Kelp forests in False Bay: urchins vs. macroalgae in South Africa's south-west coast biogeographical transition zone

There is ongoing global concern over unwanted regime shifts in marine systems. Shifts from diverse and productive algal-dominated ecosystems to less productive urchin and coralline-dominated temperate reefs are becoming increasingly common. Kelp forests found along South Africa's south-west coast between Cape Point and Cape Agulhas occur in a region of biogeographical overlap. They are commonly referred to as transition zone kelp forests and are dynamic ecosystems that are particularly susceptible to grazing influence from species such as sea urchins. This study (1) explores the uniformity of these transition zone kelp forests along the western side of False Bay, with a focus on macroalgae and urchins, (2) identifies a threshold in urchin density above which algal abundance declines and (3) seeks to identify relationships between attached and drift algal abundance. Twenty replicate quadrats were sampled in six kelp forests along the western side of False Bay. Within each quadrat, urchins (Parechinus angulosus) and kelps (Ecklonia maxima) were counted, percentage covers of various understorey algal species were recorded and drift algae were collected. Although there was significant variability in algal and urchin cover across the six sites, kelps generally increased from north to south, while urchins did the opposite. Urchins were negatively correlated with algal communities, and a localised threshold of 1.43kg/m² (50 urchins/m²) was identified, above which attached kelp density failed to increase above 10/m² and percentage cover of understorey algae usually remained below 20%. Surprisingly, no relationship was discovered between abundance of drift kelp and attached kelp, understorey algae or urchin density. This result was likely distorted by the naturally turbulent conditions of South African waters. Results highlight the complexity of these cool-water environments. To better understand the role of urchins in this system, experimental research into the feeding behaviour and effect of P. angulosus on kelps and understorey seaweeds in the presence/absence of drift algae is advised

Cause and Perceived Seriousness of Deviant Behavior and Attribution of Responsibility

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between differing stated causes of deviant behavior which is commonly labelled mental illness, and the perceived seriousness of these behaviors in determining judgments of the degree of responsibility attributed to described deviant individuals. This was accomplished by having subjects rate four different vignettes as to degree of perceived seriousness and degree of responsibility for behavior. The subjects were 76 undergraduate students enrolled in either introductory psychology and/or introductory anthropology. The subjects were divided into four groups. Each group of 19 subjects received the same four vignettes. Each vignette gave a behavioral description which was characteristic of one of four categories of mental illness: paranoid schizophrenic, simple schizophrenic, depressed neurotic, and phobic compulsive. Each group received a different stated cause for the described behavior. These causes were biological, social learning, unknown, and both biological and social learning. The subjects were asked to rate the individual described in each vignette as to how serious they perceived the individual\u27s behavior to be on a scale of 1-4. Subjects were also asked to rate how responsible the described individual was, in their judgment, for his behavior on a scale of 1-5. The specific questions addressed by this study were: (1) Does the degree of responsibility for deviant behavior attributed by normal individuals to various types of described deviant behavior vary as a function of the stated cause of behavior? (2) Does the degree of responsibility for deviant behavior attributed by normal individuals to various types of described deviant behavior vary as a function of the perceived seriousness of the behavior? and (3) Do stated cause and perceived seriousness of behavior interact in determining the degree of responsibility normal individuals attribute to deviant individuals. The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relationship between the perceived seriousness and degree of responsibility attributed to deviant individuals. More specifically, the paranoid schizophrenic individual, rated as the most serious, was seen as significantly less responsible than the less serious depressed neurotic or phobic compulsive individual. No significant main effect was found for the stated cause of behavior and no significant interaction, cause by perceived seriousness, was found. These results provide support for the notion that perceived seriousness contributes more to the determination of attribution of responsibility than does the stated cause of behavior. The implications of these findings as they relate to psychiatric rehabilitation were discussed as were the limitations of this study which included concerns regarding instrumentation and statistical analysis

Investigation of Patient Anxiety, Patient Satisfaction, and Dental Student Behaviors

The present study examined the effect of information about patient\u27s dental anxiety on patient satisfaction, patient discomfort, and patients\u27 perceptions of dental student behaviors. The validity of patients\u27 perceptions was examined by independent observation of dental student behaviors on videotaped dental screening visits. Thirty dental students each examined two dentally anxious female patients. Each student received information about one of the patient\u27 s dental anxiety and no information about the other. The order of presentation of the conditions information and no information was counterbalanced. The dependent measures were the Dentist Behavior Checklist, the Dental Visit Satisfaction Scale, the Patient Discomfort Item, and independent observations of seven specific dental student behaviors. Results of the present study suggest that patients\u27 perceptions of specific dental student behaviors are only moderately correlated with independent observation for three of the behaviors. The presentation of information about patient dental anxiety resulted in no significant differences in patients\u27 perceptions of behaviors. A significant interaction effect was found, however, between information and order of presentation for the independent observations of Took Patient Seriously and Was Calm. These findings suggest that when nonverbal behaviors were examined, dental students were more responsive to patients. This was only true, however, when students received information in the Information/No Information order. No significant differences were found in either patient satisfaction or patient discomfort as a result of providing information about patient anxiety. Lastly, none of the dental student behaviors as independently observed were related to patient satisfaction. However, patients\u27 perceptions of Encouraged Questions and Took Patient seriously were significant predictors of patient satisfaction. Suggestions for further research include continued attempts to delineate dentist behaviors which are correlated with patient satisfaction

Using wordless picture books to stimulate fictional writing in first-grade students

The use of wordless picture books was a successful strategy as an adult intervention for helping students at different levels in their writing ability to produce a story that followed a logical progression of events; that had a clear beginning, middle and end; and that described a character\u27s experiences to a point of conclusion. This was accomplished with varying degrees of teacher assistance required. The stories from these students showed some similarities, but each student brought some unique element to the writing. The stories were distinguishable, even though the text in each story was inspired by the same set of illustrations. The students who went through this process were pleased with their work and were proud to share their stories with their classmates

Does Paper Presentation Affect Grading: Examining the Possible Educational Repercussions of the Quality of Student Penmanship

Based upon personal experience, upon being returned a graded, handwritten assignment, teachers will often extend compliments to those students who wrote in neat, legible handwriting, refraining from alluding to the quality of the content during this exchange. With these concepts in mind, the author elected to determine whether or not the presentation of handwritten assignments has any effect on a teacher’s ability to grade objectively, if, perhaps, teachers are allowing their students’ penmanship to sway their interpretation of a paper’s content. In order to discover the validity of these concerns, a thorough literary analysis was conducted with the following questions in mind: Does the quality of one’s penmanship influence grading? What are the evolving conceptions regarding the importance of handwriting and how have they affected the quality of students’ penmanship? How can teachers implement a consistent and effective handwriting education? Should students be encouraged to submit their work in a typed format in the attempt to avoid this possible bias? The results of the study were that, when presented with assignments written in varying degrees of neatness, teachers are allowing factors other than the content of the writing to affect their ability to grade impartially. While this paper supports the need for a consistent and effective handwriting education in order to improve overall handwriting legibility, it also suggests that those schools with the means should encourage all students to submit their work in a typed manner, thus presenting the information uniformly so as to potentially eliminate this bias

Supplemental Action Learning Workshops: Understanding the Effects of Independent and Cooperative Workshops on Students’ Knowledge

Community colleges enroll more than half of the undergraduate population in the United States, thereby retaining students of varying demographics with extracurricular demands differing from traditional four-year university students. Often in a collegiate lecture course, students are limited in their abilities to absorb and process information presented by their instructors due to content-specific cognitive gaps between the instructor and the student (Preszler, 2009). Research has shown implementation of instructor-facilitated action learning workshops as supplemental instruction may help bridge these cognitive gaps allowing better student conceptualization and dissemination of knowledge (Drake, 2001; Fullilove & Treisman, 1990; Preszler, 2009; Udovick et al., 2002). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of cooperative action learning workshops and independent action learning workshops on students’ knowledge of specified topics within a General Biology I with lab course. The results of this investigation indicate that implementation of an instructor-facilitated action learning workshop did not affect students’ knowledge gain; furthermore, attendance of a particular workshop style (independent or cooperative) did not affect students’ knowledge gain

Chemoprevention of breast cancer for women at hgh risk

Breast cancer remains the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States. Several studies have identified cohorts of women at higher than average risk to develop this disease. These are women who are exposed to high levels of endogenous or exogenous estrogens, those with a family history of breast cancer, and those who harbor benign breast disease or genetic mutations that predispose to breast cancer. In this population group, adapting a chemoprevention strategy to decrease the risk of developing overt disease is a strong consideration. To this end, tamoxifen is the most accepted agent to date. This article will describe high risk categories that predict future development of invasive breast cancer, will summarize the current available data to support the use of tamoxifen for chemoprevention, and will further discuss adverse effects of tamoxifen as well as measures to anticipate and monitor for possible adverse outcomes

Gender Differences in Communication:Implications for Salespeople

As more women enter into the traditionally male-dominated occupations of sales and purchasing, an understanding of gender differences in communication can provide salespeople with added information to increase their effectiveness. 1his paper begins with a review of the research on gender differences in verbal and non-verbal communication and then applies these findings to the field of sales. The paper concludes with managerial implications and recommendations for how salespeople might account for gendered aspects of their communications and by so doing potentially increase the effectiveness of their sales process