Herbivory and Arthropod Diversity within Invaded and Native Forest Types on Hawai’i Island

Authors: Stephen McAuliffe, José Iván Martes Martinez, Laura Warman, and Rebecca Ostertag

Hawaiian lowland wet forests (HLWF) have been subject to degradation as a result of human activities and the introduction of non-native plant and animal species. Arthropods play crucial roles in forest ecological processes and food web dynamics, and this study aims to compare arthropod diversity and herbivory in HLWF with high or low degrees of invasion. The objective of this study is to test whether invaded HLWF have greater arthropod diversity and therefore higher rates of herbivory than HLWF undisturbed by invasion.

Demographic and Abuse Severity Indicators of Participant Progress in a Rural Drug Court

Author: Codey Collins

Prior research has found that progression in and successful completion of drug court programs is linked to mental health factors and various demographics. Little is known, however, about the characteristics and influences of these factors in relation to small rural drug courts, which often consist of a significantly smaller and more homogenous population of participants. This descriptive study examines demographics of a small rural drug court in the southeastern United States.

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015

Author: Maria Zagorulya

Diseases caused by parasites have had devastating effects on the world’s poorest nations, and the drugs developed by these researchers have had immeasurable health benefits in these regions. This year the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for the development of therapies against parasitic diseases. One half of the prize was awarded to Youyou Tu "for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria," and the other half to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura "for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites."