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Very little has been published reporting on long-term outcomes experienced by young adults (aged 19 to 34 years old) who participated in 4-H youth development programs. We adopted Gambone et al.'s (2002) framework advancing three long-term outcomes for early adulthood: economic stability, health and well-being, and community involvement. With cross-sectional survey methods, we compared long-term impacts between 693 California 4-H young adult alumni and 373 young adults in a U.S. general population sample who had not participated in 4-H. The results demonstrated that 4-H alumni report more positive long-term outcomes than the U.S. general population sample. The study contributes to the dearth of research around long-term outcomes, may be useful for marketing and funding, and will help better understanding the public value of Extension.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for education in disease transmission and prevention. In response, the University of California 4-H Youth Development Program implemented a virtual epidemiology project, based on resources developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and collaborating agencies. The teenage participants were actively engaged in group lessons focused on epidemiology, immunology, vaccination, zoology, prevention strategies, related careers, and health communication. Surveys administered before and after the program showed an increase in knowledge about vaccinations and disease transmission and improved attitudes toward, and intentions to adopt, practices that reduce the spread of disease. They also showed increased self-efficacy and positive health behaviors (hand washing and mask use, and the intention to share what they learned in their communities). These findings contribute to the development of public health and epidemiological education programs for adolescents and programming that elevates youth as messengers of health information.

Public speaking is an essential skill for the workforce, yet many professionals lack confidence when speaking in front of an audience. While the 4-H Youth Development Program helps young people learn and practice public speaking, little is known about which specific 4-H activitiesfoster these skills. We conducted a study to explore 4-H members' public speaking confidence and to identify specific 4-H activities that bolster young people’s public speaking confidence. Quantitative and qualitative survey analyses revealed that, regardless of age, the longer 4-H members spend in the program, the more their self-confidence in public speaking improves. The 4-H program offers unique opportunities for public speaking at club meetings and formal presentations. There is room to expand these opportunities by offering youth more instructional “how to present” materials and increasing low-stakes speaking venues.

The coffee-ring effect, ubiquitously present in the drying process of aqueous droplets, impedes the performance of a myriad of applications involving precipitation of particle suspensions in evaporating liquids on solid surfaces, such as liquid biopsy combinational analysis, microarray fabrication, and ink-jet printing, to name a few. We invented the methodology of laser-induced differential evaporation to remove the coffee-ring effect. Without any additives to the liquid or any morphology modifications of the solid surface the liquid rests on, we have eliminated the coffee-ring effect by engineering the liquid evaporation profile with a CO2 laser irradiating the apex of the droplets. The method of laser-induced differential evaporation transitions particle deposition patterns from coffee-ring patterns to central-peak patterns, bringing all particles (e.g. fluorescent double strand DNAs) in the droplet to a designated area of 100 μm diameter without leaving any stains outside. The technique also moves the drying process from the constant contact radius (CCR) mode to the constant contact angle (CCA) mode. Physical mechanisms of this method were experimentally studied by internal flow tracking and surface evaporation flux mapping, and theoretically investigated by development of an analytical model.

Aim: This study aims to explore various factors that affect students' satisfaction regarding postgraduate agricultural programs and the likelihood of recommending such programs to others. Methods: Data were collected using structured paper-based questionnaires from a random sample of 127 students who were undertaking master and doctoral programs in eight different disciplines within agricultural sciences at King Saud University. Results: The findings showed that majority of the students expressed high academic learning experiences and were satisfied with their program of study. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students' academic learning experience, faculty support, and the rationale for attending the university had significant positive influence on their satisfaction with the enrolled programs. Moreover, the students' satisfaction and faculty support also showed significant positive correlation with their likelihood to recommend agricultural programs to others. Suggestions: In order to further enhance the impact of agricultural programs, we suggest improvements in the university curriculum as well as faculty services to make current agricultural programs up-to-date and relevant to meet the kingdom's national agricultural and human resource development goals. There should be a particular focus on enhancing students' research and written communication skills as postgraduate agricultural programs entail a significant component of these highly essential skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young people need digital competency and confidence to effectively harness computing power to solve problems and design solutions; a core component is improving young people's computational thinking. Unfortunately, access to computer science education is lacking for all youth, and in particular for youth who live in lower-income households, who are Black or Latino, or live in rural areas. With funding from Google, through the National 4-H Council, California 4-H embarked on a three-year project to build the capacity of 4-H professionals, volunteers, and teenagers to facilitate computer science education with youth. Our programming was effective as assessed with survey methodology. We offer recommendations to Extension professionals in replicating computer science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penn State Extension conducted on-farm food safety workshops statewide to train fruit and vegetable growers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). These workshops were evaluated using pre- and post-tests to assess the impact of the training on participating growers. Results indicate overall increases in produce growers' knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and intentions on GAP-related activities. However, few respondents (20%) intended to seek third-party certification (TPC) for their farms. Future evaluations should collect information on the challenges that growers face in implementing GAPs on their farms. Extension should tailor its food safety programs to meet growers' GAPs needs.

The world faced COVID-19, which was a threat to public health and disturbed the educational system and economic stability. Educational institutes were closed for a longer period, and students faced difficulty to complete their syllabus. The government adopted a policy of "suspending classes without stopping learning" to continue education activities. However, student satisfaction with online education is a growing concern. Satisfaction of students is an important indicator of academic quality. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the influencing factors behind learning satisfaction using information from 335 students from various institutes in Pakistan. This research examined the impact of computer and internet knowledge, instructor and course material, and Learning Management Systems (LMS) on learning satisfaction. The path coefficients were obtained via Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The LMS is a tool that facilitates the learning process with the provision of all types of educational material. The path coefficient was more in the case of LMS (0.489), which indicates its positive and significant role to attain learning satisfaction. The instructor and course material ordered second (0.261), which shows that the quality of an instructor and course material also plays a positive role to attain learning satisfaction. The computer and internet are essential ingredients of online education, showing a significant and positive path coefficient (0.123), implying that computer and internet knowledge could enhance learning satisfaction. The universities should develop their LMS to implement online education with quality course materials. It is also vital that the instructor should be up to date with modern learning techniques while ensuring internet connectivity, especially in rural areas. The government should provide an internet connection to students at discounted rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction  The risk of skull base injury during choanal atresia repair can be mitigated via thorough understanding of skull base anatomy. There is a paucity of data describing differences in skull base anatomy between patients with coloboma, heart defects, atresia choanae, growth retardation, genital abnormalities, and ear abnormalities (CHARGE) syndrome and those without. Objectives  The aim of this study was to measure nasal and skull base anatomy in patients with isolated bilateral choanal atresia (BCA), CHARGE syndrome, and other syndromic congenital anomalies. Methods  Retrospective chart review of patients with bilateral choanal atresia and computed tomography of the face between 2001 and 2019 were evaluated. Choanal width, height, mid-nasal height, and skull base slope were measured radiographically. Differences in anatomy between healthy patients, those with CHARGE syndrome, and those with other congenital anomalies were compared. Results  Twenty-one patients with BCA and relevant imaging were identified: 7 with isolated BCA, 6 with CHARGE syndrome, and 8 with other congenital anomalies. A t -test indicated insignificant difference in skull base slope, choanal height, choanal width, or mid-nasal skull base height between isolate BCA cases and patients with any congenital anomaly. When comparing CHARGE to isolated BCA cases, mid-nasal height was shorter in CHARGE patients (p  = 0.03). There were no differences in measurements between patients with congenital anomalies excluding CHARGE (p  > 0.05). Two patients in the congenital anomaly group were found to have bony skull base defects preoperatively. Conclusion  This study represents the largest description of skull base and nasal anatomy in patients with CHARGE syndrome and BCA. Surgeons should be aware of the lower skull base in CHARGE patients to avoid inadvertent skull base injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]