Are behavioural trade-offs all they seem? Counter-intuitive resolution of the conflict between two behaviours

The understanding of trade-offs between behaviours is fundamental to the study of animal behaviour. Individuals may often be faced with the choice of which of two mutually incompatible behaviours to perform. Here, I present a model investigating the trade-off between two behaviours, where one of the behaviours is crucial to the success of the other. I illustrate the results with examples, considering particularly a trade-off between territorial defence and courtship. I investigate how the ability of an individual to perform the behaviours changes the time or energy allocated to each behaviour. Intuition suggests that the time invested in performing a behaviour should decline as the individuals ability to perform the behaviour increases. Explicit, quantitative modelling suggests that this is not always the case. Instead, we see a pattern where investment in one of the behaviours at first increases and then decreases as the ability to perform the behaviour increases. This finding has implications for the empirical study of trade-offs between behaviours, since it could appear that individual ability has no effect on the trade-off under consideration. I discuss potential methods for distinguishing whether time allocation changes in a counter-intuitive, non-monotonic way with increasing individual ability, or whether there is indeed no effect.Communicated by C. St. Mary     

Flexibility in daily travel routines causes regional variation in bird migration speed

We used novel Global Positioning System-based satellite telemetry to reconstruct daily time budgets on travelling days of a long-distance migrant, the Osprey Pandion haliaetus, to reveal how landscape affects migratory performance. We compared daily travel routines between the Ospreys’ passage of Europe and the Sahara. In Europe, where feeding habitat is abundant, Ospreys fed both before–after flights and during interruptions, thus, combining migration with foraging. This resulted in a 2.7-h shorter daily flight period in Europe than in the Sahara. A calculated energy budget indicated that a ‘fly-and-forage migration strategy’ is favourable in Europe because associated benefits (energy intake) more than outweigh costs (reduced flight time). The much shorter flight time in Europe was the main explanation why Ospreys covered on average 78 km less distance on a travelling day in Europe than in the Sahara. In addition, there were regional differences in hourly flight speeds that are most probably the result of variation in thermal soaring conditions. We conclude that landscape properties have a profound effect on migration through regional variation in daily routines.     

Effect and its time lags of water level fluctuations in Three Gorges Reservoir on the macroinvertebrates in a tributary bay北大核心CSCD

In order to study how water level fluctuations (WLF) of reservoir influence the macroinvertebrate in tributary bay, we studied the effect of WLF of the Three Gorges Reservior on macroinvertebrate communities in Xiangxi Bay, and the time lags of such effect, based on the surveys in spring and summer from 2005 to 2010. In this research, WLF was represented by water level drawdown (WLD) and the sum of absolute values of rate of water level fluctuations (RWlf). Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between WLF and macroinvertebrates. No significant correlation was found between macroinvertebrates and sum of absolute values of RWLF, while WLD showed significant influence on some biotic parameters. In spring, WLD did not cause significant effect to macroinvertebrates (P > 0.05). In summer, however, the influence was significant, especially in the area of the downstream (XX01 - XX02) of the Xiangxi Bay (P < 0.05). The middle reach of the bay (XX05), located in the conjunction area between Xiangxi Bay and a secondary tributary of the TGR, was also affected significantly (P < 0.05). The relative abundance of Tubificidae declined with the increase of the WLF, while abundance of Chironomidae increased. The time lags of the influence to macroinvertebrates were about 15 days. This analysis indicated that WLF in the mainstream of the reservoir mainly influences the downstream of the tributary bay, and also affects the conjunction area of the secondary tributary. Chironomidae are more tolerant than Tubificidae in water-body with dramatic disturbance, therefore can be considered as the indicator of the effect of summer WLF on macroinvertebrates.     

An alternative work measurement method and its application to a manufacturing industry

Difficulties in determining the standard time justify the need to develop alternative methods to direct measurement procedures. The indirect methods which are comparison and prediction, standard data and formulation, predefined movement-time systems have several deficiencies in time measurement procedures. In this study, an alternative indirect work measurement method based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) is presented which is simple and inexpensive. For the application of the proposed method, the products that have similar production processes are selected among the whole product family produced in a manufacturing company. The standard times of the sampled products that are previously measured are used and the standard times of the remaining several products and semi-products are predicted by the proposed method. The model results show that the proposed method can be applied accurately in companies which produce similar products.     

Batch and continuous biosorption of Cu by immobilized biomass of Arthrobacter sp.

The ability of free and polysulphone immobilized biomass of Arthrobacter sp. to remove Cu²⁺ ions from aqueous solution was studied in batch and continuous systems. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to the data. The Langmuir isotherm model was found to fit the sorption data indicating that sorption was monolayer and uptake capacity (Q^o) was 175.87 and 158.7 mg/g for free and immobilized biomass respectively at pH 5.0 and 30 °C temperature, which was also confirmed by a high correlation coefficient, a low RMSE and a low Chi-square value. A kinetic study was carried out with pseudo-first-order reaction and pseudo-second-order reaction equations and it was found that the Cu²⁺ uptake process followed the pseudo-second-order rate expression. The diffusivity of Cu²⁺ on immobilized beads increased (0.402 × 10⁻⁴ to 0.435 × 10⁻⁴ cm²/s) with increasing concentration from 50 to 150 mg/L. The maximum percentage Cu²⁺ removal (89.56%) and uptake (32.64 mg/g) were found at 3.5 mL/min and 20 cm bed height. In addition to this the Bed Depth Service Time (BDST) model was in good agreement with the experimental data with a high correlation coefficient (>0.995). Furthermore, sorption and desorption studies were also carried out which showed that polysulphone immobilized biomass could be reused for up to six sorption–desorption cycles.     

Decabromodiphenylether and hexabromocyclododecane in wild birds from the United Kingdom, Sweden and The Netherlands: Screening and time trends

The brominated flame retardant decabromodiphenylether (DBDE) was analysed in wild birds to identify the most suitable species for monitoring time trends in DBDE contamination. This information was later used for the design of a 10-year trend study on DBDE in the European Union. DBDE was measured in muscle tissue, liver, and eggs from 10 terrestrial and four aquatic bird species. DBDE was detected in 47% of the terrestrial bird samples (nine species) and in 9% of the aquatic bird samples (six species). Peregrine falcon and sparrowhawk specimens were selected as most suitable species to determine temporal trends of DBDE. For sparrowhawks, no significant change in DBDE concentrations between 1973 and 2001 was found, although in later years more DBDE concentrations were above the detection limit. Peak DBDE levels measured in peregrines in 1995, were followed by a decline in concentrations until 2001. The same species were used for a trend study on hexabromocylcododecane (HBCD). Twenty-four percent of peregrine falcon eggs and 12% of sparrowhawk muscle samples demonstrated measurable HBCD residues. Three diastereomers of HBCD were analysed and the α-diastereomer was the predominant one in most samples. No clear time trends were observed for HBCD in either species. This study demonstrated that these DBDE and HBCD are bioavailable to birds of Northern Europe, although bioaccumulation seems to occur to a limited extent.     

基于Matlab小波分析的南京北郊大气O3浓度变化特征研究

以2008年南京北郊大气中O₃ 质量浓度观测资料和常规观测资料为基础,利用Matlab小波分析工具,对O₃浓度的年时间序列进行分析,得出该地区的O₃ 日均浓度的变化特征：春、夏季节O3浓度大于秋、冬季节,最高浓度出现在春末夏初,最低浓度出现在冬季;并且全年共有5个突变点;弱高压的天气系统、较高的温度、较低的湿度和晴朗少云的天气是造成南京北郊O₃浓度突变的主要气象因素。结合HYSPLIT气流后向轨迹模拟,对污染源来源进行追踪,结果表明：南京北郊O₃高浓度污染来源主要分为本地局地污染和外来污染物输送两类;垂直方向上,O₃的区域尺度或中尺度的输送主要稳定在混合层的底层。     

Formaldehyde personal exposure measurements and time weighted exposure estimates in children

Residential concentrations of formaldehyde have been associated with poor respiratory health in children, where formaldehyde has been measured using stationary monitors inside homes. Although children spend most of their time indoors at home, there are few studies of children’s personal exposure to formaldehyde. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personal exposure formaldehyde concentrations, microenvironmental concentrations and time weighted exposure estimates in children.Forty-one primary school children (aged between 9 and 12 years) wore a personal passive sampler over two 24 h periods in two seasons and completed 24 h daily activity diaries and a questionnaire about lifestyle and behaviour. Samplers were co located indoors at home, outdoors at centralised locations and indoors at school for the corresponding period.Personal exposure formaldehyde concentrations in this group of children were generally low with a geometric mean concentration of 9.1 ppb (range <detection limit to 27.3 ppb). There were strong correlations between personal exposure concentrations and both domestic indoor (r_s = .779, p < 0.001) and time weighted estimated (r_s = .802, p < 0.001) concentrations. The time weighted model did not improve the estimate of personal exposure compared with stationary indoor concentrations. Indoor air concentration measured with a single stationary monitor was a suitable surrogate for personal exposure.     

污染-经济时间弹性概念、方法与应用

环境污染随着经济发展的进程不断变化.为更加全面、准确地描述环境污染与经济发展的关系,本文将"弹性"分析方法应用于描述环境污染指标与经济发展指标之间的关系,提出"污染-经济时间弹性"概念,即一个国家或地区环境污染指标的年际变化率与相应的该国家或地区经济指标年际变化率的比值.文章进而分析了PETE的环境经济学含义及其计算方法.指标PETE能够用来描述一个国家或地区经济发展的清洁程度, 通常情况下, 较低的PETE值意味着较为清洁的增长方式, 而较高的PETE值则多与粗放和非清洁的增长方式相联系; 利用PETE还可以对空间(国家,地区)上和行业间的经济增长方式进行比较.文章最后通过1999-2008年中国环境污染指标(全社会主要污染物SO2、COD和烟尘排放量)数据和相应时间段的经济发展指标(GDP)数据, 计算中国全社会主要污染物排放与经济发展的"污染-经济时间弹性(PETE)", 发现该指标确能反映"经济发展的环境效率"的动态变化, 即为着获得一定的经济发展速度所付出环境代价之动态变化情状,验证了PETE概念和方法的科学性和实用性.PETE概念和方法的提出,为环境-经济分析提供了新的分析指标和工具.     

Prediction and cause investigation of ozone based on a double-stage attention mechanism recurrent neural network

● Used a double-stage attention mechanism model to predict ozone. ● The model can autonomously select the appropriate time series for forecasting. ● The model outperforms other machine learning models and WRF-CMAQ. ● We used the model to analyze the driving factors of VOCs that cause ozone pollution. Ozone is becoming a significant air pollutant in some regions, and VOCs are essential for ozone prediction as necessary ozone precursors. In this study, we proposed a recurrent neural network based on a double-stage attention mechanism model to predict ozone, selected an appropriate time series for prediction through the input attention and temporal attention mechanisms, and analyzed the cause of ozone generation according to the contribution of feature parameters. The experimental data show that our model had an RMSE of 7.71 μg/m³ and a mean absolute error of 5.97 μg/m³ for 1-h predictions. The DA-RNN model predicted ozone closer to observations than the other models. Based on the importance of the characteristics, we found that the ozone pollution in the Jinshan Industrial Zone mainly comes from the emissions of petrochemical enterprises, and the good generalization performance of the model is proved through testing multiple stations. Our experimental results demonstrate the validity and promising application of the DA-RNN model in predicting atmospheric pollutants and investigating their causes.