Everything’s Bigger in Texas: Examining the Mandatory (and Additional) Financial Burden of Postsecondary Education

Student fees remain an under-researched aspect of postsecondary education and finance (Kelchen, 2016). This study examines the mandatory and additional fees charged to full-time, in-state undergraduate students by public and private not-for-profit four-year institutions in Texas (n=96). Findings demonstrate the average four-year institution in Texas charges over $1,500 per academic year in mandatory fees,$500 higher than the national average. Moreover, private institutions charge an average of $1,100 less than publics, while fees comprise 6.8% of the total cost of attendance at private and 29.1% at publics. Institutions of higher education compose fee explanations above the 12th-grade reading level and only 5.2% of the sample provided fee explanations in a language other than English, thus further marginalizing non-English speaking language populations in Texas. Implications for policy makers, practitioners, and future research are addressed.Educatio

Marble Painting with Veterans to Help Symptoms of PTSD in the Mind and Body

This study is a neurologically-based art therapy treatment investigation to better understand if marble painting can help reduce the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Three marbling painting sessions were conducted over three weeks. The group focused on the main goals which included discovering a rhythm while using fast or slow movements, focusing on this rhythm and become aware of any emotion felt during the process. The participants were encouraged to make a series of marble paintings and to experiment with different colors. The observations found from this study suggest that marble painting should be used as an art therapy treatment for those with PTSD to reduce arousal and frustration. Keywords: veterans, art therapy, marble painting, PTS

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) increases in plasma and colon tissue prior to estrus and circulating levels change with increasing age in reproductively competent Wistar rats

There is a well-documented association between cyclic changes to food intake and the changing ovarian hormone levels of the reproductive cycle in female mammals. Limited research on appetite-controlling gastrointestinal peptides has taken place in females, simply because regular reproductive changes in steroid hormones present additional experimental factors to account for. This study focussed directly on the roles that gastrointestinal-secreted peptides may have in these reported, naturally occurring, changes to food intake during the rodent estrous cycle and aimed to determine whether peripheral changes occurred in the anorexigenic (appetite-reducing) hormones peptide-YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) in female Wistar rats (32-44 weeks of age). Total forms of each peptide were measured in matched fed and fasted plasma and descending colon tissue samples for each animal during the dark (feeding) phase. PYY concentrations did not significantly change between defined cycle stages, in either plasma or tissue samples. GLP-1 concentrations in fed plasma and descending colon tissue were significantly increased during proestrus, just prior to a significant reduction in fasted stomach contents at estrus, suggesting increased satiety and reduced food intake at this stage of the cycle. Increased proestrus GLP-1 concentrations could contribute to the reported reduction in food intake during estrus and may also have biological importance in providing the optimal nutritional and metabolic environment for gametes at the potential point of conception. Additional analysis of the findings demonstrated significant interactions of ovarian cycle stage and fed/fasted status with age on GLP-1, but not PYY plasma concentrations. Slightly older females had reduced fed plasma GLP-1 suggesting that a relaxation of regulatory control of this incretin hormone may also take place with increasing age in reproductively competent females

A Naturalistic Study of Narrative: Exploring the Choice and Impact of Adversity Versus Other Narrative Topics

Objective: Many narrative interventions require participants to write about trauma and adverse experiences, but some research suggests that open-ended topic prompts can also be effective. In this study, we investigated the topics participants chose to write about in a values-narrative program that offered wide discretion in topic and theme, and explored how that was associated with perceptions of investment and impact. Method: Participants were 717 individuals (68% women) from the rural South, United States who had participated in a values-narrative program. Results: Almost half of the narratives (44%) focused on an adverse experience as part of the development of their personal values. Other personal stories were also common (37%), and only 19% wrote a narrative not connected to a personal life experience. Participants who had more exposure to family or peer victimization were more likely to write about adversity. Participants who wrote about adversity and shared their narratives with others reported more positive and fewer negative impacts. Encouragement and more time writing were also associated with better outcomes. Conclusion: When given the choice of essay topic, participants who chose to write about an adverse event were likely to have had a more meaningful writing experience. Values narratives offer a potentially important opportunity for incorporating narrative into primary prevention programs, because they can be used with groups that include individuals who have and have not experienced adversity. Narratives have been shown to be a powerful psychological intervention and expanding to primary prevention holds considerable promise. Further, they do not require prior disclosure of adversity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

The Activities Of Herbicide Safeners In Wheat (Triticum aestivum L)

Commercialised herbicide safeners (also known as protectants or antidotes) are synthetic chemicals used to enhance herbicide tolerance in cereal crops. They do this by causing an up-regulation in xenobiotic detoxifying enzymes such as glutathione transferases (GSTs). Seedlings of wheat (Triticum aestivum cv ‘Einstein’) were sprayed with the safeners cloquintocet mexyl, fenchlorazole ethyl and mefenpyr diethyl. All three compounds caused an identical up regulation of GSTs from the phi, tau and lambda classes, despite their differences in chemistry. Using cloquintocet mexyl as a classic wheat safener treatment, it was found that GST induction was both dose and time dependent. Safening was found to be associated with the rapid hydrolysis of the parent ester to cloquintocet acid. When the free acid was tested, the GST-induction response obtained was identical to that determined with the parent ester, suggesting that cloquintocet itself is the active safener. GST induction was found to be tissue specific within the wheat shoots, with the lambda GSTs being preferentially expressed in the meristematic tissue. Proteomic 2 D gel analysis revealed that the tau TaGSTU3 was a major up-regulated GST. In addition, six GSTs that were previously shown in literature to be up-regulated by herbicide safeners in wheat were cloned, expressed and characterized as the respective recombinant enzymes and renamed to bring them in line with existing nomenclature. The GSTs cloned included TaGSTU3, TaGSTU6, TaGSTF4, TaGSTF10 and TaGSTL1. Metabolism studies showed that following the hydrolysis of cloquintocet mexyl, no further down- stream metabolites could be identified and none of the up-regulated GSTs showed any activity toward the safener. However TaGSTU3 was found to bind and be inhibited by cloquintocet free acid as determined by isothermal titration calorimetry. Safener treatment also led to a transient inhibition of GST activity in crude wheat extracts after spraying the seedlings. In addition to the induction of GSTs, safener treatments also resulted in an enhanced growth of wheat seedlings. The work presented in this thesis confirms that very different compounds can induce apparently identical downstream events at the level of GST enhancement and that these induction events underpin wider changes in plant physiology

Exploring Negative Sexual Experiences, Attitudes, and Behaviors by Auditory Status

Sexual assault is a significant problem on college campuses across the United States and an extensive amount of research has been conducted to address the issue. However, only a limited number of empirical studies have examined sexual victimization among the Deaf and hard of hearing population. Using a survey instrument with a sample of Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing students (n = 3,970) at the Rochester Institute of Technology, this study examined the associations between auditory status, prior sexual victimization, rape myths and behaviors. The results showed that Deaf and hard of hearing students are more likely to experience sexual victimization than hearing students. Findings also indicate significant differences between Deaf and hard of hearing students (DHH) and hearing students in regard to rape supportive attitudes and behaviors. Finally and unexpectedly, the analyses found that previous sexual victimization increased rape supportive attitudes towards and behaviors associated with date rape. Implications and directions for further research are discussed

PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH PREGNANT OR NONPREGNANT MARES GRAZING PASTURES OF ORCHARDGRASS-BLUEGRASS, KENTUCKY 31 TALL FESCUE INFECTED WITH \u3cem\u3eEPICHLOË COENOPHIALA\u3c/em\u3e, OR KYFA9821 TALL FESCUE INFECTED WITH THE NOVEL ENDOPHYTE AR584

Kentucky 31 tall fescue (KY31) infected with the common toxic endophyte strains of Epichloё coenophiala produces toxic alkaloids that improve plant vigor, but cause numerous adverse effects in grazing animals. Researchers developed a variety of KY31 containing an alternative strain of E. coenophiala, termed novel endophyte (NE). Adverse health effects in mares have not been evaluated. Experiments in this thesis tested the hypothesis that the NE pasture does not cause adverse effects typically associated with KY31. Specific aims were to: 1) compare forage ergovaline concentrations between KY31 vs NE pastures; 2) evaluate palmar artery diameters in mares grazing KY31, NE, or orchardgrass-bluegrass (OGBG) pastures; 3) determine mare serum prolactin, estradiol, and progesterone concentrations associated with ingesting each pasture type over time; and 4) measure foaling outcomes, including percentage of live foals, foal birth weights, and foal growth rates. In 2015, six nonpregnant mares grazed KY31, six pregnant mares grazed NE and six pregnant mares grazed OGBG pastures. In 2016, eighteen mares were used; six mares grazed each pasture type. Study results showed that ergovaline did not appear to be produced by NE. Novel endophyte pasture did not have negative effects on palmar artery diameter, reproductive hormones, or foaling outcomes

Feasibility and Acceptability of an English-as-a-Second Language Curriculum on Hepatitis B for Older Chinese American Immigrants

Asian immigrants to the U.S. have an increased prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection compared to native born individuals; an estimated 10 percent of Chinese immigrants are infected with HBV. Using qualitative data from focus groups, we developed an English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) curriculum that aimed to improve knowledge about key hepatitis B facts. The curriculum was pilot-tested among 56 students aged 50 and older from intermediate-level ESL classes at a community-based organization that serves Chinese immigrants. Post-curriculum data showed increases in knowledge that hepatitis B can cause liver cancer (73% at pre-test vs. 91% at post-test; p value = 0.01) and that individuals can be infected with hepatitis B for life (34% vs. 81%; p valu