Multiple regression analysis of the sources of variation in orientation of two sympatric sandhoppers, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Talitrus saltator</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Talorchestia brito</Emphasis>, from an exposed Mediterranean beach

Two sympatric species from an exposed sandy beach in north-western Tunisia, the sandhoppers Talitrus saltator (Montagu) and Talorchestia brito Stebbing, were compared as regards orientation under natural conditions. Sets of experiments were carried out on the beach using two experimental arenas, one permitting the view of both the sky and landscape and the other of the sky only. Replicates were made at different hours of the day, in different days and period of the year and with various climatic conditions. Multiple regression models were fitted to the angular data obtained. These models allow an estimate of the trends of variation depending on a combination of factors. The simultaneous effects of environmental factors influencing orientation were quantified for each species. The sun was confirmed as the major orientation cue in these populations, but the concentration of directional choices was enhanced by the landscape vision. The climatic factors affected orientation in different ways depending on the time of day and year. When the two species were compared, Talitrus saltator showed a higher flexibility of response than Talorchestia brito under the same environmental conditions, supporting the hypothesis of a higher level of terrestrialization of the former species.     

Simulating pesticide leaching and runoff in rice paddies with the RICEWQ-VADOFT model

There is a current need to simulate leaching and runoff of pesticide from rice (Oryza sativa L.) paddies for assessing environmental impacts on a valuable agricultural system. The objective of this study was to develop a model for determining predicted environmental concentration (PEC) in soil, runoff, and ground water through the linkage of two models, rice water quality model (RICEWQ) and vadose zone transport model (VADOFT), to simulate pesticide fate and transport within a rice paddy and underlying soil profile. Model performance was evaluated with a field data set obtained from a 2-yr field experiment in 1997 and 1998 in northern Italy. The predictions of amount of pesticide running off from the paddy field and accumulating in the paddy sediment were in agreement with measured values. Leaching into the vadose zone accounted for approximately 19% of the applied dose, but only a small amount of chemical (<0.1%) was predicted to reach ground water at a 5-m depth due to sorption and transformation in the soil. The permeability of the soil and the water management practices in the paddy field were shown to have a strong influence on pesticide fate. These factors need to be well characterized in the field if model predictions are to be successful. The combined model developed in this work is an effective tool for exposure assessments for soil, surface water, and ground water, in the particular conditions of rice cultivation.     

Predicting and measuring environmental concentration of pesticides in air after soil application

Pesticides can volatilize into the atmosphere, which affects the air quality. The ability to predict pesticide volatilization is an essential tool for human risk and environmental assessment. Even though there are several mathematical models to assess and predict the fate of pesticides in different compartments of the environment, there is no reliable model to predict volatilization. The objectives of this study were to evaluate pesticide volatilization under agricultural conditions using malathion [ O,O-dimethyl-S-(1,2-dicarbethoxyethyl)-dithiophosphate], ethoprophos (O-ethyl S,S-dipropylphosphorodithioate), and procymidone [N-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-1,2-dimethylcyclopropane-1,2-dicarboximide] as test compounds and to evaluate the ability of the Pesticide Leaching Model (PELMO) to calculate the predicted environmental concentrations of pesticides in air under field conditions. The volatilization rate of procymidone, malathion, and ethoprophos was determined in a field study during two different periods (December 1998 and September 1999) using the Theoretical Profile Shape (TPS) method. The experiments were performed on bare silty soil in the Bologna province, Italy. Residues in the air were continuously monitored for 2 to 3 wk after the pesticide applications. The amount of pesticide volatilized was 16, 5, and 11% in December 1998 and 41, 23, and 19% in September 1999 for procymidone, malathion, and ethoprophos, respectively. In both these experiments, the PELMO simulations of the concentration of ethoprophos and procymidone were in good agreement with the measured data (factor +/- 1.1 on average). The volatilization of malathion was underestimated by a factor of 30 on average. These results suggest that volatilization described by PELMO may be reliable for volatile substances, but PELMO may underpredict volatilization for less-volatile substances.     

Are automatic systems the future of motorcycle safety? A novel methodology to prioritize potential safety solutions based on their projected effectiveness

Objective: Motorcycle riders are involved in significantly more crashes per kilometer driven than passenger car drivers. Nonetheless, the development and implementation of motorcycle safety systems lags far behind that of passenger cars. This research addresses the identification of the most effective motorcycle safety solutions in the context of different countries.

Methods: A knowledge-based system of motorcycle safety (KBMS) was developed to assess the potential for various safety solutions to mitigate or avoid motorcycle crashes. First, a set of 26 common crash scenarios was identified from the analysis of multiple crash databases. Second, the relative effectiveness of 10 safety solutions was assessed for the 26 crash scenarios by a panel of experts. Third, relevant information about crashes was used to weigh the importance of each crash scenario in the region studied. The KBMS method was applied with an Italian database, with a total of more than 1 million motorcycle crashes in the period 2000–2012.

Results: When applied to the Italian context, the KBMS suggested that automatic systems designed to compensate for riders' or drivers' errors of commission or omission are the potentially most effective safety solution. The KBMS method showed an effective way to compare the potential of various safety solutions, through a scored list with the expected effectiveness of each safety solution for the region to which the crash data belong. A comparison of our results with a previous study that attempted a systematic prioritization of safety systems for motorcycles (PISa project) showed an encouraging agreement.

Conclusions: Current results revealed that automatic systems have the greatest potential to improve motorcycle safety. Accumulating and encoding expertise in crash analysis from a range of disciplines into a scalable and reusable analytical tool, as proposed with the use of KBMS, has the potential to guide research and development of effective safety systems. As the expert assessment of the crash scenarios is decoupled from the regional crash database, the expert assessment may be reutilized, thereby allowing rapid reanalysis when new crash data become available. In addition, the KBMS methodology has potential application to injury forecasting, driver/rider training strategies, and redesign of existing road infrastructure.     

Feeding and reproductive behaviour in fallow bucks (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dama dama</Emphasis>)

Observations on individually marked fallow deer (Dama dama) in central Italy were performed over 2 years in order to analyse time budgets of four age and sex classes. The aim was to test whether feeding activity was influenced by mating activity, forage quality or physiological constraints during the rut. Only adult males (bucks) completely ceased feeding during the rutting season, well before the actual start of mating behaviour and concurrently with the phenomenon of scent-urination, and spending most of their daily time completely inactive. All other age and sex classes were unaffected in their feeding behaviour by the rutting season. Indeed, females and young males showed a marked increase in grazing in response to an improvement in forage quality from summer to autumn. These results seem to confirm the hypothesis that hypophagia, displayed only by bucks, may be of no adaptive value in itself. On the other hand, it may be a by-product of other physiological processes occurring during the rut, inducing scent-urination, which plays an important role in intraspecific recognition and sexual attraction.     

hCG,AFP, and uE3 patterns in the 14–20th weeks of Down's syndrome pregnancies

A marked gestational-age-dependent variation in the 15-20th week pattern of human chorionic gonadotropin concentrations in Down's syndrome (DS) pregnancies is described and its weight in DS screening is discussed.     

Geographic Analysis of California Condor Sighting Data

Observation and habitat data were compiled and analyzed in conjunction with recovery planning for the endangered California Condor ( Gymnogyps californianus ). A geographic information system (GIS) was used to provide a quantitative inventory of recent historical Condor habitats, to measure the association of Condor activity patterns and mapped habitat variables, and to examine spatio-temporal changes in the range of the species during its decline. Only five percent of the study area within the historic range is now used for urban or cultivated agricultural purposes. Observations of Condor feeding perching, and nesting were nonrandomly associated with mapped land cover, in agreement with life history information for the species. The precipitous decline in numbers of Condors in this century produced only a small reduction in the limits of the observed species' range, as individual birds continued to forage over most of the range. Some critical risk factors such as shooting and lead poisoning are difficult to map and have not been included in the database. Besides the applications demonstrated in this case study, GIS can be a valuable tool for recovery planning, in the design of stratified sampling schemes, or for extrapolation of habitat models over unsurveyed regions. We conclude with recommendations from this case study regarding when to consider using GIS and the importance of pilot studies and sensitivity analysis.     

Conservative maternal care in an iteroparous mammal: a resource allocation experiment

When resources are limited, life history theory predicts a trade-off between growth, reproduction and survival. In summer, lactating females of temperate large herbivores such as the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) normally have access to abundant forage but also face the high energetic needs of lactation and recovery from winter mass loss. At high population density, however, females may face a trade-off between allocating resources for maintenance and for reproduction. To simulate the effects of increased intra-specific competition at high density, we measured for 2 years how an experimental food restriction of approximately 20% affected current reproduction and body mass changes of adult females and their fawns during the fawning and lactation periods. Fawn survival decreased 35%, and fawn growth decreased 26% in the food-restricted treatment. There was no effect of food restriction on female mass. Irrespective of treatment, however, lactating females gained 30 g/day less than non-lactating females, and females that had weaned a fawn the previous year gained 20 g/day less than females that had not. We conclude that when resources were scarce, females adopted a conservative strategy favouring their own survival, mass recovery and future reproductive potential over their current reproduction, probably to maximise their lifetime reproductive success.     

New insights in analysing parasitoid attracting synomones: early volatile emission and use of stir bar sorptive extraction

Summary. It is well known that feeding by Pieris brassicae caterpillars on cabbage leaves triggers the release of volatiles that attract natural antagonists such as the parasitoid Cotesia glomerata. The temporal dynamics in the emissions of parasitoid attracting volatiles has never been elucidated in this system. In a time course experiment, caterpillar infested leaves attracted the parasitoid within one hour after infestation. At such an early stage of infestation, as much as fifty percent of the parasitoids flew towards the infested plant in a wind tunnel bioassay, while only five percent flew towards the non-infested control plant. Three hours after infestation and later, the response to the volatiles from the infested plant reached its maximum and then continued at a constantly high level for the remaining 14 hours of the experiment. Chemical analyses of volatiles collected from infested leaves at short time intervals during the first 24 hours identified a total of ten compounds, comprising green leaf volatiles, terpenoids, and a nitrile. Significant increase of emission within the first 5 hours following initial herbivory was detected for (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, (Z)-3-hexen-1-yl acetate, cineole and benzylcyanide. Subsequently, a coupled bioassay-chemical analysis procedure was developed allowing for testing and analyzing the same sample for future identification of the bioactive compounds. This was achieved by using stir bar sorptive extraction for the analysis of solvent extracts of caterpillar-damaged leaves.     

Sibling species in interstitial flatworms: a case study using<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Monocelis lineata</Emphasis> (Proseriata: Monocelididae)

The genetic relationships between morphologically indistinguishable marine and brackish-water populations of Monocelis lineata (O.F. Müller, 1774) (Proseriata: Monocelididae) were analysed by means of allozyme electrophoresis. Fifteen samples of M. lineata (13 from the Mediterranean and two from the Atlantic) from coastal marine and brackish-water habitats were examined for variation at 18 loci. Eleven loci were polymorphic in at least one population of M. lineata. Low levels of within-population genetic variability were found, with average observed and expected heterozygosity values ranging from H_o=0.015±0.015 to 0.113±0.044, and from H_e=0.028±0.028 to 0.138±0.054, respectively. The occurrence of a number of private alleles indicated a marked genetic divergence among populations of M. lineata, with Rogers genetic distances ranging from D_R=0.003 to 0.676 and a highly significant F_ST value (0.918±0.012, P<0.001). UPGMA (unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic average) cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling showed a clear genetic divergence between marine and brackish-water populations. Moreover, Atlantic and Mediterranean populations were sharply separated. Our results suggest that M. lineata is a complex of sibling species.Communicated by R. Cattaneo-Vietti, Genova