The URBIS Partnership Proposal for Global Designation

The URBIS Partnership is proposing a designation process to recognize urban regions’ efforts to engage in participatory, inclusive, and comprehensive approaches in urban planning for sustainability. Through this process, sustainable management practices would be developed and then cataloged for sharing and dissemination as part of a site-based global knowledge network. The URBIS Partnership is inviting expertise in fields including urban ecology, environmental education, policy, and urban planning to develop this process. Currently, urban regions involved include Stockholm, Montreal, Shanghai, Cape Town, Chicago, Istanbul, New Orleans, and New York. This effort will culminate in the establishment of the URBIS Partnership with the CBD Global Partnership of Cities and Biodiversity and other collaborators at the City Biodiversity Summit at Nagoya, Japan, the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity

Do rats and possums reduce the reproductive capacity of large-fruited broadleaved species in Waikato hill-country forests?

Although brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) browsing can have conspicuous impacts by killing trees outright, there is also evidence of more insidious threats to regeneration of some species through depression of seed production. It is not known how widespread these more cryptic effects are. The elimination of all introduced mammals except mice (Mus musculus) from Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari (herein referred to as Maungatautari) fourteen years ago, provided a valuable reference system for gauging the impacts of possums and rats (Rattus spp.) on seed production in very similar forest at Maungakawa where these invasive mammals are common. This study compares phenology, fruit development and seed fall of three large-fruited species in the two forests: tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa) and mangeao (Litsea calicaris) are dominant canopy trees, and pigeonwood (Hedycarya arborea, porokaiwhiri) is an important subcanopy species. The reproductive cycles of tawa, mangeao and pigeonwood were extended (18 to 27 months), but the extended stage was different in each species: mangeao inflorescence buds developed over a nine-month period, pollinated tawa flowers were dormant over autumn before fruit emerged during the winter and ripened during the following summer. In pigeonwood part of the fruit crop remained on the trees until anthesis the following year. Despite almost concurrent tawa and mangeao anthesis, the resulting fruit crops matured in consecutive autumns: mangeao in 2020 and tawa in 2021. In the absence of rats and possums, tawa seed fall varied significant in consecutive years. Tawa seed fall in the first season (2020) was negligible at both forests. At Maungatautari seed fall was significantly more abundant in the second season (2021). Despite the successful pest control campaign significantly reducing possum abundance at Maungakawa in June 2020, seed fall did not increase significantly in 2021. There was evidence of green tawa fruit consumption by possums. They also consumed the flesh of ripe fruit in the trees and on the ground but discarded the seeds. Mangeao seed production was higher at Maungatautari than in the forest inhabited by rats and possums, although this effect fell short of statistical significance. Seed production at Maungatautari was abundant in 2020 with more than 4000 seeds captured in seed traps but in 2021 seed production was negligible. Seed production was reduced at Maungakawa in both years. In 2021 only two seeds were captured in each forest. The timing of mangeao’s reproductive cycle leaves the swollen inflorescence buds in winter especially vulnerable to damage by possums and possibly rats when food resources are low. Elimination of the possums rather than control at low abundance may be required to restore tawa seed production to historical levels. The underlying cause of low mangeao seed production is likely to be related to loss of inflorescence buds, but the role of arboreal invasive mammals requires further investigation. There was no evidence rats and possums reduce pigeonwood fruit production or destroy the seeds. However, by discarding seeds where they feed, rats and possums may limit seed dispersal across the spatial landscape. Further investigations are required to fully understand the extent to which the reproductive cycles of tawa, mangeao and pigeonwood are depressed and the consequences for the large-fruited species within Waikato hill-country forests. It is reassuring that abundant tawa and mangeao seed production has rebounded at Maungatautari within 15 years of eradication of invasive species. This suggests that loss of seed fall from vulnerable large-fruited species can be overcome by removal of invasive mammals

Parental Socialization and Children’s Susceptibility to Alcohol Use Initiation

ABSTRACT. Objective: This study examined relations between children’s susceptibility to alcohol use initiation and parents’ alcohol-specific beliefs, attitudes, and practices and whether these relations vary by parental alcohol use. Method: The sample comprised 1,050 pairs of mothers or mother surrogates and their third-grade children (51.8% female) recruited for a 4-year intervention trial. Families were recruited from school districts located primarily in North Carolina; the school districts provided permission for study recruitment materials to be distributed to families but were not otherwise involved in the research. Data are from the baseline cross-sectional telephone interviews conducted with the mothers and children. Children’s susceptibility to alcohol use initiation is based on child reports, and parental alcohol-specifi c beliefs, attitudes, and practices are based on maternal reports. Results: All parental alcohol socialization attributes were statistically signifi cantly associated as hypothesized with child susceptibility to alcohol use initiation. In the final full model, the mother’s disapproving attitude about child sipping and the interaction between mother–child communication and parental alcohol use frequency were uniquely signifi cantly associated with child susceptibility. Talking with the child about harmful consequences of alcohol use was associated with reduced child susceptibility in families where parents drank alcohol more frequently but had no relationship with child susceptibility in families where parents drank infrequently. Conclusions: The normative interactions that parents have with their elementary school children may inhibit or facilitate children’s susceptibility to alcohol use. To the extent that child susceptibility leads to early onset of use, prevention programs directed at parents to reduce child susceptibility are indicated

Book Reviews

The following publications have been reviewed by the authors;Projects & Investigations for Advanced Physics - reviewed by Tim HicksonWords, Science and Leaning - reviewed by Andrea PriceInteractions: Hotels - reviewed by Christine TwistletonTeaching Design and Technology - reviewed by David DickinsonWorking Technology - reviewed by Tim Fulfor

Coordination of distinct but interacting rhythmic motor programs by a modulatory projection neuron using different co-transmitters in different ganglia

While many neurons are known to contain multiple neurotransmitters, the specific roles played by each co-transmitter within a neuron are often poorly understood. Here, we investigated the roles of the co-transmitters of the pyloric suppressor (PS) neurons, which are located in the stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) of the lobster Homarus americanus. The PS neurons are known to contain histamine; using RT-PCR, we identified a second co-transmitter as the FMRFamide-like peptide crustacean myosuppressin (Crust-MS). The modulatory effects of Crust-MS application on the gastric mill and pyloric patterns, generated in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG), closely resembled those recorded following extracellular PS neuron stimulation. To determine whether histamine plays a role in mediating the effects of the PS neurons in the STG, we bath-applied histamine receptor antagonists to the ganglion. In the presence of the antagonists, the histamine response was blocked, but Crust-MS application and PS stimulation continued to modulate the gastric and pyloric patterns, suggesting that PS effects in the STG are mediated largely by Crust-MS. PS neuron stimulation also excited the oesophageal rhythm, produced in the commissural ganglia (CoGs) of the STNS. Application of histamine, but not Crust-MS, to the CoGs mimicked this effect. Histamine receptor antagonists blocked the ability of both histamine and PS stimulation to excite the oesophageal rhythm, providing strong evidence that the PS neurons use histamine in the CoGs to exert their effects. Overall, our data suggest that the PS neurons differentially utilize their co-transmitters in spatially distinct locations to coordinate the activity of three independent networks. © 2013. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd

Letting Children Sip: Understanding Why Parents Allow Alcohol Use by Elementary School–aged Children

Early onset alcohol use is a risk factor for problem drinking during adolescence. This study investigated pro-sipping beliefs among parents and the relations between these beliefs, parents’ alcohol-specific attitude and practices, and children’s reports of alcohol use initiation

Attributes that Differentiate Children Who Sip Alcohol from Abstinent Peers

Sipping alcohol during childhood may be a marker of differentiation as regards children’s future risk of underage drinking; yet very little is known about alcohol use when it occurs among elementary school-aged children. The purpose of the present study is to examine alcohol sipping behavior in a sample of third-grade school children to learn whether sipping is associated with attributes that could increase children’s likelihood of further underage drinking. We collected telephone interview data from 1050 mothers and their third grade children (mean age 9.2 years; 48.2% male) residing in the Southeastern United States. The majority of mothers were White non-Hispanic (69.02%) or Black non-Hispanic (21.3%); most (85%) lived in households shared with fathers or other adult caretakers. We hypothesized that children who sip alcohol would score lower than abstinent peers on indicators of competence and score higher on indicators of exposure to alcohol-specific socialization by parents and peers. A multivariate model controlling for frequency of parent alcohol use and demographic covariates showed that children who had sipped alcohol were significantly less likely than abstinent peers to affirm indicators of competence and significantly more likely to affirm indicators of exposure to alcohol specific socialization by parents and by same age peers. These preliminary findings suggest that developmental attributes associated with risk of underage drinking begin to differentiate at least as young as middle childhood. Research is needed to test prospectively for continuity between alcohol risk attributes present in middle childhood and future alcohol use

A Multiply Imaged Luminous Infrared Galaxy Behind the Bullet Cluster

We present evidence for a Spitzer-selected luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) behind the Bullet Cluster. The galaxy, originally identified in IRAC photometry as a multiply imaged source, has a spectral energy distribution consistent with a highly extincted (A_V~3.3), strongly star-forming galaxy at z=2.7. Using our strong gravitational lensing model presented in Bradac et al. (2006), we find that the magnifications are 10 to 50 for the three images of the galaxy. The implied infrared luminosity is consistent with the galaxy being a LIRG, with a stellar mass of M_*~2e11 M_Sun and a star formation rate of ~90 M_Sun/yr. With lensed fluxes at 24 microns of 0.58 mJy and 0.39 mJy in the two brightest images, this galaxy presents a unique opportunity for detailed study of an obscured starburst with star fomation rate comparable to that of L* galaxies at z>2.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, ApJ, accepted. This version includes information on a third lensed image of the galax

Identification and cardiotropic actions of sulfakinin peptides in the American lobster Homarus americanus

In arthropods, a group of peptides possessing a -Y(SO3H)GHM/ LRFamide carboxy-terminal motif have been collectively termed the sulfakinins. Sulfakinin isoforms have been identified from numerous insect species. In contrast, members of this peptide family have thus far been isolated from just two crustaceans, the penaeid shrimp Penaeus monodon and Litopenaeus vannamei. Here, we report the identification of a cDNA encoding prepro-sulfakinin from the American lobster Homarus americanus. Two sulfakinin-like sequences were identified within the open-reading frame of the cDNA. Based on modifications predicted by peptide modeling programs, and on homology to the known isoforms of sulfakinin, particularly those from shrimp, the mature H. americanus sulfakinins were hypothesized to be pEFDEY(SO3H)GHMRFamide (Hoa-SK I) and GGGEY(SO3H)DDY(SO3H)GHLRFamide (Hoa-SK II). Hoa-SK I is identical to one of the previously identified shrimp sulfakinins, while Hoa-SK II is a novel isoform. Exogenous application of either synthetic Hoa-SK I or Hoa-SK II to the isolated lobster heart increased both the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous heart contractions. In preparations in which spontaneous contractions were irregular, both peptides increased the regularity of the heartbeat. Our study provides the first molecular characterization of a sulfakinin-encoding cDNA from a crustacean, as well as the first demonstration of bioactivity for native sulfakinins in this group of arthropods