Social control of deception among status signalling house sparrows Passer domesticus

Summary Motivation to fight and willingness to risk the use of dangerous weapons, two factors which can be decisive in predicting the winners of asymmetric animal contests, are readily bluffed in display. When contests are decided by motivation to fight or daring, more reliable information about contest asymmetries may be gained by watching actual fights than by watching displays. By presenting mounts to territorial red-winged blackbirds and scoring how aggressively a territory holder attacks the mount, then recording any subsequent intrusions over established boundaries, I showed that neighbors are likely to intrude upon focal males that fail to attack the mount vigorously. This result suggests that red-winged blackbirds watch contests to assess the RHP of neighbors.     

Cadmium accumulation and Cd-binding proteins in marine invertebrates--a radiotracer study

Tissue and subcellular accumulation of cadmium were studied in different tissues of three marine invertebrates (blue mussel Mytilus edulis, the tunicate Ciona intestinalis and the sea star Asterias rubens) using radioactive ¹⁰⁹Cd as a tracer. The organisms were exposed to 0.05, 2 and 50 μg Cd l⁻¹ for 21 days. Quantitative data were obtained by dissecting, weighing and subsequently measuring radioactivity in organs and tissues. Differences between each exposure and each tissue with regard to the amount of radioactivity and metallothionein (MT) content were evaluated. Obvious interspecies differences in Cd accumulation were observed, as well as differences between tissues of the three species. The highest concentrations of Cd in all exposure treatments were found in the hepatopancreas of M. edulis and body wall of A. rubens. Taking all treatments into account, Cd accumulation in the tunic of C. intestinalis was high compared to other tissues from this species. Over 60% of Cd was present in the S50 fraction in all treatments in all three species. Metallothionein levels were increased at the highest Cd-exposure in all species and tissues, except in branchial pharynx of C. intestinalis where the highest MT level was reached following exposure to 2 μg Cd l⁻¹. The most surprising finding was that even the lowest Cd exposure concentration (0.05 μg Cd l⁻¹) caused MT induction in pyloric caeca of A. rubens, but there was no dose-dependent increase in MT at higher exposure levels.     

Salinity tolerance,salinity preference and temperature tolerance in the high-shore harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus brevicornis

Tigriopus brevicornis (O. F. Müller) were collected in 1992 from rock pools close to U.M.B.S. Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, U.K. and acclimated to various combinations of salinity and temperature for at least 1 wk prior to laboratory experiments. Higher salinities of acclimation enhanced tolerance to high salinity stress, while tolerance of low salinities was hardly affected by acclimation salinity. Acclimation to low temperature (10°C) extended the survivable salinity range for T. brevicornis. High-salinity acclimation enhanced the survivable temperature range. Copepods acclimated to 60 survived significantly lower and higher temperatures than did 34-acclimated individuals. At high temperature, 75-acclimated female copepods had the highest median lethal temperature, 38.9°C. Females were significantly more resistant to high temperatures than males. The copepods were seen to have a very low median lethal temperature when frozen into solid ice for 2 h; 50% mortality occurred at-16.9°C in 10°C, 34-acclimated T. brevicornis. Salinity preference experiments demonstrated an ability to discriminate between salinities differing by as little as 3. Copepods acclimated to 34 chose salinities near their acclimation salinity; individuals acclimated to 5 favoured slightly higher salinities, while copepods acclimated to 60 chose rather lower salinities.     

Trends in Nitrogen Transport in Swedish Rivers

Concern about nitrogen loads in marine environments has drawn attention to the existence and possible causes of long-term trends in nitrogen transport in rivers. The present study was based on data from the Swedish environmental monitoring programme for surface water quality; the continuity of these data is internationally unique. A recently developed semiparametric method was employed to study the development of relationships between runoff and river transport of nitrogen since 1971; the observed relationships were then used to produce time series of flow-normalised transports for 66 sites in 39 river basins. Subsequent statistical analyses of flow-normalised data revealed only few significant downward trends (p 0.05) during the time period 1971–1994, and the most pronounced of these downward trends were caused by reduced point emissions of nitrogen. The number of significant upward trends was substantially larger (15 for total-N and 18 for NO₃-N). Closer examination of obtained results revealed the following: (i) the most pronounced upward trends were present downstream of lakes, and (ii) observed increases in nitrogen transport coincided in time and space with reduced point emissions of phosphorus or organic matter. This indicated that changes in the retention of nitrogen in lakes were responsible for the upward nitrogen trends. The hypothesis that nitrogen saturation of forest soils has caused a general increase in the riverine export of nitrogen from forested catchments in Sweden was not confirmed. Neither did the results indicate that improved agricultural practices have reduced the export of nitrogen from agricultural catchments.     

Estimation of the Human Impact on Nutrient Loads Carried by the Elbe River

The reunification of Germany led to dramatically reduced emissions of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to the environment. The aim of the present study was to examine how these exceptional decreases influenced the amounts of nutrients carried by the Elbe River to the North Sea. In particular, we attempted to extract anthropogenic signals from time series of riverine loads of nitrogen and phosphorus by developing a normalization technique that enabled removal of natural fluctuations caused by several weather-dependent variables. This analysis revealed several notable downward trends. The normalized loads of total-N and NO3-N exhibited an almost linear trend, even though the nitrogen surplus in agriculture dropped dramatically in 1990 and then slowly increased. Furthermore, the decrease in total-P loads was found to be considerably smaller close to the mouth of the river than further upstream. Studying the predictive ability of different normalization models showed the following: (i) nutrient loads were influenced primarily by water discharge; (ii) models taking into account water temperature, load of suspended particulate matter, and salinity were superior for some combinations of sampling sites and nutrient species; semiparametric normalization models were almost invariably better than ordinary regression models.     

Avoiding CO2 capture effort and cost for negative CO2 emissions using industrial waste in chemical-looping combustion/gasification of biomass

Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is a combustion process with inherent separation of carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is achieved by oxidizing the fuel with a solid oxygen carrier rather than with air. As fuel and combustion air are never mixed, no gas separation is necessary and, consequently, there is no direct cost or energy penalty for the separation of gases. The most common form of design of chemical-looping combustion systems uses circulating fluidized beds, which is an established and widely spread technology. Experiments were conducted in two different laboratory-scale CLC reactors with continuous fuel feeding and nominal fuel inputs of 300 W_th and 10 kW_th, respectively. As an oxygen carrier material, ground steel converter slag from the Linz–Donawitz process was used. This material is the second largest flow in an integrated steel mill and it is available in huge quantities, for which there is currently limited demand. Steel converter slag consists mainly of oxides of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), silicon (Si), and manganese (Mn). In the 300 W unit, chemical-looping combustion experiments were conducted with model fuels syngas (50 vol% hydrogen (H₂) in carbon monoxide (CO)) and methane (CH₄) at varied reactor temperature, fuel input, and oxygen-carrier circulation. Further, the ability of the oxygen-carrier material to release oxygen to the gas phase was investigated. In the 10 kW unit, the fuels used for combustion tests were steam-exploded pellets and wood char. The purpose of these experiments was to study more realistic biomass fuels and to assess the lifetime of the slag when employed as oxygen carrier. In addition, chemical-looping gasification was investigated in the 10 kW unit using both steam-exploded pellets and regular wood pellets as fuels. In the 300 W unit, up to 99.9% of syngas conversion was achieved at 280 kg/MW_th and 900 °C, while the highest conversion achieved with methane was 60% at 280 kg/MW_th and 950 °C. The material’s ability to release oxygen to the gas phase, i.e., CLOU property, was developed during the initial hours with fuel operation and the activated material released 1–2 vol% of O₂ into a flow of argon between 850 and 950 °C. The material’s initial low density decreased somewhat during CLC operation. In the 10 kW, CO₂ yields of 75–82% were achieved with all three fuels tested in CLC conditions, while carbon leakage was very low in most cases, i.e., below 1%. With wood char as fuel, at a fuel input of 1.8 kW_th, a CO₂ yield of 92% could be achieved. The carbon fraction of C₂-species was usually below 2.5% and no C₃-species were detected. During chemical-looping gasification investigation a raw gas was produced that contained mostly H₂. The oxygen carrier lifetime was estimated to be about 110–170 h. However, due to its high availability and potentially low cost, this type of slag could be suitable for large-scale operation. The study also includes a discussion on the potential advantages of this technology over other technologies available for Bio-Energy Carbon Capture and Storage, BECCS. Furthermore, the paper calls for the use of adequate policy instruments to foster the development of this kind of technologies, with great potential for cost reduction but presently without commercial application because of lack of incentives.

     

The role of other orientation in reactions to social and economic leader–member exchange relationships

In this study, we investigate, through two study samples, whether relationships between social leader–member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader–member exchange (ELMX) relationships and outcomes differ depending on the followers' level of other orientation or the extent to which they are concerned for the welfare of others. We propose that followers with higher other orientation would respond less negatively to higher levels of ELMX and more positively to higher levels of SLMX because they are less likely to engage in behaviors based on rational and self‐interested calculations. In Study 1 (N = 200), we found that higher other orientation mitigated ELMX's negative relations with affective commitment and turnover intention. In Study 2 (N = 4,518), we both replicated the findings from Study 1 and also found that higher other orientation mitigated ELMX's negative relations with work effort. We also uncovered a weaker positive relationship between SLMX and organizational citizenship behavior for followers with higher other orientation.     

Commentary: Status of road safety in Asia

Objectives: The objective of this article is to assess the status of road safety in Asia and present accident and injury prevention strategies based on global road safety improvement experiences and discuss the way forward by indicating opportunities and countermeasures that could be implemented to achieve a new level of safety in Asia.

Methods: This study provides a review and analyses of data in the literature, including from the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank, and a review of lessons learned from best practices in high-income countries. In addition, an estimation of costs due to road transport injuries in Asia and review of future trends in road transport is provided.

Results: Data on the global and Asian road safety problem and status of prevention strategies in Asia as well as recommendations for future actions are discussed. The total number of deaths due to road accidents in the 24 Asian countries, encompassing 56% of the total world population, is 750,000 per year (statistics 2010). The total number of injuries is more than 50 million, of which 12% are hospital admissions. The loss to the economy in the 24 Asian countries is estimated to around US$800 billion or 3.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Conclusions: This article clearly shows that road safety is causing large problems and high costs in Asia, with an enormous impact on the well-being of people, economy, and productivity. In many Asian low- and middle-income countries, the yearly number of fatalities and injuries is increasing. Vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists combined) are particularly at risk. Road safety in Asia should be given rightful attention, including taking powerful, effective actions. This review stresses the need for reliable accident data, because there is considerable underreporting in the official statistics. Reliable accident data are imperative to determine evidence-based intervention strategies and monitor the success of these interventions and analyses. On the other hand, lack of good high-quality accident data should not be an excuse to postpone interventions. There are many opportunities for evidence-based transport safety improvements, including measures concerning the 5 key risk factors: speed, drunk driving, not wearing motorcycle helmets, not wearing seat belts, and not using child restraints in cars, as specified in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020. In this commentary, a number of additional measures are proposed that are not covered in the Decade of Action Plan. These new measures include separate roads or lanes for pedestrians and cyclists; helmet wearing for e-bike riders; special attention to elderly persons in public transportation; introduction of emerging collision avoidance technologies, in particular automatic emergency braking (AEB) and alcohol locks; improved truck safety focusing on the other road user (including blind spot detection technology; underride protection at the front, rear, and side; and energy-absorbing fronts); and improvements in motorcycle safety concerning protective clothing, requirements for advanced braking systems, improved visibility of motorcycles by using daytime running lights, and better guardrails.     

Inconsistent pathways of household waste

The aim of this study was to provide policy-makers and waste management planners with information about how recycling programs affect the quantities of specific materials recycled and disposed of. Two questions were addressed: which factors influence household waste generation and pathways? and how reliable are official waste data? Household waste flows were studied in 35 Swedish municipalities, and a wide variation in the amount of waste per capita was observed. When evaluating the effect of different waste collection policies, it was found to be important to identify site-specific factors influencing waste generation. Eleven municipal variables were investigated in an attempt to explain the variation. The amount of household waste per resident was higher in populous municipalities and when net commuting was positive. Property-close collection of dry recyclables led to increased delivery of sorted metal, plastic and paper packaging. No difference was seen in the amount of separated recyclables per capita when weight-based billing for the collection of residual waste was applied, but the amount of residual waste was lower. Sixteen sources of error in official waste statistics were identified and the results of the study emphasize the importance of reliable waste generation and composition data to underpin waste management policies.     

Root responses to soil Ni heterogeneity in a hyperaccumulator and a non-accumulator species

We compared root responses of the Ni-hyperaccumulator plant Berkheya coddii Rossler with the non-accumulator plant Cicer arietinum L. to Ni heterogeneity in soil. We grew plants in growth containers filled with control soil, homogeneously spiked, and heterogeneously spiked soil with Ni concentrations of 62 and 125 mg kg^?1. Neutron radiography (NR) was used to observe the root distribution and the obtained images were analysed to reveal the root volumes in the spiked and unspiked segments of the growth container. There was no significant difference in root distribution pattern of B. coddii among different concentrations of Ni. Unlike B. coddii, the roots of C. arietinum initially grew into the spiked segments. However, the later developing roots did not penetrate the spiked segment suggesting an avoidance strategy. Our results indicate that, B. coddii does not forage towards the Ni-rich patches, although presence of Ni in soil changes its root morphology.