An Innovative Methodology for Assessing Student Learning Outcome Achievement

University-associated training facilities for Marriage and Family Therapy/Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling (MFT/MFCC) programs serve several purposes; however, of paramount importance is meeting the academic needs of counselor trainees. Student learning outcomes for counselor trainees aim to address social justice issues, such as primary language and financial impoverishment of clients. This article presents a pilot study that examined an innovative methodology for assessing student learning outcomes at an MFT/MFCC program’s training clinic

Annual and monthly range fidelity of female boreal woodland caribou in respons to petroleum development

Petroleum-sector development in northern Alberta, Canada has been implicated as one factor influencing the decline of boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Previous research showed that caribou are farther from petroleum-sector disturbances within their home range than expected. As petroleum development increases, the distance caribou can selectively place themselves relative to industrial disturbance must decrease, because distances between disturbances decrease. Conceptually, the number of local disturbances becomes so large that caribou either abandon their local avoidance behaviour or leave their traditional home range. We evaluated whether an intense petroleum- development event in northern Alberta was sufficient to result in home range abandonment by female woodland caribou. Using well locations as an index of petroleum development, we found that caribou studied from 1992 to 2000 did not change their annual or monthly range fidelity as a function of development intensity. Caribou remained in peatland complexes containing a large number of petroleum-sector disturbances rather than move to new areas, presumably because the risks of dispersing across upland habitat to reach other suitable habitat are high. Such range fidelity may have fitness consequences for woodland caribou if they suffer greater predation in areas where petroleum development is occurring

Photo-induced relaxation of magnetization in molecular magnet

The experimental study of photo-induced magnetization of hybrid molecular magnet containing cobalt(II) and tungsten(V) magnetic centers bridged by 4,40 -bpy and CN− is presented. The observed increase in magnetization rate is attributed to the defects due to inter-valence transfer between CoIIWV *) CoIIIWIV. The time evolution of magnetization is parameterized by the power law rather than exponential function

pVir and Bloody Diarrhea in Campylobacter jejuni Enteritis

The plasmid pVir may play a role in the virulence of Campylobacter jejuni, a leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis. The pVir plasmid was identified in 17% of 104 C. jejuni clinical isolates studied and was significantly associated with the occurrence of blood in patient stool, a marker of invasive infection. The pVir plasmid was not associated with greater occurrence of diarrhea, fever, pain, vomiting, or need for patient hospitalization. Isolates containing pVir were also associated with the presence of a tetracycline-resistance plasmid, but pVir did not transfer with tetracycline-resistance plasmids to recipient strains of C. jejuni. The association of pVir and bloody stool suggests that pVir may be clinically relevant in C. jejuni infections

Increased luminescence efficiency by synergistic exploitation of lipo/hydrophilic co-solvency and supramolecular design

We use steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to investigate the luminescent properties of a sulfonated poly(diphenylenevinylene) lithium salt (PDV.Li) in water/propanol solutions at different concentrations, with a view to assessing its aggregation behavior. In particular, we compare results from uninsulated PDV.Li and cyclodextrin-threaded PDV.Li polyrotaxane (PDV.Li⊂β-CD). We find that addition of 1-propanol (≥20 weight%) leads to a significant blue-shift (of ∼0.20 eV) of the PL spectra, that we assign to suppressed interchain aggregation in PDV.Li solutions, with a concomitant fourfold increase in the fluorescence quantum efficiency (i.e. from 14 to 60%). Surprisingly, a moderate concentration of propanol increases further the luminescence efficiency even for PDV.Li⊂β-CD, whose supramolecular encapsulation already provides a shield against aggregation. Indeed, addition of propanol reduces the solvent polarity, and therefore helps solubilizing these materials that are still largely aromatic in nature. Interestingly, however, both uninsulated PDV.Li and polyrotaxane solutions exhibit signs of aggregation at high propanol fraction (>70%) with a distinctively weaker coupling than that of interchain states in PDV.Li at high water concentration and in pure water in particular. While we ascribe such behavior to a poor solvation of the polar moieties, we also report a different strength of aggregation for PDV.Li and PDV.Li⊂β-CD that can be attributed to the presence of the cyclodextrin rings. In PDV.Li⊂β-CD hydrogen bonding between the cyclodextrin rings may lead to closer packing between the polymer chains. We therefore suggest that a content of propanol between 30 and 70% provides a good balance of hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions both for PDV.Li and PDV.Li⊂β-CD

In vitro multiplication of Swietenia macrophylla King (Meliaceae) from juvenile shoots.

Big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) is an important species for timber production that is considered the most valuable in the world. For this reason its exploitation is indiscriminate and leads this species to the risk of extinction. Moreover, mahogany is difficult to regenerate naturally and, when used in reforestation programs, plants are severely damaged by the shoot-borer (Hypsipyla grandella Zellar). This work aimed at developing the multiplication stage of micropropagation of Swietenia macrophylla King using juvenile material. After desinfestation, seeds were germinated in MS solid culture medium. Shoot formation from seeds occurred during five months, giving 5.54 nodal segments per seed. These explants were excised, each containing one axillary bud, and transferred on multiplication media. Four experiments with cytokinins were conducted, using media supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) (2.5 to 50.0 ?M), 2- isopentenyladenine (2-iP) (0; 1.1 to 8.8 ?M), combinations of BAP (0; 2.5 to 50.0 ?M) and 2-iP (2.2 ?M). For the first treatments the basal culture medium was MS medium and in the last one MS and QL media were used in separate experiments. When BAP was tested alone, the maximum point of multiplication rate average was obtained on medium containing 23.61 ?M, while 2-iP did not induce bud multiplication. On QL culture medium supplemented with the combinations of BAP (0; 2.5; 5.0; 10.0 e 20.0 ?M ) and 2-iP (2.2 ?M), there was no multiplication. The maximum point of multiplication rate average was 5.7 ?M, obtained when the MS culture medium was supplemented with 18.51 ?M BAP and 2.2 ?M 2-iP

Mapping suitable great ape habitat in and around the Lobéké National Park, South-East Cameroon

Abstract As a result of extensive data collection efforts over the last 20?30 years, there is quite a good understanding of the large-scale geographic distribution and range limits of African great apes. However, as human activities increasingly fragment great ape spatial distribution, a better understanding of what constitutes suitable great ape habitat is needed to inform conservation and resource extraction management. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) inhabit the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding forest management units (FMUs) in South-East Cameroon. Both park and neighboring forestry concessions require reliable evidence on key factors driving great ape distribution for their management plans, yet this information is largely missing and incomplete. This study aimed at mapping great ape habitat suitability in the area and at identifying the most influential predictors among three predictor categories, including landscape predictors (dense forest, swampy forest, distance to water bodies, and topography), human disturbance predictors (hunting, deforestation, distance to roads, and population density), and bioclimatic predictor (annual precipitation). We found that about 63% of highly to moderately suitable chimpanzee habitat occurred within the Lobéké National Park, while only 8.4% of similar habitat conditions occurred within FMUs. For gorillas, highly and moderately suitable habitats occurred within the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding FMUs (82.6% and 65.5%, respectively). Key determinants of suitable chimpanzee habitat were hunting pressure and dense forest, with species occurrence probability optimal at relatively lower hunting rates and at relatively high-dense forest areas. Key determinants of suitable gorilla habitat were hunting pressure, dense forests, swampy forests, and slope, with species occurrence probability optimal at relatively high-dense and swampy forest areas and at areas with mild slopes. Our findings show differential response of the two ape species to forestry activities in the study area, thus aligning with previous studies

Brief Amici Curiae Legal Scholars of Sex and Gender In Support of Plaintiff-Appellant

This amicus brief was filed in Griffith v. El Paso County, Colorado, case no. 23-1135 (10th Circuit) in support of appellant Darlene Griffith. Amici curiae are legal scholars of sex and gender. They offerexpertise in their personal capacities to assist the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in assessing whether the El Paso County Sheriff officials violated Ms. Griffith’s Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection when they refused to house Ms. Griffith, a transgender woman, in the women\u27s unit of the El Paso County Jail as a pretrial detainee