A decade of humpback whale abundance estimates at Bermuda, an oceanic migratory stopover site

We constructed annual abundance of a migratory baleen whale at an oceanic stopover site to elucidate temporal changes in Bermuda, an area with increasing anthropogenic activity. The annual abundance of North Atlantic humpback whales visiting Bermuda between 2011 and 2020 was estimated using photo-identification capture-recapture data for 1,204 whales, collected between December 2009 and May 2020. Owing to a sparse data set, we combined a Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) model, fit through maximum likelihood estimation, with a Horvitz-Thompson estimator to calculate abundance and used stratified bootstrap resampling to derive 95% confidence intervals (CI). We accounted for temporal heterogeneity in detection and sighting rates via a catch-effort model and, guided by goodness-of-fit testing, considered models that accounted for transience. A model incorporating modified sighting effort and time-varying transience was selected using (corrected) Akaike’s Information Criterion (AICc). The survival probability of non-transient animals was 0.97 (95% CI 0.91-0.98), which is comparable with other studies. The rate of transience increased gradually from 2011 to 2018, before a large drop in 2019. Abundance varied from 786 individuals (95% CI 593-964) in 2016 to 1,434 (95% CI 924-1,908) in 2020, with a non-significant linear increase across the period and interannual fluctuations. These abundance estimates confirm the importance of Bermuda for migrating North Atlantic humpback whales and should encourage a review of cetacean conservation measures in Bermudian waters, including area-based management tools. Moreover, in line with the time series presented here, regional abundance estimates should be updated across the North Atlantic to facilitate population monitoring over the entire migratory range

Survive Then Thrive: Talent, Research Motivation, and Completing the Economics Ph.D.

This study investigates the completion of the Ph.D. in Economics. We use ex ante information, based solely upon reviewing a set of individual applications from former doctoral students. Estimation for determining success is done by logit, multinomial logit, and generalized ordered logit. We find that students need different skills and attributes to succeed at each distinct and sequential stage of the doctoral program. Significant determinants for passing the comprehensive exams include high GRE verbal and quantitative scores, a Masters degree, and a prior focus on economics. Research motivation and math preparation play significant roles in completing the dissertation, but having a Masters degree and economics preparation becomes insignificant. GRE scores disappear as a significant determinant for completion in the generalized ordered logit estimates, which emphasize the sequential nature of the Economics Ph.D. program

Assessment of the Potential Functional Diversity of the Bacterial Community in a Biofilter

A biofilter removes biodegradable contaminants from air by passing it through a biologically-active packed bed. The microorganism community is of fundamental interest but has been the focus of few studies. This work is an investigation of the bacterial community based on the potential functional diversity of the community. A number of experiments were performed in laboratory-scale biofilters using ethanol as a model contaminant. All biofilters were able to remove the ethanol with elimination capacities in the range 80 to 200gVOCm-3h-1; these values are comparable with published literature. Natural organic media (peat or compost) was used as packing. The potential functional diversity of the community was assessed by Community-Level Physiological Profiling (CLPP) using sole-Carbon Source Utilisation Profile (CSUP). Community samples were used to inoculate Biolog EcoPlatesTM: microplates containing a selection of 31 different carbon-substrates and an indicator dye responding to bacterial growth. This technique was found to be sensitive to changes in the community structure over time and location. Results showed that the community in samples taken close together (over a scale of a few centimetres) are similar and that relatively small media samples (0. 5 to 1 g) provide reproducible information. A study of a single biofilter indicated stratification of the community occurring with the community near the inlet diverging from that near the middle and outlet of the unit; this is attributed to the ethanol being degraded in the upper part of the column and the lower part of the column not being subjected to ethanol loading. In a study of two units at a higher loading rate, stratification was not observed over a period of weeks; it is suggested that the stratification may develop over this timescale as a result of the presence or absence of the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and not due to differences in concentration. An acclimation period of 7 to 10 days was observed before near-complete removal of ethanol was attained. Monitoring of the community suggested a subsequent shift in diversity. It is suggested that the initial acclimation period is due to biofilm formation and the subsequent shift in community diversity is due to re-organisation of the community as species specialise. In a portion of the biofilter with minimal ethanol exposure, a sudden shift in community is observed after a period of some weeks. This may reflect changes as a result of starvation and indicates that periods of shut-down (when the biofilter is not loaded) may affect the community. Two studies of biofilters operating in parallel were carried out. The first provided evidence of a divergence in the communities over a period of two weeks. In the second, communities in the two units underwent changes over time but observations from both units at any one time were similar. This demonstrates that biofilters set-up and operated in a similar manner may maintain similar communities but that this is not necessarily the case. This has implications for the reproducibility of laboratory experiments and for the variation of community structure with horizontal position in industrial units

The latent structure of cognitive and emotional empathy in individuals with autism, first-degree relatives and typical individuals

BACKGROUND: Empathy is a vital component for social understanding involving the ability to recognise emotion (cognitive empathy) and provide an appropriate affective response (emotional empathy). Autism spectrum conditions have been described as disorders of empathy. First-degree relatives may show some mild traits of the autism spectrum, the broader autism phenotype (BAP). Whether both cognitive and emotional empathy, rather than cognitive empathy alone, are impaired in autism and the BAP is still under debate. Moreover the association between various aspects of empathy is unclear. This study aims to examine the relationship between different components of empathy across individuals with varying levels of genetic vulnerability to autism. METHODS: Factor analyses utilising questionnaire and performance-based task data were implemented among individuals with autism, parents of a child with autism and controls. The relationship between performance-based tasks and behavioural measures of empathy was also explored. RESULTS: A four-factor model including cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, social skills and a performance-based factor fitted the data best irrespective of genetic vulnerability. Individuals with autism displayed impairment on all four factors, with parents showing intermediate difficulties. Performance-based measures of empathy were related in almost equal magnitude to cognitive and emotional empathy latent factors and the social skills factor. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests individuals with autism have difficulties with multiple facets of empathy, while parents show intermediate impairments, providing evidence for a quantitative BAP. Impaired scores on performance-based measures of empathy, often thought to be pure measures of cognitive empathy, were also related to much wider empathy difficulties than impairments in cognitive empathy alone

Becoming collaborative: a study of intra-organisational relational dynamics

The intra-organisational relationships of through-life support services providers are complex, especially given the multifaceted nature of the provision required. For example, capabilities within the UK highways maintenance arena must support engineering design, routine maintenance and the ongoing management of the network. While collaboration in construction projects has formed a major research focus in recent years, there is a paucity of work examining collaboration in-flight. Through a micro-practices approach two contracts delivering highway infrastructure maintenance and renewal services are examined to explore the intra-organisational relationships that determine the quality of service delivered. Despite the rhetoric of collaboration and integrated working that pervades the contemporary project discourse, there was a clear focus on addressing immediate technical and commercial concerns rather than on creating the conditions for integrated working to flourish. On the occasions where the collaborative environment was prioritised a more integrated service was delivered. In contrast to other accounts of the ways collaborative working shapes performance, this research reveals an acute need for a sustained collaborative effort; as soon as ‘collaborative working’ was normalised, the level of integration and seamlessness of service was diminished. This questions normative notions of what defines collaborative working in projects, and suggests a need for re-framing it as an ongoing accomplishment of actors involved. Such a perspective resonates with notions of ‘organizational becoming’, particularly in that attempts to foster collaboration are themselves constitutive of the unfolding and shifting nature of intra-organizational relationships that emerge in complex contractual arrangements

Contracts, collaboration and conflict resolution: Forging relationships in the face of adversity

Contracts have traditionally been used to coordinate expectations and structure relations, with clients using them to define and manage commercial relationships with suppliers. Whilst extant literature is concerned with large capital projects of a ‘one-off’ nature, this research is concerned with individual contracts within ‘on-going’ strategic infrastructure maintenance programmes. Whereas relational contracting strategies are associated with better client-supplier relations, ‘on-going’ strategic infrastructure maintenance programmes tend not to use such contracts. This presents a problematic contextual backdrop for the successful delivery of such programmes. This research seeks to understand the conditions under which collaborative working arrangements can be achieved within non-collaborative commercial frameworks. An in-depth case study is used to explore collaboration within transactional lump-sum arrangements. The research reveals how the interpretation of a lump-sum contract led to the prioritisation of cost savings over quality and initially stimulated behaviours that inhibited collaboration. However, over time informal working practices and a collaborative working philosophy emerged reminiscent of that expected under relational contracts. Collaboration was established in an informal project culture that ran counter to a persistent adversarial commercial framework. Formal performance measures were resolved and performance appeared satisfactory to the client, even though it was enabled by informal working practices running counter to the client’s chosen contract. Contra much previous work that deterministically positions relationships as a product of the contract, this study reveals that collaborative behaviours can thrive even in unfavourable contractual conditions. This, in turn, calls for a re-theorisation of the relationship between contracts and behaviours within long-term programme arrangements