Sweet scents: Nectar specialist yeasts enhance nectar attraction of a generalist aphid parasitoid without affecting survival

Copyright © 2018 Sobhy, Baets, Goelen, Herrera-Malaver, Bosmans, Van den Ende, Verstrepen, Wäckers, Jacquemyn and Lievens.Floral nectar is commonly inhabited by microorganisms, mostly yeasts and bacteria, which can have a strong impact on nectar chemistry and scent. Yet, little is known about the effects of nectar microbes on the behavior and survival of insects belonging to the third trophic level such as parasitoids. Here, we used five nectar-inhabiting yeast species to test the hypothesis that yeast species that almost solely occur in nectar, and therefore substantially rely on floral visitors for dispersal, produce volatile compounds that enhance insect attraction without compromising insect life history parameters, such as survival. Experiments were performed using two nectar specialist yeasts (Metschnikowia gruessii and M. reukaufii) and three generalist species (Aureobasidium pullulans, Hanseniaspora uvarum, and Sporobolomyces roseus). Saccharomyces cerevisiae was included as a reference yeast. We compared olfactory responses of the generalist aphid parasitoid Aphidius ervi (Haliday) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) when exposed to these microorganisms inoculated in synthetic nectar. Nectar-inhabiting yeasts had a significant impact on nectar chemistry and produced distinct volatile blends, some of which were attractive, while others were neutral or repellent. Among the different yeast species tested, the nectar specialists M. gruessii and M. reukaufii were the only species that produced a highly attractive nectar to parasitoid females, which simultaneously had no adverse effects on longevity and survival of adults. By contrast, parasitoids that fed on nectars fermented with the reference strain, A. pullulans, H. uvarum or S. roseus showed shortest longevity and lowest survival. Additionally, nectars fermented by A. pullulans or S. roseus were consumed significantly less, suggesting a lack of important nutrients or undesirable changes in the nectar chemical profiles. Altogether our results indicate that nectar-inhabiting yeasts play an important, but so far largely overlooked, role in plant-insect interactions by modulating the chemical composition of nectar, and may have important ecological consequences for plant pollination and biological control of herbivorous insects.This work was supported by a KU Leuven Specialization Research Grant for Researchers from the South to ISS (No. 0086389) and a KU Leuven C3 project (IOF-C32/15/020)

The prospect of applying chemical elicitors and plant strengtheners to enhance the biological control of crop pests

An imminent food crisis reinforces the need for novel strategies to increase crop yields worldwide. Effective control of pest insects should be part of such strategies, preferentially with reduced negative impact on the environment and optimal protection and utilization of existing biodiversity. Enhancing the presence and efficacy of native biological control agents could be one such strategy. Plant strengthener is a generic term for several commercially available compounds or mixtures of compounds that can be applied to cultivated plants in order to 'boost their vigour, resilience and performance'. Studies into the consequences of boosting plant resistance against pests and diseases on plant volatiles have found a surprising and dramatic increase in the plants' attractiveness to parasitic wasps. Here, we summarize the results from these studies and present new results from assays that illustrate the great potential of two commercially available resistance elicitors. We argue that plant strengtheners may currently be the best option to enhance the attractiveness of cultivated plants to biological control agents. Other options, such as the genetic manipulation of the release of specific volatiles may offer future solutions, but in most systems, we still miss fundamental knowledge on which key attractants should be targeted for this approach.European Science Foundation; Swiss National Science FoundationAAM supplied by author and uploaded to ChesterRep 07/11/202

Finding faithfulness: how might telling stories of faithfulness generate practices of faithfulness?

This thesis is a response to recognition of implicit ethnic values in my multiethnic context, and the challenges they make for flourishing communal relations, especially across our ethnic divides. I develop and test a facilitation model to encourage communication that honours the other/Other in their difference in a church congregation. Finding faithfulness describes this journey towards relational community. It is a practical theology research project in an urban multiethnic congregation in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. It connects scripturally themed questions, an appreciative stance and world café’s hospitality-based facilitative form to create WisdomCafé. Its contribution to the field of practical theology is a methodological framework where substantial engagement with scripture is woven through qualitative empirical research in a unique way. WisdomCafé facilitates discipleship and spiritual growth in multiethnic communities through storytelling and reflection. This search for faithfulness engaged with the judgment parables (Mt. 24:36-25:46),1 stories where all are called to give account to Christ on his return as Judge, found faithful or unfaithful, and invited into or excluded from more responsibility and relationship. From my hermeneutic of relational faithfulness, I identify themes of relational and ethical accountability, which I develop into the questions, stories and reflections for WisdomCafé conversations. These in turn connect with the quest for relational flourishing within and beyond the borders of congregations in multiethnic communities. Results from this small yet rich database saw laypeople taking surprising initiatives to engage in their communities from the ground up. In its mix of scripture, structure, story and reflection, WisdomCafé offers a practical response to questions of relationality, power, creativity, identity and voice. Through its indirect communication style, it bypasses defences to share power and validate voice, renewing personal, communal and cultural dynamics as it encourages recognition of the sacred in one another and in daily practices of life. The original communication model that this thesis describes is of interest to those working to strengthen relationships across boundaries, particularly ethnic and generational, in conversation with experience and scripture. Its framework is applicable to other passages of scripture and methods of interpretation. It offers insight from the margins of cultures into the challenge of welcoming minority voices to speak and provoking the majority/colonial culture to listen

Investigating the relationship between heat-mediated cognitive impairment and antipredator response in a wild bird

© 2025 The Authors.Increasingly frequent heatwaves require animals to spend more time thermoregulating at the expense of other fitness-related behaviours. Emerging evidence also indicates that high temperatures can impair cognitive function in wild animals. However, whether such heat-mediated cognitive impairment underpins altered behavioural responses during high temperatures remains unclear. We examined the link between naturally occurring high temperatures, cognitive performance and antipredator response in wild southern pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor). In a paired experimental design, we performed model predator presentations using a taxidermied common genet (Genetta genetta) and a box as the control, and we quantified associative learning performance—a cognitive trait involved in associating predator cues with a threat—for the same individuals under normal and high-temperature conditions. As predicted, individuals showed a stronger antipredator response (combining time spent vigilant, flying and alarming) when presented with the predator compared to the control under normal but not high temperatures. Associative learning performance also declined with increasing air temperatures. However, associative learning performance (whether measured under normal or high temperatures) did not predict the strength of the antipredator response. Our findings provide novel evidence for a reduced antipredator response under high temperatures and suggest that physiological constraints rather than learning impairment might explain this change.This work was supported by the Australian Government through grant DP220103823 awarded to ARR, BJA, and AT. The Kuruman River Reserve was financed by Zurich University, Cambridge University, MAVA foundation and Zoo Zurich

Developing an Equality Impact Assessment Framework for the HE sector: Full report

This research project applies an evidence-based approach to understanding obstacles to effective use of Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) across the higher education (HE) sector. It explores the benefits of co-production with staff and students to inform the development of an impact assessment framework underpinned by the staff/student voice. The project's principal aim was to review existing higher education institution practice and collate stakeholder perceived obstacles in relation to EqIAs to support the development of an evidence-based, holistic, context-driven framework for EqIAs. This aim is underpinned by principles of co-production across the HE sector. The current UK legislative framework is considered a floor not a ceiling, therefore there is the potential for the framework to be used around the world. This project, by the University of Chester alongside the University of Hertfordshire, was funded by the 2024-25 round of the Advance HE Collaborative Development Fund.Developing a Framework for Meaningful Equality Impact Assessments Underpinned by Co-Production Principles for Holistic Use Across the HE Sector | Funder: Advance H

Long-term stability of chimpanzee personality: comparing trait ratings and behaviour codings over a quarter of a century

There is a lack of research examining whether trait ratings and behaviour codings yield similar measures of personality in nonhuman animals, and whether these measures are stable over the long term. Here, we compare personality assessments in the same group of zoo-housed chimpanzees over a 25 year period, offering a rare opportunity for the analysis of long-term temporal stability of personality in this species. We attempt to disentangle the effects of time and measure through an analysis of similarities and differences at a group and individual level. The first wave of the study rated 59 chimpanzees’ personality traits on an adapted version of the Madingley Questionnaire. The trait principal component analysis (PCA) revealed five components: Submissiveness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Openness. A separate PCA identified five components based on behavioural codings: Grooming, Play, Sociability, Aggression and Responsibility. The second wave, with 19 individuals, identified three components arising from behavioural codings: Popularity, Sociability and Influence. When comparing across time for the 11 chimpanzees common to both waves, our primary hypothesis, that trait ratings from the first wave would not correlate with behaviour codings from the second because they are measuring different axes, was largely supported. Our second hypothesis, that the behaviour codings carried out during the two waves would correlate because they were measuring the same thing, was supported, both at the component level and the individual behaviour level, thus providing evidence of stability of behaviour codings over time, particularly those reflecting sociability measures. Personality trait ratings were different to behavioural codings and included aspects not captured through those codings, including intelligence, apprehension, excitability and gentleness; thus, we argue that they represent a more comprehensive characterisation of individuality.Partially funded by SERCAAM removed and archived and VoR uploaded to CR 23/09/202

An examination of inpatient ward and secondary community care stay costs for individuals with complex mental health needs in the UK

Copyright: © 2025 Saini et al.Some people with mental health problems have such high levels of complex clinical and/or risk needs that those needs cannot be adequately met within generic mental health services. To design health and social provisions to better serve these people’s needs, it is necessary to first characterise the current provision. This study examines the cost element of this provision. This retrospective observational cohort study examined routinely collected healthcare service administrative data from a large UK-based NHS provider of community and hospital-based mental health services. Data were collected from medical records of individuals with complex mental health (CMH) needs aged ≥18 years old who had an inpatient ward stay between February 2000 until August 2021. Predictors of annual inpatient ward and secondary community care stay (residential/supported living/independent) costs were estimated using generalised linear models. Mean (median) annual total healthcare costs for 185 included adults were £106,847 (£109,651), comprising 16.4% from inpatient ward stay costs of £17,512 (£10,723) and 83.6% from secondary community care stay costs of £89,336 (£97,739). Associations varied across care context. Key predictors of inpatient stay cost included age, deprivation, and substance abuse. The primary diagnostic group of schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders (ICD10 codes: F20-F29) was found to be a predictor of greater secondary community care stay costs. Inpatient ward and secondary community care stay costs varied across patient characteristics. Additional research is warranted to further explore predictors identified in this study to prevent, promote, and monitor activities for individuals with differing CMH needs.Wirral Borough Council; Grant(s): 1582 CW

Too Good To Hide: Tony Hayes

The article provides a brief profile of Tony Hayes. The text focuses on Hayes’ project ‘Window Dressing’ (2019) that documents shop window displays in Chester, Liverpool and Manchester. All of the photographs for this project include the reflection of the photographer – consequently the images combine the window display and the photographer’s self-portrait. Two of Hayes’ photographs are reproduced in the article and written about in the article text. The article complemented the exhibition ‘Too Good To Hide: Tony Hayes’ shown at the Rainbow Tea Rooms, Chester (28 Bridge Street, CH1 1NQ).The article ‘Too Good To Hide: Tony Hayes’ was written in relation to the exhibition of the same name at the Rainbow Tea Rooms in Chester (July - October 2024). The exhibition was curated by Stephen Clarke, and was the fourth curatorial project for Clarke at the café’s exhibition space in Chester city centre. Tony Hayes is a photographer based in Widnes who has undertaken an AA2A (Artist Access to Art Colleges) residency at the University of Chester. In the article Clarke considers how the camera operates as a series of lenses and mirrors to view a subject. Clarke refers to the catalogue essay by John Szarkowski for the exhibition ‘Mirrors and Windows: American Photography since 1960’ at the Museum of Modern Art New York in 1978. Szarkowski describes how a photographer uses a camera either as an objective ‘window’ to view the world or a subjective ‘mirror’ that reflects the photographer’s own sensibility. Clarke applies this discussion to the work of Tony Hayes who has made a series of photographs looking into shop windows that record both the view through the glass pane and the reflection of the photographer. Stephen Clarke and Tony Hayes were interviewed by Sean Styles on BBC Merseyside in Liverpool at 1.30pm on Sunday 6th October 2024.unfunde

Adapting scenario planning to create an expectation for surprises: Going beyond probability and plausibility in risk assessment

© 2025 The Author(s). Risk Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Risk Analysis.The need for risk assessments to take full account of uncertainty by going beyond probability and creating an expectation for surprises has recently been highlighted in this journal. This paper sets out an adaptation to the Intuitive Logics (IL) scenario-planning method that assists risk assessors to achieve this aim. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this adaptation through a controlled experiment. The controlled experiment took the form of a simulated IL scenario-planning exercise in which individuals assigned values representative of extreme outcomes to sets of simple and more complex clusters of driving forces under three experimental conditions representing alternative uncertainty expressions (‘probable’, ‘plausible’, and ‘surprising’). The values assigned in the ‘probable’ and ‘plausible’ conditions were not significantly different from each other. However, the ‘surprising’ condition resulted in the assignment of more extreme values than either of the other two conditions. The complexity of a set of clustered driving had no effect. A follow-up analysis showed that participants interpreted the words ‘probable’ and ‘plausible’ similarly. This is problematic for scenario methods like IL, which are claimed to stretch consideration of the future’s potential extremity beyond what it would be using probability by instead employing plausibility. Yet, if participants interpret ‘probable’ and ‘plausible’ similarly, then using plausibility instead of probability will not stretch their thinking as desired. By adapting IL in the simple way this paper outlines, scenario planning can assist risk assessors to go beyond both probability and plausibility, thereby taking fuller account of uncertainty and improving anticipation of surprises.The project was jointly funded by the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies’ (SAMS) and the British Academy of Management's (BAM) Research and Capacity Building Grant Scheme.Article published Gold OA. AAM removed and archived and VoR uploaded to CR 19/09/202

Developing an Equality Impact Assessment Framework for the HE sector: Summary report

This research project applies an evidence-based approach to understanding obstacles to effective use of Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) across the higher education (HE) sector. It explores the benefits of co-production with staff and students to inform the development of an impact assessment framework underpinned by the staff/student voice. The project's principal aim was to review existing higher education institution practice and collate stakeholder perceived obstacles in relation to EqIAs to support the development of an evidence-based, holistic, context-driven framework for EqIAs. This aim is underpinned by principles of co-production across the HE sector. The current UK legislative framework is considered a floor not a ceiling, therefore there is the potential for the framework to be used around the world. This project, by the University of Chester alongside the University of Hertfordshire, was funded by the 2024-25 round of the Advance HE Collaborative Development Fund.Developing a Framework for Meaningful Equality Impact Assessments Underpinned by Co-Production Principles for Holistic Use Across the HE Sector | Funder: Advance H