Greenhouse Sanitation: Efficacy of Disinfectants on Cutting Blades Using Tobacco mosaic virus on Petunia as a Model

Winner, 2008 CFAES Undergraduate Research Competition, Plant Sciences DivisionPresented at International (Brazil) University Undergraduate Research ExchangePetunias (Petunia x hybrida) are one of the most popular ornamental crops in the United States. In the early 1990’s, the introduction of asexually propagated petunias into the landscape market was associated with increased reports of virus infections, including Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), which is transmitted mechanically. In greenhouses, TMV can be transferred to cutting tools, subsequently infecting healthy stock plants and cuttings. An outbreak of TMV in a greenhouse can quickly spread and devastate entire crops, rendering them unsalable. During vegetative propagation, multiple cuttings are taken from one mother stock plant and multiple stock plants are commonly used. Tool disinfection is critical in preventing the spread of pathogens during this process. At this time, there is no disinfectant that is labeled for greenhouse use against plant viruses with a reasonable contact time. Commercially available disinfectants and other materials were tested at varying concentrations and contact times to determine the most effective treatments to reproducibly prevent transmission of TMV to healthy plants. Two cultivars of petunia plantlets were tested with eight treatments by dipping razor blades in TMV-contaminated plant sap, then the disinfectant, then making a cut on a healthy plant. Post-inoculation, the petunias were sampled and tested for TMV by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA). Based on these results, the four most effective treatments were used in a trial to more closely simulate vegetative propagation. All treatments tested reduced incidence of TMV infection from contaminated razor blades. The most effective one-minute disinfectant treatments in these studies were: 20% non-fat dry milk, 20% non-fat dry milk plus surfactant, 1:10 household bleach, and 1% Virkon®S.Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) SEEDS grantOSU Honors and Scholars Research GrantUSDA Floriculture and Nursery Research InitiativeEuroAmerican PropagatorsDümmen USA/Red FoxTimbuk II FarmsNo embarg

The Story within Lessons: Highlighting Moments of Student Inquiry

The curricular decisions of K-12 mathematics teachers affect student learning. One way to make sense of this is to find the story within the lesson. Writing the story of a lesson by identifying the plot, characters, settings, and actions reveals the questions that drive student mathematical curiosity and inquiry (Dietiker, 2015). Drawing attention to these moments provides a new perspective for teachers as they plan, teach, and reflect on their lessons and work to improve their instruction for their students as they see the possible advantages and disadvantages of the ordering of mathematical tasks. This work extends Dietiker’s thinking through writing the story of calculus lessons introducing the definite integral

Blogs and Feature Articles: Foster Youth in Higher Education, Superheroine Figures in Film, and More

Herein is my portfolio which exhibits my collective work in a journalism workshop class. This includes several blogs and feature articles that were completed within a semester. The blogs and articles mainly cover the topics of foster youth in higher education and a current issue/trend within film and television culture. As a current LMU Guardian Scholar, my interest lies in covering news and feature stories that highlight these Guardian Scholars Programs on other college campuses in the greater Los Angeles area and what various social support services they are providing to their students to help them combat the hurdles of economic hardship and the lack of family support. I intend to create a final portfolio of related news stories including a reaction story and in-depth profile that showcases a comprehensive exploration of Guardian Scholars Programs, its staff, and people who work in the field of improving the lives of at-risk youth. While these articles offer a glimpse at diversity on college campuses, ultimately they will illustrate a universal human experience of perseverance and determination. I also explore a creative topic within the film industry which is showcased in an issue/trend story. This required extensive reporting, research, and group work. I hope to bring light to a current film/television issue and how it is impacting film professors and students at Loyola Marymount University

Resilience of Birds to Habitat Change: Identification of Interspecific Variation in Avian Resilience and its Possible Mechanisms

Humans have been changing landscape features that are important to birds for many years. This is a problem because 3 billion birds have been lost since 1970 and this affects our lives every day, since birds help us by pollinating our crops and controlling pests, among other services. It is critical that we understand which birds are most susceptible to a changing landscape so that we can slow their decline. Understanding birds’ resilience to these habitat changes can help wildlife managers make better informed decisions for birds living in a changing world. We looked at which bird species are present in areas with different levels of habitat change throughout the state of Utah, and created two metrics that help describe how resilient bird species are to habitat change. We also investigated four hypotheses described by birds’ physical characteristics and preferences to explain the reasons why bird species are resilient. We found three patterns of bird responses to habitat change: positive, negative, and no response. Managers could integrate these relationships with their goals to choose the best habitat modification projects for their species and/or communities of interest. Within the four hypotheses explaining bird resilience, not all predictions about resilience were supported, and support was often driven by one trait (e.g. preference or physical characteristic). Understanding the traits that indicate birds’ resilience to habitat change can help develop new approaches to wildlife and habitat management. This could be done through predicting areas in which habitat change will have disproportionate negative impacts on the largest number of birds, for example

Paying for College Success: An Introduction to the Performance-Based Scholarship Demonstration

This policy brief describes a demonstration launched by MDRC in four states in 2008 to evaluate whether performance-based scholarships -- paid contingent on attaining academic benchmarks -- are an effective way to improve persistence and academic success among low-income college students. The demonstration builds on positive results from an earlier MDRC study in Louisiana

Knowledge and Perceptions of SLP Graduate Students Regarding Multiculturalism

Populations in the United States rise daily, as do the number of people who are considered multicultural. With this comes a greater need for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who are able to assess and treat such individuals – a training process that begins in graduate programs. The primary objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and perceptions of graduate students in speech-language pathology as it pertains to multiculturalism. A survey was conducted to explore graduate students’ knowledge and perceptions of multicultural topics. Participants were recruited from programs in the southeastern United States via email. Just under 400 surveys were returned with 322 complete responses received. Most graduate programs are covering multicultural and multilingual topics across courses to prepare students to work with such populations in future careers. Students recognize the importance of these topics because the opportunities to work with multicultural and multilingual clients are becoming more frequent. A firm foundation can set the tone for an SLP’s career; without adequate training in the area of multiculturalism, many individuals may receive inadequate services whether the speech-language pathologist recognizes the gaps in care or not

Cell viability and cytokine production of human alveolar epithelial cells following exposure to sulphur dioxide

Exposure to air pollutants is significantly associated with health risks ranging from bronchial reactivity to morbidity and mortality. However, the precise mechanisms are not always fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sulphur dioxide (SO2) on cell viability and cytokine production of A549-human pulmonary epithelial cells. Test atmospheres of SO2 were generated using a direct dilution method and calibrated by ion-chromatography. Test atmospheres were delivered to lung cells cultured on porous membranes (0.4 μm) using Harvard Navicyte horizontal diffusion chamber systems. The cytotoxic endpoints were investigated using the MTS (tetrazolium salt; Promega), NRU (neutral red uptake; Sigma) and ATP (adenosine triphosphate; Promega) assays. Expression of inflammatory markers including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were evaluated using double-antibody immunometric assays. Dose-dependent effects of SO2 were observed in A549 cells using all in vitro assays at test concentrations (10-200 ppm). The ATP assay appeared to be the most sensitive test (IC50 = 48 ± 2.83 ppm) that may related to the impaired metabolic activity of the cells following SO2 exposure. After analysis of TNF-α, no statistically significant differences were observed between control and exposed cells. However, the IL-6 production in A549 cells was significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner (P\u3c0.05). These results suggest that SO2 may induce a functional alteration of cells of the pulmonary epithelial preventing cells to produce adequate amounts of IL-6. IL-6 as a multifunctional proinflammatory cytokine may regulate cellular responses and plays a significant role in inflammation and tissue injury

Whose domain and whose ontology? Preserving human radical reflexivity over the efficiency of automatically generated feedback

There are some forms of feedback in daily life that, though generated and delivered via a machine, we may welcome, because they help us to function with ease. For example, being provided with explicit directional instructions from a Sat Nav can save time and embarrassment from being late. Automatic tills in supermarkets mean we can empty loose change into these to pay for things, and the amount is calculated on our behalf, with change efficiently dispensed. Feedback on our bank balances from cash machines may not always be welcome…, but there are advantages in terms of practicality. In this article we challenge however, the uncritical application of similar algorithmic processes for providing automatically generated feedback for students in Higher Education (HE). We contest this on the basis that the human side of feedback appears to be giving way to the non-human, as e-technologies and their algorithmic affordances are expected to meet the demands that emerge from within a neoliberal framing of contemporary HE. Initially we examine developments of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the e-marking platform Turnitin to question where we might locate a student voice? We point to the way that networked learning intersects across developments in technology and radical pedagogies to support this concern. We then draw on our own relational, and lived, experience which produces feedback that emerges from within an illicit exploration of our own vulnerabilities as academics, as students, and friends, in a demonstration of performing radically reflexive feedback. Finally, we advocate for the creative potential of an autoethnographic research method and exploration of mindfulness practices aligned with teaching and learning journeys. These cannot and should not be reduced to the ‘sat-nav experience’ in terms of feedback. We suggest that, as technology becomes ever more intimately embedded into our everyday lives, generic (but power-laden) maps are incorporated into both student and staff ‘perceived’ space. A radically reflexive form of feedback may not follow a pre-defined route or map, but it does offer a vehicle to restore student voices and critical self-navigation that is absent, but very much needed, in the ongoing shaping of contemporary HE