An Examination of the Home Visit Process Within the Context of Agricultural Education

The agricultural education profession has historically provided unique opportunities for agriculture teachers to gain a deeper connection with students through participation in FFA (formerly known as Future Farmers of America), supervision of supervised agricultural education (SAE) projects, and interactions in the classroom and laboratory. These three components are integrated to form a three-component model of agricultural education. They overlap through a strong relationship between agriculture teachers and students, which often develops through visits to students’ homes. A qualitative investigation presenting a historical and ethnographic account of the practice of home visits in agricultural education provided information from experts in the field about their definition of home visits, the value of home visits to the agricultural education profession, and the factors contributing to their changing focus in our profession. This investigation also described historical events, which affected and influenced teachers’ visits to the homes of students. Home visits are perceived to have high value, but a coherent definition of a home visit did not exist. Conversations with experts revealed reasons for the decline in teachers conducting home visits such as larger class sizes, the loss of extended contracts, and competition for diverse program goals. Second, a quantitative investigation and descriptive study presented the status of the practice of conducting home visits among California agriculture teachers. I used an online questionnaire to evaluate the perceived benefits of and barriers to conducting home visits as well as the prevailing definition of a home visit as compared to a SAE visit. The target population comprised 750 California agriculture teachers, and 34.93% (n = 262) responded. This study revealed that 55.3% of respondents defined a home visit as separate from a SAE visit whereas 31.1% stated that an SAE visit is a home visit. The most highly ranked barrier category was support for the practice. The most highly ranked beneficial impact category was benefit to the student. The final study used a descriptive phenomenological methodology to identify the motivation, structure, and outcomes of home visits made by agriculture teachers. Twenty-one California agriculture teachers were interviewed. Themes emerging from this qualitative study included: (1) motivations for conducting home visits, (2) structure and format of visits, (3) data collection and materials disseminated, (4) challenges and barriers, (5) values and impacts, and (6) shared experiences. Primary motivations included visiting SAE projects, developing relationships, increasing student involvement, and professional development experiences. Impacts discussed were strong connections with students and their families, improved classroom management, and increased student success. Recommendations included creating instructional guides focused on home visits, promoting workshops statewide, and initiating a special recognition program for teachers who conduct home visits. Based upon findings, it is recommended that the agricultural education profession adopt two new definitions of home visits: the Relational Home Visit and SAE Home Visit. Continued research on the use of home visits in today’s agricultural education is recommended which includes further research into the value of home visits and the state of the practice across a larger sample of other states

The role of working memory and contextual constraints in children's processing of relative clauses

An auditory sentence comprehension task investigated the extent to which the integration of contextual and structural cues was mediated by verbal memory span with 32 English-speaking 6- to 8-year old children. Spoken relative clause sentences were accompanied by visual context pictures which fully (depicting the actions described within the relative clause) or partially (depicting several referents) met the pragmatic assumptions of relativisation. Comprehension of the main and relative clauses of centre-embedded and right-branching structures was compared for each context. Pragmatically-appropriate contexts exerted a positive effect on relative clause comprehension, but children with higher memory spans demonstrated a further benefit for main clauses. Comprehension for centre-embedded main clauses was found to be very poor, independently of either context or memory span. The results suggest that children have access to adult-like linguistic processing mechanisms, and that sensitivity to extra-linguistic cues is evident in young children and develops as cognitive capacity increases

Transcriptional tools: Small molecules for modulating CBP KIX-dependent transcriptional activators

Previously it was demonstrated that amphipathic isoxazolidines are able to functionally replace the transcriptional activation domains of endogenous transcriptional activators. In addition, in vitro binding studies suggested that a key binding partner of these molecules is the CREB Binding Protein (CBP), more specifically the KIX domain within this protein. Here we show that CBP plays an essential role in the ability of isoxazolidine transcriptional activation domains to activate transcription in cells. Consistent with this model, isoxazolidines are able to function as competitive inhibitors of the activators MLL and Jun, both of which utilize a binding interaction with KIX to up-regulate transcription. Further, modification of the N2 side chain produced three analogs with enhanced potency against Jun-mediated transcription, although increased cytotoxicity was also observed. Collectively these small KIX-binding molecules will be useful tools for dissecting the role of the KIX domain in a variety of pathological processes. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 95: 17–23, 2011.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78234/1/21548_ftp.pd

Could Nightingale get cancelled? The rise, endurance, and possible fall of Florence Nightingale in British historical culture since 1854

Since she exploded into the public sphere in 1854 with her mission to the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) has been a revered historical heroine, with a presence in British commemorative culture that exceeds that of any other non-royal woman. This article, for the first time, delineates and analyses the contours and contents of the commemorative culture around Nightingale, examining how these have changed since the 1850s. It is, we argue, the way the Nightingale story spoke to various (changing) contemporaneous contexts in the spheres of femininity, humanitarianism, Christianity, and nursing which account for the way she was rarefied, and endured, as a female national icon. We then move on to describe the ways, since 1918, Nightingale’s reputation has increasingly been subject to criticism. This iconoclasm reached its apotheosis from the 1980s onwards, when Mary Seacole emerged as a rival for the public commemoration of nurses. We raise the possibility that –particularly in the context of Black Lives Matter and increased questioning of the celebration of individuals who operated from places of privilege and power—our current cultural moment may mark, if not the end of public enthusiasm for Nightingale, a fragmentation of her memory along political lines

Characterization of a midgut mucin-like glycoconjugate of Lutzomyia longipalpis with a potential role in Leishmania attachment

BACKGROUND: Leishmania parasites are transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies and a crucial step in their life-cycle is the binding to the sand fly midgut. Laboratory studies on sand fly competence to Leishmania parasites suggest that the sand flies fall into two groups: several species are termed "specific/restricted" vectors that support the development of one Leishmania species only, while the others belong to so-called "permissive" vectors susceptible to a wide range of Leishmania species. In a previous study we revealed a correlation between specificity vs permissivity of the vector and glycosylation of its midgut proteins. Lutzomyia longipalpis and other four permissive species tested possessed O-linked glycoproteins whereas none were detected in three specific vectors examined. RESULTS: We used a combination of biochemical, molecular and parasitological approaches to characterize biochemical and biological properties of O-linked glycoprotein of Lu. longipalpis. Lectin blotting and mass spectrometry revealed that this molecule with an apparent molecular weight about 45-50 kDa corresponds to a putative 19 kDa protein with unknown function detected in a midgut cDNA library of Lu. longipalpis. We produced a recombinant glycoprotein rLuloG with molecular weight around 45 kDa. Anti-rLuloG antibodies localize the native glycoprotein on epithelial midgut surface of Lu. longipalpis. Although we could not prove involvement of LuloG in Leishmania attachment by blocking the native protein with anti-rLuloG during sand fly infections, we demonstrated strong binding of rLuloG to whole surface of Leishmania promastigotes. CONCLUSIONS: We characterized a novel O-glycoprotein from sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis. It has mucin-like properties and is localized on the luminal side of the midgut epithelium. Recombinant form of the protein binds to Leishmania parasites in vitro. We propose a role of this molecule in Leishmania attachment to sand fly midgut

Investigating Students’ Career-Readiness in the Agricultural Sciences: A Phenomenological Case Study

The agricultural industry lacks qualified workers, suggesting students may not participate in opportunities that effectively develop their employability skills. We used a phenomenological case study approach to investigate Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students’ career-readiness and factors influencing career-readiness. We conducted interviews with 19 juniors and seniors. Open coding procedures revealed five emergent themes—Career Advice-Seeking Behavior,Employability Skills Development, Network Establishment, Relevant Experiences, and Personal Growth. Findings indicate that students do not take advantage of University resources to help them with career preparation. Findings also revealed a lack of employability skills development, especially relating to students’ communication and science communication skills. Students identified high-impact experiences they believed improved their employability skills. We recommend strategies for educators to improve agriculture students’ career- readiness and offer research recommendations to examine career-readiness factors that may help prepare students to meet 21st century agricultural workforce demands

Management of patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in Russian hospitals adheres to international guidelines

Objective - Russia has one of the highest cardiovascular mortality rates. Modernisation of the Russian health system has been accompanied by a substantial increase in uptake of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which substantially reduces the risk of mortality in patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This paper aims to describe contemporary Hospital treatment of acute STEMI among patients in a range of hospitals in the Russian Federation. Methods - This study used data from a prospective observational cohort of 1128 suspected patients with myocardial infarction recruited in both PCI and non-PCI hospitals across 13 regions and multiple levels of the health system in Russia. The primary objective was to examine the use of reperfusion strategies in patients with STEMI. Results - Among patients reaching PCI centres within 12 hours of symptom onset, the vast majority received angiography and PCI, regardless of age, sex and comorbidity, in line with current European Society of Cardiology guidelines. Conclusion- Patients reaching Russian hospitals are very likely to receive appropriate treatment, although performance varies. The best hospitals can serve as beacons of good practice as PCI facilities continue to expand across Russia where geography allows