Vance-Granville Community College

ABSTRACTBackgroundRising feed costs and concerns about poultry supplements have sparked interest in natural, complementary and alternative methods to enhance poultry productivity.ObjectiveThis pilot study aimed to compare the growth and quality of meat and eggs from blessing/biofield energy‐treated Rhode Island Red (RIR) hens with those from untreated control hens.MethodsFifty 18‐week‐old RIR laying hens were divided into two groups: control (CONHG; n = 25) and treated (BETHG; n = 25). We assessed egg‐laying performance, quality, nutritional content, carcass characteristics, sensory attributes and microbial analysis.ResultsThe BETHG group showed significant improvements in both external and internal egg quality parameters (specifically, egg weight, height, diameter, albumen weight, albumen height, yolk weight, yolk height and yolk index) compared to the CONHG group. The egg‐laying rate and edible meat weight increased significantly (p ≤ 0.001) by 28.38% and 40.95%, respectively, in BETHG. Cholecalciferol (D3) levels in BETHG increased by 140.36% (meat) and 160.27% (eggs), while iron levels rose by 73.92% (meat) and 95.17% (eggs). Zinc levels were significantly higher in BETHG by 122.39% (meat; p = 0.002) and 70.81% (eggs; p ≤ 0.001). Additionally, linoleic acid (C18:2) increased by 383.33% (meat; p ≤ 0.001) and alpha‐linolenic acid (C18:3) by 166.67% (eggs; p = 0.024). In the BETHG eggs, lutein improved by 100% (p = 0.002) and cis‐zeaxanthin enhanced by 87.5% (p = 0.035) relative to the CONHG group. Sensory characteristics in both meat and eggs improved significantly (p ≤ 0.001) in the BETHG group compared to the CONHG group.ConclusionBlessing/biofield energy treatment significantly enhanced the quality and nutritional value of both meat and eggs compared to control group.

This study explored the role of social media in the teaching and learning of Mathematics among junior high school students and teachers in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Anchored in Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, the study adopted a mixed-methods approach and the sequential explanatory design. The study made use of a structured questionnaire and interview guide to gather data from the 150 students and 10 teachers who were sampled using the stratified random sampling technique. Permission was sought before conducting the study, and all ethical issues in research were adhered to. Findings from this study revealed that social media platforms such as WhatsApp, YouTube, and Telegram are commonly used to share educational content, facilitate discussions, and enhance conceptual understanding in Mathematics. Most students reported improved motivation, better comprehension, and the ability to learn at their own pace through multimedia materials accessed on social media. Teachers highlighted that the convenience of sharing video tutorials and assignments through social platforms is a good motivator to use such platforms for tutorials. However, several challenges, such as high data costs, distractions, and limited access to devices, especially those in rural areas, were reported. The study concludes that when used effectively, social media can serve as a powerful supplementary tool in Mathematics education. It recommends that educators receive training on digital pedagogy and that policies be implemented to reduce technological barriers

Multi-level interventions promoting healthy weight in rural preschool children aged 2-5 years are limited. With the goal of developing a community-informed obesity prevention intervention for rural preschool-aged children, the purpose of this descriptive study was to identify: (1) community settings and intervention strategies to prioritize for an intervention; (2) potential implementation challenges and solutions; and (3) immediate interventions the study team and community partners could collaboratively implement. Workshops occurred in two rural communities in Indiana (2 workshops) and North Carolina (2 workshops), with high obesity rates. A guide was developed to moderate discussions and participants voted to rank community settings and intervention strategies. There were 9-15 participants per workshop, including parents, childcare providers, and representatives of community organizations. Community settings identified as priorities for child obesity prevention included the home, educational settings (preschools), food outlets, recreational facilities, and social media. Priority intervention strategies included providing nutrition and physical activity education, increasing access to healthy foods and physical activity in the built environment, and enhancing food security. Potential intervention implementation challenges centered on poor parental engagement; using personalized invitations and providing transportation support to families were proffered solutions. Immediate interventions to collaboratively implement focused on making playgrounds esthetically pleasing for physical activity using game stencils, and nutrition education for families via quarterly newsletters. This participatory approach with community partners provided insight into two rural communities' needs for child obesity prevention, community assets (settings) to leverage, and potential intervention strategies to prioritize. Findings will guide the development of a multi-level community-based intervention.

In the discussion about zoo elephant husbandry, the report of Clubb et al.(2008, Science 322: 1649) that zoo elephants had a "compromised survivorship"compared to certain non-zoo populations is a grave argument, and was possibly one of the triggers of a large variety of investigations into zoo elephant welfare, and changes in zoo elephant management. A side observation of that report was that whereas survivorship in African elephants (Loxodonta africana) improved since 1960, this was not the case in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). We used historical data (based on the Species360 database) to revisit this aspect, including recent developments since 2008. Assessing the North American and European populations from 1910 until today, there were significant improvements of adult (≥10 years) survivorship in both species. For the period from 1960 until today, survivorship improvement was significant for African elephants and close to a significant improvement in Asian elephants; Asian elephants generally had a higher survivorship than Africans. Juvenile (<10 years) survivorship did not change significantly since 1960 and was higher in African elephants, most likely due to the effect of elephant herpes virus on Asian elephants. Current zoo elephant survivorship is higher than some, and lower than some other non-zoo populations. We discuss that in our view, the shape of the survivorship curve, and its change over time, are more relevant than comparisons with specific populations. Zoo elephant survivorship should be monitored continuously, and the expectation of a continuous trend towards improvement should be met.

A lady in her forties twice tested positive for covid-19 and lost her sense of taste. She was given a treatment with a CellSonic VIPP machine for a few minutes and tested negative. Two days later she still tested negative.

Engineering in the United States remains a historically White, male profession despite concerted efforts to increase racial and gender diversity over the past couple of decades. Both academic and institutional factors have been linked to differences in engineering-degree attainment for racial and ethnic groups considered to be underrepresented in engineering, including Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/ Latinos. In this paper, the researchers present a qualitative study based on interviews with eight engineering students of color who have successfully persisted to junior or senior status in undergraduate engineering programs at a public, historically White institution in the southeastern United States. Among the participants, four identified as women, four had transferred to the institution from a community college or another university, and four would be the first in their families to obtain a bachelor's degree. Findings based on analysis of the interviews suggest that engineering students of color navigate a loosely woven support network of family, peers, and faculty to persist in engineering, and they avoid falling through the gaps in these networks by keeping their eyes on the prize of the engineering degree. The findings speak to the culture experienced by nondominant students pursuing undergraduate engineering degrees in historically White spaces and inform implications for research and practice in engineering education.

The conical involute gears have been applied to automotive parts such as 4WD transfer. To apply for automobile, high capacity and higher quietness are required. In general, the tooth contact of conical gear pair is point contact, hence the large ease off happens even though each tooth surface has no manufacture error. From this characteristic, the tooth surface durability of conical gear pair is thought to be generally small. To clarify the tooth surface durability of conical gears we developed the evaluation method of tooth contact stress distribution on conical gear surface taking an ease off shape and a tooth surface modification into consideration and evaluated a pitting test result by this method. The relationship between the maximum contact stress and pitting life can be put on the pitting S-N curve of cylindrical gears. The edge contact found often cylindrical gear surface at heavy load isn't found on conical gear surface because of large ease off shape.

Concurrent validity of the WISC-III and WISC-IV was conducted using a sample of 35 students classified as educable mentally disabled. Full Scale IQ scores of previously administered WISC-III correlated .91 with WISC-IV Full Scale IQ scores when adjusted for restricted range. Of the previous eligibility decisions, 80% were confirmed by the WISC-IV scores. Implications of the findings and suggestions for research are discussed.