Behaviour of the black flying fox Pteropus alecto: 2. Territoriality and courtship

Flying foxes are commonly thought of as highly social mammals, yet little is known about the dynamics of their social interactions at a day roost. The aim of the present study was to examine the nature of the seasonal activities of territoriality and courtship amongst wild flying foxes in Australia. Focal observations were conducted at two permanent roosts of black flying foxes Pteropus alecto during periods of peak social interaction in the summers of 1999 and 2000 in urban Brisbane, Queensland. Observations of male territoriality were conducted at dawn and began eight weeks prior to the commencement of mating. The majority of defense bouts (87%) consisted of ritualised pursuit, while 13% of bouts involved physical contact expressed as either wrestling or hooking. One male with an unusually large territory took significantly longer to defend it than other males with less territory to defend. Observations of courtship revealed repetitive courtship sequences, including pre-copulatory approaches by the males, copulation attempts and grooming/resting periods. Thirty-four complete courtship sequences incorporating 135 copulation attempts were recorded over two seasons. Females actively resisted courtship approaches by males, forcing males to display a continuous determination to mate over time where determination can be considered an indicator of 'fitness'. The courtship bout length of females with suckling young was significantly longer ((x) over bar +/- SE; 230.9 +/- 22.16 s) than that of females unencumbered by large pups (158.5 +/- 9.69 s), although the length of copulations within those courtships was not (45.6 +/- 5.19 versus 36.2 +/- 3.43 s).

The long-term effects of cooperative learning on children's behaviour and interactions

This study investigates the long-term effects of training in small-group and interpersonal behaviours on children's behaviours and interactions as they worked in small groups two years after they were initially trained. Forty-eight third grade children, who had been trained two years previously in cooperative group behaviours, were assigned to the Trained condition and 44 third grade children who had not previously been trained were assigned to the Untrained condition. The children in the trained and untrained groups were reconstituted from the pool of students who had participated previously in either trained or untrained group activities. The results showed that there was a long-term training effect with the children in the Trained groups demonstrating more cooperative behaviour and providing more explanations in response to requests for help than their untrained peers.

Assessing the self-heating behaviour of Callide coal using a 2-metre column

A 2-m, adiabatic column has been successfully refurbished and recommissioned for coal self-heating research at The University of Queensland. Subbituminous coal from the Callide Coalfields reached thermal runaway in just under 19 days from a starting temperature of 20-22 degreesC. The coal was loaded as two layers, with an R-70 index of 2.73 degreesC h(-1) and 5.90 degreesC h(-1) for the upper layer and lower layer respectively. Initially, a hotspot developed in the upper layer between 120 and 140 cm from the air inlet due to moisture adsorption. After 7 days, self-heating in the lower half of the column began to take over, consistent with the higher R-70 index of this coal. The location of the final hotspot was approximately 60 cm from the air inlet. Further tests on Australian coals, with the column, will enable a better understanding of coal self-heating under conditions closely resembling mining, transport and storage of coal. The results from the column will also provide industry with the information needed to manage the coal self-heating hazard. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Remitting behaviour of Nepalese rural-to-urban migrants: Implications for theory and policy

This article uses data for Nepal to test contemporary hypotheses about the remitting behaviour and associated motives of rural-to-urban migrants and to consider the likely impact of such remittances on rural development. Possibilities for inheritance, degree of family attachment, likelihood of eventual return to place of origin and family investment in the education of the migrants are found to be significant influences on levels of remittances by Nepalese migrants. However, in Nepal, remittances do not seem to result in long-term capital investment in rural areas and so may not promote long-term development of these areas.

Behaviour of caregivers to protect their infants from exposure to the sun in Queensland, Australia.

Exposure to the sun by infants has been demonstrated to increase the risk of the development of melanoma and other skin cancers later in life. A cohort of 508 women who delivered healthy Caucasian babies were followed up at 1 year to determine their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding sun protection towards themselves and their child. In addition, the 1-year-old infants were assessed by a trained nurse for the number of nevi they had on their skin. Results indicate caregivers reported a high level of sun-protection practices towards their child, with 93% of the caregivers reporting usually or always placing the child in the shade when going outside. Further, 81% of the caregivers reported usually or always placing a hat on the child, while 64% reported usually or always applying sunscreen to the child's exposed skin. Interestingly, only 61% of the caregivers reported that they stayed in the shade to reduce sun exposure and only 42% wore a hat when out in the sun. Mother's own personal sun-protection methods predicted the method of sun protection that she would most likely use for the child. While children appear to be reasonably protected from the sun, they are influenced by their mother's own behaviors.

Organizational responses to a changing aid environment: the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ)

As a major European donor, German government development assistance faces a series of challenges. Recent political changes have raised expectations for demonstrable health outcomes as a result of German development assistance; there has been a deepened commitment to collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral donors; and partner countries are increasingly open to new approaches to development. German development assistance also reflects a new ethos of partnership and the shift to programmatic and sector based development approaches. At the same time, its particular organizational structure and administrative framework highlight the extent of structural and systems reforms required of donors by changing development relationships, and the tensions created in responding to these. This paper examines organizational changes within the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit) (GTZ), aimed at increasing its Regional, Sectoral, Managerial and Process competence as they affect health and related sectors. These include the decentralization of GTZ, the trend to integration of projects, the increasing focus on policy and health systems reform, increased inter-sectoral collaboration, changes in recruitment and training, new perspectives in planning and evaluation and the introduction of a quality management programme. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

A comparative analysis of the behaviour of domestic and international young tourists

This paper provides a comparative analysis of the behaviour of young, single, British international and domestic tourists during their holidays. The research was located in Torquay, on the Southwest coast of England, and Cala Millor, on the Northeast of Mallorca. These locations represent two of the most popular destinations for young British tourists on domestic and international vacations, respectively. The findings of this research suggest that young, single, British tourists on domestic vacations behave in a different manner compared to those holidaying at the international level. Indeed, compared to domestic tourists, young people on international vacations tended to behave in a more passive and hedonistic manner. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of soil composition and dissolved organic matter on pesticide sorption

The effect of the solid and dissolved organic matter fractions, mineral composition and ionic strength of the soil solution on the sorption behaviour of pesticides were studied. A number of soils, chosen so as to have different clay mineral and organic carbon content, were used to study the sorption of the pesticides atrazine (6-chloro-N-2-ethyl-N-4-isopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine), 2,4-D ((2,4-dichlorophenoxy) acetic acid), isoproturon (3-(4-isopropylphenyl)1,1-dimethylurea) and paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinium) in the presence of low and high levels of dissolved organic carbon and different background electrolytes. The sorption behaviour of atrazine, isoproturon and paraquat was dominated by the solid state soil components and the presence of dissolved organic matter had little effect. The sorption of 2,4-D was slightly affected by the soluble organic matter in the soil. However, this effect may be due to competition for adsorption sites between the pesticide and the soluble organic matter rather than due to a positive interaction between the pesticide and the soluble fraction of soil organic matter. It is concluded that the major factor governing the sorption of these pesticides is the solid state organic fraction with the clay mineral content also making a significant contribution. The dissolved organic carbon fraction of the total organic carbon in the soil and the ionic strength of the soil solution appear to have little or no effect on the sorption/transport characteristics of these pesticides over the range of concentrations studied. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Habitat choice and vigilance behaviour of brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) within their nocturnal foraging ranges

Habitat choice by brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) in south-east Queensland was investigated by comparing the attributes of the nocturnal foraging locations that they selected with those of random locations within a radius of 50 m. Brush-tailed rock-wallabies were shown to select foraging locations on the basis of forage quality and/or their ability to see predators, rather than protection from predators amongst vegetation that could conceal them. Habitat choice may have been affected by limited food availability, as this study was conducted in the winter dry season. The attributes of foraging locations that brush- tailed rock-wallabies perceived as increasing their predation risk were assessed by recording the proportion of time that brush- tailed rock-wallabies spent vigilant while foraging. To measure vigilance, focal animals were observed with a night- vision scope for two minutes and the proportions of time spent vigilant and feeding were recorded. No measured feature of foraging locations was related to higher vigilance levels, suggesting that brush- tailed rock-wallabies did not alter their vigilance whether sheltered amongst grass tussocks or in open habitat, or whether feeding on good quality or poorer quality vegetation. Vigilance levels significantly declined as overnight temperatures decreased, which may have resulted from higher energy requirements of brush- tailed rock-wallabies during winter. The only factors that were found to significantly increase vigilance levels were high winds and moonlit nights. On bright nights, brush- tailed rock-wallabies were very unsettled and during high winds they often did not emerge to feed. More information is needed about how macropods detect predators at night before the effects of wind and light intensity upon vigilance can be fully understood.

A new method for analysing the equilibrium and time-dependent behaviour of Markovian models

Many large-scale stochastic systems, such as telecommunications networks, can be modelled using a continuous-time Markov chain. However, it is frequently the case that a satisfactory analysis of their time-dependent, or even equilibrium, behaviour is impossible. In this paper, we propose a new method of analyzing Markovian models, whereby the existing transition structure is replaced by a more amenable one. Using rates of transition given by the equilibrium expected rates of the corresponding transitions of the original chain, we are able to approximate its behaviour. We present two formulations of the idea of expected rates. The first provides a method for analysing time-dependent behaviour, while the second provides a highly accurate means of analysing equilibrium behaviour. We shall illustrate our approach with reference to a variety of models, giving particular attention to queueing and loss networks. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.