Keynote Reflections: The Public Governance Duty

Firms must take ever greater risks to try to innovate and create value in our increasingly competitive and complex global economy. Corporate governance law generally delegates control over excessive risk-taking to the firm’s investors, principally its risk-seeking shareholders. But this does not cover the type of risk-taking that led to the global financial crisis and that is becoming ever more common - risk-taking that could have systemic consequences to the financial system. I argue for a “public governance duty,” requiring managers of systemically important firms to assess the impact of risk-taking on the public as well as on investors, and to balance the costs and benefits using a precautionary principle to protect the public. I also analyze the extent to which managers performing this public governance duty should be protected by a business judgment rule

Coevolution of non-fertile sperm and female receptivity in a butterfly.

Journal ArticlePublished versionOpen Access Article published originally in Biology Letters, October 2009, 5(5) pp 678-681, http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/5/678Sexual conflict can promote rapid evolution of male and female reproductive traits. Males of many polyandrous butterflies transfer nutrients at mating that enhances female fecundity, but generates sexual conflict over female remating due to sperm competition. Butterflies produce both normal fertilizing sperm and large numbers of non-fertile sperm. In the green-veined white butterfly, Pieris napi, non-fertile sperm fill the females' sperm storage organ, switching off receptivity and thereby reducing female remating. There is genetic variation in the number of non-fertile sperm stored, which directly relates to the female's refractory period. There is also genetic variation in males' sperm production. Here, we show that females' refractory period and males' sperm production are genetically correlated using quantitative genetic and selection experiments. Thus selection on male manipulation may increase the frequency of susceptible females to such manipulations as a correlated response and vice versa.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)The Royal Societ

Coevolution of non-fertile sperm and female receptivity in a butterfly

Sexual conflict can promote rapid evolution of male and female reproductive traits. Males of many polyandrous butterflies transfer nutrients at mating that enhances female fecundity, but generates sexual conflict over female remating due to sperm competition. Butterflies produce both normal fertilizing sperm and large numbers of non-fertile sperm. In the green-veined white butterfly, Pieris napi, non-fertile sperm fill the females' sperm storage organ, switching off receptivity and thereby reducing female remating. There is genetic variation in the number of non-fertile sperm stored, which directly relates to the female's refractory period. There is also genetic variation in males' sperm production. Here, we show that females' refractory period and males' sperm production are genetically correlated using quantitative genetic and selection experiments. Thus selection on male manipulation may increase the frequency of susceptible females to such manipulations as a correlated response and vice versa

Distinguishing between anticipatory and responsive plasticity in a seasonally polyphenic butterfly

Seasonal generations of short-lived organisms often differ in their morphological, behavioural and life history traits, including body size. These differences may be either due to immediate effects of seasonally variable environment on organisms (responsive plasticity) or rely on presumably adaptive responses of organisms to cues signalizing forthcoming seasonal changes (anticipatory plasticity). When directly developing individuals of insects are larger than their overwintering conspecifics, the between-generation differences are typically ascribed to responsive plasticity in larval growth. We tested this hypothesis using the papilionid butterly Iphiclides podalirius as a model species. In laboratory experiments, we demonstrated that seasonal differences in food quality could not explain the observed size difference. Similarly, the size differences are not likely to be explained by the immediate effects of ambient temperature and photoperiod on larval growth. The qualitative pattern of natural size differences between the directly developing and diapausing butterflies could be reproduced in the laboratory as a response to photoperiod, indicating anticipatory character of the response. Directly developing and diapausing individuals followed an identical growth trajectory until the end of the last larval instar, with size differences appearing just a few days before pupation. Taken together, various lines of evidence suggest that between-generation size differences in I. podalirius are not caused by immediate effects of environmental factors on larval growth. Instead, these differences rather represent anticipatory plasticity and are thus likely to have an adaptive explanation. It remains currently unclear, whether the seasonal differences in adult size per se are adaptive, or if they constitute co-product of processes related to the diapause. Our study shows that it may be feasible to distinguish between different types of plasticity on the basis of empirical data even if fitness cannot be directly measured, and contributes to the emerging view about the predominantly adaptive nature of seasonal polyphenisms in insect

Marginal Eyespots on Butterfly Wings Deflect Bird Attacks Under Low Light Intensities with UV Wavelengths

Predators preferentially attack vital body parts to avoid prey escape. Consequently, prey adaptations that make predators attack less crucial body parts are expected to evolve. Marginal eyespots on butterfly wings have long been thought to have this deflective, but hitherto undemonstrated function.Here we report that a butterfly, Lopinga achine, with broad-spectrum reflective white scales in its marginal eyespot pupils deceives a generalist avian predator, the blue tit, to attack the marginal eyespots, but only under particular conditions-in our experiments, low light intensities with a prominent UV component. Under high light intensity conditions with a similar UV component, and at low light intensities without UV, blue tits directed attacks towards the butterfly head.In nature, birds typically forage intensively at early dawn, when the light environment shifts to shorter wavelengths, and the contrast between the eyespot pupils and the background increases. Among butterflies, deflecting attacks is likely to be particularly important at dawn when low ambient temperatures make escape by flight impossible, and when insectivorous birds typically initiate another day's search for food. Our finding that the deflective function of eyespots is highly dependent on the ambient light environment helps explain why previous attempts have provided little support for the deflective role of marginal eyespots, and we hypothesize that the mechanism that we have discovered in our experiments in a laboratory setting may function also in nature when birds forage on resting butterflies under low light intensities

Two music-pedagogy fields : a study of municipal music schools and music teacher education

The thesis consists of two parts. One is directed towards municipal music schools, and one deals with music teacher education at university level. The purpose was to investigate the recruitment to these two educations, and to describe and explain how different student groups perceived and used their education. Five empirical studies have been accomplished, and central questions were: which deliberate and non-deliberate choices of musical activities are made by children and music students, and how are these choices affected by socio-economical, geographical and gender prerequisites.Theoretically, the first part of the thesis was based on the educational sociology of Pierre Bourdieu and on previous empirical studies in music pedagogy. The first empirical study was directed towards the recruitment of pupils to the municipal music school in Piteå (n=1085). The study showed that two out of three pupils are girls. Furthermore, it was twice as common among children of higher employees and university graduates to study at the music school than among children with working class backgrounds. The second empirical study was an interview with children, 12-13 years of age (n=369). The results indicated that boys and girls understand and use music and music education in significantly different ways. Furthermore, differences related to socioeconomic background, musical background and residential area were also shown.The second part of the thesis begins with a summary of the origin and scientific basis of Swedish music pedagogy, followed by an investigation regarding recruitment to the music teacher education at the School of Music in Piteå (n=177). The investigation indicated that recruitment is socially biased, similar to that of the municipal music school. One third of the music teacher students were recruited from families where one of the parents worked as a teacher. One out of three students came from homes where religion was an important part of family life. In an interview-study with 60 music teacher students, differences related to gender and educational orientation arose in how students looked upon and used their education. The study showed two attitudes to music and music education, which were linked to the following concepts: musician code and teacher code. In connection with these concepts, three action strategies could be identified: navigation, revolt, and adjustment. These strategies were interpreted as an expression of the tension between the demands of the education and the individuals' wish to have his or her interests and needs met. The dissertation concludes with a project called "Self-formulated goals and self-evaluation in music education" and a short forward-looking discussion pertaining to questions that have been generated throughout the entire research process.digitalisering@um

Testing the migration syndrome : Comparative fecundity of migratory and non-migratory nymphaline butterflies

Empirical studies have shown a positive relationship between migration and fecundity, suggesting a ‘migration syndrome’ that also includes delayed reproduction and an extended reproductive lifespan. At the same time, life history theory predicts that the cost of migration should result in lower fecundity because both traits draw from a common resource. We test whether migration is associated with higher fecundity and delayed reproduction in five closely related butterfly species in the Nymphalini tribe. Two of these are migratory, Vanessa cardui and Vanessa atalanta, and three are non-migratory, Aglais urticae, Aglais io, and Polygonia c-album, which appears in a diapausing and a non-diapausing generation. Laboratory experiment of this study demonstrated a higher lifetime fecundity in the non-migratory species A. urticae and A. io, compared with the migratory species. When reproductive output was measured in terms of egg mass over adult female mass, also the non-migratory species P. c-album had a higher reproductive investment than the two migratory species, and the non-diapausing generation had a higher reproductive output than the diapausing generation. All species but P. c-album delayed reproduction until 5–7 days after eclosion/emergence. These results indicate that a migratory lifestyle carries a reproductive cost and suggests that the migratory habit has not resulted in selection for higher fecundity. However, the migratory species are highly fecund in a wider phylogenetic perspective, which leads to the conclusion that rather than selection having selected for high fecundity and delayed reproduction, these traits may be prerequisites for evolving a migratory lifestyle

Constant eyespot display as a primary defense - survival of male and female emperor moths when attacked by blue tits

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