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Induction of Early Cyclicity Using Estradiol Cypionate and Sulpiride on Seasonally Anestrous Mares
No full textThis study was designed to evaluate strategies to induce early ovulation in
anestrous mares. Thirty-two seasonally anovulatory mares were randomly placed into 4
treatment groups based on their reproductive status. Anestrous (n = 11), transitional (n =
8), and progesterone pre-treated (n = 9) groups were treated in January with 50 mg of
estradiol cypionate (ECP) followed 24 h later with 3 g of sulpiride. A control group (C, n
= 4) was administered the treatment carrier. Ovaries were scanned every 2 to 3 d via
transrectal ultrasound for 60 d following treatment. Day of first and second ovulation was
recorded. Embryos were transferred to 10 mares after at least 2 estrous cycles. Blood
samples were analyzed for luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin (PRL). There was an
effect of treatment (P < 0.001) on mean number of days to first ovulation. Mean number
of days to first ovulation was less (P < 0.001) in all treated groups than C. There was an
effect of treatment on the number of mares that achieved first ovulation (P < 0.001) and
second ovulation (P = 0.018). Of 28 treated mares, 23 (82.1%) ovulated within 22 d of
treatment. Of 23 mares that had a first ovulation, 15 (65.2%) had a second ovulation
within 43 d. There was an effect of the treatment-by-day interaction on plasma mean PRL
(P < 0.001) and LH (P = 0.021) concentrations. Ten embryos were transferred across the
3 ECP-sulpiride treated groups with 70% of mares having confirmed pregnancy at 60 d
MAMMALIAN COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO TIME SINCE BURNING ON A MANAGED ROLLING PLAINS LANDSCAPE
No full textFire is a natural disturbance in the Rolling Plains ecosystem. When applied properly, fire removes unwanted litter, decreases woody plant densities, and increases herbaceous plant production. Plant abundance, density, and biomass will differ by time since an area burns. Animals utilize plants for resources such as diet and cover. Therefore, it is expected that animals will use habitats differently depending on the time since a burn has occurred. This has the potential to help biologists and landowners to more efficiently manage native species. My objective was to look at the influence of time since burning on the activity of mammals. I used camera traps in 16 different locations with 0-15 years post-burn on Matador Wildlife Management Area in Cottle County, Texas, in 2018-2020. Cameras were spaced throughout the property in uplands, lowlands, and drainages. I calculated an activity index for each species for each month of data. Each species activity indices were then used to calculate Shannon Diversity Index in activity, total activity, and species evenness in activity. Species richness was also calculated per month per camera location. I then regressed the 5 most abundant species’ activity indices against days since burning. Community metrics were also regressed against days since burning. During the duration of the study 919,884 images were collected over 8,498 camera days. I detected 17 mammal species on the property. The 5 most abundant species were coyote (Canis latrans), wild boar (Sus scrofa), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and cottontails (Sylvilagus spp.). Coyotes and wild boar activities were not statistically significantly influenced by days since burning. White-tailed deer increased in activity in areas with an increase in days since burning. Mule deer also increased in activities as days since burning increased. Cottontail activity decreased as days since burning increased. Total mammal activity increased as days since burning increased. Shannon Diversity Index for activity and species evenness of activity both decreased as days since burning increased. Finally, there was no statistical significance between days since burning and species richness. In conclusion, in the short-term, prescribed fire influenced mammalian activity on a managed Rolling Plains landscape. I suspect prolonged drought influenced the ability to detect clearer patterns. In conclusion, there is evidence that suggests species are using both recently burned areas and areas that have gone numerous years of growing seasons post-fire. This indicates a need for a mosaic management plan to best manage the entire community
EMOTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND COLOR SPOTS
No full textThe purpose of this thesis is to examine the effect of color on the emotions of those who
view the artwork created for this research; this is attempted through a systematic application of color combinations combined with abstracted portraiture. This series of artwork is focused on five emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. With emphasis placed on these five emotions, the goal was maintained within these limited boundaries to test the idea behind how color, color association, and memory intertwine while also researching different color theories and applications of design. The results of this research concluded with no concrete answer, which challenged the authority of color theorists since there seems to be a push to bring concepts about color into definitive confines. However, the idea of affecting the peoples’ emotions using specific colors in conjunction with abstracted portraiture is possible. It has also been discovered that through my analysis, artwork, and findings instigate that there is a dialogue that needs to be further explored, especially in regard to color and the human experience
Cross-Cultural Adaptation in the Discourse of Education and Teaching: An Autoethnography of a Female Colombian Immigrant in Academia in the United States
No full textTopic: This study is an exploration of the cross-cultural adaption experience of the researcher as a female Colombian immigrant in academia coming from a Hispanic-heritage culture. Through an autoethnography, the researcher seeks to evoke empathy and provide encouragement to other female Hispanic immigrants in academia in the United States. This study aims to understand what the barriers were, how she went through in spite of obstacles, and what it meant to explore cross-cultural adaptation as a long-term process to adjust and feel comfortable in a new culture. | Expected Findings: After analyzing my cross-cultural adaptation experience through the lens of an autoethnography, two themes emerged. First, compared to American teachers, international educators struggle with additional challenges: composite academic material, different teaching strategies, unusual way of interaction between instructors and students, unique writing/speaking approaches, and particular methods of logical thinking. Second, the cross-cultural teaching experiences and the transnational form of living required international teachers to redraw the boundaries behind their culture of origin helping to the contributions of their development and experiences. Marginalized and/or rejection to the host culture is not acceptable for foreign teachers; contrary, they should employ higher levels of social interaction in the host environment to gain the necessary insights and skills to adapt and acculturate in the context of a diverse society (Hoota & Ting-Toomey, 2013).Immigrants, refugees, and visitors face cross-cultural boundaries when they move to a new “host culture” and strive to build a new life in an unfamiliar place. Recent studies indicated that every year, the population of the United States becomes increasingly ethnically diverse and the number of female graduate immigrants has been increasing as well (Guramatunhu-Mudiwa, 2015). Yet, knowledge about female graduate students who are international immigrants and have become college teachers is limited. Given this trend, the purpose of this research is to examine the cross-cultural adaptation experience of myself as a female Colombian immigrant in academia, as well as the way I have undergone throughout the process of my integration to adjust and feel comfortable in a new culture. I hope my story offers institutions, local community members, and other international students who want to become college teachers, a unique perception of the characteristics of a teacher of color’s lived experiences and a drive to change the culture toward diversity. I am optimistic that my cross-cultural teaching experience could contribute to the general understanding of adaptation in the context of a diverse society in the United States
THE EFFECTS OF A SUPPLEMENTAL PROBIOTIC-PREBIOTIC ON PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWLY RECEIVED FEEDLOT CATTLE
Get PDFTwo hundred and fifty-eight (average BW = 250 ± 11.4 kg) crossbred steers were received at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Feedlot in Bushland, TX. Steers (n = 240) were stratified by average initial BW (d-1, d-0) and allocated to 1 of 2 BW blocks in a randomized complete block design. Steers were offered 1 of 3 dietary treatments. The control treatment (CON) received a pellet without probiotic-prebiotic blend (P-PB). Treatment 2 received a pellet with P-PB from d 0 to 21 followed by the CON pellet from d 22 to 42 (P-PB21). Treatment 3 received the P-PB pellet from d 0 to 42 (P-PB42). Following the 42-d receiving period, the treatment pellets were removed and replaced with steam-flaked corn (SFC) for the remainder of the finishing period. If dry-matter intake (DMI) was < 6.35 kg/steer/d, the P-PB pellet was included at 8.75% of the diet. If DMI was ≥ 6.35 kg/steer/d, the P-PB pellet was included at 6.25% of the diet. Steer BW was measured on d 21 and d 42 of the feeding period. Continuous data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS, categorical data were analyzed using the GLIMMIX procedure. Pen was considered the experimental unit, block a random effect, and treatment a fixed effect. No treatment effects were observed from d 0 to d 42 for BW (P ≥ 0.91), average daily gain (ADG; P = 0.97), feed efficiency (P = 0.99), or dry matter intake (DMI; P = 0.95). No treatment differences were observed for percent morbidity or mortality (P ≥ 0.38) from d 0 to 42. Supplemented P-PB did not impact longissimus area (LM), fat thickness, marbling score, USDA Quality or Yield grade (P ≥ 0.24), while
dressing percent (DP; P ≤ 0.05) and hot carcass weight (HCW; P = 0.09) were greatest for CON. While results remained similar between treatments, there were no negative effects on cattle health and performance during the receiving period
Community, the WWII Homefront, and POW Art: The St. Mary's Project in Umbarger, Texas
Get PDFSt. Mary’s Catholic Church in Umbarger, Texas, has become a local historic mecca and landmark in the state. In 1945, Italian prisoners of war, who were housed at the WWII prisoner camp in nearby Hereford, decorated the interior of the church with paintings and carvings—what I am calling “the St. Mary’s Project” or SMP—making the church one of the rarest and most extensive examples of POW art in the United States. Not only did the artists leave their aesthetic mark on the region, and not only did the community of Umbarger leave an impression of kindness on the artists-POWs, but these two groups also built enduring connections. These prisoners and their families continued to return to the Umbarger church periodically over the last seven decades, where they were hosted as friends and even family by the Umbarger residents. While a few published sources have touched upon the Umbarger St. Mary’s Project, my thesis explores the project in various new contexts. It offers the first concentrated art historical analysis of the church decorations, claiming they are deeply connected to historical Italian art as well as modernist art and in dialogue with international and contemporary trends of mural art. Likewise, my work here examines the cross-cultural connections that emerged in the SMP, between an immigrant German-American community and Italian POWs. I aim to understand how an art project in rural America acted as a catalyst for the development of an unusual trans-national community during and after WWII
Religiosity and spirituality: Psychological gender essentialism as a mediator for transnegative prejudice
Get PDFIn recent years there has been increasing interest of issues regarding transgender individuals and transgender rights. The transgender community has often been faced with misunderstanding and individuals within it have been victims of prejudice. The current research seeks to examine attitudes towards transgender individuals in the context of religion and gender essentialism. Specifically, it seeks to discover what types of religiosity and spirituality are most related to transnegativity, and whether gender essentialism partially mediates this relationship. To investigate this, survey data was collected from undergraduate students (n = 166) measuring multidimensional spirituality, gender essentialism, and attitudes towards transgender individuals, and the data was analyzed using four mediation models. Results indicated that multidimensional spirituality was significantly predictive of transnegative attitudes, with gender essentialism mediating this relationship. These findings have important implications for understanding spirituality, gender essentialism, and prejudice. Most importantly, these findings indicate areas where prejudice could be mitigated
Top 10 things I’ve learned while advising a team of students focused on community engagement each year
No full textLink to presentation: https://ensemble.wtamu.edu/Watch/Be63Jkm9
Recruit early and intentionally.
Alumni and returning team members are ideal resources.
Clarify vocally and publicly why they were selected.
Keep meetings timely and flexible.
Stay in touch with one primary communication mode.
Save everything.
Help them reach out to employers, community members and introduced them to others.
Involve established community and campus groups.
Help them see forums in multiple media options for their messaging.
Set an overall goal and help them measure that they accomplished
Torque Magnetometry Studies of Topological Nodal-Line Semimetal ZrSiS
Get PDFTopological materials have attracted enormous attention in recent days because of their potential applications in optoelectronics, quantum computing, and green energy harvesting, etc. Recent theoretical and experimental studies have proved that ZrSiS is a nodal-line semimetal with the Dirac band crossings along a line. In this talk, I will present our recent torque magnetometry studies to investigate the Fermi surface topology of ZrSiS under the applied fields up to 14 T. The magnetic torque shows clear oscillations at higher fields with several distinct frequencies. The number of frequency peaks changes depending on the tilt angle between the applied field and the sample surface. The obtained results are compared with other published data, and possible origins of these frequencies will be discussed.Killgore Faculty Gran
The Music of Isolation
No full textTopic:
“The Music of Isolation” explores solo piano pieces written by composers who endured physical, geographical, and social isolation.
History:
College Music Society - Southern Regional Conference (02/27/21), College Music Society - South Central Regional Conference (3/26-28/21), College Music Society - Pacific Northwest Regional Conference (5/8-9/21)Recorded Presentation: https://youtu.be/io7GCeVJi4M | “The Music of Isolation” explores solo piano pieces written by composers who endured physical, geographical, and social isolation. The program is comprised of Fantasia in C Major, Hob. XVII:4 by Franz Joseph Haydn (1789), Three Preludes for Piano by Charles Griffes (1919), and Rondeau by Olivier Messiaen (1943). Each piece has been carefully chosen from the composers’ oeuvres to represent periods of their lives characterized by isolation. The full range of human emotion is explored, from brilliant creativity, to despair and darkness, to release. Despite their disparate styles, the unifying theme of isolation provides insight and historical context for each composer’s compositional choices. Haydn’s Fantasia was composed near the end of his time in Esterháza and is the culmination of his unique keyboard writing. The work’s surprising harmonic shifts and unorthodox keyboard techniques are indicative of the composer’s unique development due to his geographical isolation. Griffes’s Preludes were composed in the final year of his life, shortly before he succumbed to the Spanish Flu. Messiaen’s Rondeau, composed shortly after his release from Stalag VIII-A, gives us a glimpse into life post-isolation. The goal of the project is to introduce the audience to lesser-known works by well-known composers. The presentation includes video recordings of the three works, plus a lecture presentation on the historical context of each piece, providing a sense of shared connection that invites the audience to view each composer’s work with a fresh perspective