Examining the Scope of Channel Expansion: A Test of Channel Expansion Theory with New and Traditional Communication Media

This article draws on channel expansion theory to explore the selection and use of communication media by organizational members. Channel expansion theory scholars posit that media richness perceptions are dependent on experiences with communication partners, the message topic, and the communication media utilized. This study tests channel expansion theory in the context of new and traditional communication media. Respondents (N = 269) completed questionnaires regarding their use and perceptions of face-to-face, telephone, e-mail, or instant-messaging interactions. Results indicate that experience with channel, topic, partner, and social influence are all significant predictors of richness perceptions, when controlling for age and media characteristics. Findings also suggest that the richness of a medium is not fixed and may be shaped by interpersonal factors, including one’s relevant experiences

Diets of White-Tailed Deer at Avery Island, Louisiana

I conducted a food habits study of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) at Avery Island, Louisiana, to determine if deer diets differed among seasons. In 1997, I randomly collected 25 seasonal fecal pellet groups in January. April, August and October respectively I also collected reference forage plant samples in conjunction with fecal pellet collections I estimated botanical composition of deer diets based on a microscopic analysis of fecal pellets I compared diets using a chi- squared contingency table to assess significant seasonal variation I also used Kulczynski\u27s similarity index to determine degree of similarity among seasonal diets I found significant differences in diet composition among seasons Differences primarily occurred because several plant taxa were available only during select seasons. Woody browse and fruits dominated diets regardless of season Callicarpa americana and Quercus virginiana made up substantial proportions of diets in all seasons sampled Many other taxa were consumed only in trace amounts My results indicate that food plots were used extensively in the winter when wheat was available. I determined that food plot plant taxa were an important dietary component apparently because other plant taxa were not available during winte

Utilization of urea, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate by crop plants in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS)

The utilization of nitrogen compounds by crop plants is studied. The selection of crop varieties for efficient production using urea, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, and the assimilation of mixed nitrogen sources by cereal leaves and roots are discussed

A Family of Quantum Stabilizer Codes Based on the Weyl Commutation Relations over a Finite Field

Using the Weyl commutation relations over a finite field we introduce a family of error-correcting quantum stabilizer codes based on a class of symmetric matrices over the finite field satisfying certain natural conditions. When the field is GF(2) the existence of a rich class of such symmetric matrices is demonstrated by a simple probabilistic argument depending on the Chernoff bound for i.i.d symmetric Bernoulli trials. If, in addition, these symmetric matrices are assumed to be circulant it is possible to obtain concrete examples by a computer program. The quantum codes thus obtained admit elegant encoding circuits.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Bite Mark Identification - A Reliable Forensic Tool or Junk Science

Bite mark evidence has been a prosecution tool since the 1950s, especially in burglary, homicide, child abuse, and rape cases. In fact it has been said that without bite mark evidence, many violent crimes could not be prosecuted successfully. This forensic principle is premised upon the idea that no two people have the same dentitition as to size, shape and teeth alignment. Hundreds of cases have admitted bite mark identification into evidence that have resulted in conviction. The accuracy of bite mark evidence is currently under assault. A major challenge to bit mark evidence is that it lacks an adequate scientific foundation, as it is not based on reliable scientific methodology. In fact, several scientific bodies have recently released reports critical of bite mark evidence. Each has determined that bite mark analysis does not meet scientific standards for foundational validity. This article will examine this growing controversy and recent court cases on the topic. The courts show great reluctance in overturning the many years of precedent concerning the admissibility of the evidence, but the tide may be changing

Irreversibility in asymptotic manipulations of entanglement

We show that the process of entanglement distillation is irreversible by showing that the entanglement cost of a bound entangled state is finite. Such irreversibility remains even if extra pure entanglement is loaned to assist the distillation process.Comment: RevTex, 3 pages, no figures Result on indistillability of PPT states under pure entanglement catalytic LOCC adde

Chronic absenteeism: Caregiver perceptions of barriers to children's school attendance

Chronic absenteeism is a hidden national crisis. Routine and consistent school attendance is necessary for students to academically succeed and develop into successful citizens. Educators and policy makers across the nation have been and are trying to better understand this hidden national crisis of chronic absenteeism. When key stakeholders understand what it is and why it is happening, then they can better understand how to deal with it. One area of chronic absenteeism that has been largely overlooked is that of elementary aged students. Students of this age rely on their caregivers to ensure they attend school regularly. This qualitative case study focuses on the caregiver perceptions of barriers to school attendance and caregiver perceptions as to the importance of school attendance as they relate to actual school attendance. Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory is utilized to explore the interrelatedness of family perceptions of the importance of school attendance and family perceptions of barriers to student attendance as it relates to actual student attendance. When school boards, teachers, and staff members recognize exactly what barriers parents perceive as preventing their child from attending school, then they can be better informed when making programming decisions for their schools which will help improve student attendance, reduce chronic absenteeism, and support families as they strive to overcome perceived barriers to school attendance

Three Approaches to the Greater Inclusion of Women in Public Worship

In the spring of 2022, elders and ministers from three West Texas Churches of Christ convened for a discussion of how their congregations expanded the roles of women in public worship. Tradition within the Churches of Christ dictate that men fill all visible roles during worship services. Since these practices are based in commonly accepted interpretations of the scripture, women’s active participation in worship represents a momentous change in both practice and belief. The ninety-minute discussion covered the initial decision-making process, the implementation of new roles, problems encountered, and advice for others wanting to make a similar change. The transcript has been edited for clarity, but otherwise is an exact account of the discussion as the church leaders reflected on their experiences

Oneness in Christ: A Qualitative Study of Women’s Initial Experiences Leading in Public Worship at Broadway Church of Christ

Few Church of Christ women have had experience with taking an active leadership role in a worship service since these congregations have traditionally believed women leading worship is unscriptural. Recently more Churches of Christ have begun to change their understanding of scripture in ways that are more inclusive of women. In March 2019, after a six-month church wide bible study at the historic Broadway Church of Christ in Lubbock, TX, women took on public roles in a worship service in what was for most of them the first time to serve in front of a congregation. To document their experiences, the researchers conducted interviews with thirty-two women who participated in a leading worship role during the first year of this change. Participants described their evolving beliefs about women’s roles in worship; their experience as they participated in worship; meanings they assigned to their participation; and how their changing roles affected their experience of worship and community at Broadway