Genetic population structure and breeding parameters of three Pennsylvania State threatened darter species: Etheostoma camurum, E. maculatum and E. tippecanoe

Little is known about the breeding parameters and population structure of three Pennsylvania darters, the bluebreast darter, Etheostoma camurum, the spotted darter, E. maculatum, and the Tippecanoe darter, E. tippecanoe. All are Pennsylvania state threatened species, and they are considered threatened or endangered in several other states throughout their range. Although some limited breeding information is available from populations in other states, the timing and duration of spawning has not been documented for Pennsylvania populations of E. camurum and E. tippecanoe. Both species occupy disjunct riffle habitats in the Allegheny River system, with stable populations in French Creek. We have found an additional population for these species about 110 miles downstream in Deer Creek, Harmarville, PA. Through weekly catch-and-release sampling of this population, we have identified the peak breeding times and the duration of the breeding season for the Deer Creek populations of these two species. Observations of population peaks indicate possible seasonal migrations into spawning areas. Spawning terminated for both species when temperatures exceeded 23 C for several days. Turbid conditions may influence spawning site occupation. Both species show strong site fidelity within the spawning riffle irrespective of depth or flow. Genetic analysis using the mtDNA ND2 gene indicates little population structure for all three species across their entire range. Seven new site records within the Allegheny River drainage suggest possible current gene flow through river-corridor migration and the possibility of the populations spreading from source population(s) in the Allegheny River to sink populations or seasonal breeding habitats in suitable tributaries. Population structure will be useful to conservation efforts by identifying the degree of population fragmentation between isolated populations. Breeding times and an understanding of factors that inhibit spawning will be a useful guide for ecologically responsible development of riparian areas, assisting with avoiding disturbances to important spawning areas during the breeding season

Enacting a Mission for Change: A University Partnership for Young Adolescents

Abstract As practicing teachers, school personnel, and teacher educators engaged in a school-university partnership, we have worked to co-create a mutually beneficial relationship centered around the learning needs of young adolescents. In this article, we will describe our diverse perspectives on and perceptions of how the partnership enhances the learning experiences of the young adolescents with whom we learn and work. We come to this work with two interrelated goals of preparing a cadre of effective middle grades teachers while improving the educational experiences for 10-14-year-old students at Westport Middle School (WMS)--whether it is through classroom instruction, teacher education, or providing supports within the school

Tensions of Data-Driven Reflection: A Case Study of Real-Time Emotional Biosensing

Biosensing displays, increasingly enrolled in emotional reflection, promise authoritative insight by presenting users’ emotions as discrete categories. Rather than machines interpreting emotions, we sought to explore an alternative with emotional biosensing displays in which users formed their own interpretations and felt comfortable critiquing the display. So, we designed, implemented, and deployed, as a technology probe, an emotional biosensory display: Ripple is a shirt whose pattern changes color responding to the wearer’s skin conductance, which is associated with excitement. 17 participants wore Ripple over 2 days of daily life. While some participants appreciated the ‘physical connection’ Ripple provided between body and emotion, for others Ripple fostered insecurities about ‘how much’ feeling they had. Despite our design intentions, we found participants rarely questioned the display’s relation to their feelings. Using biopolitics to speculate on Ripple’s surprising authority, we highlight ethical stakes of biosensory representations for sense of self and ways of feeling

Voices of resilience:A qualitative exploration of blogging as a resilience intervention among young people in the Philippines

Psychological resilience has been a topic of ongoing debate in the field of psychology, with a lack of consensus on its definition, operationalisation, and conceptualisation. Meanwhile, young people have been called upon to demonstrate resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs) where they have been disproportionately affected by the economic fallout. In response to this, this study aimed to explore the perception of resilience and blogging among young people from a LAMIC. Using in-depth interviews with 15 participants, the study identified three main themes: sources of resilience, role of resilience, and process of resilience. Additionally, five main themes related to blogging were identified: what is a blog, video bloggers, advantages, concerns, and experience. The study's findings highlight the importance of understanding resilience from a different demographic, which can influence the development of resilience interventions. This study also provides insights into the potential of using blogging as a tool for promoting resilience in young people. Overall, this study offers a valuable contribution to the understanding of resilience and its relation to digital mental health, particularly in diverse and underrepresented communities

Making a Splash: A Population Study of Orcas and Its Application for Student Inquiry in Iowa

The author participated in an Earthwatch Institute sponsored population survey of the Southern Resident Orca (killer whales). The two main aspects of this survey were to study the Orca population and to monitor the effects of humans on them. Orcas are listed as a threatened species and their population is currently declining. Results of the study linked the presence of the pollutant Polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCBs) in the ocean to this decline. Students will use the procedures outlined by this research to conduct their own population study on their local community. They will go to the cemetery to collect the mortality (death rates) of their community over several years. Furthermore, they will examine the effect of humans on local waterways. The students will collect data, such as pH, and make a community outreach plan to educate the public about what they are doing on a local and global level. This article promotes National Science Education Content Standards A, C, and F, and Iowa Teaching Standards 2, 3, 4, and 5

Parental interpretations of “childhood innocence”: implications for early sexuality education

Despite general recognition of the benefits of talking openly about sexuality with children, parents encounter and/or create barriers to such communication. One of the key barriers is a desire to protect childhood innocence. Using data collected during focus group discussions with parents and carers of young children, the current study explores parental interpretations of childhood innocence and the influence this has on their reported practices relating to sexuality-relevant communication with young children aged between 4 and 7 years old. Childhood innocence was commonly equated with non-sexuality in children and sexual ignorance. Parents displayed ambiguity around the conceptualisation of non-innocence in children. Parents desire to prolong the state of childhood innocence led them to withhold certain sexual knowledge from their children; however, the majority also desired an open relationship whereby their child could approach them for information

Field Experiences in the Ether: The Pandemic-induced Realities of Learning to Teach

In the United States during March and April of 2020, more than 50 million K-12 students were impacted by school closures with many forced to engage in online learning for continuity in their 2019-2020 school year. This disruption to K-12 public and private schools reverberated in programs of teacher education around the country. As school-university partners, we wanted to provide opportunities for new teacher candidates to be able to engage in some form of interaction with students and veteran teachers. We drew on the structures and strength of our school-university partnership to build our plan to engage in pandemic-induced, alternative field experiences. In this article we describe how one middle level school-university partnership leaned into virtual learning spaces and provided opportunities to help teacher candidates who were beginning their teacher education program conceptualize teaching and learning in new ways. Additionally, we provide classroom teachers’ perspectives of hosting teacher candidates in a virtual learning format offering insights on best practices and challenges to consider

Comparing outcomes of biopsy-proven anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody–associated glomerulonephritis patients treated with cyclophosphamide in the 20th and 21st centuries: a 23-year study

Background Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a multisystem autoimmune disorder associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Approximately 80–90% of patients have circulating ANCAs. Long-term outcomes appear to be improving. This retrospective study analyses the incidence and patient outcomes over a period of 23 years at a single tertiary centre. Methods Outcomes of patients diagnosed with AAV between 1 January 1988 and 31 December 2010 were collected retrospectively. Data including patient demographics, age of diagnosis, dates of starting renal replacement therapy, death and biochemistry results were collected. Patients were divided into two cohorts (1988–99 and 2000–10) and analysed using Stata software (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). Results A complete dataset was obtained for 273 patients. Of these patients, 101 were diagnosed between 1988 and 1999 while 172 were diagnosed between 2000 and 2010. The number of patients diagnosed with AAV increased from 2.2/million in 1988 to 10.3/million in 2010. A higher proportion of patients (56.4%) in the earlier cohort presented with creatinine >500 μmol/L compared with the later cohort (30.2%; P < 0.001). Overall patient survival improved significantly between the two cohorts. Cohort 1 had a median survival of 59 months compared with 125 months for Cohort 2 (P = 0.003). Conclusions This study shows that AAV is being diagnosed at an earlier stage, resulting in improved outcomes. This may be because of improvements in the management of AAV and chronic kidney disease

The Cognitive Effects of Machine Learning Aid in Domain-Specific and Domain-General Tasks

With machine learning (ML) technologies rapidly expanding to new applications and domains, users are collaborating with artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostic tools to a larger and larger extent. But what impact does ML aid have on cognitive performance, especially when the ML output is not always accurate? Here, we examined the cognitive effects of the presence of simulated ML assistance—including both accurate and inaccurate output—on two tasks (a domain-specific nuclear safeguards task and domain-general visual search task). Patterns of performance varied across the two tasks for both the presence of ML aid as well as the category of ML feedback (e.g., false alarm). These results indicate that differences such as domain could influence users’ performance with ML aid, and suggest the need to test the effects of ML output (and associated errors) in the specific context of use, especially when the stimuli of interest are vague or ill-defined

Impact of margin size on the predicted risk of radiogenic second cancers following proton arc therapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy for prostate cancer

We previously determined that the predicted risk of radiogenic second cancer in the bladder and rectum after proton arc therapy (PAT) was less than or equal to that after volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with photons, but we did not consider the impact of margin size on that risk. The current study was thus conducted to evaluate margin size\u27s effect on the predicted risks of second cancer for the two modalities and the relative risk between them. Seven treatment plans with margins ranging from 0 mm in all directions to 6 mm posteriorly and 8 mm in all other directions were considered for both modalities. We performed risk analyses using three risk models with varying amounts of cell sterilization and calculated ratios of risk for the corresponding PAT and VMAT plans. We found that the change in risk with margin size depended on the risk model but that the relative risk remained nearly constant with margin size, regardless of the amount of cell sterilization modeled. We conclude that while margin size influences the predicted risk of a second cancer for a given modality, it appears to affect both modalities in roughly equal proportions so that the relative risk between PAT and VMAT is approximately equivalent. © 2012 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine