The effect of parasitism on personality in a social insect

It has been recognised for some years that animals differ consistently in various aspects of their behaviour, a phenomenon that has come to be referred to as animal personality. Recent work has attempted to investigate the ecological factors that shape personality, including the forms of stress that affect its expression. One of these – disease – is known to exert a considerable effect on host behaviour, yet its impact on animal personality has been relatively understudied. This study demonstrates that wood ants, Formica rufa, show consistent individual differences in three personality traits: boldness, sociability and aggressiveness; however there was little evidence of substantial correlations between these traits at the group level (known as behavioural syndromes). There was only limited evidence that exposure to the parasitic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae had an effect on the mean personality traits, with challenged ants showing marginal changes in boldness and sociability at high doses of fungus but no change in aggressiveness even when close to death. The results suggest that individual personality in F. rufa is very resilient to the physiological stress caused by pathogenesis. This may be because, as social insects, higher-order behavioural variation such as caste- and colony-level personality may play a larger role in host-parasite interactions

Subsection (e) of the Criminal Justice Act of 1964

The Criminal Justice Act of 1964 was enacted to promote the cause of criminal justice by providing for the representation of defendants who are financially unable to obtain an adequate defense in criminal cases in the courts of the United States. The Act requires each United States district court to place in operation for the benefit of certain indigent defendants a plan designed to provide for the appointment, and payment of counsel, and for certain auxiliary services. The purpose of this note is to examine factors that will influence courts in establishing a criteria for applying subsection (e) which provides for services other than counsel

Workmen\u27s Compensation - Widow is Entitled to Death Benefits. Deceased Husband, Recipient of a Football Scholarship, is an Employee of his College within the Meaning of the Workmen\u27s Compensation Act (Van Horn v. Industrial Accident Commission, Cal. 1963)

Van Horn, an outstanding athlete while in high school, was recruited by California State Polytechnic Institute for its football team. In accordance with the promises made to him by the school coach, he was paid $50 at the beginning of each academic quarter, and another sum to defray his rental expenses during the football season. In addition, he was paid an hourly wage to line the football field; this activity was the only work, in the usual sense of the word, that he performed for the College. Van Horn and some of his teammates were killed in the crash of a plane which had been chartered by the school to return the team from an out-of-state football game. His widow applied for death benefits under the California Workmen\u27s Compensation Act. The application was denied by the Industrial Accident Commission on the ground that decedent was not an employee of the college within the meaning of the Act. Reversed, on appeal; he was an employee. Van Horn v. Industrial Accident Commission, 219 A.C.A. 523, 33 Cal.Rptr. 169 (1963)

Bordering intimacy

Bordering intimacy is a study of how borders and dominant forms of intimacy, such as family, are central to the governance of postcolonial states such as Britain. The book explores the connected history between contemporary border regimes and the policing of family with the role of borders under European and British empires. Building upon postcolonial, decolonial and black feminist theory, the investigation centres on how colonial bordering is remade in contemporary Britain through appeals to protect, sustain and make family life. Not only was family central to the making of colonial racism but claims to family continue to remake, shore up but also hide the organisation of racialised violence in liberal states. Drawing on historical investigations, the book investigates the continuity of colonial rule in numerous areas of contemporary government – family visa regimes, the policing of sham marriages, counterterror strategies, deprivation of citizenship, policing tactics, integration policy. In doing this, the book re-theorises how we think of the connection between liberal government, race, family, borders and empire. In using Britain as a case, this opens up further insights into the international/global circulations of liberal empire and its relationship to violence

Automated Software Rollouts Based On Confidence Intervals

Canarying is a technique for software rollout that attempts to ensure that performance metrics do not regress below a threshold due to the rollout. The updated software version is rolled out to a fixed percentage of users or data centers, and metrics are checked to ensure that deviations in performance are below the fixed threshold. While the current mechanisms can eliminate major regressions, they are not flexible enough to prevent medium-sized regressions from occurring. This disclosure describes techniques for creating smarter canaries for software rollouts using confidence intervals and feedback loops. The techniques described herein enable dynamic rollouts and ensure that performance metrics do not regress to even a small degree

Tracking intended nationally determined contributions: what are the implications for greenhouse gas emissions in 2030?

Headline issue: Countries agreed at the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) in Lima, Peru, in December 2014 to set out their intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) during the first quarter of 2015, ahead of COP21 in Paris, France, in December 2015. As of 20 July 2015, 46 countries, including the 28 Member States of the European Union, have submitted INDCs to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This policy paper considers whether the INDCs submitted so far are consistent with the 2°C limit. It finds that, whilst the INDCs represent progress compared with a ‘business as usual’ global emissions pathway, there is a gap between current ambitions and the actions that need to be taken to limit a rise in global average temperature to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial level. Key findings: The INDCs submitted as of 20 July 2015 would lead to annual global emissions in 2030 of 56.9 to 59.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030. This is much higher than the 36 billion tonnes that the United Nations Environment Programme has indicated would be consistent with having a 50 to 66 per cent chance of avoiding a rise in global average temperature of more than 2°C above its pre-industrial level. The INDCs also fall well short of the global emissions target of 42 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030, in the scenario that technologies – such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) – can create significant ‘negative emissions’. The authors also reiterate the findings of a previous paper that countries should focus on four key ways to increase the ambitions of emissions cuts both before and after the Paris summit: Hard work is needed over the next few months by all countries to find credible ways of achieving bigger emissions reductions which can be included in pledges to be submitted before the Paris summit, or achieved through additional efforts by partnerships, for example, through specific decarbonisation initiatives among willing countries. An intensification of efforts to increase investment and innovation – particularly in relation to the development of cities, energy systems and land use – could help to close the gap between countries intentions and the emissions reduction goal before and after 2030. A mechanism should be included in the agreement emerging from the Paris summit in December so that countries can review their efforts and find ways of ramping up the ambition of their emissions reductions by 2030 and beyond. Concerted efforts are needed by all countries to build the strong and transparent domestic base necessary for the implementation of their pledges. This should set them on a path to decarbonisation and enable them to ramp up their ambitions

Intended nationally determined contributions: what are the implications for greenhouse gas emissions in 2030?

The analysis presented here considers whether the INDCs that were submitted by 23 October 2015 are consistent with a reasonable chance of not exceeding the 2°C warming limit. As of 23 October 2015, 154 countries (including the 28 Member States of the European Union) had submitted INDCs, including pledges to limit or reduce annual national emissions after 2020. These 154 countries were together responsible for over 85% of global annual emissions of greenhouse gases, and represented over 90% of global gross domestic product (GDP), in 2012. Based on our analysis we conclude that there has been progress compared with hypothetical ‘business as usual’ global emissions pathways. However there is a gap between the emissions pathway that would result from current ambitions and plans, including those goals outlined by the submitted INDCs, and a pathway that is consistent with a reasonable chance of limiting the rise in global average temperature to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. The most optimistic estimate of global emissions in 2030 resulting from the INDCs is about halfway between hypothetical ‘business as usual’ and a pathway that is consistent with the 2°C limit. Consequently, countries should be considering opportunities to narrow the gap before and after the COP21 summit in Pa

High-throughput metal susceptibility testing of microbial biofilms

BACKGROUND: Microbial biofilms exist all over the natural world, a distribution that is paralleled by metal cations and oxyanions. Despite this reality, very few studies have examined how biofilms withstand exposure to these toxic compounds. This article describes a batch culture technique for biofilm and planktonic cell metal susceptibility testing using the MBEC assay. This device is compatible with standard 96-well microtiter plate technology. As part of this method, a two part, metal specific neutralization protocol is summarized. This procedure minimizes residual biological toxicity arising from the carry-over of metals from challenge to recovery media. Neutralization consists of treating cultures with a chemical compound known to react with or to chelate the metal. Treated cultures are plated onto rich agar to allow metal complexes to diffuse into the recovery medium while bacteria remain on top to recover. Two difficulties associated with metal susceptibility testing were the focus of two applications of this technique. First, assays were calibrated to allow comparisons of the susceptibility of different organisms to metals. Second, the effects of exposure time and growth medium composition on the susceptibility of E. coli JM109 biofilms to metals were investigated. RESULTS: This high-throughput method generated 96-statistically equivalent biofilms in a single device and thus allowed for comparative and combinatorial experiments of media, microbial strains, exposure times and metals. By adjusting growth conditions, it was possible to examine biofilms of different microorganisms that had similar cell densities. In one example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 was up to 80 times more resistant to heavy metalloid oxyanions than Escherichia coli TG1. Further, biofilms were up to 133 times more tolerant to tellurite (TeO(3)(2-)) than corresponding planktonic cultures. Regardless of the growth medium, the tolerance of biofilm and planktonic cell E. coli JM109 to metals was time-dependent. CONCLUSION: This method results in accurate, easily reproducible comparisons between the susceptibility of planktonic cells and biofilms to metals. Further, it was possible to make direct comparisons of the ability of different microbial strains to withstand metal toxicity. The data presented here also indicate that exposure time is an important variable in metal susceptibility testing of bacteria