Turbidity influences individual and group level responses to predation in guppies, Poecilia reticulata

© 2015 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Increasing turbidity (either sedimentary or organic) from anthropogenic sources has significant negative impacts on aquatic fauna, both directly and indirectly by disrupting behaviour. In particular, antipredator responses of individuals are reduced, which has been attributed to a reduced perception of risk. Here, we explored the effect of turbidity on shoaling behaviour, which is known to carry important antipredator benefits, predicting that fish in turbid water should show reduced shoal cohesion (increased interindividual distances) and reduced responses to a simulated predatory threat. We explored both the individual and shoal level responses to a predation threat at four different levels of turbidity. At the shoal level, we found that shoals were less cohesive in more turbid water, but that there was no effect of turbidity on shoal level response to the predation threat. At an individual level, guppies in turbid water were more likely to freeze (rather than dart then freeze), and those that darted moved more slowly and over a shorter distance than those in clear water. Fish in turbid water also took longer to recover from a predation threat than fish in clear water. We suggest that because fish in turbid water behaved in a manner more similar to that expected from lone fish than to those in a shoal, the loss of visual contact between individuals in turbid water explains the change in behaviour, rather than a reduced perception of individual risk as is widely supposed. We suggest that turbidity could lead to a reduced collective response to predators and a loss of the protective benefits of shoaling

The end of a revival : contemporary New England contra dancing and fiddling

Publisher PD

Children with social and emotional difficulties need support from a range of professionals : preparing professions for integrated working

Inclusive education for all children means that teachers are increasingly faced with challenges in managing children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) whose complex needs span a number of professional disciplines, some of which sit outside of education. However, whilst it is recognised that children with SEBD require management and support across a range of professions that include education, health, social and youth services, there is little done to prepare teaching staff for working across professional and organisational boundaries. The evidence of poor communication and team working amongst professions has led to policy changes and guidelines calling for greater coordination in the delivery of services for children and young people. This paper considers how education and training needs to prepare students with the knowledge and skills for collaborative working through interprofessional education (IPE), and draws on adult learning theory and activity theory to frame its direction. In doing so, it demonstrates a model for IPE that can be used to engage students from different disciplines to gain insight into the understanding of the wider issues of SEBD and the roles and responsibilities of the other professions involved. The model is one that enables students to consider the impact the role of others has on their own role, and to reflect on how their role impacts on the role of others.peer-reviewe

Discourses of teaching in selected childcare settings : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University

Teachers who work fulltime in community-based childcare settings are responsible for the care and education of children who range in age from babies to children aged 5 years of age. Teachers working in this capacity commonly care for children for extended periods of time, acting 'in loco parentis' as they respond to children throughout the day. Teachers who work in such settings experience their work within a particular working reality. They tend to have shorter holidays, staggered breaks and longer face to face hours with children than others who work with young children in early childhood education. Furthermore, recent moves to professionalize the sector have created increased accountability for all teachers in early childhood education, including those who work in childcare. The present study interviewed 6 teachers who work in community-based settings. Teachers were asked to talk at length about their work. They were encouraged to communicate what their work was like and how they experienced it. They were asked to describe in detail an actual day in their work and to recount particular stories that epitomized their views and their experiences. The interview transcripts were then analysed to make explicit how teachers understood and made meaning in their work. In-depth analysis of the interviews revealed eight discourses that were significant in the teachers' work. These were: a normative mother care discourse, a child-centred discourse, a professional discourse, a team-player discourse, a manager of the day, people and environment discourse, a child-in-context discourse and a forum for care discourse. The particular nature of the discourses that were identified threw light on the work of teachers and the experiences that the teachers consequently had. The discourses were analysed in relation to the current literature and in relation to the material realities of the teachers' work. Certain world-views were seen to be opened up to the teachers from their positions within discourses. The positions that teachers took up in the various discourses were explored in regard to the kinds of relationships that teachers made with children and with parents/whānau and in regard to care of their own self. The study concludes by advocating for increased awareness of the discourses that constitute the work. It is important that teachers understand how certain subject positions are available to them in particular discourses and how these subject positions offer a particular view of the world. Also, as teachers take up positions, certain ways of being with children and with parents open up, and other ways of being with children and parents/whānau close down

Perfumes and perfume-making in the Celestina

Celestina’s house, as Dorothy Sherman Severin notes, is at the same time ‘a bawdy house, a factory for perfumes and cosmetics, and a symbol of the misrule of a woman empowered by her illegal professions of sorceress, witch and bawd’ (Severin 1995: 45). In these pages I will endeavour to set Celestina’s skills in the context of making perfume and uses of it in the early 16th century

The time it takes to make: design and use in architecture and archaeology

Book synopsis: Design and Anthropology challenges conventional thinking regarding the nature of design and creativity, in a way that acknowledges the improvisatory skills and perceptual acuity of people. Combining theoretical investigations and documentation of practice based experiments, it addresses methodological questions concerning the re-conceptualisation of the relation between design and use from both theoretical and practice-based positions. Concerned with what it means to draw 'users' into processes of designing and producing this book emphasises the creativity of design and the emergence of objects in social situations and collaborative endeavours. Organised around the themes of perception and the user-producer, skilled practices of designing and using, and the relation between people and things, the book contains the latest work of researchers from academia and industry, to enhance our understanding of ethnographic practice and develop a research agenda for the emergent field of design anthropology. Drawing together work from anthropologists, philosophers, designers, engineers, scholars of innovation and theatre practitioners, Design and Anthropology will appeal to anthropologists and to those working in the fields of design and innovation, and the philosophy of technology and engineering

Using the Critical Incident Technique to Assess Gaming Customer Satisfaction

Before gaming organizations can initiate efforts to service their customers, they must be able to effectively manage the service encounter. Although every service encounter is not necessarily critical to satisfaction, it is not always obvious which are crucial to the customer and which are not. Using critical incidents reported by gaming customers and employees, this study identifies service encounters that both parties perceive as being very satisfactory or very dissatisfactory from the customer\u27s point of view. Identifying particularly positive and negative customer service experiences can provide direction for management in allocating resources specifically to those areas that maximize customer satisfaction and correct those that cause customer dissatisfaction

Attitudes to food and lifestyle choices in women with well-controlled and poorly-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus from different ethnic groups : a pilot study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nutrition at Massey University

Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in New Zealand, as it has globally. There has also been a dramatic rise in numbers from different ethnic groups attending the Auckland Diabetes Centre, with interpreters in approximately 60 different languages being employed. Research indicates that good glycaemic control in people with diabetes can dramatically reduce the risk of complications. However there are many barriers to achieving this. This thesis, by a dietician working at the Auckland Diabetes Centre, examines the research pertaining to the ethnic groups with the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes, these being Maori, Pacific, Chinese and Indian, along with European groups. It investigates some of the socio-cultural and psychological issues which may be barriers to lifestyle and dietary modification for optimal diabetes control. A total of 232 women attending the Auckland Diabetes Centre took part in this study, aged from 24 to 78 years, the average being 56 years. Duration of diabetes ranged from one to 44 years, with an average of seven years. A questionnaire, designed to obtain their views on diabetes, how it affects their lifestyle, and their perceptions of food and health, was completed at their follow up visit. All had received dietary and lifestyle advice and questionnaire responses indicated a good dietary knowledge. It was evident from comments made that most felt the information given by the dietician was practical, focused on normal food; it was easy to understand and gave them confidence. Most agreed that not smoking, regular meals, daily physical activity, and taking medication (if prescribed) were very important. No statistical association was found between diabetes control and age, income, marital status, education, weight, blood pressure or lipid profile. However duration was significant, with more of those with poorly controlled diabetes likely to have diabetes longer; there was also evidence of an ethnic difference (p=0.02). This was to be expected given that diabetes is a progressive disease, but could indicate frustration and loss of motivation. Psychological issues were significant. The number of ethnic differences found in this study suggest that a more holistic approach and a wider knowledge of cultural and psychological issues is required in diabetes education. Health professionals need to be cognisant of the individual's health beliefs, cultural practices, and any psychological issues, to better assist people of different ethnic groups in management of their diabetes, in order that they may live full and normal lives and avoid complications. At present only 26 (8%) practising dieticians are from minority ethnic groups and not all of these are bilingual. There are only 192 (60%) dieticians employed by District Health Boards, for a population of four million people, 115,000 of whom have diagnosed diabetes. This pilot has identified more precisely the requirements for effective counselling

Engaging students with ADHD in mainstream education : lessons from children, parents and teachers

The move towards inclusive education in the UK (DfEE 1997; DfEE 2004a), and more recently integrated working (DfES 2003), has resulted in the development of a national framework calling for a change to the way organizations meet the needs of children. The Children Act (DfEE 2004b) provides the legal framework to legislate for these changes at national and local levels, and local service providers are required to work in partnership to provide a coordinated and coherent system of support aligned to the child’s evolving needs. This paper reports on empirical findings taken from interviews with children with ADHD, their teachers and parents, to highlight what they perceive to be effective in providing support for the children in their learning environment. Examples are drawn from environmental, personal, organizational and structural factors that are believed to influence the children’s behaviour. Suggestions are made over areas that need to be considered when setting up integrated services and how these can influence effective support for children.peer-reviewe