Brigham Young University

It is important for elementary teachers to understand the content they are responsible for teaching their students, known as content knowledge. In the content area of science, elementary teacher preparation programs often expect preservice teachers to develop content knowledge in college science courses completed prior to entering the program. These college science courses are often general education courses, not specifically designed for preservice elementary teachers. General education courses may not be adequately serving preservice elementary teachers. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of general education science courses on preservice elementary teachers, as compared to other students at the same institution. We collected student grades in six different general education courses across ten years of instruction, resulting in a data set with 195860 grades. These data were analyzed using linear mixed modeling to predict course grades in each of the individual courses. Overall, these findings indicate that elementary education majors in general education courses are receiving grades similar to students in most other majors. Notably, elementary education majors received grades comparable to STEM majors in Biology, while scoring worse than STEM majors in Physical Science. These findings assuage some concerns about the impact of general education courses on elementary education majors and suggest that elementary education programs seeking to provide a specialized science course may want to prioritize a course in physical science.

Relationship improvement and the treatment of mental health problems in a relational context focuses on what we can observe or is self-reported. This leads to a focus on interaction patterns between couples or partners’ perceptions in relationships. Advances in assessing neurological and physiological processes have expanded observable relationship processes, but most MFT models have not yet integrated this knowledge. We propose an intervention model based on the idea that relationship interactions are influenced by pre-conscious physiologic processes around the perceived threat of situations. When a situation is perceived as threatening, partners’ innate response is based on survival and self-protection, which inhibits the physiologically based social engagement system. This model describes interventions to: (1) improve navigation of pre-conscious, and conscious processes through increasing positive emotional regulation, (2) reduce the influence of negative past events on current relationships, and (3) work toward having more connecting interactions and fewer protecting interactions in relationships.

Money scripts are deep-seated but typically unconscious beliefs individuals hold about money. We considered four money scripts: money avoidance, money focus (also known as money worship), money status, and money privacy (adapted from money vigilance). While money scripts have been studied in conjunction with financial outcomes, our study is among the first to test relational outcomes of money scripts and among the first to examine money scripts on the dyad level. Grounded in couples and finances theory (CFT), we conducted an actor partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) using dyadic data from 1,153 mixed-gender couples who had been married for about eight years to test (a) associations from couples’ average level on each money script, couples’ profile-based similarity on the money scripts collectively, and couples’ difference-score-based similarity on each money script with wives’ and husbands’ financial communication and relationship satisfaction, and (b) indirect effects on relationship satisfaction through financial communication as a mediator. High levels of money focus adherence were relationally destructive (i.e., worse financial communication, worse marital satisfaction). Similarity between spouses on money scripts collectively was relationally beneficial (i.e., better financial communication). We discuss implications for clinicians such as therapists and educators.

Surveillance of infected insect vectors of vector-transmitted diseases has been recognized for its ability to estimate pathogen prevalence and transmission potential. Classically restricted to microscopic dissection and examination of individual insects, the potential of entomological monitoring has grown due to the advent of rapid molecular DNA detection methods with high specificity and sensitivity. Despite such advancement, a recurring question concerning DNA detection of parasitic pathogens is related to the fact that DNA amplification, by itself, does not differentiate between insects carrying infectious versus dead, non- or poorly-infectious life-cycle stages, thereby limiting it’s programmatic usefulness for accurately measuring the transmission potential of infected insects in endemic areas or within experimentally infected populations. Herein, we developed a quantitative real-time PCR with Reverse Transcription (RT-qPCR) based sherp (small hydrophilic endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein) detection assay employing a novel set of sherp -RT-qPCR primers to detect and quantify infectious Leishmania parasites in infected vector sand flies. The sherp RT-qPCR showed significantly increased expression of sherp transcripts in infectious Leishmania metacyclic versus non-metacyclic promastigotes or mammalian-derived amastigotes. The assay displayed detection performance ranging from 10 ⁶ to 1 parasite and could reliably quantify parasites within infected sand flies without the need for dissection. Sherp transcripts were also successfully amplified from flies stored in ethanol at room temperature, a practical and economical method of sample preservation in resource-limited field settings. Lastly, in conjunction with an established RT-qPCR assay for Leishmania kinetoplast DNA minicircles, we were able to calculate a score for the degree of metacyclogenesis within infected sand flies, a known predictor of transmission potential. These results highlight the potential of the sherp -RT-qPCR assay to identify hotspots of potential transmission, areas of re-emergence, vector competence, and the transmission potential of infected sand fly populations.

The number of youth who identify as multiracial has surged in the past decade. However, this population has reportedly suffered high rates of maladaptive behaviors, highlighting the need for research on supports for multiracial youth, including healthy identity development. Using Jackson and Mumma’s (2023) model of multiracial identity, this study explored how positive social media use, friendship self-efficacy, and friendship aid related to multiracial adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity (ERI; exploration, resolution, affirmation) in 128 adolescents (56% female, U.S. sample, Mage = 14.3). Further, we explored if this relation was moderated by parent/child relationship quality. Direct effects evidenced friendship self-efficacy was positively related to all aspects of ERI, friend aid was only related to ERI resolution, parent/child relationship quality related positively to exploration, and positive social media use was negatively related to affirmation. Results showed the relation of friend aid, and positive social media use with ERI resolution was moderated by parent/child relationship quality. Results indicate the significance of parent-child relationships in ERI while also suggesting that friendships and social media may play important roles in understanding the diverse influences on multiracial teens’ identities.

The current review incorporates a sociocultural perspective into the intergroup contact framework as applied to interracial contact. Integrating research from cultural psychology and grounded in a selves‐in‐contact approach to studying interracial interactions, we advance insights about the sociocultural self in a social and historical context that complements and expands research across three dimensions typically examined in intergroup contact research. Specifically, the valence dimension, the quantity and quality dimension, and a dimension reflecting how contact can differentially impact dominant/majority and marginalized/minoritized group outcomes. Centering minoritized perspectives, we outline evidence suggesting that interracial contact involving the recognition and engagement with racially minoritized groups' culture, history, and lived experiences highlight the benefits of “constructive” negative contact and the utility of contact content, while promoting mutually beneficial collective action outcomes among minoritized and majority group members. We provide recommendations on how this approach may apply to other dimensions of contact and suggest future work while cautioning the over‐application of this perspective across contexts of colonization and exploitation.

Bacteriophage Lilbunny is a siphovirus infecting Mycobacterium smegmatis strain mc ² 155. It was isolated from compost of rabbit fecal matter. The genome of Lilbunny belongs to the A6 subcluster and is 50,789 bp, containing 95 open reading frames, 52.6% of which encode proteins with predicted functions, and three tRNA genes.

Homeostatic balance provides a conceptual foundation for personality, and balance is a key concept in psychotherapy and psychophysiology. For example, both extreme fear and the absence of fear are considered pathological in both psychotherapy and psychophysiology, whereas a moderate, balanced fear response predicts healthier outcomes. In terms of measurement, however, personality is typically measured using a unipolar approach with more extreme scores (typically higher) indicative of better functioning. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether a moderate, balanced approach to measurement, or individualized allostasis, might better capture healthy functioning. To assess balanced functioning, the Assessment of Schema Adaptability Profile - Revised (ASAP-R) was used, and wellbeing was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale (DASS) and heart rate variability (HF HRV and RMSSD). The IPIP NEO 120 was used to assess the Big 5 model of personality. Moderate responding on the ASAP-R was related to less self-reported depressive symptoms on the DASS, and increased heart rate variability (HF HRV and RMSSD). Developing personality measures designed to assess moderate responding may be beneficial in the context of psychotherapy/psychophysiology integration.

Context: Baseball is a popular sport in the United States, with widespread play among secondary school student-athletes. Baseball-related injuries may vary based on community-level socioeconomic status of schools. Objective: To describe the injuries sustained by secondary school baseball players from schools categorized by community-level socioeconomic status. Design: Cross-sectional study design. Setting: Data (2014/15-2018/19 academic years) were obtained from the National Athletic Treatment, Injury, and Outcomes Network (NATION-SP) Participants: Secondary school baseball athletes. Main Outcome Measures: Frequencies and percentages of injuries, injury rates, and competition/practice injury rate ratios (IRR) were reported by the community-level socioeconomic status (ie, affluent, average wealth, disadvantaged) where each school is located. Results: NATION-SP captured 320 baseball injuries across 140,619 total athlete exposures (AEs), for an overall injury rate of 2.4/1,000 AEs. Of those, 52% occurred among athletes in 24 schools situated in affluent communities, 15.6% occurred in 12 schools from average wealth communities, and 32.5% occurred in 12 schools located in disadvantaged communities. The largest injury rate was schools located in disadvantaged communities (3.3/1000 AE), followed by affluent (2.3/1000 AE) and average wealth (1.4/1000 AE) communities. On average, schools from affluent and disadvantaged communities had higher injury rates during competition than during practice (affluent: IRR=1.5, 95% CI=1.11, 2.05; disadvantaged: IRR=1.6, 95% CI=1.12, 2.41). Frequencies of many injury characteristics were consistent in schools across community-level socioeconomic status with contact, sprain/strain, and non-timeloss ranking highest in terms of injury mechanism, diagnosis, and time loss, respectively. Shoulder/clavicle was most frequent body part injured in schools in average and disadvantaged wealth communities, and ankle was most frequent in schools in affluent communities. Conclusions: Baseball athletes playing in schools located in disadvantaged wealth communities had the largest overall injury rate, followed by schools in affluent, and average wealth communities. Across most injury characteristics, a consistent trend emerged regardless of community-level disadvantage, with the highest baseball injury rates resulting from contact mechanisms, diagnosed as sprains or strains, and classified as non-time- loss injuries. While many injury patterns are consistent across socioeconomic communities, examining injuries through the lens of community-levels of disadvantage provides insight into subtle differences that could information targeted prevention strategies or resource needs.

Introduction: Improving child health involves focusing on family capacities and resources, including family health. This study aimed to assess (a) current practices for collecting family information in pediatric primary care settings, and (b) the feasibility, acceptability, and utility of a validated Family Health Scale-Short Form (FHS-SF) to screen for family health from clinic staff and parent perspectives. Method: We piloted the FHS-SF in two urban pediatric clinics in 2022. We interviewed four pediatricians and six staff members and piloted the survey with 25 parents. We employed an exploratory qualitative design that included data from provider and staff interviews and a descriptive quantitative component, including surveys with parents/caregivers. We analyzed interview transcripts with the Framework Analysis method and presented survey results with descriptive statistics. Results: Clinic providers and staff endorsed the importance of the family context in pediatric care and regularly asked household economic questions but did not routinely assess interpersonal health except during transitions (e.g., newborn/infancy and adolescent visits) and in the context of a custody change. Caregivers were, on average, 34 years old, primarily mothers (92%) and Black/African American (56%) or white (20%). Providers, staff, and caregivers found the FHS-SF questions to be acceptable. Providers suggested using the FHS-SF as a “conversation starter” or a tool to identify referrals. Staff provided suggestions for implementation. Discussion: The FHS-SF could be an effective tool in primary care pediatric settings, contributing to more family-focused care as a foundation for well-being early in the life course.

In the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, primary appraisal of stress is considered a cognitive process. Current neuroscience research indicates, however, that our initial awareness of whether something is good, bad, or neutral, is a predominantly affective process, with our core affect being a representation of how the body evaluates life situations over time. We concur with what is now the prevailing view that dualistic theories of mind and body as essentially separate entities are mistaken and have contributed to problematic conceptions of cognition and affect as radically independent operations, one being performed by the mind, the other by the body. In reality, affect and cognition are both bodily processes, and as such are inseparable and interdependent. Affect provides the primary appraisal of the body’s current situation, while cognition builds off the affective response, providing a secondary and often more thorough appraisal. We therefore propose a revised, non-dualistic Transactional Model emphasizing the embodied mind in which our core affect provides the foundation for our primary appraisals and a stronger foundation for conducting psychotherapy.

Gratitude practices have been shown to increase subjective well-being and other positive outcomes; however, research on gratitude training has focused primarily on the practice of journaling. Further research examining alternative gratitude practices may yield valuable insights on the comparative efficacy of various gratitude interventions, and could suggest additional gratitude practices that warrant further study. This study examined the efficacy of the My Best Self 101 (MBS101) gratitude module: an online training resource that provides psychoeducation about gratitude along with a menu of empirically-based gratitude practices anchored in the research literature. Using mixed effects models of repeated measures, we examined gratitude and subjective well-being outcomes for participants assigned to either the MBS101 gratitude module or a traditional gratitude journaling practice. Participants were 290 adults recruited online from the general population and from a university student research pool. Mixed effects models of repeated measures were also used to analyze the interaction between time spent on gratitude practice, group assignment, and timepoint (post-test). Although both groups showed significant improvements, compared to the gratitude journaling group, the MBS101 group had significantly better outcomes on gratitude and subjective well-being. Additionally, when the time, group, and timepoint interaction was added, the MBS101 group had limited benefits for gratitude and mixed benefits for subjective well-being with increased time spent. These findings support the possibility that using a flexible, menu-based approach to gratitude training may yield improved outcomes and increase the likelihood of ongoing engagement with gratitude practices.

Plant functional traits can be a powerful tool for predicting species demography in response to variable environmental conditions. However, accurate predictions of juvenile plant response require ontogenetically relevant traits that capture the response to microsite variability. This is particularly important when considering drivers of seedling emergence, survival, growth and recruitment of species in the context of population persistence or community assembly. We tested the effect of two different microsites on juvenile demography for eight perennial grass species in a semi‐arid system in Colorado along the western edge of the Great Plains. We used seed and root functional traits across multiple life stages to predict these responses and identify mechanisms driving species' emergence, survival, growth and recruitment. Contrary to our expectations, we found that microsites with increased soil moisture (i.e. furrows) had a negative effect on grass emergence early in the season but no effect on recruitment at the end of the season. This was likely driven by the increased growth and survival of grass juveniles in furrows compared to grass juveniles on the surface (reduced soil moisture). We also found that species with more acquisitive roots—from more rapid root elongation—benefited from the increased soil moisture early in the season, but this benefit disappeared later in the season, speaking to the value of using life‐stage specific traits to predict early life‐stage transitions. Variation in microsites will impact juvenile perennial grass demography differently depending on species' traits across life stages. While species in this system typically experience wet to dry transitions across the growing season, furrows with increased soil moisture reduce the intensity of this dry down and may alter demographic responses depending on grass functional traits across ontogeny. We found grass species that are adapted to take advantage of resource pulses did best in furrows where moisture was greater, but that species adapted to conserve resources under stress had limited capacity to respond to these resource pulses. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

In large‐scale crises, recovery efforts often receive limited empirical attention. The COVID‐19 pandemic (2020–2023) significantly disrupted children's lives in the United States. This exploratory mixed‐methods study involved 58 mothers who completed online surveys about their children's (ages 2–17) recovery. Using the Children's Best Interest Wheel , the study analyzed data through descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. It explored recovery across child safety, health, development, learning, care, home, and relationships. Mothers reported that children were nearly recovered in each of these areas.

The vitrification of high‐level waste (HLW) by heating a mixture of glass‐forming chemicals (GFCs) with the waste can be improved using a constrained optimization problem. This study explores how different uncertainty propagation (UP) methods implemented with the optimization process can affect the glass formulation of nuclear waste glasses. UP is the effort of propagating uncertain inputs through a system to understand and quantify output distributions. Uncertainty intervals are crafted from output distributions to inform the optimization algorithm. UP is often implemented with Monte Carlo (MC) sampling for large nonlinear systems, which can be difficult to implement within a constrained optimization algorithm that requires derivative information. Other UP methods often used for optimization under uncertainty (OUU) can be designed to work within an established constrained optimization framework. Methods of UP are evaluated in this study including iterative sampling approaches, first‐order approximations, and surrogate modeling with machine learning (ML). A method of dimensional reduction based on global sensitivity analysis is introduced to support the UP methods for the large dimensionality of the problem. Analytical UP methods able to achieve similar optimums 10 times faster than the baseline MC approach, and produce 93.9% similar output distributions are reported.

Understanding how plasmas thermalize when density gradients are steep remains a fundamental challenge in plasma physics, with direct implications for fusion experiments and astrophysical phenomena. Standard hydrodynamic models break down in these regimes, and kinetic theories make predictions that have never been directly tested. Here, we present the first detailed phase-space measurements of a strongly coupled plasma as it evolves from sharp density gradients to thermal equilibrium. Using laser-induced fluorescence imaging of an ultracold calcium plasma, we track the complete ion distribution function f(x,v,t). We discover that commonly used kinetic models (Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook and Lenard–Bernstein) overpredict thermalization rates, even while correctly capturing the initial counterstreaming plasma formation. Our measurements reveal that the initial ion acceleration response scales linearly with electron temperature, and that the simulations underpredict the initial ion response. In our geometry we demonstrate the formation of well-controlled counterpropagating plasma beams. This experimental platform enables precision tests of kinetic theories and opens new possibilities for studying plasma stopping power and flow-induced instabilities in strongly coupled systems.