A meta-ethnography to synthesise household cultural research for climate change response

Cultural change is critical to climate change responses, but the in-depth qualitative research that investigates culture is necessarily conducted at scales difficult to integrate with policy. A focus of climate change mitigation and adaptation is affluent developed world households. Adapting methods used elsewhere in social science, we report and assess a meta-ethnography of household sustainability research, scaling up findings from 12 studies encompassing 276 Australian households. Seven themes are dominant: family concerns are central to household practice; adaptiveness is contingent but more pervasive than often assumed; households make sense of climate change not through abstract arguments, but through physical resources and materials; boundaries of the home space are dynamic and subjective; daily time is an important currency; paradoxes abound among everyday practice; and privacy and a sense of autonomy are prioritised. Insights from the method include new light on familiar themes when seen through an environmental lens, thickening and triangulation of existing research, and a stronger basis for international comparisons. Some findings have straightforward application to policy, others identify potential areas of risk and resistance, others still are more conceptual. We conclude the method has considerable potential and is worth developing further, providing a critical perspective is maintained.     

Zea mays L. protein changes in response to potassium dichromate treatments

The plant metabolic response to heavy metal stress is largely unknown. The present investigation was undertaken to examine the influence of different concentrations of potassium dichromate on the Zea mays L. plantlets. A clear effect of chromium on maize plantlets growth and seed germination was observed strating from 100-300 ppm up to 1500 ppm. In this concentration range, chromium uptake was dependent on the concentration in the medium. Metallothioneins, involved in heavy metal binding, were measured by capillary electrophoresis (CE), and showed a dose-response induction. Protein profile analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed differential expression of several proteins. Identification of spots of upregulated proteins was performed by MALDI mass spectrometry. Results showed that proteins induced by heavy metal exposure are principally involved in oxidative stress tolerance or in other stress pathways. Induction of proteins implicated in sugar metabolism was also observed. Identification of factors involved in plant response may lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in cell protection and tolerance. This information could be used to improve agricultural production and environmental quality.     

Do females pay attention to secondary sexual coloration in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops)?

Several primate species show sexual dichromatism with males displaying conspicuous coloration of the pelage or skin. Studies of scrotal coloration in male vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) suggest that it is an important intrasexual signal, with relatively dark, colourful males dominating paler males. To date, no studies have examined the influence of male colour on intersexual social interactions in vervet monkeys. The primary goal of the present study was to evaluate whether female vervet monkeys attend to male coloration. We experimentally introduced females, housed with either “pale” or “dark” males, to stimulus males whose scrota were pale, dark, or pale but painted to look dark. Overall, during introductions, females did not differ in time spent directing affiliative behaviour toward pale, dark, and painted males; however, females, permanently housed with dark males, spent significantly more time directing affiliative behaviour toward pale than painted males. When the stimulus male was pale, affiliative exchanges between males and females were longer than when the stimulus male was painted. Home male colour was not related to female-initiated aggression. Home male colour was also not related to male-initiated aggression, although painted stimulus males were more likely to initiate aggression than pale stimulus males. These findings lead us to conclude that females pay attention to male coloration, but do not bias their interactions toward males solely on the basis of natural male coloration.