A Toolkit for Coaching Teachers

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University by Hannah M. Scott on April 14, 2021

MicroRNAs in Aldosterone Production and Action

The secretion of aldosterone by the adrenal cortex is a tightly regulated process. Loss of this control can result in severe hypertension and end-organ damage, so detailed understanding of the various mechanisms by which the body regulates aldosterone biosynthesis is key. The emergence of microRNAs (miRNAs) as negative regulators of numerous physiological processes has naturally led to their study in the context of aldosterone production. We summarise several studies that have demonstrated a significant role for microRNAs in aldosterone biosynthesis and action, thereby presenting a possible therapeutic role in the treatment of common forms of hypertension such as primary aldosteronism. Furthermore, the presence of microRNAs in the circulation offers the prospect of accessible and informative biomarkers that may simplify the currently protracted and technically difficult diagnosis of such conditions

Measuring the Economic Benefit of Extension Leadership Programs: McLeod for Tomorrow

Extension-led leadership programs provide economic benefits. Historically, evaluators have struggled to quantify these benefits as compared to costs. Further, leadership programs have both public and private value, which are difficult to quantify. To address gaps in understanding the value of leadership development programs, we quantified the economic benefit of the McLeod for Tomorrow leadership program. Through an alumni survey and a mind-mapping session, we collected data on the program\u27s public and private benefits. Our findings show that each dollar invested creates $5.60 in economic benefit and that public value exceeds private value. Our article provides insights into methods for quantifying benefits of Extension programs, regardless of specialization or location

Sustainability evaluation of community-based, solar photovoltaic projects in Malawi

Background: A novel project sustainability framework is used to evaluate 65 off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) energy system projects in Malawi. This study addresses PV projects serving rural public facilities, a solution known to have had historical issues with poor sustainability. A recent countrywide program targeting such facilities was evaluated against existing projects to determine whether this latest iteration offered better results. Method: Sustainability is defined at the project-level with metrics justified under the main themes of technical, economic, social, and organizational. Data captured for each project is based on a custom survey and interview of key stakeholders. Projects are grouped according to age, project implementer, income level, and PV system size to compare relative results. Results: The sustainability outlook for each project is evaluated. We find sustainability for most projects to be low. Social sustainability was weak with many projects due to low local community stakeholder engagement in terms of numbers of stakeholders, meeting frequency, and community contributions. Organizational challenges included a lack of key management positions in place and extremely limited training provisions. Furthermore, the evaluation highlights the economic health of the system to be key to sustainability, with the "healthiest" projects affording only 37% of expected operations and maintenance costs. Relative to expected demand, systems were found to be undersized for both panels (53% of required) and batteries (57%). Users reported achieving only 60% of their desired consumption. Poor sizing standards related to the lack of load profiles for first-time electricity users as well as poor quality components reduced the overall technical sustainability. Conclusion: Rural public facilities with solar PV in Malawi are not well served by isolated community management. Improved sustainability requires the establishment of a robust financial framework prior to project development that includes formal local government support. This paper discusses ideal management frameworks and their ultimate implications for project developers, policy makers, and the research community

Hidden from sight - from the closet to the paywall:A rapid evaluation of restricted and monetized access to LGBTQ+ inclusive palliative, end-of-life, and bereavement care research

Introduction: LGBTQ+ people experience higher burdens of life-limiting illnesses, poorer health outcomes, and multilevel barriers to accessing palliative, end-of-life, and bereavement care. High quality evidence is needed to inform interventions to address these inequities, and inform inclusive practices and policies. Despite global initiatives to improve availability of peer-reviewed journal articles, the minority of research is open access (OA). We aimed to evaluate accessibility of literature related to LGBTQ+ inclusive palliative, end-of-life, and bereavement care. Methods: A rapid review of the evidence regarding LGBTQ+ inclusive palliative, end-of-life, and bereavement care was conducted; OA status of identified articles was assessed. Articles from three published systematic reviews were included (2012, 2016, and 2020). Review articles were updated using the original search and inclusion/exclusion strategies. Results: 66 articles related to LGBTQ+ inclusive palliative, end-of-life and bereavement care were identified between 1990-2022. Of these, only 21% (n=14) were OA. Of the OA articles, 79% were published between 2017 and 2022, and 50% were published between 2020-2022, reflecting more recent shifts towards OA publishing. Discussion: Health and social care professionals and policy makers rely on access to high quality evidence to inform their work. Failing to make articles related to the needs of LGBTQ+ people and populations OA risks further marginalisation and worsened inequities. Innovative journal policies and funding are needed to enable access, particularly for research that foregrounds the needs of marginalised communities. Where articles are currently behind paywalls, there is a need for accessible summaries or policy briefs to inform inclusive policy and practice.</p

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Activities in Illinois to Reduce Canada Goose Impacts on Lake Michigan

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), led by the Environmental Protection Agency, was created in 2010 to address threats to the Great Lakes region. A convenient year-round water source and abundant food source of managed turf grass has resulted in an overabundance of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) in Chicago City Parks within the watershed of Lake Michigan. The anthropogenic mediated benefit to goose populations and their associated damages qualifies Canada geese in Chicago as native invaders-where a native species is human induced to behave similar to invasive species. The objective of this project is to provide a long-term strategy to protect vegetation and reduce non-point source contamination from entering the nearshore waters of Lake Michigan, and as a byproduct improve human enjoyment of the parks. To accomplish this goal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services (WS) program in cooperation with the Chicago Park District (CPD) continued, for the sixth year, to manage overabundant Canada goose populations in CPD parks with funding provided by GLRI. Between 2011 and 2016, we applied food grade corn oil to all Canada goose nests found within 24 sensitive lakefront parks in Chicago and successfully reduced hatching success and subsequent fledging. The number of nests found and treated during 2012 through 2016 has consistently been less than during the initial year of egg oiling in 2011. In March 2016, we treated a total of 115 nests containing 676 eggs with corn oil to prevent hatching; compared to 159 nests and 892 eggs in 2011. We applied a chemical application of the Anthraquinone-based foraging repellent, FlightControl® PLUS (FCP) to the grass every 3 weeks in 6 parks in an attempt to discourage geese from foraging and loafing in locations that directly drain into the nearshore water of Lake Michigan. To gauge the effectiveness of the FCP applications, we performed goose presence/behavior surveys in the 6 treated parks. The surveys helped to obtain a better understanding of how many geese were utilizing the untreated and treated areas and how many of those geese were consuming grass on the FCP treated areas. The surveys demonstrated that more geese used untreated areas compared to treated areas of the parks. A total of 5,511 geese were observed (3,221 in the untreated areas and 2,290 in the treated areas) during the survey period. While geese may be present in the treated areas, only 40% of all geese consumed grass in treated areas. Alternatively, 58% of all geese present in the untreated areas consumed grass. The surveys also showed that FCP treatments became less effective each week post spraying. The mean number of geese present and feeding in the treated areas showed a diminishing effectiveness from the FCP spraying on the treated areas across weeks. The statistical results confirmed this strong week-post-spray by treatment interaction. 21 The disparity in numbers of geese actually consuming grass within the treated versus untreated areas reflects that the FCP treatments were effective at deterring geese from consuming grass in FCP treated areas, but did not necessarily result in the birds dispersing away from FCP treated vegetation. Future applications of FCP are recommended where high concentrations of geese congregate on sensitive habitats or in areas of high public use along the lakefront. Continued population management through egg oiling is recommended to help prevent further environmental contamination and soil erosion in this sensitive Lake Michigan environment

Response of Sorghum Enhanced in Monolignol Biosynthesis to Stalk Rot Pathogens

To increase phenylpropanoid constituents and energy content in the versatile C4 grass sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench), sorghum genes for protiens related to monolignol biosynthesis were overexpressed: SbMyb60 (transcriptional activator), SbPAL (phenylalanine ammonia ase), Bmr2 (4-coumarate: CoA ligase), and SbC3H (coumaroyl shikimate 3-hydroxylase). Overexpression lines were evaluted for responses to stalk pahtogens under greenhouse and field conditions. Greenhouse-grown plants were inoculated with Fusarium thapsinum (Fusarium stalk rot) and Macrophomia phaseolina (charocal rot), which cause yield-reducing diseases. F. thapsinum-inoculated overexpression plants had mean lesion lengths not significantly different than wild-type, except for significantly smaller lesions on two of three SbMyb60 and one of two SbCCoAOMT lines. M. phaseolina-inoculated expression lines had lesions not significantly different from wild-type except one SbPAL line (of two lines studied) with mean lesion lengths significantly larger. Field-grown SbMyb60 and SbCCoAOMT overexpression plants were inoculated with F. thapsinum. Mean lesions of SbMyb60 lines were similar to wild-type, one SbCCoAOMT had larger lesions, whereas the other line was not significantly different than wild-type. Because overexpression of SbMyb60, Bmr2, or SbC3H may not render sorghum more supceptible to stalk rots, these lines may provide sources for development of sorghum with increased phenylpropaniod concentrations