The Effects of Deleting LRB E3 Ligase Region 2 on Red Light Responses in Arabidopsis thaliana

The ability of plants to absorb light through photoreceptors is essential for successful plant development. Phytochromes are important plant photoreceptors that detect and absorb red and far-red light and must function properly for plant survival. The Light Response BTB proteins (LRB) play an important role in a plant’s response to red light by degrading phytochrome B (PhyB) via the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). Although there has been a successful investigation into understanding the function of the LRBs, the function of a few regions within LRB proteins remains unknown, including a portion located on the N-terminal end of the protein, termed Region 2. This study assessed the function of Region 2 by studying the red-light response that occurs when Region 2 is genetically mutated in Arabidopsis thaliana. A mutant gene that has deleted portions of Region 2 (LRB-R2D) was created using site directed mutagenesis techniques and transformed into A. thaliana lrb1-1 lrb2-1 mutants. The function of the LRB-R2D proteins were assessed via plant growth when exposed to a red light environment. It was found that lrb1-1 lrb2-1 plants containing LRB-R2D reverted back to the wild type phenotype. These results suggest that the function of Region 2 may not play a role in some red light responses. Although the function of Region 2 has yet to be determined, future studies searching for interacting factors with Region 2 may reveal possible functions. This study has ruled out red light responses being important for Region 2, but the methodology can be applied to other regions within the LRB protein such as Region 1 or Region 3. Further understanding of Region 2 and other regions of LRB can enhance the comprehension of this protein and its effects on plant development, which could impact agricultural practices in the future

A Historical Perspective on the Rise of Educational Film in 20th Century America

Abstract The pedagogical use of film and video in education advanced alongside the technology that enabled it in the 20th century. Early adopters of educational film adapted feature films or relied upon a catalog of educational films for content. The medium fit with the reform rhetoric of the Progressive Era: by confirming the educational value of film, civic leaders were able to claim influence over the medium. Nearly a century before Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, the invention of sound in film prompted educators to consider the effect of multiple sensory inputs on learning. Early in the 20th century, agencies in the United States federal government used educational film for public education, publicity, internal communication, and employee development. Further advancements in educational film came when the U.S. military invested in propaganda and training films during World War I and World War II. As advancements from wartime innovation diffused, film and other forms of instructional technology became an established part of education. The invention of videotape mid-century meant that video production no longer required expensive equipment and professional expertise. As early as the 1970s, professors were operating as video producers, creating videos to supplement classroom instruction. In the same era, educational philosophies such as constructivism, social learning theory, and engagement theory promoted learner-centered curricula. Digital video and online distribution brought video production into the homes and classrooms of everyday Americans, and the student-produced video project emerged as form of digital scholarship. As Saettler (1968) observed nearly fifty years ago, the history of educational film is, in many ways, a history of educational technology in America

Learners’ Perspectives on the Use and Support of Student Created Video Assignments at James Madison University

This research is an exploratory analysis of the use of student created video assignments at JMU, a pedagogical strategy that is increasingly common but not widely researched. The study collected quantitative data via an online survey of JMU students with the objective of examining the use, design, and outcomes of student created video assignments at James Madison University. Survey topics included the requirements of the assignment, the course that included the assignment, resources available and/or used to complete the assignment, students’ perceptions of the learning outcomes, as well as non-identifying information about each respondent’s demographics and academic experience at JMU. Following the constructivist precedent set by Nikitina (2009), the study focuses on students’ perspectives. The rationale for this decision is that intentions and available resources from the faculty or University are only effective if the learner has awareness of them. The research asks to what extent JMU students complete video assignments, and whether factors such as students’ academic experience, demographics, video-watching habits, or learning preferences correlate with a greater likelihood of completing such assignments. Data about the steps students took to complete their most recent video assignment includes their rating of the helpfulness of resources such as libraries, computer labs, and classmates. Other details include the instructional design factors of the assignment and students’ opinions on how effectively the assignment helped them gain skills such as media literacy, collaboration and problem solving. Data analysis sought to identify what correlations, if any, exist between the design of the assignment, resources accessed while completing the assignment, and students’ perceptions of the educational value of the assignments. The demographic data about survey participants, and the courses which included the student created video assignments, provided a means for identifying any significant differences between different types or learners and/or learning environments. Initial findings from the research indicate that nearly 50% of undergraduate students and 80% of graduate students have completed a video assignment at JMU. There is significant variance among which college and academic units use such assignments, and more frequent usage in online courses. Approximately two-thirds of students who complete video assignments do not access any JMU support services to prepare for or complete the assignment. Instead of formal resources, students find value in learning from classmates, online resources, and hands-on experimentation. Overall, student created video assignments seem to be received favorably by students and effective for achieving a variety of learning outcomes across many disciplines

Opportunities and challenges for improving food security for vulnerable populations through meso-level collaboration in Baltimore, Maryland

Food insecurity is a problem that affects 15 percent of all people in the United States. In Baltimore, Maryland, that number is over 25 percent overall, and 35 percent among African-Americans, which makes up 60 percent of the city's population. Food security means that not only is food accessible to all people, but also that the food is healthy. Because of the conducive climate and high number of vacant lots and open spaces, Baltimore has a growing culture of urban food production. Despite the abundance of food, production and retail has continued to remain concentrated in food secure areas rather than being equally distributed across the city. Thus, in addition to other socio-economic factors such as high crime, low education, low-incentive for businesses in low-income areas, etc., food insecurity in Baltimore is perpetuated by unequal distribution resulting from a lack of interaction and communication between socio-economic classes and racial/ethnic groups across the city. For the purpose of this research, three levels of actors are identified: macro, or top-down governmental or external entities; meso- organizations or individuals working both internally with a community and connected to top-down resources; micro- community organizations or individuals. This research aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the current food culture in the city to better understand why food insecurity remains pervasive in certain areas, and determine what bottom-up (micro-level) efforts currently exist and how these efforts can be paired with top-down (macro-level) initiatives through collaboration with meso-level organizations who work to connect people and projects with funding and other resources. The combination of top-down policy making and bottom-up initiatives can allow individuals in food insecure areas in Baltimore the means to create a sustainable urban food network that understands and serves local community values and cultures. The overall goal of this research was to implement methods that not only shed light on why current conditions exist, but also to propose future recommendations for how meso-level actors can be utilized as gatekeepers between communities and top-down resources.Sustainable DesignCommunity and Regional Plannin

The Use of Apps to Prime Learning for a Verbal Task

This study tested whether or not children’s memory performance would be affected by stimulating brain activity by completing a verbal puzzle task or a non-verbal puzzle task prior to a verbal learning task

The Impact of Technology on Adolescent Identity Development

This paper explores how technology use in adolescence facilitates adult identity achievement and presents evidence that technological objects, such as smartphones have become adolescent transitional objects. Early and late adolescents were surveyed about technology use and feelings associated with technology. Among older adolescents, anxiety level was related to smart phone use, such that higher anxiety was associated with greater smart phone use. The feelings and behaviors associated with use of the preferred device are consistent with feelings and behaviors associated with use of a transitional object. In contrast, younger adolescents did not appear to use technology as a transitional object. This difference may be that older adolescents are in an active phase of transition, developmentally, with movement to a university. Understanding how technology is viewed by adolescents provides insight into how technology can be used in critical environments, such as schools and homes, to facilitate a healthy transition to adulthood

Toward a moral reckoning on structural racism: Examining structural factors, encouraging structural thinking, and supporting structural intervention

The racial reckoning of 2020 involved the largest social movement protest in U.S. history, but support for the Black Lives Matter movement declined shortly after. To advance a moral reckoning on structural racism that dismantles racialized structures and redresses racial inequities, we call on scholar activists within the field of community psychology to realign their own practices by (a) examining structural factors; (b) encouraging structural thinking; and (c) supporting structural intervention for racial justice. Two structural factors–political determinants and commercial determinants–maintain the status quo of structural racism, undermining efforts for racial equity. As a result, we encourage the development of structural thinking, which provides a structural analysis of racism and leads to support for structural intervention. With an intersectional race and class perspective, we detail how structural thinking could be developed among the professional managerial class (through structural competency) and among the oppressed class (through critical consciousness). Finally, we discuss structural intervention factors and approaches that can redress racial inequities and produce structural change. Ultimately, we provide a pathway for community psychologists to support activists building a multiracial, multiclass coalition to eliminate structures and systems of racial, political, and economic injustice. Highlights Community psychologists can support activists working toward a moral reckoning on structural racism. Harmful political and commercial determinants maintain structural racism and racial inequities. Structural thinking and structural intervention are essential for addressing structural racism. First-order change interventions should build structural competency or critical consciousness. Second-order change interventions should leverage systemic-level promotion and prevention

An Account of Health Care Systems and Crises in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa

The health care system of post-Apartheid South Africa suffers from an epidemic of HIV/AIDS and TB with a number of mitigating factors that have caused these diseases to spread. The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes of the epidemics and to provide a macro and micro perspective of the public health care system of South Africa. Research of the health care system took place over an eleven week period in the summer of 2008. In this time, day to day operations at six hospitals/health care facilities were observed in South Africa’s province of Kwa-Zulu Natal. These experiences provide an insight into the influences that race, culture, poverty and access to health care have on the people of South Africa. The effects of poverty on access to health care were found to be substantial and race was found to be a strong indicator of one’s wealth and, therefore, access to health care. In addition, the location of hospitals, urban or rural, provided an indication of the quality of care, staff levels and drug availability at all of the hospitals visited

An Analysis of Expressed Cheating Behaviors in Video Games

A series of 50 responses regarding reasons for cheating behavior in video games were provided by undergraduate students. These responses were sorted into a series of 13 categories by raters to investigate the most common reasons provided for cheating. An analysis of inter-rater agreement as well as frequency of category representation is provided. The most common outcomes were that players cheat to progress in a game as well as to gain advantage over others. The discussion compared this study’s results to an existing cheating taxonomy