Digital Commons Network^™

Public Speaking Anxiety And Graduation: Assessing Student Progress And Institutional Need, Ronald P. Grapsy

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This article is designed to accomplish two goals. First, data from six-year student cohorts are examined for patterns emerging among those who failed to graduate from a public, state-affiliated university. The data imply strongly that a significant percentage of students who did not graduate failed primarily due to an inability to pass through the basic public speaking course – part of the general education program – and that communicative anxiety may be the root cause. Also, the article discusses the design and implementation of a successful model for a basic speech course dedicated to students with debilitating levels of public …

Classroom Projects As Embodied And Embedded Outcomes Assessment, Garnet C. Butchart, Margaret Mullan

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Although educators already recognize the value in engaging student learning through classroom projects and service-learning, assessment of student learning through classroom projects may be accompanied by a shift of attention from mastery of ideas to embodied knowledge. We argue that embodiment is the basic semiotic condition of being human—of being both an expressive and perceptive (communicative) being among others. Linking this philosophy of communication principle to the topic of assessment, the article offers assessment research a focus of attention on learning settings: from embodiment as learning context, to the built environment of classrooms, as well as to group interaction. We …

Editor's Note, Janie M. H. Fritz

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the Editor’s Note to Volume 34, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Examining Undergraduate Communication Degree Programs: Mission Statements, Assessment Plans, And Assessment Evaluations, Mike Allen, John Bourhis, Nancy Burrell, Arooj Mukarram, Michael G. Blight, Clare M. Gross, Megan Lambertz, Christopher J.E. Anderson

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

One hundred undergraduate communication programs listed in the NCA directory were examined in this investigation. The process involved gathering the university mission statement, departmental mission statement, program assessment plan, and program assessment evaluations. Results demonstrate that 98 institutions utilized mission statements, 81 departments provided mission statements, 18 departments made assessment plans available and the researchers obtained 4 assessment evaluations.

Embedding Arête: Core Skills, Department Culture And Whole-Student Development, Richard K. Olsen, David E. Weber

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

In this article the authors summarize how an academic department designed and now enacts the “core skills,” a template the unit operationalized to facilitate their goal of wholestudent development. First, the authors present a brief summary of contemporary literature—including Rich’s (2008) Megaskills, plus key principles and perspectives (e.g., rhetoric, arête, culture, dialectical tension, communicative construction of organization) of the communication studies discipline—relevant to the articulation of the core skills as both a heuristic and praxis. Next, we delineate concerns and critical incidents that inspired unit personnel to decide whole-student development was mission-critical. Then we describe key challenges in of cultivating …

From “Safe Spaces” To “Communicative Spaces”: Semiotic Labor, Authentic Civility And The Basic Communication Course, Hannah Karolak, Craig T. Maier

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Difficult conversations and controversial topics are common in the basic communication classroom, raising difficult challenges for course directors, instructors, and students. In response to this problem, many in higher education promote the development of “safe spaces.” Drawing from Eicher-Catt’s work on civility, this essay suggests shifting the focus from safe spaces to the development and maintenance of what Eicher-Catt calls communicative spaces. The notion of communicative spaces, when extended into the classroom, reorients our understanding of classroom civility and suggests practices for course directors, instructors, and students that affirm the dignity of students by attending not to their emotional needs …

Lobbying As A Means For Expanding The Communication Instructional Base. A View From The Outside Looking In, Craig Newburger

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

No abstract provided.

Complete Issue, Volume 34, Issue 2

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete issue for Volume 34, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

South Korean Teachers’ Perceptions Of Integrating Information And Communication Technologies Into Literacy Instruction, Sangho Pang, David Reinking, Amy Hutchison, Deanna Ramey

Publications

We investigated South Korean literacy and language arts teachers’ perceptions about integrating interactive communication technologies (ICTs) into instruction. The survey addressed their access to various applications and technologies associated with ICTs, access to technological support, frequency and importance of use, and obstacles to and conceptions of integrating ICTs. Descriptive and correlational data are reported suggesting that although classroom use of ICTs is mandated at the national level, South Korean teachers perceive access to some tools and applications, as well as the availability of technical assistance at both the school and district level, to be limited. We compare data from this …

Spaces Of Disadvantage, Places Of Hope : Women Empowerment, Economic Emancipation And Ngos In Bogotá Slums, Ekaterina Korzh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research is devoted to the gender issue in Colombian Slums with the specific focus on the social and economic place of women, challenges that women are facing within this extremely impoverished and criminalized areas and avenues to improve women empowerment and emancipation in the slums of Bogotá.

The goal of this research is to improve understanding of social and economic roles of women in the slums and identify NGO-supported coping strategies that allow improving women empowerment and emancipation in the slums of Bogotá. The first objective is to define “slums” and determine their extent, morphology and population characteristics using …

On Body Dumps : The Rhetorics Of Corporeal Narcoterrorism, Evan Mitchell Schares

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Though the exact number is unknown, estimates indicate the trade and movement of narcotics have resulted in over 60,000 murders of Mexican citizens. As a result of the rising narcoviolence, Felipe Calderón, early in his presidential administration, made the “War on Drugs” a top priority. Despite this effort to curb the violence, in 2010 alone, more than 15,200 lifeless bodies have been left across Mexico, most likely by drug cartels. A nascent phrase, body dumps, has risen in journalistic reports describing this conscious relocation of the ruined corpse to highly visible traffic areas. This thesis explores the rhetorical constructions of …

Rethinking The Conquest : An Exploration Of The Similarities Between Pre-Contact Spanish And Mexica Society, Culture, And Royalty, Samantha Billing

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Spanish Conquest has been historically marked by the year 1521 and is popularly thought of as an absolute and complete process of indigenous subjugation in the New World. Alongside this idea comes the widespread narrative that describes a barbaric, uncivilized group of indigenous people being conquered and subjugated by a more sophisticated and superior group of Europeans. There is also a common misconception that the Conquest resulted in a dominance of European culture and a loss of the indigenous heritage that had prevailed in the New World up until that point.

This manuscript explores the period known as the …

A Model For Measuring The Contribution Of Form To Perception Of Biological Sex In Point-Light Actors, Michael Mintz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

People are able to judge the sex of actors represented in point-light displays. Much of the previous literature has focused on the contribution of motion information to this judgment, or has focused specifically on information gathered from the shoulders and hips. The purpose of the current study is to model how form information, based upon the distance between the dots representing a point-light actor’s key joints, the shoulder, hip, elbow, knee, wrist, and ankle points, contributes to the perception of biological sex. In a pilot study, 6 naïve observers responded to 63 computer generated stimuli that ranged from extremely female …

All Fortune Is Good Fortune: The Role Of Fortuna In A Monotheistic Literary World, Kimberly Bridgewater

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The goddess Fortuna, who ruled over chance and the giving of worldly gifts was a pagan deity who survived through the conversion of Christianity in Europe. Her survival and inclusion in Medieval literature caused conflicts with the Christian religion, especially in relation to beliefs in free will and God’s Providence. Now, twenty-first century scholars are still attempting to figure out how the role of free will can co-exist with Fortuna, especially in regard to the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, who render Fortuna as a dominant entity in the lives of their Christian characters. …

Reconciling The Two Cultures : A Case Study Of The University Of Northern Iowa, Elizabeth Ann Collins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In 1959, chemist and author Charles Percy Snow gave a Rede Lecture at the University of Cambridge in which he named “Two Cultures”—the sciences and the humanities—which, according to his experience as someone who worked in both, were at odds with one another. His words elicited impassioned responses from critics who either agreed with Snow, believing this to be a detriment to society, or vehemently disagreed, believing Snow’s statements to be unfounded, and even antagonistic. This conversation, which had also found relevance in the United States, continues to be important today, and has changed over the years as institutions of …

A Technical Method For The High School String Classroom: Priorities And Presentation Of Essential Skills, Nicole Elizabeth Cody

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis and its accompanying appendices synthesize pedagogical information from classroom method books, classroom pedagogy texts and individual instrument methods presenting new manuals for technique acquisition on violin, viola, cello and double bass in the secondary orchestra classroom. After reviewing the literature, the following categories were determined to be most important for this level of student: 1) Finger Patterns/Tetrachord Exercises, 2) Scales, 3) Bowing, 4) Shifting, 5) Position Etudes and 6) Chorales/Tonal Development. This paper focuses on these categories reporting on how different texts teach the various skills and creating a guide that encourages both a vertical and horizontal understanding …

Engagement Of Undergraduate Nursing Students In Virtual Learning Environment In Karachi Pakistan, Zohra Kurji, James Mwenda, Amina Aijaz

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Aga Khan University (AKU) is implementing blended learning (BL) in their existing programs. This study reports the use of BL mode in one of the courses entitled Advanced Concepts of Community Health nursing (ACCHN), offered for undergraduate nursing students, for the first time in Karachi Pakistan. A qualitative exploratory design was adopted.The year II students of Post-RN BScN programme who were studying the course were invited to participate in the study. Data was collected by using focus group discussions (FGDs.). Students found ACCHN course flexible because of the use of blended modalities. They felt that their learning was enhanced by …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

No abstract provided.

Seroepidemiological Survey Of Leptospiral Infection In Stray Dogs In Serbia, Dragica Vojinovic, Natasa Bogicevic, Ana Vasic, Marija Manic, Milica Elezovic Radovanovic, Dragan Rogozarski, Jovan Maric, Miroslav Valcic

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis with worldwide distribution. This disease is facilitated among stray dogs due to their lifestyle and the absence of immunoprophylaxis. The aim of the present study was to provide serological data on the presence of certain serovars of Leptospira spp., which are assumed to circulate in the population of stray dogs in Serbia. During a period of 3 years (from April 2010 to June 2013), 1045 canine sera originating from 11 shelters were submitted to the laboratory of the Department of Infectious Animal Diseases and Diseases of Bees, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Belgrade. A microscopic agglutination …

Effects Of Dystocia On Milk Production And Reproduction In Subsequent Lactation In A Turkish Holstein Herd, İbrahi̇m Kaya, Can Uzmay, Tarik Ayyilmaz

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The study investigated effects of dystocia on milk production, reproduction, calf loss, and cow culling in a Turkish Holstein herd at the Agricultural Faculty, Ege University, İzmir, Turkey. Data were from 653 single calvings between 2006 and 2010. Considering a greater dystocia incidence in primiparous cows, data was divided in two; 223 primiparous and 430 multiparous calvings scored on a 1-to-5 scale. Scores were categorized into no dystocia and dystocia. With few related observations, all multiparous data were excluded since sample size for multiparous dystocic calvings was too small to make reliable estimates. Milk yields, days to first service, and …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

No abstract provided.

In Vivo Assessment Of Dna Damage In Cyprinus Carpio After Exposure To Potassium Dichromate Using Rapd, Pavan Kumar, Ravindra Kumar, Naresh Sahebrao Nagpure, Prakash Nautiyal, Basdeo Kushwaha, Christopher Didigwu Nwani, Wazir Singh Lakra

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present study used the random amplification of polymorphism DNA (RAPD) technique to evaluate possible DNA damage in the blood cells of Cyprinus carpio exposed to potassium dichromate. Test specimens were exposed to 3 sublethal test concentrations (93.95, 187.9, and 281.85 mg L^{?1}) of potassium dichromate for a period of 96 h. The samplings were collected at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after exposure. DNA was isolated from the blood samples of both the control and treated groups of C. carpio, and 3 selected decamer primers were used for RAPD-PCR. In comparison to the control, potassium dichromate-treated groups showed …

Identification Of Simple Sequence Repeat Markers In The Dromedary(Camelus Dromedarius) Genome By Next-Generation Sequencing, Monther Sadder, Hussein Migdadi, Ahmed Al-Haidary, Aly Okab

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The availability of molecular markers in camels is limited. The aim of this study was to develop new simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Four breeds of pooled dromedary genome were sequenced at low coverage utilizing Roche and Illumina platforms. A total of 65,746 contigs, covering approximately 52 Mb (2316 contigs > 2 kb), were assembled. The partial genome revealed 613 SSR loci with a minimum number of 5 repeat units. Comparative chromosomal location for 60 camel loci was predicted against bovine genome assembly Baylor Btau_4.6.1/bosTau7. Ten markers (16.7%) returned matches with a >100 score and >80% identity. SSR abundance was 1 …

Temperature Range Analysis (T_{Max}) On Dorsal Surface Of Sporting Horses, Ewa Jodkowska, Krzysztof Dudek, Maria Soroko

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of this study was to determine temperature differences on the dorsal surface of 32 clinically healthy show jumping horses. Temperature was measured using a Thermovision 550 (FLIR) camera, determining maximum temperature (T_{max}). The horse?s body was divided into the following regions: neck, withers, cranial back, caudal back, loins, and hindquarters. Those regions were subdivided into middle, left, and right parts. Statistical methods used for calculations consisted of Wilcoxon?s signed rank test and Dunn?s post hoc comparison test. Temperatures on the dorsal surface ranged from 19.5 to 31.5 °C, with the lowest indicated in the withers area and the …

Impact Of B. Melitensis Rev-1 Vaccination On Brucellosis Prevalence, Adosinda Maria Coelho, Maria De Lurdes Pinto, Juan Garcia Diez, Ana Claudia Coelho

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, in the northeastern region of Portugal, previously exhibited the highest brucellosis prevalence in the entire small ruminant population of Portugal. Consequently, a vaccination program of the whole population with Brucella melitensis Rev-1 was carried out from 2001 to 2004, and further compulsory Rev-1 vaccination of 3- to 6-month-old lambs and kids was carried out between 2005 and 2007. The prevalence of brucellosis decreased by 71.42% in 2004, with a 2-fold decrease occurring from 2005 to 2007. The reduction of brucellosis prevalence was statistically significant (P < 0.001) according to flock size. By species, brucellosis prevalence decreased 14.5-fold in sheep and 5.5-fold in goats in 2004. Regarding flock constitution, it decreased by 77% for pure flocks and 73% in mixed flocks in 2004. Regarding the animals involved in production, brucellosis prevalence decreased during the 7-year period. It was concluded that Rev-1 vaccination of the whole population was effective in decreasing brucellosis prevalence. These results contribute to the scarce information available regarding the effect of Rev-1 vaccination on different characteristics of flocks. They may be used to improve the efficiency of brucellosis eradication programs within livestock management.

Concentrations Of Manganese, Iron, And Strontium In Bones Of Thedomestic Dog (Canis Lupus Familiaris), Halina Budis, Elzbieta Kalisinska, Natalia Lanocha, Danuta Kosik_Bogacka

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of this study was to determine concentrations of manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), and strontium (Sr) in the cartilage, compact bone, spongy bone, and cartilage with adjacent compact bone of the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris). The experiment was carried out on bones from the hip joints of 24 dogs (dogs of 8 years) from northwestern Poland. The concentrations of Mn, Fe, and Sr were assessed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Fe concentration was the highest in the cartilage and compact bone. Mn concentration was the lowest in all three types of bone material and had a significantly lower concentration …

Prevalence Of Toxoplasma Gondii In Sheep Meats Purchased From Retailstores In Central Anatolia, Turkey, Kader Yildiz, Fatma Çi̇ğdem Pi̇şki̇n, Armağan Erdem Ütük, Sami̇ Gökpinar

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most important foodborne parasitic diseases of humans. In particular, sheep muscles are significant sources of infection in the transmission of toxoplasmosis. Carnivorism is the most important transmission route for human populations. The aim of this study was to detect the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii tissue cysts in sheep meats in retail stories of Turkey. A total of 250 boneless sheep meat samples were purchased from randomly selected retail stores in different locations of Ankara and Kırıkkale provinces of Turkey. The homogenized meat samples were centrifuged with Percoll dilutions. The tissue cysts were removed by pipette …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Serum Enzyme Activities And Protein Fractions In Brucella-Infected Cows, Mohamed Fahmy Abou Elazab

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of this study was to evaluate potential changes in serum enzyme activities and protein fractions in Brucella-infected cows. A total of 1100 serum samples of dairy cows were screened for Brucella infection using the Rose Bengal test (RBT). Serum samples reacting positively to the RBT were subjected to indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for confirmation. Thirty serum samples from serologically positive cows and 30 from negative (healthy) cows were analyzed for alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activities and total protein (TP) concentrations and serum protein …

Storage Stability Of Aerobically Packaged Extended Dehydrated Chickenmeat Rings At Ambient Temperature, Bidyut Prava Mishra, Geeta Chauhan, Sanjod Kumar Mendiratta, Prasana Kumar Rath, Renuka Nayar

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present study was conducted to evaluate the storage stability of aerobically packaged extended dehydrated chicken meat rings during ambient storage at 30 ± 2 °C. Extended dehydrated chicken meat rings were prepared by utilizing spent hen meat (80%), an optimized level of rice flour, refined wheat flour, potato starch, spice mix, common salt, and sodium tripolyphosphate. The control product was prepared in a similar manner except that rice flour was substituted by an equal quantity of spent hen meat. The products were aerobically packaged in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pouches and analyzed for physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory characteristics at regular …