Ruskin College

Biotic resistance theory posits a negative relationship between diversity and invasibility. The mechanisms behind this can be variable, but studies are often focused on competition between many resident and introduced species. However, individual species may interact more strongly in communities, some of which may be effective predators and, thus, could offer stronger biotic resistance, broadening biotic resistance theory beyond diversity. In species with complex life histories, biotic resistance may be stage-specific, with resisting species affecting select life stages. The relationship between native eastern mosquitofish ( Gambusia holbrooki ) and the non-native tropical clawed frog ( Xenopus tropicalis ; TCF), provides a model system to investigate stage-specific biotic resistance. Preliminary observations suggest TCFs in their introduced range in Florida, USA are more likely to occupy ponds without fish and we hypothesise that mosquitofish provide predatory biotic resistance to early TCF life stages. We tested the hypothesis that the strength of predatory biotic resistance to species with complex life histories would be based on life stage. We also examined how the strength of predatory biotic resistance can be mitigated by predator density, cannibalism by adult life stages and habitat complexity. Hypotheses were tested using wild-caught and lab-reared individuals in controlled laboratory experiments. Early TCF life stages, lacking defensive traits, suffer near-total mortality due to predation and harassment, with vulnerability decreasing during and after metamorphosis. Mosquitofish density and habitat complexity had minimal effects, while the combination of adult frogs and mosquitofish resulted in facilitation between the two predators, increasing tadpole predation. This study underscores the need for thorough testing of the biotic resistance hypothesis across life stages and shows promise for the control of TCFs in Florida. Mosquitofish could be used as a biological control to reduce the recruitment of TCFs by eliminating the larval stage.

The purpose of the present study was to address perceptions towards Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in soccer. Twenty-four male, elite academy soccer players (Mage = 20.04) completed a custom-made questionnaire which included education on CBT. The results found that: i) initially, only 8% of players had heard of CBT whilst only 4% of players knew what CBT was, ii) players strongly agreed that CBT should be offered to all players, iii) not knowing how/where to seek help was identified as the main barrier to CBT, iv) players indicated a preference for one-to-one and face-to-face CBT, as opposed to small-group or online-CBT, and v) players perceived they would receive most support from family/friends, and least support from teammates, if they were to undertake CBT. These findings demonstrate that whilst initial awareness and knowledge of CBT is low, general perceptions towards CBT are positive once athletes are educated on the area.

We use the method of conversation as a tool of living activist struggles to end social injustice. We draw on Black feminism to create an intersectionality of diverse activist voices across time and space. We insist on an intersectional acuity to analyse Global alienation, subjugation and exploitation. We use examples from activist contexts such as the Trade Union and Rape Crisis movements. Our conversation speaks of the tensions and risks of solidarity and organizing across difference. We use Gramsci’s idea of the ‘interregnum’ to look at the in-between space of protest and transformation. We argue that the ‘interregnum’ is an opportunity to build solidarity for Global justice. In the context of intersectional racism, we ask, can the racial grief of Black women speak? We like Lorde’s idea that ‘Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare’ (Lorde, 1988: 332). We argue that the relationship of Black feminism to oppression, constitutes its revolutionary potential, and this distinguishes Black feminist activist methodologies from other methodologies as the tool for Global social justice and peace.

John Constable painted Hadleigh Castle in the months that followed the death of his wife, Maria, in late 1828. Whereas interpretations of this bleak masterpiece frequently stress its melancholic introspection, this article suggests that it can also be understood as fundamentally engaged with scientific ideas. Across the canvas, light and vapour interweave, drawing together globe and sky into a single system of interchanging states that corresponds with understandings of the world arising in contemporary geology and meteorology. This dynamism linking every aspect of the landscape is reinforced by Constable's innovative paint handling, which can profitably be considered in relation to conceptions of electrical charge and polarity then stimulating British intellectual life. Viewed in the light of early nineteenth-century science, Hadleigh Castle emerges from the depths of Constable's mourning as a profound pictorial engagement with newlyconceived qualities of nature, through which the artist traced the invisible but universal conditions of life.

Performance as an artistic ‘genre’ is in a constant state of crisis, and is therefore an ideal medium for articulating a time of permanent crisis such as ours.(Guillelmo Gomez-Pena cited in Delgado and Svich, 2002, 2)

ABSTRACTThis article explores Clement Greenberg’s idea that abstraction is a form of negation in the context of mid-twentieth century homophobia and Jewish self-hatred. Greenberg presents both as a denial of the self, and so aligns the negation involved in abstraction with the self-liquidation necessary for economic progress in capitalism.

This chapter examines the possibility of organising of migrant women domestic workers in Labour Unions in the three countries in the research: the UK, Germany and Turkey by demonstrating barriers to organising migrant women within Unions. These include religious and patriarchal codes which discourage these women to join trade unions. Beyond the structural inabilities of trade unions to approach and recruit domestic workers, the study also looks at how women themselves perceive trade unions, why they do or do not join and whether or not they take part in May Day and other celebrations.