Undergraduate Music Program Alumni's Career Path,Retrospective Institutional Satisfaction,and Financial Status

The purpose of this study was to examine undergraduate music education and performance alumni's career path, retrospective institutional satisfaction, and financial status. Data for this study were drawn from respondents from the 2010 administration of the nationwide, multi-institutional survey conducted by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). Regarding career path, nearly half of the music performance degree graduates reported performing as their current job, and slightly more than half of the music education degree graduates reported working in K–12 schools. Participants were generally satisfied with their institutional experiences, although relatively low levels of satisfaction were reported for networking and career advising services. The respondents reported being most satisfied with aspects of their current jobs that reflected the intrinsic benefits of contributing to a greater good, satisfying personal interests and values, and opportunities to be creative. The majority of the sample reported accruing student loan debt ranging between $10,000 and $30,000; however, no significant differences were found between groups, and 40 percent of the participants reported having accrued no debt at all. The reported annual income of the participants varied significantly, with music educators reporting higher earnings than performers.     

Bridging the gap: How the National Core Arts Standards forge the divide between the arts and assessment-based learning

ABSTRACT

This article is a review and thematic analysis of the 2014 National Core Arts Standards (NCAS). Historically, there exists a gap between the arts and assessment-based educational practices. Thematic analysis of the NCAS reveals a policy striving to bridge the gap between the way arts educators envision arts in schools, and the current reality of assessment-based schooling in the United States. This policy could become the foundation for the recognition of the arts as academically rigorous subject matter, capable of existing and thriving in an assessment-oriented world; it remains to be seen as to how and if arts educators will use and adapt NCAS. Is the NCAS merely a symbolic policy or does it have the support behind it to be a material policy that truly creates change in the educational system?     

Hominid Footprints in Recent Volcanic Ash: New Interpretations from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Recent archeological research at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park indicates that the story behind the imprinting of at least 1773 human footprints preserved in the Ka’u Desert ash is more complex than originally thought. Footprint impressions found in desert ash layers were previously believed to have been created by the army of the Hawaiian Chief Keoua on its way back from battle in 1790. When Kilauea is said to have erupted, apparently suffocating one group, the others made it out alive, apparently leaving their footprints in the then-wet ash, which evidently dried and hardened. These features have since been preserved, often under layers of volcanic sand. This simple explanation of an event still remembered in oral tradition, is not supported by the geologic evidence and the recent discovery of hundreds of archaeological features which indicate much more prehistoric activity in the area for at least two centuries prior to 1790. This suggests other people contributed to the footprints preserved in the desert ash.     

Landscape influences on climate‐related lake shrinkage at high latitudes

Climate‐related declines in lake area have been identified across circumpolar regions and have been characterized by substantial spatial heterogeneity. An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying lake area trends is necessary to predict where change is most likely to occur and to identify implications for high latitude reservoirs of carbon. Here, using a population of ca. 2300 lakes with statistically significant increasing and decreasing lake area trends spanning longitudinal and latitudinal gradients of ca. 1000 km in Alaska, we present evidence for a mechanism of lake area decline that involves the loss of surface water to groundwater systems. We show that lakes with significant declines in lake area were more likely to be located: (1) in burned areas; (2) on coarser, well‐drained soils; and (3) farther from rivers compared to lakes that were increasing. These results indicate that postfire processes such as permafrost degradation, which also results from a warming climate, may promote lake drainage, particularly in coarse‐textured soils and farther from rivers where overland flooding is less likely and downslope flow paths and negative hydraulic gradients between surface water and groundwater systems are more common. Movement of surface water to groundwater systems may lead to a deepening of subsurface flow paths and longer hydraulic residence time which has been linked to increased soil respiration and CO₂ release to the atmosphere. By quantifying relationships between statewide coarse resolution maps of landscape characteristics and spatially heterogeneous responses of lakes to environmental change, we provide a means to identify at‐risk lakes and landscapes and plan for a changing climate.     

The case for environmental flow determination for the Phongolo River,South Africa

The construction of Pongolapoort Dam in 1973 on the Phongolo River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has considerably altered the hydrological behaviour and ecological response of the downstream floodplain. Changes in the flooding regime have had implications for the socio-economic importance of the floodplain and for the structure and functioning of its associated wetlands. Previous studies have recommended annual releases of water from the dam to sustain floodplain ecosystem goods and services. The current artificial water releases are limited by the size of the dam's sluices and by the demand for water from the local community. Therefore, water releases do not always follow the original natural flooding regime. To date, the influence of the changed hydrology on the ecology of the Phongolo floodplain system remains poorly known. As a basis for future integrated interdisciplinary research we synthesised the ecological and hydrological work conducted to date on the Phongolo floodplain. We suggest hydro-ecology as an important research direction needed to set environmental flows for the sustainable utilisation and management of the floodplain. Understanding the hydrological behaviour and ecological response of the Phongolo floodplain could help in the implementation of environmental flows by managers at the Department of Water and Sanitation and other stakeholders such as Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.     

Detection of an East European wolf haplotype puzzles mitochondrial DNA monomorphism of the Italian wolf population

Southern European wolves suffered from reiterated population declines during glacial periods and historically due to human persecution. Differently from other European wolf populations, a single mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region haplotype (W14) has been so far described in the Italian wolves, although no intensive genetic sampling has ever been conducted in historical source populations from central and southern Italy. Using non-invasive genetic techniques, we report the occurrence of an unexpected mtDNA haplotype (W16) in the wolf population of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park (PNALM), central Italy. This haplotype, detected in three out of 90 faecal samples from the PNALM, was previously reported in wolves from the North Carpathians, Slovakia and the Balkans only. Microsatellite analysis and molecular sex determination confirmed that the W16 samples belonged to three distinct wolves. Although alternative explanations can be formulated for the origin of this mtDNA haplotype in the otherwise monomorphic Italian wolf population, assignment procedures indicated the likely admixed ancestry of one W16 sample with East European wolves. Anthropogenic introgression with dogs has been detected in the Italian wolf population using nuclear DNA microsatellites, but no population-wide genetic survey had previously reported a mtDNA control region variant in Italian wolves. Our findings strongly suggest that, in addition to wolf × dog hybridization, captive-released wolves or wolf × dog hybrids may successfully interbreed with wolves in the wild, and that human-mediated introgression may occur even in well established protected areas.     

Post-transfusional iron overload in the haemoglobinopathies

In this report, we review the recent advances in evaluation and treatment of transfusional iron overload (IO). Results of the French thalassaemia registry are described. According to the disease, thalassaemia major or sickle cell anaemia, mechanisms and toxicity of iron overload, knowledge about IO long-term outcome and chelation treatment results, respective value of IO markers, differ. The recent tools evaluating organ specific IO and the diversification of iron chelator agents make possible to individualize chelation therapy in clinical practice. The severity of IO and the level of transfusional iron intake, the preferential localization of IO (heart/liver) as well as the tolerance and adherence profiles of the patient can now be taken into account. Introduction of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for the quantification of myocardial iron and use of oral chelators have already been reported as decreasing the cardiac mortality rate related to IO in thalassaemia major patients. Long-term observation of patients under oral chelators will show if morbidity is also improving via a more continuous control of toxic iron and/or a better accessibility to cellular iron pools.     

Proteome analysis of the plant-pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae

The plant-pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is the causal agent of bacterial blight, which is one of the most serious diseases of rice. Xoo has been studied for over one century, and much has been learned about it, but proteomic investigation has been neglected. In this study, proteome reference maps of Xoo were constructed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and 628 spots in the gels representing 469 different protein species were identified with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. The identified spots were assigned to 15 functional categories according to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database and the annotations from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. The data set has been deposited in the World-2DPAGE database (Database ID: 0044). In addition, comparative proteomic analysis revealed that proteins related to the TonB-dependent transportation system and energy metabolism are involved in the phenazine-1-carboxylic acid resistance in Xoo. In conclusion, we have established a proteome database for Xoo and have used this database in a comparative proteomic analysis that identified proteins potentially contributing to phenazine-1-carboxylic acid resistance in Xoo.     

Factors influencing the diurnal behaviour of white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) in Matobo National Park,Zimbabwe

Activity periods and diurnal behaviour of southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) were studied in Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe, from August 2016 to July 2017 using camera trapping and focal group sampling, respectively. Camera trap data showed that diurnal and nocturnal movements of white rhino varied significantly with moon phase, with more frequent nocturnal photographic captures during full- and third-quarter moon phases than during new and crescent moon phases. Permutational MANOVA and canonical correspondence analysis of focal group observation data were used to test the effects of season, time of day, habitat type, distance to roads, moon phase, presence/absence of other mammals, age/sex category, individual identity and herd composition on daytime behaviour. Weather conditions accounted for the majority of variation in rhino behaviour, with more time spent feeding during cloudy and rainy weather than sunny weather. Time of day and moon phase also accounted for high variation in behaviour, followed by habitat attributes and age/sex category. Variance partitioning by sets of explanatory variables showed that weather conditions had the greatest explanatory power in the variation of rhino behaviour, followed by temporal attributes, habitat attributes and age/sex category. Our findings provide insights for white rhino population management strategies aimed at increasing the effectiveness of security patrols, minimising disturbance and improving sightings for tourists.