An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: impacts on organisms and ecosystems

New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the previous WIA in 2015. The high toxicity of these systemic insecticides to invertebrates has been confirmed and expanded to include more species and compounds. Most of the recent research has focused on bees and the sublethal and ecological impacts these insecticides have on pollinators. Toxic effects on other invertebrate taxa also covered predatory and parasitoid natural enemies and aquatic arthropods. Little, while not much new information has been gathered on soil organisms. The impact on marine coastal ecosystems is still largely uncharted. The chronic lethality of neonicotinoids to insects and crustaceans, and the strengthened evidence that these chemicals also impair the immune system and reproduction, highlights the dangers of this particular insecticidal classneonicotinoids and fipronil. , withContinued large scale – mostly prophylactic – use of these persistent organochlorine pesticides has the potential to greatly decreasecompletely eliminate populations of arthropods in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Sublethal effects on fish, reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals are also reported, showing a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of these insecticides in vertebrates, and their deleterious impacts on growth, reproduction and neurobehaviour of most of the species tested. This review concludes with a summary of impacts on the ecosystem services and functioning, particularly on pollination, soil biota and aquatic invertebrate communities, thus reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. 2015)

Psychological Aspects of Bariatric Surgery as a Treatment for Obesity

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Little is known about the psychological effects on life after bariatric surgery despite the high prevalence of psychological disorders in candidates seeking this procedure. Our review discusses the literature around the psychological impact of bariatric surgery, exploring whether the procedure addresses underlying psychological conditions that can lead to morbid obesity and the effect on eating behaviour postoperatively.RECENT FINDINGS: Findings show that despite undisputed significant weight loss and improvements in comorbidities, current literature suggests some persisting disorder in psychological outcomes like depression and body image for patients at longer term follow-up, compared to control groups. Lack of postoperative psychological monitoring and theoretical mapping limits our understanding of reasons behind these findings. Reframing bariatric approaches to morbid obesity to incorporate psychological experience postoperatively would facilitate understanding of psychological aspects of bariatric surgery and how this surgical treatment maps onto the disease trajectory of obesity

Colony and nest site fidelity of the Rock Shag (Phalacrocorax magellanicus)

The rock shag (Phalacrocorax magellanicus) is an endemic species from southern Argentina and Chile. In Argentina, the population is distributed along the Patagonian coast in 143 small colonies (5–377 pairs). We studied colony and nest site fidelity of rock shags at Punta Loma, Patagonia, Argentina. We banded 37 adults from December 2001 to June 2003, during two breeding and two non-breeding seasons. Nest site fidelity was extremely high during consecutive breeding and also non-breeding seasons. The high percentage of banded birds residing in the colony in consecutive seasons suggests that rock shags are highly faithful to breeding sites and supports the idea of low post-breeding dispersion.Fil: Sapoznikow, Alexandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Quintana, Flavio Roberto. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

Examining workgroup diversity effects: does playing by the (group-retention) rules help or hinder?

Group diversity researchers are often faced with the problem of calculating diversity indices for groups that are incomplete due to participant nonresponse. Because participant nonresponse may attenuate the correlations that are observed between group diversity scores and outcome variables, some researchers use group-retention rules based on within-group response rates. With this approach, only those groups that have a within-group response rate at, or higher than, the rate prescribed by the group-retention rule are retained for subsequent analyses. We conducted two sets of experiments using computer simulations to determine the usefulness of group-retention rules. We found that group-retention rules are not a substitute for a high response rate and may decrease the accuracy of observed relations, and consequently, we advise against their use in diversity research. Over the past two decades, researchers and practitioners have shown considerable interest in understanding the impact that workgroup diversity has on group-level process variables (e.g., conflict, communication) and outcome variables (e.g., viability, innovation, performance). Some theoretical perspectives, such as the information-processing/decision-making approach (Ancona & Caldwell, 1992; De Dreu & West, 2001; Gruenfeld, Mannix, Williams, & Neale, 1996), predict that diversity will enhance processes and outcomes, whereas others, in particular the social identity, self-categorization, and similarity attraction perspectives (e.g., Byrne, 1971; Hogg & Abrams, 1988; Tajfel & Turner, 1986), predict that diversity will disrupt processes and impede outcomes. As various reviewers have concluded, the overall pattern of findings examining the effects of diversity is quite mixed (e.g., Horwitz & Horwitz, 2007; King, Hebl, & Beal, 2009; Mannix & Neale, 2005; Riordan, 2001; van Knippenberg, De Dreu, & Homan, 2004; Williams & O’Reilly, 1998). In their review, Mannix and Neale argued that these mixed results will only be clarified “by carefully considering moderators such as context, by broadening our view to include new types of diversity such as emotions and networks, and by focusing more carefully on mediating mechanisms” (p. 32). More recently, King et al. expressed a similar sentiment and emphasized the need, in future diversity research, to examine group processes and outcomes with greater specificity. We agree with these observations, but would add that methodological issues associated with diversity research also need careful scrutiny. Specifically, we contend that clarifying the mixed results within the diversity literature requires attention to how, and from whom, researchers collect the data on which diversity variables are based (e.g., Riordan, 2001), how well researchers’ conceptualizations of diversity match their operationalizations of diversity (e.g., Harrison & Klein, 2007), and how researchers handle the ubiquitous missing-data problem that hampers the accurate assessment of workgroup diversity (e.g., Allen, Stanley, Williams, & Ross, 2007b; Newman & Sin, 2009). The latter issue is the focus of the present research; specifically, we examine the effectiveness of rules that govern the decision to drop or retain groups based on within-group response rates. We do this in the context of diversity research, where diversity is operationalized using the standard deviation