78 research outputs found
Male <i>Zaspilothynnus</i> wasps and the <i>Drakaea</i> they pollinate.
No full text<p>(A) The thynnine wasp <i>Zaspilothynnus gilesi</i>, the pollinator of the rare <i>Drakaea elastica</i> (Orchidaceae) (B), feeding on nectar of <i>Astartea fascicularis</i> (Myrtaceae); (C) <i>Zaspilothynnus nigripes</i>, the pollinator of the common <i>Drakaea livida</i> (Orchidaceae) (D), marked with green paint pen and an orange queen bee tag, feeding on <i>Chamelaucium uncinatum</i> (Myrtaceae). Photographs: (A), (B) and (D) MHM Menz, (C) J Hardwick.</p
Habitat selection by Ortolan Buntings Emberiza hortulana in post-fire succession in Catalonia: implications for the conservation of farmland populations
No full textThe Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana is a long-distance migrant that has suffered major population declines across much of its European breeding range. While northern populations are bound largely to farmland, Mediterranean populations are largely confined to habitats subject to recurrent wildfires. Habitat selection of the Ortolan Bunting was assessed in a recently burnt area in Catalonia at landscape and habitat scales. A Zero-inflated Poisson procedure was used to model the abundance of birds in relation to landscape and habitat variables. The most parsimonious landscape model predicted the highest abundance on south-facing slopes, with a gradient above 10°. The most parsimonious habitat model showed a positive quadratic effect of bare ground and regenerating oak Quercus spp., with predicted optima for abundance around 20-30% and 20% cover, respectively. There was a clear relationship between predicted abundance of the Ortolan Bunting and post-fire regenerating oak shrubs. South-facing, moderately sloping areas were favoured and bare ground was a key feature of the species' habitat. A matrix combining patches of sparse oak shrubs and patches of bare ground appears to be the optimal breeding habitat in the Mediterranean. The maintenance or provision of similar habitat features, especially patches of bare ground, may prove crucial for the conservation of rapidly declining Ortolan Bunting populations on farmland across temperate Europe
Audiomobiles, Sculptures and Conundrums
No full textRoberto Gerhard was a pioneer of electronic music in England creating a number of substantial concert, theatre and radio works from as early as 1954. Gerhard’s electronic music is one of the richest repositories for understanding the development of the composer’s late compositional technique. Apart from the Symphony no.3, ‘Collages’, none of Gerhard’s electronic music is published. This paper will discuss aspects of Gerhard’s electronic music, focusing on Audiomobiles (1958-59) and Sculptures (1963)
Virginia L. Campbell, The Tombs of Pompeii: Organization, Space and Society, New York, 2015.
No full textVirginia L. Campbell in her book “The Tombs ofPompeii: Organization, Space and Society” offers acomprehensive overview of graves, tombs and developmentof the necropoleis in Pompeii throughaspects of spatial and social organization. The bookis organized in seven chapters, three appendices(catalogues of graves, tombs and funerary inscriptions),index, and illustrations which correspondwell to the text. The book is a result of researchundertaken by the author for her dissertation basedon analysis of extensive documentation and seriesof very diverse scientific works dealing with Pompeiiand their necropoleis but concentrating mostlyon the most famous and most decorative finds andtombs without systematic study of entire scopeof the sepulchral area. In her study the author attemptedto solve some crucial questions, primarilyif detailed analysis of each individual burial areacan reveal social, economic, legal or cult traditionsand regulations (possibly specific only for Pompeii);ways in which funerary monuments reflect behaviourof the individuals or groups, and administrativeprocedures necessary for organization of afuneral. The author answers these questions in thediscussion parts of the book, from the third to thesixth chapter.</jats:p
Nadgrobni spomenik G. Aruncija Felicisima i starosna struktura pučanstva antičke Liburnije
No full textIn the first part of this paper, the author analyses two fragments of a single sepulchral monument found as spolia in the church of Sv. Juraj (St. George) in Raštević near Benkovac. The monument, which can generally be dated to the late Princpate period - most likely in the second half of the 2nd century AD, was erected by Sempronia Maximilla for her husband Gaius Aruntius Felicissimus, who died at the age of 70. In the second part, the author analyses data on the age of the deceased found in Liburnian sepulchral inscriptions and aims to prove the possible age limits of average life expectancy. Through that analysis it will be possible to better understand if, and to what degree, was Gaius Aruntius Felicissimus an exception from standards present during that period.</jats:p
Quantification of migrant hoverfly movements (Diptera: Syrphidae) on the West Coast of North America
No full textThe seasonal migration of huge numbers of hoverflies is frequently reported in Europe from mountain passes or spurs of land. The movement of such large numbers of beneficial insects is thought to provide significant ecosystem services in terms of pollination and pest control. Observations from the East Coast of the USA during the 1920s indicate the presence of migratory life histories among some hoverfly species there, but 90 years have now passed since the last reported observation of hoverfly migration in the USA. Here, we analyse video footage taken during a huge northward migration of hoverflies on 20 April 2017 on the West Coast of California. The quantification of migrant numbers from this footage allows us to estimate the passage of over 100 000 hoverflies in half an hour over a 200 m section of headland in Montaña de Oro State Park (San Luis Obispo County). Field collections and analysis of citizen science data indicate different species from the previously reported Eristalis tenax migrations on the East Coast of the USA and provide evidence for migration among North American hoverflies. We wish to raise awareness of this phenomenon and suggest approaches to advance the study of hoverfly migration in North America and elsewhere
A launch strategy to increase awareness and availability of MakaPads in rural Uganda
No full textGirls and women in Uganda lack Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) information, and proper tools and facilities to manage their periods. There are different methods that girls in rural areas use to manage their menstruation such as cloths or pads. This project focuses on menstrual pads as they are hygienic, absorbent, and comfortable. Therefore, pads enable girls to have a better experience during their period. Girls who live in rural areas of Uganda are the main users this project focuses on. Older women in rural areas are considered as the target consumers who purchase the pads.Currently, the women who live in rural areas of Uganda only have access to the commercial expensive pad brands. Therefore there is a need of affordable menstrual pads to be accessible in the villages. MakaPads produces affordable menstrual pads. However some years ago they lost their biggest client who was doing the distribution of the product and they were left to rethink their distribution strategy. Presently, MakaPads wants to change their strategy from B2B to B2C and therefore, distribute the pads directly to the end consumer in the rural areas of Uganda.Thus, the goal of the project is to design a launch strategy for MakaPads to increase the availability and accessibility of menstrual pads for women and girls in rural areas of Uganda. The project was scoped using the framework of the four A’s of marketing: Acceptability, Awareness, Availability and Affordability. Acceptability and Affordability were left out of the scope. Awareness and Availability were subdivided after desk research and context interviews were conducted. Awareness subdivisions were MHM communication and product communication, and Availability was subdivided into information distribution and product distribution.Interviews were conducted in Uganda and a workshop was performed with the MakaPads team to decide on the direction of the project. The project findings brought key partnerships with opinion leaders in the villages and added crucial consumer groups for the company. By adding these two stakeholders, MakaPads can increase their reach in the villages using less resources. The strategy created is designed for MakaPads to establish in new markets and replicate in rural villages of Uganda. Finally, communication directions were created to increase MHM and product knowledge in the communities of rural Uganda.Strategic Product Desig
Cross-species transmission of a feline haemoplasma from domestic to wild cats
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.2016 Summer.Disease poses a substantial threat to rare species worldwide. Spillover of multi-host pathogens from domestic to wild species may occur when a) closely related domestic and wild species co-occur and b) the high-density domestic species acts as a maintenance host with transmission to the rarer wild relative. Wild and domestic felids are susceptible to many of the same pathogens and co-exist near the interface of natural and developed landscapes. Our study evaluates cross-species transmission and host-switching of Mycoplasma haemominutum (Mhm), an erythrocytic bacterial parasite, between free-ranging domestic cats and nine wild felid species. We took a multi-pronged approach to evaluate transmission mechanisms by combining field surveys, modeling, model selection, pathogen genotyping and phylogenetic analyses. Our models consisted of a priori hypotheses of transmission pathways designed to predict observed prevalence data and were parameterized by site- and species-specific information. Using an information-theoretic approach we show that transmission via direct host contact is the most parsimonious hypothesis, which we then validated with genetic analyses. We traced transmission pathways by genotyping part of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene in 60 positive blood samples from domestic cats (n=19), bobcats (n=24), and pumas (n=17) from our extensive sampling efforts in California and Colorado for a total of 73 novel isolates (including co-infected samples). We combined these data with 49 previously described sequences from GenBank, and carried out a partitioned Bayesian phylogenetic analysis reconstructing cross-species transmission events of Mhm on a global scale. The phylogenetic analysis validated our best-fitting models by showing that while Mhm is largely host-specific, cross-species transmission has occurred primarily in one direction following the trophic network from lower to higher levels. Our results are consistent with transmission by direct contact as the major mechanism for pathogen transfer of Mhm, and suggest that wild felids worldwide may be at risk for pathogen spillover from domestic cats
Renewal of the Dominican Monastery and Church in Dubrovnik in the 19th Century: Old Library and Church Altars
No full textIn this work the author analyzes less known data about the renewal of the Dominican church and monastery in Dubrovnik during the 19th century, paying special attention to three altars, primarily the altar presently located in the church of St. Nicholas in Čilipi which once belonged to the Palmotić family, and altar of St. Vincent Ferrer sold to Muo in 1883 where it is still situated. In the work Viginti supra centum Sanctorum, Beatorum, ac Venerabilim Fratrum Ordinis Praedicatorum Chronologico ordine digestae Imagines by Serafin Marija Crijević, there is a depiction of Blessed Mannes Guzman on the page five, actually a sketch of the present-day altar of St. Dominic in the monastery church. The altar of St. Dominic is the only preserved altar from the Dominican church renewal after the earthquake. For now it is the only altar in Dubrovnik from this period, with preserved original sketch after which it was made, enriching in that way previous insights about the Baroque altars in Dubrovnik.</jats:p
On the Robustness of Multiscale Hybrid-Mixed Methods
No full textInternational audienceIn this work we prove uniform convergence of the Multiscale Hybrid-Mixed (MHM for short) finite element method for second order elliptic problems with rough periodic coefficients. The MHM method is shown to avoid resonance errors without adopting oversampling techniques. In particular, we establish that the discretization error for the primal variable in the broken and 2 norms are and , respectively, and for the dual variable is in the (div; ·) norm, where (depending on regularity). Such results rely on sharpened asymptotic expansion error estimates for the elliptic models with prescribed Dirichlet, Neumann or mixed boundary conditions
- …
