Trends in Undergraduate General Education in the U.S., the Texas Core Curriculum, and Communication Course Requirements

In October 2011, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board revised Texas Core Curriculum (TCC) rules impacting all public higher education institutions in Texas. The new rules were implemented in the fall semester of 2014. In this study, we review the history of undergraduate general education requirements in the United States and recent changes to the TCC. Then to determine how recent changes reflect historical trends in general education and affect the course offerings of departments of English and communication, we use descriptive statistics to examine courses included under the TCC Communication Foundational Component Area of 37 state universities and 53 community colleges. Findings indicate the number of re-quired English and speech communication courses decreased both at community colleges (-11.5%) and universities (-15.9%), signaling a shift toward providing students greater choice in course selection which could impact academic programs in the years to come.Educatio

"Nothing was further from his intention than to offend": an analysis of visual satire, identity and stereotypes in the Glasgow/Northern Looking Glass caricature periodical, 1825–1826

Created by Glasgow printer John Watson and English artist William Heath, the Glasgow/Northern Looking Glass (1825–1826) is not only one of the pioneering periodicals that paved the route from caricature to comic art (with researchers even going so far as to label it ‘the world’s first modern comic’), but a product that uniquely contributed to larger social conversations found across media formats during the early nineteenth century. Such conversations include those surrounding gender ideologies, racial stereotypes, and class-based struggles — issues that had become especially prominent across Britain during the 1820s. Though it provides reflections of and on both the evolving print world and the ever-changing social milieus of 1820s Britain, the GLG has not been the focus of an in-depth study until now. The goal of this thesis is to explore how in-depth, contextual analyses of depictions of gender and other identities found in the GLG’s satiric images can encourage new and more inclusive analyses of caricature’s place in print history and nineteenth-century European history. In order to understand better how caricature art arrived at the point we see it in 1825, this thesis firstly explores how historical events and social and cultural change impacted the art form in the sixty years leading up to the publication of the first issue of the GLG. With the contextual groundwork in place, several case studies are then employed to explore the overarching identities and stereotypes of women and men as they are depicted in images from the periodical. These case studies include images that best reflect the conversations around gender, class and race that were prominent at this time, and which show how the GLG, and other products like it, can be invaluable for gaining a more nuanced and rounded perspective on caricature art, the nineteenth-century British printing scene and late Georgian culture

Evaluation of Land Restoration Practices on Northern Bobwhite Productivity in North-Central Texas: Preliminary Results

The decades long decline in grassland avian populations is ultimately attributed to changing land use throughout the United States. Due to their economic importance and status as a healthy grassland indicator species, attention focused towards land management for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) benefits other grassland vertebrate and invertebrate species. Land restoration practices offer opportunities to mitigate the declines in northern bobwhite populations. While several studies focus on restoring land for northern bobwhite, this study addressed the effectiveness of such restoration practices. We radio-marked female bobwhite from April to July 2016 and located the birds every three to five days to gather land use information at female diurnal locations. We also placed infrared, time-lapse video cameras within 5m of a nesting site in addition to daily nest checks to identify potential nest predators. We measured vegetation characteristics including visual obstruction, herbaceous, grass, litter, woody material, and canopy ground cover at each nest site and female diurnal location. We built nest survival models using AICc model selection to determine the influence of vegetation characteristics and camera. Of the 31 captured birds, 12 attempted nesting, resulting in four successful nests. We calculated that the nests have a 95% chance of survival the day after and a 32% chance of overall success. Our AICc models found no interactions among nest success and vegetation characteristics. Following nest termination of successful broods, all four broods were abandoned. Two females were radio-marked during their brood-rearing period and both broods lasted longer than 30 days of dependence. We compared the means of vegetation measurements of female diurnal locations between treated and non-treated areas and found no significant differences (p \u3e 0.05). Further assessments of breeding success between treated and non-treated areas are needed to better understand the effects of restoration practices

Potencialidades do uso nutracêutico e cosmético do óleo de avestruz: Uma experiência em bionegócio e biotecnologia na baixada cuiabana, Mato Grosso / Potentialities of the nutraceutical and cosmetic use of ostrich oil: An experience in bion business and biotechnology in the baixada cuiabana, Mato Grosso

O objetivo do trabalho foi divulgar as qualidades e o potencial do uso do óleo de avestruz, tomando como exemplo de caso a Agroindústria Ostrich Cosméticos, que se destacou no ramo de bionegócios na região Centro-Oeste, lançando uma linha inovadora de cosméticos manufaturados a partir do óleo de avestruz purificado, esterilizado através de processos biotecnológicos, a fábrica Ostrich lançou no mercado, uma linha de bálsamos, hidratantes, loções e cremes rejuvenescedores para pele. A empresa está consolidada no mercado regional e nacional, por produzir uma linha singular de produtos, de qualidade e inovação comercial, custos acessíveis, utilizando óleos essenciais da flora nativa da Amazônia Meridional, buscando valorizar a biodiversidade regional e toda a cadeia de fornecedores envolvidos. A análise do bionegócio foi realizado através de visita técnica e entrevistas in loco, estruturadas conforme normatização da Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas - ABNT. Desta forma, foi possível compreender os processos industriais envolvidos na linha de produção de uma indústria regional e inovadora. A linha de produtos cosméticos, fragrâncias e aromatizantes, conta com um portfólio de mais de 80 produtos, manufaturados a partir de uma base-cosmética, com capacidade produtiva de até 300 kg por dia