Decolonizing Leadership Practices: Towards Equity and Justice at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Emerging HSIs (eHSIs

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs; colleges and universities that enroll at least 25% Raza undergraduates) are increasing in number in the United States, growing rapidly from 189 in 1994 to 492 in 2016. Moreover, there were 333 emerging HSIs (eHSIs) in 2016, indicating that the number of HSIs will continue to grow; however, leaders, including faculty, staff, and administrators at (e)HSIs, continue to grapple with the question, “How do we move from ‘enrolling’ to ‘serving’ Raza students?” There are a lack of leadership frameworks specifically designed for those working at (e)HSIs and with a focus on serving Raza students. The authors argue that decolonizing leadership practices will help leaders liberate and empower Raza students by disrupting the coloniality of power that promotes and sustains higher education institutions as racial/colonial projects. The authors propose leadership processes for working with Raza students at (e)HSIs. Although leaders at non-(e)HSIs may consider these processes, the authors call on leaders at (e)HSIs to transform their leadership practices as a necessity for becoming Raza-serving

From Gatekeeping to Engagement: A Multicontextual, Mixed Method Study of Student Academic Engagement in Introductory STEM Courses.

The lack of academic engagement in introductory science courses is considered by some to be a primary reason why students switch out of science majors. This study employed a sequential, explanatory mixed methods approach to provide a richer understanding of the relationship between student engagement and introductory science instruction. Quantitative survey data were drawn from 2,873 students within 73 introductory science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses across 15 colleges and universities, and qualitative data were collected from 41 student focus groups at eight of these institutions. The findings indicate that students tended to be more engaged in courses where the instructor consistently signaled an openness to student questions and recognizes her/his role in helping students succeed. Likewise, students who reported feeling comfortable asking questions in class, seeking out tutoring, attending supplemental instruction sessions, and collaborating with other students in the course were also more likely to be engaged. Instructional implications for improving students' levels of academic engagement are discussed

Challenging the Utility of a Racial Microaggressions Framework Through A Systematic Review of Racially Biased Incidents on Campus

Despite claims of being in a “postracial” era, racially biased incidents pervade college and university campuses across the U.S., as evidenced in the continual media coverage of such incidents. In recognizing the complexities of these incidents, we sought to offer a contemporary review of racially biased incidents on college and university campuses and to explore the extent to which they represent covert forms of racial microaggressions versus more overt forms of racism. We conducted a content analysis of all news-making racially biased incidents that occurred on college and university campuses between August 1, 2005 and May 1, 2010, identifying 205 incidents. We classified these incidents by mode of delivery, racial content/symbolism, and type of racial (micro)aggression. While a number of these incidents can be best understood through a microaggressions framework, many are blatantly racist and do not fit the theory. Higher education and student affairs researchers and practitioners must understand these incidents for their complexities, recognizing that both overt and covert forms of racism are prevalent on campus

Theorizing a Catholic Hispanic-Serving Institution (C-HSI) Identity Through Latinx Theological Lenses of Lo Cotidiano and Traditioning

As the students entering U.S. colleges and universities become increasingly diverse, the number of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI\u27s) continues to increase. Catholic colleges and universities, similarly, are seeing an increase in student diversity on campus, with an emergence of Catholic HSIs as well. As the number of Catholic colleges and universities in the United States that are HSI-eligible increases they must grapple with what it means to be both Catholic and Hispanic-serving. The purpose of this article is to propose a U.S. Catholic HSI (C- HSI) identity that brings together the extensive literatures on Catholic identity and HSI identity through the lens of decolonial theory and Latinx theologies. We argue that in order to effectively serve students of color who have intersectional identities, Catholic HSIs must intentionally recognize the ways of knowing (epistemologies) and being of these groups, which includes a collective understanding of the theo-political, social, historical, and economic forces that have subjugated them since before the founding of the present day United States and long before the founding of the first Catholic institution in the country. Building off the Catholic Identity and Mission Models (CIMA) currently used by the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities to assess mission integration, we propose a C-HSI model

Determinación de residuos de paraquat en lechuga y repollo cultivados en Lepaterique mediante HPLC-DAD

Determination of residues of the herbicide paraquat in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea) produced in the community of La Brea, Lepaterique and marketed in the city of Tegucigalpa was carried out in October and November of 2017, through the application of high performance liquid chromatography with detector of diode array (HPLC-DAD) in less than 6 minutes, with a reverse phase separation mechanism using a C18 surface porous column and a mixture of 0.1 M orthophosphoric acid (pH 3.0) with acetonitrile in proportion of 3:1 as mobile phase. The method is based on extraction with an ultrasonic bath using water as an extractive solvent and the subsequent application of solid phase extraction (SPE) with weak ion exchange (WCX) sorbent. The different parameters of the extraction (extractor solvent, sonication time, cleaning solvent and elution solvent) were evaluated to optimize the efficiencyof the extraction process. Validation of the method was carried out by fortifying samples at 0.05 and 1mg Kg-1, with three replicates (n = 3) for each concentration, determining linearity, accuracy (expressed as percent recovery), detection limits (LOD) and quantification (LOQ). The limit of detection of the method was 0.025 mg Kg-1, which is below the maximum residue limit (MRL) established by the Codex Alimentarius (0.07 mg Kg-1) for leafy vegetables. The acquired samples were analyzed following the validated method, without finding paraquat residues in a total of 10 samples of each vegetable.La determinación de residuos del herbicida paraquat en lechuga (Lactuca sativa) y repollo (Brassica oleracea) producidos en la comunidad de La Brea, Lepaterique y comercializados en la ciudad de Tegucigalpa fue llevada a cabo en los meses de octubre y noviembre de 2017, mediante la aplicación de cromatografía líquida de elevada resolución con detector de arreglo de diodos (HPLC-DAD) en menos de 6 minutos, con un mecanismo de separación de fase reversa empleando una columna superficialmente porosa C18 y una mezcla de ácido orto fosfórico al 0.1 M (pH 3,0) con acetonitrilo en proporción de 3:1 como fase móvil. El método se basa en la extracción con baño ultrasónico utilizando agua como solvente extractor y la subsecuente aplicación de la extracción en fase sólido (SPE) con sorbente de intercambio iónico débil (WCX). Los diferentes parámetros de la extracción (solvente extractor, tiempo de sonicación, solvente de limpieza y solvente de elución) fueron evaluados para optimizar la eficiencia del proceso de extracción. La validación del método fue llevada a cabo mediante la fortificación de muestras a 0.05 y 1mg Kg-1, con tres replicas (n=3) para cada concentración, determinando la linealidad, exactitud (expresada como porcentaje de recuperación), límites de detección (LOD) y cuantificación (LOQ). El límite de detección del método fue de 0.025 mg Kg-1, el cual se encuentra por debajo del límite máximo de residuo (MRL) que establece el Codex Alimentarius (0.07 mg Kg-1) para vegetales de hoja. Las muestras adquiridas fueron analizadas siguiendo el método validado, sin encontrar residuos de paraquat en un total de 10 muestras de cada vegetal

The impact of agricultural management on soil aggregation and carbon storage is regulated by climatic thresholds across a 3000 km European gradient

Organic carbon and aggregate stability are key features of soil quality and are important to consider when evaluating the potential of agricultural soils as carbon sinks. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how soil organic carbon (SOC) and aggregate stability respond to agricultural management across wide environmental gradients. Here, we assessed the impact of climatic factors, soil properties and agricultural management (including land use, crop cover, crop diversity, organic fertilization, and management intensity) on SOC and the mean weight diameter of soil aggregates, commonly used as an indicator for soil aggregate stability, across a 3000 km European gradient. Soil aggregate stability (-56%) and SOC stocks (-35%) in the topsoil (20 cm) were lower in croplands compared with neighboring grassland sites (uncropped sites with perennial vegetation and little or no external inputs). Land use and aridity were strong drivers of soil aggregation explaining 33% and 20% of the variation, respectively. SOC stocks were best explained by calcium content (20% of explained variation) followed by aridity (15%) and mean annual temperature (10%). We also found a threshold-like pattern for SOC stocks and aggregate stability in response to aridity, with lower values at sites with higher aridity. The impact of crop management on aggregate stability and SOC stocks appeared to be regulated by these thresholds, with more pronounced positive effects of crop diversity and more severe negative effects of crop management intensity in nondryland compared with dryland regions. We link the higher sensitivity of SOC stocks and aggregate stability in nondryland regions to a higher climatic potential for aggregate-mediated SOC stabilization. The presented findings are relevant for improving predictions of management effects on soil structure and C storage and highlight the need for site-specific agri-environmental policies to improve soil quality and C sequestration

Comparison of the GPVI inhibitors losartan and honokiol

<p>Losartan and honokiol are small molecules which have been described to inhibit aggregation of platelets by collagen. Losartan has been proposed to block clustering of GPVI but not to affect binding of collagen. Honokiol has been reported to bind directly to GPVI but only at a concentration that is three orders of magnitude higher than that needed for inhibition of aggregation. The mechanism of action of both inhibitors is so far unclear. In the present study, we confirm the inhibitory effects of both agents on platelet aggregation by collagen and show that both also block the aggregation induced by the activation of CLEC-2 or the low affinity immune receptor FcγRIIa at similar concentrations. For GPVI and CLEC-2, this inhibition is associated with a reduction in protein tyrosine phosphorylation of multiple proteins including Syk. In contrast, on a collagen surface, spreading of platelets and clustering of GPVI (measured by single molecule localisation microscopy) was not altered by losartan or honokiol. Furthermore, in flow whole-blood, both inhibitors suppressed the formation of multi-layered platelet thrombi at arteriolar shear rates at concentrations that hardly affect collagen-induced platelet aggregation in platelet rich plasma. Together, these results demonstrate that losartan and honokiol have multiple effects on platelets which should be considered in the use of these compounds as anti-platelet agents.</p

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file