An Examination of Summer Melt for TRIO Talent Search and Upward Bound Alumni

College access programs provide middle and high school students with essential skills to prepare them for a successful transition to postsecondary education. TRIO Talent Search (TS) and Upward Bound (UB) are federally funded programs established to strengthen the likelihood that students from underserved groups will graduate high school and pursue higher education. Both programs offer support to low-income and first-generation students to ensure equitable access to higher education. While these programs offer a holistic approach to student development, including personal and professional support, some students from underserved groups experience challenges during the summer months that prevent them from enrolling in college during the fall following high school graduation. Summer melt raises concerns about the impact of TRIO TS and UB programs and their effectiveness in supporting low-income and first-generation students to help mitigate barriers and increase college attendance during the fall following high school graduation. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the barriers that contributed to summer melt for TRIO TS and UB alumni at Midwest University. This study utilized purposeful sampling and snowball sampling to recruit 13 alumni from the TS and UB programs at Midwest University to understand the barriers that may have impacted their decision to attend or postpone college in the fall following high school completion. Conley’s college readiness theory and Schlossberg’s transition theory were the frameworks used to understand the barriers these students may have encountered, which impacted their transition from high school to college. Data from this study adds to the scholarly research regarding the barriers that contribute to summer melt for TS and UB participants. In addition, the findings of this study can be used to inform institutional leaders, TRIO staff, and other stakeholders of ways to enhance TRIO TS and UB programs to decrease the percentage of students impacted by summer melt

Black Men; Are You too “Masculine” for Mental Health Treatment?

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of Black men on mental health seeking behavior as viewed through the lens of Black Masculinity. Using an empirical phenomenology approach as described by Creswell (2007), with the Common Sense Model as the framework, four Black men between the ages of 18 and 30 were interviewed and participated in a focus group examining if adherence to traditional roles of masculinity shapes mental health attitudes and help-seeking behaviors and to uncover the stigma and barriers associated with mental health help-seeking in the Black community. The shared phenomenon I examined is mental health experiences as a Black male. This study has implications for mental health promotion and advocacy in the Black community

THE IMPACT OF GUILT AND EMPATHY APPEALS ON GREEN ADVERTISEMENT PURCHASE INTENT AMONG GREEN CONSUMERS

The purpose of the study was to examine whether guilt appeals or empathy appeals were more effective at promoting purchase intention among green consumers for green products. This purpose was achieved through studying the effect of using an empathy appeal versus a guilt appeal in a hypothetical green advertisement. To test this objective, participants completed a survey that assessed the relationship between the message condition they were exposed to—either guilt, empathy, or neutral—and their subsequent purchase intent of the advertised product. It was hypothesized that the empathy appeal would lead to higher purchase intention than the guilt appeal, but the results did not support this prediction. Interestingly, the neutral condition led to the highest purchase intention, followed by the guilt appeal, followed by the empathy appeal. Based on the study’s results, practical implications are discussed on how to target green consumers most effectively when designing advertisement messaging for green products

Effects of CO2-induced pH reduction on the exoskeleton structure and biophotonic properties of the shrimp Lysmata californica.

The anticipated effects of CO2-induced ocean acidification on marine calcifiers are generally negative, and include dissolution of calcified elements and reduced calcification rates. Such negative effects are not typical of crustaceans for which comparatively little ocean acidification research has been conducted. Crustaceans, however, depend on their calcified exoskeleton for many critical functions. Here, we conducted a short-term study on a common caridean shrimp, Lysmata californica, to determine the effect of CO2-driven reduction in seawater pH on exoskeleton growth, structure, and mineralization and animal cryptic coloration. Shrimp exposed to ambient (7.99 ± 0.04) and reduced pH (7.53 ± 0.06) for 21 days showed no differences in exoskeleton growth (percent increase in carapace length), but the calcium weight percent of their cuticle increased significantly in reduced pH conditions, resulting in a greater Ca:Mg ratio. Cuticle thickness did not change, indicating an increase in the mineral to matrix ratio, which may have mechanical consequences for exoskeleton function. Furthermore, there was a 5-fold decrease in animal transparency, but no change in overall shrimp coloration (red). These results suggest that even short-term exposure to CO2-induced pH reduction can significantly affect exoskeleton mineralization and shrimp biophotonics, with potential impacts on crypsis, physical defense, and predator avoidance

A Study on Financial Performance of Restructured or Revived SLPEs in Kerala

This paper is an attempt to see whether there has been any significant change in the financial performance of the selected State Level Public Enterprises subsequent to theimplementation of the revival and restructuring package. The analysis mainly involves the comparison of the performance prior to and post revival with the help of Ratio analysis like Current ratio, quick ratio, working capital ratio, Net Profit Ratio, Operating Ratio, Return on Equity, Return on investment , Debt-Equity Ratio, etc. Three public sector enterprises located in the state of Kerala were selected and their financial soundness is assessed with the help of Ratio analysis. The conclusions drawn could provide effective guidelines to the management of selected public sector enterprises in Kerala and their stakeholders. Keywords:Finance, Financial Distress, Financial Analysis, Ratio Analysis, Public Sector Enterprise

Beyond the Nuclear Family: Children’s Social Networks and Depressive Symptomology

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156181/2/cdev13307.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156181/1/cdev13307_am.pd

High carbon wood ash biochar for mine tailings remediation: a field assessment of planted tree performance and metals uptake

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Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Relation to Family Characteristics, Stressors and Chemical Co-Exposures in California Girls.

Childhood environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure is a risk factor for adverse health outcomes and may disproportionately burden lower socioeconomic status groups, exacerbating health disparities. We explored associations of demographic factors, stressful life events, and chemical co-exposures, with cotinine levels, among girls in the CYGNET Study. Data were collected from families of girls aged 6-8 years old in Northern California, through clinic exams, questionnaires and biospecimens (n = 421). Linear regression and factor analysis were conducted to explore predictors of urinary cotinine and co-exposure body burdens, respectively. In unadjusted models, geometric mean cotinine concentrations were higher among Black (0.59 ug/g creatinine) than non-Hispanic white (0.27), Asian (0.32), or Hispanic (0.34) participants. Following adjustment, living in a rented home, lower primary caregiver education, and lack of two biologic parents in the home were associated with higher cotinine concentrations. Girls who experienced parental separation or unemployment in the family had higher unadjusted cotinine concentrations. Higher cotinine was also associated with higher polybrominated diphenyl ether and metals concentrations. Our findings have environmental justice implications as Black and socio-economically disadvantaged young girls experienced higher ETS exposure, also associated with higher exposure to other chemicals. Efforts to reduce ETS and co-exposures should account for other disparity-related factors

Ambient ionization source based on a dielectric barrier discharge for direct testing of pharmaceuticals using ion mobility spectrometry

The instrument is based on a miniature plasma source mounted at an oblique angle close to the injection gate of the ion mobility spectrometer. The plasma torch consists of two 5 mm wide external cylindrical electrodes, 10 mm apart, which are placed coaxially around a fused silica tube (1.5 mm i.d. and 3.0 mm o.d.). A small helium plasma is created by applying a alternating voltage of 8 kV at 28 kHz and employed for the direct desorption and ionization of solid or liquid samples, which are placed on an electrically isolated support. The separation section of the ion mobility spectrometer has a drift tube of 10 cm length and an applied high voltage of 4 kV. The instrument was built in-house at low cost and can easily be duplicated. Its usefulness was demonstrated by the rapid identification of five different pharmaceutical drugs, namely acetaminophen, loratadine, norfloxacin, tadalafil, thiamine as well as caffeine in ground coffee beans