Mount Marty College

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) invites learning by doing and that process is optimized through intentional, caring, optimistic, respectful, and trustworthy (I-CORT) mindsets (Purkey & Novak, 2015; Anderson, 2021), which fosters a positive and supportive learning environment. A school having a PLC focusing on generative artificial intelligence (AI) policy development and best-practice curriculum integration can identify where additional support or training is needed. Generative AI-driven educational software is going to become more, not less, pervasive. So, educators need to be highly trained in effective implementation of evolving teaching and learning applications. Therefore, effective pedagogy involves more than telling a student to access an application. Teacher preparation programs and institutional policies should lead these professional development endeavors. Several suggestions, approaches, and models are provided herein to promote best practices that align Invitational Education (IE) theory, with utilization of AI.

Anatomy of the first flying feathered dinosaurs, modern birds and crocodylians, proposes an ancestral flight system divided between shoulder and chest muscles, before the upstroke muscles migrated beneath the body. This ancestral flight system featured the dorsally positioned deltoids and supracoracoideus controlling the upstroke and the chest-bound pectoralis controlling the downstroke. Preserved soft anatomy is needed to contextualize the origin of the modern flight system, but this has remained elusive. Here we reveal the soft anatomy of the earliest theropod flyers preserved as residual skin chemistry covering the body and delimiting its margins. These data provide preserved soft anatomy that independently validate the ancestral theropod flight system. The heavily constructed shoulder and more weakly constructed chest in the early pygostylian Confuciusornis indicated by a preserved body profile, proposes the first upstroke-enhanced flight stroke. Slender ventral body profiles in the early-diverging birds Archaeopteryx and Anchiornis suggest habitual use of the pectoralis could not maintain the sternum through bone functional adaptations. Increased wing-assisted terrestrial locomotion potentially accelerated sternum loss through higher breathing requirements. Lower expected downstroke requirements in the early thermal soarer Sapeornis could have driven sternum loss through bone functional adaption, possibly encouraged by the higher breathing demands of a Confuciusornis-like upstroke. Both factors are supported by a slender ventral body profile. These data validate the ancestral shoulder/chest flight system and provide insights into novel upstroke-enhanced flight strokes and early sternum loss, filling important gaps in our understanding of the appearance of modern flight.

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Limb length, cursoriality and speed have long been areas of significant interest in theropod paleobiology, since locomotory capacity, especially running ability, is critical in the pursuit of prey and to avoid becoming prey. The impact of allometry on running ability, and the limiting effect of large body size, are aspects that are traditionally overlooked. Since several different non-avian theropod lineages have each independently evolved body sizes greater than any known terrestrial carnivorous mammal, ~1000kg or more, the effect that such large mass has on movement ability and energetics is an area with significant implications for Mesozoic paleoecology. Here, using expansive datasets that incorporate several different metrics to estimate body size, limb length and running speed, we calculate the effects of allometry on running ability. We test traditional metrics used to evaluate cursoriality in non-avian theropods such as distal limb length, relative hindlimb length, and compare the energetic cost savings of relative hindlimb elongation between members of the Tyrannosauridae and more basal megacarnivores such as Allosauroidea or Ceratosauridae. We find that once the limiting effects of body size increase is incorporated there is no significant correlation to top speed between any of the commonly used metrics, including the newly suggested distal limb index (Tibia + Metatarsus/ Femur length). The data also shows a significant split between large and small bodied theropods in terms of maximizing running potential suggesting two distinct strategies for promoting limb elongation based on the organisms’ size. For small and medium sized theropods increased leg length seems to correlate with a desire to increase top speed while amongst larger taxa it corresponds more closely to energetic efficiency and reducing foraging costs. We also find, using 3D volumetric mass estimates, that the Tyrannosauridae show significant cost of transport savings compared to more basal clades, indicating reduced energy expenditures during foraging and likely reduced need for hunting forays. This suggests that amongst theropods, hindlimb evolution was not dictated by one particular strategy. Amongst smaller bodied taxa the competing pressures of being both a predator and a prey item dominant while larger ones, freed from predation pressure, seek to maximize foraging ability. We also discuss the implications both for interactions amongst specific clades and Mesozoic paleobiology and paleoecological reconstructions as a whole.

An approach for incorporating preliminary drug discovery research into a biochemistry laboratory is described. During a total of 42 hr (one 3-hr laboratory section a week for 14 weeks), students were exposed to bioinformatics; molecular cloning; protein expression, purification, and characterization; and enzymatic kinetic assays. This research-oriented laboratory not only includes the standard elements of common undergraduate biochemistry laboratory manuals but also emphasizes the logical connections among biochemistry laboratory techniques. Moreover, this approach exposed students to laboratory research and the concept of drug discovery.

We present a spectroscopic abundance analysis of the old, super-metal-rich open cluster NGC 6253, with emphasis on its O abundance. High-dispersion, 7774 Å O i triplet region spectra of 47 stars were obtained using Hydra II on the CTIO Blanco 4 m. Radial velocity analysis confirms 39 stars consistent with single star membership, primarily at the turnoff. Thirty-six of these are included in our abundance analysis. Our differential analysis relative to the Sun yields primarily scaled-solar values, with weighted cluster averages of [O/H] = +0.440 ± 0.020, [Fe/H] = +0.445 ± 0.014, [Al/H] = +0.487 ± 0.020, [Si/H] = +0.504 ± 0.018, and [Ni/H] = +0.702 ± 0.018 (where the errors are ${{\\sigma }_{\\mu }}$). We discuss possible origins for the three known super-metal-rich clusters based upon their abundance patterns, Galactic locations, and space motions. The abundance patterns of NGC 6253 are very similar to those of NGC 6791 and NGC 6583. With the possible exception of oxygen, the abundances of these clusters are all close to scaled-solar, and they are similar to patterns seen in metal-rich disk dwarfs and giants. However, they also seem to differ from those of metal-rich bulge stars. We demonstrate that NGC 6253 is unusually oxygen rich (in [O/H]) for its 3.3 Gyr age. While we find [O/Fe] to be scaled-solar for NGC 6253, the more recently reported values for NGC 6791 show a large variation, from values close to scaled-solar down to values at least a factor of two below scaled-solar. We discuss the possibility that the scaled-solar [O/Fe] abundances of NGC 6253 and NGC 6791 might reflect a flattening of the Galactic [O/Fe] versus [Fe/H] relationship. This possibility may be consistent with disk star abundance data, which show an apparent "floor" at [O/Fe] $\\sim -0.1$ for [Fe/H] $\\gt \\;0$, and with chemical evolution model results, which may predict such a flattening due to a decrease in supernova Fe yields at super-solar-metallicities. Orbit solutions for NGC 6791 allow that it may have formed in the inner disk and was then kicked out, but the origins of the other two much younger clusters remain mysterious. We re-evaluate the age of NGC 6583 in view of the evidence that the cluster is super-metal-rich, and confirm a probable age less than 1 Gyr (best range: 500–900 Myr). We also argue that it is unlikely the cluster is more than 3 kpc away (best range: 2–3 kpc) if the apparent turnoff, main sequence, and giants are all cluster members.

One of Laurence BonJour’s main arguments for the existence of the a priori is an argument that a priori justification is indispensable for making inferences from experience to conclusions that go beyond experience. This argument has recently come under heavy fire from Albert Casullo, who has dubbed BonJour’s argument, “The Generality Argument.” In this paper I (i) defend the Generality Argument against Casullo’s criticisms, and (ii) develop a new, more plausible, version of the Generality Argument in response to some other objections of my own. Two of these objections stem out of BonJour’s failing to fully consider the importance of the distinction between being justified in believing that an inference is good and being justified in making an inference. The final version of the argument that I develop sees the Generality Argument as one part of a cumulative case argument for the existence of a priori justification, rather than as a stand-alone knock-down argument.

With increased attention in health care being given to the spiritual dimension of clients, nurses must be able to recognize clients' spiritual concerns and intervene appropriately. This article proposes that nurses may find the concept of spiritual needs more useful than the term spirituality in guiding practice decisions and curriculum development. A review of nursing and theological literature addressing the spiritual dimension was conducted. Elements of the spiritual dimension and suggestions for nursing intervention were identified. Four case situations from the author's past practice are analyzed. Utilization of the elements of the spiritual dimension is a useful means of recognizing spiritual needs of clients and planning spiritual care. Nursing faculty need to examine curricula for inclusion of assessment of and intervention for spiritual needs. Practicing nurses need to be supported in their role in meeting spiritual needs of clients.