Talk Debt to Me: An Applied Linguistics Approach to Exploring College Student Preferences for Student Loan Debt Letters

Although student loan debt has been rigorously studied over the past several decades, scant research has investigated how institutions of higher education communicate debt to current and former student borrowers. As COVID-19 forced the United States Department of Education to cancel the Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement as part of a student’s signing of the master promissory note (MPN), there are no other mechanisms for students to be aware of their student loan debt beyond a debt letter from their institution or reviewing their National Student Loan Debt System (NSLDS) portal. This applied linguistics study surveyed 2,030 current student loan borrowers attending U.S. institutions of higher education to explore their preferences for receiving a student loan debt letter. Results suggest students of Color and first-generation in college students strongly prefer shorter, simpler letters, while there were no statistically significant preferences by gender. Implications for research and practice will be addressed

Genome-scale data reveal deep lineage divergence and a complex demographic history in the Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) throughout the southwestern and central US

The southwestern and central US serve as an ideal region to test alternative hypotheses regarding biotic diversification. Genomic data can now be combined with sophisticated computational models to quantify the impacts of paleoclimate change, geographic features, and habitat heterogeneity on spatial patterns of genetic diversity. In this study we combine thousands of genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) loci with mtDNA sequences (ND1) from the Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) to quantify relative support for different catalysts of diversification. Phylogenetic and clustering analyses of the GBS data indicate support for at least three primary populations. The spatial distribution of populations appears concordant with habitat type, with desert populations in Arizona and New Mexico showing the largest genetic divergence from the remaining populations. The mtDNA data also support a divergent desert population, but other relationships differ and suggest mtDNA introgression. Genotype-environment association with bioclimatic variables support divergence along precipitation gradients more than along temperature gradients. Demographic analyses support a complex history, with introgression and gene flow playing an important role during diversification. Bayesian multispecies coalescent analyses with introgression (MSci) analyses also suggest that gene flow occurred between populations. Paleo-species distribution models support two southern refugia that geographically correspond to contemporary lineages. We find that divergence times are underestimated and population sizes are over-estimated when introgression occurred and is ignored in coalescent analyses, and furthermore, inference of ancient introgression events and demographic history is sensitive to inclusion of a single recently admixed sample. Our analyses cannot refute the riverine barrier or glacial refugia hypotheses. Results also suggest that populations are continuing to diverge along habitat gradients. Finally, the strong evidence of admixture, gene flow, and mtDNA introgression among populations suggests that P. cornutum should be considered a single widespread species under the General Lineage Species Concept

PRELIMINARY STUDIES TOWARDS THE PRODUCTION OF THE INSECTICIDE ROTENONE USING CELL CULTURE

Detection and quantification of rotenone in the different organs of the plant Pachyrhizus erosus (1) Urban, was achieved by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) using a reverse-phase column. The seeds were found to contain 0,15% rotenone on a dry weight basis, while the tubers, leaves, and the pod shells contained negligible amounts. In attempting to induce high rotenone production in vitro, leaf discs and cotyledon sections of P. erosus were used as explant and these placed on a supplement Murashige and Skoog medium. Culture, are being grown under varying condition, of light requirement, sugar source, and hormone requirement in order to determine the optimum conditions for rotenone production

INDICATORS OF RESISTANCE IN COCOA (THEOBROMA CACAO) TO BLACK POD DISEASE CAUSED BY PHYTOPHTHORA PALMIVORA

The relationship between morphological characteristics: stomatal frequency, stomatal pore length, surface wax, hardness of pod wall and pod susceptibility to P.palmivora infection was assessed in twelve selected cocoa clones of the Forastero and Trinitario types. Among these clones, significant variation was observed with respect to pod morphological characteristics and their responses to infection. A high positive correlation was obtained between the combined effect of stomatal frequency and pore length, and clonal susceptibility. This suggests that these two morphological characteristics together could be used as a selection criterion for the identification of resistant genotypes