Bird and Insect migration through Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean region

Twice each year, vast numbers of birds and insects undergo poleward migrations. Species which cross between Europe and Africa must negotiate traversing the Mediterranean region. Many birds are known to avoid crossing seas and therefore in the east they bypass the Mediterranean by taking an overland route and migrating through Israel, Lebanon and Syria. However, some birds do make the sea crossing and use Cyprus as a steppingstone between Africa and Europe. Despite widespread knowledge of this route, no dedicated studies on bird migration have been carried out in the north of Cyprus, and no season-long assessments of insect migrants has been carried out on the island. From March through to May of 2019, a team of five University of Exeter students surveyed insect and bird spring migration occurring through the northeast peninsular of Cyprus over a 39-day period; this survey was to be repeated in spring 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic rendered fieldwork impossible. In Chapter 1 observations of bird migration on Cyprus were contextualised by comparing them with ornithological radar data from Israel (a known migratory hotspot), then assessing broad migration trends and the effect of wind on bird migration intensity. In agreement with existing studies, larger birds like raptors were less impacted by wind currents than smaller birds such as songbirds. Moreover, when beneficial tailwinds were scarce, songbirds chose to migrate in lower wind speeds. Migration traffic rates for day-migrating birds were found to be proportionally greater over the Karpaz peninsular than in the Hula valley of Israel. Thirdly, temporal migration patterns for raptors over Cyprus and Israel correlated significantly. Chapter 2 takes a natural history focus by detailing the taxonomic assemblages of migrants recorded on Cyprus, and then discussing the implications of our findings. Higher than expected numbers of migrating crag martins (Ptyonoprogne rupestris), common kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) and pallid harriers (Circus macrourus) for Cyprus were recorded during our spring survey. Observed numbers for pallid harriers suggest that the Karpaz peninsular may possibly be Europe’s most significant flyway for the species. These provisional findings are of great conservation importance as pallid harriers are listed as a globally near threatened species on the IUCN Redlist. In addition, the first African migrant butterfly (Catopsilia florella) on Cyprus since 1986 and the first ever 2 Cyprus record of the ladybird Harmonia quadripunctata were recorded. Furthermore, evidence of mass migratory behaviour in the flies Delia platura and Stomoxys calcitrans is presented, both of which were not previously considered migratory. Observations of signs of illegal bird trapping at the Cyprus study sites is discussed anecdotally

Gene flow and cross-mating in Plasmodium falciparum in households in a Tanzanian village

The diversity of the genes encoding 2 merozoite surface proteins (MSP-1 and MSP-2) of Plasmodium falciparum has been examined in parasites infecting members of 4 households in a village in Tanzania. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to characterize allelic variants of these genes by the sizes and sequences of regions of tandemly repeated bases in each gene. In each household extensive polymorphism was detected among parasites in the inhabitants and in infected mosquitoes caught in their houses. Similar frequencies of the alleles of these genes were observed in all households. Capture-recapture data indicated that both Anopheles gambiae and A.funestus freely dispersed among households in the hamlet. The results confirm that cross-mating and gene flow occur extensively among the parasites, and are discussed within the context of spatial clustering of natural populations of P. falciparu

Real-time portable multi-layer perceptron voice fundamental-period extractor for hearing aids and cochlear implants

Previous work has shown that it is possible to train a multi-layer perceptron to estimate the voice fundamental period (Tx) for multiple speakers in the presence of high levels of background noise. The algorithm has been implemented in real-time on a TMS320C25 based development system. A prototype pocket-sized portable device has been constructed and the real-time software transferred to it. This will provide the basis for a new generation of signal processing hearing aids for the profoundly and totally deaf. Power supply current is sufficiently low for battery operation for periods of 12 hours between charges. The basic algorithm has been adapted to provide the higher time resolution which will make it applicable to a wide range of other applications. © 1990

Sustainable clothing: challenges, barriers and interventions for encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour

Research with consumers has revealed limited awareness of the sustainability impact of clothing (Goworek et al., 2012). Semi-structured interviews conducted with a range of experts in sustainable clothing to increase understanding of the challenges for sustainable clothing revealed that a focus on sustainability alone will not drive the necessary changes in consumers’ clothing purchase, care and disposal behaviour for three reasons: (i) clothing sustainability is too complex; (ii) consumers are too diverse in their ethical concerns; and (iii) clothing is not an altruistic purchase. The findings identify the challenges that need to be addressed and the associated barriers for sustainable clothing. Interventions targeting consumers, suppliers, buyers and retailers are proposed that encourage more sustainable clothing production, purchase, care and disposal behaviour. These interventions range from normalising the design of sustainable clothing and increasing the ease of purchase, to shifting clothes washing norms and increasing upcycling, recycling and repair

Genetic complexity of Plasmodium falciparum in two ethnic groups of Burkina Faso with marked differences in susceptibility to malaria.

We have characterized Plasmodium falciparum genotypes among the Mossi and Fulani sympatric ethnic groups in villages in Burkina Faso during the rainy season. Differences in clinical malaria presentation and in immune responses to malaria occur between the two groups. Asexual parasite rate, density, and gametocyte rate were higher among the Mossi than the Fulani. There was no difference in frequencies of alleles of the P. falciparum merozoite surface protein 1 (msp-1), msp-2, and glutamate-rich protein (glurp) genes among the parasites in each group. However, there were significant differences in the mean number of P. falciparum clones in the two populations, with there being more in the Mossi than in the Fulani. This effect was especially marked in older children. These differences can most probably be attributed to genetic differences in immune responsiveness to malaria between the two ethnic groups

Інноваційні педагогічні технології в лінгводидактиці вищої школи

Мета статті – описати інноваційні технології, які дають можливості викладачам успішніше керувати навчально-пізнавальною діяльністю студентів у процесі лінгводидактичної підготовки майбутніх вчителів української мови