Can sacrificial feeding areas protect aquatic plants from herbivore grazing? Using behavioural ecology to inform wildlife management

Effective wildlife management is needed for conservation, economic and human well-being objectives. However, traditional population control methods are frequently ineffective, unpopular with stakeholders, may affect non-target species, and can be both expensive and impractical to implement. New methods which address these issues and offer effective wildlife management are required. We used an individual-based model to predict the efficacy of a sacrificial feeding area in preventing grazing damage by mute swans (Cygnus olor) to adjacent river vegetation of high conservation and economic value. The accuracy of model predictions was assessed by a comparison with observed field data, whilst prediction robustness was evaluated using a sensitivity analysis. We used repeated simulations to evaluate how the efficacy of the sacrificial feeding area was regulated by (i) food quantity, (ii) food quality, and (iii) the functional response of the forager. Our model gave accurate predictions of aquatic plant biomass, carrying capacity, swan mortality, swan foraging effort, and river use. Our model predicted that increased sacrificial feeding area food quantity and quality would prevent the depletion of aquatic plant biomass by swans. When the functional response for vegetation in the sacrificial feeding area was increased, the food quantity and quality in the sacrificial feeding area required to protect adjacent aquatic plants were reduced. Our study demonstrates how the insights of behavioural ecology can be used to inform wildlife management. The principles that underpin our model predictions are likely to be valid across a range of different resource-consumer interactions, emphasising the generality of our approach to the evaluation of strategies for resolving wildlife management problems

The RR Lyrae Distance Scale

We review seven methods of measuring the absolute magnitude M_V of RR Lyrae stars in light of the Hipparcos mission and other recent developments. We focus on identifying possible systematic errors and rank the methods by relative immunity to such errors. For the three most robust methods, statistical parallax, trigonometric parallax, and cluster kinematics, we find M_V (at [Fe/H] = -1.6) of 0.77 +/- 0.13, 0.71 +/- 0.15, 0.67 +/- 0.10. These methods cluster consistently around 0.71 +/- 0.07. We find that Baade-Wesselink and theoretical models both yield a broad range of possible values (0.45-0.70 and 0.45-0.65) due to systematic uncertainties in the temperature scale and input physics. Main-sequence fitting gives a much brighter M_V = 0.45 +/- 0.04 but this may be due to a difference in the metallicity scales of the cluster giants and the calibrating subdwarfs. White-dwarf cooling-sequence fitting gives 0.67 +/- 0.13 and is potentially very robust, but at present is too new to be fully tested for systematics. If the three most robust methods are combined with Walker's mean measurement for 6 LMC clusters, V_{0,LMC} = 18.98 +/- 0.03 at [Fe/H] = -1.9, then mu_{LMC} = 18.33 +/- 0.08.Comment: Invited review article to appear in: `Post-Hipparcos Cosmic Candles', A. Heck & F. Caputo (Eds), Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, in press. 21 pages including 1 table; uses Kluwer's crckapb.sty LaTeX style file, enclose

Future climate effects on suitability for growth of oil palms in Malaysia and Indonesia

The production of palm oil (PO) is highly profitable. The economies of the principal producers, Malaysia and Indonesia, and others, benefit considerably. Climate change (CC) will most likely have an impact on the distribution of oil palms (OP) (Elaeis guineensis). Here we present modelled CC projections with respect to the suitability of growing OP, in Malaysia and Indonesia. A process-oriented niche model of OP was developed using CLIMEX to estimate its potential distribution under current and future climate scenarios. Two Global Climate Models (GCMs), CSIRO-Mk3.0 and MIROC-H, were used to explore the impacts of CC under the A1B and A2 scenarios for 2030, 2070 and 2100. Decreases in climatic suitability for OP in the region were gradual by 2030 but became more pronounced by 2100. These projections imply that OP growth will be affected severely by CC, with obvious implications to the economies of (a) Indonesia and Malaysia and (b) the PO industry, but with potential benefits towards reducing CC. A possible remedial action is to concentrate research on development of new varieties of OP that are less vulnerable to CC.The Portuguese-based authors thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the Project "BioEnv - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for a sustainable world", REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000048, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 - O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER

C4 photosynthesis boosts growth by altering physiology, allocation and size.

C4 photosynthesis is a complex set of leaf anatomical and biochemical adaptations that have evolved more than 60 times to boost carbon uptake compared with the ancestral C3 photosynthetic type(1-3). Although C4 photosynthesis has the potential to drive faster growth rates(4,5), experiments directly comparing C3 and C4 plants have not shown consistent effects(1,6,7). This is problematic because differential growth is a crucial element of ecological theory(8,9) explaining C4 savannah responses to global change(10,11), and research to increase C3 crop productivity by introducing C4 photosynthesis(12). Here, we resolve this long-standing issue by comparing growth across 382 grass species, accounting for ecological diversity and evolutionary history. C4 photosynthesis causes a 19-88% daily growth enhancement. Unexpectedly, during the critical seedling establishment stage, this enhancement is driven largely by a high ratio of leaf area to mass, rather than fast growth per unit leaf area. C4 leaves have less dense tissues, allowing more leaves to be produced for the same carbon cost. Consequently, C4 plants invest more in roots than C3 species. Our data demonstrate a general suite of functional trait divergences between C3 and C4 species, which simultaneously drive faster growth and greater investment in water and nutrient acquisition, with important ecological and agronomic implications

Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves

Gravitational wave detectors are already operating at interesting sensitivity levels, and they have an upgrade path that should result in secure detections by 2014. We review the physics of gravitational waves, how they interact with detectors (bars and interferometers), and how these detectors operate. We study the most likely sources of gravitational waves and review the data analysis methods that are used to extract their signals from detector noise. Then we consider the consequences of gravitational wave detections and observations for physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.Comment: 137 pages, 16 figures, Published version <http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2009-2

Buccal alterations in diabetes mellitus

Long standing hyperglycaemia besides damaging the kidneys, eyes, nerves, blood vessels, heart, can also impair the function of the salivary glands leading to a reduction in the salivary flow. When salivary flow decreases, as a consequence of an acute hyperglycaemia, many buccal or oral alterations can occur such as: a) increased concentration of mucin and glucose; b) impaired production and/or action of many antimicrobial factors; c) absence of a metalloprotein called gustin, that contains zinc and is responsible for the constant maturation of taste papillae; d) bad taste; e) oral candidiasis f) increased cells exfoliation after contact, because of poor lubrication; g) increased proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms; h) coated tongue; i) halitosis; and many others may occur as a consequence of chronic hyperglycaemia: a) tongue alterations, generally a burning mouth; b) periodontal disease; c) white spots due to demineralization in the teeth; d) caries; e) delayed healing of wounds; f) greater tendency to infections; g) lichen planus; h) mucosa ulcerations. Buccal alterations found in diabetic patients, although not specific of this disease, have its incidence and progression increased when an inadequate glycaemic control is present

Effects of Sample Size on Estimates of Population Growth Rates Calculated with Matrix Models

BACKGROUND: Matrix models are widely used to study the dynamics and demography of populations. An important but overlooked issue is how the number of individuals sampled influences estimates of the population growth rate (lambda) calculated with matrix models. Even unbiased estimates of vital rates do not ensure unbiased estimates of lambda-Jensen's Inequality implies that even when the estimates of the vital rates are accurate, small sample sizes lead to biased estimates of lambda due to increased sampling variance. We investigated if sampling variability and the distribution of sampling effort among size classes lead to biases in estimates of lambda. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using data from a long-term field study of plant demography, we simulated the effects of sampling variance by drawing vital rates and calculating lambda for increasingly larger populations drawn from a total population of 3842 plants. We then compared these estimates of lambda with those based on the entire population and calculated the resulting bias. Finally, we conducted a review of the literature to determine the sample sizes typically used when parameterizing matrix models used to study plant demography. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We found significant bias at small sample sizes when survival was low (survival = 0.5), and that sampling with a more-realistic inverse J-shaped population structure exacerbated this bias. However our simulations also demonstrate that these biases rapidly become negligible with increasing sample sizes or as survival increases. For many of the sample sizes used in demographic studies, matrix models are probably robust to the biases resulting from sampling variance of vital rates. However, this conclusion may depend on the structure of populations or the distribution of sampling effort in ways that are unexplored. We suggest more intensive sampling of populations when individual survival is low and greater sampling of stages with high elasticities

Deficient maternal care resulting from immunological stress during pregnancy is associated with a sex-dependent enhancement of conditioned fear in the offspring

Activation of maternal stress response systems during pregnancy has been associated with altered postpartum maternal care and subsequent abnormalities in the offspring’s brain and behavioral development. It remains unknown, however, whether similar effects may be induced by exposure to immunological stress during pregnancy. The present study was designed to address this issue in a mouse model of prenatal immune activation by the viral mimic polyriboinosinic–polyribocytidilic acid (PolyI:C). Pregnant mice were exposed to PolyI:C-induced immune challenge or sham treatment, and offspring born to PolyI:C- and sham-treated dams were simultaneously cross-fostered to surrogate rearing mothers, which had either experienced inflammatory or vehicle treatment during pregnancy. We evaluated the effects of the maternal immunological manipulation on postpartum maternal behavior, and we assessed the prenatal and postnatal maternal influences on anxiety- and fear-related behavior in the offspring at the peri-adolescent and adult stage of development. We found that PolyI:C treatment during pregnancy led to changes in postpartum maternal behavior in the form of reduced pup licking/grooming and increased nest building activity. Furthermore, the adoption of neonates by surrogate rearing mothers, which had experienced PolyI:C-induced immunological stress during pregnancy, led to enhanced conditioned fear in the peri-adolescent and adult offspring, an effect that was exclusively seen in female but not male subjects. Unconditioned (innate) anxiety-related behavior as assessed in the elevated plus maze and open field explorations tests were not affected by the prenatal and postnatal manipulations. Our results thus highlight that being raised by gestationally immune-challenged surrogate mothers increases the vulnerability for specific forms of fear-related behavioral pathology in later life, and that this association may be mediated by deficits in postpartum maternal care. This may have important implications for the identification and characterization of early-life risk factors involved in the developmental etiology of fear-related neuropsychiatric disorders

Can the feedback of patient assessments, brief training, or their combination, improve the interpersonal skills of primary care physicians? A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Improving quality of primary care is a key focus of international health policy. Current quality improvement efforts place a large focus on technical, clinical aspects of quality, but a comprehensive approach to quality improvement should also include interpersonal care. Two methods of improving the quality of interpersonal care in primary care have been proposed. One involves the feedback of patient assessments of interpersonal care to physicians, and the other involves brief training and education programmes. This study therefore reviewed the efficacy of (i) feedback of real patient assessments of interpersonal care skills, (ii) brief training focused on the improvement of interpersonal care (iii) interventions combining both (i) and (ii)</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Three electronic databases were searched (CENTRAL, Medline and Embase) and augmented by searches of the bibliographies of retrieved articles. The quality of studies was appraised and results summarised in narrative form.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nine studies were included (two patient based feedback studies and seven brief training studies). Of the two feedback studies, one reported a significant positive effect. Only one training study reported a significant positive effect.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is limited evidence concerning the effects of patient based feedback. There is reasonable evidence that brief training as currently delivered is not effective, although the evidence is not definitive, due to the small number of trials and the variation in the training methods and goals. The lack of effectiveness of these methods may reflect a number of issues, such as differences in the effectiveness of the interventions in experienced practitioners and those in training, the lack of theory linking feedback to behaviour change, failure to provide sufficient training or to use a comprehensive range of behaviour change techniques. Further research into both feedback and brief training interventions is required before these interventions are routinely introduced to improve patient satisfaction with interpersonal care in primary care. The interventions to be tested in future research should consider using insights from the wider literature on communication outside primary care, might benefit from a clearer theoretical basis, and should examine the use of combined brief training and feedback.</p