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Parental control: ecology drives plasticity in parental response to offspring signals
Get PDFBirds differ in their parent-offspring interactions, and these differences may be caused by environmental variation. When food is plentiful, chicks that are begging more are fed more. When food is scarce, parents instead feed larger offspring. This change could be due to offspring adjusting their behavior, or to confounding factors not directly related to current food availability, such as brood size. Alternatively, it could be due to parents responding to signals differently based on their experience of food availability in the recent past. We tested these competing explanations experimentally by manipulating food availability in wild great tits, Parus major. We then standardized food availability, and manipulated offspring size and behavior by creating mixed cross-fostered broods just before filming. This isolated the effect of parental strategies while holding food availability and offspring begging and size constant across treatments. We found that when parents received supplemented food prior to filming, they were: (1) more likely to preferentially feed chicks that were begging more; and (2) less likely to preferentially feed larger chicks. Chicks, conversely, did not differ in their begging in relation to prior environmental conditions, but instead begged in relation to their immediate feeding history and their nestmates’ begging intensity. Overall, our results suggest that parents have more control over food distribution than suggested by scramble competition models, and that parents can flexibly adjust how they respond to offspring signals and cues in response to food availability. Consequently, different signaling systems and parental plasticity are favored depending on environmental conditions
Mapping adolescent wellbeing: developmental network shifts from early to middle adolescence in 24 countries
Get PDFThis study applied psychometric network analysis to examine the structure of adolescent wellbeing across 49 indicators of subjective and psychological wellbeing in a large international sample (N = 6,445; ages 11-18) from 38 schools across 24 countries. We estimated networks separately for early (11-14) and middle (15-18) adolescents to assess developmental change. The overall network was moderately dense and highly stable. Overall life satisfaction, satisfaction with student life, and optimism about the future emerged as central nodes. While the global network structure was similar across age groups, older adolescents showed increased centrality for negative affect (“bad”), relaxed mood, and future optimism, and decreased centrality for current life evaluation. These findings underscore the integrated and developmentally shifting nature of adolescent wellbeing, and offer practical insights for monitoring, intervention, and policy. Results highlight the value of developmentally sensitive strategies that support both present experience and future-oriented resilience across diverse youth populations
Platinum nitrosyl complexes: spectroscopic data
No full textData repository for mass spectrometric and processed infrared spectroscopic data of the title complexes (September 2025)
Peripatetic poetry: (un-)generous tributes and (un-)endings in Leontia Flynn, Elizabeth Bishop, and W.B. Yeats
No full textWhile we can demarcate the literal end of a poem on a piece of paper, the endings of poems are many and varied, and linked to their potentially un-ending conversations with other works. In the case of the Northern Irish poet Leontia Flynn, her conversations with Bishop are complex, finding expression in her sonnet “Elizabeth Bishop,” in the ways that she characterises Bishop, and in how she mediates between Bishop and W.B. Yeats. Both Flynn and Bishop are readers of Yeats, and they meet him at the level of poet and poem, complicating their relationships still further. Jonathan Ellis describes how Seamus Heaney wrote a “generous tribute” to Bishop in the form of a poem, but this article asks what happens when such “tributes” are more “ungenerous” in nature, and what they tell us about the ways in which Flynn, Bishop and Yeats speak to each other through their poems
Trajectories of general and central obesity beyond middle age in relation to late‐life cognitive decline and dementia
Get PDFObjective: The objective was to evaluate the longitudinal patterns of central and general obesity, identify their genetic and behavioral risk determinants, and investigate the association of distinct obesity trajectories beyond middle age with subsequent cognitive decline and the risk of developing dementia in late life. Methods: Using a nationally representative, longitudinal, community‐based cohort, we examined trajectory patterns of obesity over a 14‐year span beyond middle age employing latent mixture modeling. We then evaluated their relationship with subsequent cognitive decline through linear mixed models and with the risk of developing dementia using Cox models, adjusting for confounding variables. Results: Among the 4751 eligible participants (mean age, 58.7 [SD 8.1] years; 57% female), our analysis identified five distinct BMI trajectories and four WC trajectories spanning a 14‐year period. In comparison with individuals in the low‐stable BMI group, characterized by a consistent and healthy body weight (range, 22.8–22.9 kg/m2), those in the high‐stable group, maintaining a stable obesity status (range, 34.3–35.4 kg/m2), exhibited an elevated risk of developing dementia (odds ratio [OR], 1.43; 95% CI: 1.02 to 2.00) and experienced a more accelerated cognitive decline over 6 years (difference in 6‐year decline, −0.11 SD [95% CI: −0.18 to −0.03]). Similarly, when compared with participants in the low‐stable WC group, indicating a stable and healthy WC (range, 76–79 cm), those in the high‐increasing WC group, showing an increasing trend (range, 115–122 cm), demonstrated an increased risk of developing dementia (OR, 1.57, 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.49) and experienced a swifter cognitive decline (OR: −0.18 [95% CI: −0.28 to −0.07]). Conclusions: General and central obesity trajectories beyond midlife with persistently high or increasing patterns were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive decline and dementia in late life. Longitudinal obesity patterns may assist in precise identification of older adults at risk of developing cognitive impairment for targeted intervention
Quantifying CO 2 and Non‐CO 2 Contributions to Climate Change Under 1.5°C and 2°C Adaptive Emission Scenarios
Get PDFThe individual contributions of various human‐induced forcings under scenarios compatible with the Paris Agreement targets are highly uncertain. To quantify this uncertainty, we analyze three types of models with physical parameter perturbed large ensembles under global warming levels of 1.5 and 2.0°C. The scenarios use adaptive CO2 emissions, while non‐CO2 emissions are prescribed. The residual emission budgets in the scenarios are measured in terms of CO2 forcing equivalent (CO2‐fe). Our simulations quantify approximately 0.8 (0.2–1.3 for a 90% confidence interval) and 1.9 (0.9–3.0) TtCO2‐fe for the 1.5 and 2.0°C targets by the end of the 21st century. About 37.5% (73.7%) of the budget for 1.5°C (2.0°C) originates from the CO2 emission pathways, highlighting the importance of non‐CO2 forcings. Aerosols dominate the uncertainty in non‐CO2 contributions to global responses in both temperature and precipitation. Our modeling results underline the need to constrain the response to each climate forcing, particularly aerosol, to build an accurate mitigation and adaptation plan under the pledges of the Paris Agreement. Moreover, we demonstrate robust differences in global and regional temperature and precipitation responses between the higher and lower CO2 emission scenarios, highlighting the significance of carbon neutrality
Environmental sustainability and the limits of healthcare resource allocation
Get PDFRecent literature has drawn attention to the complex relationship between health care and the environmental crisis. Healthcare systems are significant contributors to climate change and environmental degradation, and the environmental crisis is making our health worse and thus putting more pressure on healthcare systems; our health and the environment are intricately linked. In light of this relationship, we might think that there are no trade‐offs between health and the environment; that healthcare decision‐makers have special responsibilities to the environment; and that environmental values should be included in healthcare resource‐allocation decisions. However, we argue that these claims are mistaken. The environmental crisis involves a wider range of considerations than just health. There is a plurality of reasons to act on the environment; we might do so to protect the natural world, to prevent catastrophes in other parts of the world, or to avert climate war and displacement. Trading‐off between health care and environmental sustainability is thus unavoidable and requires sensitivity to all these reasons. Healthcare decision‐makers are not well placed to be sensitive to these reasons, nor do they have the democratic authority to make such value judgements. Therefore, decisions about environmental sustainability interventions should be made at a ‘higher level’ of resource allocation. Importantly, hospitals have environmental duties but not environmental responsibilities; their job is to provide the best healthcare possible within the constraints given to them, not to choose between health care and other goods
Relaxation of the leaf economics spectrum within and across quaking aspen Populus tremuloides genotypes
Get PDFPlant functional traits typically show strong covariation, e.g. as in the worldwide leaf economics spectrum (LES). Covariation is thought to arise from selective forces and physical constraints. However, processes shaping covariation at interspecific scales may differ from those at intraspecific scales. Potential sources of intraspecific trait variation include variation in genetics, abiotic environment, and biotic environment; any of these factors may cause divergence from interspecific patterns. Quaking aspen, Populus tremuloides (Salicaceae), is a widespread tree species ideal for assessing these processes' role in the intraspecific LES, due to its clonal growth along environmental gradients, intraspecific variation in cytotype (ploidy level), and variation in biotic interactions (herbivory pressure). Here, we investigate genotype, cytotype, microclimate and herbivory as potential drivers in shaping LES trait–trait and trait–environment relationships at intra‐specific scales. We studied 15 quaking aspen genotypes that varied in cytotype (diploid or triploid) along an elevation gradient in southwestern Colorado. We show that LES tradeoffs substantially weaken at the intraspecific scale in this species. Among genotypes, trait–trait slopes ranged from positive, weak, strong, negative, or absent compared to the global LES. We also found that cytotypes varied in resource‐use tradeoffs, and that increasing insect herbivory pressure decreased the strength of several trait–trait relationships. Microenvironment was a weak predictor of intraspecific functional trait variation in quaking aspen. Synthesis. In quaking aspen, there are relaxed constraints on LES trait co‐variation. Variation in genotype, cytotype, and herbivory pressure each contribute to this pattern. Relaxation of the LES may enable more flexible responses to environmental stressors through both genetic and plastic mechanisms
AI-based satellite survey offers independent assessment of migratory wildebeest numbers in the Serengeti
Get PDFThe Great Wildebeest Migrationin the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is a globally iconic wildlife phenomenon that supports the health and biodiversity of the region by supporting predator populations, regulating herbivore densities, and driving nutrient cycling. This study presents the first AI-powered satellite survey, using two deep learning-based models (U-Net and YOLOv8) to detect and count wildebeest over more than 4,000 km² across two consecutive years in August 2022 and 2023 with F1 scores reaching 0.830 (Precision: 0.832, Recall: 0.838). The satellite-based results show fewer than 600,000 individuals—approximately half the widely cited estimate of 1.3 million wildebeest, which has remained largely unchanged since the 1970s. While some variation may arise from differences in spatial and temporal coverage between survey methods, the satellite approach employs rigorously validated AI models with demonstrated accuracy. Rather than undermining previous methods, this discrepancy underscores the importance of using independent and complementary monitoring tools to refine population estimates and improve our understanding of wildebeest movement dynamics
Democracy and Morality: Religious and Secular Views. Edited by Patti Tamara Lenard and Margaret Moore. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2024. 306pp. $59.95
No full textReview of Patti Tamara Lenard and Margaret Moore (eds.), Democracy and Morality: Religious and Secular Views (Brookings Institution Press, 2024