Eliminating Social Homelessness: Providing a Home to Grow

Middle school students who belong to marginalized identity groups often experience alienation and isolation. These feelings are compounded for multi-marginalized students who experience social homelessness–a term Harrison (2015) uses to describe students who appear to be accepted in one or more social categories but, because of his or her competing identities, is unable to fully participate in the life of the social group without hiding a part of his or her identity. In addition to this internalized struggle, emerging research indicates that socially homeless students are at an increased risk for bullying and academic failure. Inspired by the need to build homes for students experiencing social homelessness and our professional experiences with student alienation and underachievement, we created a school-wide house system to promote healthy peer relationships for middle grades students. This essay details the motivation and processes behind creating a school-wide house system that promotes a growth mindset and fosters a positive school culture that is inclusive of all students

Trends and Changes in School Counselor CACREP Standards in the United States

Counseling and educational reform have been responsive to major societal change. This evolution is also reflected in counselor preparation. We examined changes in the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) school counselor preparation standards over four decades in the United States. Constant comparative analysis revealed substantial increases in school counselor preparation demands from 1982 to 2016. Data suggest persistent increases in the array and breadth of competency-based standards, including emergent foci (e.g., crisis response, addiction). Future considerations around school counselor identity, expectations and professional collaboration in school counselor preparation are considered

Asymétrie du transport d'Ekman d'un jet océanique forcé par le vent

RÉSUMÉ: La majorité des formulations suggérées pour une couche d'Ekman non-linéaires proposent une asymétrie grandissante entre le pompage positif et négatif au fur et à mesure que le nombre de Rossby (_ = _= f0) augmente. Ici, une asymétrie similaire est considérée en utilisant une modélisation des grands tourbillons _ Large Eddy Simulation _ pour un domaine idéalisé. Un vent ayant une forme sinusoïdale est appliqué à la surface d'un domaine périodique avec une résolution uniforme et isotrope de taille _x = _y = _z = 3m. Les solutions démontrent que l'asymétrie se développe même sans présence de courant géostrophique pré-existant. La présence d'un fort forçage à la surface permet une advection fortement non-linéaire dans la couche d'Ekman. Les vitesses verticales positives sont affaiblies alors que les vitesses verticales négatives sont amplifiées. On observe aussi un nombre important d'ondes quasi-inertielles sous le forçage anticyclonique lorsque la valeur du nombre de Rossby approche l'unité. À cette valeur, une transition plutôt soudaine s'effectue entre un régime dominé par la présence d'ondes quasi-inertielles et un régime dominé par la présence d'un jet. Ceci suggère que le nombre de Rossby caractérisant l'écoulement doit tenir compte d'une partie due au forçage. Dans le cas d'un forçage sinusoïdal, ces deux nombres semblent être également additifs pour caractériser la non-linéarité. Une interprétation, des phénomènes physiques impliqués sont proposés. Finalement, bien que la variance d'un vent sur 10 km implique de petites cisailles, d'autres forçages tels que la cisaille de la banquise pourraient produire des phénomènes similaires à ceux étudiés ici. Les conséquences possibles sur le mélange vertical et le transport de masse sont aussi discutées. -- Mot(s) clé(s) en français : Ekman, asymmétrie, non-lineaire, pompage, vent, remontée, Rossby. -- ABSTRACT: Most formulations that have been suggested for the nonlinear Ekman layer predict a growing asymmetry between the amplitude of the up- and downwelling as the Rossby number (Ro = _= f ) increases. Here, this asymmetry is considered in explicit solutions of a nonlinear Ekman layer in large eddy simulations of a deep mixed layer on an f-plane. A sinusoidal wind stress is applied at the surface of a 10 km wide periodic domain. Resolution is uniform, with dx=dz=3 m. Equilibrium solutions are first considered, and the observed asymmetry is found to be much stronger than that predicted by any of the previous formulations. As Ro approaches unity, the upwelling part of the domain becomes increasingly diffused/weak and the maximum vertical velocities tend to half the value predicted by linear Ekman theory. By contrast, as Ro tends to -1, the downwelling part of the domain becomes increasingly narrow/amplified, and the maximum vertical velocities grow exponentially with -Ro, reaching values over an order of magnitude larger than those predicted by linear Ekman theory. These equilibrium solutions are unstable to small perturbations, yielding strong inertial oscillations and turbulence. A mechanistic interpretation of the asymmetry is also discussed. -- Mot(s) clé(s) en anglais : Ekman, pumping, asymmetry, upwelling, downwelling, Rossby number, turbulence, nonlinear, vortex, wind

Whitten Woods

One mile from the center of Ashland, New Hampshire lies a 414- acre parcel of land known as Whitten Woods. The land is conserved by Squam Lakes Association, Squam Lakes Conservation Society, and the New England Forestry Foundation. The vast hiking trails and scenic views of the Lakes Region and the Pemigewasset River Valley attract people to this site throughout the year. Preserving and protecting native species is a priority for conservationists of this land. Other primary issues include: maintaining high quality water for surrounding water bodies, enhancing its recreational use for the community, and sharing the rich history of Whitten Woods. We will be assessing current wildlife action plans, wood harvesting plans and other ecosystem services that it provides to make suggestions for the betterment of these woods

Heterogeneity-Based Management Restores Diversity and Alters Vegetation Structure without Decreasing Invasive Grasses in Working Mixed-Grass Prairie

Non-native plants can reduce grassland biodiversity, degrade wildlife habitat, and threaten rural livelihoods. Management can be costly, and the successful eradication of undesirable species does not guarantee the restoration of ecosystem service delivery. An alternative to the eradication of invasive species in rangelands is to target the restoration of diversity and heterogeneous plant structure, which have direct links to ecosystem function. In this study, we evaluate patch-burn grazing (PBG) with one and two fires per year and variably stocked rotational grazing in Poa pratensis- and Bromus inermis-invaded grasslands using traditional (cover) and process-based (diversity and vegetation structural heterogeneity) frameworks in central North Dakota, USA. Within 3–4 years of initiating management, we found little evidence of decreased Poa pratensis and Bromus inermis cover compared to continuous grazing (Poa pratensis F3,12 = 0.662, p = 0.59; Bromus inermis F3,12 = 0.13, p = 0.13). However, beta diversity increased over time in all treatments compared to continuous grazing (tPBG1 = 2.71, tPBG2 = 3.45, tRotational = 3.72), and variably stocked rotational treatments had greater increases in spatial heterogeneity in litter depth and vegetation structure than continuously grazed pastures (tvisual obstruction= 2.42, p = 0.03; tlitter depth = 2.59, p = 0.02) over the same time period. Alternative frameworks that promote grassland diversity and heterogeneity support the restoration of ecological services and processes in invaded grasslands

Heterogeneity-Based Management Restores Diversity and Alters Vegetation Structure without Decreasing Invasive Grasses in Working Mixed-Grass Prairie

Non-native plants can reduce grassland biodiversity, degrade wildlife habitat, and threaten rural livelihoods. Management can be costly, and the successful eradication of undesirable species does not guarantee the restoration of ecosystem service delivery. An alternative to the eradication of invasive species in rangelands is to target the restoration of diversity and heterogeneous plant structure, which have direct links to ecosystem function. In this study, we evaluate patch-burn grazing (PBG) with one and two fires per year and variably stocked rotational grazing in Poa pratensis- and Bromus inermis-invaded grasslands using traditional (cover) and process-based (diversity and vegetation structural heterogeneity) frameworks in central North Dakota, USA. Within 3–4 years of initiating management, we found little evidence of decreased Poa pratensis and Bromus inermis cover compared to continuous grazing (Poa pratensis F3,12 = 0.662, p = 0.59; Bromus inermis F3,12 = 0.13, p = 0.13). However, beta diversity increased over time in all treatments compared to continuous grazing (tPBG1 = 2.71, tPBG2 = 3.45, tRotational = 3.72), and variably stocked rotational treatments had greater increases in spatial heterogeneity in litter depth and vegetation structure than continuously grazed pastures (tvisual obstruction= 2.42, p = 0.03; tlitter depth = 2.59, p = 0.02) over the same time period. Alternative frameworks that promote grassland diversity and heterogeneity support the restoration of ecological services and processes in invaded grasslands

RNase H-dependent PCR enables highly specific amplification of antibody variable domains from single B-cells.

Immunization-based antibody discovery platforms require robust and effective protocols for the amplification, cloning, expression, and screening of antibodies from large numbers of B-cells in order to effectively capture the diversity of an experienced Ig-repertoire. Multiplex PCR using a series of forward and reverse primers designed to recover antibodies from a range of different germline sequences is challenging because primer design requires the recovery of full length antibody sequences, low starting template concentrations, and the need for all the primers to function under the same PCR conditions. Here we demonstrate several advantages to incorporating RNase H2-dependent PCR (rh-PCR) into a high-throughput, antibody-discovery platform. Firstly, rh-PCR eliminated primer dimer synthesis to below detectable levels, thereby eliminating clones with a false positive antibody titer. Secondly, by increasing the specificity of PCR, the rh-PCR primers increased the recovery of cognate antibody variable regions from single B-cells, as well as downstream recombinant antibody titers. Finally, we demonstrate that rh-PCR primers provide a more homogeneous sample pool and greater sequence quality in a Next Generation Sequencing-based approach to obtaining DNA sequence information from large numbers of cloned antibody cognate pairs. Furthermore, the higher specificity of the rh-PCR primers allowed for a better match between native antibody germline sequences and the VL/VH fragments amplified from single B-cells

Embracing inherent and imposed sources of heterogeneity in rangeland bird management

Abstract Rangeland simplification is a global threat to biodiversity. Historically, rangelands exhibited varied vegetation structure, which provided a diverse wildlife habitat. Vegetation heterogeneity resulted from interactions between topoedaphic (inherent heterogeneity) and disturbance factors (imposed heterogeneity). Until recently, these interactive sources of heterogeneity have been ignored in rangeland management and study. Under an emerging paradigm that embraces heterogeneity, contributions of disturbance and topoedaphic conditions to rangeland biodiversity remain largely unknown. Using the avian community, we assessed the effects of wetland area, ecological site, and topographic roughness (inherent heterogeneity) and four grazing strategies (imposed heterogeneity; patch‐burn grazing with one or two seasons of fire, season‐long grazing, and modified twice‐over rotational grazing with variably stocked paddocks) on vegetation structure, avian diversity, avian community composition, and avian densities. The interaction between inherent and imposed heterogeneity influenced avian community composition but not species‐specific densities. The effects of management on vegetation structural heterogeneity varied over years, though patch‐burn management generated heterogeneity and temporal stability in vegetation structure compared to season‐long grazing and modified twice‐over rotational grazing. Patch‐burn and season‐long grazing pastures had higher diversity than modified twice‐over rotational grazing. Community composition was sensitive to ecological site, topographic roughness, and wetland area, suggesting that both the fire‐grazing interaction and inherent heterogeneity maintain biodiversity. Out of our six grassland obligate focal bird species, two responded to inherent heterogeneity, while three were most sensitive to imposed heterogeneity. One species, western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), did not respond to either source of heterogeneity, potentially indicating responsiveness to factors outside our study, such as annual precipitation or heterogeneity at fine scales. Our results indicate that both inherent and imposed heterogeneity are important in shaping grassland bird abundance, diversity, and community composition and that conserving rangeland biodiversity in the future will require managing for greater imposed heterogeneity while embracing existing landscape variability