Neighbours at war : aggressive behaviour and spatial responsiveness in the anemone, Actinia tenebrosa : this thesis is completed in part of a Masters of Conservation Biology degree

Habitable space is precious and animals have developed a wide variety of mechanisms to acquire and defend favourable space. Aggression is considered any animal behaviour that involves actual or potential harm to another animal of either the same or different species. Agonistic behaviours must also be considered as it is any social behaviour related to fighting. Both aggressive and agnostic behaviours are observed in many animal species as resources including light exposure, nutrients and mates are often limited. Although agonistic behaviour varies among species, agonistic interactions can be partitioned into three specific types of behaviours: threat, aggression, and submission or avoidance. While any one of these behaviours can be observed in isolation, in an interaction between two animals, there is normally a sequence of behaviours which can culminate in combat. Anemones have unique adaptions such as clubs, fighting tentacles, bundles of stinging cells, sweeper tentacles and acrorhagi that allow them to defend themselves from competitors. Previous research also suggests that anemone populations are a collection of clusters of genetically similar which assemble via limited dispersal and locomotion. I chapter two I examined the effect of aggression on individuals at varying distances and predicted that those anemones that are initially located in closest proximity (<1 centimetre) in the field will be less aggressive towards each other than those anemones found further way from each other. Overall, my results suggest that Actinia tenebrosa have an obvious sequence of aggressive behaviours, and that indeed, aggressive behaviours were less common and less severe between nearest neighbours than among individuals sampled at greater distances. My results also show that aggressive behaviours are typically only expressed when individuals are within close proximity of each other <10cm. This behaviour is important to understand as it aids in fully understanding how aggressive behaviours determine dominance hierarchies and the spatial arrangement in A. tenebrosa. I chapter three, I investigated whether there was evidence for an ideal spatial arrangement of individuals in the field by testing whether individuals return to a similar spatial arrangement if randomised. The results from this chapter suggest that there is no single ideal spatial arrangement of individuals but rather individuals will find a spatial arrangement that is stable. I also observed that there appears to be an acclimation between individuals that resulted in a favourable position within the cluster. Lastly, I observed that instead of trying to return to a specific aggregation, individuals acclimate each other and move relative to those individuals surrounding them, much like stars in the sky. The results from this study would suggest that spatial structure of individuals in the field is dependent on intraspecies interactions and the recognition of individuals

NOC Liverpool Unit 117 Glider deployment report for the DEFRA MAREMAP Project, April - May 2012 deployment

This document summarises the extended deployment of a 200 metre depth rated Slocum Electric glider by the National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool, UK from the 2nd April to 17th May 2012. The deployment was aimed as a pilot study for the use of gliders by environment agencies to monitor marine conservation zones. Lithium expendable batteries were used inside the glider to provide an extended endurance. The glider had a series of science sensors installed to measure physical oceanographic and biological parameters that included water quality and algal activity. The glider was deployed from the Liverpool Bay and successfully navigated to the intended survey area that was more than 100km from the initial deployment location. Extensive independent scientific measurements were taken during the glider deployment and subsequent operation. These measurements were used for glider sensor calibration and the monitoring of any sensor drift. Avoidance and managing of the many hazards typical in the survey area such as shipping, strong tidal currents and fixed platforms were required during the deployment. This was achieved by remotely piloting the glider with using a satellite based communications link. After a deployment of just over six weeks a suspected glider entanglement close to the seabed occurred during a routine survey dive and attempted subsequent climb underwater. This compromised the glider operation during its return to shallower, more sheltered coastal waters for an intended recovery. An emergency recovery was then required that used a small charted deep sea fishing vessel. This document provides an overview of the deployment requirements, the glider operations and the recovered glider initial evaluation. A summary of the results achieved is also provided in the report

Home oxygen for children: who, how and when?

A review of the specific requirements of home oxygen therapy in children which attempts to offer guidance to clinicians and service providers

Discretionary Learner Support (dLS) 2009/10 analysis of MI : report on youth (16-18) dLS

This report provides an overview of Youth (16-18) dLS in 2009/10 across England based on Management Information (MI) returns from providers. Trends have been presented where data for previous years was available. The analysis of 2009/10 MI returns seeks to provide an up to date account of evidence and trends in dLS in order to support an assessment of their impact and effectiveness and inform future developments. However, this report is not intended to evaluate the reasons for such trends. The report is presented in three sections; the first provides background information relating to dLS funding, including a summary of policy changes; the second is a summary of the methodology applied and the data collection process; whilst the third provides a summary of the findings including an overview of the national and regional picture of dLS expenditure in 2009/10 and more detailed analyses on the various funding lines of youth dLS (i.e. hardship and residential bursary). The report is supplemented by appendices which present detailed breakdowns of youth dLS expenditure for individual regions" - page 5

Genres of the Sublime: Byronic Tragedy, Manfred, and “The Alpine Journal” in the Light of some European Contemporaries

Cet article aborde un aspect négligé des écrits sur le sublime : celui du genre. Je ferai valoir que les critiques abordent trop souvent le sublime comme s’il opérait transcendentalement par rapport à ses instantiations, cherchant peu à comprendre comment le mode du sublime s’agence avec les genres à l’intérieur desquels il est encodé.Quand Byron gravite vers le sublime, il a tendance à le faire dans le mode tragique. Les prédicats traditionnels de la sublimité (l’infinité, l’obscurité, l’ineffable, etc.) s’appliquent bien à des oeuvres comme celle de Manfred, la réécriture chargée du Faust de Goethe, dans laquelle rien de moins sinistre n’est présenté dans la forme d’un personnage dramatique. Dans cet article, je situerai les réussites de Byron en tragédie par rapport à celles de ses contemporains européens. Celles-ci seront également examinées à la lumière de réflexions sur la tragédie et le sublime des idéalistes allemands

Catalonia and Spain: will the referendum on independence go ahead?

The Catalan government has indicated it still intends to hold a referendum on independence on 1 October despite the Spanish government’s insistence that the vote will not take place. Sebastian Balfour writes that nothing could be more unpredictable than the outcome of the current impasse, as an almost unstoppable force, the Catalan movement for independence, is about to clash head on with an almost immovable object in the shape of the Spanish state

Will Crimea herald a new post-Cold War era world? EPC Commentary, 7 April 2014

The end of the Cold War twenty-five years ago brought about a difficult but manageable world in which Russia, the US, and European countries cooperated to manage common problems. There have been difficult times, with the break up of former Yugoslavia, the NATO intervention for Kosovo, and in 2008 when Russia’s intervention in Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkahzia nearly led to a head to head with the West. On the whole, the cooperation between old foes which framed the end of the Cold War, resisted these tests. The Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and the agreement not to redraw the map of Europe was never so evidently ignored as today

The 2015 Spanish general election: a final look at the parties and the polls

Spain will hold a general election on 20 December, with opinion polls indicating a tight contest between four parties for the largest share of the vote – the governing People’s Party (PP), who have a small lead in most polls, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), Ciudadanos (C’s), and Podemos. Sebastian Balfour provides a final look at the campaigns and the polling. He writes that with Spain’s traditional two party system giving way to a new political landscape, the result remains impossible to predict

Renewal through international action? Options for EU foreign policy. CHALLENGE EUROPE Issue 22 - Challenges and new beginnings: Priorities for the EU’s new leadership. September 2014

The time has come for the EU to become more curious of the world around it, open and receptive to different ideas, and more articulate and thoughtful about its own. This is a somewhat anthropomorphic description of what would be needed to 'mature' into a global actor. The EU has promoted and managed globalisation while pretending that its political dimension would not require attention. This has led to it punching below its weight globally. Now it is abundantly clear that the systemic weaknesses of globalisation require international action and that the management of internal affairs cannot be divorced from the external context: decision time has come