Comparing interrelated stress measures to differentiate acute and chronic stress in urban freshwater turtles

As urban areas grow in size and number, there are increasing impacts on the wildlife. While some species adapt, others cannot thrive in these conditions. Stress is the biological response to a stimulus that threatens homeostasis, which can be used to understand the condition of an individual. While acute stress is beneficial for survival, chronic stress can lead to deleterious impacts. A majority of turtles can be classified as declining in number or endangered, yet there is little understanding of their physiological stress response. This study examined how various stress measures—including corticosterone (CORT) in plasma, nails and leeches, metabolic measures, H:L ratio, and parasite prevalence—are related. We sampled freshwater turtles from two locations in the city of Winter Park, Florida, over a period of seven months. While there were no correlations between CORT measures, we were able to find various associations between metabolism, size, and immune measure. Additionally, we have identified further research needed to have a more complete understanding of stress in freshwater turtles

Hendrick Goudt: new light on an artist and nobleman

From about 1605 to 1613, the Dutch printmaker and draftsman Hendrick Goudt produced seven prints after paintings by Adam Elsheimer, the celebrated German artist active in Rome. Goudt's prints are virtuosic works that introduced Elsheimer's famously-rare, much-admired paintings to a broader audience while showcasing Goudt's unique talents as a printmaker. Goudt also produced over three hundred drawings over the course of his career. Different from his prints, his sketches are often impulsive, unresolved works-in-progress that never supported final, or finished works of art in the conventional sense. While many are based on iconic examples, others suggest his spontaneous recording of scenes of everyday life. Since his own time, Goudt has mainly been discussed as a subordinate figure to the more famous Elsheimer. His prints are generally considered to be technically-accomplished but largely reproductive works, and his drawings understood as amateurish productions. This dissertation, in considering Goudt's life and artworks as interdependent areas of study for the first time in art historical scholarship, has three primary goals: to establish more concretely the facts of Goudt's life through a close reading of surviving archival documents; to provide a thorough understanding of his prints and drawings in terms of his technique and influences based on an analysis of his works in European and American collections; and to consider Goudt within his artistic and social context. This research draws on recent scholarly investigations of early modern print culture, integrating a more nuanced understanding of the reproductive print to elucidate Goudt's works as virtuosic performances of his self-identification as an artist, a cultivated gentleman and art lover (liefhebber). His persona was shaped by notions of ideal behavior and etiquette promulgated in writings from the sixteenth century onward. His sketches, which demonstrate his commitment to drawing as a pedagogical tool, also relate to the practice of draftsmanship as a noncommercial activity among gentlemen, and thus suggest an image of Goudt as a privileged aesthete. In this sense, Goudt's works not only reflect his particular sense of self, but also embody the social values and ideals of the environment in which he and his artworks circulated

The effects of spending time outdoors in daylight on the psychosocial wellbeing of older people and family carers: a comprehensive systematic review protocol

Review question/objective The overall objective of this research is to undertake a systematic review of the effects of spending time outdoors in daylight on the psychosocial wellbeing of older adults and family carers. The specific questions to be addressed are: Which aspects of psychosocial wellbeing are affected by spending time outdoors in daylight in older adults and family carers? To what extent is spending time outdoors in the daylight effective in improving aspects of psychosocial wellbeing in older adults and family carers

The effect of spending time outdoors in daylight on the psychosocial well-being of older people and their family carers

Abstract of presentation from the Dementia Collaborative Research Centres\u27 (DCRC) 2014 National Dementia Research Forum, Sydney, 19 September 2014

Finding measures of clinical placements quality for pre-service health services training: challenges of definition and search strategy construction

Abstract of a poster presentation that was presented at Health Services Research: Evidence-Based Practice Meeting, London, UK, 1-3 July, 2014

Estimation of dietary flavonoid intake and cognitive performance in older adults with Alzheimer\u27s type dementia

Abstract presented at The Nutrition Society of Australia and Nutrition Society of New Zealand 2013 Joint Annual Scientific Meeting, 4-6 December 2013, Brisbane, Australi

The PRO Program: One District’s Experience With Decentralizing Staff Development

Even today after years of restructuring and reform, when staff development is mentioned, many teachers still shudder and imagine a day of lecture that has little if anything to do with providing usable and relevant skills and information

Finding measures of clinical placements quality for pre-service health services training: challenges of definition and search strategy construction

Abstract of a poster presentation that was presented at Health Services Research: Evidence-Based Practice Meeting, London, UK, 1-3 July, 2014

Generalized Cardassian Expansion: Models in Which the Universe is Flat, Matter Dominated, and Accelerating

The Cardassian universe is a proposed modification to the Friedmann Robertson Walker (FRW) equation in which the universe is flat, matter dominated, and accelerating. Here we generalize the original Cardassian proposal to include additional variants on the FRW equation. Specific examples are presented. In the ordinary FRW equation, the right hand side is a linear function of the energy density, $H^2 \sim \rho$. Here, instead, the right hand side of the FRW equation is a different function of the energy density, $H^2 \sim g(\rho)$. This function returns to ordinary FRW at early times, but modifies the expansion at a late epoch of the universe. The only ingredients in this universe are matter and radiation: in particular, there is {\it no} vacuum contribution. Currently the modification of the FRW equation is such that the universe accelerates. The universe can be flat and yet consist of only matter and radiation, and still be compatible with observations. The energy density required to close the universe is much smaller than in a standard cosmology, so that matter can be sufficient to provide a flat geometry. The modifications may arise, e.g., as a consequence of our observable universe living as a 3-dimensional brane in a higher dimensional universe. The Cardassian model survives several observational tests, including the cosmic background radiation, the age of the universe, the cluster baryon fraction, and structure formation. As will be shown in future work, the predictions for observational tests of the generalized Cardassian models can be very different from generic quintessence models, whether the equation of state is constant or time dependent.Comment: 5 pages, Conference Proceeding, Meeting on Sources and Detection of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe, Marina del Rey, CA, February 200