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Delivery of culturally competent care toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients depends on how health-care providers (HCPs) communicate with them; however, research about knowledge, attitude, and behavior of HCPs toward LGBT patients is scant. The objectives of our study were to describe oncology HCPs’ knowledge and examine if beliefs about LGB and transgender patients mediate the effects of LGBT health-care knowledge on open communication behaviors with LGB and transgender patients, respectively. A total of 1253 HCPs (187 physicians, 153 advance practice professionals (APPs), 828 nurses, and 41 others) at a Comprehensive Cancer Center completed an online survey that included the following measures: LGBT health-care knowledge, beliefs, communication behaviors, willingness to treat LGBT patients, encouraging LGBT disclosure, and perceived importance of LGBT sensitivity training. Only 50 participants (5%) correctly answered all 7 knowledge items, and about half the respondents answered 3 (out of 7) items correctly. Favorable beliefs about LGBT health care mediated the effect of higher LGBT health-care knowledge on open communication behaviors with transgender patients, controlling for effects of type of profession, religious orientation, gender identity, sexual orientation, and having LGBT friends/family. The results of this study demonstrated an overall lack of medical knowledge and the need for more education about LGBT health care among oncology HCPs.

The six essays that comprise Communication Education’s Forum on Instructional Communication and Millennial Students provide excellent summaries of existing research on this new generational cohort ...

The purpose of this study is to better understand new college students' attitudes toward and perceptions of communication media and technology and themselves as communicators in the context of communication competence. Building on the results of a previous qualitative study, the researchers developed a survey focused on communication competence in the technologically rich 21st century and collected responses from 223 entering college freshmen. Among other findings, results of this investigation provide a picture of Generation C students' (born after 1990) descriptions of how they actually and prefer to communicate, in formal and more personal situations and relationships. The students indicated a preference for face-to-face communication in all of 10 communication situations, with some differences observed based on sex of students.

For the past several years, many have viewed wikis as useful tools for community building and collaboration. A number of free Web services such as PBwiki have claimed convenience and ease of use as part of their overall packages. A review of the literature reveals a great deal of anecdotal support for wiki use in the workplace. However, few studies have been conducted to determine whether wikis are useful collaborative tools for employees within an organization. This case study will examine the use of a wiki by library employees during the strategic planning process at San Jose State University.

The work program of complexity (WPOC), stemming from systems science, was applied by a large cross-functional team of Ford engineers and system developers in the mid-1990s as an enabler to create an enterprise-wide information system known as the C3P system. This brief descriptor refers to a CAD/CAE/CAM/PIMS system, applied to design, engineer, and manufacture automobiles; and further to provide product information across and beyond the entire enterprise, extending into the supplier and customer base. The design foundation of the C3P system retains its utility today. The only system changes have arisen from technological upgrades which are independent of the original design strategy.

Rock outcrops along ridgelines, in block fields, and on cliff faces of Shenandoah National Park (SNP) provide unique habitats for numerous rare and endemic biotas. However, there are recent concerns about the long-term sustainability of these populations because of increased park usage (e.g., hiking, rock climbing) and environmental change (e.g., air chemistry, quality). Analysis of lichen-population dynamics provides insight into the rate at which these habitats are being degraded. As such, there is a need to develop a method to rapidly and accurately assess changes in lichen communities through space and over time. This study presents a new approach designed to record lichen species on rock outcrops. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) offers a new technique for recording individual lichen species (e.g., abundance, spatial distribution, extent, size, shape). An automated process is described to extract the lichen extent and shape in a standard GIS environment. These data are used to examine size classes, f...

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to test rigorously the measurement equivalence of the Independent and Interdependent Self‐Construal Scales (Gudykunst et al., 1994) across three cultural groups and for males and females, and (b) to determine the comparative amount of variance in self‐perceived leadership communication style that can be predicted by self‐construal orientation, culture, and biological sex. College students from the United States (n = 224), New Zealand (n = 218), and the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan (n = 228) responded to the self‐construal scales and the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (Hemphill & Coons, 1957). Results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the Independent and Interdependent Self‐Constnial Scales should be considered as tzvo distinct one‐factor solutions rather than two factors of the same construct as previously assumed. Multiple groups comparisons indicated that, with one minor exception, measurement on each of the self‐construal scales...

Infection of new leaves of Pinus ponderosa just emerging from their sheath scales occurs in June. Leaf tissue turns brown within a few weeks. Acervuli appear in September and are probably the imperfect state of Lophodermella morbida. The ascostroma is subhypodermal. Paraphyses and ascogenous hyphal initial cells develop in November from the basal pseudoparenchyma. Croziers form in April, asci develop in April or May, and spores are released from June to August. Cytology within the ascus is typical of Ascomycetes: karyogamy, precocious synapsis, elongation of chromosomes to full pachynema and condensation through diplonema and diakinesis. Divisions II and III are also typical. The mature ascus contains eight uninucleate clavate spores. The haploid chromosome number is 8 or 9.

In June 1963, a needle cast fungus was observed on Pinus ponderosa Laws. in the Roosevelt National Forest, Larimer County, Colorado. The length of the prominent, black, often sinuous hysterothecia (up to 45 mm) and of the asci (averaging 181 /x) indicated that this fungus was distinct from those treated by Darker (1932) or by Tehon (1935). Although the gross characteristics of the fungus resemble to some extent those of Hypoderwella medusa Dearness, the filiform (length/ width = 30-40), fasciculate spores, which extend the full length of the ascus, do not indicate placement in Hypodermella. Reference to several treatments of hypodermataceous genera (Lagerberg, 1910; Darker, 1932; Nannfeldt, 1932; Tehon, 1935; and Terrier, 1942) indicates that this fungus is properly assigned to the genus Lophodermium as it is presently defined. The following new species is proposed

SUMMARY Lophodermella morbida, an aggressive pathogen of pine foliage, is described. It has been collected from northern California, Oregon, and Washington locations west of the Cascade crest. Evidence suggests the fungus is endemic and limited to environments having moist, moderate climates. A strongly pathogenic hypodermataceous fungus was observed in 1967 on foliage of Pinus ponderosa Laws. and P. attenuata Lemm. (1). Three sets of characters each clearly set this fungus apart as a new species: the color, habit, and subhypodermal position of the ascocarps within host tissues; the dimensions of the asci and ascospores; and the associated applanate subhypodermal pycnidia. In dried, fully mature specimens the ascocarp is only slightly lighter brown than is typical of the almost black (but brown in section) color of several Davisomycella species. The pycnidia, except for their subhypodermal position, also resemble those of several Davisomycellae. Immature ascocarps of the fungus are concolorous, however, gradually becoming brown with maturity. In habit and range of coloration at maturity, the ascocarps of fresh specimens resemble those of Lophodermella montivaga Petr. The fungus also resembles L. montivaga in its