An Olfactory Based Behavioral Analysis of Bombus terrestris in Relation to Three Strains of Solanum lycopersicum

Every year agricultural companies produce new strains of Solanum, the genus that includes species such as tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants. Using artificial selection, the strains are created for disease resistance and hardiness. However, it is unknown if pollinator-attractive traits are inadvertently lost by this process. It has been documented in strawberries that different strains of the same species produce different amounts of volatile organic compounds. The strain that produced the highest quantity of volatile organic compounds attracted the most pollinators under field conditions, and elicited the greatest antennographic response in Red Mason bees (Klatt et al., 2013). Therefore, I asked if bumblebees, one of the main pollinators of Solanum, are differentially attracted to multiple strains of tomatoes, an important cash crop. Of the three strains used in this study, I predicted that bumblebees would be most attracted to the cultivar with the least disease resistance because it was less likely that any attractive traits had been bred out. I tested this hypothesis using an olfactory based Y-maze behavioral apparatus and determined that in a laboratory setting bumblebees were significantly more attracted to Brandywine, the least disease resistant strain, than Mountain Magic, the cultivar with the greatest disease resistance profile. The results were confirmed using both cuttings of the plants and whole plants. From these data it is possible to say that the volatile organic compound profile of Mountain Magic may have been inadvertently modulated by artificial selection towards disease resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to create a larger scale study to determine if this trend is endemic to all artificially selected tomatoes, or localized to these two strains

Illustrating Divorce Tax Law: Lasting Impacts

When an individual mentions divorce, it is easy to become swept up in an array of emotions. Divorce, in many ways, is seen as a beast of legal facets that needs to be understood. This highlights the impact that knowledgeable lawyers have on the general public. Understanding the individual facets of divorce law is imperative. Divorce not only affects two people, but it possesses additional consequences for individuals related to divorcees. Divorce further has the potential to shift the dynamic for an entire family. Additionally, divorce is becoming increasingly prevalent. Current survey data found that steadily half of marriages fail (Mathewson, 2018). Unfortunately, this has placed a consequent strain on the legal system. Due to the frequent occurrence of divorce, new advances are always being made within divorce law that have been used throughout case law

The Simulated Life: A Psychological and Philosophical Examination of Contemporary Social Media Use of Adolescents

Suppose you were born 50 years ago. You may not have encountered a screen for several years. Suppose you were born today. You would likely encounter a screen instantly. Unlike 50 years ago, adolescents are exposed to screens and social media quickly and frequently. For those born today, it can be difficult to imagine a world without social media, smartphones, and the internet. Recently, China limited the amount of time adolescents under the age of 18 can spend playing video games. Bans and limitations like this may sound strange to a western audience, but many people are worried about the impact of heavy technology use on adolescents. Young children are learning to take silly pictures on their parents’ smartphones at the same time they are learning to speak, which is undoubtedly unprecedented. Based on this new and strange connection between people and technology, one cannot help but wonder what is happening to our brains and, further, what this connection means philosophically for our worldview and existence experience. The increased use of and reliance upon technology are also being explored by psychologists, as there seem to be ties between mental health and technology use. Additionally, technology changes the way the brain works, potentially altering the physical brain structure and impacting mental health and abilities like attention, concentration, and socialization in young people with heavy screen use. This paper examines some psychological effects of social media use on adolescents and explores the philosophical implications of social media use on our understanding of reality and its value. The first section describes the significance of new smartphone and internet technologies, and the second section introduces a short fictional case study. In the third section, good, neutral, and negative effects of social media use on adolescents are discussed. The philosophical implications are discussed in the final section

William Aldridge’s and Samuel Whitchurch’s Competing Versions of John Marrant’s Life Story

In this presentation, I maintain that book history offers important ways to trace the packaging, circulation, and consumption of early black Atlantic texts and lives. To begin a more comprehensive interdisciplinary initiative that fuses archival work, book history, and early black Atlantic literature, I attend to the key differences in various prose and verse editions of the best- selling conversion and captivity narrative, The Narrative of the Lord’s Most Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, A Black, published both during and after the itinerant preacher’s lifetime (1755-1791). Specifically, I analyze relevant parts from the authorized fourth edition of Marrant’s narrative along with the unauthorized prose and verse editions written by the Methodist ministers, William Aldridge and Samuel Whitchurch. Aldridge and Whitchurch created versions of Marrant’s life based on his oral remarks on his conversion at his ordination in a Huntingdonian chapel in Bath. The differences found in Aldridge’s and Whitchurch’s respective texts underscore an editorial tension in the consistent repackaging of Marrant’s life story. Whereas Aldridge’s prose editions document Marrant’s captivity by and sustained interactions with the Cherokees, Whitchurch’s poem, The Negro Convert (c. 1785), boasts that the speaker of his poem will not “sing” of “Indians.” For Whitchurch, the sea and sailors–not the North American landscape and Native American peoples–provided a more realistic space for pursuing Marrant’s commitment to Christianity following conversion. This presentation also attends to parts of Whitchurch’s neglected poem, David Dreadnought, the Reformed English Sailor (1812). Whitchurch’s poem focuses on the maritime adventures of David Dreadnought, John Marrant, and David Henderson and the conversion narratives of this diverse group of mariners. Whitchurch wrote Dreadnought—and used Marrant’s life—to frame empire building as a providential act with the absorption of blacks (and Scots) and established a specific type of “imagined community” for early-nineteenth-century British readers

Actes du Séminaire international Alejo Carpentier y España (Santiago de Compostela, 2-5 de marzo de 2004)

Ce volume propose un bel ensemble de travaux dans un champ plus que pertinent, et qui n’avait été jusqu’alors que fort peu abordé : les liens et les rapports d’Alejo Carpentier avec l’Espagne et sa culture. Fin connaisseur des classiques espagnols, Carpentier a nourri son œuvre critique et sa création romanesque de culture et d’histoire d’Espagne. C’est en Espagne que sont régulièrement rééditées ses œuvres et il était urgent que celui qui fut un grand Prix Cervantes fût honoré par la communa..

Exploring Systemic Reform in Criminal Justice for Afro-Americans Based on Critical Policy Ethnography

The persistent disproportionate rates of Afro-American involvement within the criminal justice system at all levels have resulted in historic levels of unexplained mass incarceration. Despite federal guidance, the pandemic of unexplained mass incarceration persists. Some studies have noted that the lack of academic attention may be one of the primary reasons for the lack of change. Others have noted the need for centering and lifting the perspective of those who have been most impacted by these racial disparities. The intent of this study was to offer a qualitative close-up examination and analysis from the perspective of impacted populations. The ecological systems theory of human development and the critical race theory provided the conceptual framework. Through a critical policy ethnographic approach, the micro processes of two southwestern jurisdictions were studied to assess the roles of structural competency and integrity in systems change. The study revealed the need for a mindset shift that acknowledges and honors equitable access to basic human rights regardless of race. The mainstream population has been very slow to acknowledge the existence of any systemic problems. The lack of acknowledgment sets the stage for nonaction and the reinforcement of collective belief systems that shift blame and burdens to impacted individuals and groups whom they have classified as the other. With systems sanctioned groupthink, the exclusion of the other has become institutionalized and normalized. The study revealed that deep change on multiple levels is needed to bring about the desired systemic social change

CyberCIEGE scenario illustrating secrecy issues through mandatory and discretionary access control policies in a multi-level security network

User training in computer and network security is crucial to the survival of modern networks, yet the methods employed to train users often seem ineffective. One possible reason is that users are not fully engaged during these training sessions and thus they tend to forget the lessons being taught. The CyberCIEGE game introduces a new method of training in computer and network security. The player engages in a simulation-based network security game, that reflects real-world security principles. Each time the CyberCIEGE game runs, it loads a Scenario Definition File (SDF) written to teach specific security concepts. This thesis developed such a scenario definition file for the CyberCIEGE game. The educational purpose of the scenario is to illustrate secrecy issues in the context of mandatory and discretionary access control in a multilevel networked environment. The primary work of this thesis was to construct the scenario definition file such that playing the resulting game would achieve this educational purpose. This thesis also resulted in the construction of scenario definition files to test the CyberCIEGE game engine for expected results. These tests resulted in several recommendations for improvement in the game engine.http://archive.org/details/cyberciegescenar109451556First Lieutenant, United States Air ForceApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

A Creative Approach to Comprehensive Planning

Today, the provision of recreation services and facilities is recognized as an essential component of a community’s master plan. Residents want opportunities for participation in quality recreation programs, attractive parks, and effective and safe recreation facilities. Only through local government provisions can recreation truly be made available to all residents. Local government provides the major opportunity for many people, and the only opportunity for some of the people, for access to recreational facilities such as parks, recreation centers, tennis courts, softball and baseball diamonds, swimming pools, and other specialized facilities. In remaining accountable for expenditures and to meet these community needs, public park and recreation agencies are responsible for accurately identifying the park and recreation interests within the community. This task is often achieved by means of a community-wide recreation study. The purpose of the communitywide study is to obtain accurate insight of community attitudes, opinions, and perceptions toward possible park and recreation programming, facilities and services. The data collected from the community-wide study is then used by the park and recreation agency to plan for the provision of programs, resources, and facilities to best meet the interests of their residents. Despite its importance in an agency’s short and long-range planning efforts, many agencies lack some of the resources (human, physical, or financial) to conduct a community-wide recreation study. In response to this issue, the Department of Recreation Administration at Eastern Illinois University partnered with the Bourbonnais Township Park District to identify the specific purpose, techniques, and procedures of the community-wide study to obtain a clear planning direction for the future recreational services within the Bourbonnais community

Student-driven notation at a technical high school

Traditional Western music notation is commonly taught in high school music classrooms as the only notational option. However, the inherent challenge of reading this notation discourages some students from wanting to participate in school-based musicking. The process of learning the complex and unintuitive language of traditional music notation causes some students to become cognitively overwhelmed. Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) was developed by John Sweller in 1988. CLT is constructed on the idea that when the intrinsic load of a task is high, extraneous elements should be eliminated to lessen the overall cognitive load of the learner. In personal experience teaching technical high school students, it has been noticed that many become cognitively overwhelmed by the seemingly arbitrary rules of traditional music notation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the creation of student-driven notation as a method to lessen the perceived extraneous cognitive load for technical students during music transcription activities. I also sought to examine how, if at all, student-driven notation made music notation accessible to a wider group of learners. The research questions were as follows: 1. How do participants respond to the creation and usability of novel music transcription activities presented with teacher guidance and connections to prior knowledge? 2. In what ways are the participants’ responses to a novel notation task similar and different to one another? This study was completed using Action Research (AR) at a technical high school in Massachusetts where I have taught music for over 10 years. The use of AR afforded me the chance to facilitate this new music transcription activity with the students and make alterations to better suit the needs of the students in class. The students were provided an initial lesson and then created their student-driven notations with varying levels of assistance from peers and me, including alterations to the second half of the study to help streamline the transcription process. The findings of the study showed that most of the students, through lessening their perceived cognitive loads, were able to create meaningful useable personal notations. Most of the students were also able to recall how to read their notations two months after the initial study, which indicates that the information moved from their working memory to their long-term memory, a key component of CLT. Some students did prefer to use a pre-existing method of notation such as tablature, and a few participants did not find student-driven notations to be helpful. However, the results of this study suggest that student-driven notation could be beneficial for this student population possibly for other populations in music education

Getting ready for transition to adult care : tool validation and multi-informant strategy using the Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire in pediatrics

Background Transitioning from pediatric to adult healthcare can be challenging and lead to severe consequences if done suboptimally. The Transition Readiness Assessment Questionnaire (TRAQ) was developed to assess adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients' transition readiness. In this study, we aimed to (1) document the psychometric properties of the French-language version of the TRAQ (TRAQ-FR), (2) assess agreements and discrepancies between AYA patients' and their primary caregivers' TRAQ-FR scores, and (3) identify transition readiness contributors. Methods French-speaking AYA patients (n = 175) and primary caregivers (n = 168) were recruited from five clinics in a tertiary Canadian hospital and asked to complete the TRAQ-FR, the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (PedsQL™ 4.0), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The validity of the TRAQ-FR was assessed using confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Agreements and discrepancies were evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficients and paired-sample t tests. Contributors of transition readiness were identified using regression analyses. Results The five-factor model of the TRAQ was supported, with the TRAQ-FR global scale showing good internal consistency for both AYA patients' and primary caregivers' scores (α = .85–.87). AYA patients and primary caregivers showed good absolute agreement on the TRAQ-FR global scale with AYA patients scoring higher than primary caregivers (ICC = .80; d = .25). AYA patients' age and sex were found to be contributors of transition readiness. Conclusions The TRAQ-FR was found to have good psychometric properties when completed by both AYA patients and primary caregivers. Additional research is needed to explore the predictive validity and clinical use of the TRAQ-FR