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While many teachers are unaware that students in their classes are experiencing homelessness, others may not know how to support students who are identified as lacking consistent housing (Wright et al., 2019). Thus, there is a critical need to better assess, understand, and enhance teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward homelessness. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is threefold--researchers sought to (1) design and test a survey to measure the knowledge and attitudes of preservice teachers working with youth experiencing homelessness; (2) measure the knowledge and attitudes of preservice teachers related to homelessness; and (3) measure the effectiveness of a virtual training program designed to enhance preservice teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward homelessness using the finalized survey. Results of the data analysis were promising--indicating that the Knowledge and Attitudes on Homelessness Survey for Educators (KAHS) instrument is a reliable tool in measuring knowledge and attitudes related to homelessness and the online training program has a positive impact on teachers' knowledge and attitudes.

The purpose of the study is to investigate school counselors' support of youth experiencing homelessness going to college. Using survey methods, school counselors reported their knowledge, perceived competence, advocacy, and actions related to supporting students experiencing homelessness in their college preparation. The results suggested that training and the number of students experiencing homelessness on counselors' caseloads were significantly related to their knowledge and competence. Knowledge, competence, and advocacy all impacted the number of interventions utilized by participants. The implications of these results for school counselors and counselor educators are discussed.

Triboluminescence is a fascinating phenomenon that can engage students' interest in chemistry. However, safe, cost-effective, and accessible laboratory experiments featuring highly triboluminescent substances are limited. To bridge this gap, we present a simple, rapid, semimicro test tube preparation of the visually engaging manganese complex [MnBr[subscript 2](Ph[subscript 3]PO)[subscript 2]], conducted by high school students. During the laboratory session, students practice various laboratory skills, including handling semimicro quantities of substances, ascertaining the melting point, and recrystallizing the synthesized complex. They also investigate the complex's triboluminescent, fluorescent, and magnetic properties through straightforward and illustrative experiments. Furthermore, this laboratory activity has been successfully implemented in an undergraduate chemistry didactics course for chemistry educators. The experiment's simplicity, combined with the safety of starting materials and use of nontoxic solvents, makes it an optimal choice for a variety of educational environments, such as high school and university laboratory sessions, science clubs, and public science outreach activities.

This qualitative study provides insight into the perceptions and experiences of local homeless liaisons supporting students experiencing homelessness who are preparing for and transitioning to college. Findings suggest that when it comes to preparing students experiencing homelessness for college, liaisons are very involved by addressing students' three main areas of need. These include their basic needs (i.e., physiological, safety, and academic) and social-emotional needs (i.e., love and belonging and esteem), as well as needs related to college-going (i.e., students' belief they can go to college) and expectations of college-going outcomes (i.e., students' belief they can graduate from college). Findings suggest that liaisons play a particularly important role in supporting the college-going of students experiencing homelessness and do so primarily by working collaboratively with a system of stakeholders.

Introduction: The majority of peppers in the US for fresh market and processing are handpicked, and harvesting can account for 20-50% of production costs. Innovation in mechanical harvesting would increase availability; lower the costs of local, healthy vegetable products; and perhaps improve food safety and expand markets. Most processed peppers require removal of pedicels (stem and calyx) from the fruit, but lack of an efficient mechanical process for this operation has hindered adoption of mechanical harvest. In this paper, we present characterization and advancements in breeding green chile peppers for mechanical harvesting. Specifically, we describe inheritance and expression of an easy-destemming trait derived from the landrace UCD-14 that facilitates machine harvest of green chiles. Methods: A torque gauge was used for measuring bending forces similar to those of a harvester and applied to two biparental populations segregating for destemming force and rate. Genotyping by sequencing was used to generate genetic maps for quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses. Results: A major destemming QTL was found on chromosome 10 across populations and environments. Eight additional population and/or environment-specific QTL were also identified. Chromosome 10 QTL markers were used to help introgress the destemming trait into jalapeño-type peppers. Low destemming force lines combined with improvements in transplant production enabled mechanical harvest of destemmed fruit at a rate of 41% versus 2% with a commercial jalapeńo hybrid. Staining for the presence of lignin at the pedicel/fruit boundary indicated the presence of an abscission zone and homologs of genes known to affect organ abscission were found under several QTL, suggesting that the easy-destemming trait may be due to the presence and activation of a pedicel/fruit abscission zone. Conclusion: Presented here are tools to measure the easy-destemming trait, its physiological basis, possible molecular pathways, and expression of the trait in various genetic backgrounds. Mechanical harvest of destemmed mature green chile fruits was achieved by combining easy-destemming with transplant management.

Precise targeting of large transgenes to T cells using homology-directed repair has been transformative for adoptive cell therapies and T cell biology. Delivery of DNA templates via adeno-associated virus (AAV) has greatly improved knockin efficiencies, but the tropism of current AAV serotypes restricts their use to human T cells employed in immunodeficient mouse models. To enable targeted knockins in murine T cells, we evolved Ark313, a synthetic AAV that exhibits high transduction efficiency in murine T cells. We performed a genome-wide knockout screen and identified QA2 as an essential factor for Ark313 infection. We demonstrate that Ark313 can be used for nucleofection-free DNA delivery, CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockouts, and targeted integration of large transgenes. Ark313 enables preclinical modeling of Trac-targeted CAR-T and transgenic TCR-T cells in immunocompetent models. Efficient gene targeting in murine T cells holds great potential for improved cell therapies and opens avenues in experimental T cell immunology.

Meeting ambitious climate targets will require deploying the full suite of mitigation options, including those that indirectly reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. Healthy diets have sustainability co-benefits by directly reducing livestock emissions as well as indirectly reducing land use emissions. Increased crop productivity could indirectly avoid emissions by reducing cropland area. However, there is disagreement on the sustainability of proposed healthy U.S. diets and a lack of clarity on how long-term sustainability benefits may change in response to shifts in the livestock sector. Here, we explore the GHG emissions impacts of seven scenarios that vary U.S. crop yields and healthier diets in the U.S. and overseas. We also examine how impacts vary across assumptions of future ruminant livestock productivity and ruminant stocking density in the U.S. We employ two complementary land use models—the US FABLE Calculator, an agricultural and forestry sector accounting model with high agricultural commodity representation, and GLOBIOM, a spatially explicit partial equilibrium optimization model for global land use systems. Results suggest that healthier U.S. diets that follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans reduce agricultural and land use greenhouse gas emissions by 25–57% (approx 120–310 MtCO2e/y) and pastureland area by 28–38%. The potential emissions and land sparing benefits of U.S. agricultural productivity growth are modest within the U.S. due to the increasing comparative advantage of U.S. crops. Our findings suggest that healthy U.S. diets can significantly contribute toward meeting U.S. long-term climate goals for the land use sectors.

This article describes the experience of participants and facilitators engaging in a psychoeducational group counseling intervention designed to enhance college readiness among Latine first-generation college-going students--those for whom neither parent completed college (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017). The group was designed to increase students' understanding of how their various identities impacted their college preparatory experience and willingness to seek help. Findings suggest that participants recognized the importance of their identities and the way they influenced their help-seeking behaviors. Participants identified similarities among their experiences related to college going while also valuing learning from each other's differences. Last, participants felt a sense of uncertainty and angst about going to college. We also share facilitator experiences.

Students with disabilities are at greater risk for depression, substance use, bullying, and fewer friendships, largely due to negative attitudes and misperceptions from their nondisabled peers. School counselors are particularly important stakeholders in improving the experiences of students with disabilities. This qualitative study uses the American Counseling Association (ACA) Advocacy Competencies as a lens to understand how six school counselors raise disability awareness within the context of social justice advocacy. Results indicate that participants primarily focused on ways to advocate alongside or on behalf of students with disabilities at an individual level (client/student domain). Additional findings highlight the need for increased disability-related training within counselor preparation programs and the importance of including disability issues within the frame of multicultural competence. The results of this study fill a gap in the literature and lead to a deeper understanding of how school counselors are presently engaging in disability programs in their schools. Additionally, findings from this research directly aid in the construction of coursework and related experiences that would enhance the preparation of pre-service school counselors.

This article describes the unique college and career preparation challenges faced by students experiencing homelessness (SEH), framed using a Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) lens. The experience of homelessness presents barriers for secondary students, which can impact their college self-efficacy, outcome expectations of attending and succeeding in college, and goal setting towards college. In this conceptual paper, background on homelessness and research related to the college planning process of SEH is provided, as well as implications for school and career counselors, as well as other educators.

Cardiometabolic disorders are among the leading causes of mortality in the human population. Dietary polyphenols exert beneficial effects on cardiometabolic health in humans. Molecular mechanisms, however, are not completely understood. Aiming to conduct in-depth integrative bioinformatic analyses to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effects of polyphenols on cardiometabolic health, we first conducted a systematic literature search to identify human intervention studies with polyphenols that demonstrate improvement of cardiometabolic risk factors in parallel with significant nutrigenomic effects. Applying the predefined inclusion criteria, we identified 58 differentially expressed genes at mRNA level and 5 miRNAs, analyzed in peripheral blood cells with RT-PCR methods. Subsequent integrative bioinformatic analyses demonstrated that polyphenols modulate genes that are mainly involved in the processes such as inflammation, lipid metabolism, and endothelial function. We also identified 37 transcription factors that are involved in the regulation of polyphenol modulated genes, including RELA/NFKB1, STAT1, JUN, or SIRT1. Integrative bioinformatic analysis of mRNA and miRNA-target pathways demonstrated several common enriched pathways that include MAPK signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, focal adhesion, or PPAR signaling pathway. These bioinformatic analyses represent a valuable source of information for the identification of molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial health effects of polyphenols and potential target genes for future nutrigenetic studies.

Rapidly increasing populations coupled with increased food demand requires either an expansion of agricultural land or sufficient production gains from current resources. However, in a changing world, reduced water availability might undermine improvements in crop and grass productivity and may disproportionately affect different parts of the world. Using multi-model studies, the potential trends, risks and uncertainties to land use and land availability that may arise from reductions in water availability are examined here. In addition, the impacts of different policy interventions on pressures from emerging risks are examined. Results indicate that globally, approximately 11% and 10% of current crop- and grass-lands could be vulnerable to reduction in water availability and may lose some productive capacity, with Africa and the Middle East, China, Europe and Asia particularly at risk. While uncertainties remain, reduction in agricultural land area associated with dietary changes (reduction of food waste and decreased meat consumption) offers the greatest buffer against land loss and food insecurity.

This qualitative study focused on examining the roles and experiences of high school counselors supporting students experiencing homelessness in their college preparation. To be included in the study, participants needed to have experience working with high school students experiencing homelessness. Findings indicated that the participants supported students experiencing homelessness by (a) enhancing access and exposure to college, (b) providing hands-on and individualized college-going support, and (c) building partnerships with universities to support college going.

Through use of an interpretive phenomenological inquiry, this study examined the lived experiences of first-generation college students persisting at a mid-sized, private, predominantly White institution. Themes that emerged across participants included a sense of "otherness" according to students' race, ethnicity, and first-generation and socioeconomic statuses. Motivations and strengths that enabled students to persist in school, despite facing multiple obstacles, are described. Implications for students and helping professionals are included.

ObjectivesPredicting mortality in middle-aged HIV-infected (HIV+) women on antiretroviral therapies (ART) is important for understanding the impact of HIV infection. Several health indices have been used to predict mortality in women with HIV infection. We evaluated: (1) an HIV biological index, Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS); (2) a physical index, Fried Frailty Index (FFI); and (3) a mental health index, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D). Proportional hazards regression analyses were used to predict death and included relevant covariates.DesignProspective, observational cohort.SettingMulticentre, across six sites in the USA.Participants1385 multirace/ethnic ART-experienced HIV+ women in 2005.Primary and secondary outcomesAll deaths, AIDS deaths and non-AIDS deaths up to ~8 years from baseline.ResultsIncluded together in one model, VACS Index was the dominant, significant independent predictor of all deaths within 3 years (HR=2.20, 95% CI 1.83, 2.65, χ2=69.04, p

Limited budgets may place educational positions in jeopardy and if school counseling positions become jeopardized, then school counselors must communicate their role and impact more effectively. However, school counselors may lack training and experience in professional self-advocacy practices, and advocacy efforts may be undermined by role confusion experienced by both counselors and the educational professionals surrounding them. This article describes one model of professional advocacy framed by Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems theory that may be used by school counseling leaders to plan systematic advocacy efforts that engage individual school counselors in united professional advocacy strategies.

We applied a qualitative inquiry to explore the experiences of African American youth engaging in a group intervention at an urban high school. Group topics were tailored to the needs of prospective first-generation college students to enhance youth social and academic capitol and identity strengthening. Experiences included changed perspectives and increased knowledge of the college-going experience that, in turn, increased participant sense of efficacy in completing college. We discuss implications for school counselors.

This article describes an eight-session psychoeducational small-group intervention with two groups of African-American youth in an urban, east coast high school setting. Sessions were designed to enhance the self-efficacy and outcomes expectations related to attending college for first-generation college goers in the twelfth grade. The group session topics are described, and outcomes are assessed. Facilitator challenges unique to the group setting are included.

Through engaging in interviews with 10 local educational agency liaisons, this study provides insight into their roles, challenges, and training in serving children and youth experiencing homelessness. Using thematic analysis to analyze transcripts, common themes were uncovered. The findings highlight the liaisons' challenges related to identification and academic barriers, as well as provide deeper insight into their preparation. Furthermore, the results suggest that liaisons are dedicated to their roles and are committed to building partnerships to serve students.

Understanding uncertainties in land cover projections is critical to investigating land-based climate mitigation policies, assessing the potential of climate adaptation strategies and quantifying the impacts of land cover change on the climate system. Here, we identify and quantify uncertainties in global and European land cover projections over a diverse range of model types and scenarios, extending the analysis beyond the agro-economic models included in previous comparisons. The results from 75 simulations over 18 models are analysed and show a large range in land cover area projections, with the highest variability occurring in future cropland areas. We demonstrate systematic differences in land cover areas associated with the characteristics of the modelling approach, which is at least as great as the differences attributed to the scenario variations. The results lead us to conclude that a higher degree of uncertainty exists in land use projections than currently included in climate or earth system projections. To account for land use uncertainty, it is recommended to use a diverse set of models and approaches when assessing the potential impacts of land cover change on future climate. Additionally, further work is needed to better understand the assumptions driving land use model results and reveal the causes of uncertainty in more depth, to help reduce model uncertainty and improve the projections of land cover.

An increased understanding of the needs of students experiencing homelessness will better inform educational and clinical practices to ensure student success. Through an analysis of survey data using the Knowledge and Skills with Homeless Students Survey (Gaenzle & Bryan, 2013), this exploratory study applied a mixed methods approach to assess school counselors' (N = 160) perceptions of the needs of students experiencing homelessness. Thematic analysis of the survey data indicated the existence of four dynamic and interrelated themes of student needs as well as differences in reported needs by school counselors' school level and location.