Floods on opposite German borders

Abstract

The Rhine and the Oder rivers have many similarities. Both are subject to comparable hydroclimate regimes, are flood prone, are international waterways and have been extensively modified by humans over many hundreds of years. Yet the recent history of flooding on the German sections of these rivers is distinctively different. Most communities along the Rhine seem to take floods in stride whereas along the Oder they have been highly disruptive. The disruption has provided a mechanism for helping to integrate disparate parts of the newly reunified German states emergency management system and has highlighted continuing differences between Polish and German flood experiences.     

节俭还是低碳——我国语境下居民低碳行为探讨

为了解低碳在我国居民中的推广程度,通过问卷法对南京市某社区居民进行实地调查。结果发现:大部分居民由于受节俭文化的影响往往将低碳当作节俭进行理解,表现在行为上就是节俭行为与低碳行为混杂。但从社会文化角度分析,节俭与低碳并不等同,两者既有区别又有联系。因此,在我国语境下推行低碳既要注意到节俭与低碳的区别,又要充分挖掘节俭文化中蕴含的低碳内容,促进低碳社会的构建。     

Context-dependent genetic benefits of extra-pair mate choice in a socially monogamous passerine

Extra-pair paternity is common in socially monogamous passerines; however, despite considerable research attention, consistent differences in fitness between within-pair offspring (WPO) and extra-pair offspring (EPO) have not been demonstrated. Recent evidence indicates that differences between maternal half-siblings may depend on environmental conditions, but it is unclear whether the influence of paternal genetic contribution should be most apparent under comparatively poor or favourable conditions. We compared phenotypic characteristics of WPO and EPO in 30 mixed-paternity broods of the tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) in relation to experimentally increased nest temperature (n = 13 heated nests; 17 control nests) and natural abundance of haematophagous parasites (Protocalliphora spp.). This allowed us to test the hypothesis that genetic benefits of extra-pair mating are environment dependent. EPO grew their ninth primary feathers faster than WPO regardless of nest temperature or parasite load and had significantly longer ninth primary feathers at fledging when parasite abundance was low, and when they were positioned early in the hatching sequence relative to WPO. In contrast, WPO under similar conditions did not differ from EPO in any phenotypic trait measured. These results indicate that the fitness benefits of extra-pair mating are likely to be context dependent, and that genetic effects on some phenotypic traits may be more apparent when conditions are relatively favourable.     

Speaking of Risk: Matters of Context

The risk communication (RC) field is dominated by the practical and normative socio-technical aim of improving communication on risk (CR), especially from the viewpoint of regulatory agencies and government administrations. Despite some change of scope and orientation over the past 30 years, two theoretical ideas have persisted: the subjective–objective risk dichotomy and the transmission (also known as code) model of communication. This theoretical legacy makes context a blind spot in RC. The study of CR themes should consider (1) the socially constructed nature of risk and (2) communication as a situated social practice of information sharing. Results of a case study of public participation in a controversial railway tunnel project in the south of Sweden, offer lessons for future research pointing to crucial contextual dimensions of CR. It is argued that the variable ontology of risk, the constitutive nature of power relationships and the practical rationality of actors must be taken into account in research on the social CR.     

No evidence for visual context-dependency of olfactory learning in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila</Emphasis>

How is behaviour organised across sensory modalities? Specifically, we ask concerning the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster how visual context affects olfactory learning and recall and whether information about visual context is getting integrated into olfactory memory. We find that changing visual context between training and test does not deteriorate olfactory memory scores, suggesting that these olfactory memories can drive behaviour despite a mismatch of visual context between training and test. Rather, both the establishment and the recall of olfactory memory are generally facilitated by light. In a follow-up experiment, we find no evidence for learning about combinations of odours and visual context as predictors for reinforcement even after explicit training in a so-called biconditional discrimination task. Thus, a ‘true’ interaction between visual and olfactory modalities is not evident; instead, light seems to influence olfactory learning and recall unspecifically, for example by altering motor activity, alertness or olfactory acuity.