Water bathing alters threat perception in starlings.

The majority of bird taxa perform water bathing, but little is known about the adaptive value of this behaviour. If bathing is important for feather maintenance then birds that have not bathed should have poorer feather condition, compromised escape ability and therefore increased responsiveness to cues of predation. We conducted two experiments examining the behaviour of captive starlings responding to conspecific alarm calls. Birds that had no access to bathing water showed a decreased willingness to feed and increased their vigilance behaviour following an alarm call. We argue that birds denied access to bathing water interpreted an ambiguous cue of threat as requiring more caution than birds that had access, consistent with higher levels of anxiety. Our results support the provision of bathing water for captive birds as an important welfare measure

East’s best

A good practice guide about study support and out of hours learning in the East of England

Towards comprehensive early abortion service delivery in high income countries: Insights for improving universal access to abortion in Australia

© 2016 The Author(s). Background: Improving access to safe abortion is an essential strategy in the provision of universal access to reproductive health care. Australians are largely supportive of the provision of abortion and its decriminalization. However, the lack of data and the complex legal and service delivery situation impacts upon access for women seeking an early termination of pregnancy. There are no systematic reviews from a health services perspective to help direct health planners and policy makers to improve access comprehensive medical and early surgical abortion in high income countries. This review therefore aims to identify quality studies of abortion services to provide insight into how access to services can be improved in Australia. Methods: We undertook a structured search of six bibliographic databases and hand-searching to ascertain peer reviewed primary research in English between 2005 and 2015. Qualitative and quantitative study designs were deemed suitable for inclusion. A deductive content analysis methodology was employed to analyse selected manuscripts based upon a framework we developed to examine access to early abortion services. Results: This review identified the dimensions of access to surgical and medical abortion at clinic or hospital-outpatient based abortion services, as well as new service delivery approaches utilising a remote telemedicine approach. A range of factors, mostly from studies in the United Kingdom and United States of America were found to facilitate improved access to abortion, in particular, flexible service delivery approaches that provide women with cost effective options and technology based services. Standards, recommendations and targets were also identified that provided services and providers with guidance regarding the quality of abortion care. Conclusions: Key insights for service delivery in Australia include the: establishment of standards, provision of choice of procedure, improved provider education and training and the expansion of telemedicine for medical abortion. However, to implement such directives leadership is required from Australian medical, nursing, midwifery and pharmacy practitioners, academic faculties and their associated professional associations. In addition, political will is needed to nationally decriminalise abortion and ensure dedicated public provision that is based on comprehensive models tailored for all populations

FUSE observations of HD 5980: The wind structure of the eruptor

HD 5980 is a unique system containing one massive star (star A) that is apparently entering the luminous blue variable phase, and an eclipsing companion (star B) that may have already evolved beyond this phase to become a Wolf-Rayet star. In this paper we present the results from FUSE observations obtained in 1999, 2000, and 2002 and one far-UV observation obtained by ORFEUS/BEFS in 1993 shortly before the first eruption of HD 5980. The eight phase-resolved spectra obtained by FUSE in 2002 are analyzed in the context of a wind-eclipse model. This analysis shows that the wind of the eruptor obeyed a very fast velocity law in 2002, which is consistent with the line-driving mechanism. Large amplitude line-profile variations on the orbital period are shown to be due to the eclipse of star B by the wind of star A, although the eclipse due to gas flowing in the direction of star B is absent. This can only be explained if the wind of star A is not spherically symmetric, or if the eclipsed line radiation is "filled-in" by emission originating from somewhere else in the system, e.g., in the wind-wind collision region. Except for a slightly lower wind speed, the ORFEUS/BEFS spectrum is very similar to the spectrum obtained by FUSE at the same orbital phase: there is no indication of the impending eruption. However, the trend for decreasing wind velocity suggests the occurrence of the "bi-stability" mechanism, which in turn implies that the restructuring of the circumbinary environment caused by the transition from "fast, rarefied wind" to "slow, dense wind" was observed as the eruptive event. The underlying mechanism responsible for the long-term decrease in wind velocity that precipitated this change remains an open issue.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figure

Optical and EUV Light Curves of Dwarf Nova Outbursts

We combine AAVSO and VSS/RASNZ optical and Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer EUV light curves of dwarf novae in outburst to place constraints on the nature of dwarf nova outbursts. From the observed optical-EUV time delays of 0.75-1.5 days, we show that the propagation velocity of the dwarf nova instability heating wave is ~ 3 km/s

Simulating SAR geometric distortions and predicting Persistent Scatterer densities for ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT C-band SAR and InSAR applications: nationwide feasibility assessment to monitor the landmass of Great Britain with SAR imagery

We assess the feasibility of monitoring the landmass of Great Britain with satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, by analysing ERS-1/2 SAR and ENVISAT IS2 Advanced SAR (ASAR) archive data availability, geometric distortions and land cover control on the success of (non-)interferometric analyses. Our assessment both addresses the scientific and operational question of whether a nationwide SAR-based monitoring of ground motion would succeed in Great Britain, and helps to understand controlling factors and possible solutions to overcome the limitations of undertaking SAR-based imaging of the landmass. This is the first time such a nationwide assessment is performed in preparation for acquisition and processing of SAR data in the United Kingdom, and any other country in the world. Analysis of the ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT archives reveals potential for multi-interferogram SAR Interferometry (InSAR) for the entirety of Britain using ERS-1/2 in descending mode, with 100% standard image frames showing at least 20 archive scenes available. ERS-1/2 ascending and both ENVISAT modes show potential for non-interferometric and single-pair InSAR for the vast majority of Britain, and multi-interferogram only for 13% to 38% of the available standard frames. Based on NEXTMap® Britain Digital Terrain Model (DTM) we simulate SAR layover, foreshortening and shadow to the ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT Lines-Of-Sight (LOS), and quantify changes of SAR distortions with variations in mode, LOS incidence angles and ground track angles, local terrain orientation, and the effect of scale due to the input DTM resolution. The simulation is extended to the ~ 230,000 km2 landmass, and shows limited control of local topography on the radar terrain visibility. According to the 50 m to 5 m DTM-based simulations, ~ 1.0–1.4% of Great Britain could potentially be affected by shadow and layover in each mode. Only ~ 0.02–0.04% overlapping between ascending and descending mode distortions is found, this indicating the negligible proportion of the landmass that cannot be monitored using either imaging mode. We calibrate the CORINE Land Cover 2006 (CLC2006) using Persistent Scatterer (PS) datasets available for London, Stoke-On-Trent, Newcastle and Bristol, to quantify land cover control on the PS distribution and characterise the CLC2006 classes in terms of the potential PS density they could provide. Despite predominance of rural land cover types, we predict potential for over 12.8 M monitoring targets for each acquisition mode using a set of image frames covering the entire landmass. We validate our assessment by processing with the Interferometric Point Target Analysis (IPTA) 55 ERS-1/2 SAR scenes depicting South Wales between 1992 and 1999. Although absolute differences between predicted and observed target density are revealed, relative densities and rankings among the various CLC2006 classes are found constant across the calibration and validation datasets. Rescaled predictions for Britain show potential for a total of 2.5 M monitoring targets across the landmass. We examine the use of the topographic and land cover feasibility maps for landslide studies in relation to the British Geological Survey's National Landslide Database and DiGMapGB mass movement layer. Building upon recent literature, we finally discuss future perspectives relating to the replication of our feasibility assessment to account for higher resolution SAR imagery, new Earth explorers (e.g., Sentinel-1) and improved processing techniques, showing potential to generate invaluable sources of information on land motions and geohazards in Great Britai

Anxiety: An Evolutionary Approach

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses, with huge attendant suffering. Current treatments are not universally effective, suggesting that a deeper understanding of the causes of anxiety is needed. To understand anxiety disorders better, it is first necessary to understand the normal anxiety response. This entails considering its evolutionary function as well as the mechanisms underlying it. We argue that the function of the human anxiety response, and homologues in other species, is to prepare the individual to detect and deal with threats. We use a signal detection framework to show that the threshold for expressing the anxiety response ought to vary with the probability of threats occurring, and the individual's vulnerability to them if they do occur. These predictions are consistent with major patterns in the epidemiology of anxiety. Implications for research and treatment are discussed

A non-invasive, home-based EEG hypoglycaemia warning system for personal monitoring using skin surface electrodes : a single-case feasibility study

Hypoglycaemia unawareness is a common condition associated with increased risk of severe hypoglycaemia. The purpose of the authors' study was to develop a simple to use, home-based and non-invasive hypoglycaemia warning system based on electroencephalography (EEG), and to demonstrate its use in a single-case feasibility study. Methods: A participant with type 1 diabetes forms a single-person case study where blood sugar levels and EEG were recorded. EEG was recorded using skin surface electrodes placed behind the ear located within the T3 region by the participant in the home. EEG was analysed retrospectively to develop an algorithm which would trigger a warning if EEG changes associated with hypoglycaemia onset were detected. Results: All hypoglycaemia events were detected by the EEG hypoglycaemia warning algorithm. Warnings were triggered with blood glucose concentration levels at or below 4.2 mmol/l in this participant and no warnings were issued when in euglycaemia. Conclusion: The feasibility of a non-invasive EEG-based hypoglycaemia warning system for personal monitoring in the home has been demonstrated in a single case study. The results suggest that further studies are warranted to evaluate the system prospectively in a larger group of participants