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Invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) have rapidly spread throughout the
Atlantic and Caribbean waters in the past 30 years, representing a threat to fish
communities through predation. Diet composition of lionfish was examined by collecting
stomach contents from fishes taken during 2014 summer roundup events in St. Lucie and
Martin County, Florida. Differences in composition of stomachs as well as diversity of
prey items were observed between both events. The most numerous prey items were
teleost fishes (67-91%) and crustaceans (9-32.7%). Fish from six varying families were
identified thus far. Black sea bass (Centropristis striata), a managed fishery, was noted
frequently in the St. Lucie stomachs. In addition to diet composition, gastric evacuation
rate (GER) was tested through live feeding trials with Mojarra sp. One trial of 14 hours
did not encompass total digestion of 8.5 mL of prey, suggesting that lionfishes’ GER is
potentially much longer than previously thought and dependent on stomach volume.

This paper argues that Kim Il-Sung of North Korea and Fidel Castro of Cuba established personality cults of differing degrees of intensity due to the relative degrees of historical and political isolation present in each state. Although both states followed a similar pattern of dominance, resentment, nationalism, and socialism in their recent histories, their differing overall histories dictated the intensity of their leaders' personality cults. Korea's long history of self-imposed isolationism in combination with xenophobia was continued in Kim's self-reliance ideology and allowed for a fanatical personality cult to develop. Cuba's only experience with isolation was that imposed by the United States through its embargoes, and the resulting hostility between Cuba and the United States actually helped legitimize Castro's regime and personality cult.

This paper argues that Kim Il-Sung of North Korea and Fidel Castro of Cuba established personality cults of differing degrees of intensity due to the relative degrees of historical and political isolation present in each state. Although both states followed a similar pattern of dominance, resentment, nationalism, and socialism in their recent histories, their differing overall histories dictated the intensity of their leaders' personality cults. Korea's long history of self-imposed isolationism in combination with xenophobia was continued in Kim's self-reliance ideology and allowed for a fanatical personality cult to develop. Cuba's only experience with isolation was that imposed by the United States through its embargoes, and the resulting hostility between Cuba and the United States actually helped legitimize Castro's regime and personality cult.

In the twenty-first century one of the most widespread and challenging human disorders is Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Standard therapies are effective in achieving glycemic control but have undesired side effects, such as hypoglycemia and weight gain. As a result, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutics to treat this devastating disease. The Glucagon-like peptide receptor (GLP-1R) plays a critical role in glucose homeostasis and is therefore an attractive target for treatment of T2DM. GLP-1R exhibits pleiotropic signaling, so to determine if activation of one signaling pathway to the exclusion of others will provide improved therapeutics, we sought to identify GLP-1R biased ligands. Screening of large lentivirus-encoded combinatorial peptide libraries identified a novel GLP-1R ligand (peptide SR) exhibiting functional selectivity. Here, we describe the in vitro and in vivo pharmacological characterization of peptide SR and highlight the differences observed between this treatment and the reference ligand, Exendin-4.

This research study on the antislavery novel, Sab (1841), by Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, explores issues of race, gender and social status in Cuban society during the 19th century. Avellaneda’s narrative establishes a difference between ethnic, gender and economic privileges portrayed through the most influential characters in the novel: the slave, Sab; the daughter of the landowner, Carlota; orphaned daughter of Carlota’s uncle, Teresa; and Enrique, a British landowner and Carlota’s fiancé. This study pays particular attention to Teresa’s resistance to the patriarchal values in a colonial society ruled by Spain. I consider this character crucial to understand the antislavery discourse that Avellaneda incorporates in her novel to destabilize a hierarchical and prejudiced society. Furthermore, I will illustrate the major role of Teresa in the novel, whose presence has been shaded by the central female character, Carlota, and frequently underestimated by the critics.