The Development of Science Identity in Undergraduate STEM Majors: A Case Study of Urban High School Students

The STEM fields, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, face a significant challenge: the underrepresentation of women and minority racial groups entering STEM degree programs and careers. Addressing this STEM gap requires more than quality curriculum and educational supports; there is a need to understand the social psychological processes that influence students’ perceptions, motivation, and interest in STEM. The concept of science identity has been posed as a research perspective to understand participation and persistence in STEM. Enacting a science identity may include describing oneself as a scientist, having a high sense of self-efficacy to do scientific work, displaying an interest to do science, and engaging with and receiving validation from a scientific community of practice. The purpose of this grounded theory case study was to explore the science identities enacted by twenty-four graduates from a Midwest urban public high school (MUPHS) who have enrolled in undergraduate STEM degree programs. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews that explored four components of science identity: interest, competence, performance, and recognition. Qualitative analysis through a constructivist coding approach was applied to understand why students chose to enter and persist in a STEM degree program. Emerging themes related to experience, motivation, and persistence were examined, and salient identities both unique and shared between different gender and racial groups are identified. Five salient science identities emerged: Research Scientists, STEM-Career Focused, STEM Apprentices, STEM Humanists, and STEM Seekers. Recommendations to support gender and racial diversity in STEM programming and future avenues of research are provided

Lithofacies Control in Detrital Zircon Provenance Studies: Insights from the Cretaceous Methow Basin, Southern Canadian Cordillera

High-frequency sampling for detrital zircon analysis can provide a detailed record of fine-scale basin evolution by revealing the temporal and spatial variability of detrital zircon ages within clastic sedimentary successions. This investigation employed detailed sampling of two sedimentary successions in the Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin of the southern Canadian Cordillera to characterize the heterogeneity of detrital zircon signatures within single lithofacies and assess the applicability of detrital zircon analysis in distinguishing fine-scale provenance changes not apparent in lithologic analysis of the strata. The Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin contains two distinct stratigraphic sequences of middle Albian to Santonian clastic sedimentary rocks: submarine-fan deposits of the Harts Pass Formation/Jackass Mountain Group and fluvial deposits of the Winthrop Formation. Although both stratigraphic sequences displayed consistent ranges in detrital zircon ages on a broad scale, detailed sampling within each succession revealed heterogeneity in the detrital zircon age distributions that was systematic and predictable in the turbidite succession but unpredictable in the fluvial succession. These results suggest that a high-density sampling approach permits interpretation of fine-scale changes within a lithologically uniform turbiditic sedimentary succession, but heterogeneity within fluvial systems may be too large and unpredictable to permit accurate fine-scale characterization of the evolution of source regions. The robust composite detrital zircon age signature developed for these two successions permits comparison of the Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin age signature with known plutonic source-rock ages from major plutonic belts throughout the Cretaceous North American margin. The Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin detrital zircon age signature matches best with source regions in the southern Canadian Cordillera, requiring that the basin developed in close proximity to the southern Canadian Cordillera and providing evidence against large-scale dextral translation of the Methow terrane

Fruit Quality And Consumption By Songbirds During Autumn Migration

Seasonal fruits are an important food resource for small songbirds during autumn migration in southern New England. Therefore, conservation and management of important stopover sites used by migrating birds requires knowledge about nutritional requirements of songbirds and nutritional composition of commonly consumed fruits. We measured nutrient composition and energy density of nine common fruits on Block Island, Rhode Island, and conducted a field experiment to estimate consumption rates of three of these fruits by birds during autumn migration. Most common fruits on Block Island contained primarily carbohydrates (41.3–91.2% dry weight), and little protein (2.6–8.6%) and fat (0.9–3.7%), although three contained more fat: Myrica pennsylvanica (50.3%), Viburnum dentatum (41.3%), and Parthenocissus quinquefolia (23.6%). Bird consumption of high-fat, high-energy V. dentatum fruit and high-carbohydrate, low-energy Phytolacca americana fruit was greater than consumption of Aronia melanocarpa, a high-carbohydrate, low-energy fruit. We estimated that migratory birds on Block Island must eat up to four times their body mass in fruit wet weight each day to satisfy their energy requirements when eating low-energy fruits such as P. americana, and they cannot satisfy their protein requirements when eating only certain high-energy fruits such as V. dentatum. Our results suggest that many migratory birds must eat both fruits and insects to meet their dietary needs. Thus, shrubland habitat at important migratory stopover sites such as Block Island should be managed so that it contains a variety of preferred fruit-bearing shrubs and an adequate abundance of insects

Use of sonic tomography to detect and quantify wood decay in living trees.

Premise of the studyField methodology and image analysis protocols using acoustic tomography were developed and evaluated as a tool to estimate the amount of internal decay and damage of living trees, with special attention to tropical rainforest trees with irregular trunk shapes.Methods and resultsLiving trunks of a diversity of tree species in tropical rainforests in the Republic of Panama were scanned using an Argus Electronic PiCUS 3 Sonic Tomograph and evaluated for the amount and patterns of internal decay. A protocol using ImageJ analysis software was used to quantify the proportions of intact and compromised wood. The protocols provide replicable estimates of internal decay and cavities for trees of varying shapes, wood density, and bark thickness.ConclusionsSonic tomography, coupled with image analysis, provides an efficient, noninvasive approach to evaluate decay patterns and structural integrity of even irregularly shaped living trees

Internal validation of STRmix™ – A multi laboratory response to PCAST

We report a large compilation of the internal validations of the probabilistic genotyping software STRmix™. Thirty one laboratories contributed data resulting in 2825 mixtures comprising three to six donors and a wide range of multiplex, equipment, mixture proportions and templates. Previously reported trends in the LR were confirmed including less discriminatory LRs occurring both for donors and non-donors at low template (for the donor in question) and at high contributor number. We were unable to isolate an effect of allelic sharing. Any apparent effect appears to be largely confounded with increased contributor number

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Exploring the Participation of Dalit Women Versus Women of Other Castes in Panchayati Raj in Rajasthan, India: A Study in Contrasts

Bibliography: p. 184-196.Includes copy of Certification of Institutional Ethics Review. Original with original copy of Partial Copyright Licence.This research uses a feminist analytical approach to explore the intersectionality of caste and gender in the experiences of Dalit women, and women of other castes, in their roles as elected representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions in two districts in rural Rajasthan, India. The study took place in November 2008 with 24 women of various castes, as well as NGO leaders, and NGO workers; research methods included semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and one focus group. The study found that the experiences of Dalit women, and women of other castes, are similar however with some important exceptions. For example, Dalit women are more likely to face gender and caste discrimination in their respective panchayats. Additionally, although all Dalit women in the study felt they were treated equally on their panchayat councils, compared to upper caste women, many expressed the reality that Dalits continue to face discrimination in society

Detrital Zircon Provenance Analysis of the Great Valley Group, California: Evolution of an Arc-Forearc System

The improved resolution of sediment provenance from detrital zircon analysis of Great Valley stratigraphy enables recognition of previously undocumented arc magmatism and the evolution of regional drainage systems within the Cretaceous arc-forearc system related to uplift, magmatism, and structure in the arc. Great Valley detrital zircon age data confirm previous studies that indicate that the locus of the sediment source in the southern Sierra Nevada arc migrated east with the active volcanic front and suggest rapid rates of uplift and unroofing of the southern arc. Sacramento Valley detrital zircon age data indicate a more complex history of drainage in the northern Klamath-Sierran arc than previously documented. Detrital zircon age distributions from the Cache Creek section of the Great Valley Group broaden through time from nearly unimodal age distributions to signatures with multiple age peaks. This transition to more broadly distributed detrital zircon age spectra likely results from a combination of (1) expanding subaerial drainage systems from highly localized to more broadly distributed catchments; (2) changing shelf and submarine-canyon morphology with rising sea level and/or basin subsidence; (3) increased degree of dissection of the Klamath-Sierran arc; and (4) potential drainage capture and redirection within the arc. Sacramento Valley detrital zircon age data also record a pulse of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous magmatism in the northwestern Sierra Nevada arc, an age of Cordilleran magmatism and deformation represented by limited exposure in the modern Sierra Nevada. These results offer significant new insights into the evolution of a well-studied arc-forearc system

Vitamin D in systemic sclerosis (SSc): prevalence and associations of vitamin D deficiency in patients from two centres of the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study (ASCS)

Scientific Poster ARA-P84Foreman C, Sahhar J, Ngian G, Briggs N, Spargo L, Kathleen E, McWilliams L, Proudman