Lewis Clark State College

Background Recent studies looking to advance knowledge of fire-effects on trees have used both heated water baths and experimental laboratory fires to apply heat to plant tissues. Aims We assessed whether heated water baths and experimental laboratory fires caused xylem cell wall deformation and increased vulnerability to embolism. Methods Using Pinus ponderosa and Pinus monticola saplings, we measured impacts using both heated water bath treatments and experimental laboratory fires, with parameters elucidated by prior studies that observed effects associated with lethal outcomes. Key results We show that increased vulnerability to embolism only occurred in one of the species tested when using the heated water baths and did not occur in either species when using the laboratory fire treatments. Neither treatment caused xylem cell deformations. Conclusions Heated water baths may generate misleading results in some species and therefore should be used with caution when researching effects due to wildland fires. Implications Future studies should assess the potential of other common fire dynamics proxy methods.

This comprehensive review explores the intricate relationship between diabetes complications and foodborne diseases, focusing on nutritional interventions as a management strategy. Diabetes patients are particularly vulnerable to foodborne illnesses due to compromised immune function and altered gut microbiota. These infections can exacerbate existing diabetes complications and trigger new ones. This review synthesizes current research on nutritional approaches to mitigate these risks and manage complications. Key interventions discussed include targeted probiotic supplementation, antioxidant-rich diets, and specific micronutrient fortification. The review examines the mechanisms by which these interventions can improve glycemic control, enhance immune function, and promote gut health in diabetic individuals. It also explores the potential of low glycemic index and anti-inflammatory diets in managing both diabetes complications and susceptibility to foodborne pathogens. The challenges in implementing these interventions, such as individual variability in response and difficulties in maintaining long-term dietary changes, are critically analyzed. Furthermore, the review.

ABSTRACT During US electoral campaigns, arguments about “electability” are frequently leveled against candidates. For instance, voters may use strategic discrimination where they hesitate to support women candidates and candidates of color because they perceive others will discriminate against them, decreasing their electability. In this article, we seek to better understand the concept of perceived electability by assessing how voters’ implicit and explicit attitudes about gender influence their candidate preferences. To do this, we conduct a survey experiment with a nationally representative sample (n = 745) from the United States that incorporates an original measure of implicit sexism.

The absence of functional BLM DNA helicase, a member of the RecQ family of helicases, is responsible for the rare human disorder Bloom Syndrome, which results in developmental abnormalities, DNA repair defects, genomic instability, and a predisposition to cancer. In Drosophila melanogaster, the orthologous Blm protein is essential during early development when the embryo is under the control of maternal gene products. We show that lack of functional maternal Blm during the syncytial cell cycles of Drosophila embryonic development results in severe nuclear defects and lethality. Amongst the small fraction of embryos from Blm mutant mothers that survive to adulthood, a prominent sex-bias favors the class that inherits less repetitive DNA content, which serves as an endogenous source of replication stress. This selection against repetitive DNA content reflects a role for Blm in facilitating replication through repetitive sequences during the rapid S-phases of syncytial cell cycles. During these syncytial cycles, Blm is not required for complex DNA double-strand break repair; however, the progeny sex-bias resulting from the absence of maternal Blm is exacerbated by repetitive DNA sequences and by the slowing of replication fork progression, suggesting that the essential role for Blm during this stage is to manage replication fork stress brought about by impediments to fork progression. Additionally, our data suggest that Blm is only required to manage this replication stress during embryonic development, and likely only during the early, rapid syncytial cell cycles, and not at later developmental stages. These results provide novel insights into Blm function throughout development.

Preparation for a diverse workforce of engineering graduates suited for professional practice or graduate school is a major challenge to engineering educators. Immense challenges occur during student's first year in higher education where high attrition typically occurs among prospective engineering students. A living-learning community model was developed for engineering students at Washington State University combing residential and academic learning community features as a means for improving retention and academic success in engineering. Living-learning community freshmen shared four classes, lived in a common residence hall, and engaged in facilitated group activities. Self-reporting surveys were used to document attitudes and activities of both learning community and control students at the start and end of their first semester. Results indicated that the living-learning community offers significant benefits toward achieving important goals of these students and produces more positive attitudes about engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which sports apparel advertisements reinforce and challenge body standards of masculinity and femininity. A content analysis of photos appearing on the ecommerce websites of Nike and Under Armour was performed to analyze body type and sexualization of male and female models featured in “Tops” and “Bottoms” sections. Men’s Tops (M=1.2779), Women’s Tops (M=3.5834), and Women’s Bottoms (M= 2.6597) were considered “non-sexualized” while Men’s Bottoms (M=5.6051) were considered “sexualized”. Both male and female models were consistently reflective of ectomorph (e.g., thin/emaciated) or ecto-mesomorph (e.g., thin but shapely) body types. While some male models were considered to have a mesomorph body type (e.g., muscular/athletic), no female models did. No female or male models used in these advertisements had either endo-mesomorph (e.g., somewhat overweight) or endomorph (e.g., obese) body types. These findings are consistent with societal expectations for women to have a thin body type (Pompper et al., 2007; Law & Labre, 2002). Interestingly, more male models were portrayed with the thin ideal in comparison to a muscular ideal, which challenges previous research (Pompper et al., 2007; Law & Labre, 2002). Findings may suggest need for more accurate depiction of the average human body type to challenge traditional gender norms which are linked with psychological detriments for both males and females (Pompper et al., 2007; Law & Labre, 2002).

A quasi-experimental treatment control group design was used to investigate the effect of a conceptual change curriculum, Multi-Step Inquiry approach, on students’ perception of their learning in a science classroom. This started with the development of a workbook that explicitly focused on conceptual understanding, followed by the development and validation of an inventory to explore students’ perceptions of learning. Interpretation of data involved the use of inferential and descriptive statistics. The inferential statistics included t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlations, and regressions. Cohen’s d effect sizes facilitated further interpretation of the data. The analysis shows potential for the Multi-Step Inquiry to improve students’ perceptions. These results provided room for recommendations for both research and teaching.

As the sport coaching profession continues to grow, there is a need to reflect upon and revise the knowledge and competencies coaches should possess to support quality sport experiences. The purpose of this paper is to document the revision process of the National Standards for Sport Coaches (NSSC) which were established to outline professional sport coaching standards in the United States of America (USA). The 3-year revision process involved two separate task forces organized by SHAPE America and several public reviews. The final revision aligns the NSSC with quality coaching frameworks and documents seven core responsibilities of sport coaches. Additionally, the NSSC includes standards meant to provide guidance on what a coach should know (e.g., professional knowledge, interpersonal knowledge, and intrapersonal knowledge), what a coach should be able to do (e.g., expectations of performance and developed competencies), and what common practices occur among coaches (e.g., shared values) to meet each core responsibility. It is hoped that the revised version of the NSSC continues to provide direction for all stakeholders to improve coaching practices within the USA.

In addition to taking advanced courses, graduate students navigate a potentially challenging transition of learning to write for publication. We, the authors, explored solutions to this transition with a study designed to explore the research questions: How does a systematic effort to help doctoral students enter a community of writers via writing center collaboration influence doctoral students’: (1) proficiency with academic writing, (2) writing apprehension, (3) self-efficacy as writers, and (4) comfort with “going public” with their writing? We used a collaborative, multi-layered self-study research approach because it allowed us to focus on critical examination of teaching practices that are of interest to the practitioner/researcher and to the greater educational community. Authors/participants include the co-director of a university Writing Center; two professors of a doctoral-level qualitative research methods course; four doctoral students who participated in a series of writing center collaborations; and one master’s student who served as a writing center consultant. These four perspectives provide unique insights into how writing center collaborations supported graduate students in developing their writing proficiency and efficacy, helping to initiate them into a community of writers who “go public” with their scholarship.