hz; P = 0.23). Time to peak RTD was shorter in males (61 ± 12 vs. 74 ± 14 ms; P \u3c 0.01). Thus, despite faster torque kinetics in males, the control of rapid torque production does not differ between sexes