Farewell to the Welfare : On the role of chronic stress in lifestyle migration

While studies concerned with migration and the welfare, or migration and stress, have been focusing on either notions of a welfare-magnet or issues related to PTSDs, representing an overt research focus on migration from poorer to richer nations, none have explored the possible role of chronic stress as an underlying trigger for wishing to escape the welfare society. This study explores just this, elaborating upon the lifestyle-concept. Using the latest financial crisis as a theoretical turning point, a comparative case study was performed with Swedish migrant entrepreneurs in Costa del Sol, as compared to previously performed studies from the area. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were carried out with different actors for the purpose of triangulation. Statistics were used for an elementary understanding, in a mixed method design. Analysis was performed on macro to micro scales, providing findings in line with previous research on lifestyle-migration. New findings however include a recognition of long-term exposure to stress as an underlying trigger for wishing to escape the welfare-society, as well as the perception of the holiday-destination as the antithesis to stress making it the preferred choice for relocation. The paper concludes that if stress push people away from Sweden, it can be considered global in scope.

Unequally Unemployed: Labor Market Stratification After the Great Recession

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Large size in an island-dwelling bird: intraspecific competition and the Dominance Hypothesis

Differences between island- and mainland-dwelling forms provide several classic ecological puzzles. Why, for instance, are island-dwelling passerine birds consistently larger than their mainland counterparts? We examine the 'Dominance hypothesis', based on intraspecific competition, which states that large size in island passerines evolves through selection for success in agonistic encounters. We use the Heron Island population of Capricorn silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis chlorocephalus), a large-bodied island-dwelling race of white-eye (Zosteropidae), to test three assumptions of this hypothesis; that (i) large size is positively associated with high fitness, (ii) large size is associated with dominance, and (iii) the relationship between size and dominance is particularly pronounced under extreme intraspecific competition. Our results supported the first two of these assumptions, but provided mixed evidence on the third. On balance, we suggest that the Dominance Hypothesis is a plausible mechanism for the evolution of large size of island passerines, but urge further empirical tests on the role of intraspecific competition on oceanic islands versus that on mainlands.

Mate choice in the brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla): are settlement decisions, divorce and extrapair mating complementary strategies?

In socially monogamous birds, females may express mate preferences when they first select a breeding partner, through divorce and subsequent breeding dispersal to a new partner and through extrapair mating. We examined settlement patterns, divorce and breeding dispersal in a sedentary Australian passerine, the brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla), in relation to two traits known to influence extrapair paternity (male age and male size). Settlement decisions, divorce and territory switching behaviour were all female strategies that reduced their likelihood of breeding with 1-year-old males. Females preferred to settle in territories with 2+ -year-old males, were more likely to divorce 1-year-old males, and only switched territories if they had an opportunity to form a new pair bond with an old male. In contrast, female settlement and divorce decisions were not influenced by male size. Female thornbills obtain a direct benefit from preferring older males as social mates because breeding success improves with male age in brown thornbills. Nevertheless, divorce rates in this species were low (14% of pair bonds were terminated by divorce), and individuals rarely switched territories following the death of a mate. Both of these mating strategies appeared to be primarily constrained by the distance adults moved to initiate a new pair bond (1-2 territories) and by the limited availability of unpaired older males in the immediate neighbourhood.

High nuclear genetic diversity, high levels of outcrossing and low differentiation among remnant populations of Quercus petraea at the margin of its range in Ireland

Background and Aims Quercus petraea colonized Ireland after the last glaciation from refugia on mainland Europe. Deforestation. however. beginning in Neolithic times, has resulted in small, scattered forest fragments, now covering less than 12 000 ha. Methods Plastid (three fragments) and microsatellite variation (13 loci) were characterized in seven Irish populations sampled along a north-south gradient. Using Bayesian approaches and Wright's F-statistics, the effects of colonization and fragmentation on the genetic structure and mating patterns of extant oak populations were investigated. Key-Results All Populations possessed cytotypes common to the Iberian Peninsula. Despite the distance from the refugial core and the extensive deforestation in Ireland, nuclear genetic variation was high and comparable to mainland Europe. Low population differentiation was observed within Ireland and populations showed no evidence for isolation by distance. As expected of a marker with an effective Population size of one-quarter relative to the nuclear genome, plastid variation indicated higher differentiation. Individual inbreeding coefficients indicated high levels of outcrossing. Conclusions Consistent with a large effective Population size in the historical migrant gene pool and/or with high gene flow among populations, high within-population diversity and low population differentiation was observred within Ireland. It is proposed that native Q. petraea populations in Ireland share a common phylogeographic history and that the present genetic structure does not reflect founder effects. (C) 2004 Annals of Botany Company.

Diversification and extensible networks: The strategies of Chinese businesses in Australia

The paper reports on a study of 28 ethnic Chinese businesses in Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, carried out in 2000 and 2001. It focuses on their strategies of vertical, horizontal, and unrelated diversification often combining different activities, products, and markets at the same time. It demonstrates how these practices are socially embedded in their preference for using personal networks. Non-related diversification, in particular, promotes and is facilitated by using weak ties that serve as bridges, leading into new networks (Granovetter, 1973). This can create links to Chinese of different national and dialect origins and to those of other ethnicities. It is suggested that open networks and diversification mutually interact to support each other and may have evolved in tandem from earlier, more closed and niche bound business cultures and practices.

Modelling oil droplet absorption spectra and spectral sensitivities of bird cone photoreceptors

Birds have four spectrally distinct types of single cones that they use for colour vision. It is often desirable to be able to model the spectral sensitivities of the different cone types, which vary considerably between species. However, although there are several mathematical models available for describing the spectral absorption of visual pigments, there is no model describing the spectral absorption of the coloured oil droplets found in three of the four single cone types. In this paper, we describe such a model and illustrate its use in estimating the spectral sensitivities of single cones. Furthermore, we show that the spectral locations of the wavelengths of maximum absorbance (lambda(max)) of the short- (SWS), medium- (MWS) and long- (LWS) wavelength-sensitive visual pigments and the cut-off wavelengths (lambda(cut)) of their respective C-, Y- and R-type oil droplets can be predicted from the lambda(max) of the ultraviolet- (UVS)/violet- ( VS) sensitive visual pigment.

Ultrastructure of the spermatozoon of Apus apus (Linnaeus 1758), the common swift (Aves; Apodiformes; Apodidae), with phylogenetic implications

The spermatozoon of Apus apus is typical of non-passerines in many respects. Features shared with palaeognaths and the Galloanserae are the conical acrosome, shorter than the nucleus; the presence of a proximal as well as distal centriole; the elongate midpiece with mitochondria grouped around an elongate distal centriole; and the presence of a fibrous or amorphous sheath around the principal piece of the axoneme. The perforatorium and endonuclear canal are lost in A. apus as in some other non-passerines. All non-passerines differ from palaeognaths in that the latter have a transversely ribbed fibrous sheath whereas in non-passerines it is amorphous, as in Apus, or absent. The absence of an annulus is an apomorphic but homoplastic feature of swift, psittaciform, gruiform and passerine spermatozoa. The long distal centriole, penetrating the entire midpiece, is a remarkably plesiomorphic feature of the swift spermatozoa, known elsewhere only in palaeognaths. The long centriole of Apus, if not a reversal, would be inconsistent with the former placement of the Apodiformes above the Psittaciformes from DNA-DNA hybridization. In contrast to passerines, in A. apus the microtubules in the spermatid are restricted to a transient single row encircling the cell. The form of the spermatozoon fully justifies the exclusion of swifts from the passerine family Hirundinidae.

Understanding problem gambling in two ethnic communities in Brisbane, Queensland - A pilot study

This paper aims to present findings from a pilot study on understanding gambling within the Greek and Vietnamese communities in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland State. It explores gambling behaviour among gamblers and views of workers from their own communities. Rich data were obtained by conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews. Three themes that emerged are the causes of gambling, the impact of gambling, and participants' views on existing delivery of gambling services. It appears that a more culturally appropriate gambling service is necessary to address the needs and problems of gamblers from non-English speaking backgrounds.