A comparison study of the stress levels between English language learner students and native English language speaking students

The purpose of this study was to find whether students who are English Language Learners showed significantly higher stress levels than students who spoke English as their native language. A survey was administered to both groups to determine which group showed higher levels of stress. The total sample size was 24 students, with 12 students belonging in each respective group. An independent sample t-test was used to analyze the data. After analysis the study found that there was a significantly higher level of stress found in English Language Learners than there was in Native English Language Speaking students

Elevated corticosterone in feathers correlates with corticosterone-induced decreased feather quality: A validation study

The newly described technique of extracting corticosterone (CORT) from bird feathers may serve as a less invasive, more integrated measure of a bird\u27s stress response. Previous work indicated that elevated plasma CORT resulted in poorer quality feathers during molt. We tested the hypothesis that a direct link exists between plasma and feather CORT concentrations. We experimentally increased plasma CORT concentrations using implants and found that the corresponding rise in CORT could be detected in feathers grown during implantation. Furthermore, CORT levels in two feathers grown at the same time from the same bird were very consistent. These results provide evidence that elevated CORT is a causative factor in decreasing feather quality during molt. However, there remain technical details that suggest caution when interpreting data from CORT extracted from feathers. Different portions of a growing feather did not necessarily reflect changes in plasma CORT at the time different parts of the feather were forming, a standard pool of homogenized feathers indicated that sample mass affects measured feather CORT concentration, and different antibodies produced different measured CORT concentrations, leaving in doubt the exact steroid being assayed. © 2011 The Authors