Implementation Of An Early College Design In A Rural High School: Empowering Place-Conscious Leadership To Affect Change And Overcome Barriers To Innovation

This qualitative, improvement science, autoethnograpic case study aims to examine a unique perspective on rural research through the lens of place-conscious leadership. With an identified problem of inequity in advanced-level course offerings, which resulted in lost student opportunities and student attrition to neighboring schools, the leadership at Forest Lakes High School (FLHS) in rural South Carolina began the ambitious journey of reframing their narrative. As a scholarly researcher and administrator at FLHS, I had the unique opportunity to immerse myself fully in all aspects of this study. My dual positionality allowed me to study this process while sharing the lived experiences of the leadership team. This study tells our story of conceptualizing, creating, and maintaining the Forest Lakes Early College High School (FLECHS) program. Through leadership team interviews, researcher observations, personal experiences, and program artifacts, this study details the experiences of the FLECHS leadership team as we utilized the “plan, do, study, act” cyclical process of the improvement science model. As the processes surrounding the creation of the early college high school unfolded, the leadership team identified a sequence of steps we addressed before moving forward into the next phase of our arduous task. I categorized these steps into the three main phases of this study, planning and development, implementation, and sustainability. Within the narrative of each step, I discuss efforts, highlight successes, and present lessons learned by the team. From these steps, I selected the three most significant areas identified as pivotal elements in the program’s success. The first, creating coalitions, tells of the importance we placed in building supporting coalitions with the community, the school district, and the partnering institution. Next, throughout each semester of the early college program, we worked through a continuous process of evolving the curriculum to meet the student’s needs. Finally, the area of identifying, hiring, and retaining highly-qualified instructors presented a recurring area requiring extensive work and effort. The implications of this study suggest that the impact of developing and implementing an advanced program in a rural setting is transformational to a school and community by successfully increasing equitable opportunities for historically underserved rural students. The notable outcomes at Forest Lakes High School included an increase in advanced course offerings from one course in 2017 to ten courses in 2022 and, more importantly, a decrease in student attrition from approximately 7% in 2016 to slightly over 1% in 2022. I suggest that educational leaders seeking to implement similar programs might utilize this study\u27s experiences as a guide when considering a similar endeavor

Development of sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers linked to race-specific resistance to Striga gesnerioides in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.)

An amplified fragement length polymorphism (AFLP) fragment, E-ACT/M-CAA524, tightly linked to the Striga gesnerioides race 1 (SG1) resistance gene Rsg-2-1 in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) was isolated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, cloned, and its nucleotide sequence determined. Based on the resulting sequence information, a pair of sequence specific primers were designed and used to isolate identical and similar fragments from cowpea genomic DNA of different cowpea lines by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. The primers amplified a ~500 bp fragment (SCAR marker designated as 61R) that was present in the resistant parent TVU14676, absent in susceptible parent IT84S-2246, and segregated with the resistance phenotype in an F2 population, derived from a cross of these two genotypes. The same primers were used to isolate a fragment similar to 61R from another S. gesnerioides resistant line Kvx 61-1. The sequence of this fragment was used to design a new combination of primers that developed a second SCAR marker, designated as 61R-M2. Subsequent analysis of the three markers, E-ACT/M-CAA524, 61R and 61M2 showed that they are linked to each other by 0.6 centimorgans (cM). The utility of these SCARs in marker assisted selection programs for cowpea was discussed.Keywords: Striga gesnerioides, centimorgans (cM), race specific resistance, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR), marker assisted selection (MAS

Picocyanobacteria and deep-ocean fluorescent dissolved organic matter share similar optical properties

Marine chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and its related fluorescent components (FDOM), which are widely distributed but highly photobleached in the surface ocean, are critical in regulating light attenuation in the ocean. However, the origins of marine FDOM are still under investigation. Here we show that cultured picocyanobacteria, Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus, release FDOM that closely match the typical fluorescent signals found in oceanic environments. Picocyanobacterial FDOM also shows comparable apparent fluorescent quantum yields and undergoes similar photo-degradation behaviour when compared with deep-ocean FDOM, further strengthening the similarity between them. Ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy reveal abundant nitrogen-containing compounds in Synechococcus DOM, which may originate from degradation products of the fluorescent phycobilin pigments. Given the importance of picocyanobacteria in the global carbon cycle, our results indicate that picocyanobacteria are likely to be important sources of marine autochthonous FDOM, which may accumulate in the deep ocean

Does case misclassification threaten the validity of studies investigating the relationship between neck manipulation and vertebral artery dissection stroke? No

Background: The purported relationship between cervical manipulative therapy (CMT) and stroke related to vertebral artery dissection (VAD) has been debated for several decades. A large number of publications, from case reports to case–control studies, have investigated this relationship. A recent article suggested that case misclassification in the case–control studies on this topic resulted in biased odds ratios in those studies. Discussion: Given its rarity, the best epidemiologic research design for investigating the relationship between CMT and VAD is the case–control study. The addition of a case-crossover aspect further strengthens the scientific rigor of such studies by reducing bias. The most recent studies investigating the relationship between CMT and VAD indicate that the relationship is not causal. In fact, a comparable relationship between vertebral artery-related stroke and visits to a primary care physician has been observed. The statistical association between visits to chiropractors and VAD can best be explained as resulting from a patient with early manifestation of VAD (neck pain with or without headache) seeking the services of a chiropractor for relief of this pain. Sometime after the visit the patient experiences VAD-related stroke that would have occurred regardless of the care received. This explanation has been challenged by a recent article putting forth the argument that case misclassification is likely to have biased the odds ratios of the case–control studies that have investigated the association between CMT and vertebral artery related stroke. The challenge particularly focused on one of the case–control studies, which had concluded that the association between CMT and vertebral artery related stroke was not causal. It was suggested by the authors of the recent article that misclassification led to an underestimation of risk. We argue that the information presented in that article does not support the authors’ claim for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the assumptions upon which their analysis is based lack substantiation and the fact that any possible misclassification would not have changed the conclusion of the study in question. Conclusion: Current evidence does not support the notion that misclassification threatens the validity of recent case–control studies investigating the relationship between CMT and VAD. Hence, the recent re-analysis cannot refute the conclusion from previous studies that CMT is not a cause of VAD.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-016-0124-

Longitudinal Health Outcomes and Treatment Utilization Among Emerging, Early-Mid, and Older Rural Adults Using Stimulants

There is limited knowledge about age-related differences in health outcomes and treatment utilization among rural stimulant users. The current study examined physical health, mental health, and treatment utilization (hospital, mental health, and substance use care) among 710 stimulant users living in rural areas of the United States. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to examine associations between age and physical health, mental health, and treatment utilization over a 3-year period. Analyses controlled for participants’ gender, race, and education. To capture age-related differences, participants were grouped into emerging adults (18–25 years old, n = 223), early-mid adults (26–44 years old; n = 384), and older adults (45–61 years old; n = 103). At baseline, older stimulant users were in significantly poorer health even though they had significantly fewer substance use problems than emerging adult users. GEE models indicated that substance use outcomes improved for all participants over the course of the study but other outcomes remained stable. Older stimulant users continued to have worse physical health and mental health, even though they had fewer substance use problems, than the other age groups. Older adults also used more hospital and mental health services than the other age groups. White participants tended to be at higher risk for negative outcomes than nonwhite participants. We conclude that rural older adults who use stimulants have poor health despite having milder substance use problems and using more health care resources, and need targeted intervention to improve health outcomes

CGKB: an annotation knowledge base for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) methylation filtered genomic genespace sequences

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cowpea [<it>Vigna unguiculata </it>(L.) Walp.] is one of the most important food and forage legumes in the semi-arid tropics because of its ability to tolerate drought and grow on poor soils. It is cultivated mostly by poor farmers in developing countries, with 80% of production taking place in the dry savannah of tropical West and Central Africa. Cowpea is largely an underexploited crop with relatively little genomic information available for use in applied plant breeding. The goal of the Cowpea Genomics Initiative (CGI), funded by the Kirkhouse Trust, a UK-based charitable organization, is to leverage modern molecular genetic tools for gene discovery and cowpea improvement. One aspect of the initiative is the sequencing of the gene-rich region of the cowpea genome (termed the genespace) recovered using methylation filtration technology and providing annotation and analysis of the sequence data.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>CGKB, Cowpea Genespace/Genomics Knowledge Base, is an annotation knowledge base developed under the CGI. The database is based on information derived from 298,848 cowpea genespace sequences (GSS) isolated by methylation filtering of genomic DNA. The CGKB consists of three knowledge bases: GSS annotation and comparative genomics knowledge base, GSS enzyme and metabolic pathway knowledge base, and GSS simple sequence repeats (SSRs) knowledge base for molecular marker discovery. A homology-based approach was applied for annotations of the GSS, mainly using BLASTX against four public FASTA formatted protein databases (NCBI GenBank Proteins, UniProtKB-Swiss-Prot, UniprotKB-PIR (Protein Information Resource), and UniProtKB-TrEMBL). Comparative genome analysis was done by BLASTX searches of the cowpea GSS against four plant proteomes from <it>Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Medicago truncatula</it>, and <it>Populus trichocarpa</it>. The possible exons and introns on each cowpea GSS were predicted using the HMM-based Genscan gene predication program and the potential domains on annotated GSS were analyzed using the HMMER package against the Pfam database. The annotated GSS were also assigned with Gene Ontology annotation terms and integrated with 228 curated plant metabolic pathways from the <it>Arabidopsis </it>Information Resource (TAIR) knowledge base. The UniProtKB-Swiss-Prot ENZYME database was used to assign putative enzymatic function to each GSS. Each GSS was also analyzed with the Tandem Repeat Finder (TRF) program in order to identify potential SSRs for molecular marker discovery. The raw sequence data, processed annotation, and SSR results were stored in relational tables designed in key-value pair fashion using a PostgreSQL relational database management system. The biological knowledge derived from the sequence data and processed results are represented as views or materialized views in the relational database management system. All materialized views are indexed for quick data access and retrieval. Data processing and analysis pipelines were implemented using the Perl programming language. The web interface was implemented in JavaScript and Perl CGI running on an Apache web server. The CPU intensive data processing and analysis pipelines were run on a computer cluster of more than 30 dual-processor Apple XServes. A job management system called Vela was created as a robust way to submit large numbers of jobs to the Portable Batch System (PBS).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>CGKB is an integrated and annotated resource for cowpea GSS with features of homology-based and HMM-based annotations, enzyme and pathway annotations, GO term annotation, toolkits, and a large number of other facilities to perform complex queries. The cowpea GSS, chloroplast sequences, mitochondrial sequences, retroelements, and SSR sequences are available as FASTA formatted files and downloadable at CGKB. This database and web interface are publicly accessible at <url>http://cowpeagenomics.med.virginia.edu/CGKB/</url>.</p

Combining Experiment and Theory to Elucidate the Role of Supercritical Water in Sulfide Decomposition

The cleavage of C–S linkages plays a key role in fuel processing and organic geochemistry. Water is known to affect these processes, and several hypotheses have been proposed, but the mechanism has been elusive. Here we use both experiment and theory to demonstrate that supercritical water reacts with intermediates formed during alkyl sulfide decomposition. During hexyl sulfide decomposition in supercritical water, pentane and CO + CO2 were detected in addition to the expected six carbon products. A multi-step reaction sequence for hexyl sulfide reacting with supercritical water is proposed which explains the surprising products, and quantum chemical calculations provide quantitative rates that support the proposed mechanism. The key sequence is cleavage of one C–S bond to form a thioaldehyde via radical reactions, followed by a pericyclic addition of water to the CS bond to form a geminal mercaptoalcohol. The mercaptoalcohol decomposes into an aldehyde and H2S either directly or via a water-catalyzed 6-membered ring transition state. The aldehyde quickly decomposes into CO plus pentane by radical reactions. The time is ripe for quantitative modelling of organosulfur reaction kinetics based on modern quantum chemistry