The role of post-cloacal gland biofluorescence in male-male communication in Plethodon cinereus

Biofluorescence is increasingly recognized as a potentially important form of visual communication across a wide range of taxa, yet its ecological and behavioral function remains largely untested in many terrestrial species. In the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), fluorescence is a sexually dimorphic trait most strongly expressed in males, particularly around the cloacal region and ventral side of the tail, areas that are often displayed during territorial contests and courtship. Rival males also direct behaviors like cloacal investigation toward these fluorescent regions, suggesting a potential signaling function. Since fluorescence is often displayed during territorial contests, I hypothesized that fluorescence in male P. cinereus would serve as an honest signal of fighting ability and territory quality. This was tested using a two-part study where, in a laboratory experiment, I assessed contest outcomes and habitat choice, and a field study where I examined associations between fluorescence, body condition, and territory quality. In the lab, I predicted that more fluorescent males would win contests and occupy higher quality microhabitats, but my study design failed to provide an adequate habitat gradient to test this hypothesis. In contrast, field data offered stronger support that fluorescence is used for signaling. Fluorescence was found to be marginally associated with body condition in spring but not in fall, possibly due to the costs of elevated testosterone in this season. While no link was found between fluorescence and abiotic features of territories, fluorescence was positively associated with prey diversity and composition when seasons were combined. In spring, fluorescence correlated with high quality prey like Collembola, while in fall, fluorescence was negatively associated with energetically costly, low quality prey such as non-oribatid mites. These findings suggest that fluorescence may act as an honest signal of territory quality, suggesting that only the most fluorescent salamanders gain access to high quality territories

EVALUATING DISTRACTIONS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS DURING GUIDED AND UNGUIDED STUDY SESSIONS

In this study, we explore an intervention strategy aimed at decreasing distractions while studying. The participant was a third-year undergraduate psychology student with a concentration in neuroscience who did not have a personal structured study system. The researcher measured the percent of intervals in which a distraction occurred using interval recording during baseline and intervention phases. During the intervention phase, the participant was introduced to the productivity method referred to as the Pomodoro Ⓡ Technique. Using a reversal design, data were analyzed based on levels of distraction during baseline and intervention phases. The goal of this study was to evaluate if the participant was distracted less during the intervention phase than during the baseline phase. Visual analysis indicates a functional relation between the independent and dependent variables

Bruno Kreisky and the Socialist Party

Despite his significance, the role of Austrian politician Bruno Kreisky remains under-represented in Anglo-American Cold War scholarship. Serving as foreign minister from 1959 to 1966 and chancellor from 1970 to 1983, his political career oversaw seismic developments in both Austria’s postwar recovery and broader international relations with the Middle East, the Communist Bloc, and the United States. In this enlightening and geographically wide-ranging reappraisal of his life and legacy, Bruno Kreisky’s Foreign Policy: A Reassessment seeks to reinstate the global repercussions of Kreisky’s work. Ranging from his involvement in the Marshall Plan to his role in the Arab-Israeli conflict, this volume highlights how Kreisky profoundly reshaped the geopolitical landscape of the modern era

Gloria Dei, Vivens Homo: Vulnerability & Flourishing in Post-Dobbs “Hard Cases.”

When is vulnerability good, and when is it subject to manipulation and harm? How might flourishing be understood within Pope Francis’s push for integral human development, integral ecological conversion, and synodality, enabling an ethic of flourishing in church and society, rather than persistent vulnerability to abuse, harm, or re-traumatization

Functional trait responses of emergent and free-floating Alternanthera philoxeroides to increasing salinity with sea level rise: stress tolerance, avoidance, and escape strategies

ea level rise is having major impacts on estuaries due to salinity intrusion. These changes in stress profiles have ripple effects in ecosystems, including altering the invasibility of these wetlands depending on the salt tolerance of the invading species. Alternanthera philoxeroides Mart. (Griseb.) (alligator weed), native to South America and long recognized as one of the world’s worst freshwater aquatic weeds, recently invaded tidal wetlands in California’s San Francisco Bay–Delta Estuary. Generally considered a freshwater-limited glycophyte, observations suggested this invasive macrophyte may have some degree of salinity tolerance, though its degree of tolerance and capacity to spread with increased salinity intrusion were unknown. In two full-factorial greenhouse experiments, we assessed responses of emergent (soil-rooted) and free-floating growth forms of A. philoxeroides to four salinity concentrations (freshwater to euhaline) at the whole-plant (growth, biomass production and allocation, fitness), physiological, and biochemical levels. We also conducted a third experiment exploring the recovery potential of free-floating A. philoxeroides in freshwater following extended exposure to mesohaline to euhaline aqueous salinity. Although sensitivity of A. philoxeroides to increasing salinity was documented, the survival of both growth forms in the full range of salinity treatments was notable and unexpected. Our results indicate A. philoxeroides is a facultative halophyte well adapted to oligohaline–mesohaline salinity levels. Results also revealed the invasive weed’s multiple strategies to survive salinity-induced physiological stress, supporting its survival even at elevated polyhaline to euhaline conditions. The macrophyte expressed functional trait responses spanning stress tolerance, avoidance, and escape strategies that may sustain its spread as estuarine salinity intrusion increases with sea level rise

Implementing Skill Based Treatment within a Classroom Setting for Students with Autism: A Systematic Replication in an Alternative School Based Setting

The purpose of this research was to demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of implementing the Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analysis (IISCA) and Skill Based Treatment (SBT) in an alternative classroom setting with students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is much existing research that supports both in a clinical setting, however the school setting is lacking in research. The goal of this study was to teach three students with ASD who engage in challenging behaviors an appropriate way to communicate their needs, how to tolerate the removal of a preferred toy or activity, and to follow educational instructions instead of engaging in challenging behaviors (Hanley et al., 2014). Results of the IISCA were used to determine the contingencies that were likely evoking the challenging behaviors with all three participants. SBT branches were then developed based on the contingencies. Student A had 14 sessions, student B had 12 sessions, and student C had 13 sessions. In every session, each participant’s percentage of precursor behaviors (R2) outweighed the percentage of dangerous behaviors (R1). This study shows the applicability of the IISCA and SBT when implemented within an alternative classroom setting