3,547 research outputs found
The Effect of Food on Reproduction in the Sailfin Molly, Poecilia Iatipinna (Poeciliidae
Sailfin molly populations often experience a midsummer slump in reproduction, and it has been suggested that this slump is caused by food shortage. A food supplementation experiment on a natural population of mollies was done in 1983. Excess food did not directly affect the fecundity of females in the field. A laboratory experiment was designed to determine the food level on reproduction in females. Ration had the greatest effect on somatic condition and growth, indirectly influencing fecundity. Two explanations for this strategy are suggested. A significant difference in brood size and size of young was observed between the field and lab broods at all ration levels. The possibility of plasticity being an integral component of the sailfin mollyâs life history strategy is discussed
Waterbird use of coastal impoundments and management implications in east-central Florida
Monthly surveys were conducted on Kennedy Space Center for one year to determine densities of waterbirds within impounded salt marshes that were predominantly open water with little emergent vegetation. The objective was to assess the importance of these impoundments to waterbirds, particularly wading birds, which are species of special conservation concern. Water-level management for mosquito control and waterfowl provided habitat for an abundance of ducks, shorebirds, coots, and wading birds. Average densities throughout the year for these groups were 5.26, 412, 2.80, and 2.20 birds/ha, respectively. The majority of waterfowl were present during the winter. Shorebirds were most common during spring migration. Wading bird densities increased with declining water level. Due to the extensive alteration and development of coastal wetlands in central Florida, properly managed impoundments may provide important feeding areas for maintaining certain waterbird populations
Assessing Peer Leader Skill Acquisition and Group Dynamics in a First-Year Calculus Course
Peer-led team learning (PLTL), specifically the model known as âWorkshopsâ, has been shown to contribute positively and significantly to student success in STEM courses across subjects (Gosser et al., 2001). Our research adds to the SOTL literature describing the effectiveness of Workshops by reporting on the changes in student leaders. We examine the level to which leaders acquired new skills in effective teaching and describe the pedagogical interactions in the groups they led as a result of the combination of training and experience facilitating first-year Calculus Workshop sections. This was a semester-long study on twenty-two Workshop leaders for two multi-section, introductory calculus courses at a small research university. Our method is a novel overlay of two metrics that allows, with some forethought, a robust analysis of Workshop leader outcomes that would complement any assessment of PLTL implementation faculty might choose to undertake
The Citizenship Imperative and the Role of Faculty Development
By teaching the capacity for citizenship across the curriculum, colleges and universities can better serve their role as socially responsive institutions. We argue that citizenship themes can be more central to a wide variety of classes, including some in disciplines not considered traditional homes for civic education. Faculty development centers can play a critical role in helping facuity integrate citizenship into the curriculum and evaluate the learning that occurs in their citizenship-oriented classes. We offer guidelines for how learning communities can best serve these purposes
Disturbance Driven Colony Fragmentation as a Driver of a Coral Disease Outbreak
In September of 2010, Brewerâs Bay reef, located in St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands), was simultaneously affected by
abnormally high temperatures and the passage of a hurricane that resulted in the mass bleaching and fragmentation of its
coral community. An outbreak of a rapid tissue loss disease among coral colonies was associated with these two
disturbances. Gross lesion signs and lesion progression rates indicated that the disease was most similar to the Caribbean
coral disease white plague type 1. Experiments indicated that the disease was transmissible through direct contact between
colonies, and five-meter radial transects showed a clustered spatial distribution of disease, with diseased colonies being
concentrated within the first meter of other diseased colonies. Disease prevalence and the extent to which colonies were
bleached were both significantly higher on unattached colony fragments than on attached colonies, and disease occurred
primarily on fragments found in direct contact with sediment. In contrast to other recent studies, disease presence was not
related to the extent of bleaching on colonies. The results of this study suggest that colony fragmentation and contact with
sediment played primary roles in the initial appearance of disease, but that the disease was capable of spreading among
colonies, which suggests secondary transmission is possible through some other, unidentified mechanism
Savoring the moment: A link between affectivity and depression
Objective: Positive affectivity (PA; disposition to experience positive moods) and negative affectivity (NA; disposition to experience negative moods) may be risk factors for depression. Low PA may impair positive emotion regulation (savoring), potentially exacerbating depression. Understanding the mechanisms in which temporal domains of savoring influence the relationship between affectivity and depression may help advance depression treatments.Method: 1,618 participants (1,243 females; 70.0% Caucasian, 19.1% Asian, 4.5% African American, 0.9% Pacific Islander, 0.7% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 4.9% Biracial) ages 17 - 40 (M = 18.99, SD = 1.33) completed questionnaires. An exploratory path analysis was run with PA and NA as exogenous variables, savoring domains as mediators, and depression the outcome.Results: PA and NA were associated with depression and all three savoring temporal domains. Momentary savoring distinctly mediated the relationship between both PA and NA and depression.Limitations: The data are self-report and cross-sectional, precluding causal inference. Post-hoc power analysis indicated that the present study was underpowered. The use of a college sample primarily comprised of Caucasian women limits generalizability.Conclusions: Affectivity was associated with the temporal domains of savoring and indirectly associated with depression via momentary savoring. All temporal domains of savoring may bolster PA and mitigate NA. Momentary savoring may reduce depression symptoms in individuals with low PA and high NA
Artistic Production Following Brain Damage: A Study of Three Artists
We know little about the neurologic bases of art production. The idea that the right brain hemisphere is the âartistic brainâ is widely held, despite the lack of evidence for this claim. Artists with brain damage can offer insight into these laterality questions. The authors used an instrument called the Assessment of Art Attributes to examine the work of two individuals with left-brain damage and one with right-hemisphere damage. In each case, their art became more abstract and distorted and less realistic. They also painted with looser strokes, less depth and more vibrant colors. No unique pattern was observed following right-brain damage. However, art produced after left-brain damage also became more symbolic. These results show that the neural basis of art production is distributed across both hemispheres in the human brain
Isothiourea-catalyzed enantioselective functionalisation of glycine Schiff base aryl esters via 1,6- and 1,4-additions
The St Andrews team thanks the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Critical Resource Catalysis (CRITICAT, grant code EP/L016419/1) (RC) for funding. The Linz team gratefully acknowledges generous financial support by the Austrian Science Funds (FWF) through project No. P31784.The enantioselective α-functionalisation of glycine Schiff base aryl esters through isothiourea catalysis is successfully demonstrated for 1,6-additions to para-quinone methides (21â
examples, up to 95â:â5â
dr and 96â:â4â
er) and 1,4- additions to methylene substituted dicarbonyl or disulfonyl Michael acceptors (17â
examples, up to 98â:â2â
er). This nucleophilic organocatalysis approach gives access to a range of α-functionalised α-amino acid derivatives and further transformations of the activated aryl ester group provide a straightforward entry to advanced amino acid-based esters, amides or thioesters.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
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