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Exploring the Relationship between Ultrasonographic Measures of the Quadriceps and Knee Extensor Muscle Fitness in Endurance-Trained Individuals
No full textBackground. B-mode ultrasonography is an accessible and cost-effective method to assess muscle size and quality through muscle thickness (MT) and echo intensity (EI), respectively. Muscle thickness and EI have demonstrated relationships with maximal strength and local muscle endurance, providing a noninvasive and efficient modality to examine muscle fitness. However, these relationships have not been quantified in the individual quadriceps muscles of habitually endurance-trained populations, which may provide information to practitioners regarding rehabilitation and performance. Methods. Twenty-three participants (males: N = 10; females: N = 13) underwent B-mode ultrasonography to assess MT, EI, and adipose tissue thickness-corrected echo intensity (cEI) in the vastus intermedius (VI), vastus lateralis (VL), and rectus femoris (RF). Muscle fitness was evaluated through maximal strength (1RM) and local muscle endurance (4 sets to failure at 50% 1RM) during dynamic knee extension. Relationships between ultrasonography outcomes and muscle fitness were examined through stepwise multiple linear regression. Results. The results indicate that VI cEI is the strongest predictor of 1RM strength (r = -0.643), while no ultrasonography-derived measures significantly predicted local muscle endurance. Conclusion. The study demonstrates that ultrasonography, specifically measures of cEI in the VI, has the greatest association with maximal strength in endurance-trained individuals. These findings suggest monitoring VI muscle size and quality may benefit practitioners who aim to improve knee extension strength for performance or following injury. In addition, the findings support the use of EI examinations in trained populations
Telarañas: Untangling My Pain
No full textThis is an exorcism, a purging exercise that presents me with the opportunity to make sense of a thirty-year-old lingering pain. It started with mother sharing the news that we were in the United States, to stay. That decision affected my relationship with both my parents and my sisters. We don’t share our feelings, memories, or experiences. Now, we are not on amicable terms, which is collateral damage caused by the move
Supporting Emotional Intelligence and Inferential Comprehension Using Character Analysis in Picturebooks
No full textThis Teaching and Learning Guide highlights how early childhood teachers can support emotional intelligence and inferential comprehension by drawing children's attention to characters' feelings and by asking students to notice evidence from the illustrations and text
Local Governments Leverage Selfie Culture with #CityHallSelfie Campaign
No full textHashtag campaign #CityHallSelfie asks local government employees and residents to celebrate by snapping selfies in front of city hall. This study analyzes five years of the campaign, which is part advocacy, member engagement, and marketing. Through the lens of framing and social presence theories, the study looks at how tweets and selfies represent levels of government-resident relationships and short narratives of self, pairs, and individuals. Findings show a nearly equal presentation of short narratives of groups and individuals, as well as a 98% function of simply sharing information, the lowest level of government-resident relationships. Selfies highlighted the individuals who run city departments, placing faces to the “city hall†image that can be reduced to a bureaucratic building
Preliminary Investigation of a Potential Optical Biosensor Using the Diamond™ Nucleic Acid Dye Applied to DNA and Friction Ridge Analysis from Fingerprint Traces
No full textDevelopments in science and technology lead to an increasing use of scientific evidence in litigation. Interdisciplinary research can improve current procedures and introduce new ones for the disclosure and examination of evidence. The dactyloscopic trace is used for personal identification by matching minutiae (the minimum required may vary by country) or for extracting DNA material from the trace under investigation. The research presented in this article aims to propose the merging of two currently used personal identification methods, DNA analysis and dactyloscopic trace analysis, which are currently treated as separate forensic traces found at a crime scene. Namely, the forensic trace to be analyzed is the dactyloscopic trace containing DNA, and both sources of information needed for identification are examined as one. Promega�s Diamond� Nucleic Acid Dye, presented as a safe alternative to ethidium bromide, works by binding to single- and double-stranded DNA and is used to visualize the separation of material in a gel and to detect DNA in forensic samples. Spectroscopic studies as absorption and emission spectra and fluorescence microscopy observations presented in our research confirm that Diamond� Nucleic Acid Dye can also be used to visualize fingerprints on non-absorbent surfaces and that combining the two methods into one can significantly increase the evidential value and contribute to the design of an innovative fast-acting optical biosensor
Effects of Taxon and Body Size on Mercury Concentrations in Spiders from Two Rivers with Different Levels of Mercury Contamination: Implications for the Use of Riparian Spiders as Sentinels.
No full textDue to widespread atmospheric deposition of mercury (Hg), all aquatic food webs are contaminated with toxic methyl mercury (MeHg). At high concentrations, MeHg poses a health hazard to wildlife and humans. Spiders feeding in riparian habitats (hereafter referred to as riparian spiders) have been proposed as sentinels of MeHg contamination of aquatic systems. Riparian spiders are exposed to MeHg through their diets, and the concentration of MeHg in spiders is positively related to the proportion of MeHg-contaminated emergent aquatic insects in their diets. The use of spiders as sentinels is complex because their MeHg concentrations can vary, not only among ecosystems but also between different spider taxa and as a function of spider body size. The objective of the present study was to examine how the level of ecosystem contamination, spider taxon, and spider body size interact to influence MeHg concentrations in four genera of riparian spiders from two rivers with different levels of Hg contamination. We collected four genera of riparian spiders (Tetragnatha sp., Larinioides sp., Pardosa sp., and Rabidosa sp.) from two sites along both the Clear Fork of the Trinity River and the West Fork of the Trinity River (Fort Worth, TX, USA). We analyzed concentrations of MeHg in different body sizes of spiders from each genus. We found that MeHg contamination of the river ecosystem, spider taxon, and spider body size were important determinants of MeHg concentration in riparian spiders. The results suggest that any of the four taxa of riparian spiders from the present study could be used as sentinels of aquatic MeHg contamination, but they should not be used interchangeably because of the interdependence between the effects of ecosystem contamination level, spider taxon, and body size. Future studies utilizing riparian spiders as sentinels of biomagnifying aquatic contaminants (e.g., MeHg, polychlorinated biphenyls) should consider the potentially complex interaction effects between ecosystem contamination level, spider taxon, and spider body size. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;00:1-7. © 2024 The Author(s). Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC
Social Work Education Leadership
No full textSocial work education-specific leadership models are necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the profession’s role in addressing societal issues that impact individuals, families, and communities and promote feminist leadership within the profession and academy. A cross-sectional electronic survey design gathered information from faculty and staff members at accredited social work programs within the United States. Study participants included 88 full- and part-time faculty and staff. 50 of the 88 participants (57%) answered the open-ended question from which data for this study were analyzed and triangulated with responses to other questions. The data analysis process resulted in identification of three main themes: conceptualization of leadership, support for leadership, and barriers to leadership. Participants expressed the need for more thoughtful succession planning, leadership specific training, and support in removing barriers to leadership. Many of the problems raised could be addressed through systemic change in higher education, including the proposed model of social work education leadership praxis
CLASSY. XI. Tracing Neutral Gas Properties Using UV Absorption Lines and 21 cm Observations*
No full textRest-frame far-ultraviolet (FUV) observations from JWST are revolutionizing our understanding of the high-z galaxies that drove reionization and the mechanisms by which they accomplished it. To fully interpret these observations, we must be able to diagnose how properties of the interstellar medium (ISM; e.g., column density, covering fraction, and outflow velocity) directly relate to the absorption features produced. Using the high-signal-to-noise and high-resolution FUV spectra of 45 nearby star-forming galaxies from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph Legacy Spectroscopic Survey, we present the largest uniform, simultaneous characterization of neutral and low-ionization state (LIS) interstellar UV absorption lines (O i, Si ii, S ii, C ii, and Al ii) across a wide range of galaxy properties. We also present 21 cm H i observations for 35 galaxies, multiple of which are gas-poor or nondetected, possibly indicating the onset of a post-starburst phase. We find that our simultaneous one-component Voigt profile fits are capable of accurately modeling the LIS absorption for ∼75% of galaxies, mitigating challenges associated with saturation, infilling, and degeneracies. While the most massive galaxies require additional components, our one-component fits return average properties of the absorbing gas and follow the scaling relations described by a single gas cloud. We explore connections between LIS absorption and direct tracers of the neutral ISM (O i, Lyα, and H i 21 cm), finding that C ii most closely traces the neutral gas trends, while other ions exhibit weaker correlations. Given the challenges with directly observing H i at higher-z, we demonstrate that LIS absorption can be a powerful means to study the neutral ISM and present empirical relationships for predicting neutral gas properties
S3D Approach: Incremental Professional Development for Fostering Small-Group Discourse
No full textThe value of discourse in the mathematics classroom is evident across standards, policy documents, and research. The quality of discourse is associated with students’ mathematical understanding and achievement. Productive mathematical discourse includes students providing explanations and critically listening to and evaluating the ideas of others. Such high-level discourse takes time to develop and is impacted by how teachers structure lessons and interact with students (e.g., talk moves). The present case study reports on an incremental professional development, S3D Approach, that guides teachers through a two-phase process to enhance small-group, student-to-student discourse. One middle school mathematics teacher implemented the incremental stages of the S3D Approach with support from a mathematics teacher educator, who conducted weekly observations and debrief meetings. Qualitative analyses revealed that, despite initial challenges, the S3D Approach became integrated into the teacher’s practice, enabling the teacher to identify and build upon incremental improvements in the small-group discourse. Overall, the findings demonstrate how through a reframing of starting points and the definition of success, incremental PD supports sustainable changes in a teacher’s practice and student engagement in productive mathematical discourse
Meal Swipes: The Efficiency of Having Meal Swipes for First Generation College Students Related to Food Insecurity at Texas Christian University
No full textThis research adds to the ongoing discussion about food insecurity among college students and aims to bridge the gap in knowledge about how access to meal swipes specifically affects first-generation students. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, including surveys and interviews, to explore how meal swipes impact first-generation students' perceptions of academic success and campus involvement at TCU. The findings suggest that the inconsistent availability of food through meal swipes has a negative impact on first-generation students' learning, grades, extracurricular participation, social connections, and well-being. This highlights the need for universities like TCU to develop comprehensive solutions to support food-insecure first-gen students, as meeting their basic needs is crucial for ensuring equal opportunities for academic success and overall wellbeing. This research is relevant because it provides insights into a significant yet often overlooked issue that affects many first-gen students' health, achievement, and college experience, contributing to the broader conversation about college student food insecurity