Effects of early auditory experience on the development of local song preference in female swamp sparrows

A growing number of studies show that learning about male mating signals can shape the way females discriminate among males and may influence the evolution of both female preferences and the male traits under selection. Female songbirds commonly prefer local songs over foreign songs from a different population. In some species, however, the extent of variation among songs sung by different males within a population is as great as the variation observed between populations, raising the question of how females are able to discriminate local from foreign songs. Here, we report that laboratory-reared female swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) not only show a preference for the particular song types with which they were tutored as compared with both foreign songs and unfamiliar local songs but also show preference for unfamiliar local songs over unfamiliar foreign songs. An acoustic analysis comparing tutor songs and those presented as unfamiliar local and foreign songs suggests that female swamp sparrows might be attuned to the specifics of local note phonology when assessing the attractiveness of unfamiliar songs. Our results demonstrate that early auditory experience influences response to geographic song variation in female swamp sparrows, and suggest the possibility that female songbirds may generalize what they learn from songs early in life to novel songs heard in adulthood. Additional work is needed to evaluate the contribution of unlearned predispositions for local song.     

Factors involved in the decision to decline prenatal screening with noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT)

Objective

To investigate factors involved in the decision to decline prenatal screening with noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT).

Method

A questionnaire study was conducted among 219 pregnant women in the Netherlands who had declined prenatal screening with NIPT (TRIDENT-2 study). Respondents were selectively recruited from three hospitals and 19 midwifery practices, primarily located in or near socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. 44.3% of the respondents were of non-Western ethnic origin and 64.4% were religious.

Results

Most respondents (77.2%) found the decision to decline NIPT easy to make, and 59.8% had already made the decision before information about NIPT was offered. These respondents were more often religious, multigravida, and had adequate health literacy. The main reasons to decline NIPT were “I would never terminate my pregnancy” (57.1%) and “every child is welcome” (56.2%). For 16.9% of respondents, the out-of-pocket costs (175 euros) played a role in the decision, and the women in this group were more often nonreligious, primigravida, and had inadequate health literacy.

Conclusion

The primary factors involved in the decision to decline NIPT were related to personal values and beliefs, consistent with autonomous choice. Out-of-pocket costs of NIPT hinder equal access for some pregnant women.     

Modelling of occupational respirable crystalline silica exposure for quantitative exposure assessment in community-based case-control studies

We describe an empirical model for exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) to create a quantitative job-exposure matrix (JEM) for community-based studies. Personal measurements of exposure to RCS from Europe and Canada were obtained for exposure modelling. A mixed-effects model was elaborated, with region/country and job titles as random effect terms. The fixed effect terms included year of measurement, measurement strategy (representative or worst-case), sampling duration (minutes) and a priori exposure intensity rating for each job from an independently developed JEM (none, low, high). 23,640 personal RCS exposure measurements, covering a time period from 1976 to 2009, were available for modelling. The model indicated an overall downward time trend in RCS exposure levels of -6% per year. Exposure levels were higher in the UK and Canada, and lower in Northern Europe and Germany. Worst-case sampling was associated with higher reported exposure levels and an increase in sampling duration was associated with lower reported exposure levels. Highest predicted RCS exposure levels in the reference year (1998) were for chimney bricklayers (geometric mean 0.11 mg m(-3)), monument carvers and other stone cutters and carvers (0.10 mg m(-3)). The resulting model enables us to predict time-, job-, and region/country-specific exposure levels of RCS. These predictions will be used in the SYNERGY study, an ongoing pooled multinational community-based case-control study on lung cancer.     

Deriving a bioavailability-based zinc environmental quality standard for France

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - National Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) for zinc used for the assessment of ecological status in freshwaters have been shown to vary by over...