The Impact of Grading on a Curve: Assessing the Results of Kulick and Wright’s Simulation Analysis

Kulick and Wright concluded, based on theoretical mathematical simulations of hypothetical student exam scores, that assigning exam grades to students based on the relative position of their exam performance scores within a normal curve may be unfair, given the role that randomness plays in any given student’s performance on any given exam. However, their modeling predicts that academically heterogeneous students should fare much better than high achieving, academically homogenous students. We assess their conclusion indirectly using student scores from actual exams in actual university classes. We document that academically heterogeneous students do tend to perform at a similar level on different exams across a given semester: correlations among six different assessments were moderately strong and highly significant. We confirm their prediction that actual student scores for academically heterogeneous first-year students do not reveal gross random variation. We encourage similar analysis of scores for high achieving, academically homogeneous students

A native promoter and inclusion of an intron is necessary for efficient expression of GFP or mRFP in Armillaria mellea

Armillaria mellea is a significant pathogen that causes Armillaria root disease on numerous hosts in forests, gardens and agricultural environments worldwide. Using a yeast-adapted pCAMBIA0380 Agrobacterium vector, we have constructed a series of vectors for transformation of A. mellea, assembled using yeast-based recombination methods. These have been designed to allow easy exchange of promoters and inclusion of introns. The vectors were first tested by transformation into basidiomycete Clitopilus passeckerianus to ascertain vector functionality then used to transform A. mellea. We show that heterologous promoters from the basidiomycetes Agaricus bisporus and Phanerochaete chrysosporium that were used successfully to control the hygromycin resistance cassette were not able to support expression of mRFP or GFP in A. mellea. The endogenous A. mellea gpd promoter delivered efficient expression, and we show that inclusion of an intron was also required for transgene expression. GFP and mRFP expression was stable in mycelia and fluorescence was visible in transgenic fruiting bodies and GFP was detectable in planta. Use of these vectors has been successful in giving expression of the fluorescent proteins GFP and mRFP in A. mellea, providing an additional molecular tool for this pathogen

Trends in Substance Use in a Prohibitionist University Compared to General College Populations

Researchers at the Institute for the Prevention of Addictions have conducted surveys on health risk behaviors among Andrews University students from 1995 to 2023. In examinations of five data points between 1995 and 2018, the gap in the rates of substance use between Andrews University students and a general U.S. college population remained about the same each time period. However, both groups tended to increase or decrease use over the same time periods. Data from the March 2023 collection period will be included in the presentation and will be examined to see if cultural levelling has occurred or if Andrews students have been able to resist the pull of cultural levelling

The Unintended Consequences of a Ban on the Humane Slaughter (Processing) of Horses in the United States

Federal legislation has been proposed to amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be humanely slaughtered (processed) for human consumption, and for other purposes. The intent of the legislation is to enact a ban in the United States on processing horses for human consumption. The legislation does not provide fiscal support that would likely be needed to respond to an ever increasing number of unwanted, neglected, and abused horses. Often times horse neglect and abuse cases originate from a lack of economic resources needed to adequately maintain a horse’s health. While everyone fully supports and is committed to the humane treatment of all horses, there are unintended consequences of banning horse processing. The purpose of this paper is to identify and review the unintended consequences of a ban in the United States on the processing of horses for human consumption: 1. The potential for a large number of abandoned or unwanted horses is substantial. 2. Public animal rescue facilities are currently saturated with unwanted horses. No funding has been allocated to manage a large increase in horses that will likely become the responsibility of these facilities. 3. Cost of maintaining unwanted horses accumulates over time: A conservative estimate of the total cost of caring for unwanted horses, based upon 2005 statistics, is $220 million; Cumulative annual maintenance costs of otherwise processed horses, since the year 2000, would have exceeded more than$513 million in 2005. 4. The export value of horse meat for human consumption was approximately $26 million. A ban on processing would eliminate these annual revenues. 5. The option of rendering equine carcasses is decreasing. Private-land burial and disposal in landfills have a negative impact on the environment. 6. The Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program may be negatively impacted by a ban on horse processing. BLM horses and an increasing number of unwanted horses will be competing for adoption homes. Horse processing facilities offer a humane end-of-life option for approximately 1% of the United States horse population. Tens of thousands of horses could be neglected or abandoned if a processing ban were imposed. The direct economic impact and future unintended–and currently unaccounted for–economic impact of banning horse processing for human consumption are substantial. Proponents have not addressed the inevitable costs of such a ban. Horse owners will realize a direct impact from lower horse sale prices. Local and state governments will be adversely impacted by increased costs of regulation and care of unwanted or neglected horses

Cultural Resources Investigations Along Whiteoak Bayou, Harris County, Texas

In 1986, cultural resources investigations were carried out to prepare a synthesis of the archeology of the Whiteoak Bayou area in western Harris County, Texas, and to conduct subsurface testing at prehistoric sites that may be affected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Upper Whiteoak Bayou Flood Damage Reduction Project. The tasks undertaken during these investigations are: (1) background research into the environment and archeology of the area; (2) historic/archival research and reconnaissance survey to summarize the historical development of Whiteoak Bayou and to identify any important sites in the project area; (3) intensive survey of Vogel Creek, a tributary to Whiteoak Bayou, to assess the potential for intact cultural remains; (4) National Register testing and assessment of nine aboriginal sites; (5) geoarcheological investigations to establish the geological context of the archeological remains, to identify the depositional environments represented, and to establish an alluvial sequence for the project area; and (6) analysis of a large collection of artifacts from 46 Whiteoak Bayou sites made prior to 1986 by members of the Houston Archeological Society, as well as the materials recovered during 1986. The nine archeological sites tesLed during this project are 41HR241, 4lHR259, 41HR273, 41HR278, 41HR279, 41HR283, 41HR290, 41HR298, and 41HR541. The testing showed that only three -- 41HR259, 41HR273, and 41HR541 -- have substantial, intact cultural deposits. Two of these -- 41HR273 and 41HR541 -- are judged to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and for designation as State Archeological Landmarks. One site, 4lHR259, is currently listed on the National Register, although the remaining part of this site is judged to have a limited potential to yield additi0nal information. The other seven sites are judged to be ineligible for listing

Migrant African women: tales of agency and belonging

This paper explores issues of belonging and agency among asylum seekers and refugee women of African origin in the UK. It discusses the ways these women engendered resistance in their everyday life to destitution, lack of cultural recognition, and gender inequality through the foundation of their own non-governmental organization, African Women’s Empowerment Forum, AWEF, a collective ‘home’ space. The focus of this account is on migrant women’s agency and self-determination for the exercise of choice to be active actors in society. It points to what might be an important phenomenon on how local grassroots movements are challenging the invisibility of asylum seekers’ and refugees’ lives and expanding the notion of politics to embrace a wider notion of community politics with solidarity. AWEF is the embodiment of a social space that resonates the ‘in-between’ experience of migrant life providing stability to the women members regarding political and community identification

Biosynthesis of pleuromutilin congeners using an Aspergillus oryzae expression platform

Pleuromutilin is an antibiotic diterpenoid made by Clitopilus passeckerianus and related fungi, and it is the progenitor of a growing class of semi-synthetic antibiotics used in veterinary and human medicine. To harness the biotechnological potential of this natural product class, a full understanding of its biosynthetic pathway is essential. Previously, a linear pathway for pleuromutilin biosynthesis was established. Here we report two shunt pathways involving Pl-sdr and Pl-atf that were identified through the rational heterologous expression of combinations of pleuromutilin biosynthetic genes in Aspergillus oryzae. Three novel pleuromutilin congeners were isolated, and their antimicrobial activity was investigated, alongside that of an additional derivative produced through a semi-synthetic approach. It was observed that the absence of various functional groups – 3 ketone, 11 hydroxyl group or 21 ketone – from the pleuromutilin framework affected the antibacterial activity of pleuromutilin congeners. This study expands our knowledge on the biosynthesis of pleuromutilin and provides avenues for the development of novel pleuromutilin analogues by combining synthetic biology and synthetic chemistry