A physiological measure of shifting connections in the Rana pipiens retinotectal system

The retinotectal connections of developing Rana tadpoles and froglets have been studied using light-pipe techniques to directly assay the pattern of the projection from the retina to the tectum. The projection site of the retina surrounding the optic nerve head was determined at two different stages of development (late larval and metamorphic frog) on the same animal. Small electrolytic marker lesions were used to mark the tectal sites to which the optic nerve head projected at these two times. Comparison of the positions of the two lesions gives a direct measure of the shift in the projection during the interlesion time interval of one week. The results indicate a shift in the projection of 275 µm week–1 in late larval life. Previous work in Xenopus using the light-pipe techniques indicated a qualitatively similar shift during equivalent stages of development, but significantly smaller in magnitude. In the present study, topographic postsynaptic units could be recorded at all stages investigated, indicating functional synapses between the optic nerve fibres and the tectum. Thus, these studies offer evidence of a significant shift in the functional connection pattern of the amphibian retinotectal map during development, in agreement with the recent anatomical data from other laboratories on the Rana and goldfish visual system

Recruiting and Advising Minority Students in Cooperative Land-Grant/HBCU Programs

Many agriculture and natural resources academic departments at southern land-grant institutions often have a difficult time attracting minority students directly from high schools. Resultantly, some have developed cooperative programs with related departments at historically black colleges and universities to help diversify their student body. Based on the course offerings at HBCUs, these programs usually require that students attend two to four semesters at the land-grant institution. These cooperative programs provide benefits to program students as well as the partner institutions, but also present unique challenges to advisors at the land-grant universities charged with mentoring these students. The objectives of this presentation are to 1) provide attendees with a brief background into the history of one such program, 2) describe the administrative issues involved with administering the program and its bearing on students such as admissions, class standing, and tuition waivers, and 3) discuss the educational and social challenges program students face prior to and during their tenure at the land-grant institution including academic preparedness, perceived discrimination, and developing a support network. Academic performance of program students will also be discussed as well as lessons learned from being a program advisor and working with program students in other minority recruiting endeavors

Perceptions of the Stuart & Sons Piano Sound: Realising a creative, active vision

This research examines the position of the Stuart & Sons piano in the three hundred year evolution of piano design. It demonstrates how the Stuart piano design is indicative of the technology of its period, the music of its period, and the place of its development. This thesis argues that the Stuart & Sons piano design implementations of the bridge agraffe and the expansion of its frequency ranges demonstrate that the new Australian instrument is of its time and place. Its use of 21st century technological advancements in steel wire drawing and its production of a distinctively new sound aesthetic which appeals to Australian contemporary music composition are indicative of a piano design of this period. The experimental ideas of the 19th century piano designers Henri Pape, John Broadwood and Sebastian Erard have been taken up by Stuart to expand the piano’s frequency range to the widest in the history of the piano, from 16Hz to 5587.65 Hz with a proposed extension of 6 higher notes to 7901.72 Hz. This proposed extension achieves a 108 note keyboard compass and eight full octaves for each pitch of the chromatic scale. The thesis examines Wayne Stuart’s claims that today’s modern piano design, standardized in the late 19th century, represents a pause in the evolution of piano design that has not adapted to the changes in musical style and technology of the 20th century, whereas the Stuart design supports the vertical emphasis in sound production implemented by the impressionist, contemporary & electronic music composers of the 20th century. This research compares the sound of the modern piano with the Stuart piano sound to demonstrate the differences of the Stuart’s vertically enhanced harmonic characteristics and its increased capacity to project a comprehensive tonal spectrum over a longer distance. How audiences decipher the differences found by this research, in the sounds of the Stuart and modern pianos is tested in a series of audience-survey concerts. Verbal attributes used to describe piano sound quality are complied into glossaries and used in survey questions. Australian aspects of the Stuart piano are described and associated with the oblique connection that exits between contemporary Australian music composition and Australian Aboriginal art forms. Compositions for the Stuart piano are devised from perceptions of the Stuart piano sound established by this research. The compositions reflect social aspects of Australian society and enable a musical activity and response to the urgent need for cross-cultural collaborations in the arts-education sector between Indigenous and non-Indigenous systems of education

An acoustic charge transport imager for high definition television applications

In this report we present the progress during the second six month period of the project. This includes both experimental and theoretical work on the acoustic charge transport (ACT) portion of the chip, the theoretical program modelling of both the avalanche photodiode (APD) and the charge transfer and overflow transistor and the materials growth and fabrication part of the program

Land cover changes (1815 to 2007) in the central Missouri River Hills

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 17, 2009).Thesis advisor: Dr. C. Mark Cowell.IM.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.The legacy of land use can influence landscape dynamics for centuries, potentially altering subsequent plant species composition, nutrient cycling and hydrology. To understand how previous land use has affected landscape patterns in the now predominantly forested central Missouri River Hills, this study assesses the magnitude of land cover change between four dates: the onset of European American settlement (circa 1815), near the period of maximum agricultural land use (1939), and through recent episodes of farm abandonment and reforestation (1968 and 2007). The River Hills, characterized by fertile loess soils and located on the western edge of the eastern deciduous forest, have undergone substantial changes over the past two centuries. In the early nineteenth century, 10% was open canopy woodlands and 90% was closed canopy forest. By 1939 forest accounted for just over 37% of land cover, which then rebounded to 61.5% of the total landscape by 2007. Patch metrics indicate that individual forest patches are decreasing in number while increasing in size, as formerly isolated patches coalesce and increase connectivity; the reverse trend has been true of fields. Land that was forested in 1939 tended to persist as forest to 2007, with newly regenerated forest accreting to existing patches mainly on steep slopes. These patterns of land cover change provide context for understanding contemporaneous changes in forest structure and composition, and can be used to guide management of this comparatively large zone of forest habitat in an otherwise predominantly agricultural region.Includes bibliographical references

Principles of Personalized Pathways for Sustainability Education: Educate, Act, Connect, and Communicate

Two educators describe how the model of Educate, Act, Connect, and Communicate can be utilized to address 21st century issues that concern middle grades students. The authors developed the model while using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) to address global and local issues at two different middle schools. At Main Street Middle School, where Author One teaches, students work on the Green Team to delve deeply into the scientific and social impact of decreasing the school’s waste footprint and developing a re-use, reduce, and recycle ethos at the school. At Author Two’s school, Central Middle School, students create an eighth grade challenge that is project based, and addresses a local or global issue while aligned to the UNSDGs. The authors compare the challenges and benefits of using the Educate, Act, Connect, and Communicate framework to explore learning through the UNSDGs and make recommendations for other educators who are interested in moving toward a more integrative curriculum that highlights student voice, engagement and equity

Acknowledgements

All of us at the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences are extremely grateful to our friends at the Trotter Institute for the opportunity to collaborate on this issue of the Trotter Review. It seems especially appropriate that this issue is being published at the time of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the center, named after William Joiner, Jr., an African-American veteran of the Vietnam War and the university\u27s first director of Veterans\u27 Affairs who died of cancer in 1981

Promoting a Culture of Wellness Among Employees on a College Campus: Increasing Employee Usage of a Campus Wellness and Recreation Center

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze environmental, behavioral and logistical factors that affect employee usage of a campus Wellness and Recreation Center (WRC), in order to design a logistically and conceptually sound intervention action plan that effectively promotes a culture of wellness on campus among employees. METHODS: An electronic survey was disseminated through the Qualtrics platform to campus faculty and staff, assessing employee demographic information; fitness levels; WRC membership status; satisfaction levels of WRC or off-campus wellness facilities; and impressions of potential WRC recruitment incentives. RESULTS: Employee response rates were observed at thirteen percent of the faculty and staff population. Eighteen percent of responders were current members of the campus WRC, twenty-nine percent were members of off-campus wellness centers, and fifty-three percent reported not belonging to any structured wellness facility or program. WRC members ranked the facilities equipment, rules and policies, and access to parking as areas of greatest satisfaction. Off-campus wellness center members ranked operational hours, staff support, and equipment as areas of greatest satisfaction. Employees ranked free induction personal training sessions, contractually allotted exercise time, and staff-only operational hours as the most enticing incentives to prompt WRC membership. CONCLUSION: In order to attract employee members to the WRC, and establish a culture of wellness on campus, stakeholders should consider reducing or removing employee membership fees; instituting twenty-four-hour facility access; mandating employee-only hours; advocating for contractually allocated exercise time; hiring and training qualified fitness assistants; and offering free introductory personal training sessions

Engaging Persuasion: What Should Undergraduate Students Enrolled in a Persuasion Course Learn?

In our daily activities we are bombarded with persuasive messages. From advertising on mass and social media to interactions with friends, we are constantly exposed to attempts to change or reinforce our attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors. Conversely, we routinely attempt to influence others and gain their compliance through persuasive attempts of our own. Without question, persuasion is a central feature of virtually every aspect of human communication and is found wherever we find people communicating. Fortunately, scholars have developed a great number of empirically tested persuasive techniques, strategies, and theories that can help students become effective producers and consumers of persuasive messages. This article outlines the foundations, content areas, and applied assignments appropriate for an undergraduate persuasion course. In addition, we outline several pedagogical issues for instructors to consider

Rethinking Evaluation Strategies for Student Participation

Basic communication course instructors encourage student participation in the classroom by employing a variety of strategies, including graded participation. The present study examined the methods that basic course instructors use to facilitate and assess student participation in the classroom through focus groups interviews exploring how students perceive graded participation in the basic course. The findings suggest that while there are conditions in which the focus group students enjoy participation, there are also conditions in which they perceive such strategies as a power issue for instructors and reject the notion that participation accurately measures their level of involvement and learning in the classroom. Moreover, results indicate that students perceive instructor immediacy to be a significant factor in their willingness to participate. Finally, the focus group members offered several suggestions for instructors to better facilitate student participation in the classroom