Main Effects Of Year Research Articles

An Investigation into Presentation Apprehension among Non-English Major Students at a University in Hanoi

The study was carried out at Dai Nam University to measure the levels of presentation apprehension among non-English major students. The participants were 137 students of different disciplines. The study employs quantitative research design to obtain the answers for research questions. The first finding of the study shows that levels of presentation apprehension among non-English major students at Dai Nam University was M=3.06 which was at the medium level. In terms of variation of presentation apprehension by years of study, the findings reveal that there were significant differences. Year 1 (M = 3.82, SD = 0.25) was significantly larger than for Year 2 (M = 3.01, SD = 0.41), p < .001. For the main effect of year of study, the mean of presentation apprehension for Year 1 (M = 3.82, SD = 0.25) was significantly larger than for Year 3 (M = 2.29, SD = 0.39), p < .001. For the main effect of years of study, the mean of presentation apprehension for Year 2 (M = 3.01, SD = 0.41) was significantly larger than for Year 3 (M = 2.29, SD = 0.39), p < .001. The second finding of the study revealed that among the factors that lead to presentation apprehension, fear of being judged or criticized (Ft5), and lack of self-confidence (Ft6) were the main causes of anxiety M=3.05 and M=3.04 respectively. The finding also indicated that the factors of presentation apprehension varied by years of study.

Genotype by environment and genotype by yield*trait interactions in sugar beet: analyzing yield stability and determining key traits association

The genotype by environment interaction significantly influences plant yield, making it imperative to understand its nature for the creation of breeding programs to enhance crop production. However, this is not the only obstacle in the yield improvement process. Breeders also face the significant challenge of unfavorable and negative correlations among key traits. In this study, the stability of root yield and white sugar yield, and the association between the key traits of root yield, sugar content, nitrogen, sodium, and potassium were examined in 20 sugar beet genotypes. The study was conducted using a randomized complete block design with four replications over two consecutive years across five locations. The combined analysis of variance results revealed significant main effects of year, location, and genotype on both root yield and white sugar yield. Notably, two-way and three-way interactions between these main effects on root yield and white sugar yield resulted in a significant difference. The additive main effect and multiplicative interaction analysis revealed that the first five interaction principal components significantly impacted both the root yield and white sugar yield. The linear mixed model results for root yield and white sugar yield indicated that the genotype effect and the genotype by environment interaction were significant. The weighted average absolute scores of the best linear unbiased predictions biplot demonstrated that genotypes 20, 4, 7, 2, 16, 3, 6, 1, 14, and 15 were superior in terms of root yield. For white sugar yield, genotypes 4, 16, 3, 7, 5, 1, 10, 20, 2, and 6 stood out. These genotypes were not only stable but also had a yield value higher than the total average. All key traits, which include sugar content, sodium, potassium, and alpha amino nitrogen, demonstrated a negative correlation with root yield. Based on the genotype by yield*trait analysis results, genotypes 20, 19, and 16 demonstrated optimal performance when considering the combination of root yield with sugar content, sodium, alpha amino nitrogen, and potassium. The multi-trait stability study, genotype 13 ranked first, and genotypes 10, 8, and 9 were identified as the most ideal stable genotypes across all traits. According to the multi-trait stability index, genotype 13 emerged as the top-ranking genotype. Additionally, genotypes 10, 8, and 9 were recognized as the most stable genotypes.

English

Narrow brown leaf spot disease of rice caused by fungus Cercospora oryzae Miyake emerged as potential threat to rice crop in previous few years worldwide and can cause more than 40% yield loss. The disease symptoms were noted on various commercially important rice varieties in the rice growing districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. Hence, the studies were planned to assess the effects of Propiconazole fungicide application timings and different rice varieties on the severity of narrow brown leaf spot (NBLS) disease of rice to develop an accurate management strategy for the disease. The Propiconazole fungicide was tested at three various growth phases (early booting, late booting, and soft dough) of four rice varieties against the percent severity of the NBLS disease The experiments were designed under strip-plot (crisscross) design with four replications at research area of Plant Pathology Department, University of Agriculture Faisalabad. Analysis of variance has demonstrated that the main and interactive effects of fungicide applications and rice varieties were found significant. The main effects of years were found non-significant but their interactions with fungicide application timings and rice varieties were significant. Fungicide applications at soft dough and late booting phases of rice variety B-515 were found least effective to reduce the disease severity, respectively. Fungicide application at early booting of rice variety PK-1121 was found most effective by reducing the maximum percent diseases severity (47.25%) compared to control. It is concluded that, to minimize hazardous effects of chemicals on the environment by practicing multiple sprays at inappropriate growth phases of rice crop, fungicides must be applied during the early and late booting phases of rice varieties on mildly resistance, susceptible and highly susceptible rice varieties to reduce NBLS disease severity and to enhance the rice production and quality

A framework for modelling spatio-temporal trends in crop production using generalised additive models

Satellite imagery provides opportunities for inference of trends in crop production across space and time. However, the large size of these datasets has made application of statistical modelling approaches computationally difficult. Recent advances in computational techniques and infrastructure have allowed generalised additive models to be fitted to very large datasets. We propose a framework for inferring trends in crop production across space and time using generalised additive models which accounts for inter-annual trends (main effect of year), spatial distribution (main effect of space), crop ontogeny (main effect of month), inter-annual changes in seasonality (interaction between year and month), and inter-annual changes in spatial distribution (interaction between year and space). Application of the proposed model to farm scale, multi-field sites in the Ord River Irrigation Area, Western Australia, demonstrates that this approach is able to decompose variation into the aforementioned effects. Furthermore, comparison of grain production observations and estimates for the Western Australian Wheatbelt as ground-truth data showed agreement with inferences drawn from the proposed model, with prediction terms for the main effect of year positively correlated with estimated tonnes produced from 2013 to 2021 (p = 0.03). Finally, application to Madagascar, which has been experiencing a food crisis, revealed a decreasing trend in cropland Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 2014 to 2021 of 2.5%, raising concerns about ongoing food security. The proposed modelling framework is adaptable to numerous agricultural research problems.

Transcultural Comparison of the Professional Identity and Role Perceptions of Special Education Pre-Service Teachers in Israel

This study examines the differences and similarities between Arab and Jewish pre-service teachers (PSTs) in Israel, in terms of their professional identity development, their perceptions of the teacher’s role and their self-efficacy in teaching. The sample consisted of 168 PSTs from a College for education in Israel, 103 Jewish and 65 Arab. All the participants study for B.A. in Special Education. The research instruments were: Teacher Professional Identity Scale, Teacher’s Self Efficacy Scale, Professional identity Scale for SE teachers. A significant main effect of year of study was found in the PSTs’ professional identity development, indicating that the second-year PSTs scored higher than the first-year PSTs. Additional paired samples t-test examining the differences between the two time points in each cultural sector and each year of study indicated that both Jewish and Arab second year PSTs scored higher on the teaching self-efficacy at the end of the second academic year compared to the beginning of the same year.

Incorporating temporal dynamics to enhance grazing management outcomes for a long‐lived species

Abstract Identifying successful management strategies for long‐lived species is challenging, especially in fluctuating environments, because the response of individual vital rates and overall growth rates to management action can vary over time. A demographic approach that isolates the impact of management and environment on individual vital rates, and assesses their importance for growth rate over time, can indicate whether and why a management strategy is successful. Here we take a demographic approach to assess the success of grazing management for the perennial grass Stipa pulchra, California's state grass and a focus on conservation efforts. We tracked S. pulchra populations in paired grazed and ungrazed plots over 6 years, which included a historic drought and an El Niño rain year, and calculated summary transition matrices for the main effects of year, grazing and year × grazing interaction for each site. We averaged these summary transition matrices to calculate population growth rates, λ, for the main effects of year, grazing and year × grazing and used life table response experiment (LTRE) analysis to compare how individual vital rates contributed to differences in λ between grazed and ungrazed plots over time. Overall we found that grazing was a successful management strategy; grazed populations maintained a positive average population growth rate whereas ungrazed populations declined. We found that grazing had a larger positive effect on growth rates in wet years than drought years. This was because grazed populations benefited from a greater contribution of adult growth immediately following the end of the drought compared with ungrazed populations and from adult survival thereafter. Synthesis and applications. Although Stipa pulchra is the focus of many management efforts, the use of grazing for management is contentious, and there have been few studies that take a demographic approach to understanding S. pulchra responses over time. Our results indicate that conservation and restoration efforts should move beyond recruitment to focus on adult growth and survival for overall population success. To this end, moderate grazing can be a successful strategy to maintain S. pulchra populations and is particularly important in wet years to promote plant growth.

Did drug use increase following COVID-19 relaxation of methadone take-out regulations? 2020 was a complicated year

BackgroundRelaxation of federal regulations for methadone take-out dosing during the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. The impact of this change on drug use is unknown. This study explores the impact of the federal take-out variance on drug use in one urban opioid treatment program as measured by drug testing. MethodsThis study collected drug test results from 613 patients receiving methadone from July 2020, following COVID-19-related take-out dose adjustments, and July 2019 for comparison. Using a generalized linear mixed model, we computed the average estimated probability of a positive drug test for each year for each take-out phase. To isolate the effect of changing take-out, we removed the main effect of year, while retaining the main effect of take-out phase and the interaction between year and phase. ResultsThe percent of drug tests positive for opiates, benzodiazepines, and methamphetamine was greater in July 2020 than in July 2019 (p < 0.001 for each), while the percent of tests negative for methadone increased (p < 0.001). Oxycodone, barbiturate, and cocaine positive tests remained stable. In a separate analysis of opioid and non-opioid test results, take-out phase was associated with both opioid and non-opioid positive results (p < 0.001, each outcome). The association of take-out phase with opioid and non-opioid positive results differed in the two years (year-by-phase interaction p < 0.025, each outcome). After removing the year main effect, the rate of positive tests was lower in 2020 for the smallest number of take-out doses, higher for a moderate number of take-out doses, and about the same for the highest number of take-out doses. ConclusionsPositive opioid and non-opioid drug tests increased following the federal variance allowing more methadone take-out doses, but these findings cannot fully be attributed to alterations in the take-out schedule.

Effect of Time of Supplementation and Supplement Delivery Method on Performance and Grazing Behavior of Backgrounded Beef Steers

Abstract Objectives were to investigate effects of supplement feeding time and delivery method on performance and grazing behavior of backgrounded steers. Crossbred steers (n = 109; 7 ± 1 m of age; BW = 245 ± 2.9 kg) were stratified by BW and source into 18 groups (6–7 steers per group), and randomly allotted to tall fescue pastures during 38- and 45-d treatment periods during fall of 2019 and 2020, respectively. Pasture groups were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments (6 pastures per treatment): 1) steers hand-fed a commodity blend supplement at 0930 h (AM), 2) steers hand-fed supplement at 1330 h (PM), or 3) steers fed a commercially available self-fed supplement with an intake limiter (SELF). All treatments were formulated for as fed supplement intake of 1.5% BW. Pedometers were used to estimate animal activity level. Motion-sensing cameras were used in yr 1 to monitor feeder and waterer visits. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure in SAS with main effects of year, group, and treatment with pasture as a random effect. Treatment had no effect (P ≥ 0.13) on calf BW, flesh condition score, ADG, or ultrasound 12th rib fat thickness. Supplement DMI tended (P = 0.08) to be greater for SELF relative to hand-fed cattle, with yr 2 tending (P = 0.07) to be greater than yr 1. There was a treatment x year interaction (P = 0.04) for G:F with SELF and AM steers in yr 1 tending (P ≤ 0.09) to be greater than SELF in yr 2, with all other treatments being intermediate and not different. Self-fed cattle had greater (P ≤ 0.01) activity level and more (P = 0.01) visits to feeders relative to hand-fed treatments. Results indicate that performance of backgrounding steers was not greatly impacted by supplementation schedule or delivery method.

Investigating Quantitative and Qualitative Performance of Bread Wheat Genotypes Under Different Climatic Conditions

A six-year experiment was carried out with natural variation in temperature and rainfall during grain filling period between 2011–17 growing seasons to investigate the effects of different environments and cultivars on quantity and quality of bread wheat. The experiments were laid out in a randomized complete block design arranged with three replicates. Eight wheat cultivars (Pishgam, Sirvan, Parsi, Bahar, Pishtaz, Sepahan, Sivand and Arg) were selected for evaluation. Grain and biological yields, protein and wet gluten contents, hectoliter weight, and Zeleny sedimentation value were measured. The results indicated that the main effects of year and cultivar were significant on grain and biological yields, hectoliter weight, and Zeleny sedimentation value. There were significant differences in the interaction effect of year × cultivar on protein and wet gluten contents. Although, Parsi cultivar contained the highest grain yield and hectoliter weight (averaged by years, 6603.83 kg ha−1 and 78.10 kg hl−1, respectively), the greatest protein content, and Zeleny sedimentation value belonged to Sivand (12.68% and 23.53 ml, respectively) and Sirvan (12.63% and 23.14 ml, respectively) cultivars. According to the results, there was a statistically significant correlation between grain yield, hectoliter weight, and rainfall during grain filling period. There was a negative and significant correlation between grain yield, Zeleny sedimentation value, and protein and wet gluten contents. Our findings suggested that Sivand and Sirvan cultivars are potentially suitable for making bread and could be cultivated in similar climates due to high protein content and Zeleny sedimentation value.

The Effect of Agrotechnical Factors on Fusarium Mycotoxins Level in Maize

The occurrence of diseases in the cultivation of maize (Zea mays L.) leads to the loss of grain yield and the simultaneous deterioration of its quality. Fungi of the genus Fusarium spp. pose the greatest threat to maize cultivation. These fungi occur at all stages of the plant’s development, causing Fusarium seedling blight, root rot, foot rot, and ear rot, including grains. Therefore, the aim of the conducted field studies was to determine the influence of selected agriculture factors on mycotoxin contents in maize grain and ear core. Moreover, it should be noted that the presence of mycotoxins in food products in terms of legal regulations is quite a fundamental barrier both in domestic and international trade. The field experiment was carried out at the Department of Agronomy of Poznań University of Life Sciences, on the fields of the Experimental and Educational Unit in Swadzim, Poland, in 2013–2014, in four field replicates. The study involved the following factors: soil sowing preparation method, types of variates, and fertilization method, all of which shape mycotoxin accumulation. The results indicated that the main effects of years were significant for all observed traits for both the core and grain. The concentrations of deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, and zearalenone were higher in 2014 than in 2013 for both core and grain. The concentrations of fumonisin B1 and fumonisin B2 were higher in the first year of study for core and grain. The direct sowing of maize significantly affects plants’ health status, expressed by an increase in mycotoxin accumulation. Traditional hybrid SY Cooky characterized higher values of observed traits than “stay-green” hybrid Drim (except fumonisin B2 for cob). The positive effect of the row method of NP fertilizer application is based on a decrease in mycotoxin content.

Multi-year weed community dynamics and rice yields as influenced by tillage, crop establishment, and weed control: Implications for rice-maize rotations in the eastern Gangetic plains

In South Asia's rice-based cropping systems, most farmers flood and repetitively till their fields before transplanting. This establishment method, commonly termed puddled transplanted rice (TPR), is costly. In addition, it is labor and energy intensive. To increase labor and energy efficiency in rice production, reduced or zero-tilled direct seeded rice (ZT-DSR) is commonly proposed as an alternative tillage and crop establishment (TCE) option. Effective management of weeds in ZT-DSR however remains a major challenge. We conducted a four-year experiment under a rice-maize rotation in Northwestern Bangladesh in the eastern Gangetic Plains to examine the performance of two TCE methods and three weed management regimes (WMR) on the diversity and competitiveness of weed communities in the rice phase of the rotation. The Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index, a measure of species diversity, was significantly greater under ZT-DSR than puddled TPR. It was also greater under no weed control (Weedy) and two manual weeding (MW) treatments compared to chemical herbicide with manual weeding (C + MW). In DSR Weedy plots, weed communities began shifting from grasses to sedges from the rotation's second year, while in the ZT-DSR and C + MW treatments, sedges were consistently predominant. In both puddled TPR Weedy and TPR C + MW treatments, broadleaves and grasses were dominant in the initial year, while sedges dominated in the final year. There were significant main effects of year (Y) and weed management regime (WMR), but not of TCE. Significant Y × TCE and TCE × WMR interaction effects on rice yield were also observed. Grain yields under ZT-DSR were similar to puddled TPR. ZT-DSR with one application of pre-emergence herbicide followed by one hand weeding at 28 days after establishment however resulted in significantly higher grain yield (5.34 t ha−1) compared the other weed management regimes. Future research should address methods to effectively manage weed community composition shifts in both ZT-DSR and TPR under rice-maize rotations utilizing integrated and low-cost strategies that can be readily applied by farmers in the eastern Gangetic Plains.

Comparative metal analysis in a species assemblage of mammals from the Southeastern United States.

Metal pollution commonly occurs in many terrestrial environments and may pose a threat for the animals inhabiting such areas. Here, we present concentrations of six metals (cadmium [Cd], copper [Cu], nickel [Ni], lead [Pb], selenium [Se], and zinc [Zn]) in the liver tissues of seven species of mammals obtained from a study that examined the impact of mesopredator removal on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations. A total of 1326 samples were collected from 2003 to 2006 at four sites in southwest Georgia and north Florida from nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), bobcats (Lynx rufus), feral cats (Felis catus), coyotes (Canis latrans), grey foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and raccoons (Procyon lotor). Data from armadillos, bobcats, opossums, and raccoons were published previously to examine age, sex, spatial (between sites), and temporal (between years) variation. In this paper, we present similar comparisons for the remaining three species as well as comparisons of metal concentrations among all seven species. Concentrations of Cu and Pb exhibited strong negative relationships with body weight in coyotes, while Ni was positively correlated with weight in feral cats. Concentrations of these metals, as well as the other two tested (Cd and Zn), were not significantly correlated with one another in any of the three species. The only sex difference in liver metal concentrations was observed in female feral cats, which had higher levels of Pb than did males. Coyotes exhibited significant differences in Cu concentrations between sites and between years (2005 versus 2006). We also found significant differences between sites in Pb concentrations for both feral cats and grey foxes. There were significant differences in metal concentrations among all seven species for all metals except Cd. With the exception of Cd and Se (tested only in bobcats and opossums), a three-way ANOVA with species, year, and site as the three factors revealed significant differences among species for every metal but only a single main effect of year for Cu, and no main effects of site. In sum, our results provide an extensive survey of metal concentrations in a diverse assemblage of mammals and suggest that metal accumulation may be heavily influenced by species identity, which in turn may reflect ecological lifestyle.

Variability in Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grain Yield Response to Nitrogen Fertilization in Long-Term Experiments

ABSTRACTCrop nitrogen (N) use is always affected by the variability in production environment. Dataset (2001 to 2014) from long-term winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) experiments at Lahoma and Stillwater, Oklahoma was used. Both experiments have a randomized complete block design with four replications, and fertilizer N was applied as urea pre-plant. Responsiveness of grain yield to maximum fertilizer N rate (112 kg ha−1 – Lahoma; 135 kg ha−1 – Stillwater) was compared with that from check plot (0 kg ha−1). The objective was to determine the relative influence of environment, management, and variety on winter wheat grain yield. The combined analysis of variance indicated that the main effect of year, treatment, location, and variety accounted for 29.3%, 21.2%, 3.1%, and 22.6%, respectively of the variance terms. Over the study period, the non-responsiveness of winter wheat to fertilizer N accounted for 29% and 23% of grain yield at Lahoma and Stillwater, respectively where yield at maximum N rate did not significantly differ from check plot. This highlights the importance of random changes in a crop production environment and its influence in dictating the response to applied N fertilizer. Nitrogen fertilizer losses could be reduced by adopting in-season variable N application techniques.

Is the Bike Segment of Modern Olympic Triathlon More a Transition towards Running in Males than It Is in Females?

In 2009, the International Triathlon Union created a new triathlon race format: The World Triathlon Series (WTS), for which only athletes with a top 100 world ranking are eligible. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of the three disciplines on performance within all the WTS Olympic distance races within two Olympic cycles, and to determine whether their relative contribution changed over the years. Methods: For each of a total of 44 races, final race time and position as well as split times (and positions), and summed time (and position) at each point of the race were collected and included in the analysis. Athletes were divided into 4 groups according to their final race placing (G1: 1st–3rd place; G2: 4–8th place; G3: 8–16th place and G4: ≥17th place). Two-way multivariate ANOVAs were conducted to compare the main effects of years and rank groups. For females, there were significant differences in the swim and bike segment only between G4 and the other groups (p range from 0.001–0.029), whilst for the run segment each group differed significantly from each other (p < 0.001). For males, there were significant differences in swim only between G4 and the other groups (p range from 0.001–0.039), whilst for the running segment each group differed significantly from the others (p < 0.001). Although we found running to be the segment where there were significant differences between performance groups, it is apparently important for overall success that a good runner be positioned with the first cycling pack. However, bike splits were not different between either of the four male groups or between the first 3 groups of the females. At this very high level of performance, at least in the males, the bike leg seems to be a smooth transition towards running.

The impact of terminal heat stress on yield and heat tolerance of bread wheat

In arid and semi-arid regions of the world bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield is highlylimited due to late season heat stress, mostly occurring during the reproductive phase. Hence thecurrent study was conducted to evaluate the effect of late season heat stress on grain yield andyield components of 20 spring bread wheat cultivars. For this purpose, a stripe block experimentincluding four sowing dates (6th of November, 6th of December, 5th of January and 4th ofFebruary) as vertical plots and 20 cultivars in horizontal plots was implemented with threereplicates in North-East of Ahwaz, Khuzestan, Iran during 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 growingseasons. The results indicated that the main effect of year, sowing date, cultivar and interactionbetween sowing date and cultivar were significant for all studied traits. However, no significantinteraction was found between year and other factors. Comparison of means showed that grainyield in the second year was higher than the first year. The maximum and minimum values(6.048 ton ha-1 and 1.754 ton ha-1) were obtained when seed sowing was performed on 6th ofNovember and 4th of February, respectively. The maximum grain yield (5.019 ton ha-1) wasrelated to Atila cultivar whereas the minimum yield (3.662 ton ha-1) was obtained from Inia 66cultivar. In general, the maximum and minimum grain yields were produced by Atila cultivarsown on 6th of December and Seri82 and Roshan sown on 4th of February, respectively. Theresults suggest that Arvand, Vee/Nac, Atila and Baiat cultivars as heat tolerant cultivars andRoshan, Hamoon, Seri82, Star, Inia66 and Darab2 as susceptible cultivars may be used in heattolerance studies.

Evaluation of pseudoephedrine pharmacy sales before and after mandatory recording requirements in Western Australia: a case study

BackgroundA community pharmacy real-time electronic recording program, ProjectSTOP, enables Australian community pharmacists to verify pseudoephedrine requests. In Western Australia the program was available for voluntary use from April 2007 and became mandatory November 2010. This case study explores the effectiveness of the program by reviewing the total requests for pseudoephedrine products, and the proportion of requests which were classified as ‘denied sales’ before and after mandatory implementation. Seasonal and annual trends in these measures are also evaluated.MethodsProjectSTOP data recordings for Western Australia pharmacies between 1 December 2007 and 28 February 2014 were analysed. Data included a de-identified pharmacy number and date of each pseudoephedrine product request. The total number of requests and sale classification (allowed, denied, safety, or not recorded) were calculated for each month/pharmacy. The potential influence of mandatory reporting using ProjectSTOP was investigated using a Regression Discontinuity Design. Correlations between sales from the same pharmacy were taken into account by classifying the pharmacy number as a random effect. The main effects of year (continuous variable), and season (categorical variable) were also included in the model.ResultsThere was a small but steady decline in the total requests for pseudoephedrine per month per 100,000 population (per pharmacy) from the time of mandatory reporting. The number of denied sales showed a steady increase up until mandatory reporting, after which it showed a significant decline over time. Total sales were heavily influenced by season, as expected (highest in winter, least in summer). The seasonal pattern was less pronounced for denied sales, which were highest in winter and similar across other seasons. The pattern over time for safety sales was similar to that for denied sales, with a clear change occurring around the time of mandatory reporting.ConclusionResults indicate a decrease in pseudoephedrine product requests in Western Australia community pharmacies. Findings suggest ProjectSTOP has been successful in addressing suspicious sales and potential diversion however ongoing data review is recommended.

Modeling Hematologic and Biochemical Parameters with Spatiotemporal Analysis for the Free-Ranging Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) in Illinois and Tennessee, a Potential Biosentinel.

Box turtles are long-lived, inhabit both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and have relatively small home ranges making them a suitable candidate as a sentinel. To characterize their changes in response to environmental health, assessment of observed variation of this species is required. Thus, a comparative health assessment was employed in 825 Eastern box turtles in east central Illinois and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to establish a baseline health assessment with regard to sex, age class, season, and location, identify temporal trends, and map parameters. Hematological and plasma biochemical variables measured included packed cell volume, total solids, white blood cell and differential counts, calcium, phosphorus, aspartate aminotransferase, bile acids, creatine kinase, and uric acid. These variables were reduced to four principle components that explained 68.8% of the cumulative variance. The top model included the main effects of year, location, and sex, but no interactions. Spatial analysis of turtles in Tennessee demonstrated increased WBC and decreased PCV in 2011 associated with a clear-cut silviculture site. The results of this health assessment can serve as a baseline of population health in future studies and aid in the utility of this species as a sentinel.

HEMATOLOGY IN AN EASTERN MASSASAUGA (SISTRURUS CATENATUS) POPULATION AND THE EMERGENCE OF OPHIDIOMYCES IN ILLINOIS, USA.

Disease events are threatening wildlife populations across North America. Specifically, mortality events due to Ophidiomyces (snake fungal disease; SFD) have been observed recently in snakes in Illinois, US. We investigated the health of a population of eastern massasaugas ( Sistrurus catenatus ) in south-central Illinois using 1) a meta-analysis of hematologic findings from 2004, 2011, 2013, and 2014; 2) a determination of the prevalence of SFD in snakes examined in 2013 and 2014; and 3) the examination of 184 museum specimens collected from 1999-2013 for signs and presence of SFD. For the meta-analysis and prevalence of SFD, hematologic analytes were reduced to three principle components that explained 67.5% of the cumulative variance. There were significant differences among one principle component (total white blood cell counts, monocytes, lymphocytes, and basophils) across years when it was highest in 2004 and 2014. The top general linear model explaining the difference in principle components included the main effects of year and stage, body condition index (BCI), and the interaction between stage and BCI. The prevalence of SFD was 18% (n=7) in 2013 and 24% (n=11) in 2014, and no hematologic analytes were associated with SFD. In museum specimens, Ophidiomyces DNA was first detected from an individual collected in 2000. Studies such as these, integrating multiple modalities of health, can elucidate the epidemiology of diseases that may pose conservation threats.

Sensory Profiles and Seasonal Variation of Black Walnut Cultivars.

Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) is a North American hardwood tree valued for producing nuts and wood. Black walnut cultivars were evaluated by a trained panel over 2 growing seasons to determine the seasonal variation in the sensory profile. Results showed that cultivars were significantly different on 3 appearance (skin color, nutmeat color, and kernel roughness), 1 aroma (black walnut ID), 5 flavor (black walnut ID, banana-like, piny, rancid, and overall nutty), and 2 texture attributes (surface roughness and hardness). These profiles were compared to results collected in 2011 to determine differences between growing seasons. Results showed 4 flavor attributes (black walnut ID, overall nutty, fruity-dark and rancid) had an interaction effect of year and cultivar, while 6 attributes (brown, caramelized, floral/fruity, piny, musty/dusty, and oily) showed a main effect of year. In general, flavor attributes had higher intensities in 2011 than in 2013. These results suggest that seasonal variation may influence flavor profile more than cultivar. Thus, using samples from only 1 growing season when testing agricultural products may not provide adequate information for the long term.

The Nexus between Iranian EFL Teachers’ self-efficacy, Teaching Experience and Gender

This study investigates the main effects of years of teaching experience and gender and their interaction effects on Iranian EFL teachers' sense of self-efficacy. To this end, the questionnaire of TEBS-Self (Teachers' Efficacy Beliefs System- Self) (Dellinger, Bobbett, Oliver, & Ellett, 2008) was used. It was distributed to 180 EFL teachers. 94 of them had taught for less than or equal to three years (G1), and 86 had taught for more than or equal to three and a half years (G2). Through regression analysis it was found that while experience and gender had no significant interaction effect on the participants’ efficacy beliefs, G2 had significantly more positive efficacy perceptions than G1. Also, except for two components of TEBS-Self, the female teachers were found to have significantly higher self-efficacy than the male participants on the whole questionnaire and two components of it. Conclusions and suggestions for further research are also discussed.