Genetic basis of between-individual and within-individual variance of docility

Funded by Alces Software UCLA Academic Senate Division of Life Sciences National Geographic Society National Science Foundation. Grant Numbers: IDBR-0754247, DEB-1119660, DBI-0242960, DBI-0731346 University of Aberdeen Data deposited at Dryad: doi:10.5061/dryad.11vf0.Peer reviewedPostprin

Environmental consequences of Maltese MSW incineration

The intensity of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation by human and economic activities causes environmental impacts, particularly critical in small insular countries, such as Malta. Thus, an investigation of the potential of Maltese MSW incineration with energy recovery was performed in this work focused on thermodynamic and land use aspects. The electricity potential of an MSW incinerator with associated electrical power plant to be built in Malta can be estimated as 5% of the total energy consumed in 2010 in the archipelago; alternatively, in a CHP configuration, it can also supply all the thermal energy required in 2010 for Multi-Effect Desalination. During its lifespan the plant can reduce deposition in landfills by at least 270,000 m2 (0.09% of the archipelago total area), diminishing also the potential for water and soil contamination. Last but not least, it can contribute to decrease the dependence on imported fossil fuels

Energy recovery and impact on land use of Maltese municipal solid waste incineration

An investigation of the potential of Maltese Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) for energy recovery is carried in this work together with a preliminary assessment of the corresponding economic and land use impacts. MSW composition data was collected to evaluate the waste combustion enthalpy. Data from 1997 to 2010 allowed the conclusion that an incinerator with a capacity of 32,500kg/h can treat all the waste expectably generated in Malta during next 20 years. The thermodynamics of the steam cycle combined with elemental analysis were applied to study the contribution for power (PG) and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation. The thermal energy was analyzed assuming its use in desalination. The best scenario considered corresponds to a potential electric power of 10 MW (PG) or to a maximum 4.8 million m3/year of desalinated water combined with and 7.25 MW (CHP). It was concluded that incineration and CHP have the greatest potential to maximize revenues, due to the optimal combination of heat production and electricity generation. Finally, a calculation of the savings in land use due to the MSW incineration implementation was performed. Those savings could represent from 13,500 to 17,000 m2 per year, a decisive benefit for Malta.The authors acknowledge the financial support of IPC through project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011 (Strategic Project-LA 25-2011-2012) for the execution of the work described herein. The work would not have been possible without the support of various individuals and institutions in Portugal and in the Maltese islands. In Portugal, we are grateful for the information provided by LIPOR - Central de Valorizacao Energetica, at Maia, which allowed us to validate the incineration data gathered in the literature. Our sincere thanks are also addressed to Prof. Toste de Azevedo, Viriato Semiao, Zdena Zsigraiova, Gilberto Tavares and Rui Martins, of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Instituto Superior Tecnico, who helped us with the thermodynamic calculations and with other important incineration related information. We acknowledge the help of Prof. Godfrey Pirotta, Edward Mallia, Tonio Sant and Maria Attard of the University of Malta for their availability to explain and contextualize the islands' energy and environment policies. Finally, the assistance of WasteServ Malta Corporation, which provided actual information about MSW generation and further details about the Maltese waste management system, should also be acknowledged

Mesoscale fronts as foraging habitats: composite front mapping reveals oceanographic drivers of habitat use for a pelagic seabird

The oceanographic drivers of marine vertebrate habitat use are poorly understood yet fundamental to our knowledge of marine ecosystem functioning. Here, we use composite front mapping and high-resolution GPS tracking to determine the significance of mesoscale oceanographic fronts as physical drivers of foraging habitat selection in northern gannets Morus bassanus. We tracked 66 breeding gannets from a Celtic Sea colony over 2 years and used residence time to identify area-restricted search (ARS) behaviour. Composite front maps identified thermal and chlorophyll-a mesoscale fronts at two different temporal scales—(i) contemporaneous fronts and (ii) seasonally persistent frontal zones. Using generalized additive models (GAMs), with generalized estimating equations (GEE-GAMs) to account for serial autocorrelation in tracking data, we found that gannets do not adjust their behaviour in response to contemporaneous fronts. However, ARS was more likely to occur within spatially predictable, seasonally persistent frontal zones (GAMs). Our results provide proof of concept that composite front mapping is a useful tool for studying the influence of oceanographic features on animal movements. Moreover, we highlight that frontal persistence is a crucial element of the formation of pelagic foraging hotspots for mobile marine vertebrates

Suggestion, hypnosis and hypnotherapy: a survey of use, knowledge and attitudes of anaesthetists

Publisher's copy made available with the permission of the publisher © Australian Society of AnaesthetistsClinical hypnosis is a skill of using words and gestures (frequently called suggestions) in particular ways to achieve specific outcomes. It is being increasingly recognised as a useful intervention for managing a range of symptoms, especially pain and anxiety. We surveyed all 317 South Australian Fellows and trainees registered with ANZCA to determine their use, knowledge of, and attitudes towards positive suggestion, hypnosis and hypnotherapy in their anaesthesia practice. The response rate was 218 anaesthetists (69%). The majority of respondents (63%) rated their level of knowledge on this topic as below average. Forty-eight per cent of respondents indicated that there was a role for hypnotherapy in clinical anaesthesia, particularly in areas seen as traditional targets for the modality, i.e. pain and anxiety states. Nearly half of the anaesthetists supported the use of hypnotherapy and positive suggestions within clinical anaesthesia. Those respondents who had experience of clinical hypnotherapy were more likely to support hypnosis teaching at undergraduate or postgraduate level when compared with those with no experience.http://www.aaic.net.au/Article.asp?D=200408

An upper limb Functional Electrical Stimulation controller based on Reinforcement Learning: A feasibility case study.

Controllers for Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) are still not able to restore natural movements in the paretic arm. In this work, Reinforcement Learning (RL) is used for the first time to control a hybrid upper limb robotic system for stroke rehabilitation in a real environment. The feasibility of the FES controller is tested on one healthy subject during elbow flex-extension in the horizontal plane. Results showed an absolute position error <1.2° for a maximum range of motion of 50°

Effects of vessel traffic on relative abundance and behaviour of cetaceans : the case of the bottlenose dolphins in the Archipelago de La Maddalena, north-western Mediterranean sea

Acknowledgements This study was part of the Tursiops Project of the Dolphin Research Centre of Caprera, La Maddalena. Financial and logistical support was provided by the Centro Turistico Studentesco (CTS) and by the National Park of the Archipelago de La Maddalena. We thank the Natural Reserve of Bocche di Bonifacio for the support provided during data collection. The authors thank the numerous volunteers of the Caprera Dolphin Research Centre and especially Marco Ferraro, Mirko Ugo, Angela Pira and Maurizio Piras whose assistance during field observation and skills as a boat driver were invaluable.Peer reviewedPostprin

Virological sampling of inaccessible wildlife with drones

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. There is growing interest in characterizing the viromes of diverse mammalian species, particularly in the context of disease emergence. However, little is known about virome diversity in aquatic mammals, in part due to difficulties in sampling. We characterized the virome of the exhaled breath (or blow) of the Eastern Australian humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). To achieve an unbiased survey of virome diversity, a meta-transcriptomic analysis was performed on 19 pooled whale blow samples collected via a purpose-built Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV, or drone) approximately 3 km off the coast of Sydney, Australia during the 2017 winter annual northward migration from Antarctica to northern Australia. To our knowledge, this is the first time that UAVs have been used to sample viruses. Despite the relatively small number of animals surveyed in this initial study, we identified six novel virus species from five viral families. This work demonstrates the potential of UAVs in studies of virus disease, diversity, and evolution