Community knowledge networks: an action-orientated approach to energy research

The Climate Change Act 2008 commits the UK to reducing carbon emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050. With household emissions constituting more than a quarter of current total energy use in the UK, energy practices in the home have taken on increased policy attention. In this paper, we argue that the UK government's approach is founded upon a variant of methodological individualism that assumes that providing greater energy information to individuals will effect behaviour change in relation to energy use. Such an approach is potentially limited in its effectiveness and does not afford appropriate recognition to all those affected by energy policy. In contrast to this approach, we set out an alternative perspective, a community knowledge networks approach to energy and justice which recognises the contexts and relationships in which people live and use energy. Such an approach emphasises situated knowledge and practices in order to gain a greater understanding of how individuals and communities use energy, but, importantly, offers a means for affording greater recognitional justice to different social groups.     

Secondary sexual characters and female quality in primates

Honest advertisement models of sexual selection propose that exaggerated secondary sexual ornaments are condition-dependent, and that only individuals with superior disease resistance will be able to express costly ornamentation. Studies of secondary sexual ornamentation and their maintenance by sexual selection tend to focus on males. However, females may also possess showy ornaments. We investigated whether female ornaments, in the form of sexual swellings, reliably signal female fitness in a semifree-ranging colony of mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) at the Centre International de Recherches Médicales, Franceville (CIRMF), Gabon. We measured swelling height and width using photographs of periovulatory females over three mating seasons and compared swelling size with parasitism (using fecal analysis over one annual cycle), immune status (ratio of lymphocytes to neutrophils in blood smears made during captures), and genetic diversity (microsatellite heterozygosity). Swelling size varied by up to 10% between cycles in individual females, giving some support to the hypothesis that size differences may indicate the quality of individual swelling cycles. However, there was no significant difference in swelling size between conceptive and nonconceptive cycles. Measures of swelling size varied more between females than within females across swelling cycles, implying that swelling size was a relatively consistent characteristic of individual females. Swelling size was not significantly related to either general measures of parasitism and immune status, or to the closest available measures to each swelling cycle. Nor was swelling size significantly related to genetic diversity. The healthy, provisioned nature of the colony and problems associated with observational, correlational studies restrict interpretation of our data. However, in combination with previous findings that females of higher reproductive success do not show larger swellings, and that males do not allocate mating effort as a function of swelling size, these results imply that sexual swelling size does not indicate female quality in these semifree-ranging mandrills.     

Project Tocoen. the fate of selected pollutants in the environment. Part XIX. the phytotoxicity of organic and inorganic pollutants‐cadmium. The effect of cadmium on the growth of germinating maize plants

The effect of increasing cadmium concentration (10, 100 and 1000 μmol dm^‐3) on the growth, leaf area, content of assimilation pigments, cadmium content and the regulatory ability of the tissue of maize plants was investigated.

The results obtained document, already after 6 days, a significant decrease of dry weight, reduction of leaf area, chlorophyll a and b as well as carotenoids in plants grown in the nutrient solution containing 1000 μmol dm ^‐3 of cadmium. A highly significant inhibition of growth, leaf area and assimilation pigments in plants growing in the nutrient solutions with 100 and 10 μmol dm^‐3 of cadmium was registered after 17 days of cultivation. In plants growing in the nutrient solution containing 100 μmol dm^‐3 of cadmium a demonstrable reduction of the content of assimilation pigments was registered after 11 days of culture.

With increasing cadmium concentration in the nutrient solution as well as in the plant tissue after 6 and 17 days of culture both the range of the regulatory zone and the extent of optimum pH increased into the acid region. The pH values of the isoelectric point decreased with increasing cadmium content in the solution.     

Hunted hunters? Effect of group size on predation risk and growth in the Australian subsocial crab spider Diaea ergandros

A reduced predation risk is considered to be a major adaptive advantage of sociality. While most studies are concerned with non-predatory prey species, group-living predators are likely to face similar threats from higher-order predators. We studied the relationship between group size and predation risk in the subsocial crab spider Diaea ergandros by testing predictions from theoretical models including attack abatement as well as the formation of protective retreats. In a field survey, we found predatory clubionid spiders in 35 % of the D. ergandros nests and as predicted, nest size did not correlate with predator presence. In a subsequent laboratory experiment, we observed survival probability, nest construction activity and feeding behaviour including weight development between groups of different sizes as well as in the absence or presence of a predator. Large groups had an advantage in terms of survival and growth compared to smaller groups or single individuals. They also built significantly larger nests than smaller groups, supporting the idea of protective retreat formation being an adaptive benefit to group living. Even though clubionids did attack D. ergandros, they did not significantly affect overall mortality of D. ergandros. The feeding experiment showed that spiders fed on a larger proportion of flies in the presence of a predator. However, these groups gained significantly less weight compared to the control groups, indicating that the potential predators not only act as predators but also as food competitors, constituting a twofold cost for D. ergandros.     

Accounting for matching uncertainty in two stage capture–recapture experiments using photographic measurements of natural marks

We propose a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach for estimating the size of a closed population from data obtained by identifying individuals through photographs of natural markings. We assume that noisy measurements of a set of distinctive features are available for each individual present in a photographic catalogue. To estimate the population size from two catalogues obtained during two different sampling occasions, we embed the standard two-stage $M_t$ capture–recapture model for closed population into a multivariate normal data matching model that identifies the common individuals across the catalogues. In addition to estimating the population size while accounting for the matching process uncertainty, this hierarchical modelling approach allows to identify the common individuals by using the information provided by the capture–recapture model. This way, our model also represents a novel and reliable tool able to reduce the amount of effort researchers have to expend in matching individuals. We illustrate and motivate the proposed approach via a real data set of photo-identification of narwhals. Moreover, we compare our method with a set of possible alternative approaches by using both the empirical data set and a simulation study.     

Effects of algae-enriched rotifers on winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) gene expression during metamorphosis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a dietary highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) deficiency on winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus metamorphosis by examining the growth and the expression of genes involved in some key metabolic processes: lipid digestion, oxidative stress, and growth. Three groups of fish were fed rotifers enriched with different blends of microalgae providing different HUFA profiles: (1) a diet comprising a mixture of three microalgae, Nannochloropsis oculata, Isochrysis galbana, and Pavlova lutheri (Cocktail diet), which contained a balanced combination of ecosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA); (2) the N. oculata diet (Nanno diet), with a low level of DHA; and (3) the I. galbana diet (Tiso diet), characterized by low levels of EPA and AA. The results indicate that the need for DHA increased from settlement and for EPA and AA from 15 days after settlement. The lower HUFA content in the Tiso and Nanno diets did not affect larval development or lipid reserve accumulation. The superoxide dismutase gene expression suggests a reduced oxidative stress in the Cocktail group, and overall results indicate that gh gene expression could be a valuable indicator of development at the molecular level in response to dietary HUFA quality during metamorphosis in winter flounder.     

A test of neuroecological predictions using paperwasp caste differences in brain structure (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Adaptive brain architecture hypotheses predict brain region investment matches the cognitive and sensory demands an individual confronts. Social hymenopteran queen and worker castes differ categorically in behavior and physiology leading to divergent sensory experiences. Queens in mature colonies are largely nest-bound while workers depart nests to forage. We predicted social paperwasp castes would differ in tissue allocation among brain regions. We expected workers to invest relatively more than queens in neural tissues that process visual input. As predicted, we found workers invested more in visual relative to antennal processing than queens both in peripheral sensory lobes and in central processing brain regions (mushroom bodies). Although we did not measure individual brain development changes, our comparative data provide a preliminary test of mechanisms of caste differences. Paperwasp species differ in the degree of caste differentiation (monomorphic versus polymorphic castes) and in colony structure (independent- versus swarm-founding); these differences could correspond to the magnitude of caste brain divergence. If caste differences resulted from divergent developmental programs (experience-expectant brain growth), we predicted species with morphologically distinct queens, and/or swarm-founders, would show greater caste divergence of brain architecture. Alternatively, if adult experience affected brain plasticity (experience-dependent brain growth), we predicted independent-founding species would show greater caste divergence of brain architecture. Caste polymorphism was not related to the magnitude of queen-worker brain differences, and independent-founder caste brain differences were greater than swarm-founder caste differences. Greater caste separation in independent-founder brain structure suggests a role for adult experience in the development of caste-specific brain anatomy.     

Risk trading in mating behavior: forgoing anti-predator responses reduces the likelihood of missing terminal mating opportunities

Life history theory predicts that organisms make certain adjustments to their current and future reproductive effort such that fitness is maximized. Moreover, these adjustments may be fine tuned in response to risks of attack by natural enemies. Thus, we may predict that as an organism ages it will accept increasing levels of exposure to predators during mating activities, effectively trading the risk of losing terminal mating opportunities for the risk of predation. We tested this prediction in an acoustic moth, Achroia grisella, in which females orient toward and evaluate males based on their ultrasonic calling song, and both sexes may be vulnerable to predation by insectivorous bats while in flight as well as on the substrate. In the latter situation, singing males and orienting females show silence and arrestment responses, respectively, when presented with synthetic bat echolocation signals broadcast above a threshold amplitude. We found that both males and females become less sensitive to these broadcasts over the course of their brief reproductive periods, 7 and 5 days, respectively. Over the same periods, sensitivity to male song in both males and females remains constant, and relatively little senescence in sexual behavior is observed. These results support the risk trading hypothesis, and they indicate that life history principles may apply over a very short lifespan.     

Changes in fall prevention training for apprentice carpenters based on a comprehensive needs assessment

Problem

Falls from heights in residential construction are common, especially among inexperienced workers.

Methods

We conducted a comprehensive needs assessment to determine gaps in the school-based apprentice carpenters' fall prevention training. A team of carpenter instructors and researchers revised the fall prevention training to fill these gaps. Apprentice evaluation and feedback guided ongoing curricular improvements.

Results

Most apprentice carpenters performed work tasks at heights prior to training and fall protection techniques were not commonly used at residential construction sites. Priorities of the revised school-based training included safe ladder habits, truss setting, scaffold use, guarding floor openings, and using personal fall arrest systems. New apprentices were targeted to ensure training prior to exposure at the workplace. We used adult learning principles to emphasize hands-on experiences. A framed portion of a residential construction site was fabricated to practice fall protection behaviors in a realistic setting. The revised curriculum has been delivered consistently and apprentice feedback has been very favorable.

Conclusions

Integration of needs assessment results was invaluable in revising the school-based carpenters apprentice fall prevention curriculum. Working closely with the instructors to tailor learning experiences has provided preliminary positive results.

Impact on Industry

The fall safety of the residential construction industry continues to lag behind commercial construction and industrial settings. The National Occupational Research Agenda includes a Strategic Goal to strengthen and extend the reach of quality training and education in the construction industry via mechanisms such as construction safety and health training needs assessments. This study demonstrates how a structured process can be used to identify and remedy gaps and improve training effectiveness. We encourage others to take steps to assess and increase the impact of training efforts directed at all residential construction professionals; including both union and non-union workers. The implications are even greater in the non-union sector where most U.S. residential work is done.     

Current levels of DDT,PCB and trace elements in the Baltic ringed seals (Phoca hispida baltica) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Residue levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis[p-chlorophenyl]ethane (DDT) were determined from liver samples of ringed seals (Phoca lispida) from the Baltic Sea and Svalbard, and of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) from the Baltic Sea and Sable Island in Canada. Both Baltic seal populations showed clearly higher average sum PCB (SPCB) and sum DDT (SDDT) levels than the reference seal populations. Among the Baltic seals, SPCB levels were twice as high as SDDT levels, and both contaminants were higher in ringed seals than in grey seals. A difference in gender was observed only in the Sable Island grey seal population, in which males showed a higher level of contamination than females. A reduction of the SDDT levels, and to a lower extent of the SPCB levels can be observed in the Baltic seals since the peak contaminant levels during the 1970s. The decrease has been more rapid in the grey seals than in the ringed seals. The SPCB levels in the Baltic ringed seals are still high enough to cause a threat to their well being. Residue levels of the trace elements mercury, cadmium, lead and selenium were determined from liver, kidney and muscle samples of grey seals from the Baltic Sea and Sable Island. Only cadmium showed a geographic difference being higher in the seals from Sable Island than from the Baltic Sea. No clear reduction of the metal burden can be observed in the Baltic grey seal population since the 1970s.