Allowing for MSD prevention during facilities planning for a public service: an a posteriori analysis of 10 library design projects.

Research was conducted to identify an ergonomics-based intervention model designed to factor in musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) prevention when library projects are being designed. The first stage of the research involved an a posteriori analysis of 10 recent redesign projects. The purpose of the analysis was to document perceptions about the attention given to MSD prevention measures over the course of a project on the part of 2 categories of employees: librarians responsible for such projects and personnel working in the libraries before and after changes. Subjects were interviewed in focus groups. Outcomes of the analysis can guide our ergonomic assessment of current situations and contribute to a better understanding of the way inclusion or improvement of prevention measures can support the workplace design process.     

Preceding cultivation of grain legumes increases cereal yields under low nitrogen input conditions

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The European Union (EU) has advised to increase the production of grain legumes, both to reduce EU dependency on soybean imports from the Americas and to reduce...     

More than friends? Behavioural and genetic aspects of heterosexual associations in wild chacma baboons

In mammals, fathers are facultative caretakers, and male care is expected to evolve only if it is directed towards related young. Yet, in several promiscuous primate societies, males seem to care for infants despite a presumably low paternity confidence. In cercopithecines, cohesive associations (‘friendships’) between a lactating female and an adult male are frequent and provide the female and her infant with protection against various sources of aggression, including infanticide. However, the benefits gained by males through such relationships remain unclear, in part, because the relatedness between males and their protected infants has rarely been examined. Moreover, little is known about the nature of the cues underlying kin discrimination by males in societies where females mate polyandrously. In this study, we combine behavioural and genetic data from wild chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in Namibia to investigate (1) whether males are related to their friend’s infant and (2) whether similarity between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genotype of males and infants (potentially perceived through odour phenotype) favours the establishment of friendships. We first show that males share close genetic ties with their friend’s infants, most often by having sired the infant. Secondly, we find that male–infant MHC (Class II–DRB) similarity, in contrast to paternity, does not predict male–infant associations. Overall, our results clarify the nature of the evolutionary benefits gained by males in these heterosexual associations, which can be considered as true paternal care. However, the proximate mechanisms underlying paternity recognition remain to be identified.     

Is natural hatching asynchrony optimal? An experimental investigation of sibling competition patterns in a facultatively siblicidal seabird

In unpredictable environments, any tactic that enables avian parents to adjust brood size and, thus, energy expenditure to environmental conditions should be favoured. Hatching asynchrony (HA), which occurs whenever incubation commences before clutch completion, may comprise such a tactic. For instance, the sibling rivalry hypothesis states that the hierarchy among chicks, concomitant to HA, should both facilitate the adjustment of brood size to environmental conditions and reduce several components of sibling competition as compared to synchronous hatching, at both brood and individual levels. We thus predicted that brood aggression, begging and feeding rates should decrease and that older chick superiority should increase with HA increasing, leading to higher growth and survival rates. Accordingly, we investigated the effects of an experimental upward and downward manipulation of HA magnitude on behaviour, growth and survival of black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) chicks. In line with the sibling rivalry hypothesis, synchronous hatching increased aggression and tended to increase feeding rates by parents at the brood level. Begging rates, however, increased with HA contrary to our expectations. At the individual level, as HA magnitude increased, the younger chick was attacked and begged proportionally more often, experienced a slower growth and a higher mortality than its sibling. Overall, the occurrence of energetic costs triggered by synchronous hatching both for parents and chicks, together with the lower growth rate and increased mortality of the younger chick in highly asynchronous broods suggest that natural HA magnitude may be optimal.     

Temperature limits trail following behaviour through pheromone decay in ants

In Mediterranean habitats, temperature affects both ant foraging behaviour and community structure. Many studies have shown that dominant species often forage at lower temperature than subordinates. Yet, the factors that constrain dominant species foraging activity in hot environments are still elusive. We used the dominant ant Tapinoma nigerrimum as a model species to test the hypothesis that high temperatures hinder trail following behaviour by accelerating pheromone degradation. First, field observations showed that high temperatures (> 30°C) reduce the foraging activity of T. nigerrimum independently of the daily and seasonal rhythms of this species. Second, we isolated the effect of high temperatures on pheromone trail efficacy from its effect on worker physiology. A marked substrate was heated during 10 min (five temperature treatments from 25°C to 60°C), cooled down to 25°C, and offered in a test choice to workers. At hot temperature treatments (>40°C), workers did not discriminate the previously marked substrate. High temperatures appeared therefore to accelerate pheromone degradation. Third, we assessed the pheromone decay dynamics by a mechanistic model fitted with Bayesian inference. The model predicted ant choice through the evolution of pheromone concentration on trails as a function of both temperature and time since pheromone deposition. Overall, our results highlighted that the effect of high temperatures on recruitment intensity was partly due to pheromone evaporation. In the Mediterranean ant communities, this might affect dominant species relying on chemical recruitment, more than subordinate ant species, less dependent on chemical communication and less sensitive to high temperatures.     

Coastal zone management – between politics and law: new guidelines for differentiated management of the shore zone in Norway

Norway has more than 100,000?km of coastline and associated shore zone. The shore zone is an attractive area for development and infrastructure on the one hand, and recreation and protection of biological diversity on the other. The Norwegian Planning and Building Act contains a general ban on any building in the area between the ordinary high water mark and up to 100?m inland from the shoreline. Exemptions can be granted, however, by the competent municipality through land planning and individual decisions. The importance attached to leaving the shore zone untouched varies from region to region. There are large geographical differences in terms of biodiversity, cultural heritage, landscape, development, development pressure, migration and depopulation, and commercial activity, as well as public access to the coastal areas and the ocean. Since 2011, the entire Norwegian shore zone became subject to guidelines that regulate a geographical differentiation of management and a more severe protection of central areas. This article analyses key aspects of the Norwegian shore zone regulation.     

Marginal recycling: place and informal recycling in St. John's,Newfoundland

Informal recycling networks are systems through which impoverished populations earn money and residents recycle waste which might otherwise go into a landfill. These networks, in which people voluntarily self-organise to collect recyclables, occur throughout the world. This article discusses results of an exploratory, qualitative study of one such network in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador which identifies motivational characteristics of the network and their implications for public policy. Through close attention to particularities of place, the research identified community interaction and community inclusion as two of the most active motivating factors within the studied network. The findings suggest public recycling programmes can increase public participation through greater attention to place-based motivational factors. Such participation could contribute to increased sustainability and reach of recycling programmes.