Hermaphrodite sex role preferences: the role of partner body size, mating history and female fitness in the sea slug Chelidonura sandrana

Costs and benefits associated with matings and the effects of mating frequency on fitness commonly differ between the sexes. As a result, outcrossing simultaneous hermaphrodites may prefer to copulate in the more rewarding sex role, generating conflicts over sperm donation and sperm receipt between mates. Because recent sex role preference models remain controversial, we contrast here some of their assumptions and predictions in the sea slug Chelidonura sandrana. For this hermaphrodite with sperm storage and internal fertilisation, risk-averse models assume that fitness pay-offs are constantly higher in the female than in the male function in any single mating. Moreover, excluding mutual partner assessment, these models predict male mating behaviour to be independent of receiver traits. The competing gender ratio hypothesis assumes that relative fitness pay-offs, and thus the preferred mating roles, vary and may reverse between matings and predicts that ejaculation strategies co-vary with receiver quality. We found that field mating rates of C. sandrana substantially exceeded what is required to maintain female fertility and fecundity, indicating large variation in direct female benefits between matings. We further demonstrate that male copulation duration adaptively increased with partner body size (i.e. fecundity) but decreased with recent partner promiscuity. These findings are compatible with the gender ratio hypothesis but contradict risk-averse models.     

The championing of environmental improvements in technology investment projects

The literature on environmental champions emphasises the effective action of environmentally committed individuals. This paper draws on case studies of process technology investment projects in chemical and dairy companies in the UK and Sweden. The analysis is based on a political process perspective on organisations. By analysing the career histories of environmental champions as well as their behaviour in the investment projects, the paper shows how their championing behaviour is shaped by dynamic interaction with the organisational context, as well as a broader range of motivations and interests, including career opportunities and private life concerns.     

Assessment of Integrated Pedestrian Protection Systems with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and Passive Safety Components

Objective: Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems fitted to cars for pedestrians have been predicted to offer substantial benefit. On this basis, consumer rating programs—for example, the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP)—are developing rating schemes to encourage fitment of these systems. One of the questions that needs to be answered to do this fully is how the assessment of the speed reduction offered by the AEB is integrated with the current assessment of the passive safety for mitigation of pedestrian injury. Ideally, this should be done on a benefit-related basis.

The objective of this research was to develop a benefit-based methodology for assessment of integrated pedestrian protection systems with AEB and passive safety components. The method should include weighting procedures to ensure that it represents injury patterns from accident data and replicates an independently estimated benefit of AEB.

Methods: A methodology has been developed to calculate the expected societal cost of pedestrian injuries, assuming that all pedestrians in the target population (i.e., pedestrians impacted by the front of a passenger car) are impacted by the car being assessed, taking into account the impact speed reduction offered by the car's AEB (if fitted) and the passive safety protection offered by the car's frontal structure. For rating purposes, the cost for the assessed car is normalized by comparing it to the cost calculated for a reference car.

The speed reductions measured in AEB tests are used to determine the speed at which each pedestrian in the target population will be impacted. Injury probabilities for each impact are then calculated using the results from Euro NCAP pedestrian impactor tests and injury risk curves. These injury probabilities are converted into cost using “harm”-type costs for the body regions tested. These costs are weighted and summed. Weighting factors were determined using accident data from Germany and Great Britain and an independently estimated AEB benefit. German and Great Britain versions of the methodology are available. The methodology was used to assess cars with good, average, and poor Euro NCAP pedestrian ratings, in combination with a current AEB system. The fitment of a hypothetical A-pillar airbag was also investigated.

Results: It was found that the decrease in casualty injury cost achieved by fitting an AEB system was approximately equivalent to that achieved by increasing the passive safety rating from poor to average. Because the assessment was influenced strongly by the level of head protection offered in the scuttle and windscreen area, a hypothetical A-pillar airbag showed high potential to reduce overall casualty cost.

Conclusions: A benefit-based methodology for assessment of integrated pedestrian protection systems with AEB has been developed and tested. It uses input from AEB tests and Euro NCAP passive safety tests to give an integrated assessment of the system performance, which includes consideration of effects such as the change in head impact location caused by the impact speed reduction given by the AEB.     

Hereditary Blindness in a Captive Wolf (Canis lupus) Population: Frequency Reduction of a Deleterious Allele in Relation to Gene Conservation

Numerous cases of hereditary diseases and disorders have been reported in wild animals bred in captivity, but little attention has been paid to the particular genetic management problems that arise when such defects occur. These problems include the obstacle of eliminating the deleterious allele(s) without contemporary loss of genetic variability. In this paper we use the statistical methods of pedigree analysis to address questions regarding a previously presumed hereditary form of blindness observed in a captive wolf population bred for conservation purposes in Scandinavian zoos. The most likely mode of inheritance coincides with an autosomal recessive allele with either a full penetrance or a reduced penetrance of 0.6 (depending on the reliability of studbook records). Using these two models of inheritance, we calculate the probability of carrying the blindness allele for each living animal. Analysis of the effect of removing high-probability carriers on founder allele survival and level of inbreeding demonstrates that the frequency of the deleterious allele can be significantly reduced without seriously affecting founder allele survival or current degree of inbreeding in the wolf population.     

Predominance of clade D <Emphasis Type="Italic">Symbiodinium</Emphasis> in shallow-water reef-building corals off Kish and Larak Islands (Persian Gulf,Iran)

Scleractinian coral species harbour communities of photosynthetic taxa of the genus Symbiodinium. As many as eight genetic clades (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H) of Symbiodinium have been discovered using molecular biology. These clades may differ from each other in their physiology, and thus influence the ecological distribution and resilience of their host corals to environmental stresses. Corals of the Persian Gulf are normally subject to extreme environmental conditions including high salinity and seasonal variation in temperature. This study is the first to use molecular techniques to identify the Symbiodinium of the Iranian coral reefs to the level of phylogenetic clades. Samples of eight coral species were collected at two different depths from the eastern part of Kish Island in the northern Persian Gulf, and Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Partial 28S nuclear ribosomal (nr) DNA of Symbiodinium (D1/D2 domains) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR products were analyzed using single stranded conformational polymorphism and phylogenetic analyses of the LSU DNA sequences from a subset of the samples. The results showed that Symbiodinium populations were generally uniform among and within the populations of eight coral species studied, and there are at least two clades of Symbiodinium from Kish and Larak islands. Clade D was detected from eight of the coral species while clade C was found in two of species only (one species hosted two clades simultaneously). The dominance of clade D might be explained by high temperatures or the extreme temperature variation, typical of the Persian Gulf. Publication of this article was held up owing to technical problems. The publisher apologizes sincerely for this lengthy delay.     

Coastal aquaculture development in eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean: prospects and problems for food security and local economies

This paper reviews the experience and status of coastal aquaculture of seaweeds, mollusks, fish and crustaceans in eastern Africa and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. In many respects, coastal aquaculture is still in its infancy in the region, and there is a pressing need to formulate development strategies aimed at improving the income and assuring the availability of affordable protein to coastal communities. This paper also draws from positive and negative experiences in other parts of the world. The requirements of feed and fry, and the conversion of mangroves are used to illustrate how some aquaculture activities constitute a net loss to global seafood production. The paper presents both general and specific sustainability guidelines based on the acknowledgement of aquaculture as an ecological process. It is concluded that without clear recognition of its dependence on natural ecosystems, the aquaculture industry is unlikely to develop to its full potential in the region.     

Genetic population structure of fishes: implications for coastal zone management

The pattern for distribution of genetic variation within and between populations is referred to as the genetic population structure of the species. To avoid depletion of genetic resources sustainable management should be based on knowledge of this structure. We discuss key aspects of genetic population structure in the context of identifying biological units for fisheries management, suggesting three basic types of structuring: distinct populations; continuous change; and no differentiation. The type of structure determines how units for genetically sustainable management are to be identified. We also review what is currently known regarding the genetic population structure of fishes exploited in the Swedish part of the Baltic Sea, and conclude that sufficient genetic information is lacking for most of the species. This is a serious problem, particularly considering that populations of several commercially exploited fishes are declining and some exhibit recruitment problems. For six species, Atlantic herring, Atlantic salmon, brown trout, European eel, turbot, and pike, sufficient genetic data are available to provide at least basic information on genetic structure and genetic units for biologically sustainable use. Current management practices do not sufficiently consider these data.