Integrative Learning Within Tutoring in Higher Education: Contexts for Connections

In response to a gap in the literature regarding integrative learning within higher education tutoring services and the discursive gap that limits how such tutoring is imagined, this multiple case study explored the ways integrative learning takes place within tutoring in higher education and the tools that enabled or constrained such learning. Six tutor-tutee pairs engaged in regular appointments for the topics of college algebra, psychology, finance, biology, theatre, and history, respectively. During the course of one academic semester, 12 participants took part in three interviews, and each pair was observed up to four times. Drawing from sociocultural activity theory, the transcripts were coded and analyzed to identify examples and mediational means of integrative learning in these cases. This analysis yielded a working definition in which integrative learning in tutoring in higher education takes place as learners create relevance from required coursework by articulating why the content has value, making connections, and exercising agency. Major tools affecting integrative learning in this study included dialogue, examples, and context. This study provided descriptive data and patterns that could contribute insights into integrative learning, expand the way tutoring is conceived in higher education, and offer models for tutor training and classroom instruction

Trilled song types are more salient than non-trilled song types in agonistic interactions between male song sparrows (Melospiza Melodia)

Most research on song complexity has mainly focused on repertoire size. However, the way various song structures within a repertoire function in male-male interactions is less well understood. In this study, I have explored the functional significance of songs containing a trilled syllable type shown to have a clear maximum physiological performance barrier versus songs that lack a trilled element. I performed playback experiments with 44 song sparrows on the campus of Western Carolina University in North Carolina. I found that males responded significantly more strongly to trilled than non-trilled songs, suggesting that song sparrows discriminate between song types within a repertoire. The results of this study suggest that male-male interactions may be important drivers for the evolution of complex repertoires in song sparrows. Future studies should focus on understanding how trilled and non-trilled songs function in male-male interactions

A Literary Reading Of Amos

The book of Amos has a unique form compared to other prophetic books in the Hebrew Bible. Its distinctive placement of the oracles against the nations (1:3-2:16). and vision sequences (7-9) make it difficult to read the text as a unified book. Yet, Amos employs the consistent rhetorical technique of “unmet expectations” that extends from the introduction (1:2), through the questions (3:2-8), to the visions (7-9). Furthermore, images of water, drought, and agriculture appear constantly within the text. Amos often utilizes these images when he employs his technique of unmet expectations, thereby creating a cohesive book. These images are rooted in the concrete social and political context of the eighth century’s sacred economy in which non-producing elites were often in conflict with subsistence-based agrarian communities

Natural and anthropogenic changes to mangrove distributions in the Pioneer River Estuary (QLD, Australia)

We analyzed a time series of aerial photographs and Landsat satellite imagery of the Pioneer River Estuary (near Mackay, Queensland, Australia) to document both natural and anthropogenic changes in the area of mangroves available to filter river runoff between 1948 and 2002. Over 54 years, there was a net loss of 137 ha (22%) of tidal mangroves during four successive periods that were characterized by different driving mechanisms: (1) little net change (1948– 1962); (2) net gain from rapid mangrove expansion (1962–1972); (3) net loss from clearing and tidal isolation (1972–1991); and (4) net loss from a severe species-specific dieback affecting over 50% of remaining mangrove cover (1991–2002). Manual digitization of aerial photographs was accurate for mapping changes in the boundaries of mangrove distributions, but this technique underestimated the total loss due to dieback. Regions of mangrove dieback were identified and mapped more accurately and efficiently after applying the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery, and then monitoring changes to the index over time. These remote sensing techniques to map and monitor mangrove changes are important for identifying habitat degradation, both spatially and temporally, in order to prioritize restoration for management of estuarine and adjacent marine ecosystems

Review: Allelochemicals as multi-kingdom plant defence compounds: towards an integrated approach

© 2020 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. The capability of synthetic pesticides to manage weeds, insect pests and pathogens in crops has diminished due to evolved resistance. Sustainable management is thus becoming more challenging. Novel solutions are needed and, given the ubiquity of biologically active secondary metabolites in nature, such compounds require further exploration as leads for novel crop protection chemistry. Despite improving understanding of allelochemicals, particularly in terms of their potential for use in weed control, their interactions with multiple biotic kingdoms have to date largely been examined in individual compounds and not as a recurrent phenomenon. Here, multi-kingdom effects in allelochemicals are introduced by defining effects on various organisms, before exploring current understanding of the inducibility and possible ecological roles of these compounds with regard to the evolutionary arms race and dose–response relationships. Allelochemicals with functional benefits in multiple aspects of plant defence are described. Gathering these isolated areas of science under the unified umbrella of multi-kingdom allelopathy encourages the development of naturally-derived chemistries conferring defence to multiple discrete biotic stresses simultaneously, maximizing benefits in weed, insect and pathogen control, while potentially circumventing resistance. © 2020 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry

Are we failing to protect threatened mangroves in the Sundarbans world heritage ecosystem?

The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world, is under threat from historical and future human exploitation and sea level rise. Limited scientific knowledge on the spatial ecology of the mangroves in this world heritage ecosystem has been a major impediment to conservation efforts. Here, for the first time, we report on habitat suitability analyses and spatial density maps for the four most prominent mangrove species - Heritiera fomes, Excoecaria agallocha, Ceriops decandra and Xylocarpus mekongensis. Globally endangered H. fomes abundances declined as salinity increased. Responses to nutrients, elevation, and stem density varied between species. H. fomes and X. mekongensis preferred upstream habitats. E. agallocha and C. decandra preferred down-stream and mid-stream habitats. Historical harvesting had negative influences on H. fomes, C. decandra and X. mekongensis abundances. The established protected area network does not support the most suitable habitats of these threatened species. We therefore recommend a reconfiguration of the network to include these suitable habitats and ensure their immediate protection. These novel habitat insights and spatial predictions can form the basis for future forest studies and spatial conservation planning, and have implications for more effective conservation of the Sundarbans mangroves and the many other species that rely on them