The Influence of CAT and Self-Disclosure on the Classroom

Epping-Fuentes, DarrenClassroom relational dynamics influence the ability to teach and learn effectively, making positive, meaningful relationships in the classroom crucial. Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) explores how communicative adjustments, or accommodations, “reflect and affect personal and social relationships” (Soliz et al., 2021, p. 130). Thus, implementing CAT in the classroom could result in greater effectiveness of teaching and learning. Because CAT is used tomanage identity and relationships, it is also important to understand the results of communicating identity in the classroom. Communicating identity by self-disclosing can foster a connected classroom dynamic (Johnson & LaBelle, 2015), resulting in greater satisfaction with and appreciation of classroom relationships (Hosek, 2015). Because CAT, specifically accommodation behaviors and self-disclosure, influences academic performance and relational satisfaction, their usage in classrooms would bolster instructional communication. To understand the influence of CAT and self-disclosure on the classroom, a thorough literature review examining research on CAT’s classroom influence will be conducted first.Then, the implementation of self-disclosure in the classroom will be analyzed. Together, these two parts will explain the importance of CAT and self-disclosure’s usage in classrooms to increase instructional effectiveness and build positive relationships

Effects of multiple herbivore guilds on population dynamics are subadditive in a model forb species

We have a good understanding of how individual herbivore guilds affect herbaceous communities. Invertebrate herbivores reduce grassland biomass and change species composition dramatically. Bison reduce grass biomass and increase forb cover. Small mammals have weak effects. Few studies quantify how multiple co-occurring herbivore guilds jointly impact populations and communities. Potential for super- or subadditive effects. Many ecosystems house multiple herbivores. Critical to predicting impacts of herbivore declines, extirpations, or reintroductions. Here, we use Kuhnia eupatorioides at Konza LTER to ask whether effects of herbivores tend to be additive, super-, or subadditive. We measure individual vital rates (survival, growth, recruitment) to dissect mechanisms driving sub- or super-additivit

Taking action in the first five years to increase career equality: the impact of professional relationships on young women’s advancement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how young women understand and make meaning of their status as early-career women (ECW) in the creative communication industry, which is typically dominated by male leadership. It explores how professional relationships influence their transition into full-time employment and influences their career trajectories. Design/methodology/approach Interviews with 31 women in the first five years of their communication careers provided insights into how they experience professional relationships in the workplace in relation to leadership advancement. Inductive coding, a feminist organizational communication lens and literature on mentorship and role modeling was used to explore the standpoint of these young women. Findings Young women understand that professional relationships are necessary for acclimation and professional development. Our analysis revealed an intersection of three distinct ways these relationships help young women cultivate a strong career foundation, positioning themselves for leadership opportunities. Practical implications This study provides insight into the experiences of ECW, a group significantly overlooked by industry and research as a way to increase career equity. Findings from this study guide programmatic and socialization practices to help young women overcome barriers. Originality/value Developing a deeper understanding of women worker’s realities, this research encourages industries to regard the entire career path, emphasizing the importance of beginning socialization experiences in the workplace. It offers actionable managerial practices, and it drives a new scholarly focus on a demographic critical to closing the leadership gender gap

Sparse Group Variable Selection for Gene-Environment Interactions in the Longitudinal Stud

Recently, regularized variable selection has emerged as a powerful tool to iden- tify and dissect gene-environment interactions. Nevertheless, in longitudinal studies with high di- mensional genetic factors, regularization methods for G×E interactions have not been systemati- cally developed. In this package, we provide the implementation of sparse group variable selec- tion, based on both the quadratic inference function (QIF) and generalized estimating equa- tion (GEE), to accommodate the bi-level selection for longitudinal G×E studies with high dimen- sional genomic features. Alternative methods conducting only the group or individual level se- lection have also been included. The core modules of the package have been developed in C++

Supplementary videos associated with “An electropenetrography waveform library for the study of probing and ingestion behaviors in Culex tarsalis”

Electropenetrography (EPG) is a technique used to indirectly visualize and quantify unseen mouthpart movements that occur inside opaque host tissues when an insect or arthropod bites (i.e., probes). To use this technique on a specific insect, the electrical signals (called waveforms) generated during probing must first be characterized and correlated with insect behaviors. To this end, we characterized the waveforms generated by Culex tarsalis mosquitoes feeding on human hands and made video recordings of the insects during EPG. The findings from this investigation are published as “An electropenetrograpy waveform library for the study of probing and ingestion behaviors in Culex tarsalis.” This manuscript references supplementary videos containing highlights from the video recordings to show specific behaviors that occur during each waveform, which are archived here

Screening for WSMV Tolerance in Wild Wheat Relatives

Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus (WSMV) is a serious viral pathogen causing significant crop yield loss in wheat growing regions across the globe. In the United States, Its impacts are most heavily felt in the Great Plains, causing significant economic repercussions. While WSMV is primarily vectored by the wheat curl mite, this vector is difficult to control due to its size, resistance to pesticides, rapid reproduction, and feeding effects on host plants. Alongside efforts made to control the vector, our research attempts to circumvent this challenge in a search for genetic resistance and tolerance in wild wheat to combat the disease. In this study, a large panel of Aegilops tauschii accessions were grown in controlled environment growth chambers, then mechanically sap inoculated with WSMV and symptom severity was measured at different points post-inoculation. Viral titers were measured from systemic leaves in inoculated plants via real-time quantitative PCR. Based on the viral concentration and symptom severity, several tolerant and susceptible lines have been identified and selected for the genome wide association study (GWAS). Further analysis will be performed comparing the miRNA profiles of selected tolerant and susceptible lines to better understand their genetic regulation differences. These results could lead to the development of WSMV tolerant commercially used varieties. This research can help prevent high yield loss, securing reliable production of the United State’s top cereal food grain production.

Cattle Grazing Does Not Alter Early Season Insect Community Composition in Tallgrass Prairies

Prairie ecosystems are known to have cattle that graze on the different grasses, plants, and flowers. This is known to negatively impact insect communities because of the defoliation, or the removal of plants, of the environment. As cattle graze and change the environment of prairie foliage, arthropods lose valuable resources that are essential to mating, predation, and development. The current hypothesis is that insect communities in ungrazed land have greater order-level richness and insect abundance than communities in grazed land. In order to find what communities were present, 10 sites throughout eastern Kansas were sampled using sweep net methods. The sites are divided evenly into 5 grazed and 5 ungrazed land, and sweeps are conducted by moving a sweep net in a serpentine pattern through foliage along 2 50 meter transects. The collected insects are counted and identified to the order level under a microscope, then processed using Microsoft Excel’s data analysis tools. The experiment resulted in a higher insect abundance in grazed sites than in ungrazed sites, and slightly higher order richness in not grazed sites than in grazed sites. However, these results are not significant. There were differences found in community composition with Coleoptera (beetles) numbers differing in grazed (10%) and ungrazed sites (16%), Neuroptera (lacewings) not being present in grazed sites, and Odonata (dragon/damselflies) not being present in ungrazed sites. Further investigation into these differences could give deeper insights to the effects of cattle grazing on these communities.

Impacts of plant tafazzin deficiency on differential gene expression

Tafazzin is a mitochondrial protein characterized in mammals and yeast. Tafazzin remodels the fatty acids of cardiolipin, aiding in the proper function of the electron transport chain. Although the function of tafazzin is known, the mechanisms and pathways that lead to apoptosis under tafazzin deficiency are unknown. Here we use a homolog of tafazzin in the model plant organism Arabidopsis thaliana to test our null hypothesis that gene expression is not dependent on the presence of functional tafazzin. RNA-seq was performed on leaf samples of wild type plants and mutant plants with mutations of varying severity in the gene encoding tafazzin. The sequencing output was analyzed with a selection of bioinformatics tools that includes HISAT2 (aligner), StringTie (assembler), and DESeq2 (differential gene expression identifier). The results indicate genes that are upregulated or downregulated in response to functional tafazzin’s absence.  One outcome of analysis reveals that the genes that demonstrate the most statistically significant differential expression are nearly all downregulated in the mutants with respect to wild type, and many of them are localized to the mitochondria. Of these, the gene at locus AT3G54730 presents one possible direction of further study as it codes a transcription repressor protein. The downregulation of a transcription repressor may be a contributing factor to the phenotype observed under the condition of tafazzin deficiency, as transcripts relating to apoptosis would be repressed under healthy, unmutated cell conditions. One goal of this analysis is to develop a framework for the metabolic engineering of plants to display stronger resilience against environmental stress

Telepresence in Ecuador

Ellner, MarkThe Telepresence in Ecuador project served to analyze and gain an understanding of virtual education with an emphasis in building relationships with students and English language acquisition. The project was completed through a partnership with Kansas State University and ULEAM in Manta, Ecuador. An honors section of Educational Technology (EDCI 318) took on the project, using Double 2 robots to access the Ecuadorian classrooms. The K-State students in the class were split into pairs and assigned a school. The K-State students focused on improving the English pronunciation and vocabulary of the Ecuadorian students through the use of literature circles, games, and conversation. The project found that conversation with the students not only helped to improve their pronunciation as they listened to native English speakers, but it also rapidly built relationships and trust with the students. This project focuses on the qualitative experiences of the authors rather than the quantitative data, as the project was still in its early stages when the authors were involved. https://youtu.be/QRrAnActls

PipeDoll: A Motion Capture Addon for the Godot Game Engine

Character animation is a key challenge in game development and other fields and is often created using motion capture. However, traditional motion capture requires specialized hardware and can be inaccessible for small teams. For this project, I have developed a 2D motion capture addon for the Godot game engine. The addon uses a machine learning model to perform motion capture using a standard webcam, avoiding the need for hardware. It meets all the key functional requirements identified for the project and is published as open-source software at https://github.com/ectucker1/pipedoll