Dead-Leaf Foraging Specialization in Tropical Forest Birds.

This study investigates an example of extreme foraging specialization by tropical birds, namely foraging for arthropods in suspended aerial leaf-litter in lowland tropical rainforest. Up to 16 species at two southwestern Amazonian sites constitute a guild of specialized dead-leaf foragers that make up roughly 11% of the region\u27s insectivorous bird species. Most dead-leaf specialists are ovenbirds (Furnariidae) or antbirds (Formicariidae) that are characteristic members of mixed-species foraging flocks. Individual dead leaves represent an abundant, seasonally stable resource that supports higher prey densities (number per leaf) and a greater proportion of preferred prey than adjacent live foliage. The arthropod fauna of aerial leaf-litter (dominated by spiders, roaches, other orthopterans, and small beetles) was distinct from that on live foliage. All guild members differed significantly from each other in either foraging height, size or type of leaves searched, diet composition, or prey size, although overlaps between species pairs were usually high ($\leq$0.900). All species selected substrates (leaf types) and prey nonrandomly compared with their availability. Some species segregated by habitat, but individuals apparently joined mixed-species flocks in each habitat independently of the other species present. I further investigated the dietary consequences of substrate specialization in five species of antwrens (Myrmotherula); two dead-leaf specialists, two live-leaf foragers, and one generalist. In a series of outdoor cage experiments with wild-caught birds, all foraging groups showed a similar degree of selectivity of prey types, and each species ate a wider range of prey than seen in natural diets. In additional experiments, live-leaf foraging and generalist species showed little interest in dead- or live-leaf substrates, whereas all dead-leaf foragers repeatedly inspected and manipulated dead and curled leaves in the absence of food. I conclude that substrate specialization in these birds involves fundamental differences in search behavior, but is not accompanied by equivalent changes in prey selectively or preference. Dead-leaf specialization evolved independently in several bird families but shows strong phylogenetic constraints among genera. Genetic relationships among Myrmotherula antwrens suggests that foraging specialization arose before the radiation of modern species, raising questions about the relevance of present-day ecology to the evolution of such specialization

Fully guided electrically-controlled exciton polaritons

We demonstrate two types of waveguide structures which optically confine exciton- polaritons in two dimensions and act as polaritonic channels. We show a strong optical confinement in an etched rectangular waveguide, that significantly increases the propa- gation distance of the polaritons and allow to direct them in curved trajectories. Also, we show low-loss optical guiding over a record-high of hundreds of microns which is com- bined seamlessly with electrical control of the polaritons, in a strip waveguide formed by electrically conductive and optically transparent strips deposited on top of a planar waveguide. Both structures are scalable and easy to fabricate and offer new possibilities for designing complex polaritonic devices.Comment: 12 pages 3 Figuer

Psychiatric Consultation for the Demented Elderly

Psychiatric consultations for the demented elderly are often required and requested by the Medical service. With the rise in the number of demented elderly being housed in acute care hospitals, the need.for these consultations is increasing. In this paper, the author presents a case and discusses the role of the consultant in (1) diagnostics, (2) therapeutics, (3) assessment of involuntary vs. voluntary placement in an institution, (4) medical staff education, (5) family education, and (6) the management of evoked feelings and countertransference among the medical and nursing staff

Oregon’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (EHDI): The First Fifteen Years (1989-2004)

Following unsuccessful efforts in the early 1990’s, using a “high-risk” registry to identify infants with hearing loss, and following the development of practical automated electrophysiologic technology to identify hearing loss in infants, community advocates and the Office of Family Health (OFH) lobbied to introduce universal newborn hearing screening in Oregon. In 1999, the Legislature adopted a compromise bill that mandated screening in all hospitals with more than 200 births annually. When the new law took effect, in July 2000, the proportion of infants screened rapidly rose from 25% to over 94%. In 2003, the Legislature added mandatory individual-level reporting and the OFH established a registry. With these essential elements now in place, a critical task is to ensure complete follow-up of infants failing newborn hearing screening with diagnostic testing and early intervention, if appropriate. Health promoters and educators will play a key role encouraging participation in the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program by health professionals and parents

A Survey of Librarian Perceptions of Information Literacy Techniques

Teaching research competencies and information literacy is an integral part of the academic librarian\u27s role. There has long been debate among librarians over what are the most effective methods of instruction for college students. Library Faculty at a large urban University System were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the effectiveness of common information literacy instruction techniques. The system includes both two-year and four-year programs, as well as degree granting institutions. This research was undertaken for the purpose of better prioritizing institutional teaching activities in the current academic climate. The research shows that librarians within the University System believed that instructional models which give librarians more time with students, particularly highly-engaged students, are the most effective

Household-level factors associated with relapse following discharge from treatment for moderate acute malnutrition

AbstractFactors associated with relapse among children who are discharged after reaching a threshold denoted ‘recovered’ from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) are not well understood. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with sustained recovery, defined as maintaining a mid-upper-arm circumference≥12·5 cm for 1 year after release from treatment. On the basis of an observational study design, we analysed data from an in-depth household (HH) survey on a sub-sample of participants within a larger cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) that followed up children for 1 year after recovery from MAM. Out of 1497 children participating in the cRCT, a subset of 315 children participated in this sub-study. Accounting for other factors, HH with fitted lids on water storage containers (P=0·004) was a significant predictor of sustained recovery. In addition, sustained recovery was better among children whose caregivers were observed to have clean hands (P=0·053) and in HH using an improved sanitation facility (P=0·083). By contrast, socio-economic status and infant and young child feeding practices at the time of discharge and HH food security throughout the follow-up period were not significant. Given these results, we hypothesise that improved water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in tandem with management of MAM through supplemental feeding programmes have the possibility to decrease relapse following recovery from MAM. Furthermore, the absence of associations between relapse and nearly all HH-level factors indicates that the causal factors of relapse may be related mostly to the child’s individual, underlying health and nutrition status.</jats:p

Public Health Nursing Acceptance of the 5 A's Protocol for Prenatal Smoking Cessation

Oregon’s efforts in tobacco cessation have historically focused on the general population and have depended on quit line services as the primary intervention. The Oregon Smoke Free Mothers and Babies Program (SFMB) was developed in 2002 to focus on public health nurses and prenatal care providers who work with high risk pregnant women. It seeks to increase smoking cessation among low income and other high risk pregnant women by disseminating the U.S. Public Health Service best practices, the 5 A’s (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) tobacco brief intervention protocol, to public health nurses and prenatal care providers. Interventions included teaching nurses the 5 A’s, how to use stages of change for pregnant quitters and providing them with client materials. We report the survey results gathered from nurses regarding their use of the 5 A’s. Nurses were questioned at 3 intervals: at the beginning of the SFMB project, 12 months later and 24 months later. While over 45 nurses in 10 counties were involved in the program, staff turnover and budget cuts affected program evaluation and analysis of the survey responses. As a result, only 10 nurses completed all three surveys. We found that, at baseline, all of the nurses were already performing the Ask and Advise components. The training resulted in a significant increase in the nurses using Assess (p&lt;0.05) and Assist (p&lt;0.05) both at 12 and 24 months. We also found that there was a statistically significant increase in the use of Arrange at 12 months (p&lt;0.01) that was not sustained at 24 months (p=0.07). We conclude that public health nurses were already routinely doing Ask and Advise; our 5 A’s program was successful in improving Assess and Assist. More work is needed to understand why increases in Arrange were not sustained

Global versus Local Conservation Focus of U.S. State Agency Endangered Bird Species Lists

The development of species priorities for conservation at local or regional scales (for example, within a state or province) poses an interesting paradox. One the one hand, locally or regionally-derived species priorities may lead to greater interest in and resources directed to biodiversity conservation by local or regional institutions. On the other hand, locally or regionally-derived species priorities could overlook national or global priorities. We assessed U.S. state government agency endangered-threatened bird lists to determine the comparative representation of species of global versus local conservation significance on them. State lists tended to be represented primarily by species of low global risk-low global responsibility (range: 15–100%; mean 51%) and high global risk-high global responsibility (range: 0–73%; mean 35%). In 25 states, more than half of the species on the state lists were in the low global risk-low global responsibility category. Most U.S. state agency lists represent a combined strategy of highlighting species of both local and global conservation significance. Even with this combined local-global strategy, most state lists were predominated by species that represent local but not global conservation significance. Such a strategy could have profound negative consequences for many species that are not formally recognized under national endangered species protections but that are also left off of state-level endangered species lists