Chart of head length of pouch young tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii) of known age

This is a chart of the head lengths of pouch young tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii)of known age, enabling the ages of pouch young of unknown age to be determined by their head lengt

Similarities in Evasive Behavior of Wolf Spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae), American Toads (Anura: Bufonidae) and Ground Beetles (Coleopterea: Carabidae)

(excerpt) While collecting newly metalnorphosed American toads, Bufo anlericanus Holbrook, we have observed that they exhibited evasive behavior similar to that of adults of the wolf spiders, Pardosa saxatilis (Hentz), Pirata insularis Emerton, Pirata arerzicola Emerton, Pirata piratica (Oliver), and adults of the ground beetle, Elaplrrus ruscarius Say. When pursued or disturbed, the spiders, beetles and toads ran across the pound rapidly for short distances (ca. 1-50 cm). They then stopped abruptly and remained motionless. If they were further pursued, this escape sequence was repeated in the same or another direction. Toads and spiders occasionally moved to shallow water to avoid capture. Spiders ran across the water surface whereas the toads swam partially submerged. N\u27e observed this resemblance in evasive behavior on numerous occasions at ponds on the south edge of Carbondale, Illinois (spiders and toads), 1 krn west of Grinnell, Iowa (spiders and toads), and 1.5 km west of Bloomington, Illinois (spiders, toads and beetles). (Specimens were collected for identification from the latter site.

Traffic Flow: An Approach towards Modeling the Right Lane Rule

We attempted to model and analyze the effect of the right hand rule for the 2014 COMAP Math Modeling Competition. In order to analyze the right hand rule we started with Greenshield’s macroscopic approach and modified it to simulate the effects of the right hand rule. By analyzing the resulting changes in the flow and density of the system we determined the performance of the rule in varying traffic densities. Next we looked at the performance by modeling traffic flow when the rule is strictly adhered to, as compared to an intermediate, where the rule is followed until the critical density is reached. In the intermediate model we show how traffic flow can be maximized if people no longer follow the right hand rule after the critical density

Human Papillomavirus Awareness, Vaccine Status, and Risk Factors in Female Emergency Patients

Introduction: A vaccine targeting high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) strains can effectively prevent HPV-associated cervical cancer risk. However, many girls and women do not receive the vaccine, more often those impacted by health disparities associated with race and/or socioeconomic status. This same disparate population has also been shown to be at higher risk for cervical cancer. Many of these women also rely on the emergency department (ED) as a safety net for their healthcare. This study sought to gather information pertaining to HPV and cervical cancer risk factors, awareness of HPV and the vaccine, as well as HPV vaccine uptake in female patients presenting to an ED.Methods: We obtained 81 surveys completed by female ED patients. Demographics included age, race, income, insurance status, primary care provider status, and known cervical-cancer risk factors. Subsequent survey questions explored respondents’ knowledge, familiarity, and attitudes regarding HPV, cervical cancer, and the HPV vaccine, including vaccination uptake rates. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact test.Results: Approximately one in seven respondents (14.8%) had never previously heard of HPV and 32.1% were unaware of the existence of a HPV vaccine. Minority patients, including those who were Black and Hispanic patients, low income patients, and uninsured and publicly insured patients were less likely to be aware of HPV and the vaccine and likewise were less likely to be offered and receive the vaccine. More than 60% of all respondents (61.3%) had never previously been offered the vaccine, and only 24.7% of all respondents had completed the vaccine series.Conclusion: Female ED patients may represent an at-risk cohort with relatively low HPV awareness and low HPV vaccine uptake. The ED could represent a novel opportunity to access and engage high-risk HPV populations

The Impact of Values as Heuristics on Social Cognition

Stereotypes, and other forms of heuristics, are used in our everyday lives to assist our brains absorb information. An argument is made here to show that values can act as a form of heuristics and affect implicit attitudes. Drawing on research regarding implicit attitudes, heuristics, and values, we believe that values, such as equality, can act as a heuristic and consequently alter implicit attitudes on race. In this experiment, participants were primed with equality, intuition, or a stereotype inhibition prompt and ran through the affect misattribution procedure (AMP). Contrary to the hypothesized expectation, the results showed that participants in the equality condition rated pictographs preceding African-American faces as less pleasant compared to Caucasian faces. It is discussed whether these findings represent the results of moral licensing: participants who were instructed to think about the value of equality might have felt less of a need to regulate their bias in the AMP. This study displays the variety of ways heuristics affect decision-making

Parental Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure to Reduce Children’s Contaminant Exposure

Indoor environmental contaminants (ECs) such as lead, mold, mercury, radon, and bisphenol A (BPA) are prevalent in American homes and have dire consequences to children’s development, especially for children under six. To optimize the efficacy of programs aiming to prevent exposure to ECs, it is necessary to investigate parental factors that influence behavioral change. Parental self-efficacy is one such psychological construct which could help explain why and for whom an intervention is effective. The current study presents a measure developed to assess parental self-efficacy for preventing children from being exposed to ECs, the Parental Self-efficacy for Contaminant Exposure Prevention (PS-CEP). The current study aimed to (1) evaluate the factor structure of the developed measure, (2) evaluate the construct validity and (3) examine various characteristics of respondents based on their demonstrated level of self-efficacy. The PS-CEP was administered to 206 parents of children attending a local Head Start and a national sample of 377 parents of children under six drawn from an on-line polling website. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted, convergent and discriminant validity of the PS-CEP was assessed using existing measures, and demographic characteristics as well as parenting styles were examined. Based on model fit indices in the exploratory factor analysis, a four-factor model was the best fit (TLI = .90; RMSEA = .071). Three of the four factors of the PS-CEP demonstrated good validity. Additionally, the PS-CEP differentiated between levels of education, marital status, gender, and ethnicity. Finally, authoritative parenting style was found to correlate with three of the four factors. A measure of this type will allow interventions to be tailored based on parents’ self-efficacy to more appropriately support them in taking steps to create healthier environments for their children

Asymmetric discrimination of non-speech tonal analogues of vowels

Published in final edited form as: J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2019 February ; 45(2): 285–300. doi:10.1037/xhp0000603.Directional asymmetries reveal a universal bias in vowel perception favoring extreme vocalic articulations, which lead to acoustic vowel signals with dynamic formant trajectories and well-defined spectral prominences due to the convergence of adjacent formants. The present experiments investigated whether this bias reflects speech-specific processes or general properties of spectral processing in the auditory system. Toward this end, we examined whether analogous asymmetries in perception arise with non-speech tonal analogues that approximate some of the dynamic and static spectral characteristics of naturally-produced /u/ vowels executed with more versus less extreme lip gestures. We found a qualitatively similar but weaker directional effect with two-component tones varying in both the dynamic changes and proximity of their spectral energies. In subsequent experiments, we pinned down the phenomenon using tones that varied in one or both of these two acoustic characteristics. We found comparable asymmetries with tones that differed exclusively in their spectral dynamics, and no asymmetries with tones that differed exclusively in their spectral proximity or both spectral features. We interpret these findings as evidence that dynamic spectral changes are a critical cue for eliciting asymmetries in non-speech tone perception, but that the potential contribution of general auditory processes to asymmetries in vowel perception is limited.Accepted manuscrip

The Effects of Task, Task Mapping, and Layout Space on User Performance in Information-Rich Virtual Environments

How should abstract information be displayed in Information-Rich Virtual Environments (IRVEs)? There are a variety of techniques available, and it is important to determine which techniques help foster a user’s understanding both within and between abstract and spatial information types. Our evaluation compared two such techniques: Object Space and Display Space. Users strongly prefer Display Space over Object Space, and those who use Display Space may perform better. Display Space was faster and more accurate than Object Space for tasks comparing abstract information. Object Space was more accurate for comparisons of spatial information. These results suggest that for abstract criteria, visibility is a more important requirement than perceptual coupling by depth and association cues. They also support the value of perceptual coupling for tasks with spatial criteria

The American Canaan : Eighteenth century Trans-Appalachian migration

This thesis examines the events that produced a uniquely Tennessean identity before the 1796 statehood through a careful examination of the late colonial, Revolutionary, and Early Republic periods in the Appalachian backcountry. It argues that land, as a tangible embodiment of the republican notion of liberty, was the chief motivation for the actions of these backcountry settlers in the latter half of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It first addresses specific circumstances concerning the motivation for the migration of hundreds, even thousands, of individuals across the Appalachian Mountains into Cherokee lands from four distinct originating colonies: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. It then examines the way in which the American Revolution and subsequent War for Independence played into the cultural, social, economic, and familial connectedness of the settlers in the Tennessee country. The final portion of the thesis addresses the post-Revolution and Early Republic periods in which the Tennessee country went through several governmental organizations before attaining statehood. Here, still, the notion that liberty is found in land ownership is prevalent as Tennesseans sought legitimacy in the new United States

#OSCARSSOWHITE MOVEMENT: WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE NEWS MEDIA IN THE CHANGING DIVERSITY OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS?

The social media movement #OscarsSoWhite put a spotlight on racial diversity in the film industry after nominations for the 2016 Academy Awards were announced with no people of color included. This paper uses the agenda setting theory as a theoretical lens to critique the media coverage of the movement and how prominent entertainment publications framed content about racial diversity. It will take research from media studies and implement a qualitative textual analysis of materials from news articles published by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Root and media releases by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to determine what issues became salient and how coverage was framed in a three-year period. This paper will also discuss the overall climate of racial diversity in the film industry, social mediáђةs role in social change, and how the media make issues salient through agenda setting and agenda building