Green Infrastructure System Map & Gap Analysis for Maunalua Bay Watersheds, Oʻahu

A collection of resources important to green infrastructure research and projects in Maunalua, Oʻahu.In Maunalua's urban environment, excess stormwater causes flooding, property damage, eutrophication, and pollution of coastal areas that threatens the biodiversity, natural resources, and quality of life. Thus, effective implementation of green infrastructure is critical for Maunalua communities to successfully mitigate extreme wet weather impacts and create a healthy urban environment. The project goal was to create a system map to understand the network of entities surrounding green infrastructure, and a gap analysis to identify inefficiencies and leverage points within the system. A final document is also included to synthesize all resources and findings. Furthermore, additional resources are included to aid future research and projects in green infrastructure in Maunalua Bay and other urban cities in Hawaiʻi

Attitudes to Sexism and Gender Equity at a Danish University

We designed this study to measure the degree of backlash a specific Danish university would encounter in response to gender equity interventions. To capture this resistance we used two standardized questionnaires: the Modern Sexism Scale, which measures explicit denial of gender discrimination and resentment towards gender equity demands (such as gender interventions) andthe Support for Discriminatory Practices which measures peoples explicit preferences for hiring men over women. We also asked an open question about attitudes towards the university’s current gender policies. The questionnaire was sent to 15,493 employees. With one prompt 1,805 completed the entire questionnaire. We found that university employees scored above the midpoint on modern sexism, indicating that, on average, they held sexist attitudes. We further showed that modern sexism scores varied depending on beliefs about what was being done forgender equity in the organization, such that those who thought that enough or too much was being done had significantly higher sexism scores than those who thought that not enough wasbeing done. Over all, our findings document explicit sexist attitudes within the target university and suggest that gender equity interventions are therefore likely to be met by great resistancefrom some

Speak Softly, But Carry a Big Stick: Tom Sawyer and Company\u27s Quest for Linguistic Power A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Mark Twain\u27s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Tom Sawyer Abroad

Social stigma associated with the way an individual speaks is not new, and language can be a powerful divider of people. Since the Norman Conquest of 1066, researchers have noted that certain English dialects have been more esteemed than others, and it is certainly well-documented that those who spoke these prestigious varieties were the authority figures. Sociolinguists have determined that one\u27s identity is inextricably bound with the way one speaks, and Mark Twain, a nineteenth-century realist, was aware of this concept well before sociolinguistics became a defined field of study in the 1970s. Because he profusely uses varieties of English dialects in his novels, Twain\u27s literature proves to be an ample source for a sociolinguistic study. In his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1875), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), Twain uses dialects as a means of developing his characters\u27 personalities and social perceptions. Thus, this thesis describes how Twain\u27s characters use language to manipulate others, assert authority, protect their identities, and develop intimate relationships

Multiple feature use in pigeons’ category discrimination: The influence of stimulus set structure and the salience of stimulus differences

Two experiments investigated what makes it more likely that pigeons’ behavior will come under the control of multiple relevant visual stimulus dimensions. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of stimulus set structure ,using a conditional discrimination between circles that differed in both hue and diameter. Two training conditions differed in whether hue and diameter were correlated in the same way within positive and negative stimulus sets as between sets . Transfer tests showed that all pigeons came under the control of both dimensions, regardless of stimulus set structure. Experiment 2 investigated the effect of the relative salience of the stimulus differences on three visual dimensions. Pigeons learned a multiple simultaneous discrimination between circular patches of sinusoidal gratings that differed in hue, orientation and spatial frequency . In initial training, each stimulus only included one positive or negative feature, and the stimulus differences on the three dimensions were adjusted so that the rates of learning about the three dimensions were kept approximately equal . Transfer tests showed that all three dimensions acquired control over behavior, with no single dimension dominating consistently across pigeons . Subsequently the pigeons were trained in a polymorphous category discrimination using all three dimensions , and the level of control by the three dimensions tended to become more equal as polymorphous training continued. We conclude that the salience of the stimulus differences on different dimensions is an important factor in whether pigeons will come under the control of multiple dimensions of visual stimuli

Perception of Workload and Task Importance During Complex and Dual Task Conditions

Background • cognitive processes and movement need to occur concurrently as part of social engagement; voluntary movement is not wholly automatic and when movement occurs, it leads to changing cognitive demands. (McIsaac et al, 2015) • Current practice for creating dual-task challenges in the clinic include serial subtraction and carrying a glass of water (complex walking task) however these do not always translate to a patient\u27s individualized challenges and goals • Research has shown that a patient\u27s engagement and performance improves when the task they are performing is meaningful in their lives. (McIsaac et al, 2015) • Would including items that assess various aspects of patient perception be beneficial to augment how we create task demands in clinic

Investigating the efficacy of a proposed marine protected area for the Endangered humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus at a remote island group in Seychelles

The humphead wrasse Cheilinus undulatus is an iconic, ecologically important and Endangered fish species associated with coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. Due to its large size and complex life history characteristics, it is vulnerable to overfishing and has undergone substantial population declines in parts of its range. Knowledge of the species’ movement ecology is currently limited to only 2 previous studies, and very little is known about populations in the western Indian Ocean. The present study aimed to use passive acoustic telemetry to investigate the importance of a remote coral reef to a population of humphead wrasse in the Republic of Seychelles, and subsequently assess the efficacy of a proposed marine protected area at this location for protection of the species. Tagged fish (n = 20) exhibited persistent (\u3e500 d) site fidelity, with low dispersal distances (mean ± SD: 6.44 ± 4.0 km) and restricted core activity spaces (50% Brownian bridge kernel utilization density: 0.91 ± 0.61 km2). Additionally, the study site was home to a group of large (total length 97.9 ± 20.6 cm) and currently unexploited humphead wrasse that showed long-term predictable site fidelity and thus could be vulnerable to over-exploitation. The establishment of a proposed no-take marine protected area at the study site would encompass the core home range area of all tagged humphead wrasse and could effectively conserve this stronghold of Endangered fish to ensure the persistence of the species in Seychelles waters

Labelling and Family Resemblance in the discrimination of polymorphous categories by pigeons

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: Article© 2011 Springer Verlag. This is a post print version of the article published in Animal Cognition, 2011, 14 (1), pp 21-34. The final publication is available at link.springer.comTwo experiments examined whether pigeons discriminate polymorphous categories on the basis of a single highly predictive feature or overall similarity. In the first experiment, pigeons were trained to discriminate between categories of photographs of complex real objects. Within these pictures, single features had been manipulated to produce a highly salient texture cue. Either the picture or the texture provided a reliable cue for discrimination during training, but in probe tests, the picture and texture cues were put into conflict. Some pigeons showed a significant tendency to discriminate on the basis of the picture cue (overall similarity or family resemblance), whereas others appeared to rely on the manipulated texture cue. The second experiment used artificial polymorphous categories in which one dimension of the stimulus provided a completely reliable cue to category membership, whereas three other dimensions provided cues that were individually unreliable but collectively provided a completely reliable basis for discrimination. Most pigeons came under the control of the reliable cue rather than the unreliable cues. A minority, however, came under the control of single dimensions from the unreliable set. We conclude that cue salience can be more important than cue reliability in determining what features will control behavior when multiple cues are available

Myeloma cells down‐regulate adiponectin in bone marrow adipocytes via TNF‐alpha

Multiple myeloma is caused by abnormal plasma cells that accumulate in the bone marrow and interact with resident cells of the bone microenvironment to drive disease progression and development of an osteolytic bone disease. Bone marrow adipocytes (BMAds) are emerging as having important endocrine functions that can support myeloma cell growth and survival. However, how BMAds respond to infiltrating tumor cells remains poorly understood. Using the C57BL/KaLwRij murine model of myeloma, bone marrow adiposity was found to be increased in early stage myeloma with BMAds localizing along the tumor‐bone interface at later stages of disease. Myeloma cells were found to uptake BMAd‐derived lipids in vitro and in vivo, although lipid uptake was not associated with the ability of BMAds to promote myeloma cell growth and survival. However, BMAd‐derived factors were found to increase myeloma cell migration, viability, and the evasion of apoptosis. BMAds are a major source of adiponectin, which is known to be myeloma‐suppressive. Myeloma cells were found to downregulate adiponectin specifically in a model of BMAds but not in white adipocytes. The ability of myeloma cells to downregulate adiponectin was dependent at least in part on TNF‐α. Collectively our data support the link between increased bone marrow adiposity and myeloma progression. By demonstrating how TNF‐α downregulates BMAd‐derived adiponectin, we reveal a new mechanism by which myeloma cells alter the bone microenvironment to support disease progression. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

Nineteen Years Of Consistently Positive And Strong Female Mate Preferences Despite Individual Variation

Sexual selection driven by mate choice has generated some of the most astounding diversity in nature, suggesting population-level preferences should be strong and consistent over many generations. On the other hand, mating preferences are among the least repeatable components of an individual animal’s phenotype, suggesting low consistency across an animal’s lifetime. Despite decades of intensive study of sexual selection there is almost no information about the strength and consistency of preferences across many years. In this study we present the results of over 5000 mate choice tests with a species of wild frog conducted over 19 consecutive years. Results show that preferences are positive and strong and vary little across years. This consistency is despite the fact that there are substantial differences among females in their strength of preference. We also suggest mate preferences in populations that are primarily the result of sensory exploitation might be more stable over time compared to preferences that are primarily involved in assessing male quality