Male bill colour and age are associated with parental abilities and breeding performance in blackbirds

In monogamous bird species, male parental investment may influence offspring fitness and females may gain advantages through mating with males providing extensive paternal care. However, paternal care is a benefit that can only be assessed indirectly because mate choice precedes paternal activities. Individual quality and age, both signalled by morphological characteristics, may reflect parental abilities. Because they may reflect individual foraging abilities, carotenoid-based colorations have been proposed to honestly signal parental quality. The blackbird (Turdus merula), a socially monogamous species, exhibits biparental care and males show bills that vary from pale yellow to orange due to carotenoid pigments. In this study, we investigated whether male bill colour and age are associated with parental ability. Our results suggest that males with more orange bills and older males are better fathers. Indeed, male visit rate increased with their bill colour index independently of age, and brood condition was higher for adult males, compared to yearlings, independently of bill colour. Overall, the number of fledglings produced was positively influenced by both the age of males and the colour intensity of their bills. Males with more orange bills and adults had a greater number of fledglings and these males also had higher levels of prolactin, a hormone known to promote parental care. This latter finding suggests that prolactin may be the link between carotenoid based colorations and the intensity of paternal effort. Thus, male bill colour seems to honestly reveal male physiological adjustment to paternal activities.     

Testosterone and helping behavior in the azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus): natural covariation and an experimental test

In this study, we investigated patterns of natural covariation between testosterone and reproductive status in a cooperatively breeding bird species, the azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus). To assess the relationship between testosterone and breeding behavior, we also manipulated testosterone (T) levels early in the season (before breeding started) using testosterone-filled or empty implants. Our results do not support the hypothesis that circulating testosterone levels affect the occurrence of helping behavior in the azure-winged magpie. Helping males had similar T levels to breeding males. Furthermore, experimentally augmented plasma T did not affect the likelihood of becoming either a helper or a breeder. Overall, these results are consistent with previous findings in other bird species and only give some support to the behavioral suppression hypothesis, suggesting that helping in the azure-winged magpie is a flexible behavioral option moderated in the short-term by social and ecological factors. Experimentally elevated testosterone levels, however, reduced the reproductive success of male breeders because of markedly lower levels of paternal care, had similar effects on their mates, but had the contrary effect on helpers, which raised levels of parental effort. We suggest increases in the share of paternity and in social prestige as possible explanations for these results.Communicated by: A. Cockburn     

Rubella and pregnancy: diagnosis,management and outcomes

Rubella is a mild viral disease that typically occurs in childhood. Rubella infection during pregnancy causes congenital rubella syndrome, including the classic triad of cataracts, cardiac abnormalities and sensorineural deafness. Highly effective vaccines have been developed since 1969, and vaccination campaigns have been established in many countries. Although there has been progress, the prevention and diagnosis of rubella remain problematic. This article reviews the implications and management of rubella during pregnancy. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Life cycle assessment of second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) mobile phone networks

The environmental performance of presently operated GSM and UMTS networks was analysed concentrating on the environmental effects of the End-of-Life (EOL) phase using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The study was performed based on comprehensive life cycle inventory and life cycle modelling. The environmental effects were quantified using the IMPACT2002+ method. Based on technological forecasts, the environmental effects of forthcoming mobile telephone networks were approximated. The results indicate that a parallel operation of GSM and UMTS networks is environmentally detrimental and the transition phase should be kept as short as possible. The use phase (i.e. the operation) of the radio network components account for a large fraction of the total environmental impact. In particular, there is a need to lower the energy consumption of those network components. Seen in relation to each other, UMTS networks provide an environmentally more efficient mobile communication technology than GSM networks. In assessing the EOL phase, recycling the electronic scrap of mobile phone networks was shown to have clear environmental benefits. Under the present conditions, material recycling could help lower the environmental impact of the production phase by up to 50%.     

Data assimilation for short range atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides: a case study of second-order sensitivity

This article presents the application of variational data assimilation to a simple Gaussian plume model for radionuclides. Adjoint modeling is applied to the model in order to minimize discrepancies between contamination observations and model outputs. The interest of such an approach is to get a better estimation of some parameters such as emissions or dispersion parameters. A second-order analysis is also performed to assess the sensitivity of the optimized parameters to some poorly known parameters. Sensitivity with respect to network design is also done.     

Overview of Traditional and Environmental Factors Related to Bone Health

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Bone mass in adulthood depends on growth and mineralization acquired during childhood and adolescence. It is well known that these stages of life are...     

Dynamics of copper and zinc sedimentation in a lagooning system receiving landfill leachate

This study characterises the sediment dredged from a lagooning system composed of a settling pond and three lagoons that receive leachates from a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill in France. Organic carbon, carbonate, iron oxyhydroxides, copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations were measured in the sediment collected from upstream to downstream in the lagooning system. In order to complete our investigation of sedimentation mechanisms, leachates were sampled in both dry (spring) and wet (winter) seasonal conditions. Precipitation of calcite and amorphous Fe-oxyhydroxides and sedimentation of organic matter occurred in the settling pond. Since different distributions of Zn and Cu concentrations are measured in sediment samples collected downstream in the lagooning system, it is suggested that these elements were not distributed in a similar way in the leachate fractions during the first stage of treatment in the settling pond, so that their sedimentation dynamics in the lagooning system differ. In the lagoons, it was found that organic carbon plays a major role in Cu and Zn mobility and trapping. The presence of macrophytes along the edges provided an input of organic matter that enhanced Cu and Zn scavenging. This edge effect resulted in a two-fold increase in Cu and Zn concentrations in the sediment deposited near the banks of the lagoons, thus confirming the importance of vegetation for the retention of Cu and Zn in lagooning systems.     

Iron-impregnated zeolite catalyst for efficient removal of micropollutants at very low concentration from Meurthe river

In this paper, for the first time, faujasite Y zeolite impregnated with iron (III) was employed as a catalyst to remove a real cocktail of micropollutants inside real water samples from the Meurthe river by the means of the heterogeneous photo-Fenton process. The catalyst was prepared by the wet impregnation method using iron (III) nitrate nonahydrate as iron precursor. First, an optimization of the process parameters was conducted using phenol as model macro-pollutant. The hydrogen peroxide concentration, the light wavelength (UV and visible) and intensity, the iron loading immobilized, as well as the pH of the solution were investigated. Complete photo-Fenton degradation of the contaminant was achieved using faujasite containing 20 wt.% of iron, under UV light, and in the presence of 0.007 mol/L of H₂O₂ at pH 5.5. In a second step, the optimized process was used with real water samples from the Meurthe river. Twenty-one micropollutants (endocrine disruptors, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and perfluorinated compounds) including 17 pharmaceutical compounds were specifically targeted, detected, and quantified. All the initial concentrations remained in the range of nanogram per liter (0.8–88 ng/L). The majority of the micropollutants had a large affinity for the surface of the iron-impregnated faujasite. Our results emphasized the very good efficiency of the photo-Fenton process with a cocktail of a minimum of 21 micropollutants. Except for sulfamethoxazole and PFOA, the concentrations of all the other microcontaminants (bisphenol A, carbamazepine, carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide, clarithromycin, diclofenac, estrone, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, lidocaine, naproxen, PFOS, triclosan, etc.) became lower than the limit of quantification of the LC-MS/MS after 30 min or 6 h of photo-Fenton treatment depending on their initial concentrations. The photo-Fenton degradation of PFOA can be neglected. The photo-Fenton degradation of sulfamethoxazole obeys first-order kinetics in the presence of the cocktail of the other micropollutants.