Something to Sneeze At: Nebraska\u27s Airborne Pollen

For those of us whose noses know (and don\u27t like) pollen, late October is a time for celebration in Nebraska because it is the end of the hay fever season. When one\u27s nose is a sensitive bio-detector of the presence of pollen, one\u27s brain usually appreciates putting a name to whatever is causing the itchy eyes and runny nose. The job of putting names on the types of pollen in the air has been done by a dedicated team of pollen counters in the Division of Botany, University of Nebraska State Museum. This group, led by Curator Peg Bolick, has been catching, counting, and identifying these allergens since 1990. They do this five days a week from late February through mid-October each year. Problem pollen almost always comes from plants that use wind to transport their pollen to another plant. The chance of an individual grain finding the flower of another plant of the same species is much smaller with wind pollination than it is with animal pollination. Wind-pollinated plants compensate for the lack of precision by producing millions of extra pollen grains, some of which land in noses. Pollen from animal-pollinated plants is sticky, usually forming clumps that are too large to remain in the air very long. However, Nebraska\u27s strong winds occasionally strip these sticky grains from flowers and carry them to noses or pollen samplers. Air-borne pollen has a more restricted size range than that carried by animals. Pollen grains are measured in microns, a unit that is one millionth of a meter. The largest pollen grains, produced by plants that use animals for pollination, are barely visible to the naked eye at about 250 microns (one fourth of a millimeter). The size range for pollen that is transported by wind is an order of magnitude smaller. Unless it has air bladders like pine pollen, grains that are much larger than 100 microns (the size of corn pollen) usually fall out of the air before traveling more than a few meters. At the other end of the scale, a pollen grain smaller than ten microns (the size of ragweed pollen) cannot be caught efficiently by plant stigmas, the part of the flower that leads to the ovule for fertilization

A Listening Pedagogy: Insights of Pre-Service Elementary Teachers in Multi-cultural Classrooms

Although Texas schools are under the pedagogical constraints of both the Texas Assessment of Knowledge Skills (TAKS) and the national No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, it is morally incumbent upon Texas legislators and educators to listen to students’ voices to engage them with the “teaching and learning” technical core of schools (Hoy & Miskel, 2000, p. 75). Ironically, while Texas teacher certification standards mandate student-centered pedagogical practices, the current state and national pressure of a high-stakes accountability climate often lead to a teacher-centered pedagogy in which student voices are routinely excluded from the classroom (Kordalewski, 1999). This atmosphere leads to inauthentic instructional practices that are removed from students’ own experiences (McNeil & Valenzuela, 1998), which in turn lead to a perceived lack of student self-efficacy that is directly linked to disengagement from school (Bandura, 1993)

Movement of Crop Transgenes into Wild Plants

Despite the great potential and increasing importance of other weed control options (Turner et al. 1992) and unwanted environmental side effects of some herbicides, herbicides constitute a very important means of weed control. The escape of herbicide resistance genes to wild, weedy plants could cause more severe weed problems, and presents a very real threat to the efficacy of herbicides as a weed control option. Therefore, management strategies that prevent, or reduce the likelihood and frequency of HRG escape through containment methods are advisable, as are mitigation plans in the event of HRG escape to wild plants

Building a model of navigational strategies for queer undergraduate students in STEM

IntroductionThere is a critical need to foster inclusive educational spaces for Queer identifying students and to resist oppressive structures that seek to marginalize and inflict trauma on students because of their gender or sexual identity.MethodsDrawing on thematic analysis and Queer theory, we interviewed 11 Queer identifying STEM students to understand the navigational strategies they leveraged within higher education environments related to their Queer identity.ResultsWe developed a cyclical model of navigational strategies employed by Queer STEM students that involved evaluating the environments, performing psychological identity calculations, and engaging in behavioral actions. Students evaluated the environment by attending to the diversity of gender representation, presence of other Queer individuals, and contextual factors conveyed based on disciplinary expectations. Students engaged in psychological identity calculations whereby they assessed beliefs about the relevance, importance, and fears related to their Queer identity, with few perceiving any benefits. Behavioral actions resulted in students building a chosen community, disclosing or shelving their queer identity, and advocating for representation.DiscussionIn order to support Queer students to thrive in educational contexts, researchers and practitioners should examine ways to increase representation, use inclusive pedagogical strategies, and understand the relevance of Queerness within disciplinary fields. Questioning the relevance or presence of Queerness in higher education environments only further serves to oppress, inflict trauma, and marginalize Queer students

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.

We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.

We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis

Something to Sneeze At: Nebraska\u27s Airborne Pollen

For those of us whose noses know (and don\u27t like) pollen, late October is a time for celebration in Nebraska because it is the end of the hay fever season. When one\u27s nose is a sensitive bio-detector of the presence of pollen, one\u27s brain usually appreciates putting a name to whatever is causing the itchy eyes and runny nose. The job of putting names on the types of pollen in the air has been done by a dedicated team of pollen counters in the Division of Botany, University of Nebraska State Museum. This group, led by Curator Peg Bolick, has been catching, counting, and identifying these allergens since 1990. They do this five days a week from late February through mid-October each year. Problem pollen almost always comes from plants that use wind to transport their pollen to another plant. The chance of an individual grain finding the flower of another plant of the same species is much smaller with wind pollination than it is with animal pollination. Wind-pollinated plants compensate for the lack of precision by producing millions of extra pollen grains, some of which land in noses. Pollen from animal-pollinated plants is sticky, usually forming clumps that are too large to remain in the air very long. However, Nebraska\u27s strong winds occasionally strip these sticky grains from flowers and carry them to noses or pollen samplers. Air-borne pollen has a more restricted size range than that carried by animals. Pollen grains are measured in microns, a unit that is one millionth of a meter. The largest pollen grains, produced by plants that use animals for pollination, are barely visible to the naked eye at about 250 microns (one fourth of a millimeter). The size range for pollen that is transported by wind is an order of magnitude smaller. Unless it has air bladders like pine pollen, grains that are much larger than 100 microns (the size of corn pollen) usually fall out of the air before traveling more than a few meters. At the other end of the scale, a pollen grain smaller than ten microns (the size of ragweed pollen) cannot be caught efficiently by plant stigmas, the part of the flower that leads to the ovule for fertilization

Sphingosine-1 phosphate prevents monocyte/endothelial interactions in type 1 diabetic NOD mice through activation of the S1P1 receptor

Abstract—Monocyte recruitment and adhesion to vascular endothelium are key early events in atherosclerosis. We examined the role of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) on modulating monocyte/endothelial interactions in the NOD/LtJ (NOD) mouse model of type 1 diabetes. Aortas from nondiabetic and diabetic NOD mice were incubated in the absence or presence of 100 nmol/L S1P. Fluorescently labeled monocytes were incubated with the aortas. Aortas from NOD diabetic mice bound 7-fold more monocytes than nondiabetic littermates (10�1 monocytes bound/field for nondiabetic mice vs 74�12 monocytes bound/field for diabetic mice, P�0.0001). Incubation of diabetic aortas with 100 nmol/L S1P reduced monocyte adhesion to endothelium by 90%. We found expression of S1P1, S1P2, and S1P3 receptors on NOD aortic endothelial cells. The S1P1 receptor-specific agonist SEW2871 inhibited monocyte adhesion to diabetic aortas. Studies in diabetic S1P3-deficient mice revealed that the S1P3 receptor did not play a pivotal role in this process. S1P reduced endothelial VCAM-1 induction in type 1 diabetic NOD mice, most likely through inhibition of nuclear factor �B translocation to the nucleus. Thus, S1P activation of the S1P1 receptor functions in an antiinflammatory manner in type 1 diabetic vascular endothelium to prevent monocyte/endothelial interactions. S1P may play an important role in the prevention of vascular complications of type 1 diabetes. (Circ Res. 2006;99:731-739.) Key Words: endothelial � NF-�B � type 1 diabetes � sphingosine-1-phosphate � adhesion molecules Atherosclerosis development is accelerated several-fold i

Supporting student success

Copyright © 2008 Center for Educational Development, Evaluation & Research Texas A&M University-Corpus ChristiThe 2007 CEDER Yearbook is a peer-reviewed compilation of papers delivered at the Fourth Annual CEDER Conference held on February 17-18, 2006. “Supporting Student Success” was the overarching theme and title of the conference, which attracted more than 320 attendees. Three conference sub themes focused on Supporting Academic Success, Supporting Hispanic Student Success, and Supporting Students Emotionally. These sub themes provided the structural division of this yearbook into its three basic parts by the same names. Chapter 1, delivered by Dr. David Chard, one of our keynote speakers, prefaces this volume and is entitled “Fluency and its Relationship to Reading Comprehension: Promoting Success for all Students.” The eighteen papers included in this volume were selected by the Editorial Advisory Committee for the 2007 Yearbook based on a number of criteria, including the importance and timeliness of the topic, theoretical grounding, rationale, and contributions to the field. These manuscripts are intertwined by several distinct threads (literacy; instructional effectiveness; learning theory; teacher preparation; leadership; and student support: motivation and assessment) that weave a framework for Supporting Student Success. Literacy is a central thread or unifying element of Chapters 3, 4, 12, 14, and 15. In Chapter 3, Garrett, Schaum, Zunker, and Crowder address the accessibility of nonfiction texts in the elementary classroom. In Chapter 4, Grote, Pearce, and Marroquin describe the efforts of the America Reads Challenge program at the Early Childhood Development Center at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and discuss characteristics of tutoring success and outcomes. In Chapter 12, Crowder and Griffith relate the life-changing power of literacy as experienced by two Hispanic women “of courage.” In Chapter 14, Sarmiento-Arribalzaga presents research on grouping strategies for literacy development of bilingual children. In Chapter 15, Valadez, Ybarra, and Lara address Hispanic children’s literature in the kindergarten to fifth grade classroom. Instructional effectiveness and learning theory are a key focus of Chapters 5, 6, and 13. In Chapter 5, Harris, Skinner, and Stocks describe the evaluation and selection process for textbooks. In Chapter 6, Jones, Torti, and Foote provide research on children’s engagement in authentic learning experiences, inspired by the Reggio Emilia learning theory. In Chapter 6, Lucido presents case study results of three successful dual language programs in three states highlighting the characteristics of the administrators, teachers, and effective instructional practices. Lucido reflects the concerns of the other authors in these threads on instructional effectiveness and learning theory when he poses a final challenging question: “Are we preparing our children to be economically, socially, and linguistically viable in our ‘shrinking’ world?” Teacher preparation and leadership are central threads to Chapters 2, 8, 9, and 10. In Chapter 2, Bolick and Hill present results of Project Teach, a study designed to assess whether teachers are adequately prepared for the classroom and the state exit exams through Centers for Professional Development of Teachers. In Chapter 8, Oliver, Nelson, and Ybanez present the results of a preliminary grounded theory study designed to assist in developing a model for supervision in counseling programs. In Chapter 9, Sailors argues that teachers need situated and contextualized support to help their success at improving literacy development. The paper reports on effective aspects of professional development models and presents an intervention study. In Chapter 10, Sorenson presents analyses of barriers that discourage lead teachers from seeking administrative roles, specifically the principalship, in public schools by “assessing political and institutional context roles,” and he provides research on factors that can contribute positively to “home grown” recruitment. In support of student success, these authors demonstrate a concern and present solutions for improving teacher and leadership preparation. Sailors captures this spirit: “Just as teachers are encouraged to see their students as individual learners and to meet the instructional needs of their students on an independent basis, so too, should teachers be viewed by those who provide professional development for teachers.” Student support, motivation, and assessment are central threads to Chapters 7, 11, 16, 17, and 18. In Chapter 7, Marinak summarizes a multi-year (2001-2006) action research project that includes attributes for design and delivery of a response to intervention model at the middle school level. In Chapter 11, Bohling, Melrose, Bonnette, and Spaniol present research on the efficacy of Bioelectric Impedance Analysis as an alternative method for determining body composition in Hispanic youth, with implications for student success in the well-being of students. In Chapter 16, Hwang presents strategies for motivating at-risk students using the America Reads Program. In Chapter 17, Nelson and Low describe the significance of emotional intelligence and its relationship to college success and conclude with recommendations for additional research. In Chapter 18, Potter presents various categories of teacher behaviors that can influence student motivation and engagement in the classroom. These authors affirm the importance of attention to individual needs in order to facilitate effectively student success and motivation. In conclusion, the manuscripts included in the 2007 CEDER Yearbook reflect research aimed at improving student success. The research presented here is an attempt to begin to address the demographic changes highlighted by Dr. Steve Murdock, one of the conferences keynote speakers and demographer for the State of Texas. Dr. Murdock stated that if one wants to see what the racial/ethnic makeup of the U.S. will look like in the future, one need not look further than to the makeup of Texas today. According to Victor Villaseñor, another one of our keynote speakers, to be successful the educator must get in touch with his or her inner genius and help students access their inner geniuses. To achieve student success, educators must also get to the emotions, and teach with energy. The genius is kindled, says Villasenor, when the teacher is able to reach the very soul of the student