First Harvest

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Philadelphia Gravestones 1760-1820

No abstract is available at this time

The Monochromatic Column Problem: The Prime Case

Let p1, p2, . . . , pn be pairwise coprime positive integers and let P = p1p2 · · · pn. Let 0,1,...,m−1 be a sequence of m different colors. Let A be an n×mP matrix of colors in which row i consists of blocks of pi consecutive entries of the same color, with colors 0 through m − 1 repeated cyclically. The Monochromatic Column problem is to determine the number of columns of A in which every entry is the same color. A partial solution for the case when m is prime is given

Depart From Hence and Keep This Thought in Mind : The Importance of Comparative Analysis in Gravestone Research

No abstract available at this time

Assessing Public Health Majors through the Use of e-Portfolios

When assessing an entire academic program, there are various possibilities; most require students to reflect holistically on knowledge learned. Final presentations, internships, theses, and dissertations all require the students to recall the entirety of their learning experience. These are more traditional ways to assess the student as well as the program as a whole. However, with advancement in technology, the use of electronic portfolios (e-Portfolios) has been advocated to highlight student accomplishments as well as to document program and course outcomes. The following project illustrates the use of e-portfolios and develops specific rubrics in order to measure both student learning and program assessment. The use of e-Portfolios as an assessment measure was developed and implemented into the Public Health Program. All graduating students, upon completing their internships, create an ePortfolio. These portfolios are used by faculty for both student and program assessment purposes. Data collected over the 7 semesters provides valuable insight into both students’ level of competencies and program outcomes for both Pubic Health core goals and objectives

Pride in the Field

Many USU students, staff, and faculty are engaged in projects and research focused on the LGBTQIA+ community, as explored in the Utah State Today series, “Celebrating Pride.” Join us for a panel discussing approaches to research about, with, and by the LGBTQIA+ community. What key considerations should researchers center when studying gender and sexuality? From research design, to language use, to avoiding bias, to supporting researchers, what do inclusion, equity, and justice look like in practice? Panelists and attendees will reflect together on positionality, privilege, and marginalization, while taking away actionable practices for future research.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/inter_inclusion/1005/thumbnail.jp

Undergoing varicocele repair before assisted reproduction improves pregnancy rate and live birth rate in azoospermic and oligospermic men with a varicocele: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how varicocele repair (VR) impacts pregnancy (PRs) and live birth rates in infertile couples undergoing assisted reproduction wherein the male partner has oligospermia or azoospermia and a history of varicocele. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SETTING: Not applicable. PATIENT(S): Azoospermic and oligospermic males with varicoceles and in couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) with IUI, IVF, or testicular sperm extraction (TESE) with IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). INTERVENTION(S): Measurement of PRs, live birth, and sperm extraction rates. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Odds ratios for the impact of VR on PRs, live birth, and sperm extraction rates for couples undergoing ART. RESULT(S): Seven articles involving a total of 1,241 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that VR improved live birth rates for the oligospermic (odds ratio [OR] = 1.699) and combined oligospermic/azoospermic groups (OR = 1.761). Pregnancy rates were higher in the azoospermic group (OR = 2.336) and combined oligospermic/azoospermic groups (OR = 1.760). Live birth rates were higher for patients undergoing IUI after VR (OR = 8.360). Sperm retrieval rates were higher in persistently azoospermic men after VR (OR = 2.509). CONCLUSION(S): Oligospermic and azoospermic patients with clinical varicocele who undergo VR experience improved live birth rates and PRs with IVF or IVF/ICSI. For persistently azoospermic men after VR requiring TESE for IVF/ICSI, VR improves sperm retrieval rates. Therefore, VR should be considered to have substantial benefits for couples with a clinical varicocele even if oligospermia or azoospermia persists after repair and ART is required

Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Maintains Cardiovascular and Skeletal Muscle Fitness During 14 Days of Bed Rest

Background: Known incompatibilities exist between resistance and aerobic training. Of particular importance are findings that concurrent resistance and aerobic training reduces the effectiveness of the resistance training and limits skeletal muscle adaptations (example: Dudley & Djamil, 1985). Numerous unloading studies have documented the effectiveness of resistance training alone for the maintenance of skeletal muscle size and strength. However the practical applications of those studies are limited because long ]duration crew members perform both aerobic and resistance exercise throughout missions/spaceflight. To date, such integrated training on the International Space Station (ISS) has not been fully effective in the maintenance of skeletal muscle function. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of high intensity concurrent resistance and aerobic training for the maintenance of cardiovascular fitness and skeletal muscle strength, power and endurance over 14 days of strict bed rest. Methods: 9 subjects (8 male and 1 female; 34.5 +/- 8.2 years) underwent 14 days of bed rest with concurrent training. Resistance and aerobic training were integrated as shown in table 1. Days that included 2 exercise sessions had a 4-8 hour rest between exercise bouts. The resistance training consisted of 3 sets of 12 repetitions of squat, heel raise, leg press and hamstring curl exercise. Aerobic exercise consisted of periodized interval training that included 30 sec, 2 min and 4 min intervals alternating by day with continuous aerobic exercise

The CLV3 Homolog in Setaria viridis Selectively Controls Inflorescence Meristem Size.

The CLAVATA pathway controls meristem size during inflorescence development in both eudicots and grasses, and is initiated by peptide ligands encoded by CLV3/ESR-related (CLE) genes. While CLV3 controls all shoot meristems in Arabidopsis, evidence from cereal grasses indicates that different meristem types are regulated by different CLE peptides. The rice peptide FON2 primarily controls the size of the floral meristem, whereas the orthologous peptides CLE7 and CLE14 in maize have their most dramatic effects on inflorescence and branch meristems, hinting at diversification among CLE responses in the grasses. Setaria viridis is more closely related to maize than to rice, so can be used to test whether the maize CLE network can be generalized to all members of subfamily Panicoideae. We used CRISPR-Cas9 in S. viridis to knock out the SvFON2 gene, the closest homolog to CLV3 and FON2. Svfon2 mutants developed larger inflorescence meristems, as in maize, but had normal floral meristems, unlike Osfon2, suggesting a panicoid-specific CLE network. Vegetative traits such as plant height, tiller number and leaf number were not significantly different between mutant and wild type plants, but time to heading was shorter in the mutants. In situ hybridization showed strong expression of Svfon2 in the inflorescence and branch meristems, consistent with the mutant phenotype. Using bioinformatic analysis, we predicted the co-expression network of SvFON2 and its signaling components, which included genes known to control inflorescence architecture in maize as well as genes of unknown function. The similarity between SvFON2 function in Setaria and maize suggests that its developmental specialization in inflorescence meristem control may be shared among panicoid grasses