Impacts of urbanisation on the native avifauna of Perth, Western Australia

Urban development either eliminates, or severely fragments, native vegetation, and therefore alters the distribution and abundance of species that depend on it for habitat. We assessed the impact of urban development on bird communities at 121 sites in and around Perth, Western Australia. Based on data from community surveys, at least 83 % of 65 landbirds were found to be dependent, in some way, on the presence of native vegetation. For three groups of species defined by specific patterns of habitat use (bushland birds), there were sufficient data to show that species occurrences declined as the landscape changed from variegated to fragmented to relictual, according to the percentage of vegetation cover remaining. For three other groups (urban birds) species occurrences were either unrelated to the amount of vegetation cover, or increased as vegetation cover declined. In order to maximise the chances of retaining avian diversity when planning for broad-scale changes in land-use (i.e. clearing native vegetation for housing or industrial development), land planners should aim for a mosaic of variegated urban landscapes (\u3e60 % vegetation retention) set amongst the fragmented and relictual urban landscapes (% vegetation retention) that are characteristic of most cities and their suburbs. Management actions for conserving remnant biota within fragmented urban landscapes should concentrate on maintaining the integrity and quality of remnant native vegetation, and aim at building awareness among the general public of the conservation value of remnant native vegetation

Simulation-based optimisation of LCC-HVDC controller parameters using surrogate model solvers

This paper proposes the use of surrogate model optimisation methods to solve box constrained LCC-HVDC controller tuning problems. The tuning problem is the selection of the proportional-integral controller gains and voltage-dependant current order limiter parameters of an LCC-HVDC link subject to two operational scenarios and a set of large-signal disturbances. The solvers using recently proposed surrogate model methods performed either similarly to or significantly better than solvers using mature methods of the types found in PSCAD/EMTDC, thus confirming the suitability of these surrogate model solvers for simulation-based optimisation of LCC-HVDC controllers

Economic liberalization and the antecedents of top management teams: evidence from Turkish 'big' business

There has been an increased interest in the last two decades in top management teams (TMTs) of business firms. Much of the research, however, has been US-based and concerned primarily with TMT effects on organizational outcomes. The present study aims to expand this literature by examining the antecedents of top team composition in the context of macro-level economic change in a late-industrializing country. The post-1980 trade and market reforms in Turkey provided the empirical setting. Drawing upon the literatures on TMT and chief executive characteristics together with punctuated equilibrium models of change and institutional theory, the article develops the argument that which firm-level factors affect which attributes of TMT formations varies across the early and late stages of economic liberalization. Results of the empirical investigation of 71 of the largest industrial firms in Turkey broadly supported the hypotheses derived from this premise. In the early stages of economic liberalization the average age and average organizational tenure of TMTs were related to the export orientation of firms, whereas in later stages, firm performance became a major predictor of these team attributes. Educational background characteristics of teams appeared to be under stronger institutional pressures, altering in different ways in the face of macro-level change

Automated Retinopathy of Prematurity Case Detection with Convolutional Neural Networks

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is an ocular disease observed in premature babies, considered one of the largest preventable causes of childhood blindness. Problematically, the visual indicators of ROP are not well understood and neonatal fundus images are usually of poor quality and resolution. We investigate two ways to aid clinicians in ROP detection using convolutional neural networks (CNN): (1) We fine-tune a pretrained GoogLeNet as a ROP detector and with small modifications also return an approximate Bayesian posterior over disease presence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first completely automated ROP detection system. (2) To further aid grading, we train a second CNN to return novel feature map visualizations of pathologies, learned directly from the data. These feature maps highlight discriminative information, which we believe may be used by clinicians with our classifier to aid in screening

Landscape and management influences on smallholder agroforestry yields show shifts during a climate shock

Sustaining yields for smallholder perennial agriculture under a rapidly changing climate regime may require consideration of landscape features and on-farm management decisions in tandem. Optimising landscape and management may not be possible for maximising yields in any one year but maintaining heterogeneous landscapes could be an important climate adaptation strategy. In this study, we observed elevation, forest patch and shade management gradients affecting smallholder coffee (Coffea arabica) yields in a ‘normal’ year versus the 2015/16 El Niño. We generally found a benefit to yields from having leguminous shade trees and low canopy openness, while maintaining diverse shade or varying canopy openness had more complex influences during a climate shock. The two years of observed climate shock were dominated by either drought or high temperatures, with yield responses generally negative. Climate projections for East Africa predict more erratic rainfall and higher temperatures, which will disproportionately impact smallholder farmers.</p

Pursuing climate resilient coffee in Ethiopia – a critical review

This paper provides a multi-scalar examination of the Ethiopian coffee sector and its pursuit of climate resilience. Concern is growing about the potential impact of climate change on Arabica coffee in Ethiopia and the 25 million livelihoods it supports. Arabica coffee has a relatively narrow envelope of climatic suitability and recent studies suggest that the area of bioclimatically suitable space for the species in its native Ethiopia could decline dra- matically in the coming decades. We adopt a critical perspective on resilience that reflects on the situated nature of the ecology/science of coffee and climate change and the operation of social, economic, and discursive power across scales, paying particular attention to the differentiated impacts of climate change and associated resi- lience strategies. This analysis begins by reviewing Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy and argues that the current lack of attention to coffee is inappropriate considering the coffee sector’s vulnerability to climate change, economic importance and association with forests. The paper then examines the contemporary coffee sector which provides the context for reflecting on three potential responses to the threat climate change poses; a spatial response from farmers, adaptive farm management responses such as changing shade levels and the development of the country’s genetic resources to cultivate improved varieties. The analysis explores the disconnect between the interventions emerging from national and international institutions and the local con- text. The multi-scale approach highlights the presence of complex normative trade-offs associated with pursing climate resilience strategies and reinforces the importance of appreciating the dynamics which influence deci- sion-making in the country

What do I do now? Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with discrete patterns of anticipatory physiological responding to different contexts

Heightened physiological responses to uncertainty are a common hallmark of anxiety disorders. Many separate studies have examined the relationship between individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and physiological responses to uncertainty during different contexts. Despite this there is a scarcity of research examining the extent to which individual differences in IU are related to shared or discrete patterns of anticipatory physiological responding across different contexts. Anticipatory physiological responses to uncertainty were assessed in three different contexts (associative threat learning and extinction, threat uncertainty, decision-making) within the same sample (n = 45). During these tasks, behavioural responses (i.e. reaction times, choices), skin conductance and corrugator supercilli activity were recorded. In addition, self-reported IU and trait anxiety were measured. IU was related to both skin conductance and corrugator supercilii activity for the associative threat learning and extinction context, and decision-making context. However, trait anxiety was related to corrugator supercilii activity during the threat uncertainty context. Ultimately, this research helps us further tease apart the role of IU on different aspects of anticipation (i.e. valence and arousal) across contexts, which will be relevant for future IU-related models of psychopathology

Nitric oxide: a pro-inflammatory mediator in lung disease?

Inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract are commonly associated with elevated production of nitric oxide (NO•) and increased indices of NO• -dependent oxidative stress. Although NO• is known to have anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, various lines of evidence support the contribution of NO• to lung injury in several disease models. On the basis of biochemical evidence, it is often presumed that such NO• -dependent oxidations are due to the formation of the oxidant peroxynitrite, although alternative mechanisms involving the phagocyte-derived heme proteins myeloperoxidase and eosinophil peroxidase might be operative during conditions of inflammation. Because of the overwhelming literature on NO• generation and activities in the respiratory tract, it would be beyond the scope of this commentary to review this area comprehensively. Instead, it focuses on recent evidence and concepts of the presumed contribution of NO• to inflammatory diseases of the lung