11237 research outputs found
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The network structure of social play: Insights into group cohesion and dynamics from howler monkeys
No full textNo description supplied</p
Invisible bodies of war: British servicewomen on covert operations in Northern Ireland
No full textWomen were employed to operate covertly with British security forces and paramilitary organisations during the Troubles in Northern Ireland (1968–1998). However, the experiences and legacies of British servicewomen on conventional and covert operations during the Troubles are notably under-researched, even in comparison to recent scholarship on women in paramilitary organisations. This paper explores the politics of visibility on military ‘front lines’ through the construction of women covert operators as invisible bodies of war, considering how this informs understandings of gender dynamics and the construction of (gendered) knowledges about war. The article makes both an empirical and theoretical contribution. Empirically, it gives voice to several former women operators based on in-depth qualitative interviews detailing the experiences of a group of service personnel who have been largely marginalised from the dominant (British Army) telling of the Troubles. Theoretically, it uses this empirical evidence to elucidate the concept of the ‘negotiated gender order’.</p
Heat stress monitoring, modelling, and mitigation in a dairy cattle building in reading, UK: Impacts of current and projected heatwaves
No full textHeat stress in dairy cattle buildings is a pressing challenge under global warming. While building climate resilience is as critical as improving animal thermal resilience, limited research has evaluated the effectiveness of building adaptations in specific spaces, such as cattle housing and milking parlours, particularly under extreme climate conditions. This study addresses this gap by assessing the impacts of observed and projected heatwaves on dairy housing and a milking parlour and possible mitigation solutions, through indoor heat stress measurements and dynamic livestock building thermal modelling. We advance the modelling capability by incorporating realistic sensible and latent heat dissipation from dairy cattle, accounting for body mass, daily milk production, and ambient temperatures. Measurements during the 2021 UK Heatwave revealed consistently higher indoor Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) levels compared to outdoors. The milking parlour experienced more severe heat stress (Level 3: Severe) than the housing (Level 2: Moderate) due to higher internal heat gains and poor ventilation, with notable differences between morning and afternoon milking times. Projections for the 2080s heatwave indicated that both spaces would experience heat stress day and night, with severity reaching Level 4 (Emergency) for most of the time. Under current heatwave conditions, solar reflective roof paint proved effective for the housing, while hybrid ventilation was effective for the milking parlour. However, these strategies were insufficient for future extreme heatwaves, emphasizing the need for advanced, tailored building adaptations. This study highlights the critical importance of designing climate-resilient dairy buildings to safeguard animal welfare and productivity in a warming world.</p
Vocal mimicry in corvids
No full textVocal mimicry, the copying of sounds produced by another species or the environment, is commonly described in vocal learners, such as songbirds. Understanding the functions of vocal mimicry can help to uncover the evolutionary drivers of vocal learning. Different adaptive functions like interspecific and intraspecific communication have been suggested, as well as the possibility of vocal mimicry to be a mistake during vocal learning. In the present study, we review the occurrence of mimicry in the family of corvids and investigate the socio-ecological factors driving the evolution of vocal mimicry in this group of birds. We recorded evidence of vocal mimicry from primary (xeno-canto recordings) as well as secondary sources (published literature) and found evidence for vocal mimicry in 39 out of 128 corvid species (30%). Socio-ecological factors like breeding system, habitat and trophic niche did not have a significant effect. We used Bayesian modelling based on existing data from primary and secondary sources to estimate the occurrence of mimicry, suggesting that vocal mimicry may be more widespread among corvids than currently documented, with many species potentially being ‘hidden mimics’. Our study for the first time systematically reviews the occurrence of vocal mimicry across the family of corvids and investigates a range of socio-ecological factors driving the behaviour, hopefully inspiring future field work on those species.</p
Vincentian literature in the era of independence 1940-1980
No full textThis thesis provides an original mapping of literature written by authors associated with the island nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines. To date, there has been minimal systematic research dedicated to the nation’s literary output. This thesis plugs that gap and highlights the work of little-known authors from the islands, establishing a history of Vincentian literature from 1940-1980. It offers a critical examination of the idea of a Vincentian literary tradition and its place within wider cultural contexts. The topic was investigated by excavating key literary archives: the BBC Archives of Caribbean Voices; the Henry Swanzy files at the University of Birmingham; the George Padmore Institute; Eric and Jessica Huntley’s Papers, London Metropolitan Archives and National Archives St Vincent and the Grenadines for the production of writing from locally produced little magazines.Using archival theory, Chapters One and Two address ideas of archival absence and presence in relation to the global literary marketplace and outline the compromised dynamics surrounding the marketability and preservation of texts. I then examine the island’s first published novel in Chapter Three so as to analyse the role of women during the era of independence and to demonstrate how the use of Creole in Vincentian literature proves vital to establishing national identity. A case is made that Vincentian literature during the period under discussion becomes increasingly political in reflection of a burgeoning national consciousness. Chapter Four draws attention to the effects of the Black Power Movement and radical Marxist Black Politics on Vincentian writers, while emphasising the significance of youth voices to political debates in the lead up to Vincentian independence. There is a marked difference, this thesis argues, between Vincentian literature and movements of the 1970s when compared with those that took place in the region during the prior decade. Finally, Chapter Five provides a case study and literary reading of the islands’ foremost female poet. It shows how material conditions, alongside gendered expectations driven by colonially inflected respectability politics, continued to impact upon Caribbean women’s right to write.</p
Galápagos yellow warblers differ in behavioural plasticity in response to traffic noise depending on proximity to road
No full textAcoustic communication between animals is increasingly disrupted by noise in human-altered environments making signals less effective. Birdsong is a signal used in agonistic interactions between territorial rivals, and birds may modify their song and singing behaviour in response to noise. However, if these modifications are still ineffective, this can lead to increased conflict between rivals. Here, we asked whether experimental traffic noise induces immediate changes in acoustic characteristics of song and aggressive behaviour in populations and territories that differ greatly in traffic noise exposure. We conducted simulated territorial intrusions on Galápagos yellow warblers, Setophaga petechia aureola, living on Santa Cruz (high traffic) and Floreana (low traffic) islands. Territories were either adjacent to the nearest road or at least 100 m away from it. We assessed the focal birds’ physical response levels and recorded their vocalizations in response to the playback of conspecific song (control) and conspecific song coupled with traffic noise (noise treatment). We found that, on both islands, birds living in territories adjacent to roads increased their aggression levels with experimental noise compared to control, while birds living farther away from roads decreased their aggression levels. Birds on both islands increased minimum frequency of their songs during the noise treatment, irrespective of their distance to a road. However, changes in peak frequency and duration of their songs depended on the habitat they live in. Our results suggest behavioural flexibility in territorial responses and birdsong in response to traffic noise, which appears to depend at least in part on prior experience with traffic noise.</p
Leveraging Deep Learning for Real-Time Coffee Leaf Disease Identification
No full textAgriculture is vital for providing food and economic benefits, but crop diseases pose significant challenges, including coffee cultivation. Traditional methods for disease identification are labor-intensive and lack real-time capabilities. This study aims to address existing methods’ limitations and provide a more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solution for coffee leaf disease identification. It presents a novel approach to the real-time identification of coffee leaf diseases using deep learning. We implemented several transfer learning (TL) models, including ResNet101, Xception, CoffNet, and VGG16, to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of our solution. The experiment results show that the proposed models achieved high accuracy rates of 97.30%, 97.60%, 97.88%, and 99.89%, respectively. CoffNet, our proposed model, showed a notable processing speed of 125.93 frames per second (fps), making it suitable for real-time applications. Using a diverse dataset of mixed images from multiple devices, our approach reduces the workload of farmers and simplifies the disease detection process. The findings lay the groundwork for the development of practical and efficient systems that can assist coffee growers in disease management, promoting sustainable farming practices, and food security.</p
Association between behavioral and sociodemographic factors and high subjective health among adolescents: a nationwide representative study in South Korea
No full textThe need to understand subjective health has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, given its substantial impact on lifestyle habits and perceptions. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the trends and association of subjective health with demographic and behavioral factors, primarily focusing on the change when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. This study used data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, comprising 1,190,468 adolescents aged 12–18 years (female, 48.49%). We investigated the trends and association of subjective health with demographic and behavioral factors from 2006 to 2023. A weighted linear regression and joinpoint regression were conducted to evaluate the trend in adolescent subjective health, while logistic regression was used to assess associated factors. A stratification analysis was performed for subgroups to determine variations across different demographic and behavioral groups. The prevalence of reporting high subjective health increased throughout the years before the COVID-19 pandemic; however, subjective health exhibited a decreasing trend during the pandemic. Regarding demographic factors, female sex (ratio of odds ratio [ROR], 0.85 [95% CI, 0.83–0.87]), low-income households (ROR, 0.67 [95% CI, 0.64–0.69]), and low academic achievement (ROR, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.81–0.85]) were associated with less likelihood of reporting high subjective health. Healthier behavioral factors (ROR, breakfast consumption, 1.13 [95% CI, 1.10–1.16]; sufficient fruit intake, 1.12 [95% CI, 1.09–1.15]; sufficient physical activity, 2.02 [95% CI, 1.95–2.09]) were associated with higher subjective health, and the disparities increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. To address the observed decline in subjective health among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, targeted interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors among particularly vulnerable demographics are crucial.</p
Co-designing a shared consultation guide to support nurses with identification and management of Long-COVID, to improve patient safety and experience.
No full textLong-COVID or post-COVID-19 syndrome is a new, relatively common condition. Complex presentation can make diagnosis difficult with patients struggling to access appropriate treatment and support. Failing to appropriately identify and manage people with Long-COVID poses a safety risk for patients and population health and potential professional risk for nurses. While nurses are well placed to support timely identification, referral, and treatment of Long-COVID, and enable patients’ self-management of symptoms, they need practical resources to guide best practice. This article outlines the co-design of a shared consultation guide to address this gap, whilst enhancing patient safety and experience.</p
Minimal Impacts of Tyre Particle Exposure on Estuarine Meiofaunal Community Structure, Primary Production, and Nutrient Cycling
No full textTyre wear particles are a significant source of primary microplastics in the natural environment with the potential to accumulate in aquatic sediments, yet our understanding of the ecological impact of these particles is limited. Using mesocosms of estuarine sediment containing a model macrofauna community (Scrobicularia plana and Hediste diversicolor), meiofauna, and microphytobenthos, we investigated the impact of exposure to sedimentary tyre particles (0.2, 1, and 5% kg sediment(dw)−1) upon meiofauna community structure, primary production, secondary production, and nutrient fluxes. Under the conditions (13 °C) and timescale (31 days) investigated, exposure to sedimentary tyre particles did not lead to any significant differences in nutrients for primary productivity, with limited impact on meiofaunal secondary productivity. An increase in Tanaidacea was observed in 1% and 5% tyre particle treatments, putatively due to reduced macrofaunal predation. Previous studies have highlighted the ecotoxicity of tyre wear particles. The limited impacts on meiofauna may be due to our experimental particles being too large for meiofauna to ingest or the timescale of the experiment being too short to witness changes at the community scale. Impacts from tyre particle leachates were likely limited due to dilution in the partial recirculation system. Leachate dilution will occur naturally in marine systems and should be a consideration in the design of future studies.</p
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