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Career development events develop career and life skills in youth, but limited work has been done to assess the motivation of students who participate in these events. The purpose of this study was to validate an instrument developed to measure youth motivation to participate in career development events. An instrument grounded in expectancy-value motivation was developed to assess student motivation of youth participants (N = 2,153) at 12 career development events in various domains at the state level. Four factors--self-efficacy, cost & utility value, intrinsic value, and attainment--explained 60% of the variance in youth motivation to participate in state career development events. Youth were most motivated to participate in career development events based on the cost & utility factor, therefore, they were willing to put forth the time and effort to participate in career development events because they felt career development events would help them achieve their goals. However, youth coaches should consider using strategies to develop youth self-efficacy to perform the tasks in career development events as it explained 39% of the variance in youth motivation. Coaches should also consider the role interest motivation plays a role as it was highly correlated with self-efficacy.

Exploratory discriminant analysis was used to determine the extent adult consumers' interest motivation to participate in a free educational dairy farm event and their beliefs of the dairy industry could correctly classify the respondents' predicted participation in a nonformal educational event. The most prominent conclusion of the study was that nearly three of four adult consumers in an Indiana community would attend an educational event on a dairy farm if they: (1) were motivated to attend an educational agricultural event because it is fun, interesting, and enjoyable, (2) were motivated to attend educational agricultural events to acquire new knowledge and meet a challenge, (3) were motivated to attend educational agricultural events out of desire to be nutritionally healthy, (4) were familiar with agriculture or directly involved in the industry, (5) were in agreement with the animal welfare practices that dairy farmers implement, and (6) resided in a household that reportedly consumed at least three gallons of fluid milk per week, on average, while at home. This finding may help outreach organizations develop non-formal, educational events that are more appealing to their target audiences as well as market those events in a way that will motivate more consumers to attend.

Nurse retention remains a pivotal issue, necessitating urgent strategies aimed at the recruitment and retention of highly qualified nurses. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the influence of nurses' personal and professional values, along with work environment, on predicting intent to leave an organization. Utilizing a secondary analysis approach, this study employed logistic regression to predict intent to leave among registered nurses (n = 671) using results from the Short Schwartz's Value Survey, the Nurses Professional Values Scale-3, and the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index. Regression analysis indicates that the work environment including "Participation in Hospital Affairs" (B = -.665, odds ratio = .514), "Nurse Manager Ability, Leadership, and Support" (B = -.448, odds ratio = .639), and "Staffing and Resource Adequacy" (B = -.589, odds ratio = .555) are significant predictors of nurses' intentions to leave. Establishing and maintaining supportive work environments is essential for retention, highlighting the importance of effective leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stratification of retinal neuronal cell bodies and lamination of their processes provide a scaffold upon which neural circuits can be built. However, the molecular mechanisms that direct retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to resolve into a single-cell retinal ganglion cell layer (GCL) are not well understood. The extracellular matrix protein laminin conveys spatial information that instructs the migration, process outgrowth, and reorganization of GCL cells. Here, we show that the β1-Integrin laminin receptor is required for RGC positioning and reorganization into a single-cell GCL layer. β1-Integrin signaling within migrating GCL cells requires Cas signaling-adaptor proteins, and in the absence of β1-Integrin or Cas function retinal neurons form ectopic cell clusters beyond the inner-limiting membrane (ILM), phenocopying laminin mutants. These data reveal an essential role for Cas adaptor proteins in β1-Integrin-mediated signaling events critical for the formation of the single-cell GCL in the mammalian retina.

Direction-selective responses to motion can be to the onset (On) or cessation (Off) of illumination. Here, we show that the transmembrane protein semaphorin 6A and its receptor plexin A2 are critical for achieving radially symmetric arborization of On starburst amacrine cell (SAC) dendrites and normal SAC stratification in the mouse retina. Plexin A2 is expressed in both On and Off SACs; however, semaphorin 6A is expressed in On SACs. Specific On-Off bistratified direction-selective ganglion cells in semaphorin 6A(-/-) mutants exhibit decreased tuning of On directional motion responses. These results correlate the elaboration of symmetric SAC dendritic morphology and asymmetric responses to motion, shedding light on the development of visual pathways that use the same cell types for divergent outputs.

Horse welfare is a sensitive topic that often results in a variety of strong feelings when discussed in the horse-owning public. This study used a scenario-based questionnaire in a positive psychology approach to assess the public's feelings and discussions about horse welfare. Results indicated themes in important welfare qualities such as turnout, shelter, and ability to express natural behaviors, as well as a positive discussion about welfare. This study provides future implications for further research techniques in this area as well as communicative strategies surrounding equine welfare practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of six webinars was developed and presented as part of an eXtension HorseQuest/My Horse University online educational program funded by the USA Equestrian Trust. The webinars addressed topics consistent with the goal of improving equine health and management practices through dissemination to horse owners of relevant research findings on current horse industry issues. The webinars were presented and recorded and then archived to both eXtension.org/horses and myhorseuniversity.com. Data from a voluntary postwebinar survey showed that a viable tool was successfully created and used to disseminate current research-based information to the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study describes promising practices of successful dairy, horse, and livestock judging coaches. Expert coaches were interviewed regarding previous experience, coaching philosophy, coaching objectives, coaching style, and advice. Twenty-seven promising practices and eight themes were identified from the interviews. A questionnaire was sent to the accessible population of coaches to determine practice usage and relationship to youth performance. Influential and motivating practices were found to be most used by coaches. Youth performance was related to use of competitive and expectancy related promising practices. Findings suggest use of promising practices would facilitate greater coaching success in competition and youth development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a basis for accommodating youth with disabilities in 4-H Indiana Horse Program. It explains the pedagogy of inclusion. The steps needed to prepare volunteers and Extension staff to assist youth with disabilities are enumerated. The two basic criteria that should be meet to accommodate youth with disabilities are explained. It presents examples of ways to accommodate youth with disabilities.