Hop(e)s of rural revitalization in China? The craft brewers’ perspectives

Rural revitalization is a priority of the Chinese government, aimed to combat the country’s rural decline. Local leaderships and entrepreneurs are encouraged to pursue non-traditional and innovative economic activities. With the craft beer scene on the rise in China, this study investigates the potential of craft brewing to support the country’s rural revitalization effort. To this end, we inquired eight brewers about consumer motivation and demographics, business models, marketing, policy, challenges and opportunities. Results show that craft beer is predominantly an urban middle-class phenomenon, and that structural barriers and cultural differences may hamper a swift expansion into rural areas. However, there are reports of neo-rural craft beer entrepreneurism which, combined with a broader push for the premiumization of the beer market, may accelerate rural adoption

Typically Developing Preschoolers’ Behavior Toward Peers with Disabilities in Inclusive Classroom Contexts

This study aimed to investigate typically developing preschoolers’ behavior toward peers with disabilities in inclusive classrooms, focusing on the co-occurrence of the interactions between children with and without disabilities with various classroom contexts. Behaviors of 22 typically developing preschoolers were observed and coded on two different days in both indoor and outdoor classrooms during free play, small group activities, transitions, and meals/snack. Typically developing children interacted with peers with disabilities for a small amount of time; the interactions were significantly more likely in the outdoor classroom, in either child- or teacher-directed activities, and in play activities. There was a lack of adults’ intentional scaffolding for social interactions between children with and without disabilities even when they were near the children. Activity contexts contribute to children’s social behavior, and teachers need more support and training with inclusive and collaborative practices

Instability of chromosome number and DNA methylation variation induced by hybridization and amphidiploid formation between Raphanus sativus L. and Brassica alboglabra Bailey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Distant hybridization can result genome duplication and allopolyploid formation which may play a significant role in the origin and evolution of many plant species. It is unclear how the two or more divergent genomes coordinate in one nucleus with a single parental cytoplasm within allopolyploids. We used cytological and molecular methods to investigate the genetic and epigenetic instabilities associated with the process of distant hybridization and allopolyploid formation, measuring changes in chromosome number and DNA methylation across multiple generations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>F₁plants from intergeneric hybridization between <it>Raphanus sativus </it>L. (2n = 18, RR) and <it>Brassica alboglabra </it>Bailey (2n = 18, CC) were obtained by hand crosses and subsequent embryo rescue. Random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to identify the F₁hybrid plants. The RAPD data indicated that the hybrids produced specific bands similar to those of parents and new bands that were not present in either parent. Chromosome number variation of somatic cells from allotetraploids in the F₄to F₁₀generations showed that intensive genetic changes occurred in the early generations of distant hybridization, leading to the formation of mixopolyploids with different chromosome numbers. DNA methylation variation was revealed using MSAP (methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism), which showed that cytosine methylation patterns changed markedly in the process of hybridization and amphidiploid formation. Differences in cytosine methylation levels demonstrated an epigenetic instability of the allopolyploid of <it>Raphanobrassica </it>between the genetically stable and unstable generations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results showed that chromosome instability occurred in the early generations of allopolyploidy and then the plants were reverted to largely euploidy in later generations. During this process, DNA methylation changed markedly. These results suggest that, epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in intergeneric distant hybridization, probably by maintaining a genetic balance through the modification of existing genetic materials.</p

Phenomic selection in slash pine multi-temporally using UAV-multispectral imagery

Genomic selection (GS) is an option for plant domestication that offers high efficiency in improving genetics. However, GS is often not feasible for long-lived tree species with large and complex genomes. In this paper, we investigated UAV multispectral imagery in time series to evaluate genetic variation in tree growth and developed a new predictive approach that is independent of sequencing or pedigrees based on multispectral imagery plus vegetation indices (VIs) for slash pine. Results show that temporal factors have a strong influence on the h2 of tree growth traits. High genetic correlations were found in most months, and genetic gain also showed a slight influence on the time series. Using a consistent ranking of family breeding values, optimal slash pine families were selected, obtaining a promising and reliable predictive ability based on multispectral+VIs (MV) alone or on the combination of pedigree and MV. The highest predictive value, ranging from 0.52 to 0.56, was found in July. The methods described in this paper provide new approaches for phenotypic selection (PS) using high-throughput multispectral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, which could potentially be used to reduce the generation time for conifer species and increase the genetic granularity independent of sequencing or pedigrees

The Impact of Parental Involvement on Preschool Children’s Later Language Development in Low-income Hispanic English Language Learners

Previous research has revealed the importance of parental involvement in children’s language development (Raikes, et. al., 2006). However, few studies have focused in detail on the impact of parental involvement on the language development of English Language Learners (ELLs). The purpose of this study is to examine how early and concurrent parental involvement affects preschool children’s later language development in a sample of low-income Hispanic ELLs. More specifically, two aspects of parental involvement will be examined: (1) home support of language and cognitive stimulation; and (2) parent emotional supportiveness. The results indicate that early home language and cognitive stimulation and parent emotional supportiveness are associated with English-speaking children’s vocabulary at age 2, but not with Spanish-speaking children’s language development. Path analysis at age 3 shows that early parent emotional supportiveness predicts English-speaking children’s language development, while early home stimulation in language and cognition predicts language development for Spanish-speaking children. Advisor: Julia Torquat

The Influence of English Proficiency on Social Adjustment in Preschool English Language Learners

Social-emotional adjustment in early childhood has been associated with later social development and academic achievement. Language proficiency is a central tool for building social relationships and managing emotions. Limited English proficiency in early childhood may pose challenges for children’s social-emotional development. This study used secondary data from the Head Start Impact Study to examine the influence of English proficiency on ELL children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors during preschool. In addition, this study examined the roles of parent involvement and teacher-child relationships in predicting ELL children’s social-emotional adjustment. 295 ELLs and 935 non-ELLs were selected to analyze for this study. Overall, analyses revealed that Oral comprehension inversely predicted internalizing behaviors and one externalizing behavior, aggressive adjustment problems, in all children. Oral comprehension inversely predicted internalizing behaviors in ELLs and predicted internalizing behaviors and most externalizing behaviors, except oppositional adjustment behaviors, in non-ELLs. Receptive vocabulary inversely predicted internalizing behaviors in all children. Parental involvement attenuated the influence of limited English proficiency on withdrawn/low energy for non-ELLs and aggressive adjustment problems on ELLs. Children who were closer to teachers were more likely to show fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors in general. Different patterns were found in subgroups that closeness inversely predicted internalizing behaviors, but not externalizing behaviors in ELL children, while in non-ELL children, closeness predicted both. Conflict between teacher and children predicted both internalizing and externalizing behaviors positively in all children, as well as in each subgroup. However, closeness and conflict of teacher-child relationship did not moderate the association between English language proficiency and social-emotional adjustment. Limitations, implications of results, and future research directions were discussed

The Influence of English Proficiency on Social Adjustment in Preschool English Language Learners

Social-emotional adjustment in early childhood has been associated with later social development and academic achievement. Language proficiency is a central tool for building social relationships and managing emotions. Limited English proficiency in early childhood may pose challenges for children’s social-emotional development. This study used secondary data from the Head Start Impact Study to examine the influence of English proficiency on ELL children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors during preschool. In addition, this study examined the roles of parent involvement and teacher-child relationships in predicting ELL children’s social-emotional adjustment. 295 ELLs and 935 non-ELLs were selected to analyze for this study. Overall, analyses revealed that Oral comprehension inversely predicted internalizing behaviors and one externalizing behavior, aggressive adjustment problems, in all children. Oral comprehension inversely predicted internalizing behaviors in ELLs and predicted internalizing behaviors and most externalizing behaviors, except oppositional adjustment behaviors, in non-ELLs. Receptive vocabulary inversely predicted internalizing behaviors in all children. Parental involvement attenuated the influence of limited English proficiency on withdrawn/low energy for non-ELLs and aggressive adjustment problems on ELLs. Children who were closer to teachers were more likely to show fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors in general. Different patterns were found in subgroups that closeness inversely predicted internalizing behaviors, but not externalizing behaviors in ELL children, while in non-ELL children, closeness predicted both. Conflict between teacher and children predicted both internalizing and externalizing behaviors positively in all children, as well as in each subgroup. However, closeness and conflict of teacher-child relationship did not moderate the association between English language proficiency and social-emotional adjustment. Limitations, implications of results, and future research directions were discussed

A High Isolation MIMO Antenna without Decoupling Structure for LTE 700 MHz

This paper presents a long-term evolution (LTE) 700 MHz band multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna, and high isolation between the two symmetrical antenna elements is obtained without introducing extra decoupling structure. Each antenna element is a combination antenna of PIFA and a meander monopole antenna. The end of the PIFA and the meander monopole antenna are, respectively, overlapped with the 50 Ω microstrip feed line, the two overlapping areas produce additional capacitance which can be considered decoupling structures to enhance the isolation for the MIMO antenna, as well as the impedance matching of the antenna elements. The MIMO antenna is etched on FR4 PCB board with dimensions of 71 × 40 × 1.6 mm3; the edge-to-edge separation of the two antenna elements is only nearly 0.037 λ at 700 MHz. Both simulation and measurement results are used to confirm the MIMO antenna performance; the operating bandwidth is 698–750 MHz with S11≤−6 dB and S21≤−23 dB