Involving Students in Securing a Future for Fraternal Organizations

Started in 2002, the Fraternal Futures initiative offers students, staff, faculty, and general community members a new way to think about change in fraternities and sororities. The project models the National Issues Forum (NIF) deliberations, a process where participants are encouraged to engage in a different way of framing complex issues. Fraternal Futures deliberations offer participants a chance to discuss change strategies from various lenses, recognizing that a typical debate style of conversation often leaves many participants unhappy and does not address the intricacies that go along with tough decisions. With over 1,100 student participants at ten different colleges/universities, results from Fraternal Futures indicate that if serious change is to occur in fraternal life, it must begin by engaging students in authentic, meaningful conversations. Further results denote that students are not only willing to have these conversations, but many students become more informed, committed, and reflective in their actions as a outcome of their participation in the program

Pulsed coulometric detection with automatic rejection of background signal in surface-oxide catalyzed anodic detections at gold electrodes in flow-through cells

A variation of Pulsed Coulometric Detection (PCD) is described in which the detection potential is scanned in a cyclic fashion during current integration to achieve automatic and virtual elimination of baseline drift caused by surface roughening and changes in pH. The technique is examined at a Au electrode for flow-injection determination if thiourea which is typical of numerous sulfur compounds whose anodic reactions are catalyzed by formation of surface oxide. The baseline decays quickly to a near-zero equilibrium value following start-up and is unchanged for a pH step of ca. 2 units. The technique is concluded to be compatible with pH-gradient chromatography

Recent Understandings of Pet Allergies

Allergic reactions to pets have been recognized for at least a hundred years. Yet our understanding of the effects of all of the interactions between pet exposures and human immune responses continues to grow. Allergists, epidemiologists, and immunologists have spent years trying to better understand how exposures to pet allergens lead to allergic sensitization (the production of allergen-specific immunoglobulin class E [IgE] antibodies) and subsequent allergic disease. A major new development in this understanding is the recognition that pet exposures consist of not only allergen exposures but also changes in microbial exposures. Exposures to certain pet-associated microbes, especially in the neonatal period, appear to be able to dramatically alter how a child\u27s immune system develops and this in turn reduces the risk of allergic sensitization and disease. An exciting challenge in the next few years will be to see whether these changes can be developed into a realistic preventative strategy with the expectation of significantly reducing allergic disease, especially asthma

Condition Relative to Phenotype for Bass Populations in Southern Arkansas Lakes

Southern Arkansas reservoir largemouth bass populations (Micropterus salmoides) are often supplemented with stocks of Florida bass (M. floridanus) in an attempt to boost the frequency of hybrid and trophy bass. Stocking rates of Florida bass among these lakes are highly variable. We determined bass phenotype composition among 12 lake populations based upon stocking protocols: exclusively Florida bass, primarily Florida bass, mixed stocking protocol and primarily largemouth bass. We also compared condition among phenotypes (n =2,100) to test for hybrid or phenotype vigor. Mean relative weight of bass for most lakes but SWEPCO Lake (mean Wr = 72) were ≥ 90. Phenotype frequencies were inconsistent with FB stocking histories. No lake population was comprised only with pure Florida bass despite four of the lakes being stocked solely with this bass species. Numbers of F1 hybrid bass were low for all lake samples. Relative weight among phenotypes was also inconsistent among lake samples, allowing no conclusions to be made regarding relative weight and hybrid vigor or phenotype. Further testing increasing both the number of lake samples and sample size within lakes may provide insight into these questions of stocking effectiveness of Florida bass and hybrid or phenotype vigor

Did You Not Understand The Question Or Not? An Investigation Of Negatively Worded Questions In Survey Research

This study compared participant responses to negatively versus positively worded questionnaire statements.  The literature suggested that one could expect the wording of questionnaire items (i.e., negatively worded vs. positively worded) to influence participant responses to those scale items.  The study consisted of one control group and two experimental groups.   The Fashion Consciousness scale (Wilkes 1992;  Lumpkin and Darden 1982), a uni-dimensional, all-positive seven-item instrument was adapted for use in the study.  Three hypotheses regarding the factor structure and internal reliability of the scale were empirically investigated.  Results showed statistically significant differences in the psychometrics of the scale when negative or double negative wording was added to scale items.  Managerial implications are discussed

INL Subsurface Wireless Sensor Platform

The Idaho National Laboratory is developing a versatile micro-power sensor interface platform for periodic subsurface sensing of environmental variables important to waste disposal sites such as volumetric moisture, water potential, and temperature. The key characteristics of the platform architecture are that the platform is passive until externally energized—no internal power source is required—and that it communicates with a reader via short-range telemetry—no wires penetrate the subsurface. Other significant attributes include the potential for a long service life and a compact size that makes it well suited for retrofitting existing landfill structures. Functionally, the sensor package is “read” by a short-range induction coil that activates and powers the sensor platform as well as detects the sensor output via a radio frequency signal generated by the onboard programmable interface controller microchip. As a result, the platform has a functional subsurface communication range of approximately 10 to 12 ft. and can only accept sensors that require low power to operate

Diverging volumetric trajectories following pediatric traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant public health concern, and can be especially disruptive in children, derailing on-going neuronal maturation in periods critical for cognitive development. There is considerable heterogeneity in post-injury outcomes, only partially explained by injury severity. Understanding the time course of recovery, and what factors may delay or promote recovery, will aid clinicians in decision-making and provide avenues for future mechanism-based therapeutics. We examined regional changes in brain volume in a pediatric/adolescent moderate-severe TBI (msTBI) cohort, assessed at two time points. Children were first assessed 2-5 months post-injury, and again 12 months later. We used tensor-based morphometry (TBM) to localize longitudinal volume expansion and reduction. We studied 21 msTBI patients (5 F, 8-18 years old) and 26 well-matched healthy control children, also assessed twice over the same interval. In a prior paper, we identified a subgroup of msTBI patients, based on interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT), with significant structural disruption of the white matter (WM) at 2-5 months post injury. We investigated how this subgroup (TBI-slow, N = 11) differed in longitudinal regional volume changes from msTBI patients (TBI-normal, N = 10) with normal WM structure and function. The TBI-slow group had longitudinal decreases in brain volume in several WM clusters, including the corpus callosum and hypothalamus, while the TBI-normal group showed increased volume in WM areas. Our results show prolonged atrophy of the WM over the first 18 months post-injury in the TBI-slow group. The TBI-normal group shows a different pattern that could indicate a return to a healthy trajectory

Exploring the impact of elevated depressive symptoms on the ability of a tailored asthma intervention to improve medication adherence among urban adolescents with asthma

BACKGROUND: In patients with asthma, medication adherence is a voluntary behavior that can be affected by numerous factors. Depression is an important co-morbidity in adolescents with asthma that may significantly impact their controller medication adherence and other asthma-related outcomes. The modifying effect of depressive symptoms on an asthma intervention’s ability to improve asthma controller medication adherence among urban adolescents with asthma has not yet been reported. OBJECTIVE: To assess self-reported symptoms of depression as an effect modifier of the relationship between randomization group and controller medication adherence at 6-month follow-up. METHODS: These analyses use data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in Detroit high schools to evaluate a tailored asthma management program. The intervention included referrals to school or community resources for students reporting symptoms of depression and other issues. “Elevated depressive symptoms” was defined as a positive answer to ≥ 5 of 7 questions from a validated tool included on the baseline questionnaire. Self-reported adherence to controller medication was collected at intervention onset (session 1) and at 6-month follow up. Analyses were restricted to students with report of a controller medication at baseline. Logistic regression was used to assess elevated depressive symptoms as an effect modifier of the relationship between randomization group and 6-month adherence. RESULTS: Of the 422 students enrolled in the RCT, a controller medication was reported at intervention onset by n = 123 adolescents (29%). Analyzing this group, we observed an interaction between elevated depressive symptoms and adherence (p = 0.073). Stratified analysis showed better adherence in treatment group adolescents meeting criteria for elevated depressive symptoms at baseline as compared to the control group (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 9.50; p = 0.024). For adolescents without elevated depressive symptoms at baseline, differences in adherence by group assignment did not reach statistical significance (aOR 1.40, p = 0.49). CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of students reporting controller medications at baseline, report of elevated depressive symptoms at baseline and randomization to the intervention group was associated with significantly better adherence at 6-month follow up when compared to that of a control group. Larger studies are needed to evaluate the impact of depression on the relationship between adherence and asthma intervention effectiveness

Validating Morphometrics with DNA Barcoding to Reliably Separate Three Cryptic Species of Bombus Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Despite their large size and striking markings, the identification of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) is surprisingly difficult. This is particularly true for three North American sympatric species in the subgenus Pyrobombus that are often misidentified: B. sandersoni Franklin, B. vagans Smith B. perplexus Cresson. Traditionally, the identification of these cryptic species was based on observations of differences in hair coloration and pattern and qualitative comparisons of morphological characters including malar length. Unfortunately, these characteristics do not reliably separate these species. We present quantitative morphometric methods to separate these species based on the malar length to width ratio (MRL) and the ratios of the malar length to flagellar segments 1 (MR1) and 3 (MR3) for queens and workers, and validated our determinations based on DNA barcoding. All three measurements discriminated queens of B. sandersoni and B. vagans with 100% accuracy. For workers, we achieved 99% accuracy by combining both MR1 and MR3 measurements, and 100% accuracy differentiating workers using MRL. Moreover, measurements were highly repeatable within and among both experienced and inexperienced observers. Our results, validated by genetic evidence, demonstrate that malar measurements provide accurate identifications of B. vagans and B. sandersoni. There was considerable overlap in the measurements between B. perplexus and B. sandersoni. However, these species can usually be reliably separated by combining malar ratio measurements with other morphological features like hair color. The ability to identify bumble bees is key to monitoring the status and trends of their populations, and the methods we present here advance these efforts