New Releases by Laura Jones

"The Mystical Amulet" is an enchanting children''s story that follows Kai, a curious young boy living in a coastal fishing village. During one of his morning beach explorations, he discovers a fish washed up on the shore. After helping the stranded fish back to the sea, Kai discovers it''s actually a sea fairy named Lira who rewards his kindness with a mystical amulet. This mysterious gift grants him the ability to transform into different sea creatures at will. As Kai explores the underwater world with Lira, he discovers a darkened section of the coral reef that other sea creatures avoid. Using the amulet''s powers, he transforms into various marine animals-first a colorful mandarin fish, then a powerful whale shark, and finally a clever sea turtle-each form helping him address different challenges. Together with Lira, Kai helps rescue Inky, an octopus trapped by tangled kelp, and in doing so restores life and vibrancy to a damaged portion of the reef. This beautifully illustrated tale weaves together themes of environmental stewardship, friendship, and the rewards of helping others. Through Kai''s underwater adventures, young readers learn about marine life while experiencing the joy of problem-solving and the importance of taking action to help those in need. The story celebrates curiosity, courage, and the magic that can be found in everyday acts of kindness.

Fluctuations in temperature greatly influence species'' distributions and ecological interactions. Climate change does not only challenge the physiological limits of species via changes in temperature regimes, but can also increase exposure to novel infectious diseases by restructuring community composition. These risks are amplified in agroecosystems, where many aspects of the landscape are heavily modified. Humans rely on the services provided by species in these agricultural landscapes, including insect pollinators, who may be vulnerable to the risks posed by climate change. The overarching goal of my dissertation is to assess the roles of climate and landscape composition on the thermal tolerance and pathogen transmission dynamics of bees in agroecosystems. I explore these relationships among pollinators that visit Cucurbita (e.g., squash and pumpkin) crops. In chapter 1, I hypothesized that species have greater cold tolerance at higher latitudes and elevations due to adaptation or phenotypic plasticity in response to temperature, and have higher heat tolerance at sites with local extreme temperatures and high relative humidity. I investigated the impacts of climate on the thermal tolerance of one species, the squash bee Eucera (Peponapis) pruinosa. Additionally, I assessed a suite of mitochondrial genes for polymorphisms given the known association between mitochondrial sequence variation and differences in cold acclimation. This species recently expanded its geographic range northward from Mexico and the southwestern United States to the province of Québec over the past ~2-3 kya, tracking the human cultivation of its host plants in the genus Cucurbita. I compared the thermal limits between populations in the xeric region of their ancestral range and in two temperate regions within their recently expanded range. I did not find evidence of adaptation in mitochondrial genes, but I found that the lower thermal limit (ranging from -6.4 °C to 10.4 °C) of E. pruinosa correlated with latitude and was strongly predicted by annual mean temperature. Thus, adaptation or plasticity in cold tolerance may have enabled the rapid northward range expansion of E. pruinosa across North America. In contrast, E. pruinosa heat tolerance was variable across populations, and the effects of temperature and relative humidity were sex-specific. Overall, the average upper thermal limit of E. pruinosa in this study (53.1°C ± 3.7 °C) provides an ample thermal safety margin compared to the highest temperatures recorded within the sampled range. In chapter 2, I hypothesized that populations persisting in warmer environments would have higher heat tolerance, however smaller body size or pathogen infection may reduce heat tolerance. I investigated the roles of body mass, microclimate, and pathogen infection on heat tolerance and its population-level variance among E. pruinosa in Pennsylvania (USA). I assessed how these relationships differed between sexes given the larger size and ground-nesting behavior of female E. pruinosa. I predicted that populations of E. pruinosa are more heat tolerant at warmer sites, but that female heat tolerance is better predicted by soil texture than air temperature given their ground nesting behavior. Additionally, I predicted that parasite infection would reduce heat tolerance. I compared the upper thermal limit of male and female squash bees between 14 populations, characterized microclimate, and assessed pathogen infection by three common groups--trypanosomes, microsporidians, and bacteria. I found that heat tolerance increased with body mass, and males show twice the increase in heat tolerance per milligram body mass compared to females. I did not find evidence that microclimate predicted heat tolerance, but found that the population-level standard deviation in the upper thermal limit decreases by 0.72 °C with every 1 °C increase in maximum temperature. One parasite group that is associated with sublethal symptoms in bees, trypanosomes, was negatively associated with heat tolerance in females. This work demonstrates that heat tolerance is highly variable, and exemplifies the need to evaluate trade-offs between infection and thermal tolerance. In chapters 3 and 4, I investigated the roles of host diet breadth and pathogen host-use efficiency in pathogen transmission dynamics. To test the hypothesis that host diet specialization increases pathogen prevalence and intensity, I investigated pathogen sharing dynamics in a simple multi-host community composed of a diet specialist--the squash bee E. pruinosa--and two diet generalists--the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens). I quantified infection levels of viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotic pathogens to determine if they are able to replicate within the host they are found in or are instead passively picked up. I found that most pathogens are detected in bee hosts but do not show high titer levels, particularly viruses, suggesting low susceptibility. In contrast with previous work in pollinator communities, my investigations have revealed that landscape has a small effect on pathogen dynamics in multi-host communities. I found that the most abundant host species in this system is the diet specialist, E. pruinosa, and that this species drives the prevalence and intensity of pathogens detected across communities. This work provides critical insight into the roles of landscape and the ecology of hosts and pathogens on the pathogen transmission dynamics among bees in agroecosystems. In summary, my work has revealed that host-pathogen dynamics and the impacts of climate on bee thermal limits are highly context-dependent. I found that bee heat tolerance is highly variable and poorly explained by climate data, which suggests that heat stress may be hard to detect or predict for solitary bees. In addition, pathogen sharing dynamics were largely driven by the diet specialists who held the highest pathogen titers, which may indicate that these native bees are more vulnerable to frequent and intense infections. This work exemplifies the need to evaluate climate impacts on both bee and pathogen fitness to predict pathogen pressure in bee communities under future climate scenarios.

Abstract: Music listening is an activity that nearly every young adult engages in. Research on the psychological effects of music listening show varying results. This study’s purpose was to explore possible relationships between young adults’ listening habits and psychological well-being. A survey, completed by 192 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25, was used to identify the participants’ music listening habits, level of psychological well-being, and demographic information. A series of statistical analyses were conducted to determine relationships between several music factors, demographic factors, and psychological well-being. The results of these analyses show that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between young adults’ music listening habits and their psychological well-being. More than any other factor measured, how an individual engaged in music listening determined their level of psychological well-being. In addition, the lyric content of music had a significant relationship to higher or lower psychological well-being. These results suggest that music listening habits and the lyric content of music may have an impact on young adults’ psychological well-being.

A lot of people love making playlists of music to go along with whatever they have planned, whether it''s a playlist for the car during a summer road trip, a list to blast through the house while getting ready for school in the mornings, etc. Like when you''re going to the gym, you need some upbeat songs or music that makes you feel all big and bad, you know? Playlists are usually a really weird mixture of styles, with several different singers or bands. They''re not just a bunch of the same kind of songs, because that would get old, especially on a long road trip. This book takes a closer look at a book of the Bible that''s just like that. The book of Psalms is different from most books of the Bible, because it''s not written like stories of historical events or like a letter to specific people. Instead, it''s a collection of songs and prayers, written by a lot of different people over the course of over 600 years, from around 1060 B.C. to around 440 B.C. There are 150 psalms, and they cover a wide range of different moods and topics, just like most playlists do. For each psalm discussed, Playlist takes a look at two things: what do the verses actually mean, and how should that affect the way we think and act. Download Playlist now, and turn up the volume on the songbook of the Bible!

Wie haften Vermittler fur Urheberrechtsverletzungen ihrer Nutzer? Laura Jones zieht auf Grundlage einer rechtsvergleichenden Untersuchung die Grenze zwischen unmittelbarer und mittelbarer Haftung. Dabei entwickelt sie ein eigenes Haftungskonzept, das den ausufernden Tatbestand der offentlichen Wiedergabe einfangt und daneben ein Haftungskonzept fur die Verletzung europaischer Verkehrspflichten enthalt. Danach fallen nur solche Vermittlungshandlungen, die eine zentrale Rolle bei der Auffindbarkeit von Werken im Netz spielen, dabei auf die Verletzung von Urheberrechten durch ihre Nutzer abzielen und hieraus einen Profit ziehen, unter das Recht der offentlichen Wiedergabe. Anderen Geschaftsmodellen hingegen sollen im Rahmen der mittelbaren Haftung Verkehrspflichten obliegen, deren Intensitat insbesondere von der Nahe des Vermittlers zur Rechtsverletzung abhangen soll.

''Cyber Ky & Tekkie Guy Talk About Cyber Bullying'' is a part of the Safety and Security Series written by author Dr. Laura A. Jones. Cyber Ky & Tekkie Guy are kid-friendly characters who talk about internet safety, cyber security, and technology. In this book, they talk about strategies that kids can consider if they''re being cyber bullied, if they observe someone else being cyber bullied, or if they find themselves being the cyber bully! This is a great book for caring adults to use in cyber bullying discussions with elementary age kids.

The environmental risks our society faces are becoming increasingly urgent and may have devastating implications both locally and globally. Over the past 40 years, environmental efforts have built understanding and have led to some significant changes. Yet, we have not taken enough action on many issues despite an abundance of data, policy proposals, and knowledge. Many fields have explored environmental issues over the decades, including work in human computer interaction and art. My research responds to some of the successes and critiques of these fields and others to investigate how and with whom we understand our local environmental problems. In particular, it explores collective environmental experiences through community based research processes that use art, technology and science to move towards environmental action in communities. I pursue a holistic approach that integrates emotional and aesthetic parameters and investigates opportunities for impact on water quality issues in New England. This dissertation includes the following community-based environmental projects: (1) SeeBoat : citizen science water quality tools for data collection and in situ display, (2) Data Lanterns : open data physicalizations of water quality in industrial rivers, (3) ArtBoat: installations for artistic collaboration in public spaces, and (4) Participatory Self-Portrait : gallery show to bring people together around the dissertation work. Each of these projects adds to an understanding of the local environmental and social system and suggests possible paths towards influencing the overall framework. I evaluate the work through qualitative methods in order to best capture the nuanced human experience of the events and the complexity of the systems that influence our environmental realities.

The Cyber Ky & Tekkie Guy Manage the Risk of Being Online Activity Workbook complements the children''s book titled "Cyber Ky & Tekkie Guy Manage the Risk of Being Online" published in 2019 by author Laura A. Jones. The workbook is designed to take children through activities that teaches and reinforces principles of cybersecurity and technology in an effort to help keep them safe from risks that are inherent to using the internet. The book also helps children begin to think about positively impacting the future as it relates to working in the areas of cybersecurity and technology. Help teach your kids cyber responsibility with a creative twist using fun, relatable characters! So, meet your newest cyber and tech heroes; Kyra and Guy, aka Cyber Ky and Tekkie Guy! Come along with Cyber Ky & Tekkie Guy as they share relevant information to help keep your kids to stay safe online, learn real-world terms and definitions and begin thinking about their cyber and tech interests today for potential careers in the future. Let author Laura A. Jones, with Cyber Ky & Tekkie Guy, help reinforce important principles your children will need for this Digital Era.

Menu book for Midnight Cowboy speakeasy with eight flash fiction stories.

2020-2024 Five Year Planner Personal Planners Daily Weekly And Monthly: Calendar Schedule agenda Organizer and Journal Notebook (Month Start from January 2020 through December 2024).This classic planner will help you schedule your appointments and daily activities, plan events, set goals, and get things done. It will also make a great gift for family and friends. Features: - Elegant minimalist design - January 2020 - December 2024- 8.5" x 11" - 60 months (2 pages per month) - Yearly reference calendars- Extra lined pages to record notes - Pages to write down important dates - Contacts page - Laminated cover, matte finish - Perfect binding

Sudoku & Coloring Book Sudoku is one of the most popular games for seniors. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your older adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that brain exercises can keep seniors sharper for up to 10 years longer. And it might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Includes Sudoku puzzle and letter quotes coloring. Features: 30x easy Sudoku puzzle and coloring: 9x9 grid 10x letter quotes coloring pages One puzzle per page Instructions included Print on one side so the pages will not bleed through Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas on any occasion. Order today!

Grandpa Challenging Sudoku - 100 Sudoku Puzzles for Seniors & Retirees Sudoku is one of the most popular games for seniors. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your older adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that brain exercises can keep seniors sharper for up to 10 years longer. And it might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Features: 100x hard level Sudoku puzzle One puzzle per page Instructions and answers included Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas for grandpa on any occasion. Order today!

Grandpa Easy Sudoku Sudoku is one of the most popular games. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that sudoku might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Features: 100 easy Sudoku puzzles One puzzle per page Instructions and answers included Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas for grandfather on any occasion. Order today!

BEST Dad Ever Challenging Sudoku - Fathers Day, Birthday Gift Ideas Sudoku is one of the most popular games. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that sudoku might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Features: 100 hard level Sudoku puzzles One puzzle per page Instructions and answers included Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas on any occasion. Order today!

Grandma Challenging Sudoku Sudoku is one of the most popular games. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that sudoku might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Features: 100 easy Sudoku puzzles One puzzle per page Instructions and answers included Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas for grandmother on any occasion. Order today!

200 Sudoku Puzzles Medium Level Sudoku is one of the most popular games. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that sudoku might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Features: 200 medium level Sudoku puzzles One puzzle per page Instructions and answers included Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas on any occasion. Order today!

Easy Sudoku for Retirees Sudoku is one of the most popular games for seniors. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your older adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that brain exercises can keep seniors sharper for up to 10 years longer. And it might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Features: 100x easy Sudoku puzzle One puzzle per page Instructions and answers included Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas on any occasion. Order today!

Easy Sudoku for Gardeners Sudoku is one of the most popular games. It is a fun activity and helps to stimulate your adult''s brain. Research says that keeping the mind engaged is a great way to stay sharp while ageing. Some studies have shown that sudoku might help people reduce their risk of Alzheimer''s disease, cognitive decline, or dementia as they get older. Sudoku also creates a sense of accomplishment. Features: 100 easy Sudoku puzzles One puzzle per page Instructions and answers included Paperback, matte cover finish Great gift ideas for gardeners on any occasion. Order today!

Teach your kids cyber responsibility with a creative twist! From Instagram, A.I., and machine learning, technology is evolving rapidly. We are living in a time where equipping your pre-teen and teenagers to navigate being online has never been more important. It is time to meet your newest heroes Cyber Ky and Tekkie Guy! Author Laura A. Jones has created fun and relatable characters to guide your children through the do''s and don''ts of being online. This exciting tool is the perfect way to encourage your child to be savvy and alert. Follow Cyber Ky & Tekkie Guy as they empower your kids to:-Stay safe online-Know and remember real world terms and definitions -And explore careers in technology!Let author Laura A. Jones reinforce the important principles your children will need for the high-tech world they are living in.

A manual for prevention, rapid response and control of invasive non-native plants.

"Activation of the transcription factor Stat3 has been reported in numerous human cancers and is often correlated with poor prognosis. In particular, Stat3 activation has been reported in 30-60% of human breast cancers. Indeed, Stat3 regulates numerous targets involved in the processes of proliferation, angiogenesis, migration/invasion and immune response, all of which are essential to cancer progression. Furthermore, Stat3 activity has been specifically linked to metastasis, immune suppression and resistance to therapy. However, the use of genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs) to examine the role of Stat3 in these processes has been limited. Utilizing a novel inducible PyVmT-driven mouse model of mammary tumourigenesis, we have highlighted an essential role for Stat3 in immunosuppression during early stages of tumour progression. Indeed, Stat3 loss results in a robust anti-tumourigenic immune response against early hyperplasic lesions in this model, driven primarily, but not exclusively, by activated cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and M1 macrophages. This immune response was successful in the complete and rapid elimination of these early lesions. Furthermore, this model allowed us to examine a proportion of Stat3 ablated tumours that were able to eventually circumvent this immune surveillance, but lacked the ability to further metastasize. Here we report a down regulated Stat3-dependent inflammatory gene signature in these non-metastatic tumours and a corresponding lack of infiltrating macrophages, essential to metastasis. This firmly supports a role for Stat3 in modulating the tumour immune microenvironment at various stages of tumour progression. Differences in the immune microenvironment, however, did not fully account for a Stat3 dependent decrease in metastasis. Thus, we further examined the cell intrinsic roles of Stat3 in promoting breast cancer cell metastasis. Here we have shown that Stat3 ablation in breast cancer cell lines results in increased focal adhesion formation and a dysregulation of focal adhesion dynamics. This was correlated with impaired cellular migration and metastasis. Together, this suggests that Stat3 works through various mechanism to promote tumour progression and metastasis, and is thus an interesting target for potential therapeutic intervention. Nevertheless, important consideration should be given to how these transgenic mice are modeling breast cancer and if phenotypes are reproducible across models. In this vein, we have generated two novel inducible mouse models of breast cancer, driven by the human version of HER2 as well as a potentially activating, naturally occurring, alternatively spliced isoform. These models will allow for the investigation into differences between the signaling of the two HER2 isoforms, whose relative importance to human cancer is debated. With these new additions to our tool box, we can further examine these reported roles of Stat3 in an increasingly robust manner, parse differences between models, and gain a better understanding of how these models represent the cancers we are attempting to study. In summary the work presented here strongly implicates Stat3 in promoting mammary tumourigenesis at various stages of tumour progression through both cell intrinsic and extrinsic processes with an emphasis on its role in modulating the immune system to the benefit of the cancer. However, it also stresses the importance of varied models to gain an improved understanding of these processes and potentially highlights context specific considerations related to Stat3-targeted therapies." --

This book is about one business owner''s experiences over the years from cleaning homes to running her own Home Cleaning business. It contains interesting stories about real life situations that employers face with employees and clients.From dealing with adversity with employees, to learning as much from the "bad" customers as from the "good" customers. The last chapter details best practices for cleaning that you may find useful in your personal or business life.

And what if Jack the Ripper was actually Florence Maybrick, a woman having existed in 1888? Here is the life of Florence Chandler, from the age of eighteen when she meets James Maybrick, her future English husband, herself being an American. This story is a blend of psychology, of facts concerning the criminal who terrorized England and of an authentic biography. Combining biography and real events, could this novel be a key?

And what if Jack the Ripper was actually Florence Maybrick, a woman having existed in 1888? Combining biography and real events, could this novel be a key?A theory on the identity of Jack the Ripper, having as a central idea that the murderer was none other than a woman.Here is the life of Florence Chandler, from the age of eighteen when she meets James Maybrick, her future English husband, herself being an American.How was this ''foreigner'' driven in a corner? An insecure childhood, a castrating mother of easy virtue, an unfaithful husband and the puritanical Victorian era are all elements leading us towards the answer. This story is a blend of psychology, of facts concerning the criminal who terrorized England and of an authentic biography."

Cranberry is a little red bird with a big mission. Along with his band of bird friends, he''s going on a mysterious adventure to save his family. A family he didn''t even know he had. TRUE BLUE is a tale filled with page-turning excitement and the joy of being both a hero and true friend. Excellent for parents and children to read aloud together. Best for ages 6-10.

The purpose of this systematic grounded theory study was to explore the process of change in teacher attitudes toward including Roma (Gypsy) students in non-segregated schools in Romania. The theories guiding this study included Mezirow''s (1991, 2000) theory of transformation, Gay''s (2002, 2013) theory of culturally responsive teaching, and Bandura''s (1977, 1997) theory of self-efficacy. These three theories guided this research inquiry into how attitudes change, how teacher attitudes affect beliefs and actions, and how self-efficacy affects teacher attitudes. This study sought to answer the following questions: What is the process of transforming Romanian teacher attitudes toward including Roma students? What factors influence attitude change of Romanian teachers toward the Roma? How do Romanian teachers use their transformed attitudes in working with Roma students? What role does self-efficacy play in developing Romanian teacher attitudes toward Roma students? Interviews, observations, and timelines of 23 current teachers took place in Romania. The Model of Transformation: Awakening to Empowering was constructed to show the process of transformation that was revealed during this study. The greatest influences discovered for affecting attitude change were personal reflection, childhood experiences, role models, and ongoing education courses. Teachers who chose to see their classroom as a familial unit, becoming like a foster parent for their students, and incorporated new teaching strategies, worked most successfully with their Roma students. Based on the data, self-efficacy was important for empowering the teachers and helping them to empower others in working with the Roma.