School Schedules and Their Impact on Teacher Job Satisfaction

This action research project examined how the school schedule impacts teacher job satisfaction at a Christian School in southwest British Columbia, Canada. The participants were a selection of six teachers of various discipline areas and years of experience. The six teachers were interviewed about what aspects of the schedule either positively or negatively impact their job satisfaction. The results of the study indicated four key themes connecting schedules and job satisfaction: school politics, relationships, teacher workload, and teaching style. Within each of these themes, there were aspects that positively impacted teacher job satisfaction and aspects that negatively impacted teacher job satisfaction

Impact and Management of the Mexican Rice Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Bioenergy Crop Agroecosystems

The Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini (Dyar) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is an invasive stem borer pest of sugarcane, rice, corn, and sorghum, and poses a threat to the production of dedicated bioenergy feedstocks in the U. S. Gulf Coast region. Studies were conducted to assess insect-plant interactions between E. loftini and bioenergy and conventional cultivars of sugarcane and sorghum, including yield response, oviposition preference, and host suitability. In addition, the efficacy of select cultural and biological control tactics to manage E. loftini in these crops was assessed. Bioenergy sugarcane (energycane) and sweet sorghum exhibited reduced E. loftini injury; however, these crops sustained greater losses in fresh stalk weight. Negative impacts to sucrose concentration from E. loftini injury were greatest in energycane, high-biomass sorghum, and sweet sorghum cultivars. Eoreuma loftini eggs per plant and eggs per oviposition event were greater on mature plants than immature plants. On a crop type basis, sweet sorghum was preferred over sugarcane and high-biomass sorghum when measuring eggs per plant. The mortality-survival ratio during the neonatal stage was greater in immature sugarcane cultivar HoCP 85-845 and high-biomass cultivar ES 5200. The percentage of bored internodes increased with higher nitrogen (N) rates. Yields indicated that N rate was positively associated with increases in stalk weight and ethanol productivity, but not sucrose concentration. Because higher N rates were associated with increased yields, our data suggest that increases in yield from additional N outweigh decreases from additional E. loftini injury. Populations of S. invicta reduced percent relative survival of E. loftini by 0.1% per increase unit increase of S. invicta; however, reductions in the percentage of bored internodes and adult emergence holes were not detected. Reductions in E. loftini injury from S. invicta were not detected in transects of johnsongrass. This research showed that select cultivars of bioenergy sugarcane and sorghum can be more resistant than conventional sugarcane and sorghum, demonstrating their compatibility in the Gulf Coast region. Because bioenergy crops are less tolerant to E. loftini in some instances, proper management practices should be continued, including judicial fertilization and conservation of natural enemies

Relationships between perceptions of conducting effectiveness and ensemble performance

Conducting is a complex art which involves, among other things, effective nonverbal communication. And, while this communication includes hand and arm gestures as well as eye contact and facial expression, it also encompasses nonverbal messages sent by the rest of a conductor's body such as their physical appearance. Perceptions drawn by what a person looks like and how well they fit the stereotypical role they are portraying oftentimes affects opinions of their job performance. Thus, the nonverbal messages sent by a conductor's physical appearance could affect ensemble member's opinions of them as a conductor. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between conductor body type and perceptions of conductor effectiveness and ensemble performance. Further, relationships between the conductor's visual appearance characteristics, which included eye contact, facial expression, and posture, and performance ratings, evaluator confidence in the conductor and performance ratings, and overall conductor effectiveness and performance ratings were explored. It was found that body type of the conductor as well as gender and college major of the evaluator did not effect the ratings of conductor and ensemble performances. However, performance ratings were affected when conductors were viewed in a certain order. There were moderate to moderately strong relationships between the performance ratings and conductor posture, conductor facial expression, evaluator's confidence in the conductor, overall conducting effectiveness. Eye contact, however, did not seem to impact the performance ratings to a great degree

The effect of colony structure on intracolony food distribution in the odorous house ant (Tapinoma sessile) as revealed by a protein marker

Colony structure in the odorous house ant Tapinoma sessile (Say) expresses a wide variety of spatial configurations, in contrast to other species of Hymenoptera. Colonies range from small single nest units to large multinest supercolonies. The polygynous nature of the odorous house ant, coupled with its ability to establish supercolonies proves to be a substantial obstacle in pest management operations, as the elimination of all nests is required to fully prevent reemergence. To improve the efficacy of baiting techniques, analysis on the distribution of food throughout the colony is required. We examined the effect of colony spatial organization on intracolony food distribution using laboratory and field colonies of odorous house ant. Sucrose water spiked with rabbit IgG was presented to colonies containing a single nest (monodomy) or multiple nests (polydomy), while also adjusting the quantity and location of food in relation to the colony. In lab trials, workers and queens were collected at 1h and 8h after an allotted feeding period, and analyzed using DAS-ELISA to determine the percentage of individuals testing positive for the marker. Monodomous colonies exhibited a higher percentage of positive workers (~79%) as compared to polydomous colonies. For both monodomous and polydomous colonies, a higher percentage of individuals scored positive for the IgG marker after 8h due to the increased amount of time for nestmates to spread the marker throughout the colony via trophallaxis. Queens received less sucrose water than the workers, with no queens scoring positive for the marker when food was not present in close proximity, thus hinting the possibility of a delayed feeding behavior. In turn, field colonies were presented with aliquots of IgG spiked sucrose water for a 2h period, followed by successive sampling at 2h, 8h, and 24h intervals in order to detect the level of food distribution. Nests with food in close proximity exhibited positive percentages as high as 57% after 2h, but dropped to only 5% after 24h, indicating dilution of the marker through prolonged trophallactic exchange. These effects were less profound when each nest was presented with sucrose water. Higher levels of food distribution were expressed in colonies presented with replete donors as opposed to aliquots, with positive samples as high as 57% at 2h and 32% after 24h. Results from both laboratory and field can contribute to our knowledge of food movement in urban populations of the odorous house ant, which in turn will allow for improved baiting strategies

Editorial note

Giorgos Tsiris - ORCID: 0000-0001-9421-412X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9421-412XItem not available in this repository.https://www.isme.org/other-publications/isme-special-music-education-and-music-therapy-2020-online-pre-conference-seminarpubpu

Proceedings of the 23rd International Seminar of the Commission on Special Music Education and Music Therapy. Special Music Centre Resonaari, Helsinki, Finland, 29-31 July

Giorgos Tsiris - ORCID: 0000-0001-9421-412X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9421-412XItem not available in this repository.www.isme.orghttps://www.isme.org/sites/default/files/documents/proceedings/Kimberly%20VanWeelden%20-%202020%20Proceedings_Final%20Revisions_11.27.2020.pdfpubpu