Abundance, foraging levels, and dietary preferences of Chaetodon capistratus on reefs surrounding Porvenir Island in the Guna Yala Comarca of Panamá

Reef fish are a physically and functionally diverse group of organisms that live in close association with coral reef habitats. Chaetodontidae represents the most species rich family of corallivorous fish, and their reliance on corals as food resources has led to their designation as indicator species of coral cover and health. However, the majority of research on the foraging ecology of Caribbean Chaetodontids dates back several decades, and therefore does not account for recent changes in coral community composition as the result of disease, climate change, and other stressors. As the novel and deadly stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) epidemic causes mass mortality of reef building corals on Caribbean reefs, corallivores are expected to be among the first species impacted by changing reef conditions. Therefore, baseline data on population sizes and behaviors are needed from healthy reefs in order to fully understand the shifts that are occurring on diseased reefs. Here, benthic surveys and focal follow methods were used to investigate the abundances, foraging behaviors, and dietary preferences of C. capistratus populations on reefs without SCTLD near Porvenir Island in the Guna Yala Comarca of Panamá. C. capistratus were found to forage more often than expected on less abundant coral species including Siderastrea spp., Orbicella spp., and brain corals, and less often than expected on more abundant coral species including Agaricia spp. and Porites spp. C. capistratus was also observed foraging on sand and algae substrates in addition to coral prey. Therefore, this research supports previous classifications of C. capistratus as an active generalist, but disputes the designation of C. capistratus as an anthozoan specialist. Contrary to previous findings, the abundance of C. capistratus was not positively correlated with coral cover. This is potentially explained by the wider dietary niche reported for the studied population in comparison to other populations of C. capistratus. The diverse diet observed here suggests that C. capistratus populations exhibit behavioral and dietary plasticity, and can exploit reefs with varying degrees of coral cover. This dietary flexibility may be important for the resilience of the species in the face of dramatic losses of live coral cover due to SCTLD

An investigation of the relationships between snails and vegetation at bishop middleham quarry, Co Durham

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Victims of a Church In Transition: The Transition of the Catholic Church and its Effect On the American Nun Population

Proceeding the second world war changes in the expectations placed on nuns in America and the influence that the Catholic Church itself has over a broad range of issues in public and private life have taken place. For example, the influx of lay intellectuals during the post-war years preceding Vatican II and continuing on for years afterwards. The main focus of this paper will be to explore the reasons why the nun population in the United States seems to be decreasing and how this trend fits into the broader context of the Catholic Church’s loss of hierarchal structure and traditional positions. Furthermore, in the process of investigating these larger questions regarding the Church, the history of St. Patrick’s Elementary School, a local parochial school established in 1963 by the Sisters of Mercy, will be discussed as well in hopes of consolidating the previously mentioned questions into a local example

A Comparative Analysis of Mestizo and Indigenous Mayan Young Women in Guatemala: Attitudes and Knowledge of Sexual Reproduction and Health among Members of Children International's Youth Health Corps

Children International’s Youth Health Corps Program uses Peer Education techniques to teach impoverished adolescents about Sexual Health and Reproduction. In the Youth Health Corps in Guatemala, both rural indigenous Maya youth and urban mestizo youth in Guatemala participate in the program together. In this comparative analysis of Kaqchikel Maya young women and non–indigenous young women in Guatemala, a written anonymous survey was administered to both groups of female participants to determine what similarities and differences exist in their beliefs and knowledge of sexual health and reproduction and sexuality. Although the groups have very different cultural backgrounds, their responses suggest that they are essentially interested in the same topics such as pregnancy and STD prevention. In addition, both groups of young women receive little information about sex from their parents, yet indigenous women are at a disadvantage to general reproductive knowledge as compared to their mestizo counterparts. The importance of protecting a woman’s virginity and honor is also reflected in both groups’ answers, although indigenous women appear to receive more warning about this than do non–indigenous adolescent women. Research suggests that parents play an extremely important role on how informed each group is on matters of sex and reproduction, as well as the values they hold with regard to the subject

Southern Slavery and Antebellum Law: Modifications Suited to the State and Master Class

This paper deals with the complexity of the legal system in the American South during the Antebellum period. The laws put in place by the various Southern states during this era were constructed locally, and were a delicate balance of planters’ property rights, the need for slave regulation, and evangelical desire to defend their own way of life. But, the resulting outcome was the same in each case. The Southern states continuously pushed laws that reinforced the authority of the master with the help of political economists, judges, lawmakers, and of course the master class itself. Therefore, this paper emphasizes the laws that the South began altering or reaffirming in response to northern criticism during the same time. These laws took form in a variety of ways not simply state by state but also case by case. By examining many of the cases in these states, this essay deals with some of the larger impacts on slaves and the system of slavery as a whole due to these legal modifications. This paper contends that the intention of the South in these cases was the strengthening of the position of the master class, which in and of itself led to resulting legal decisions that were stamped out with the collapse of diplomacy and civil war

Conditional risk for PTSD among Latinos: A systematic review of racial/ethnic differences and sociocultural explanations

Conditional risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)—defined as prevalence, onset, persistence, or severity of PTSD after traumatic exposure—appears to be higher among Latinos relative to non-Latinos after accounting for sociodemographic factors. This systematic review focuses on differences in conditional risk for PTSD between Latinos and non-Latinos (White, Black, or combined) and across Latino subgroups in studies that adjust for trauma exposure. We discuss methodological characteristics of existing articles and sociocultural explanatory factors. Electronic bibliographic searches were conducted for English-language articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 1991 and 2012. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Twenty-eight articles met inclusion criteria. Consistent support was found for elevated rates of PTSD onset and PTSD severity among Latinos relative to non-Latino Whites. The evidence on racial/ethnic differences in conditional risk for PTSD prevalence and PTSD persistence is mixed. Twenty-four articles evaluated sociocultural explanations, with the strongest support found for racial/ethnic variation in peri-traumatic responses and structure of PTSD. There were also consistent main effects for social disadvantage in studies that simultaneously adjusted for effects of race/ethnicity. Future research should use theoretically-driven models to formally test for interactions between sociocultural factors, race/ethnicity, and PTSD probability