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That Was Something I Had to Get Used to”: Communication Challenges of African Graduate Teaching Assistants
No full textThis qualitative study examined the communication challenges and adaptive strategies of African Graduate Teaching Assistants (AGTAs) in U.S. higher education, focusing on East Tennessee State University. The study aimed to understand how AGTAs navigate linguistic, cultural, and institutional barriers in their teaching roles. Using semi-structured interviews with seven participants, data were analyzed through thematic analysis to identify key patterns and meanings. Findings revealed challenges related to accents, cultural adjustment, and limited institutional preparation. Faculty mentorship played a vital role in shaping AGTAs’ confidence, interpretation of challenges, and professional growth. However, lack of support often led to isolation and self-doubt. The study concludes that universities should strengthen inclusive training, intercultural communication workshops, and mentorship programs to better support international instructors. Such efforts can foster equity, enhance teaching efficacy, and promote globally responsive academic environments
Directed Evolution to Enhance Phytoene Synthase Enzyme Activity for Metabolic Engineering
No full textCarotenoids are vital for plant growth and human health, functioning as light-harvesting pigments and structural components of photosystems. β-carotene and α-carotene are precursors of vitamin A, essential for vision and immunity, and its deficiency causes blindness in developing countries. Metabolic engineering targets carotenoid biosynthesis, particularly phytoene synthase (PSY), a key rate-limiting enzyme. Tomato PSY1 is dominant in fruits but less efficient than PSY2, making PSY2 an attractive target with conserved sequences across plants. In this study, a semi-rational, structure-guided mutagenesis of the tomato PSY2 gene enables screening of high-activity mutants in a bacterial system that can accumulate carotenoids, with plans to implement automation using the Opentron Flex pipetting robot platform, which can process 96 samples simultaneously in a single run. In the long term, machine learning could model protein sequence-enzyme activity relationships to guide future rounds of directed evolution. Ultimately, identified key residues could be used as targets for prime editing to boost provitamin A production in crops
Postprocessing GAN-Generated Synthetic Time Series Using Dynamic Time Warping
No full textGenerative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are a class of deep learning models capable of producing realistic synthetic data that preserve the statistical and temporal characteristics of real datasets. The DoppelGANger (DGAN) framework extends this approach to time series data by jointly modeling temporal dependencies and contextual metadata. However, synthetic sequences generated by GAN may show temporal misalignment, resulting in inconsistencies when compared with real data. This study presents a postprocessing framework based on Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and its differentiable extension Soft-DTW to improve the temporal alignment of synthetic time series. The framework is evaluated using quantitative measures of alignment and similarity. Results show that Soft-DTW enhances temporal coherence and statistical fidelity, demonstrating that the proposed postprocessing approach refines GAN-generated time series and improves their interpretability
Control of Pilus-Mediated Motility in Acinetobacter baumannii
No full textAcinetobacter baumannii is a multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogen with the ability to colonize dry or desiccated surfaces and survive long time periods, increasing the possibility for clinical outbreaks. One of the main mechanisms A. baumannii uses to interact and traverse these environments is twitching motility, a specific type of motility that utilizes a type IV pilus (T4P). Various bacterial species utilize cyclic-di-GMP (c-di-GMP) signaling to regulate T4P motility. Preliminary testing of c-di-GMP-related proteins within A. baumannii identified two proteins (1138 and 2255) that were required for twitching motility. Results of this study suggest that 2255 interacts with the T4P-associated ATPase PilB, while 1138 homodimerizes and potentially binds c-di-GMP within its active site. This suggests important roles for both 1138 and 2255 in T4P function and overall twitching ability for A. baumannii, with further investigation required to explore the potential mechanisms presented in these findings
Opportunities, Challenges, and Realities of Graduate Student Submissions in Institutional Repositories: One Librarian’s Reflection
No full textThe role of an institutional repository (IR) is to provide open access publishing and archival services for the institution’s faculty, staff, and students. However, despite the wide range of benefits this creates for university researchers, it can be difficult to communicate that value to graduate students. This article will discuss and reflect upon the various challenges, successes, and opportunities we experienced while promoting and utilizing the IR for graduate students at the University of Wyoming during and after a major platform migration, and touch upon goals for the future
Becoming a Competent Graduate Librarian
No full textBecoming a competent graduate librarian is a cumulative process. This article is a reflective summary of over ten years of evolution as a graduate librarian. By treating real-life encounters with reality-based methods and empathetic teaching and reflection, I have developed personal recommendations and strategies to interact successfully with students, as well as the reasoning behind personal shifts in approaching graduate students and services. This process includes unscripted interactions, the necessity of becoming a scholarly contributor, and providing contextualization and incremental assistance against a framework of empathy and andragogy. Combined with ongoing self-assessment, this results in an evaluation cycle that responds to changes in student needs, drives ongoing professional development, and increases competence
Plan Your Way to Tenure and/or Promotion
No full textIn this editorial, we share our best advice for preparing the dossier necessary for professional advancement. While our advice is unavoidably shaped by the specifics of our experiences and universities, we believe most of it is broadly applicable to academic librarians in general. We cluster our advice into three categories: framework and planning, building your portfolio, and ongoing recordkeeping. We hope this “from the ground up” presentation will help those new to academic librarianship, though it’s never too late for more experienced librarians to (re)consider their own approaches
2025 September 24 - Undergraduate Curriculum Council Minutes
No full textThe Undergraduate Curriculum Council met on September 24, 2025, to review and approve multiple curriculum proposals across Early Childhood Education and Geosciences. The council approved the previous meeting’s minutes before considering two new Early Childhood Education courses—ECED 3125, designed to strengthen lesson‑planning preparation, and ECED 4160, a STEM‑focused course aligned with updated NAEYC standards. Members also approved a non‑substantive curriculum revision to the Early Care & Education concentration, adding the new courses, incorporating special education and advocacy offerings, eliminating advisor‑approved electives in favor of free electives to reduce CPOS issues, and removing the minor requirement. In Geosciences, three new courses—GEOS 3200 (Introductory Soil Science), GEOS 4040 (Advanced Soil Science), and GEOS 4050 (Soil Profile Descriptions)—were approved to support a developing soils curriculum. The council also endorsed revisions to the Sport Management minor to improve flexibility and DegreeWorks clarity. Additional business included discussion of vacant committee seats, with encouragement for members to recommend candidates. The meeting concluded at approximately 3:45 p.m
Knowledge and Perceptions About Feeding and Growth in Infants and Young Children Among Early Interventionists
Get PDFNutrition plays a vital role in early childhood, where rapid growth and development occur. This study investigates Early Interventionists’ (EIs) nutrition knowledge and perceptions of nutrition-related concerns in children receiving services through the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS). An electronic survey was distributed to EIs in Tennessee to assess their nutrition knowledge and perceptions and to identify nutrition concerns. Findings revealed that most EIs have never received any nutrition education, despite being asked for nutrition guidance by families and being open to nutrition-related training. The EIs reported seeing nutrition concerns such as growth delays, food refusal, and picky eating, but very few of these children are connected with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). The results indicate the importance of providing EIs with nutrition education and improving access to RDN services. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of such training and its impact on the development of children receiving early intervention