Environmental transmission of a personality trait: foster parent exploration behaviour predicts offspring exploration behaviour in zebra finches

Consistent behavioural differences among individuals are common in many species and can have important effects on offspring fitness. To understand such ‘personality’ variation, it is important to determine the mode ofinheritance, but this has been quantified for only a few species. Here, we report results from a breeding experiment in captive zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, in which we cross-fostered offspring to disentangle the importance of genetic and nongenetic transmission of behaviour. Genetic and foster-parents’ exploratory type was measured in a novel environment pre-breeding and offspring exploratory type was assessed at adulthood. Offspring exploratory type was predicted by the exploratory behaviour of the foster but not the genetic parents, whereas offspring sizewas predicted by genetic but not foster-parents’ size. Other aspects of the social environment, such as rearing regime (uni- versus biparental), hatching position, brood size or an individual’s sex did not influence offspring exploration. Our results therefore indicate that non-genetic transmission of behaviour can play an important role in shaping animal personality variation

Tropical cyclone perceptions, impacts and adaptation in the Southwest Pacific: an urban perspective from Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga

The destruction caused by tropical cyclone (TC) Pam in March 2015 is considered one of the worst natural disasters in the history of Vanuatu. It has highlighted the need for a better understanding of TC impacts and adaptation in the Southwest Pacific (SWP) region. Therefore, the key aims of this study are to (i) understand local perceptions of TC activity, (ii) investigate impacts of TC activity and (iii) uncover adaptation strategies used to offset the impacts of TCs. To address these aims, a survey (with 130 participants from urban areas) was conducted across three SWP small island states (SISs): Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga (FVT). It was found that respondents generally had a high level of risk perception and awareness of TCs and the associated physical impacts, but lacked an understanding of the underlying weather conditions. Responses highlighted that current methods of adaptation generally occur at the local level, immediately prior to a TC event (preparation of property, gathering of food, finding a safe place to shelter). However higher level adaptation measures (such as the modification to building structures) may reduce vulnerability further. Finally, we discuss the potential of utilising weather-related traditional knowledge and non-traditional knowledge of empirical and climate-model-based weather forecasts to improve TC outlooks, which would ultimately reduce vulnerability and increase adaptive capacity. Importantly, lessons learned from this study may result in the modification and/or development of existing adaptation strategies

Habitat‐dependent occupancy and movement in a migrant songbird highlights the importance of mangroves and forested lagoons in Panama and Colombia

Climate change is predicted to impact tropical mangrove forests due to decreased rainfall, sea‐level rise, and increased seasonality of flooding. Such changes are likely to influence habitat quality for migratory songbirds occupying mangrove wetlands during the tropical dry season. Overwintering habitat quality is known to be associated with fitness in migratory songbirds, yet studies have focused primarily on territorial species. Little is known about the ecology of nonterritorial species that may display more complex movement patterns within and among habitats of differing quality. In this study, we assess within‐season survival and movement at two spatio‐temporal scales of a nonterritorial overwintering bird, the prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea), that depends on mangroves and tropical lowland forests. Specifically, we (a) estimated within‐patch survival and persistence over a six‐week period using radio‐tagged birds in central Panama and (b) modeled abundance and occupancy dynamics at survey points throughout eastern Panama and northern Colombia as the dry season progressed. We found that site persistence was highest in mangroves; however, the probability of survival did not differ among habitats. The probability of warbler occupancy increased with canopy cover, and wet habitats were least likely to experience local extinction as the dry season progressed. We also found that warbler abundance is highest in forests with the tallest canopies. This study is one of the first to demonstrate habitat‐dependent occupancy and movement in a nonterritorial overwintering migrant songbird, and our findings highlight the need to conserve intact, mature mangrove, and lowland forests

Marketing a tourism industry in late stage decline: The case of the Isle of Man

Qualitative interviews in the Isle of Man uncovered local perceptions of a tourism industry in late stage decline. Social impacts of decline are pronounced including facilities loss, cultural changes and a heightening of perceived peripherality: which taken together undermine local identity. Tourists are welcomed as they help to affirm the pride residents have in their island in creating a more active atmosphere, provide social interaction opportunities and to combat negative stereotyping. Thus findings emphasise the diverse, unique and persistent benefits of tourism in the Isle of Man, despite its decline. Destination marketing recommendations are therefore made to better address the experiences and desires of communities experiencing decline

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field

This paper presents the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), a one million second exposure of an 11 square minute-of-arc region in the southern sky with the Hubble Space Telescope. The exposure time was divided among four filters, F435W (B435), F606W (V606), F775W (i775), and F850LP (z850), to give approximately uniform limiting magnitudes mAB~29 for point sources. The image contains at least 10,000 objects presented here as a catalog. Few if any galaxies at redshifts greater than ~4 resemble present day spiral or elliptical galaxies. Using the Lyman break dropout method, we find 504 B-dropouts, 204 V-dropouts, and 54 i-dropouts. Using these samples that are at different redshifts but derived from the same data, we find no evidence for a change in the characteristic luminosity of galaxies but some evidence for a decrease in their number densities between redshifts of 4 and 7. The ultraviolet luminosity density of these samples is dominated by galaxies fainter than the characteristic luminosity, and the HUDF reveals considerably more luminosity than shallower surveys. The apparent ultraviolet luminosity density of galaxies appears to decrease from redshifts of a few to redshifts greater than 6. The highest redshift samples show that star formation was already vigorous at the earliest epochs that galaxies have been observed, less than one billion years after the Big Bang.Comment: 44 pages, 18 figures, to appear in the Astronomical Journal October 200

Fluence correction factor for graphite calorimetry in a clinical high-energy carbon-ion beam

The aim of this work is to develop and adapt a formalism to determine absorbed dose to water from graphite calorimetry measurements in carbon-ion beams. Fluence correction factors, kfl, needed when using a graphite calorimeter to derive dose to water, were determined in a clinical high-energy carbon-ion beam. Measurements were performed in a 290 MeV/n carbon-ion beam with a field size of 11 x 11 cm2, without modulation. In order to sample the beam, a plane-parallel Roos ionization chamber was chosen for its small collecting volume in comparison with the field size. Experimental information on fluence corrections was obtained from depth-dose measurements in water. This procedure was repeated with graphite plates in front of the water phantom. Fluence corrections were also obtained with Monte Carlo simulations through the implementation of three methods based on (i) the fluence distributions differential in energy, (ii) a ratio of calculated doses in water and graphite at equivalent depths and (iii) simulations of the experimental setup. The kfl term increased in depth from 1.00 at the entrance toward 1.02 at a depth near the Bragg peak, and the average difference between experimental and numerical simulations was about 0.13%. Compared to proton beams, there was no reduction of the kfl due to alpha particles because the secondary particle spectrum is dominated by projectile fragmentation. By developing a practical dose conversion technique, this work contributes to improving the determination of absolute dose to water from graphite calorimetry in carbon-ion beams

Influence of thickening of the inner skull table on intracranial volume measurement in older people

INTRODUCTION: It is generally assumed that intracranial volume (ICV) remains constant after peaking in early adulthood. Thus ICV is used as a ‘proxy’ for original brain size when trying to estimate brain atrophy in older people in neuroimaging studies. However, physiological changes in the skull, such as thickening of the frontal inner table, are relatively common in older age and will reduce ICV. The potential influence that inner table skull thickening may have on ICV measurement in old age has yet to be investigated. METHODS: We selected 60 (31 males, 29 females) representative older adults aged 71.1–74.3 years from a community-dwelling ageing cohort, the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936. A semi-automatically derived current ICV measurement obtained from high resolution T1-weighted volume scans was compared to the estimated original ICV by excluding inner skull table thickening using expert manual image processing. RESULTS: Inner table skull thickening reduced ICV from an estimated original 1480.0 ml to a current 1409.1 ml, a median decrease of 7.3% (Z = − 6.334; p < 0.001), and this reduction was more prominent in women than men (median decrease 114.6 vs. 101.9 ml respectively). This led to potential significant underestimations of brain atrophy in this sample by 5.3% (p < 0.001) and obscured potential gender differences. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of skull thickening are important to consider when conducting research in ageing, as they can obscure gender differences and result in underestimation of brain atrophy. Research into reliable methods of determining the estimated original ICV is required for research into brain ageing

A different appetite for sovereignty? Independence movements in subnational island jurisdictions

Local autonomy in a subnational jurisdiction is more likely to be gained, secured or enhanced where there are palpable movements or political parties agitating for independence in these smaller territories. A closer look at the fortunes, operations and dynamics of independence parties from subnational island jurisdictions can offer some interesting insights on the appetite for sovereignty and independence, but also the lack thereof, in the twenty-first century.peer-reviewe