Complex patterns of collective escape in starling flocks under predation

Collective behaviour of animals has been a main focus of recent research, yet few empirical studies deal with this issue in the context of predation, a major driver of social complexity in many animal species. When starling (Sturnus vulgaris) flocks are under attack by a raptor, such as a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), they show a great diversity of patterns of collective escape. The corresponding structural complexity concerns rapid variation in density and shape of the flock over time. Here, we present a first step towards unravelling this complexity. We apply a time series analysis to video footage of 182 sequences of hunting by falcons on flocks of thousands of starlings close to two urban roosts during winter. We distinguish several types of collective escape by determining the position and movement of individuals relative to each other (which determines darkness and shape of the flock over time) as well as relative to the predator, namely flash expansion', blackening', wave event', vacuole', cordon' and split'. We show that the specific type of collective escape depends on the collective pattern that precedes it and on the level of threat posed by the raptor. A wave event was most likely to occur when the predator attacked at medium speed. Flash expansion occurred more frequently when the predator approached the flock at faster rather than slower speed and attacked from above rather than from the side or below. Flash expansion was often followed by split, but in many cases, the flock showed resilience by remaining intact. During a hunting sequence, the frequencies of different patterns of collective escape increased when the frequency of attack by the raptor was higher. Despite their complexity, we show that patterns of collective escape depend on the predatory threat, which resembles findings in fish.Significance statementPatterns of collective escape in flocks of starlings have always intrigued laymen and scientists. A detailed analysis of their complex dynamics has been lacking so far, and is the focus of our present study: we analysed video footage of hunting by falcons on flocks of thousands of starlings and show how patterns of collective escape (namely flash expansion, blackening, wave event, vacuole, cordon and split) depend on the preceding pattern and on details of attack. A higher frequency of attack during a hunting sequence resulted in a higher frequency of collective escape events. Flash expansion happened most often when the predator attacks at greater speed. A wave event was most likely when the raptor attacks at medium (rather than high or low) speed. These results provide a first quantitative approach to social complexity in collective avoidance of a predator

DOE Project on Heavy Vehicle Aerodynamic Drag

Class 8 tractor-trailers consume 11-12% of the total US petroleum use. At highway speeds, 65% of the energy expenditure for a Class 8 truck is in overcoming aerodynamic drag. The project objective is to improve fuel economy of Class 8 tractor-trailers by providing guidance on methods of reducing drag by at least 25%. A 25% reduction in drag would present a 12% improvement in fuel economy at highway speeds, equivalent to about 130 midsize tanker ships per year. Specific goals include: (1) Provide guidance to industry in the reduction of aerodynamic drag of heavy truck vehicles; (2) Develop innovative drag reducing concepts that are operationally and economically sound; and (3) Establish a database of experimental, computational, and conceptual design information, and demonstrate the potential of new drag-reduction devices. The studies described herein provide a demonstration of the applicability of the experience developed in the analysis of the standard configuration of the Generic Conventional Model. The modeling practices and procedures developed in prior efforts have been applied directly to the assessment of new configurations including a variety of geometric modifications and add-on devices. Application to the low-drag 'GTS' configuration of the GCM has confirmed that the error in predicted drag coefficients increases as the relative contribution of the base drag resulting from the vehicle wake to the total drag increases and it is recommended that more advanced turbulence modeling strategies be applied under those circumstances. Application to a commercially-developed boat tail device has confirmed that this restriction does not apply to geometries where the relative contribution of the base drag to the total drag is reduced by modifying the geometry in that region. Application to a modified GCM geometry with an open grille and radiator has confirmed that the underbody flow, while important for underhood cooling, has little impact on the drag coefficient of the vehicle. Furthermore, the evaluation of the impact of small changes in radiator or grille dimensions has revealed that the total drag is not particularly sensitive to those changes. This observation leads to two significant conclusions. First, a small increase in radiator size to accommodate heat rejection needs related to new emissions restrictions may be tolerated without significant increases in drag losses. Second, efforts to reduce drag on the tractor requires that the design of the entire tractor be treated in an integrated fashion. Simply reducing the size of the grille will not provide the desired result, but the additional contouring of the vehicle as a whole which may be enabled by the smaller radiator could have a more significant effect

Feature integration in natural language concepts

Two experiments measured the joint influence of three key sets of semantic features on the frequency with which artifacts (Experiment 1) or plants and creatures (Experiment 2) were categorized in familiar categories. For artifacts, current function outweighed both originally intended function and current appearance. For biological kinds, appearance and behavior, an inner biological function, and appearance and behavior of offspring all had similarly strong effects on categorization. The data were analyzed to determine whether an independent cue model or an interactive model best accounted for how the effects of the three feature sets combined. Feature integration was found to be additive for artifacts but interactive for biological kinds. In keeping with this, membership in contrasting artifact categories tended to be superadditive, indicating overlapping categories, whereas for biological kinds, it was subadditive, indicating conceptual gaps between categories. It is argued that the results underline a key domain difference between artifact and biological concepts

Critical Review of Theoretical Models for Anomalous Effects (Cold Fusion) in Deuterated Metals

We briefly summarize the reported anomalous effects in deuterated metals at ambient temperature, commonly known as "Cold Fusion" (CF), with an emphasis on important experiments as well as the theoretical basis for the opposition to interpreting them as cold fusion. Then we critically examine more than 25 theoretical models for CF, including unusual nuclear and exotic chemical hypotheses. We conclude that they do not explain the data.Comment: 51 pages, 4 Figure

October 1998 working group meeting on heavy vehicle aerodynamic drag: presentations and summary of comments and conclusions

A Working Group 1Meeting on Heavy Vehicle Aerodynamic Drag was held at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California on October 22, 1998. The purpose of the meeting was to present an overview of the computational and experimental approach for modeling the integrated tractor-trailer benchmark geometry called the Sandia IModel and to review NASA� s test plan for their experiments in the 7 ft x 10 ft wind tunnel. The present and projected funding situation was also discussed. Presentations were given by representatives from the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Transportation Technology Office of Heavy Vehicle Technology (OHVT). Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and NASA Ames Research Center. This report contains the technical presentations (viewgraphs) delivered at the Meeting, briefly summarizes the comments and conclusions. and outlines the future action items

Modern microwave methods in solid state inorganic materials chemistry: from fundamentals to manufacturing

No abstract available

Алкогольная зависимость у женщин с асоциальным поведением

АСОЦИАЛЬНОЕ ПОВЕДЕНИЕЖЕНСКИЙ АЛКОГОЛИЗМАЛКОГОЛЬНАЯ ЗАВИСИМОСТЬПредставлено систематизированное описание клинических проявлений и диагностических критериев алкогольной зависимости у женщин. Рассматриваются клинические и патопсихологические закономерности развития изменений личности у женщин с алкогольной зависимостью. Даны рекомендации по применению организационных и терапевтических методов, а также профилактики алкогольной зависимости у женщин с асоциальным поведением