A Collaborative Effort to Train Green Industry Professionals

A collaborative project between the Oregon State University Extension Service, and the green industry and allied professional organizations resulted in an educational seminar series for landscape professionals. In 2003 and 2004, the seminar series consisted of seven 3.5-hour sessions covering a range of horticultural topics and capitalized on expertise of extension personnel and green industry professionals. After the 2004 series, a survey was sent to all participants to determine attendance, overall evaluation, usefulness and applicability of information, participant learning, and behavior change as a result of the seminars. The response rate was 31%. Overall, participants gave the seminars a positive rating. A majority (83%) of respondents reported they had applied information learned at the seminar(s), and showed a significant increase in understanding of a subject as a result of participating in the seminar(s). Further, 98% of those who applied this information reported making multiple changes to their practices or recommendations to clients in the 6 months following the seminars

Syphilis Predicts HIV Incidence Among Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men in a Preexposure Prophylaxis Trial

Background. Syphilis infection may potentiate transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We sought to determine the extent to which HIV acquisition was associated with syphilis infection within an HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) trial and whether emtricitabine/tenofovir (FTC/TDF) modified that association. Methods. The Preexposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEx) study randomly assigned 2499 HIV-seronegative men and transgender women who have sex with men (MSM) to receive oral daily FTC/TDF or placebo. Syphilis prevalence at screening and incidence during follow-up were measured. Hazard ratios for the effect of incident syphilis on HIV acquisition were calculated. The effect of FTC/TDF on incident syphilis and HIV acquisition was assessed. Results. Of 2499 individuals, 360 (14.4%) had a positive rapid plasma reagin test at screening; 333 (92.5%) had a positive confirmatory test, which did not differ between the arms (FTC/TDF vs placebo, P = .81). The overall syphilis incidence during the trial was 7.3 cases per 100 person-years. There was no difference in syphilis incidence between the study arms (7.8 cases per 100 person-years for FTC/TDF vs 6.8 cases per 100 person-years for placebo, P = .304). HIV incidence varied by incident syphilis (2.8 cases per 100 person-years for no syphilis vs 8.0 cases per 100 person-years for incident syphilis), reflecting a hazard ratio of 2.6 (95% confidence interval, 1.6–4.4; P < .001). There was no evidence for interaction between randomization to the FTC/TDF arm and incident syphilis on HIV incidence. Conclusions. In HIV-seronegative MSM, syphilis infection was associated with HIV acquisition in this PrEP trial; a syphilis diagnosis should prompt providers to offer PrEP unless otherwise contraindicated

"Girls can't play": The effects of stereotype threat on females' gaming performance

The current study examined the impact of stereotype threat on female online gamers' performance and further examined whether manipulating the availability of multiple social identities effectively eliminated these performance decrements. Further, participants' implicit attitudes towards female online gamers were assessed. Eighty-one participants (60 female) were assigned to one of four experimental conditions: 1), stereotype threat, 2), multiple social identities, 3), female control, and 4), male control. They completed an Implicit Association Test and a gaming task. The number of coins collected in a 5-min time period provided a measure of gameplay performance. Results indicated that stereotype threatened females underperformed on the gaming task relative to males in the control condition. The intervention of multiple social identities successfully protected females' gameplay performance from stereotype threat. Additionally, differences were found between conditions in implicit attitudes pertaining to gender-gaming competence. This research highlights the harmful effects of negative stereotypes on females' gaming performance, and suggests that these decrements may be eliminated when females identify with an alternative positive social identity

Tn1 Insertions in the 3\u27 Untranslated Region of the ant Operon of Bacteriophage P22 Affect ant Gene Expression and Alter ant mRNA Stability: a Thesis

Insertion of transposable elements within an operon has been known not only to abolish expression of the gene interrupted by the insertion, but also to exert a strong polar effect on the expression of downstream genes in the same operon. In this dissertation, I have shown that insertions of the transposable ampicillin-resistance element Tn1, either in the polar or nonpolar orientation, in the 3\u27 untranslated region of the bacteriophage P22 antirepressor (ant) operon reduce the rate of upstream ant gene expression; insertions of Tn1 in the nonpolar orientation reduce the rate of ant gene expression more significantly than those in the polar orientation. This effect appears to be due to reduced stability of ant mRNA. Tn1 deletion mutants of one of the nonpolar Tn1 insertion mutations have been isolated. Two classes of Tn1 deletions are obtained. Class I retains a 68 bp Tn1 sequence that shows a potential 14 bp stem and 37 bp loop conformation, while class II retains 147 bp Tn1 sequence that shows a potential 69 bp stem and 6 bp loop conformation. These two classes of Tn1 deletions do not delete any P22 sequences. Class I but not class II Tn1 deletion mutants restore the rate of ant gene expression and ant mRNA stability. Six different Ant+ revertants of the class II Tn1 deletion mutant simultaneously restore the rate of ant gene expression and ant mRNA stability. They all have deletions that remove all or part of the class II Tn1 sequence. In one case, the Tn1 sequence retained shows a potential 15 bp stem and 8 bp loop conformation, in the other cases, no secondary structure is predicted to form. The results of the Tn1 deletion mutants suggest that the stem-and-loop structures and the length of stems potentially formed by the Tn1 sequences in mRNA may affect its stability

The evolution of the birth control movement in the United States

The evolution of the birth control movement in the United States is the focus of this dissertation. The period of emphasis is 1873 to the present, though earlier history is briefly dealt with. The research method used was an extensive library search of the literature, followed by categorization and analysis of the data. The birth control movement was found to adapt to the sociological model of social movements and was discussed within this context. Two parallel movements were found to be of importance: the birth control movement itself and the population control movement. The orientations and relationships between these two movements are analyzed, as is the effect on government and public attitudes. Other components of the birth control movement are also delineated and dealt with in this dissertation. These components include social and political attitudes, economic issues, the role of the judiciary, the religious influence, and the development of a funding base. The major findings of this research are related to birth control as a social movement. First, until the 1970s it was found that the birth control movement, advocating individual rights, held the dominant emphasis. However, it appears that the population control movement is gaining influence as public awareness and concern increases. This is due in part to the gradual institutionalization of the birth control movement, that is, it has been absorbed into the societal structure as a necessary and functional part of society. Second, is the transition of birth control from the shadow of illegality it experienced at the turn of the century to the legal and respectable position of the 1970s. Third, the research also revealed the pattern of change regarding federal funding. This pattern indicated essentially no federal funds before the 1960s, a sharp increase and plateau during that decade, and finally decline in funds in the 1970s. The major conclusion of this thesis is that the birth control movement has been a dynamic and important part of the twentieth century. It has had a notable impact on this society and it portends more social change and impact for the future

Cultivating Native Plants: The Legal Pitfalls

Volume: 47Start Page: 20End Page: 2

ec1577trees.pdf

This publication includes growing information, suggested plant combinations, and color photos of dozens of western Oregon native plants

Gardening with Oregon native plants west of the Cascades

This publication includes growing information, suggested plant combinations, and color photos of dozens of western Oregon native plants.Keywords: groundcovers, trees, shrubs, native plants, annuals, herbaceous perennials and ferns, plant selectionPublished October 2005. Reviewed August 2012. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

ec1577annuals.pdf

This publication includes growing information, suggested plant combinations, and color photos of dozens of western Oregon native plants