The Development, Implementation, and Testing of an Interactive Sexual Health Web-Based Application Intervention to Reduce Sexual Risk Behaviors Among College Students

College life is often regarded as a time for exploration and growth. One major area of exploration and growth for college students is sex and sexuality. Growth and exploration involves not only learning how to master these life situations, but also experiencing some negative consequences. Negative consequences for college students engaging in sexual risk-taking behaviors often lead to a high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancies, emotional distress, and large healthcare costs. Given the high prevalence of risky sexual behavior among young adults and the highly negative consequences of risky sexual behavior for this population, it is critical to identify factors related to decreased sexual risk behavior among college students that will decrease the incidence of STIs and HIV/AIDS. Although educational programs targeting the sexual health of young adults have been in use for quite some time, little is known about the effectiveness of newer modes of sex education. Given that more research needs to be conducted to begin to evaluate the effectiveness of new media targeting sexual health, the goal of this study was to determine the efficacy and feasibility of an interactive sexual health web-based application intervention designed specifically to decrease sexual risk behaviors among college students (Sex 101). Data were collected from May 2013 through February 2014 from college students (ages 18-20) at a large public university. Focus groups were conducted with 27 students. Survey data (pre- and post-test) were collected from 118 students, who participated in Sex 101. Qualitative analyses indicated that college students were receptive and wanting of sexual education via web-based delivery. Quantitative results suggest no reduction in sexual risk behaviors or intention to reduce sexual risk from pre-to post-test. However, positive attitudes, positive subjective norms, and high self-efficacy predicted placement in the consistent category for use of a condom, partner communication, not engaging in partner concurrency, and not engaging in sexual activity under the influence of alcohol. Furthermore, college students showed an increase in knowledge and attitudes for contraceptive use respectively (p=.000, p=.05). When designing interventions for young college students, researchers should consider incorporating theory based concepts, as well as using innovative delivery methods. Findings suggest that web-based interventions designed to decrease sexual risk behaviors among college students have the potential to be feasible and effective at reducing sexual risk behaviors in the population

The Predictors of Family Cohesion and Conflict in Transracially Adoptive Families

Transracial adoption in the United States has a short, but controversial history. Between 1971 and 2001, U.S. citizens adopted 265, 677 children from other countries. The increased prevalence and controversial history of transracial adoption makes it very important to learn more about the well being of transracially adoptive families. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the extent to which the diversity of the community in which a family lives and the parent's multiethnic experiences are predictors of family cohesion and conflict in transracially adoptive families. This relationship was examined for a sample (N=47) of Asian (n=24) Black (n=12) and Latino (n=11) participants. Results yielded no significant results, except for one interesting finding for the Latino racial/ethnic group. The results indicated that for the Latino racial/ethnic group the higher the parent's multiethnic experiences the lower the level of family cohesion, which was not in the predicted direction. The empirical implications of these findings are discussed

J.E.D. Academy: Where the Journey to Excellence begins with Determination

Critical Thinking is an essential skill required to be an effective leader. Baldoni (2010) educates that critical thinking has always been a treasured and necessary skill in the field of leadership. This essential skill of critical thinking is necessary at J.E.D. Academy because our administration, faculty, and staff work in the field of leadership, being that we are leaders for our students. In addition, every organization should aim to create a working culture where critical thinkers are the norm amongst the staff, because critical thinking assists in creating a constructive working environment filled problem-solvers, positive thinkers, and influential leaders. As the head of the faculty and administration at J.E.D Academy, it is imperative to teach the educators, faculty, and staff the importance of thinking critically, thinking positively, and making rational decisions for the best of the academy, but most importantly, for the students. It is the duty of the leader to promote critical thinking and decision making within their designated institutions. J.E.D Academy welcomes diversity into our institution of higher learning, opening our doors to all students of different ethnicities and backgrounds. As student population grows increasingly diverse in many countries and institutions, it is our responsibility to attend to these diverse needs (Chin & Tremble, 2015). Here at our Academy students are a priority, and their voices are heard when it comes to decision making that will impact our school and their education. Administration and teachers promote and encourage students to think critically and positively while modeling proper techniques for decision making and problem-solving. Our academy believes that our students can attain any goal with the tools that are accompanied with critical thinking and effective decision making

Culturally Relevant Teaching for the 21st Century: The Success and Challenges of Pre-service Teachers when Using Technology in Critical Ways

This case study examined pre-service teachers\u27 use of technology as they implemented culturally relevant literacy lessons while tutoring elementary students in their field placement sites. As we enter a new decade, we want our students to be future-ready with technology skills. Here, we present an examination of how pre-service teachers integrated culturally relevant teaching with technology along with a discussion of the tools and devices their students used. Findings provided evidence that as pre-service teachers experienced authentic and engaging learning experiences within a supportive space, they emerged equipped to teach in culturally responsive ways that supported student learning and deeper levels of engagement. The implication for practice is for community-engaged teacher preparation models to focus on shaping prospective teachers\u27 orientation toward culturally relevant teaching so that they build learning experiences around students\u27 lives in engaging multiple, multimodal, and multifaceted ways

Observations of radio-quiet quasars at 10mas resolution by use of gravitational lensing

We present VLA detections of radio emission in four four-image gravitational lens systems with quasar sources: HS0810+2554, RXJ0911+0511, HE0435$-$1223 and SDSSJ0924+0219, and e-MERLIN observations of two of the systems. The first three are detected at a high level of significance, and SDSS J0924+0219 is detected. HS0810+2554 is resolved, allowing us for the first time to achieve 10-mas resolution of the source frame in the structure of a radio quiet quasar. The others are unresolved or marginally resolved. All four objects are among the faintest radio sources yet detected, with intrinsic flux densities in the range 1-5$\mu$Jy; such radio objects, if unlensed, will only be observable routinely with the Square Kilometre Array. The observations of HS0810+2554, which is also detected with e-MERLIN, strongly suggest the presence of a mini-AGN, with a radio core and milliarcsecond scale jet. The flux densities of the lensed images in all but HE0435-1223 are consistent with smooth galaxy lens models without the requirement for smaller-scale substructure in the model, although some interesting anomalies are seen between optical and radio flux densities. These are probably due to microlensing effects in the optical.Comment: Accepted by MNRA

Aboriginal perspectives matter: Yarning and reflecting about teaching literacies with multimodal Aboriginal texts

Reporting on a qualitative study, informed by Australian Government Indigenous education and literacy policies, this article unveils early career teacher reflections about infusing Aboriginal perspectives in the English curriculum using multimodal texts. Forging a praxis between the Aboriginal practice of yarning (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010) and Freire’s (1974, 1996) frameworks for conscientisation and teachers as facilitators, the project overlays the work of Ladson-Billings (1995) and Foster, Halliday, Baize & Chisholm (2020), to unravel how culturally responsive pedagogy manifests in early career primary school teaching. We discuss teacher starting points and challenges to be culturally responsive educators, who use appropriate Aboriginal texts in classrooms. Results suggest that yarning is useful for meeting English curriculum outcomes and for collaboratively developing decolonising knowledge, which can impact multiple stakeholders. Recommendations for future research include co-designed projects to support teacher education through multimodal texts and yarning practices with Aboriginal Elders

VLA and ALMA observations of the lensed radio-quiet quasar SDSS J0924+0219:A molecular structure in a 3 μJy radio source

We present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) observations of SDSS J0924+0219, a z = 1.524 radio-quiet lensed quasar with an intrinsic radio flux density of about 3 micro-Jy. The four lensed images are clearly detected in the radio continuum and the CO(5-4) line, whose centroid is at z = 1.5254 +/- 0.0001, with a marginal detection in the submillimetre continuum. The molecular gas displays ordered motion, in a structure approximately 1--2.5 kpc in physical extent, with typical velocities of 50-100 km/s. Our results are consistent with the radio emission being emitted from the same region, but not with a point source of radio emission. SDSS J0924+0219 shows an extreme anomaly in the flux ratios of the two merging images in the optical continuum and broad emission lines, suggesting the influence of microlensing by stars in the lensing galaxy. We find the flux ratio in the radio, submillimetre continuum and CO lines to be slightly greater than 1 but much less than that in the optical, which can be reproduced with a smooth galaxy mass model and an extended source. Our results, supported by a microlensing simulation, suggest that the most likely explanation for the optical flux anomaly is indeed microlensing.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figure

Virus-induced gene complementation reveals a transcription factor network in modulation of tomato fruit ripening

Plant virus technology, in particular virus-induced gene silencing, is a widely used reverse- and forward-genetics tool in plant functional genomics. However the potential of virus technology to express genes to induce phenotypes or to complement mutants in order to understand the function of plant genes is not well documented. Here we exploit Potato virus X as a tool for virus-induced gene complementation (VIGC). Using VIGC in tomato, we demonstrated that ectopic viral expression of LeMADS-RIN, which encodes a MADS-box transcription factor (TF), resulted in functional complementation of the non-ripening rin mutant phenotype and caused fruits to ripen. Comparative gene expression analysis indicated that LeMADS-RIN up-regulated expression of the SBP-box (SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein-like) gene LeSPL-CNR, but down-regulated the expression of LeHB-1, an HD-Zip homeobox TF gene. Our data support the hypothesis that a transcriptional network may exist among key TFs in the modulation of fruit ripening in tomato