Characteristics of Public School Principals: Analysis of the National Teacher and Principal Survey

Gender and racial diversity in the principalship, or the lack thereof, has been a topic for research for several years. While the concerns about general disparity are widely discussed, it is equally important to consider where underrepresented groups are typically hired, such as urban schools with high-poverty levels. Discrepancies in hiring have implications for promotion into superintendent and other educational leadership positions, as well as for overall financial compensation, where minority groups such as females and races other than White are forced to take lower-level jobs or jobs at the same level for less pay than their White male counterparts. Existing data from the 2017-18 United States National Teacher and Principal Survey were used to perform Chi-Square Tests for Association to evaluate how the gender and race of public school principals are distributed across various factors. We found there is a statistically significant association between race and community type, race and school poverty levels, age and school level, gender and community type, gender and school level, and gender and school poverty level. Findings suggest Black and Hispanic teachers are more likely to be overrepresented in city schools that have high poverty levels, while females are more likely to be overrepresented in city primary schools with high poverty levels

Genetic Analysis of Floral Symmetry in Van Gogh's Sunflowers Reveals Independent Recruitment of CYCLOIDEA Genes in the Asteraceae

The genetic basis of floral symmetry is a topic of great interest because of its effect on pollinator behavior and, consequently, plant diversification. The Asteraceae, which is the largest family of flowering plants, is an ideal system in which to study this trait, as many species within the family exhibit a compound inflorescence containing both bilaterally symmetric (i.e., zygomorphic) and radially symmetric (i.e., actinomorphic) florets. In sunflower and related species, the inflorescence is composed of a single whorl of ray florets surrounding multiple whorls of disc florets. We show that in double-flowered (dbl) sunflower mutants (in which disc florets develop bilateral symmetry), such as those captured by Vincent van Gogh in his famous nineteenth-century sunflower paintings, an insertion into the promoter region of a CYCLOIDEA (CYC)-like gene (HaCYC2c) that is normally expressed specifically in WT rays is instead expressed throughout the inflorescence, presumably resulting in the observed loss of actinomorphy. This same gene is mutated in two independent tubular-rayed (tub) mutants, though these mutations involve apparently recent transposon insertions, resulting in little or no expression and radialization of the normally zygomorphic ray florets. Interestingly, a phylogenetic analysis of CYC-like genes from across the family suggests that different paralogs of this fascinating gene family have been independently recruited to specify zygomorphy in different species within the Asteraceae

An Indo-Pacifc coral spawning database

The discovery of multi-species synchronous spawning of scleractinian corals on the Great Barrier Reef in the 1980s stimulated an extraordinary effort to document spawning times in other parts of the globe. Unfortunately, most of these data remain unpublished which limits our understanding of regional and global reproductive patterns. The Coral Spawning Database (CSD) collates much of these disparate data into a single place. The CSD includes 6178 observations (3085 of which were unpublished) of the time or day of spawning for over 300 scleractinian species in 61 genera from 101 sites in the Indo-Pacific. The goal of the CSD is to provide open access to coral spawning data to accelerate our understanding of coral reproductive biology and to provide a baseline against which to evaluate any future changes in reproductive phenology

A Community Assessment of Psychological Distress in Pacific Islanders Across San Francisco Bay Area Churches During the COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health and social disparities among US Pacific Islanders (PI). Historically, PIs have experienced a high burden of mental illness yet have underutilized mental health services. These already large treatment gaps in mental health care among PIs may worsen during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of pre-existing challenges, little is known about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes among PIs.MethodsA community-based, cross-sectional survey was administered to members of 13 PI churches across the San Francisco Bay Area. We assessed the burden of psychological distress among PIs and its associations with demographic, sociocultural, and health factors.Key resultsAmong 439 PI respondents, nearly half reported moderate or severe psychological distress. Only about one-tenth took prescription medication for mental health and less than half utilized a mental health provider in the past year. Most trusted PI churches to provide health and social services. Respondents reporting moderate or severe psychological distress were less likely to utilize a mental health provider in the past year and more likely to feel marginalized, excluded, isolated, or alienated from society "most of the time" or "always." Psychological distress was also associated with "fair" or "poor" health status, female gender, older adults, low trust in PI churches to provide health and social services, and concern over household finances.ConclusionPartnerships with faith-based and community-based organizations are essential to address unmet mental health needs and promote support-seeking behaviors among PIs during this ongoing pandemic and beyond

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Suicidal Ideation, Plans, and Impulses: The Mediating Role of Anxiety Sensitivity Cognitive Concerns Among Veterans

Background Although the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide has been firmly established, research on underlying mechanisms has been disproportionately low. The cognitive concerns subscale of anxiety sensitivity (AS), which reflects fears of cognitive dyscontrol, has been linked to both PTSD and suicide and thus may serve as an explanatory mechanism between these constructs. Methods The sample consisted of 60 male veterans presenting to an outpatient Veteran Affairs (VA) clinic for psychological services. Upon intake, veterans completed a diagnostic interview and brief battery of self-report questionnaires to assist with differential diagnosis and treatment planning. Results Results revealed a significant association between PTSD symptom severity and higher suicidality (i.e., ideation, plans, and impulses), even after accounting for relevant demographic and psychological constructs. Moreover, AS cognitive concerns mediated this association. Limitations Limitations include the small sample size and cross-sectional nature of the current study. Conclusions These findings add considerably to a growing body of literature examining underlying mechanisms that may help to explain the robust associations between PTSD and suicide. Considering the malleable nature of AS cognitive concerns, research is needed to determine the extent to which reductions in this cognitive risk factor are associated with reductions in suicide among at risk samples, such as those included in the present investigation

TIHM: An open dataset for remote healthcare monitoring in dementia

Abstract Dementia is a progressive condition that affects cognitive and functional abilities. There is a need for reliable and continuous health monitoring of People Living with Dementia (PLWD) to improve their quality of life and support their independent living. Healthcare services often focus on addressing and treating already established health conditions that affect PLWD. Managing these conditions continuously can inform better decision-making earlier for higher-quality care management for PLWD. The Technology Integrated Health Management (TIHM) project developed a new digital platform to routinely collect longitudinal, observational, and measurement data, within the home and apply machine learning and analytical models for the detection and prediction of adverse health events affecting the well-being of PLWD. This work describes the TIHM dataset collected during the second phase (i.e., feasibility study) of the TIHM project. The data was collected from homes of 56 PLWD and associated with events and clinical observations (daily activity, physiological monitoring, and labels for health-related conditions). The study recorded an average of 50 days of data per participant, totalling 2803 days

Division and Diversity in American Literature: Post-Civil War to Present

In this representation of American literature, we convey the varied contributions of authors from three major literary movements following the Civil War: realism, modernism, and postmodernism were important causal forces behind the growth of American culture. Within these movements are authors: the individual forces of nature, rulebreakers, and liberators that represent our nation’s artistic spirit at its finest. We distribute these three eras as a triptych chronology. Our visual representations describe influential authors and their innovations. We display the breadth of peoples who guided this country’s creative development, and appreciate the impressions of their works upon present and historic American literature. Through rigorous study, we have curated authors who most represent the diversity, bravery, and skill with which American literature has become synonymous. Our project is a collaborative class effort of 22 undergraduate students studying American literature and asking what the canon of the field looks like when students write the story. We are eager to share it with our peers

Cross-Kingdom Chemical Communication Drives a Heritable, Mutually Beneficial Prion-Based Transformation of Metabolism

SummaryIn experimental science, organisms are usually studied in isolation, but in the wild, they compete and cooperate in complex communities. We report a system for cross-kingdom communication by which bacteria heritably transform yeast metabolism. An ancient biological circuit blocks yeast from using other carbon sources in the presence of glucose. [GAR+], a protein-based epigenetic element, allows yeast to circumvent this “glucose repression” and use multiple carbon sources in the presence of glucose. Some bacteria secrete a chemical factor that induces [GAR+]. [GAR+] is advantageous to bacteria because yeast cells make less ethanol and is advantageous to yeast because their growth and long-term viability is improved in complex carbon sources. This cross-kingdom communication is broadly conserved, providing a compelling argument for its adaptive value. By heritably transforming growth and survival strategies in response to the selective pressures of life in a biological community, [GAR+] presents a unique example of Lamarckian inheritance