An integrative approach to assess the behavioral impacts of noise stimuli on the Australian black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus

For acoustically oriented species, elevated levels of ambient sound can interfere with an organism’s ability to detect and assess acoustic signals and cues needed for making important decisions. Ambient noise, defined as any unwanted or non-focal acoustic signal, can impact behavior and decision-making by disrupting auditory sensory perception. As a result, noise in the context of this dissertation can be further delineated as excess sound that hinders a receiver\u27s ability to detect and distinguish acoustic signals. Noise consists of either airborne or substrate-borne modalities or both. While many studies focus on the impact of airborne noise, many species have evolved the ability to detect both airborne and substrate-borne sounds. This bias towards airborne stimuli has left researchers with only a partial understanding of the impact of noise on animal behavior. Taking an integrative approach, this dissertation identifies the impacts of multisensory noise on the behavior of the Australian black field cricket (Teleogryllus commodus). First, I established the sensitivity of the auditory system to airborne sonic (1-20 kHz), airborne ultrasonic (\u3e20 kHz), and substrate-borne stimuli (50-1600 Hz). I also determined that noise regardless of modality or bandwidth (sonic, ultrasonic, and substrate vibrations) has a significant impact on female phonotaxis. Finally, I tested how each noise type influences female choice regarding male calling phenotype and found that all noise types and bandwidths disrupt the mate choice process. I identified two possible causes for these shifts in behavior: energetic and informational masking. Energetic masking occurs when noise energetically overlaps with the signal and prevents detection of the signal. Informational masking occurs when the noise does not energetically overlap with the signal but still interferes with the female’s ability to extract information. The findings of this dissertation demonstrate the complexities of noise and its impacts on animal behavior, emphasizing the need to consider the sensory sensitivity of animals in studying the effects of noise. By furthering our understanding of how different noise types inform how animals interact with their environment, we can better determine the constraints and adaptations of living in an increasingly noisy world

Where do we go from here? A workshop about career and college choices.

A graduate students final thesis project was presented. The inspirations of this researcher to create a workshop that would help parents and students work together to make decisions about their future and help to increase their awareness of career and college choices was explored and defined. The focus on Junior\u27s in high school and their parents was explained and presented through topics such as the effects of career choice, career stages, transition periods in high school and beyond, support systems and the decision making process. The sample size for this research was n= 3 for the parents and n=4 for the students. The thesis presented was gathered through journals, books and individual research

If I Am Not for Myself, Who Will Be for Me?: Female Autonomy, Human Rights-Consciousness, and the Right to Exit From Haredi Communities in Israel

The “right to exit” refers to the right of individuals to leave (exit) their religious or cultural groups. While not expressly articulated in any international human rights documents, the right to exit from cultural or religious groups is guaranteed by the internationally acknowledged rights to self-determination, freedom of religion, and freedom of movement. In this study, I examine the effects of Israel’s religious policies on women in Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish communities, where women have an exceptionally difficult time asserting autonomy, voicing and remedying grievances, and exiting their marriages and/or community if they wish to. By accommodating the Haredim, Israel denies Haredi women many rights guaranteed to all Israeli women by virtue of their citizenship. I conclude that Israel must reform its education system to better ensure that all citizens, regardless of religious affiliation are able to: 1. develop human rights consciousness and autonomy in childhood, and 2. access social services in adulthood that facilitate the full exercise of their rights as Israeli citizens and human beings, including the right to exit

English medium instruction: Comparing teacher beliefs in secondary and tertiary education

Learning content through the medium of a second language is a form of education which is growing rapidly in both secondary and tertiary educational phases. Yet, although considerable research now exists on these phases of education viewed separately, virtually no comparisons have been made between the two phases. This study compared beliefs about English medium instruction (EMI) held by 167 secondary and tertiary EMI teachers from 27 countries. Teachers’ beliefs were elicited in four key areas: EMI teachers’ goals, EMI policy, benefits and drawbacks to students, and challenges to teachers. The findings indicate that secondary teachers felt more strongly that EMI provides students with a high quality education. More secondary than tertiary teachers reported an institutional policy on the English proficiency level required of teachers to teach through EMI, yet in neither phase was there evidence of adequate support to reach a required proficiency level. Teachers deemed EMI beneficial to advancing students’ English but felt that EMI would affect academic content, with no clear difference between the phases. Our conclusions indicate that EMI is being introduced without thorough institutional stakeholder discussion and therefore without clear policies on levels of teacher expertise. Neither is there evidence of a dialogue between phases regarding the challenges faced by EMI teachers and students

Descriptive statistics in data analysis

This chapter discusses the ‘what’, the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of descriptive statistics for data analysis in applied linguistics. It defines descriptive statistics, outlines the most common descriptive measures and, with examples from published peer-reviewed journal articles in the field, discusses their strengths and limitations with regard to univariate analysis of different types of data and different levels of measurement. Issues of normality of distribution and the relationships between descriptive and inferential statistics are explored. Options for presenting descriptive statistics are detailed, including recommendations for creative visuals to summarise applied linguistics data. As such, this chapter offers both theoretical and practical guidance on the use of descriptive statistics to those engaged in evaluating and carrying out data analysis in applied linguistics research

Developing purposeful questions and analyzing student reasoning: Two tools

We introduce two tools to help teachers develop purposeful questions and collaboratively analyze student reasoning

Black bears (Ursus americanus) as a novel potential predator of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) at a California wind energy facility

Black bears (Ursus americanus) and Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) rarely interact due to substantial differences in their preferred habitats. In this paper we report a mother and cub black bear investigating an occupied tortoise burrow in a wind energy generation facility in the San Bernardino Mountains northwest of Palm Springs, California. While predation was not observed, bears are known to eat various turtle species around the world on an opportunistic basis. Given the proclivity of black bears to adopt specialized dietary opportunities on a learned, individual basis, the potential exists for predation on desert tortoises. Since black bears were not native to southern California prior to 1933, tortoises would have little experience avoiding black bear predation if it occurred. We review the literature on bears eating turtles worldwide and discuss an example of another novel mammalian carnivore negatively affecting a population of desert tortoises

The individual context of ultrasonic vocalizations in wild monogamous California mice (Peromyscus californicus).

Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are commonly produced by the rodent species in the Super Family Muroidea. The bulk of USV research has been conducted on Mus and Rattus exclusively in a laboratory setting. There is variation in the production and function of USVs between Mus and Rattus as a result of contrasting social structures. Peromyscus californicus is an obligately monogamous species that regularly produces USVs. The objective of my study is to determine the context of USV production in free living P. californicus in California. I investigated motif use and spectral and temporal characteristics of USV as they related to sex, and estrous state. I determined when pairs produced USVs as well as the individuals present when USVs were produced. I looked at the production of USVs in response to sub-adult dispersal and I compared the variation between pairs with the variation within pairs. The most commonly recorded USV motifs were 1-4 syllable vocalizations. Sex and estrous state were independent of motif type and the spectral characteristics of USVs did not differ between males and females or estrous and non-estrous females. Pairs never vocalized when they were in contact and motif type was independent of individuals present on the focal area. The majority of USVs were recorded during the breeding season, however, USV production was highly positively correlated with sub-adult dispersal (Pearson’s correlation 0.79). While I did not find a difference between pairs or individuals within a pair, my analysis suggests that the difference between pairs is more significant than the difference between individuals within a pair. My results suggest USVs reinforce pairbonds and advertise a pair’s territory. Peromyscus californicus is an excellent model for monogamy in mammals and USVs are an important component of P. californicus behavior in the wild

A naturalistic study of emotion regulation-enhanced cognitive-behavioral group therapy for hoarding disorder in a community setting

Background Cognitive-behavioral group therapy for hoarding disorder (HD) is efficacious, but outcomes are modest and dropout rates are generally high. Clinical challenges in this population include high rates of comorbidity and difficulty regulating and tolerating negative emotions, which may reduce engagement with discarding exposures and lead to increased dropout. Methods In the current naturalistic study, we evaluated standard group cognitive-behavioral therapy enhanced with a three-session emotion regulation module in a large sample of individuals (N = 115) seeking treatment for HD at a community mental health clinic. We evaluated outcomes for distress tolerance, as well as hoarding symptoms and comorbid depression and anxiety symptoms. Results Distress tolerance was significantly improved at post-treatment, Hoarding symptoms, anxiety, and depression were also significantly decreased. Distress tolerance predicted more severe hoarding symptoms at baseline, but improvement in distress tolerance was not significantly associated with improvement in hoarding symptoms. Limitations The primary limitation was the absence of a control treatment condition, but HD is known to be a chronic condition which tends not to improve in waitlist control conditions. Conclusions Integrating emotion regulation strategies may provide an important pathway to improving treatment outcomes for hoarding disorder

Highly Enriched uranium Metal Spheres Surrounded by Various Reflectors

A series of experiments was performed at the Los Alamos critical assembly facility in the early 1950s to determine the critical mass of highly enriched uranium spheres surrounded by thin reflectors of various materials. The objective of these experiments was to obtain a precision graph of the critical mass of highly enriched uranium metal as a function of reflector thickness and to generate transport cross sections for the reflector material. Thirteen configurations are described and evaluated under ICSBEP identifier, HEU-MET-FAST-085; two with 1.98-inch-thick and 4.158-inch-thick copper reflectors, two with 2- and 4-inch-thick cast iron reflectors, one with a 1.945-inch-thick nickel reflector, two with 1.88- and 2.02-inch-thick nickel-copper-zinc alloy reflectors, one with a 1.81-inch-thick thorium reflector, two with 2-inch-thick and 4-inch-thick tungsten alloy reflectors, two with 2-inch-thick and 4.075-inch-thick zinc reflectors, and one with a 2-inch-thick tungsten alloy reflector surrounded by a 2-inch-thick cast iron reflector. All configurations were slightly subcritical with measured multiplications ranging from 20 to 162. Analyses were performed in which uncertainty associated with six different parameters was evaluated; namely, extrapolation to uranium critical mass, uranium density, 235U enrichment, reflector density, reflector thickness, and reflector impurities were considered. Uncertainty in cast-iron alloying elements was also considered when appropriate. In addition to the idealizations made by the experimenters, two simplifications were also made to the benchmark models that resulted in a small bias and additional uncertainty. First of all, since impurities in core and reflector materials are only estimated, they are not included in the benchmark models. Secondly, the room, support structure, and other possible surrounding equipment were not included in the model. Bias values that result from these two simplifications were determined and associated uncertainty in the bias values were included in the overall uncertainty in benchmark keff values. Bias values range from 0.0021 ?k low to 0.0016 ?k high. Overall uncertainties range from ? 0.0023 to ? 0.0064. Major contributors to the overall uncertainty include uncertainty in the extrapolation to the uranium critical mass and the uranium density. Results are summarized in the following figure. The 3 configurations described and evaluated in HEU-MET-FAST-085 are judged to be acceptable for use as criticality safety benchmark experiments and should be valuable integral benchmarks for nuclear data testing of the various reflector materials. Details of the benchmark models, uncertainty analyses, and final results are given in this paper