Aspects of the ecology of macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) around South Georgia

Macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus Brandt) feed when diving during long foraging trips away from their breeding colony. Their foraging behaviour is constrained by a number of factors including their physiology, their condition, the condition of their partner, and the condition of their chick. This thesis concerns aspects of their foraging ecology in relation to prey availability. Time Depth Recorders and other archival tags are increasing in their capacity, battery life and durability at the same time as getting cheaper and smaller and are frequently used to explore foraging behaviour. However, development and application of techniques to analyse these resulting data sets lags behind our ability to collect the data. This thesis develops new methods and uses data from 129 macaroni penguins collected over 6 years to determine patterns of foraging behaviour. In particular: 1. Appropriate identification of sex is essential to any study of foraging ecology, in particular during the breeding season. In response to an identified problem with morphometric sexing, I conduct a validation test between molecular and morphometric sex tests and make conclusions about the nature and identity of error in these tests. 2. I use summary statistics to characterise dives. This work suggests that time series techniques may provide insights that have been lacking from previous analyses. I apply time series techniques to the data to model non-independence in data sets and to compare results obtained using auto-correlation methods with findings obtained from (1) above. The time series approach allows a comparison of different temporal elements of dives, in particular correlations between features of successive dives and how correlation between dives decays with time. 3. I use Hidden Markov Models as a clustering algorithm to provide a statistically robust description of patterns in dives that may outperform the widely used concept of bouts of dives. I then use this method to determine whether such clustering of dives exists in my data. Characteristics of bouts and types of dives vary with year, the stage and sex of the individual. 4. Hidden Markov Models do not provide a direct replacement for the concept of bouts. Rather than identify bouts as summary statistics of diving activity, I take daily summaries of activity. I then use these to overcome the nonindependence of dives and to determine the relative periods of dive activity and travel or searching. Comparison between the adult and chick fledging weights revealed a strategy of investment in the chick at the expense of the adult body mass. The application of time series techniques has led to new insights about the timing of decision-making, but this thesis reveals that further advances also require positional data to be combined with temporal activity data

A Future of Failure? The Flow of Technology Talent into Government and Civil Society

This report is an evaluation of the technology talent landscape shows a severe paucity of individuals with technical skills in computer science, data science, and the Internet or other information technology expertise in civil society and government. It investigates broadly the health of the talent pipeline that connects individuals studying or working in information technology-related disciplines to careers in public sector and civil society institutions. Barriers to recruitment and retention of individuals with the requisite skills include compensation, a perceived inability to pursue groundbreaking work, and cultural aversion to innovation

Scottish bus services and the 'Buses' White Paper

The White Paper on 'Buses' (Cmnd 9300; 1984) is undoubtedly a revolutionarydocument. The overriding theme is that, while the rise in car ownership and othershifts in lifestyle have created problems for the sector, the major current difficulties derive from lax growth of subsidies to an industry with a seriouslydefective structure. A rise in revenue support from £10m in 1972 to £520m in 1982 (£38m being in Scotland) has failed to reverse the decline in patronage and has come into sharp conflict with government's desire to cut public spending. Thebudgeted revenue support of English local authorities for buses in 1984/85 is still83? above government provision. The Scottish excess is lower, but still significant, at 34? The White Paper insists that these spending levels must be reduced yet goes on to argue that, in a fully competitive environment, spending cuts will be compatible with a reversal of public transport's declining share of the travel market. Since spending would be concentrated on specific social objectives, the government's view is that increased competition need not mean any increase in social deprivation. The urgency for structural change in the industry is stressed and legislation is anticipated in the 1984/85 parliamentary session. This briefing considers whether the proposals in the White Paper are appropriate and adequate to revive British public transport more generally while contributing to cost reductions

Crisis communication and social media : the changing environment for natural disaster response

Over the past two years there have been several large-scale disasters (Haitian earthquake, Australian floods, UK riots, and the Japanese earthquake) that have seen wide use of social media for disaster response, often in innovative ways. This paper provides an analysis of the ways in which social media has been used in public-to-public communication and public-to-government organisation communication. It discusses four ways in which disaster response has been changed by social media: 1. Social media appears to be displacing the traditional media as a means of communication with the public during a crisis. In particular social media influences the way traditional media communication is received and distributed. 2. We propose that user-generated content may provide a new source of information for emergency management agencies during a disaster, but there is uncertainty with regards to the reliability and usefulness of this information. 3. There are also indications that social media provides a means for the public to self-organise in ways that were not previously possible. However, the type and usefulness of self-organisation sometimes works against efforts to mitigate the outcome of the disaster. 4. Social media seems to influence information flow during a disaster. In the past most information flowed in a single direction from government organisation to public, but social media negates this model. The public can diffuse information with ease, but also expect interaction with Government Organisations rather than a simple one-way information flow. These changes have implications for the way government organisations communicate with the public during a disaster. The predominant model for explaining this form of communication, the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC), was developed in 2005 before social media achieved widespread popularity. We will present a modified form of the CERC model that integrates social media into the disaster communication cycle, and addresses the ways in which social media has changed communication between the public and government organisations during disasters

Habitat-mediated dive behavior in free-ranging grey seals

Understanding the links between foraging behaviour and habitat use of key species is essential to addressing fundamental questions about trophic interactions and ecosystem functioning. Eight female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) were equipped with time-depth recorders linked to Fastloc GPS tags following the annual moult in southwest Ireland. Individual dives were coupled with environmental correlates to investigate the habitat use and dive behaviour of free-ranging seals. Dives were characterised as either pelagic, benthic, or shallow (where errors in location and charted water depth made differentiating between pelagic and benthic dives unreliable). Sixty-nine percent of dives occurring in water >50 m were benthic. Pelagic dives were more common at night than during the day. Seals performed more pelagic dives over fine sediments (mud/sand), and more benthic dives when foraging over more three-dimensionally complex rock substrates. We used Markov chain analysis to determine the probability of transiting between dive states. A low probability of repeat pelagic dives suggests that pelagic prey were encountered en route to the seabed. This approach could be applied to make more accurate predictions of habitat use in data-poor areas, and investigate contentious issues such as resource overlap and competition between top predators and fisheries, essential for the effective conservation of these key marine species

Why huddle? Ecological drivers of chick aggregations in gentoo penguins, Pygoscelis papua, across latitudes

Aggregations of young animals are common in a range of endothermic and ectothermic species, yet the adaptive behavior may depend on social circumstance and local conditions. In penguins, many species form aggregations (aka. crèches) for a variety of purposes, whilst others have never been observed exhibiting this behavior. Those that do form aggregations do so for three known benefits: 1) reduced thermoregulatory requirements, 2) avoidance of unrelated-adult aggression, and 3) lower predation risk. In gentoo penguins, Pygoscelis papua, chick aggregations are known to form during the post-guard period, yet the cause of these aggregations is poorly understood. Here, for the first time, we study aggregation behavior in gentoo penguins, examining four study sites along a latitudinal gradient using time-lapse cameras to examine the adaptive benefit of aggregations to chicks. Our results support the idea that aggregations of gentoo chicks decrease an individual’s energetic expenditure when wet, cold conditions are present. However, we found significant differences in aggregation behavior between the lowest latitude site, Maiviken, South Georgia, and two of the higher latitude sites on the Antarctic Peninsula, suggesting this behavior may be colony specific. We provide strong evidence that more chicks aggregate and a larger number of aggregations occur on South Georgia, while the opposite occurs at Petermann Island in Antarctica. Future studies should evaluate multiple seabird colonies within one species before generalizing behaviors based on one location, and past studies may need to be re-evaluated to determine whether chick aggregation and other behaviors are in fact exhibited species-wide

Charles W. Bolen Faculty Recital Series: Paul Nolen, Saxophone; Kevin Hart, Piano; William Koehler, Bass; Tom Marko, Drums; March 23, 2011

Kemp Recital HallMarch 23, 2011Wednesday Evening9:00 p.m

Illinois State University Faculty Jazz Ensemble

Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday Evening March 4, 2008 8:00p.m

Physical characteristics explain ball-carrying capability in sub-elite rugby union players.

The aims of the present study were two-fold: (i) to investigate the relationship between physical characteristics and the game statistics associated with ball-carrying capability amongst sub-elite rugby union players; and (ii) to predict the level of change in these physical characteristics required to improve the associated game statistic via regression analysis. Thirty-eight senior professional players (forwards, n = 22; backs, n = 16) were assessed for body mass (BM), back squat (BS) single-repetition maximum (1RM) normalised to BM (1RM/BM), 10 m sprint velocity (S10), 10 m sprint momentum (SM10), and the game statistics from 22 games within the 2019/20 RFU Championship season. The relationship between these measures and the predicted level of change in a physical measure required to improve the total number of the associated game statistic by one were assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficient and simple regression analyses. In forwards, an ~ 11.5% reduction in BM, an ~ 11.8% improvement in BS 1RM/BM, or an ~ 11.5% increase in S10 was required to improve the game statistics associated with ball-carrying capability. In backs, a ~ 19.3% increase in BM or a ~ 15.6% improvement in SM10 was required. These findings demonstrate that improvements in lower-body relative strength, acceleration performance, and position-specific alterations in body mass are required to maximise the ball-carrying capability and therefore match outcome of sub-elite rugby union players