Noise, predation risk compensation and vigilance in the chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

Background noise should in theory hinder detection of auditory cues associated with approaching danger. We tested whether foraging chaffinches Fringilla coelebs responded to background noise by increasing vigilance, and examined whether this was explained by predation risk compensation or by a novel stimulus hypothesis. The former predicts that only inter-scan interval should be modified in the presence of background noise, not vigilance levels generally. This is because noise hampers auditory cue detection and increases perceived predation risk primarily when in the head-down position, and also because previous tests have shown that only interscan interval is correlated with predator detection ability in this system. Chaffinches only modified interscan interval supporting this hypothesis. At the same time they made significantly fewer pecks when feeding during the background noise treatment and so the increased vigilance led to a reduction in intake rate, suggesting that compensating for the increased predation risk could indirectly lead to a fitness cost. Finally, the novel stimulus hypothesis predicts that chaffinches should habituate to the noise, which did not occur within a trial or over 5 subsequent trials. We conclude that auditory cues may be an important component of the trade-off between vigilance and feeding, and discuss possible implications for anti-predation theory and ecological processes

Determinants of intention to purchase chicken in Italy: the role of consumer risk perception and trust in different information sources

The article investigates how purchasing intentions among a sample of Italian consumers are influenced by different levels of risk perception and their trust in food-safety information provided by different sources such as the food industry, government agencies, or consumers' associations. The assessment of the determinants of intention to purchase was carried out by estimating a causal model for the chicken case in which attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived risk play a major role in determining buyer's behavior. In particular, the role of trust in influencing risk perception is highlighted either as a general construct or as specific constructs targeting food chain, policy actors, and the media. [EconLit citations: Q130, Q190, D120]. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The effects of seed mix and management on the abundance of desirable and pernicious unsown species in arable buffer strip communities

Buffer strips are refuges for a variety of plants providing resources, such as pollen, nectar and seeds, for higher trophic levels, including invertebrates, mammals and birds. Margins can also harbour plant species that are potentially injurious to the adjacent arable crop (undesirable species). Sowing perennial species in non-cropped buffer strips can reduce weed incidence, but limits the abundance of annuals with the potential to support wider biodiversity (desirable species). We investigated the responses of unsown plant species present in buffer strips established with three different seed mixes managed annually with three contrasting management regimes (cutting, sward scarification and selective graminicide). Sward scarification had the strongest influence on the unsown desirable (e.g. Sonchus spp.) and unsown pernicious (e.g. Elytrigia repens) species, and was generally associated with higher cover values of these species. However, abundances of several desirable weed species, in particular Poa annua, were not promoted by scarification. The treatments of cutting and graminicide tended to have negative impacts on the unsown species, except for Cirsium vulgare, which increased with graminicide application. Differences in unsown species cover between seed mixes were minimal, although the grass-only mix was more susceptible to establishment by C. vulgare and Galium aparine than the two grass and forb mixes. Annual scarification can enable desirable annuals and sown perennials to co-exist, however, this practice can also promote pernicious species, and so is unlikely to be widely adopted as a management tool in its current form.

Effects of seed mixture and management on beetle assemblages of arable field margins

Beetle assemblages and their response to plant community composition and architectural structure were monitored from 2002 to 2006 within arable field margins. Field margins were sown with either tussock grass and forbs, fine grass and forbs or grass only seed mixtures. After an establishment year, field margins were managed using standard sward cuts, scarification, or graminicide application. For predatory beetles, overall density was greatest where tussock grasses were included within the seed mixtures, while the densities of phytophagous beetles were greatest where forbs were present. Unexpectedly, species rarefaction curves suggested that phytophagous beetle species richness was greatest where field margins were established using a grass only seed mixture. The structure of the beetle assemblages, i.e., the relative abundances of individual species, was largely dependent on seed mixture, although margin management also played an important role. The results suggest that field margins established using seed mixtures containing tussock grasses and forbs would be expected to provide the greatest resources for beetles, at least at local scales. However, the use of a single standardised seed mixture for margin establishment would result in a homogenisation of beetle assemblages at a regional scale. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Terrestrial carnivores and human food production: impact and management

1. The production of food for human consumption has led to an historical and global conflict with terrestrial carnivores, which in turn has resulted in the extinction or extirpation of many species, although some have benefited. At present, carnivores affect food production by: (i) killing human producers; killing and/or eating (ii) fish/shellfish; (iii) game/wildfowl; (iv) livestock; (v) damaging crops; (vi) transmitting diseases; and (vii) through trophic interactions with other species in agricultural landscapes. Conversely, carnivores can themselves be a source of dietary protein (bushmeat). 2. Globally, the major areas of conflict are predation on livestock and the transmission of rabies. At a broad scale, livestock predation is a customary problem where predators are present and has been quantified for a broad range of carnivore species, although the veracity of these estimates is equivocal. Typically, but not always, losses are small relative to the numbers held, but can be a significant proportion of total livestock mortality. Losses experienced by producers are often highly variable, indicating that factors such as husbandry practices and predator behaviour may significantly affect the relative vulnerability of properties in the wider landscape. Within livestock herds, juvenile animals are particularly vulnerable. 3. Proactive and reactive culling are widely practised as a means to limit predation on livestock and game. Historic changes in species' distributions and abundance illustrate that culling programmes can be very effective at reducing predator density, although such substantive impacts are generally considered undesirable for native predators. However, despite their prevalence, the effectiveness, efficiency and the benefit:cost ratio of culling programmes have been poorly studied. 4. A wide range of non-lethal methods to limit predation has been studied. However, many of these have their practical limitations and are unlikely to be widely applicable. 5. Lethal approaches are likely to dominate the management of terrestrial carnivores for the foreseeable future, but animal welfare considerations are increasingly likely to influence management strategies. The adoption of non-lethal approaches will depend upon proof of their effectiveness and the willingness of stakeholders to implement them, and, in some cases, appropriate licensing and legislation. 6. Overall, it is apparent that we still understand relatively little about the importance of factors affecting predation on livestock and how to manage this conflict effectively. We consider the following avenues of research to be essential: (i) quantified assessments of the loss of viable livestock; (ii) landscape-level studies of contiguous properties to quantify losses associated with variables such as different husbandry practices; (iii) replicated experimental manipulations to identify the relative benefit of particular management practices, incorporating (iv) techniques to identify individual predators killing stock; and (v) economic analyses of different management approaches to quantify optimal production strategies.

Development of novel brush-type chiral stationary phases based on terpenoid selectors: HPLC evaluation and theoretical investigation of enantioselective binding interactions

The terpenoid chiral selectors dehydroabietic acid, 12,14-dinitrodehydroabietic acid and friedelin have been covalently linked to silica gel yielding three chiral stationary phases CSP 1, CSP 2 and CSP 3, respectively. The enantiodiscriminating capability of each one of these phases was evaluated by HPLC with four families of chiral aromatic compounds composed of alcohols, amines, phenylalanine and tryptophan amino acid derivatives and beta-lactams. The CSP 3 phase, containing a selector with a large friedelane backbone is particularly suitable for resolving free alcohols and their derivatives bearing fluorine substituents, while CSP 2 with a dehydroabietic architecture is the only phase that efficiently discriminates 1, 1'-binaphthol atropisomers. CSP 3 also gives efficient resolution of the free amines. All three phases resolve well the racemates of N-trifluoracetyl and N-3,5-dinitrobenzoyl phenylalanine amino acid ester derivatives. Good enantioseparation of beta-lactams and N-benzoyl tryptophan amino acid derivatives was achieved on CSP 1. In order to understand the structural factors that govern the chiral molecular recognition ability of these phases, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out in the gas phase with binary diastereomeric complexes formed by the selectors of CSP 1 and CSP 2 and several amino acid derivatives. Decomposition of molecular mechanics energies shows that van der Waals interactions dominate the formation of the diastereomeric transient complexes while the electrostatic binding interactions are primarily responsible for the enantioselective binding of the (R)- and (S)-analytes. Analysis of the hydrogen bonds shows that electrostatic interactions are mainly associated with the formation of N-(HO)-O-...=C enantio selective hydrogen bonds between the amide binding sites from the selectors and the carbonyl groups of the analytes. The role of mobile phase polarity, a mixture of n-hexane and propan-2-ol in different ratios, was also evaluated through molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolution or extinction? Reflections on the future of research in educational leadership and management

Consideration of the quality, relevance and utility of research in educational leadership and management has been a growing concern of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners, but there is little agreement about its current state or priorities for development. The article reflects on the key criticisms that have been made of research in educational leadership and management in this issue, and elsewhere. It considers how we might begin to devise better ways of understanding its audiences, judging its quality and identifying priorities for the future. It argues that the research reflects its capture by those with particular interests or values, and impacts in ways which are complex and indirect. If educational leadership and management research is to be secure in its perceived value and contribution in the future, several developments are needed, including a greater emphasis on interdisciplinarity, an expansion of the range of methodologies, particularly qualtitative studies; and these shifts must be evident in training researchers as well as in the conduct of research.

Interpreting information about medication side effects: differences in risk perception and intention to comply when medicines are prescribed for adults or young children

This study investigates whether, and how, people's perception of risk and intended health behaviours are affected by whether a medicine is prescribed for themselves or for a young child. The question is relevant to the issue of whether it is beneficial to produce medicines information that is tailored to particular subgroups of the population, such as parents of young children. In the experiment, participants read scenarios which referred either to themselves or their (imagined) 1-year-old child, and were required to make a number of risk judgements. The results showed that both parents and non-parents were less satisfied, perceived side effects to be more severe and more likely to occur, risk to health to be higher, and said that they would be less likely to take (or give) the medicine when the recipient was the child. On the basis of the findings, it is suggested that it may well be beneficial to tailor materials to broader classes of patient type.

Integrative workflow-embedded support for process automation and management

This paper presents the on-going research performed in order to integrate process automation and process management support in the context of media production. This has been addressed on the basis of a holistic approach to software engineering applied to media production modelling to ensure design correctness, completeness and effectiveness. The focus of the research and development has been to enhance the metadata management throughout the process in a similar fashion to that achieved in Decision Support Systems (DSS) to facilitate well-grounded business decisions. The paper sets out the aims and objectives and the methodology deployed. The paper describes the solution in some detail and sets out some preliminary conclusions and the planned future work.