The potential function of forehead gland secretions in conflict resolution of the male Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats

Chemical communication is an important aspect of social behavior in almost all animals. Here, we used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to detect the chemical composition, and behavioral tests to evaluate the potential function of forehead gland secretions between adult male Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats, Hipposideros armiger. Our results showed that the concentrations of compounds and their categories differed significantly among individuals, and behavioral studies indicated that males are capable of utilizing the secretions for individual discrimination. Moreover, paired males that were incapable of gland protrusion showed more physical contact and longer contest duration compared to pairs in which both males could protrude the gland. In trials where only one male could protrude the gland, males with gland protrusion were more likely to win in contests. These findings provide the first behavioral evidence that chemical communication plays a vital role in conflict resolution in non-human mammals.

WHEN THE OBLIGATION TO BE NEUTRAL BECOMES THE RIGHT TO DISCRIMINATE: DISCURSIVE STRUGGLES OVER LGBT+ RIGHTS AT POLISH UNIVERSITIES

ABSTRACT In this article, we discuss the narratives of struggle, resistance, and counter-resistance over the rights of the LGBT+ community at several Polish universities, which remain unnamed in order to protect our informants. In particular, we look at the discourses of LGBT+ groups struggling to establish or maintain organizations of various forms (from students’ study circles to union-like institutions) within the context of internal university structure, Polish academic culture and current political developments in the country. This research draws on semi-structured in-depth interviews we conducted in the spring and summer of 2020. In our analyses of the interview material, we apply a multidisciplinary methodological framework combining CDA and narrative inquiry in order to examine linguistic phenomena participating in constructing a particular version of reality through text in talk. Such research design enables us to offer a case study of the difficulties and obstacles faced by LGBT+ activists in the Polish academia the way they understand them, and of the resistance strategies they employ in this particular context. Our research shows a wide range of resistance strategies employed by the LGBT+ community members that can be classified according to the scale of discriminatory practices they form a response to (systemic/individual discrimination) and the type of the response itself (group/individual response). On the basis of the discussed examples, our article offers an interagentive matrix of strategies of addressing LGBT+ issues emerging within the Polish academic context.

Socially foraging bats discriminate between group members based on search-phase echolocation calls

Animals have evolved diverse strategies to use social information for increasing foraging success and efficiency. Echolocating bats, for example, can eavesdrop on bats foraging nearby because they shift from search-phase calls to feeding buzzes when they detect prey. Feeding buzzes can directly convey information about prey presence, but it is unknown whether search-phase calls also convey social information. Here, we investigated whether search-phase echolocation calls, distinct calls produced by some bat species to scan large open areas for prey, can additionally convey individual identity. We tested this in Molossus molossus, a neotropical insectivorous bat that forages with group members, presumably to find ephemeral insect swarms more efficiently. We caught M. molossus from six different social groups and recorded their search-phase calls during a standardized release procedure, then recaptured and tested 19 marked bats with habituation–dishabituation playback experiments. We showed that they can discriminate between group members based on search-phase calls, and our statistical analysis of call parameters supported the presence of individual signatures in search-phase calls. Individual discrimination is a prerequisite of individual recognition, which may allow M. molossus to maintain contact with group members while foraging without using specialized signals for communication.

Issues Faced by Minority Ethnic Groups’ Students Reflected in Their Writing

This research attempted to determine issues faced by minority ethnic groups’ students in English Language Education Department in private university in Malang, and whether ethnicity and social aspects played significant roles in the students’ language proficiency reflected in their vocabulary in writing class. The researcher analysed writing samples taken from 16 students from both minority and majority ethnic groups by utilising Voyant Tools which focused on vocabulary density and average words per sentence. Followed with spreading questionnaires to eight students of minority ethnic groups and interviewing two of them who earned highest scored based on Voyant Tools. Those sessions were analysed with Thick Description to focus on related issues regarding vocabulary proficiency and ethnicities. The results taken from Voyant Tools indicated that students from minority ethnic groups were lesser than the students from majority one’s. Those results depicted the vocabulary proficiency of students from minority ethnic groups in writing, and those results were affected by educational deprived in their origins, and verbal abuse regarding their ethnicity. The researcher discovered that verbal abuse towards ethnicity regarded as individual discrimination that strengthens the majority’s idea to emphasise their superiority over the inferior. People tend to overlook the fact that verbal abuse among students was existed in universities and it affecting students’ performance. This notion was supported by the result taken from Voyant Tools in which the result shown that the minority ethnic groups were lesser than majority one’s and the effect were reflected at their writing, notably their vocabulary proficiency.

Issues Faced by Minority Ethnic Groups’ Students Reflected in Their Writing

This research attempted to determine issues faced by minority ethnic groups’ students in English Language Education Department in private university in Malang, and whether ethnicity and social aspects played significant roles in the students’ language proficiency reflected in their vocabulary in writing class. The researcher analysed writing samples taken from 16 students from both minority and majority ethnic groups by utilising Voyant Tools which focused on vocabulary density and average words per sentence. Followed with spreading questionnaires to eight students of minority ethnic groups and interviewing two of them who earned highest scored based on Voyant Tools. Those sessions were analysed with Thick Description to focus on related issues regarding vocabulary proficiency and ethnicities. The results taken from Voyant Tools indicated that students from minority ethnic groups were lesser than the students from majority one’s. Those results depicted the vocabulary proficiency of students from minority ethnic groups in writing, and those results were affected by educational deprived in their origins, and verbal abuse regarding their ethnicity. The researcher discovered that verbal abuse towards ethnicity regarded as individual discrimination that strengthens the majority’s idea to emphasise their superiority over the inferior. People tend to overlook the fact that verbal abuse among students was existed in universities and it affecting students’ performance. This notion was supported by the result taken from Voyant Tools in which the result shown that the minority ethnic groups were lesser than majority one’s and the effect were reflected at their writing, notably their vocabulary proficiency.

An Approximation to Inclusive Language in LMOOCs Based on Appraisal Theory

This article explores inclusive language as a form of verbal communication in an open online language course for refugees and migrants. Firstly, the existing evidence of the benefits of using inclusive language in education is analyzed. Secondly, the specific need to use this type of language in the context of online courses for displaced people is discussed. Thirdly, a first approximation towards the identification of linguistic resources that may impact both group inclusion and individual discrimination is attempted, based on principles and categories from Appraisal Theory. Fourthly, the presence and effects of these linguistic resources are analyzed in the materials and forums of a highly successful LMOOC of elementary Spanish for refugees and migrants. Fifthly and finally, conclusions are drawn on the convenience of incorporating inclusive language as a design element in LMOOCs for displaced people, enhance its use in forums, and train facilitators accordingly.

Cooperative bird discriminates between individuals based purely on their aerial alarm calls

From an evolutionary perspective, the ability to recognize individuals provides great selective advantages, such as avoiding inbreeding depression during breeding. Whilst the capacity to recognize individuals for these types of benefits is well established in social contexts, why this recognition might arise in a potentially deadly alarm-calling context following predator encounters is less obvious. For example, in most avian systems, alarm signals directed toward aerial predators represent higher predation risk and vulnerability than when individuals vocalize toward a terrestrial-based predator. Although selection should favor simple, more effective alarm calls to these dangerous aerial predators, the potential of these signals to nonetheless encode additional information such as caller identity has not received a great deal of attention. We tested for individual discrimination capacity in the aerial alarm vocalizations of the noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala), a highly social honeyeater that has been previously shown to be able to discriminate between the terrestrial alarm signals of individuals. Utilizing habituation–discrimination paradigm testing, we found conclusive evidence of individual discrimination in the aerial alarm calls of noisy miners, which was surprisingly of similar efficiency to their ability to discriminate between less urgent terrestrial alarm signals. Although the mechanism(s) driving this behavior is currently unclear, it most likely occurs as a result of selection favoring individualism among other social calls in the repertoire of this cooperative species. This raises the intriguing possibility that individualistic signatures in vocalizations of social animals might be more widespread than currently appreciated, opening new areas of bioacoustics research.

Discrimination, Life Stress, and Mental Health among Muslims: A Preregistered Meta-analysis and Systematic Review

Stage 1 Registered Report: How is the current context of Islamophobia, anti-Muslim prejudice, and discrimination, associated with Muslim mental health in Western countries? A body of evidence suggests that experiences of discrimination and racism are associated with negative mental health outcomes for marginalized, minority populations (e.g., Paradies et al., 2015). Studies specifically with Muslim populations in Western countries have found mostly similar findings of an association between discrimination and negative mental health outcomes (Samari, Alcalá, & Sharif, 2018). The varied results in the literature calls for using statistical rigor and synthesis to provide clarity of the etiology of psychopathology in the Muslim community. In this study, we plan to conduct meta-analyses of the associations of both perceived discrimination and mental health and life stressors and mental health for Muslims living in Western countries. We aim to contribute to the literature on the experiences of Muslims and to the debate on the contribution of discrimination vs. life stressors on the development of mental health using meta-analytic methods. For added specificity, we examine both perceived individual discrimination and group discrimination and positive and negative mental health outcomes. We also plan to examine various study-related (e.g., publication bias), demographic, and identity-related moderators in these associations. In the current sociopolitical climate, this study is an important step to better serve the needs of the growing global Muslim community.