abstract

Juncus roemerianus, the black rush, has long been used in restoration projects in south
Florida because of its unique ability to live in both freshwater and saltwater. In particular, it has
been used as an indicator of salt-water incursion due to its differing physical forms in varying
levels of salinity. When found in freshwater, it can reach heights over 2.1 meters, yet when found
in hypersaline water, it becomes dwarfed and only 1 meter in height. Because of its dramatic
differences in physical appearance due to salinity, it has provided an easy and fairly cheap
method of determining an area’s localized salinity level. Most of Juncus roemerianus’s range in
Florida lies around the coasts, which most models predict will experience significant changes
due to sea level rise in the not so distant future. The purpose of this study is to determine whether
the black rush can remain an environmental restoration indicator species in conditions influenced
by sea level rise. This study will take place in the FAU Boca greenhouse and will target
increased water levels and increased pH as the main conditions affected by sea level rise. If this
study finds that increased water levels and pH do not significantly change the appearance of
Juncus roemerianus in varying salinity, then this plant can confidently remain an indicator of
salt-water incursion in the future. Conversely, if these conditions do change the appearance of
Juncus roemerianus, then this plant may not remain an indicator species in South Florida in the
future.

We are presenting work that is aimed at employing characteristics of human visual
system in optimizing video coding compression. Preliminary experiments that include temporal
and motion masking show results with significant savings in bitrate compared to state of the art
coding algorithms.

Climate change is causing shifts in species geographic distributions. This trend is seen
throughout the globe but the impact is especially noticeable in marine environments, which are
highly sensitive to phenological and ecological alterations. Here, systemic shifts have cascading
effects on the food web, productivity, and event timing. Throughout the tropics and the
subtropics, mangrove trees act as the primary foundation species that dominate the intertidal
zone. In particular, red mangroves Rhizophora mangle play a crucial role by acting as substrate
for sessile species within their ecosystems. In these ecosystems, secondary foundation species
that can colonize the prop roots of the red mangroves thereby further affecting the structure of
the community. The original habitat architecture limits species variety and the effectiveness of
species to utilize the space. Habitat architecture is strongly influenced by the foundation species
that form the base for community structure. Investigating the connections between a primary
foundation species, secondary foundation species, and the resulting biodiversity of sessile
species is critical to understanding the variability of the ecosystem. Association with certain
foundation species may provide a more positive environment for certain taxa than others and
thus ease stressors that otherwise could functionally eliminate a species from the ecosystem. In
addition, these associations can have cascading effects on neighboring species and neighboring
ecosystems. Here, we conducted a presence/absence survey from Key West to the Kennedy
Space Center to identify the species that utilized mangrove prop roots as habitat, their
associations, and distributions.

The rodent hippocampus is an essential neural substrate for spatial memory. This
functional capacity is considered to rely upon a cognitive map that represents the location where
relevant non-spatial items or objects are encountered and where specific events occur within a
contextual or spatial reference frame. Place cell activity recorded from CA1 pyramidal neurons
of the dorsal hippocampus of freely moving rodents is influenced by distal and proximal cues or
items within an environment, and increases when objects are placed into a familiar arena.
Recently, the CA1 region of the rodent dorsal hippocampus was shown to play a vital role in
object-in-context memory, and object memory independent of context; findings consistent with
the cognitive map view. Here, we tested the influence of 3D objects on the spatial firing
properties of CA1 neurons, since object-specific neuronal activity has not yet been fully
established in mouse hippocampus. In vivo extracellular recordings from intermediate dorsal
CA1 yielded simultaneous recordings of place cells and a pyramidal neuron demonstrating
object-specific activity over two consecutive sessions with objects present. Higher frequency
object-specific activity was recorded from the same mouse again 3 weeks later during a
comparable task. Object-specific activity was observed only when the mouse explored objects in
the arena, and was independent of spatial location or object identity. Recordings from more distal
region of dorsal CA1, which receives input from proximal CA3, yielded two additional neurons
that demonstrated comparable object-related activity. These results further support the
involvement of the rodent hippocampus in non-spatial object memory.

This article examines the treatment of empirical research data by conservative Supreme
Court Justices. Supreme Court case decisions have throughout the 20th and 21st centuries cited
social science research that contribute to judicial decision making, with conservative justices
often showing a pattern of skepticism justices towards social science research. 21 case rulings
are examined to see how the conservative justices on the Supreme Court under Chief Justice
John Roberts treat empirical evidence in their decision-making. The treatment of evidence
presented by the U.S. Government or Congress in considering the constitutionality of legislation
is also examined. Analyzing the opinions found that the conservative justices tend to be skeptical
of social science research and often criticize its use by liberal justices, but will cite data
depending on the framing of the issue and their view on the reliability of the evidence. The
opinions also suggest that while the conservative justices may cite empirical evidence in majority
and dissent opinions such evidence does not take precedence over legal and ideologically
influenced decision-making.

Ecological components such as availability of resources, physical make-up of the
environment, and biotic interactions amongst and between species are factors that determine
habitat selection and coexistence of organisms within a community. A stable coexistence of
species within a community is possible if the limited resources are partitioned to be speciesspecific.
However, sympatric species are expected to exploit similar resources. Two species of
octopus Octopus vulargis and Macrotritopus defilippi with similar ecological requirements
coexist at an intra-coastal habitat. The ecological phenomena of coexistence of species can be
quantified by measuring the ecological components of the niche. The objective of this study is to
identify the components that facilitate coexistence. The ecological components being examined
include: general habitat location, habitat heterogeneity, foraging and feeding times and locations,
and biotic interactions. Global Positioning System will be used to determine the general location
of the octopus species den. The importance of habitat heterogeneity will be addressed by looking
at substrate make-up of the different species dens. Foraging and feeding times and locations will
be recorded to determine any temporal or spatial influence on species coexistence. Field
observations and laboratory habitat selection experiments will be conducted to determine what
habitat each species selects in the presence and absence of the other species. Our studies will
allow identifying ecological components that facilitate coexistence of sympatric species, provide
insight to cephalopod ecology, and conservation at a heterogeneous environment, which is of
importance to maintain marine biodiversity and ecotourism in south Florida.

Assessing the presence or absence of marine turtles in an open system poses both
observational and analytical challenges due to the migratory nature of marine turtles and their
use of large current systems. Concentrations can shift as turtles shift between oceanic and neritic
stages and migrate between breeding and foraging grounds. We conducted standard aerial
surveys monthly from 2011-2012 to capture seasonal snapshots of sea turtle presence. Each
survey covered the area from a northern boundary near West Palm Beach, Florida
26°43′N to a southern boundary near Miami, Florida 25°40′N, USA with
transects up to 20-50 km offshore. 218 turtles were observed during the course of this study
2011: n 79; 2012: n 139. We summarize our sightings by season: Winter December-February,
Spring March-May, Summer June-August, and Fall September-November to examine trends in
presence of sea turtles. A variety of sizes were observed throughout the year, indicating the
presence of several life stages of marine turtles in Florida’s waters during all four seasons. While
it is understood that marine turtles use the waters off the eastern coast of Florida, here we
document the magnitude of the shift in turtle presence each season throughout two years and
where the turtles occur most frequently. Our assessment of marine turtles in the waters off of
southeast Florida provide valuable metrics describing the in-water biology of these turtles and
for the first time, provide a quantitative assessment of annual and inter-annual fluctuations in
presence in the major current and along our coast.

Behavior in everyday situations depends on the activation of an individual’s specific
goals and motives. Research suggests that basic goals such as protecting oneself, forming
coalitions, and avoiding disease have emerged as the result of evolutionary processes Kenrick,
Li, & Butner, 2003. However, no scale exists to measure the characteristics of situations that
might promote or prevent the achievement of these goals. Participants described a situation they
encountered the previous day and rated that situation using 64 items designed to tap seven
adaptive problems identified by Kenrick and colleagues 2003. Using both exploratory and
confirmatory factor analyses a 28-item measure of situational characteristics that promote or
prevent the achievement of evolutionarily important goals was created. The results suggest that
this 28-item measure has both adequate bandwidth and fidelity. Future research should
investigate the discriminant and convergent validity of this newly created measure.

Purpose: This project will assess the consequences of expansion of coastal willow Salix
caroliniana in sawgrass Cladium jamaicense-dominated wetlands on plant community
composition and ecosystem water and carbon exchange. Methods: Research will be conducted at
Blue Cypress Conservation Area, an impounded sawgrass peatland within the St. John’s Water
Management District SJWMD located in Vero Beach, FL. It is part of the River Basin Project
controlled by SJWMD and the US Army Corps of Engineers, which moderates flooding, protects
water quality, and reduces the amount of freshwater diverted to the Indian River Lagoon. Plant
transpiration and CO2 exchange will be measured on fully expanded, non-damaged leaves of
sawgrass and willow using a portable infrared gas analyzer LI-6400, LI-COR, Lincoln, NE,
U.S.A.. Plant community composition in both habitats will be surveyed along with
measurements of microhabitat conditions and water quality. Results: The results obtained from
this study will provide a better understanding of physiological responses and community changes
that may occur in sawgrass habitats as a result of willow encroachment. It is anticipated that
there will be differences in transpiration rates between the two species as well as changes to
community structure and water quality. Measuring plant level physiological responses will help
improve landscape level models of water exchange as well as inform water management
decisions.

The purpose of this study was first to determine factors associated with intellectual
reputation. Second, the study aimed to examine intellectual reputation in relationship to doctoral
graduates’ productivity in the biomedical sciences and in relationship to organizational
biomedical advancement and productivity. Third, the study aimed to visualize a spatial
relationship between intellectual reputation and local organizational biomedical advancement
and productivity. Finally, a simulated research-based model was proposed for understanding
hospital productivity.
The study used quantitative analysis and The Geographic Information System GIS. The findings
from this study suggest that university’s research intensity, having a Nobel Laureate on staff,
Hirsch Index of the most prominent researcher on staff, scientific patent, scientific publications,
and affiliation with multiple countries are good predictors of intellectual reputation. Correlation
analysis suggests that university intellectual reputation is associated with doctoral graduates’
productivity. When examining the relationship between the university and hospitals, university
intellectual reputation was positively correlated with hospital biomedical advancement. Hospital
productivity was significantly correlated with university intellectual reputation. University
intellectual reputation was significantly correlated with hospital capacity to absorb knowledge
and knowledge spillover. Regression analysis also reveals that hospital capacity to absorb
knowledge and knowledge spillover are good predictors of hospital biomedical advancement, F
2, 176 62.637, p 0.001.Visual examination of the hospitals suggests that when universities
publish at a large quantity, this influences hospitals within the area to publish as well.
Additionally, hospitals that are more productive tend to cluster around universities with higher
intellectual reputation.