The Toll of Emotional Labor in Job Searches for PhD Graduates: Challenges and Insights

Using emotional labor theory as a lens, this study seeks to provide college faculty mentors with insight into the phenomenon of emotional labor experienced by doctoral students transitioning into a career

Editorial Vol. 16 Issue 1

Editoria

Transforming Police-Community Relations: The Role of Experiential Learning in Law Enforcement Training

An ongoing case study that explores the integration and effectiveness of experiential learning methodologies in a police officer community-relations training program and its influence on transformative learning

Influence of Degree of Doneness on the Alpha-Gal Content of Striploins and its Relationship with Red Meat Allergy

Objective: Alpha-Gal Syndrome (AGS) is an acquired sensitivity to galactose-alpha-1, 3-galactose (⍺-Gal) after exposure to a bite from the Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum). Affected individuals can experience a range of symptoms from mild itching to potentially fatal anaphylaxis after consuming products containing mammalian tissues that contain ⍺-Gal. Little research has been done to examine the ⍺-Gal content of different products; thus, the objective of this study was to establish the ⍺-Gal content of striploin steaks cooked to varying degrees of doneness to evaluate if heat treatment reduces the ⍺-Gal content of red meat. Study Description: Ten beef striploins were collected from a Midwest beef processing plant and transported under refrigeration to the Kansas State University Meat Laboratory (n = 10). Striploins were cut into four steaks each and either left raw or cooked to medium rare (MR; 130°F), medium (MED; 140°F), or well done (WD; 160°F). Whole muscle proteins were extracted, and proteins were separated by gel electrophoresis, transferred to a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane, and tested by immunoblot against a primary anti-⍺-Gal antibody. Each gel contained a reference sample of ⍺-Gal conjugated human serum albumin with known ⍺-Gal content. Results: Striploins that were cooked to WD had the greatest ⍺-Gal concentration among all cooking treatments, followed by steaks cooked to MR and MED, while steaks that were left raw had the lowest ⍺-Gal concentration (P \u3c 0.01). The Bottom Line: Our results are consistent with other studies, which indicated that cooking seems to concentrate ⍺-Gal glycans to a higher degree than that of the raw striploins. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of other interventions to improve the care and management of AGS patients

Editor Thank You to Reviewers for 108(4)

The editors of 108(4) would like to thank the reviewers of this issue. We have also included a note on new journal processes

Delphi Study on Requirements for Master’s Degrees from the Perspective of Agricultural Communications Faculty

Agricultural communications is a young discipline and although undergraduate curriculum has been explored from multiple angles, master’s degrees have not been given the same level of attention. This study sought to fill this gap through exploring what should be included in an agricultural communications master’s degree from the perspective of current agricultural communications faculty members. A Delphi methodology was implored to address this purpose. Three rounds were used to build consensus around necessary skills, courses, and theories in a master’s degree program in agricultural communications. There were 30 respondents for round 1 (35.7%), 32 for round 2 (38.1%), and 27 for round 3 (32.1%). In the final round, 10 courses met the 80% threshold for consensus with agricultural communications theory being the only course all respondents thought should be required. Thirteen theories reached consensus with agenda setting, framing, and uses and gratification receiving 100% of support from responses in round 3. There were 40 skills that reached consensus in the final round with critical thinking, application of social science theories, and evaluation of information receiving full consensus. Granted a one-size-fits-all model does not make sense, results of the study, indicate a master’s curriculum should be based on communication theory, research methods, statistics, thesis/capstone, and an agricultural communications foundation course, with integration of research writing and data presentation within those courses

A Look at Sustainability and Vulnerability in School Reform

This qualitative study sought stakeholder perspectives on the Kansas Department of Education\u27s Kansas Can school redesign initiatives. Interviews with stakeholders revealed both sustainable and vulnerable aspects of the school reforms across cultural, political, and technological dimensions

Cold, Hot, Lukewarm? ----Exploring the Integration of Transformational Learning and Conceptual Change Theories in Adult Education

As an intellectually stimulating session, this roundtable explores integrating Transformational Learning and Conceptual Change Theories to enhance adult education with new perspectives and strategies for deeper, more effective learning outcomes

Effect of a Novel Dietary Antioxidant on Growth Performance and Antioxidant Status of Nursery Pigs

To evaluate the effect of dietary S-ascisic acid (S-ABA) supplementation on the growth performance and antioxidant status of pigs, 320 nursery pigs (DNA 241 × 600; initially 12.0 ± 1.13 lb) were weaned at approximately 18 d of age and assigned to pens in a generalized randomized block design with gender and weight category as blocking factors. Pigs were fed a common phase 1 diet from weaning to d 7. On d 8 post-weaning, pen of pigs (14.2 ± 1.25 lb) within gender × weight blocks were randomly allotted to one of four dietary treatments. Treatments included a conventional nursery diet (Control) and three diets that used the Control formulation with increasing S-ABA (0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 ppm). Treatments were provided during phases 2 (d 0 to 14) and 3 (d 14 to 35). Growth performance was measured weekly. Additionally, 32 pigs on d 0 and two pigs per pen on d 14 and 35 were bled to assess the erythrocytes’ total glutathione (GSH+GSSG), reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized to reduced glutathione ratio (GSSG:GSH), serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). At the termination of the trial, two pigs in each pen were euthanized and duodenal, jejunal and ileal mucosa were collected to measure GSH+GSSG, GSH and GSSG:GSH. No interactive effect on growth performance between S-ABA and gender was observed throughout the study. Additionally, increasing S-ABA did not influence growth performance. There was also no interaction between S-ABA and collection day on antioxidant parameters. Erythrocyte GSH+GSSG tended to increase with higher S-ABA in the diet (linear, P = 0.056) on d 14, while GSH showed a similar trend at d 14 (linear, P = 0.096) and d 35 (quadratic, P = 0.100). The d 35 GSSG:GSH ratio decreased with increasing S-ABA in the diet (quadratic, P = 0.022). Serum TAC, SOD and TBARS were not influenced by S-ABA in the diet. Similarly, dietary S-ABA had no effect on GSH+GSSG, GSH and GSSG:GSH in the intestinal mucosa. In conclusion, supplementation of S-ABA in the diet improved the antioxidant status of nursery pigs by reducing the erythrocyte GSSG:GSH ratio without negative effects on growth performance

Late Fees in the Academic Libraries of the Four-year Public Universities of Kansas

While there has been a general movement in public libraries away from fines for late return of materials, as they are perceived as a barrier to access (American Library Association, 2019), the situation on abolishing fines is not as clear in the academic library community and there is a general lack of literature on this topic concerning academic libraries. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the structure of late fees for various materials in the 4-year public universities in Kansas to gain insight into current practice in academic libraries in Kansas. In addition, the researchers wanted to determine if all policy information related to late fees was freely available on pubic-facing web pages in each library’s website. The library websites of each of the target universities (Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburgh State University, University of Kansas, Wichita State University, and Washburn University) were searched for each institutions policy on return of library materials and any late fees charged. All institutions but one were found to provide details of late fee policies on their web pages, but the location of the policy information was not consistent across institutions and was not always obvious in the structure of the library websites. The data showed a wide range of policies across the various universities. All universities had some form of fee structure related to late or lost items but there was little consistency. Fine amounts were also considered relative to the undergraduate tuition costs of each institution to see if this might explain the widely differing fee amounts