Fuelling rates of garganey (Anas querquedula) staging in the Camargue, Southern France, during spring migration

Most species of long-distance migratory birds put on energy stores to fuel their travels. However, recent studies have highlighted the potential costs associated with carrying too much fuel, either through increased predation risk or decreased flight efficiency. Consequently, it is now widely accepted that migratory birds should carry optimal rather than maximum fuel loads. Information from 372 garganey (Anas querquedula) ringed and recaptured at least once during the same spring in the Camargue, southern France, was used to document fuelling rates of individual ducks in relation to environmental variation and individual variation in condition. On average, garganey added very little fuel stores in the Camargue (mean gain per day = 0.33 g, less than 0.5% of mean body-mass in total over an average stay of 5 days). Fuelling rates were negatively correlated with body mass at capture, but it cannot be excluded that this pattern was a statistical artefact. Given their body-mass at ringing, garganey could potentially still fly long distances when they stop in the Camargue. It is therefore likely that the aim of their stay in southern France is more for resting than refuelling, a finding that may have implications for the proper management of stop-over sites.

Skipping swans: fuelling rates and wind conditions determine differential use of migratory stopover sites of Bewick's Swans Cygnus bewickii

Some migratory birds refuel at stopover sites that they by-pass on the return trip. In theory, this skipping behaviour is only expected in time-selected migrants when the overflown site is of a lower quality than the departure site. We provide empirical evidence that quality differences in stopover sites are the cause for skipping in Bewick's Swans Cygnus bewickii tracked by satellite telemetry. Two and five complete tracks were recorded in spring and autunm, respectively, showing that the White Sea was visited for c. 2 weeks in spring, but by-passed (or visited for a few days at the most) in autumn. Skipping of the White Sea in autumn was predicted by a dynamic programming model which was based on calculated gain rates during stopover in the Pechora Delta and the White Sea. This prediction was not sensitive to plausible variations in gain rates. Relative to the Pechora Delta the White Sea is a poor site because a large tidal amplitude precludes foraging on the beds of the submerged macrophyte Fennel Pondweed Potamogeton pectinatus during high tide. The dynamic programming model predicted a fast autunm migration. However, the phenology of autunm arrival dates of Bewick's Swans on the wintering grounds revealed that only in three out of ten years a significant number of birds was able to reach the wintering grounds without refuelling. In the other years, unfavourable wind conditions along the Russian/Baltic part of the route prevented such non-stop migration.

Spatial variation in tuber depletion by swans explained by differences in net intake rates

We tested whether the spatial variation in resource depletion by Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) foraging on belowground tubers of sago pondweed (Potamogeton pectinatus) was caused by differences in net energy intake rates. The variation in giving-up densities within the confines of one lake was nearly eightfold, the giving-up density being positively related to water depth and, to a lesser extent, the silt content of the sediment. The swans' preference (measured as cumulative foraging pressure) was negatively related to these variables. We adjusted a model developed for diving birds to predict changes in the time allocation of foraging swans with changes in power requirements and harvest rate. First, we compared the behavior of free-living swans foraging in shallow and deep water, where they feed by head-dipping and up-ending, respectively. Up-ending swans had 1.3-2.1 times longer feeding times than head-dipping swans. This was contrary to our expectation, since the model predicted a decrease in feeding time with an increase in feeding power. However, up-ending swans also had 1.9 times longer trampling times than headdipping swans. The model predicted a strong positive correlation between trampling time and feeding time, and the longer trampling times may thus have masked any effect of an increase in feeding power. Heart rate measurements showed that trampling was the most energetically costly part of foraging. However, because the feeding time and trampling time changed concurrently, the rate of energy expenditure was only slightly higher in deep water (1.03-1.06 times). This is a conservative estimate since it does not take into account that the feeding costs of up-ending are possibly higher than that of head-dipping. Second, we compared captive swans foraging on sandy and clayey sediments. We found that the harvest rate on clayey sediment was only 0.6 times that on sandy sediment and that the power requirements for foraging were 1.2-1.4 times greater. Our results are in qualitative agreement with the hypothesis that the large spatial variation in giving-up densities was caused by differences in net rates of energy intake. This potentially has important implications for the prey dynamics, because plant regrowth has been shown to be related to the same habitat factors (water depth and sediment type).

Resting and peak metabolic rates of Arctic Tern nestlings and their relations to growth rate

We measured resting and peak metabolism in relation to growth rate in arctic tern Sterna paradisaea chicks over the first 10 d after hatching. For chicks with varying growth rate, body mass seems to be a better predictor of resting metabolic rate rather than age. The effect of changes in growth rate on resting metabolism of arctic terms is smaller than found interspecifically in hatchlings. It is possible that difference exist in the heat increment of feeding between fast and slow growers that would further reduce the effect of growth rate on resting metabolism. Chicks that had body masses lower than 75% of that expected for their age were metabolically inferior in withstanding a thermal challenge compared with chicks of the same age but normal mass. In contrast to resting metabolic rate, the extent of peak metabolic rate is related to both body mass and age. This, in part, the maturation of the thermoregulatory system proceeds steadily with time even when body mass lags behind.

High basal metabolic rates of shorebirds while in the Arctic: a circumpolar view

The basal metabolic rate (BMR) of Old World long-distance-migrant shorebirds has been found to vary along their migration route. On average, BMR is highest in the Arctic at the start of fall migration, intermediate at temperate latitudes, and lowest on the tropical wintering grounds. As a test of the generality of this pattern, we measured the BMR of one adult and 44 juvenile shorebirds of 10 species (1-18 individuals of each species, body-mass range 19-94 g) during the first part of their southward migration in the Canadian Arctic (68-76°N). The interspecific relationship between BMR and body mass was almost identical to that found for juvenile shorebirds in the Eurasian Arctic (5 species), although only one species appeared in both data sets. We conclude that high BMR of shorebirds in the Arctic is a circumpolar phenomenon. The most likely explanation is that the high BMR reflects physiological adaptations to low ambient temperatures. Whether the BMR of New World shorebirds drops during southward migration remains to be investigated.

Impact of automated dispensing cabinets on medication selection and preparation error rates in an emergency department: a prospective and direct observational before-and-after study

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The implementation of automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) in healthcare facilities appears to be increasing, in particular within Australian hospital emergency departments (EDs). While the investment in ADCs is on the increase, no studies have specifically investigated the impacts of ADCs on medication selection and preparation error rates in EDs. Our aim was to assess the impact of ADCs on medication selection and preparation error rates in an ED of a tertiary teaching hospital. METHODS: Pre intervention and post intervention study involving direct observations of nurses completing medication selection and preparation activities before and after the implementation of ADCs in the original and new emergency departments within a 377-bed tertiary teaching hospital in Australia. Medication selection and preparation error rates were calculated and compared between these two periods. Secondary end points included the impact on medication error type and severity. RESULTS: A total of 2087 medication selection and preparations were observed among 808 patients pre and post intervention. Implementation of ADCs in the new ED resulted in a 64.7% (1.96% versus 0.69%, respectively, P = 0.017) reduction in medication selection and preparation errors. All medication error types were reduced in the post intervention study period. There was an insignificant impact on medication error severity as all errors detected were categorised as minor. CONCLUSION: The implementation of ADCs could reduce medication selection and preparation errors and improve medication safety in an ED setting.

Strategies to Increase Course Completion Rates in Lower-Level, High-Enrollment Classes

With an increase in performance-based funding based on credit hours, retention, and graduation rates, administrators seek strategies to increase course completion rates in low-level, high-enrollment courses. This report examines pedagogical strategies implemented within the classroom to increase course completion rates in gateway courses. It also examines how administrators identify qualities that indicate experience and motivation to improve students’ success when hiring new faculty.

Addressing Compensation Rates Below Market Value

Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Faculty and Staff (Business Affairs Forum, attached): Many institutions face limitations on the salary rates they can offer faculty and staff due to decreases in state funding, which can create challenges in recruitment and retention of qualified employees. This brief explores strategies institutions use to lessen the impact of budget limitations on faculty and staff salaries and to recruit and retain faculty in spite of limited salary offerings.

A model to estimate the US term structure of interest rates

The US term structure of interest rates plays a central role in fixed-income analysis. For example, estimating accurately the US term structure is a crucial step for those interested in analyzing Brazilian Brady bonds such as IDUs, DCBs, FLIRBs, EIs, etc. In this work we present a statistical model to estimate the US term structure of interest rates. We address in this report all major issues which drove us in the process of implementing the model developed, concentrating on important practical issues such as computational efficiency, robustness of the final implementation, the statistical properties of the final model, etc. Numerical examples are provided in order to illustrate the use of the model on a daily basis.

Essays on the monetary aspects of the term structure of nominal interest rates

Interest rates are key economic variables to much of finance and macroeconomics, and an enormous amount of work is found in both fields about the topic. Curiously, in spite of their common interest, finance and macro research on the topic have seldom interacted, using different approaches to address its main issues with almost no intersection. Concerned with interest rate contingent claims, finance term structure models relate interest rates to lagged interest rates; concerned with economic relations and macro dynamics, macro models regress a few interest rates on a wide variety of economic variables. If models are true though simplified descriptions of reality, the relevant factors should be captured by both the set of bond yields and that of economic variables. Each approach should be able to address the other field concerns with equal emciency, since the economic variables are revealed by the bond yields and these by the economic variables.

Does location matter to explain loan interest rates? evidence from Brazilian highly concentrad local markets

O setor bancário brasileiro é altamente concentrado. Embora concentração não signifique necessariamente que o mercado se comporta de forma não competitiva, o grau de competição é freqüentemente questionado no país. Utilizando uma base de dados extensiva e única do mercado de crédito brasileiro, este trabalho procura avaliar muitos dos fatores que contribuem para a variação nas taxas de juros cobradas pelos bancos nos diferentes mercados locais em duas categorias de empréstimos. A concentração não é significante ou mesmo associada a taxas de juros mais baixas, em parte devido ao papel dos bancos públicos. O prêmio de default é positivo e significante, e há alguma evidência de imperfeição de mercado. Neste trabalho, analisamos também o comportamento de precificação dos bancos em diferentes regiões do país, e encontramos que a localização é importante para explicar as taxas de juros dos empréstimos.

Convex combinations of long memory estimates from different sampling rates

Convex combinations of long memory estimates using the same data observed at different sampling rates can decrease the standard deviation of the estimates, at the cost of inducing a slight bias. The convex combination of such estimates requires a preliminary correction for the bias observed at lower sampling rates, reported by Souza and Smith (2002). Through Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the bias and the standard deviation of the combined estimates, as well as the root mean squared error (RMSE), which takes both into account. While comparing the results of standard methods and their combined versions, the latter achieve lower RMSE, for the two semi-parametric estimators under study (by about 30% on average for ARFIMA(0,d,0) series).

Stochastic growth and monetary policy: the impacts on the term structure of interest rates

This paper builds a simple, empirically-verifiable rational expectations model for term structure of nominal interest rates analysis. It solves an stochastic growth model with investment costs and sticky inflation, susceptible to the intervention of the monetary authority following a policy rule. The model predicts several patterns of the term structure which are in accordance to observed empirical facts: (i) pro-cyclical pattern of the level of nominal interest rates; (ii) countercyclical pattern of the term spread; (iii) pro-cyclical pattern of the curvature of the yield curve; (iv) lower predictability of the slope of the middle of the term structure; and (v) negative correlation of changes in real rates and expected inflation at short horizons.

Microeconomic instability and children's human capital accumulation: the effects of idiosyncratic shocks to father's income on child labor, school drop-outs and repetition rates in Brazil

This paper evaluates the long-run effects of economic instability. In particular, we study the impact of idiosyncratic shocks to father’s income on children’s human capital accumulation variables such as school drop-outs, repetition rates and domestic and non-domestic labor. Although, the problem of child labor in Brazil has declined greatly during the last decade, the number of children working is still substantial. The low levels of educational attainment in Brazil are also a main cause for concern. The large rotating panel data set used allows for the estimation of the impacts of changes in occupational and income status of fathers on changes in his child’s time allocation circumstances. The empirical analysis is restricted to families with fathers, mothers and at least one child between 10 and 15 years of age in the main Brazilian metropolitan areas during the 1982-1999 period. We perform logistic regressions controlling for child characteristics (gender, age, if he/she is behind in school for age), parents characteristics (grade attainment and income) and time and location variables. The main variables analyzed are dynamic proxies of impulses and responses, namely: shocks to household head’s income and unemployment status, on the one hand and child’s probability of dropping out of school, of repeating a grade and of start working, on the other. The findings suggest that father’s income has a significant positive correlation with child’s dropping out of school and of repeating a grade. The findings do not suggest a significant relationship between a father’s becoming unemployed and a child entering the non-domestic labor market. However, the results demonstrate a significant positive relationship between a father becoming unemployed and a child beginning to work in domestic labor. There was also a positive correlation between father becoming unemployed and a child dropping out and repeating a grade. Both gender and age were highly significant with boys and older children being more likely to work, drop-out and repeat grades.