The establishment of fighting rules and the ability to recognise individual conspecifics and to assess their fighting ability
and/or roles may help to reduce costs of fighting. We staged encounters between males of the lizard Podarcis hispanica to examine whether lizards used fighting strategies and whether a previous agonistic experience affects the outcome and characteristics
of a subsequent encounter. The results showed that simple rules such as body size differences and residence condition were
used to determine the outcome of agonistic interactions as quickly as possible. Thus, larger males were dominant in most encounters.
However, when size differences between opponents are smaller, they may be more difficult to estimate and, then, residence
condition was more important. In addition, the intensity of interactions between males could be explained according to the
”sequential assessment game”, supporting the idea that P. hispanica males acquire information about fighting ability gradually during the progress of a fight. Our results also showed that the
second fight of the same pair of males was less aggressive, even when its outcome was the opposite of the first. This result
suggests that male P. hispanica can recognise individual opponents and that they use this information to reach a contest outcome more quickly, thus reducing
unnecessary aggression levels in subsequent interactions. These fighting strategies and assessment mechanisms may help to
stabilise the social system of this lizard.
Received: 2 November 1999 / Revised: 26 August 2000 / Accepted: 4 September 2000 相似文献
Summary Adsorption of chlorfenvinphos and methidathion from dissolutions on H+, Ca++, Na+ and K+ are studied. In all cases the saturating cation distinctly influenced the Freundlich‐type adsorption, with adsorption decreasing in the following sequence: H+> Ca++> Na+ > K+. Chlorfenvinphos adsorption was slightly greater than methidathion in two clays, and the adsorption extent for them in kaolinite is slower that bentonite. 相似文献
Objective: Traffic fatalities in Brazil still rank among the highest worldwide, with an overall rate of 23.4 deaths/100,000 inhabitants/year. Although alcohol and drug use play an important role in traffic accidents, national data about their relative influence are scarce. Drug screening is not routinely performed by traffic agents because alcohol is the only substance regularly investigated in roadblocks. Therefore, we aimed to describe the initial traffic agent user experience for 4 handheld point-of-collection oral fluid drug testing devices used in routine roadblocks in Brazil, focusing on usage perceptions in hopes of generalizing this approach for other developing countries.
Methods: Four different oral fluid collection devices were evaluated: The DDS2, the DOA MultiScreen, the Dräger DrugTest 5000, and the Multi-Drug Multi-Line Twist Screen Device. Fourteen trained traffic agents obtained oral fluid from 164 drivers and performed 37 qualitative evaluations of the devices. Traffic agents filled out a questionnaire focusing on 9 feasibility criteria: Overall simplicity for roadside operation; operational success; saliva sample collection time; sample analysis time; ease of sample preparation and analysis; agreement with observed clinical signs; overall hygiene and safety; sufficient operating instructions; and hygiene of saliva collection. These were weighted based on an expert panel and yielded an overall composite device experience score that ranged from 1 (poor) to 100 (excellent).
Results: Ease of use, operational success, and acceptable collection and analysis time were considered the most important criteria by the expert panel. The results ranged from 27.3 to 88.9% for simplicity of use; 45.5 to 100.0% for operational success; 27.3 to 100% for acceptable collection time; and 36.4 to 100.0% for acceptable analysis time. The final device scores, based on the agents’ user experiences, ranked as follows: DOA MultiScreen: 49.3/100; Dräger DrugTest 5000: 82.4/100; Multi-Drug Multi-Line Twist Screen Device: 84.3/100; DDS2: 88.4/100.
Conclusion: Based on the selected criteria, 3 of the 4 devices were considered useful by traffic agents in routine roadblock operations. The weighted evaluations suggest that their ease of use (handling, sampling analysis, and reliability), as well as their agreement with findings obtained by other means, defined their utility to traffic agents, although such appraisals must be further analyzed in future studies. 相似文献
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - A spontaneous combination of hygienic in situ compatibilized polybutylene succinate/polylactic acids (PBS/PLA) was formulated through the addition... 相似文献
The world has become dependent on petroleum as a feedstock for most products that we use in our daily lives. As an alternative, bio-refineries that transform biomass into biofuels and primary chemicals are emerging. Actually, many wastes are not fully recycled. For instance, potato peel is a cheap residue available from the potato industry. Up to now, potato peel has been used mostly for livestock feeding. Here, potato peel waste was subjected to direct acid liquefaction at 160 °C in 2-ethylhexanol and diethylene glycol using p-toluene sulfonic acid as catalyst. The product was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, chemical analysis, hydroxyl number and acid value. Results show that liquefaction was achieved in yields higher than 80%. The reactional profile shows two time zones, one comprising the process of liquefaction and one corresponding to the process of decomposition. Kinetics indicate that the liquefaction process occurs 1.9 times faster than the decomposition process. Overall, our findings show for the first time that, despite the water content, potato peel waste can be used to produce bio-oil. The products can be further used as fuels or refined chemicals such as levulinic acid, furfural, 5-hydroxyfurfural, dimethyl furfural and sugars in fermentation processes. 相似文献
Regional Environmental Change - Wetlands play important roles that benefit social-ecological systems. They are threatened by climate change and human activities, i.e., raising livestock and... 相似文献
Local medical systems are key elements of social-ecological systems as they provide culturally appropriate and locally accessible health care options, especially for populations with scarce access to biomedicine. The adaptive capacity of local medical systems generally rests on two pillars: species diversity and a robust local knowledge system, both threatened by local and global environmental change. We first present a conceptual framework to guide the assessment of knowledge diversity and redundancy in local medicinal knowledge systems through a gender lens. Then, we apply this conceptual framework to our research on the local medicinal plant knowledge of the Tsimane’ Amerindians. Our results suggest that Tsimane’ medicinal plant knowledge is gendered and that the frequency of reported ailments and the redundancy of knowledge used to treat them are positively associated. We discuss the implications of knowledge diversity and redundancy for local knowledge systems’ adaptive capacity, resilience, and health sovereignty. 相似文献
Coral communities were examined from highly turbid near-shore marginal reefs of Abrolhos (Brazil) to test a paradigm previously developed from observations in clear water reefs; specifically, that coral photobiological properties follow a highly conserved linear relationship with optical depth (ζ) via preferential ‘non-photochemical’ over ‘photochemical’ dissipation of absorbed light energy. PAM flourometry in situ was used to examine the photobiology of the most dominant coral species throughout the platform surfaces and bases of Abrolhos’ characteristic ‘chapeir?es’ reef framework; however, none of the species consistently adhered to the ‘clear water paradigm’. PAM measurements further demonstrated that species conformed to two different strategies of non-photochemical energy dissipation: transient but relatively rapid for the two closely related endemic species (Mussismilia braziliensis and Mussismilia harttii) as opposed to more persistent for Montastrea cavernosa, Porites astreoides and Siderastrea stellata. Further experiments demonstrated that tolerance to anomalous stress amongst species did not correspond with the non-photochemical energy dissipation strategy present but was consistent with the relative dominance of species within the chapeir?es coral communities. 相似文献
Radio tracking of 142 males captured at 44 leks in Spain showed that partial migration of great bustard males in summer is
a widespread behaviour in many Iberian populations, in contrast to their previously assumed sedentariness. A variable number
of males migrated immediately after mating to summering areas with lower temperatures and human population densities and more
trees and rainfall levels than the breeding sites. Birds selected there fields with trees and sunflower crops which provided
shade during the hottest midday hours and protective cover against predators. Males breeding in areas with higher July temperatures
had a higher tendency to migrate, and males from hotter, southern regions migrated longer distances than those from milder,
northern regions and showed a preferred northward direction. These results confirmed various predictions from the weather
sensitivity hypothesis, suggesting that summer migration of great bustard males represents primarily an adaptation to escape
the summer heat of most breeding areas in central and southern Iberia. The hypothesis that males migrated to benefit from
higher food availability at the summering areas could not be rejected by our results. Finally, migrating males also gained
more tranquillity during the post-breeding moult due to the lower human population density at the summering areas. Summer
migration of Iberian great bustard males may thus be interpreted as a form of behavioural thermoregulation which has not been
described for other Palaearctic populations of this species or for other bird species breeding in temperate latitudes. 相似文献