Proud Deaf! An Ethnographic Study of Deaf Culture in a High School

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine the culture of students who are deaf and hard of hearing within the broader context of an inclusive high school, specifically as demonstrated though their learning experiences, socialization, and identity. The researcher gathered qualitative data in the form of observations, in-depth interviews, and participant video diary entries to gain insight into the shared cultural model of students who are deaf and hard of hearing. The data provided a holistic picture of cultural phenomena through the points of view of the subjects of the study. The description of the culture of this group of students may prove useful in shaping effective inclusive environments for students who are deaf and hard of hearing

Factors Influencing the Distribution and Structure of Tropical Vascular Epiphyte Communities at Multiple Scales

Understanding the factors that determine species distributions is a central question in ecology. Niche-based theories stress the importance of environmental heterogeneity in influencing species distributions while neutral-based theories emphasize the effects of dispersal limitation. The relative importance of these factors in influencing species distributions may depend on spatial scale - deterministic factors may be more important at small spatial scales where fine-scale habitat factors become more relevant and stochastic factors may be more important at larger spatial scales where dispersal limitation becomes more relevant. I examined the influence of deterministic and stochastic factors on the distribution and structure of vascular epiphyte communities in lowland tropical forests at multiple scales. Vascular epiphytes, non-parasitic plants that often inhabit tropical tree canopies, contribute up to 35% of the local floral diversity and up to 25% of the floral biomass in tropical forests. Yet our understanding of how habitat selection or random colonization events related to dispersal influence the distribution and floristic composition of epiphytes lags far behind that of terrestrial-based plant communities. I surveyed epiphytes among different-aged forests, different-sized trees, and within emergent tree crowns and examined whether habitat characteristics influenced epiphyte community structure. Among different-aged forests, forest structure and age influenced epiphyte species composition as density and species richness increased with forest age, and many epiphyte species were confined to microhabitats unique to old-growth forests. Among different-sized trees, epiphyte species exhibited significant associations to particular tree sizes and microhabitats. Emergent canopy trees had steep environmental and resource gradients that created a high diversity of microhabitats to which many epiphyte species were specialized. Environmental filtering played a role in epiphyte species distributions as species found in the same microhabitat showed convergence in ecological strategy. Among closely related species within a functional group, there was evidence of trait divergence, supporting the hypothesis of niche differentiation. At large spatial scales, habitat structure and dispersal influenced epiphyte community structure among forest stands. At smaller spatial scales, habitat specialization and differences in plant ecological strategies along environmental gradients suggest niche-based processes in driving local patterns of epiphyte diversity

Anna Letitia Barabauld\u27s Poetic Vision: Community, Imagination, and the Quotidian

With the publication of her Poems in 1773, favorable reviews welcomed Anna Letitia Barbauld into the literary world. However, Barbauld has traditionally been left out of English literature anthologies, condemned to the murky depths of obscurity. Why has this talented British poet of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries been undeservedly marginalized? Perhaps she has never achieved the status of a major literary figure because her impulse towards community places her outside the mainstream Romantic tradition dominated by the egotistical sublime. In the poetry of William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats, an ideal of empathy remains in tension with a predilection towards solitude. Believing that the Romantic quest for connection in solitude leads to self-absorption, Barbauld critiques the egotistical sublime. Barbauld offers an alternative, which involves two related aspects of an impulse towards community. Her poetic vision depicts practical involvement with the community as a vital source of creative inspiration, and it celebrates a demystified quotidian

Hylocomium splendens: Microhabitat Selection and Potential Role in Forest Succession

Fallen logs play an essential role in the temperate rainforest ecosystem by providing a safe site for tree establishment, with seedling abundance being much greater on nurse logs than on the ground. This disparity is likely due to differences in competition with bryophytes between microsites. Hylocomium splendens, a moss that dominates the forest floor of temperate rainforests, could potentially inhibit tree seedling growth, but little is known about its microhabitat distribution. We found that stairstep moss grows more abundantly in areas of high canopy openness, and that nurse logs have lower canopy openness in comparison to the forest floor. Fittingly, we also found H. splendens in higher densities on the forest floor than on nurse logs, indicating that the lack of stairstep moss on nurse logs could provide a niche for tree seedlings to grow unhindered by competition. We also eliminated nutrient competition as a potential mode of inhibition of seedlings by stairstep moss, indicating that the most likely form of inhibition is light competition

Epiphyte Distributions Vary with Structural Heterogeneity in Acer Macrophyllum

As a foundation species, epiphytes play an essential role in augmenting biodiversity within an ecosystem. In the Hoh temperate rainforest, Acer macrophyllum (bigleaf maple) trees host more epiphytic biomass than any other tree in the Pacific Northwest. Previous studies in tropical rainforests, as well as in the Woods lab have used broad-scale zonation techniques to examine how resource partitioning creates epiphytic specialization, but the variation in epiphyte species around the circumference of the trunk and branches suggests that the true heterogeneity of the tree is left uncaptured by this method. Using dot-intercept method, fine-scale epiphyte distribution data was taken from around the entire circumference of one bigleaf maple tree every meter up the trunk and for three meters along a branch. Factors zone, structure, and orientation all had significant effects on species richness. Trunk zones with more than one structural characteristic have higher species richness. Analysis of species distribution patterns show that many species appear to be specialized to certain trunk zones or substrates, suggesting that the unique structural characteristics of a given bigleaf maple tree allow for a greater diversity of non-vascular epiphytes on the irregular structures

Plant–plant interactions change during succession on nurse logs in a northern temperate rainforest

Plant–plant interactions change through succession from facilitative to competitive. At early stages of succession, early-colonizing plants can increase the survival and reproductive output of other plants by ameliorating disturbance and stressful conditions. At later stages of succession, plant interactions are more competitive as plants put more energy toward growth and reproduction. In northern temperate rainforests, gap dynamics result in tree falls that facilitate tree regeneration (nurse logs) and bryophyte succession. How bryophyte-tree seedling interactions vary through log succession remains unclear. We examined the relationships of tree seedlings, bryophyte community composition, bryophyte depth, and percent canopy cover in 166 1.0 m2 plots on nurse logs and the forest floor in the Hoh rainforest in Washington, USA, to test the hypothesis that bryophyte-tree seedling interactions change from facilitative to competitive as the log decays. Tree seedling density was highest on young logs with early-colonizing bryophyte species (e.g., Rhizomnium glabrescens) and lowest on decayed logs with Hylocomium splendens, a long-lived moss that reaches depths \u3e20 cm. As a result, bryophyte depth increased with nurse log decay and was negatively associated with tree seedling density. Tree seedling density was 4.6× higher on nurse logs than on the forest floor, which was likely due to competitive exclusion by forest floor plants, such as H. splendens. Nurse logs had 17 species of bryophytes while the forest floor had six, indicating that nurse logs contribute to maintaining bryophyte diversity. Nurse logs enable both tree seedlings and smaller bryophyte species to avoid competition with forest floor plants, including the dominant bryophyte, H. splendens. H. splendens is likely a widespread driver of plant community structure given its dominance in northern temperate forests. Our findings indicate that plant–plant interactions shift with succession on nurse logs from facilitative to competitive and, thus, influence forest community structure and dynamics

Family involvement for children with disruptive behaviors: The role of parenting stress and motivational beliefs

Children with disruptive behaviors are at risk for adverse outcomes. Family involvement is a significant predictor of positive child behavior outcomes; however, little research has investigated parent psychological variables that influence family involvement for children with disruptive behaviors. This study investigated the role of parental motivational beliefs (i.e., role construction and efficacy) as a potential mechanism by which parenting stress impacts family involvement for families of children with disruptive behaviors. Results indicated that parent role construction mediated the relation between parenting stress and all aspects of family involvement examined (i.e., home-based involvement, school-based involvement, and home–school communication). Parent efficacy mediated the relation between parenting stress and home-based involvement only. Parents of children with disruptive behaviors reporting stress may experience negative beliefs about their role and efficacy to support their child’s education, which may thereby negatively influence their actual involvement. Therefore, parent motivational beliefs may serve as an important point for intervention to support involvement of families of children with disruptive behavior

Fertilization influences the nutrient acquisition strategy of a nomadic vine in a lowland tropical forest understory

© 2018, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Aims: Tropical tree and lianas in the understory are limited by soil nutrients despite growing in extremely low light. It is not known if nomadic vines are also limited by nutrients in low light conditions. Methods: We measured differences in root architecture and mycorrhizal colonization, and leaf nutrients of a nomadic vine, Philodendron fragrantissimum (Araceae), in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization plots in a lowland tropical moist forest in central Panama to measure potential nutrient limitation. Results: Relative to plants in control plots, leaf P concentration was 54% higher and leaf N concentration was 10% higher for plants in the P- and N-addition treatments, respectively. The N:P of leaves suggested P-limitation in the N-addition treatment and the control but not in the P-addition treatment. Root branching was highest in the P-addition treatment, and P-addition reduced mycorrhizal colonization. Conclusions: The large effect of P fertilization suggests that, like many tropical plants, P. fragrantissimum has the potential to be P-limited. Although further study is needed, we suggest that nomadic vines be added to the growth forms that respond to nutrient addition in the forest understory and conclude that nutrient-limitation seems like the rule rather than the exception in the light-limited understory

Negative symptoms and impaired social functioning predict later psychosis in Latino youth at clinical high risk in the North American prodromal longitudinal studies consortium

AIM: Examining ethnically related variables in evaluating those at risk for psychosis is critical. This study investigated sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of Latino versus non-Latino clinical high-risk (CHR) subjects and healthy control (HC) subjects in the first North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study. METHODS: Fifty-six Latino CHR subjects were compared to 25 Latino HC and 423 non-Latino CHR subjects across clinical and demographic variables. Thirty-nine of the 56 CHR subjects completed at least one subsequent clinical evaluation over the 2.5-year period with 39% developing a psychotic illness. Characteristics of Latino CHR subjects who later converted to psychosis (‘converters’) were compared to those who did not (‘non-converters’). RESULTS: Latino CHR subjects were younger than non-Latino CHR subjects and had less education than Latino HC subjects and non-Latino CHR counterparts. Latino CHR converters had higher scores than Latino non-converters on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes total negative symptoms that were accounted for by decreased expression of emotion and personal hygiene/social attentiveness subsections. Latino CHR converters scored lower on the global functioning:social scale, indicating worse social functioning than Latino non-converters. CONCLUSION: Based on this sample, Latino CHR subjects may seek treatment earlier and have less education than non-Latino CHR subjects. Deficits in social functioning and impaired personal hygiene/social attentiveness among Latino CHR subjects predicted later psychosis and may represent important areas for future study. Larger sample sizes are needed to more thoroughly investigate the observed ethnic differences and risk factors for psychosis in Latino youth