Perspectives on credit scoring and fair mortgage lending: article two

Credit scoring systems ; Mortgages

Effect of Role-Play in Online Discussions on Student Engagement and Critical Thinking

Without a strategy in place, online discussions in asynchronous courses rarely rise above the level of information sharing. As a result, it is important to design discussion strategies that push students further in their interactions with both the content and each other. In this case study, the role-play strategy was examined to determine whether it fosters critical thinking and student engagement. Student discussion transcripts were examined from an online, self-paced human biology course using both Garrison et al.’s four-phase model of cognitive presence and Gunawardena et al.’s five-stage model of knowledge construction to look for evidence of higher-order thinking. Furthermore, the transcripts were examined qualitatively for phrasing that signified evidence of student engagement. The findings indicate that the role-play instructional strategy, when used in online discussions, does support student engagement and critical thinking. This strategy places students in authentic, real-world contexts and enables them to explore different perspectives while engaging with the content to discover new knowledge and construct new meaning. The research presented here also supports evidence that written reflection should be incorporated when employing the role-play strategy. Based on the insights from this study, the researchers have developed a framework for students to achieve deeper, more engaging online discussions. This framework is called the “Framework for Student Engagement and Critical Thinking in Online Discussions.

Rumen bacterial community structure impacts feed efficiency in beef cattle

The importance of the rumen microbiota on nutrient cycling to the animal is well recognized; however, our understanding of the influence of the rumen microbiome composition on feed efficiency is limited. The rumen microbiomes of two large animal cohorts (125 heifers and 122 steers) were characterized to identify specific bacterial members (operational taxonomic units [OTUs]) associated with feed efficiency traits (ADFI, ADG, and G:F) in beef cattle. The heifer and steer cohorts were fed a forage-based diet and a concentrate-based diet, respectively. A rumen sample was obtained from each animal via esophageal tubing and bacterial community composition was determined through 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the V4 region. Based on a regression approach that used individual performance measures, animals were classified into divergent feed efficiency groups. Within cohort, an extreme set of 16 animals from these divergent groups was selected as a discovery population to identify differentially abundant OTUs across the rumen bacterial communities. The remaining samples from each cohort were selected to perform forward stepwise regressions using the differentially abundant OTUs as explanatory variables to distinguish predictive OTUs for the feed efficiency traits and to quantify the OTUs collective impact on feed efficiency phenotypes. OTUs belonging to the families Prevotellaceae and Victivallaceae were present across models for heifers, whereas OTUs belonging to the families Prevotellaceae and Lachnospiraceae were present across models for steers. Within the heifer cohort, models explained 19.3%, 25.3%, and 19.8% of the variation for ADFI, ADG, and G:F, respectively. Within the steer cohort, models explained 27.7%, 32.5%, and 26.9% of the variation for ADFI, ADG, and G:F, respectively. Overall, this study suggests a substantial role of the rumen microbiome on feed efficiency responses

Refining genetic boundaries for Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in the western Sonoran Desert: the influence of the Coachella Valley on gene flow among populations in southern California

Understanding the influence of geographic features on the evolutionary history and population structure of a species can assist wildlife managers in delimiting genetic units (GUs) for conservation and management. Landscape features including mountains, low elevation depressions, and even roads can influence connectivity and gene flow among Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) populations. Substantial changes in the landscape of the American Southwest occurred during the last six million years (including the formation of the Gulf of California and the lower Colorado River), which shaped the distribution and genetic structuring of tortoise populations. The area northwest of the Gulf of California is occupied by the Salton Trough, including the Coachella Valley at its northern end. Much of this area is below sea level and unsuitable as tortoise habitat, thus forming a potential barrier for gene flow. We assessed genetic relationships among three tortoise populations separated by the Coachella Valley. Two adjacent populations were on the east side of the valley in the foothills of the Cottonwood and Orocopia mountains separated by Interstate 10. The third population, Mesa, was located about 87 km away in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains at the far northwestern tip of the valley. The Cottonwood and Orocopia localities showed genetic affiliation with the adjacent Colorado Desert GU immediately to the east, and the Mesa population exhibited affiliation with both the Southern Mojave and Colorado Desert GUs, despite having a greater geographic distance (0.5x–1.5x greater) to the Colorado Desert GU. The genetic affiliation with the Colorado Desert GU suggests that the boundary for that GU needs to be substantially extended to the west to include the desert tortoise populations around the Coachella Valley. Their inclusion in the Colorado Desert GU may benefit these often overlooked populations when recovery actions are considered

The Grizzly, April 14, 2005

Iraqi Visit for Model UN • Airband Raises Over $12k for Charity • Spring Fling is in the Air • Death of the Pope • UC\u27s Five Year Plan • Collective Soul Concert a Success • Ritter\u27s Last Play Debuts • Business Students go All-in for ALS • Art of Emotional Foreplay • Who\u27s in the Accepted Class of 2009? • Opinions: Lesson in Filibustering: Why You Need to Know; It\u27s my Party, I Invite Who I Want to; It\u27s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year; People Don\u27t Cause Traffic Problems, SUVs Do • Long Week for Women\u27s Softball • Women\u27s Lacrosse Team Continues Winning Streakhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1583/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, March 31, 2005

Poem-palooza Tonight • Senior Speaks About Giving Back • Get Amped for Airband! • No Boredom Allowed • Students Petition for Comcast Cable • SERV Members Attend National Conference • Help Hobson Help Others • Ursinus Students Build House During Spring Break • Study Abroad Cancellations • Erectile Dysfunction in Young Men • Experiencing the London Perspective • A New Drink: Water from the Body • Conversation with Mike Ditty • Fitzgerald Returns to Coach Women\u27s Lacrosse • Chemistry is the Ingredient for Success • Men\u27s Lacrosse Team Loses in a Nail-biter to F&Mhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1581/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, April 7, 2005

The Kaleidoscope to open 4/21 • Academic Awards Ceremony • Edible Book Festival a Delicious Success • Class Trip to Mississippi Revisits the Civil Rights Movement and Transforms Students • The Week that Almost Wasn\u27t Greek • Professors Yearn for Childcare • Major Highlight: Politics Department • New Diner Will Get Old Fast • Pleasure in Honesty • Opinions: Fighting Inner City Violence: Where is the Love?; Importance of a Living Will; Beer or Wine: What is Your Choice?; Wismer Woes • Evans Breaks 100m Record at Quaker Invitational • Men\u27s Lacrosse Team Plays Tough in Losing Cause • Slow Start for the Men\u27s Baseball Teamhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1582/thumbnail.jp

Metaphylactic antimicrobial effects on occurrences of antimicrobial resistance in \u3ci\u3eSalmonella enterica, Escherichia coli\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eEnterococcus\u3c/i\u3e spp. measured longitudinally from feedlot arrival to harvest in high-risk beef cattle

Aims: Our objective was to determine how injectable antimicrobials affected populations of Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. in feedlot cattle. Methods and Results: Two arrival date blocks of high-risk crossbred beef cattle (n = 249; mean BW = 244 kg) were randomly assigned one of four antimicrobial treatments administered on day 0: sterile saline control (CON), tulathromycin (TUL), ceftiofur (CEF) or florfenicol (FLR). Faecal samples were collected on days 0, 28, 56, 112, 182 and study end (day 252 for block 1 and day 242 for block 2). Hide swabs and subiliac lymph nodes were collected the day before and the day of harvest. Samples were cultured for antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. The effect of treatment varied by day across all targeted bacterial populations (p ≤ 0.01) except total E. coli. Total E. coli counts were greatest on days 112, 182 and study end (p ≤ 0.01). Tulathromycin resulted in greater counts and prevalence of Salmonella from faeces than CON at study end (p ≤ 0.01). Tulathromycin and CEF yielded greater Salmonella hide prevalence and greater counts of 128ERYR E. coli at study end than CON (p ≤ 0.01). No faecal Salmonella resistant to tetracyclines or third-generation cephalosporins were detected. Ceftiofur was associated with greater counts of 8ERYR Enterococcus spp. at study end (p ≤ 0.03). By the day before harvest, antimicrobial use did not increase prevalence or counts for all other bacterial populations compared with CON (p ≥ 0.13). Conclusions: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in feedlot cattle is not caused solely by using a metaphylactic antimicrobial on arrival, but more likely a multitude of environmental and management factors

2021 Scholars At Work Conference Program

Program for the 2021 Scholars At Work Conference at Minnesota State University, Mankato on October 1, 2021

Apoptosis-Like Death in Bacteria Induced by HAMLET, a Human Milk Lipid-Protein Complex

Background: Apoptosis is the primary means for eliminating unwanted cells in multicellular organisms in order to preserve tissue homeostasis and function. It is characterized by distinct changes in the morphology of the dying cell that are orchestrated by a series of discrete biochemical events. Although there is evidence of primitive forms of programmed cell death also in prokaryotes, no information is available to suggest that prokaryotic death displays mechanistic similarities to the highly regulated programmed death of eukaryotic cells. In this study we compared the characteristics of tumor and bacterial cell death induced by HAMLET, a human milk complex of alpha-lactalbumin and oleic acid. Methodology/Principal Findings: We show that HAMLET-treated bacteria undergo cell death with mechanistic and morphologic similarities to apoptotic death of tumor cells. In Jurkat cells and Streptococcus pneumoniae death was accompanied by apoptosis-like morphology such as cell shrinkage, DNA condensation, and DNA degradation into high molecular weight fragments of similar sizes, detected by field inverse gel electrophoresis. HAMLET was internalized into tumor cells and associated with mitochondria, causing a rapid depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane and bound to and induced depolarization of the pneumococcal membrane with similar kinetic and magnitude as in mitochondria. Membrane depolarization in both systems required calcium transport, and both tumor cells and bacteria were found to require serine protease activity (but not caspase activity) to execute cell death. Conclusions/Significance: Our results suggest that many of the morphological changes and biochemical responses associated with apoptosis are present in prokaryotes. Identifying the mechanisms of bacterial cell death has the potential to reveal novel targets for future antimicrobial therapy and to further our understanding of core activation mechanisms of cell death in eukaryote cells