Mars Hill University

Dirofilaria immitis, more commonly known as canine heartworm, is a parasitic nematode that leads to heartworm disease in dogs. Adult heartworms occupy the heart and lungs of dogs and prevent these organs from functioning properly. Anecdotal evidence suggested that several counties in Western North Carolina showed a trend of heartworm incidence rates that were lower than the incidence rates of both North Carolina and the United States. This study looked to investigate this anecdotal trend using data from the Companion Animal Parasite Council. Public data confirm that both Madison and Buncombe County have lower rates of heartworm infection than North Carolina as a whole. In order to help explain this trend we conducted a pilot survey using Buncombe County as a model of mosquito species diversity in Western North Carolina. We trapped mosquitoes at three sites in Buncombe County from July 2020 to October 2020. Our mosquito diversity estimate was used to predict expected rates of heartworm prevalence and found a substantial difference between the actual and expected heartworm prevalence in Buncombe County. It is possible that factors other than mosquito diversity contribute to low heartworm prevalence in Buncombe County and in other counties in Western North Carolina.

Within the academic context, mentoring is a positive and ongoing relationship between a professor and student that fosters academic growth and accomplishment. Thus, mentors are crucial for graduate students in both masters and doctoral programs. Currently, there is a lack of research regarding mentorship, especially when it involves common obstacles that a student may experience such as academic rejection, the pressure to publish scholarly work, and career conversations post-graduate school. Academic rejection refers to the act of receiving a rejection for a scholarly task such as a rejection notice for a manuscript, award, grant, or even employment. Accordingly, the current study aims to qualitatively explore academic rejection, the pressure to publish, and career conversations post-graduate school using a convenience sample of 75 current faculty members who are appointed to a criminology and criminal justice department at a university or college. Themes related to academic rejection, the pressure to publish, and career conversations are discussed, as well as the implications of these themes are further discussed.

Model pembelajaran tipe Reciprocal Learning merupakan usaha guru untuk memperbaiki nilai siswa pada pelajaran Biologi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peningkatan hasil belajar siswa dan Aktivitas siswa dalam meningkatkan nilai pelajaran Biologi materi Keanekaragaman Hayati. Subjek dalam penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas X-IPS.1 di SMAN 3 Seulimeum yang berjumlah 15 orang siswa, yang dilksanakan pada bulan Januari sampai dengan Maret tahun 2020/2021. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan menggunakan tes hasil belajar siswa, lembar pengamatan aktivitas guru dan siswa, lembar pengamatan keterampilan guru dalam mengelola pembelajaraan dan angket respon siswa. Nilai KKM sekolah yang ditargetkan adalah 75. Analisis data menggunakan statistik deskriptif persentase. (1) Hasil penelitian dengan persentase ketuntasan secara individual meningkat dari siklus I persentase ketuntasan klasikal meningkat dari 33,33%. menjadi 86,66% (2) Aktivitas guru yang dominan adalah menugaskan dan mengawasi siswa untuk mempresentasikan hasil diskusi dan mempersentasikan. Pada siklus I aktivitas guru sebesar 50,00% kategorinya kurang sesuai dan siklus II aktivitas guru sebesar 75,00% kategori baik. Aktivitas siswa yang dominan adalah menjawab tipe Reciprocal Learning. dan mempresentasikan hasil kerja kelompok (3) Persentase respon siswa dalam pembelajaran adalah 86,66% dengan nilai rata-rata 76,4. Nilai tersebut sudah mencapai nilai indikator pada penelitian tindakan kelas 85%.
 
 
 Kata kunci : Reciprocal Learning, Nilai Biologi., Materi Keanekaragaman Hayati

ObjectiveTo evaluate the evidence describing how the controlled temperature chain approach for vaccination could lead to improved equitable immunization coverage in low- and middle-income countries.MethodsWe created a theory of change construct from the Controlled temperature chain: strategic roadmap for priority vaccines 2017–2020, containing four domains: (i) uptake and demand for the approach; (ii) compliance and safe use of the approach; (iii) programmatic efficiency gains from the approach; and (iv) improved equitable immunization coverage. To verify and improve the theory of change, we applied a realist review method to analyse published descriptions of controlled temperature chain or closely related experiences.FindingsWe evaluated 34 articles, describing 22 unique controlled temperature chain or closely related experiences across four World Health Organization regions. We identified a strong demand for this approach among service delivery providers; however, generating an equal level of demand among policy-makers requires greater evidence on economic benefits and on vaccination coverage gains, and use case definitions. Consistent evidence supported safety of the approach when integrated into special vaccination programmes. Feasible training and supervision supported providers in complying with protocols. Time-savings were the main evidence for efficiency gains, while cost-saving data were minimal. Improved equitable coverage was reported where vaccine storage beyond the cold chain enabled access to hard-to-reach populations. No evidence indicated an inferior vaccine effectiveness nor increased adverse event rates for vaccines delivered under the approach.ConclusionSynthesized evidence broadly supported the initial theory of change. Addressing evidence gaps on economic benefits and coverage gains may increase future uptake.

There is an increased concern for school violence, particularly instances of mass shootings, which has led researchers to respond by examining both the causes and consequences of this behavior. What is often missing from the discussion on mass shootings in school settings, however, is the role of teachers and school leaders. Because these individuals are on the front line when school shootings occur, their ability to influence and enforce school policies must be taken into consideration. The mission of this chapter is to provide an overview of the vital role that teachers and school leaders play in mass shootings and incidents of multiple victim violence. This chapter is essential for any text exploring the issues surrounding mass shootings in school settings.

Abstract Surveying for flying squirrels by using traditional techniques produces extremely low detection rates compared with ultrasonic acoustics. Within Pennsylvania, the northern flying squirrel subspecies Glaucomys sabrinus macrotis is state listed as endangered due to habitat loss and parasite-mediated competition by and hybridization with the southern flying squirrel Glaucomys volans. This subspecies is isolated from adjacent populations in West Virginia and New York and has experienced drastic population declines. The discovery and characterization of ultrasonic vocalizations of G. s. macrotis and G. volans, as well as successful field surveys with ultrasonic acoustic detectors in the southern Appalachian Mountains, highlight the potential use of this technique for determining the presence of G. s. macrotis. To confirm the feasibility of using this technique on declining populations of G. s. macrotis sympatric with G. volans, we conducted 108 nights of passive ultrasonic acoustic surveys for G. s. macrotis at six survey sites by using two detectors per survey site (N = 12 detectors) in June 2017. We considered sites high quality (“high”) or low quality (“low”) based on the number of physical capture records during the past 2 decades and the dominance of boreo-montane conifer tree species in the overstory. We detected G. s. macrotis at four study sites and G. volans at all six study sites. We found higher average probability of detection for G. s. macrotis in high vs. low sites (0.28 ± 0.06 [mean ± SE] and 0.09 ± 0.07, respectively), whereas probability of detection was similar for G. volans between high and low sites (0.13 ± 0.05 and 0.17 ± 0.05, respectively). We also found G. s. macrotis had lower latency of detection at high vs. low sites (2.7 ± 0.8 and 7.83 ± 1.5 nights, respectively) but G. volans did not vary in latency of detection between sites (5 ± 1.6 and 3.8 ± 1.5 nights, respectively). Our study shows acoustics can be successfully used to efficiently survey G. s. macrotis in Pennsylvania, where populations are small and monitoring these populations more effectively is critical to determining changes in persistence due to climate- and disease-induced factors.

Many biodiversity-ecosystem services studies omit cultural ecosystem services (CES) or use species richness as a proxy and assume that more species confer greater CES value. We studied wildflower viewing, a key biodiversity-based CES in amenity-based landscapes, in Southern Appalachian Mountain forests and asked (i) How do aesthetic preferences for wildflower communities vary with components of biodiversity, including species richness?; (ii) How do aesthetic preferences for wildflower communities vary across psychographic groups?; and (iii) How well does species richness perform as an indicator of CES value compared with revealed social preferences for wildflower communities? Public forest visitors (n = 293) were surveyed during the summer of 2015 and asked to choose among images of wildflower communities in which flower species richness, flower abundance, species evenness, color diversity, and presence of charismatic species had been digitally manipulated. Aesthetic preferences among images were unrelated to species richness but increased with more abundant flowers, greater species evenness, and greater color diversity. Aesthetic preferences were consistent across psychographic groups and unaffected by knowledge of local flora or value placed on wildflower viewing. When actual wildflower communities (n = 54) were ranked based on empirically measured flower species richness or wildflower viewing utility based on multinomial logit models of revealed preferences, rankings were broadly similar. However, designation of hotspots (CES values above the median) based on species richness alone missed 27% of wildflower viewing utility hotspots. Thus, conservation priorities for sustaining CES should incorporate social preferences and consider multiple dimensions of biodiversity that underpin CES supply.

Plant invasions can alter the quality and quantity of detrital and root-derived inputs entering a system, thereby influencing the activities of microbial decomposers and affecting the soil carbon cycle. The effect of these inputs on soil carbon storage is often conflicting, suggesting strong context dependency in the plant-decomposer relationship. Whether there is a generalizable pattern that explains this dependency remains relatively unexplored. Here, we (1) examine how invasion by the exotic grass Microstegium vimineum affects carbon cycling across a land use gradient, and (2) evaluate the importance of inorganic nitrogen availability and other environmental variables for explaining patterns in soil carbon. Using paired invaded and uninvaded plots, we quantified invasion effects on belowground carbon pools, extracellular enzyme activities, and native leaf litter decomposition in forests embedded in an urban, agricultural, or forested landscape matrix. Compared to the urban matrix, invasion-associated declines in total soil organic carbon in the forested and agricultural landscapes were 3.5 and 2.5 times greater, respectively. Inorganic nitrogen availability and M. vimineum biomass interacted to explain these patterns: when both nitrogen availability and M. vimineum biomass were high, invaded soils exhibited higher total organic carbon, unchanged particulate organic matter carbon, and higher mineral-associated organic matter carbon compared to adjacent uninvaded soils. Consistent with these patterns, activities of carbon-mineralizing enzymes were lower in invaded than in uninvaded soils when both nitrogen availability and M. vimineum biomass were high. By contrast,. decomposition of native leaf litter was faster when inorganic nitrogen availability and M. vimineum biomass were high. Our findings suggest that, although this invader may accelerate carbon cycling in forest soils, its effects on soil carbon storage largely depend on nitrogen availability and invader biomass, which can be altered by landscape-level patterns of land use. Additional research is needed to determine whether land use or other broad-scale processes such as atmospheric nitrogen deposition can explain context dependence in plant invasion effects on other ecosystem processes.

Many temperate deciduous forests are recovering from past logging, but the effects of logging legacies and environmental gradients on forest insect pollinators have not been well studied. In this study, we asked how pollinator abundance and community composition varied with distance from logging roads and elevation in old (logged >90 years ago) and young (logged 20-40 years ago) southern Appalachian forests. Insect pollinators were sampled at 15 previously logged sites along an elevation gradient at 5 distances from logging roads during summer 2010 and spring 2011 using pan traps. In summer, many pol- linator groups were more abundant in younger forests and closer to logging roads, likely due LQSDUWWRPRUHOLJKWDYDLODELOLW\�DQGDJUHDWHUDEXQGDQFHRI�? RUDOUHVRXUFHVQHDUURDGV��7RWDO� bee abundance was greater near logging roads, but only in younger forests, suggesting that the role of roads in providing nectar and other resources may diminish as forests mature. In spring, many pollinator families were less abundant at mid-distances (2-10 m) from roads compared to road edges (0 m), but abundances were generally the same at 100 m from the road as at road edges. Two important bee families, Apidae and Andrenidae, were strongly associated with high elevations in spring. Our results suggest that logging legacies may provide supplemental resources such as food and nesting sites to insect pollinators during the summer months especially, with the effects of roads often extending at least 100 m into young forests.

In 2013, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) celebrated its 50th anniversary—a notable milestone in its organizational history. Much has changed since ACJS’s inauguration, including the...