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In this paper, we solve an open problem considered by Steven Finch (Central Binomial Coefficients, 2007, Available from: , p. 5), as far back as 2007, concerning the calculation of a series involving the central binomial coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In numerous animals, dramatic coloration (e.g. bright red or yellow) often indicates potential fitness, but it is less clear whether subtle coloration in the same individuals (e.g. grey or brown) could also encode such signals. To determine if subtle coloration could indicate health in a bird species with colorful feathers, house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), we used spectrometry to objectively quantify leg brightness and saturation before, six days after, and 13 days after captive individuals were inoculated with a naturally‐occurring bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum. We found that legs became less bright six days after infection (near the typical peak of infection), then more bright and less saturated at 13 days (entering the typical recovery period). These results suggest that subtle colors could reliably indicate current infection status, and therefore survival potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Action segmentation consists of temporally segmenting a video and labeling each segmented interval with a specific action label. In this work, we propose a novel action segmentation method that requires no initial video analysis and no annotated data. Our proposal involves extracting features from videos using several pre-trained deep-learning models, including spatiotemporal and self-supervised methods. Data is then transformed using a positional encoder, and finally, a clustering algorithm is applied, where each produced cluster presumably corresponds to a different single and distinguishable action. For self-supervised features, we explored DINO, and for spatiotemporal features, we investigated I3D and SlowFast methods. Moreover, two different clustering algorithms (FINCH and KMeans) were investigated, and we also explored how varying the length of video snippets that generate the feature vectors affected the quality of the segmentation. Experiments show that our method produces competitive results on the Breakfast and INRIA Instructional Videos dataset benchmarks. Our best result was produced using a composition of self-supervised features generated by DINO, FINCH clustering, and positional encoding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signals of aggression may potentially reduce the fitness costs of conflict during agonistic interactions if they are honest. Here we examined whether the 'buzz' vocalization in two species of Darwin's finches, the small tree finch, Camarhynchus parvulus , and the critically endangered medium tree finch, C. pauper , found in Floreana Island, Galápagos Archipelago, is a signal of aggression. Specifically, we assessed three criteria for aggressive signalling (context, predictive, and response criteria) in an observational study and a playback experiment. In the observational study, buzzes by the resident male were more common when an intruder was present on the territory in medium tree finches but not small tree finches (context criterion). In the playback experiment, buzzes increased during and after a simulated intrusion for both species (context criterion). Buzzes before the playback period predicted aggressive responses by males (predictive criterion) but buzzes during playback did not. Finally, both species responded more strongly to playbacks of conspecific buzzes compared to conspecific songs and heterospecific buzzes (response criterion). Together the results support the aggressive signal hypothesis for buzz vocalizations, although future studies are needed to understand the evolution and development of this interesting signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study is undertaken using anatomical measurements of specimens attributed to six species of Geospiza, the ground finches from the Galápagos archipelago. In a demonstration of method, a probabilistic approach associated with "sigma taxonomy" is adopted to assess the probability that pairs of specimens are or are not conspecific. We use a definition of a species based on morphometric analyses of the kind previously undertaken on extant vertebrate taxa (including mammals, birds and reptiles), using pairwise comparisons of anatomical measurements in regression analyses of the form y = mx + c from which the log-transformed standard error of the m-coefficient is calculated ("log sem"). The latter statistic is a reflection of variability in morphology. There is a high probability that at a species level, specimens attributed to G. magnirostris are different from those attributed to G. fulginosa, G. difficilis or G. scandens. Results of this study, using probabilistic sigma taxonomy, confirm the refutation of a single species hypothesis. In addition, we apply the log sem method to demonstrate that in case of comparisons between G. fortis and G. scandens (which are known to hybridise), there is a high probability that they are not different at a species level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An animal's environment contains many risks causing animals to scan their environment for potential predators and threats from conspecifics. How much time they invest in such vigilance depends on environmental and social factors. Most vigilance studies have been conducted in a foraging context with little known about vigilance in other contexts. Here we investigated vigilance of Gouldian finches at waterholes considering environmental and social factors. Gouldian finches are colour polymorphic with two main head colours in both sexes co-occurring in the same population, black-headed and red-headed. Data collection was done on birds sitting in trees surrounding waterholes by measuring the frequency of head movements, which reflects how frequently they change their field of view, i.e., scan different areas in their environment. A higher frequency generally reflects higher vigilance. Gouldian finches had a higher frequency of head movements when at small waterholes and when sitting in open, leafless trees. Moreover, head movements were higher when birds were alone in the tree as compared to groups of birds. Finally, birds in same head colour morph groups had a higher frequency of head movements than birds in mixed head colour groups. Results indicate heightened vigilance with increased perception of predation risk (small waterholes, open exposed perch, when alone) but that social vigilance also played a role (group composition) with particularly the aggressive red-headed birds being more vigilant when together with other red-headed birds. Future research should investigate the effect of smaller waterholes as global warming will cause smaller waterholes to become more common for longer periods of time, which can increase stress in the birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the top of many ecosystems, raptors, also known as birds of prey, hold major influence. They shape their surroundings through their powerful hunting skills and complex interactions with their environment. This study investigates the beak morphology of four prominent raptor species, Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Common buzzard (Buteo buteo), Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), found in Türkiye. By employing geometric morphometric methods, we investigate shape variations in the beaks of these species to unravel the adaptive significance of their cranial structures. This analysis reveals distinct beak morphologies among the studied raptors, reflecting adaptations to their feeding habits, hunting techniques and ecological niches. The results from Principal component analysis and Canonical variate analysis demonstrate significant differences in beak morphology between the Falconiformes and Accipitriformes clades, as well as among all three groups. The overall mean beak shapes of Golden Eagles are quite similar to Common Buzzards, with both species having longer beaks. In contrast, Falcons exhibit a distinctly different beak morphology, characterized by wider and shorter beaks. Changes in beak shape can lead to changes depending on the skull. It is thought that skull shape variations among predator families may have an impact on beak shape. These findings highlight the importance of integrating morphometric analyses with ecological insights to enhance our understanding of the evolutionary processes shaping raptor beak morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This book review examines "German-Jewish Life Writing in the Aftermath of the Holocaust: Beyond Testimony" by Helen Finch. The review delves into the experiences of four postwar German-Jewish writers and their struggles to publish their works. It explores the themes of the Holocaust, sexual abuse, and racialized violence present in their writings. The review also questions the argument made by Finch regarding the rejection of survivors' testimonies and raises concerns about the validity of her conclusions. [Extracted from the article]

This essay discusses two approaches I use to teach Anne Finch's—and others'—poetry. Drawing on certain habits of early modern manuscript culture, I make visible to my students ways that reading and writing are socially embedded practices, which may variously involve exchange, reciprocity, or censorship. By adapting the "quaint" habits of manuscript culture practiced by Finch and many others to specific assignments, I encourage students to experience poetry as living, sociable occasions of reading and writing. To augment my students' engagement with early modern poetry I connect it to frameworks from their twenty-first-century reading and writing worlds. These exercises in "early modern social media" provide students with an intimate structure for studying a poem that resonates with many of their interests in creative writing and with their participation, mutatis mutandis, in one or more kinds of twentyfirst-century social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching the birdsong poems and compositions for musical settings of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, through media theory allows students to connect their own social-media-based expressive arts practices with the multimedia practices of early modern women writers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text is a review of The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, edited by Jennifer Keith et al. The review praises the edition as the standard scholarly edition of Finch's writing, replacing previous resources and providing a comprehensive and accessible collection of her work. It highlights Finch's contributions to literature, her use of classical and biblical references, and her exploration of various genres and themes. The review also commends the extensive introductory materials, meticulous editing, and collaborative nature of the edition. Overall, it recommends the edition as a valuable resource for scholars and readers interested in Finch's poetry and women's writing. [Extracted from the article]

The publication of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea makes it possible to teach not only a much wider assorted of her edited poetry, but also Finch’s two dramas: the tragicomedy The Triumphs of Love and Innocence, and the tragedy Aristomenes. This essay proposes integrating Finch’s plays into a course on Restoration and eighteenth-century drama by proposing a class, “Genre Trouble,” which sets them in dialogue with frequently-taught plays of the era. Included herein are a syllabus of primary and secondary sources, suggestions for discussing Finch’s plays and dramatic paratexts in comparison to works by Behn, Centlivre, Dryden, Otway, Rowe, and Wycherley, and a lesson plan that enables students to investigate differences between “closet” and professionally staged drama and understand how a playwright’s gender figures into this divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article recounts an instructional event for English majors held in the central campus library. Students engaged with various materials related to the career and editorial history of Anne Finch. The event offered students an introduction to questions of information literacy, textual history, and literary studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study sought to decipher the mechanism of transitions between life-history stages in a seasonally reproducing subtropical finch, Amandava amandava delineating the plasticity of the gonadotropes (LH cells), lactotropes (PRL cells), and thyrotropes (TSH cells) in the pituitary gland including the pars tuberalis, with regard to the in situ expression, morphological characteristics, and alteration in the plasma levels of hormones. Methods: Immunohistochemistry of LH, PRL, TSH cells, morphometry and densitometry of expressed hormones (Image J software analysis), and ELISA for plasma hormonal levels were performed. Results: LH, PRL, and TSH cells showed remarkable plasticity during the annual seasonal reproductive cycle. In the PT, all the 3 cell types were detected during the breeding phase, with additional detection of the TSH immunoreactivity during the pre-breeding and the PRL immunoreactivity during post-breeding phases. Pars distalis (PD) expressions and the plasma levels of the LH and TSH were at the peak during the breeding phase, but the PRL peak was during the post-breeding phase. In addition to PRL in the neurohypophysis and in the median eminence, hypothalamic PRL, and TSH were also elucidated. Conclusions: This study suggests activation of the gonadal axis by the PT TSH which might transduce seasonal cues, but not specifically photoperiod, in the birds of the tropics/subtropics. Post-breeding phase sustained high plasma TSH and peak plasma PRL might coordinate the transition to the non-breeding phase including the trigger of parental care as the later hormone assigned with. Hypothalamic TSH and PRL might influence events of seasonality through central modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In this study, we assessed whether the flight initiation distance (FID) of Saffron finches (Sicalis flaveola, Aves), commonly observed in urban centers in Brazil, was influenced by the direction of gaze, the number of people, behavior, and habituation to humans. To achieve this, the researcher walked at a constant speed towards groups of birds, alone or in a group, either looking directly at the birds or not, and in locations with heavy or low pedestrian traffic. The results showed that Saffron finches exhibited longer FIDs when more people approached them while staring directly at them. If the birds were alert, the FIDs were longer. Pedestrian traffic did not influence FID responses, meaning that the birds were not habituated to humans. Background: The flight initiation distance (FID) measures the distance a bird flees from an approaching predator. Factors such as the frequency of predator approaches, the direction of predator gaze, variations in predator presence across different areas, and the specific behaviors displayed by predators can all affect the FID. For birds, people can assume the role of predators. Methods: This study aimed to evaluate whether the FID of the species Sicalis flaveola (Saffron finch, Aves, Passeriformes) is influenced by the number of people and their gaze direction, comparing areas with the greater and lesser flow of people and relating to the types of behavior exhibited by the birds. Results: The results showed that the number of people walking towards the bird influenced the escape behavior, with more people generating longer FIDs than fewer people. If the approach was with the eyes fixed on the birds, the FIDs were longer. When birds were alert, FIDs were longer. Conclusion: Overall, the findings imply that birds exhibit nuanced reactions to human presence, even in areas with frequent human encounters, highlighting their advanced capacity for assessing and responding to perceived risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skin cancer is one of the most life-threatening diseases caused by the abnormal growth of the skin cells, when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. Early detection seems to be more crucial for reducing aberrant cell proliferation because the mortality rate is rapidly rising. Although multiple researches are available based on the skin cancer detection, there still exists challenges in improving the accuracy, reducing the computational time and so on. In this research, a novel skin cancer detection is performed using a modified falcon finch deep Convolutional neural network classifier (Modified Falcon finch deep CNN) that efficiently detects the disease with higher efficiency. The usage of modified falcon finch deep CNN classifier effectively analyzed the information relevant to the skin cancer and the errors are also minimized. The inclusion of the falcon finch optimization in the deep CNN classifier is necessary for efficient parameter tuning. This tuning enhanced the robustness and boosted the convergence of the classifier that detects the skin cancer in less stipulated time. The modified falcon finch deep CNN classifier achieved accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity values of 93.59%, 92.14%, and 95.22% regarding k-fold and 96.52%, 96.69%, and 96.54% regarding training percentage, proving more effective than literary works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of inexpensive and portable point‐of‐care devices for measuring nutritional physiological parameters from blood (e.g., glucose, ketones) has accelerated our understanding and assessment of real‐time variation in human health, but these have infrequently been tested or implemented in wild animals, especially in relation to other key biological or fitness‐related traits. Here we used point‐of‐care devices to measure blood levels of glucose, ketones, uric acid, and triglycerides in free‐ranging house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus)—a common songbird in North America that has been well‐studied in the context of urbanization, nutrition, health, and sexual selection—during winter and examined (1) repeatability of these methods for evaluating blood levels in these wild passerines, (2) intercorrelations among these measurements within individuals, (3) how blood nutritional‐physiology metrics related to a bird's body condition, habitat of origin (urban vs. suburban), poxvirus infection, and sex; and (4) if the expression of male sexually selected plumage coloration was linked to any of the nutritional‐physiological metrics. All blood‐nutritional parameters were repeatable. Also, there was significant positive covariation between concentrations of circulating triglycerides and glucose and triglycerides and uric acid. Urban finches had higher blood glucose concentrations than suburban finches, and pox‐infected individuals had lower blood triglyceride concentrations than uninfected ones. Last, redder males had higher blood glucose, but lower uric acid levels. These results demonstrate that point‐of‐care devices can be useful, inexpensive ways of measuring real‐time variation in the nutritional physiology of wild birds. Research highlights: House finches with a higher concentration of triglycerides also circulated more glucose and uric acid in the bloodstream.Urban house finches had higher glucose concentrations than rural birds, whereas poxvirus‐infected individuals had higher levels of triglycerides than finches without poxvirus.Redder house finches circulated higher concentrations of glucose but had lower uric acid levels, than less‐red males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an indispensable part of the healthcare system since it creates a link between the doctor and the patient for remote medical consultations. IoT-based seizure prediction detects seizures and monitors the health of patients remotely. The disease seizure is classified as the sudden and repeated malfunction of the neurons of the brain. To protect patients' lives, it's critical to recognise the risk of an epileptic seizure. In this research, a hybrid cuckoo finch optimisation is proposed using a tuned Deep-CNN (Deep-Convolutional Neural Network) classifier to recognise and predict the occurrence of epileptic seizures using electroencephalogram (EEG) signal data obtained through IoT. Initially, the gathered data is pre-processed and subjected to frequency band generation. Then there are the notable characteristics, such as statistical features, wavelet features, entropy-based features, spectral features, CPR (common spatial patterns), and logarithmic band power, which are extracted and concatenated. The optimal electrode selection is done by using the proposed hybrid cuckoo finch optimisation that inherits the characteristics of intrusive and attentive search agents. The data is finally normalised and fed to the proposed hybrid cuckoo finch optimisation tuned to Deep-CNN to classify the seizure disease. The specificity, accuracy, and sensitivity of the proposed model are 92.5212%, 97.7648%, and 95.6324%, which demonstrate the efficient performance of the proposed seizure prediction model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of specialized biological tools used by organisms tells a story about the environments that shaped them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age data are crucial for understanding and managing target species in commercial and recreational fisheries. Octopus catches are increasing worldwide, yet ageing methods are still in their infancy. Octopus age is estimated by counting growth increments in stylets and beaks. These increments have been validated as daily in some species or assumed to be daily in other species. Here, we conducted an age validation study on both the stylets and beaks of a commercial octopus species (Octopus berrima). Subsequently, we compared and assessed the readability of growth increments in beaks and stylets of wild-caught O. berrima. We found that increment periodicity was nondaily for both structures, with increment periodicity also varying between structures (0.75 increments per day for stylets and 0.53 increments per day for beak). This study highlights the importance of validating increment periodicity for different octopus species and for both stylets and beaks to obtain accurate age and growth data. Without accurate age data, a species may be incorrectly managed with the potential for negative effects on the sustainability of wild populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fauna Hawaiiensis represents a landmark in our understanding of how single ancestral forms can evolve into a diverse array of forms and functions. Here, I outline the contributions of R.C.L. Perkins, an early pioneer in studies of island fauna, and of the Hawaiian islands more generally. Their diverse and threatened birds, in particular, provided the early impetus for many ideas about evolution, biogeography and extinction, and this article outlines the genesis of many of these ideas in the 1890s and early 1900s. I end with a discussion on the oft-forgotten place that Perkins, and the Hawaiian finches, have in a broader understanding of evolutionary concepts and principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Remembering food resources is important for survival. Animals differ in their strategies to remember resources; some use spatial information, and others resource-specific information (colour, shape). Which strategy they use depends in part on their way of life (food-caching species and migratory species prefer spatial information), but is also affected by the salience of the information. Here, we investigated the strategy used in the colour-polymorphic Gouldian Finch by offering spatial and object (feature) cues. Birds were trained to find food either in a white or coloured feeder always positioned in the same location. In experimental trials, feeders were swapped, dissociating the feature and the spatial cues from the feature cue rewarded. Similar numbers of birds preferred the feature or the spatial cue in the first experimental trial, which was not affected by head colour morph, sex or age. However, birds with a spatial preference changed their choices over time, resulting in most birds choosing the feature cue at the end of the experiment. These results indicate that Gouldian Finches have individual preferences for one strategy or the other but can change their preference flexibly depending on the salience of the cue. Animals can use different cues to memorise food resources, which can be broadly divided into spatial and feature cues. Differences in species-specific preferences for spatial or feature cues has been historically linked to their reliance on spatial information (food-caching and migratory species prefer spatial cues), but more recently, attention has shifted to procedural differences largely affecting the salience of cues. Here, we investigated cue preferences in the colour-polymorphic Gouldian Finch to test a range of hypotheses. Birds were trained to find food either in a white or coloured feeder always positioned in the same location. In experimental trials, feeders were swapped, dissociating the feature and the spatial cue from the feature cue rewarded. Similar numbers of birds preferred the feature or the spatial cue in the first experimental trial. Preferences were not affected by head colour morph, sex or age group. However, birds with a spatial preference changed their choices over time, resulting in a significant number of birds choosing the feature cue at the end of the experiment. These results indicate that Gouldian Finches have individual preferences for one cue type or the other but can change their preference flexibly depending on the salience of the cue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay introduces Part Two of the two-part “Concise Collection on Teaching the Works of Anne Finch," guest edited by Jennifer Keith (Aphra Behn Online, vol. 14, no. 1, 2024). The first part of this collection appeared in Fall 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rates of compulsory (also known as involuntary) detention under mental health legislation have been rising over several decades in countries including England. Avoiding such detentions should be a high priority given their potentially traumatic nature and departure from usual ethical principles of consent and collaboration. Those who have been detained previously are at high risk of being detained again, and thus a priority group for preventive interventions. In a very sparse literature, interventions based on crisis planning emerge as having more supporting evidence than other approaches to preventing compulsory detention. Method: We have adapted and manualised an intervention previously trialled in Zürich Switzerland, aimed at reducing future compulsory detentions among people being discharged following a psychiatric admission that has included a period of compulsory detention. A co-production group including people with relevant lived and clinical experience has co-designed the adaptations to the intervention, drawing on evidence on crisis planning and self-management and on qualitative interviews with service users and clinicians. We will conduct a randomised controlled feasibility trial of the intervention, randomising 80 participants to either the intervention in addition to usual care, or usual care only. Feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and trial procedures will be assessed through process evaluation (including rates of randomisation, recruitment, and retention) and qualitative interviews. We will also assess and report on planned trial outcomes. The planned primary outcome for a full trial is repeat compulsory detention within one year of randomisation, and secondary outcomes include compulsory detention within 2 years, and symptoms, service satisfaction, self-rated recovery, self-management confidence, and service engagement. A health economic evaluation is also included. Discussion: This feasibility study, and any subsequent full trial, will add to a currently limited literature on interventions to prevent involuntary detention, a goal valued highly by service users, carers, clinicians, and policymakers. There are significant potential impediments to recruiting and retaining this group, whose experiences of mental health care have often been negative and traumatising, and who are at high risk of disengagement. Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN11627644. Registered 25th May 2022, https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11627644. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathogen adaptations during host-pathogen co-evolution can cause the host balance between immunity and immunopathology to rapidly shift. However, little is known in natural disease systems about the immunological pathways optimised through the trade-off between immunity and self-damage. The evolutionary interaction between the conjunctival bacterial infection Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and its avian host, the house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus), can provide insights into such adaptations in immune regulation. Here we use experimental infections to reveal immune variation in conjunctival tissue for house finches captured from four distinct populations differing in the length of their co-evolutionary histories with MG and their disease tolerance (defined as disease severity per pathogen load) in controlled infection studies. To differentiate contributions of host versus pathogen evolution, we compared house finch responses to one of two MG isolates: the original VA1994 isolate and a more evolutionarily derived one, VA2013. To identify differential gene expression involved in initiation of the immune response to MG, we performed 3'-end transcriptomic sequencing (QuantSeq) of samples from the infection site, conjunctiva, collected 3-days post-infection. In response to MG, we observed an increase in general proinflammatory signalling, as well as T-cell activation and IL17 pathway differentiation, associated with a decrease in the IL12/IL23 pathway signalling. The immune response was stronger in response to the evolutionarily derived MG isolate compared to the original one, consistent with known increases in MG virulence over time. The host populations differed namely in pre-activation immune gene expression, suggesting population-specific adaptations. Compared to other populations, finches from Virginia, which have the longest co-evolutionary history with MG, showed significantly higher expression of antiinflammatory genes and Th1 mediators. This may explain the evolution of disease tolerance to MG infection in VA birds. We also show a potential modulating role of BCL10, a positive B- and T-cell regulator activating the NFKB signalling. Our results illuminate potential mechanisms of house finch adaptation to MG-induced immunopathology, contributing to understanding of the host evolutionary responses to pathogen-driven shifts in immunityimmunopathology trade-offs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Darwin's finch species in the Galápagos Islands are famously distinguished by their morphology but less attention has been given to behavioral differences between species. In this study, we compared behavior between four Darwin's finch species on Floreana Island: small ground finch (Geospiza fuliginosa), medium ground finch (G. fortis), small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus), and medium tree finch (C. pauper). After capturing birds using mist-nets, we measured three behavioral traits: (1) boldness during human handling, (2) exploration in a novel environment, and (3) aggressiveness towards their mirror image. First, we found that ground finches were bolder and more exploratory than tree finches, consistent with their distinct ecological niches on Floreana Island and with the theoretical prediction that diet generalists should be less wary of novelty. Second, we tested the ecological validity of these behavioral variables at the individual level by relating them to territory defense behavior and breeding success. We found that males that were more exploratory in the novel environment also reacted more aggressively to a simulated territory intruder and showed lower offspring hatching success during the breeding season. Hence, our findings support previous work showing behavioral differences between Darwin's finch species and also suggest pathways by which behavioral differences among individuals might influence fitness. Significance statement: Closely-related species that overlap in their geographical range may differ in their morphology and/or behavior, allowing them to occupy different ecological niches. In this study, we explored behavioral differences between four Darwin's finch species on Floreana Island in the Galápagos Archipelago. We found clear interspecies differences in behavior, with the ground finches struggling more often during handling (boldness) and visiting more sectors in a novel environment (exploration) compared to the tree finches. After birds were released, we continued to observe a subset of male finches in the wild. An individual's exploration behavior significantly predicted both its aggressive response to a territory intruder (simulated using song playback) and offspring hatching success during the breeding season. This suggests that individual differences in exploration behavior can potentially be used as a proxy for territorial behavior in the wild and may also predict fitness outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic noise is a pervasive pollutant that affects wildlife at individual and group levels through mechanisms such as disrupting communication, affecting antipredator strategy, and/or changing how they use space within a habitat. Urbanization is expanding rapidly—few places remain untouched by anthropogenic noise disturbance—so understanding the implications of noise on wildlife behavior is paramount to conservation efforts. We asked whether traffic noise could change space use and social network metrics in flocks of captive birds. Specifically, we quantified the effects of playbacks of traffic noise on individual sociality (weighted degree, number of social partners weighted by the frequency of interactions with those social partners) and flock clustering (global clustering coefficient, connectivity of neighbors). In this study, we recorded social interactions and space use of flocks of captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) before, during, and after an experimental traffic noise introduction in two treatments: high- and lower-amplitude noise. Our results demonstrated that individual sociality and flock clustering increased in response to the noise introduction in both high-amplitude and low-amplitude treatments. Additionally, birds in the high-amplitude treatment spent more time in the room with active playback during noise playback whereas birds in the lower-amplitude treatment decreased time spent in the room closest to the high-amplitude treatment. Increased social behavior in response to traffic noise could influence disease transmission, social learning, and mating dynamics. We suggest future studies explore the mechanisms driving increased social behavior in traffic noise, such as perceived predation risk, vigilance, and cross-sensory interference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sperm traits are important in determining fertilisation success and are metabolically expensive to produce. There is little known about how energy acquisition and allocation affect sperm traits in avian taxa. This study assesses the impact of experimentally manipulated diet on long‐tailed finch sperm by comparing the length of sperm components (head, midpiece, flagellum and total sperm) between the treatment groups (homogenous diet and diverse diet) and across time points (before and after the experiment). Diet homogeneity was manipulated as this may impact diet quality in a species that is usually fed a diversity of seed species to thrive in captivity. Our results showed no impact of diet on the length of different sperm components. These results contrast with findings of a similar recent study of the zebra finch which found a significant level of diet‐affected plasticity in midpiece length. For both diet treatment groups in this study there was a slight but significant increase in head, flagellum and total sperm length over the treatment period. Despite this, all sperm components were highly repeatable, consistent with the finding from observational studies in passerine birds. The efficacy of our dietary manipulation was confirmed by a significant reduction in the saturation of bill colour in the long‐tailed finches as a result of the homogenous diet, and a difference in body mass across the treatment groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Human activity changes multiple factors in the environment, which can have positive or negative synergistic effects on organisms. However, few studies have explored the causal effects of multiple anthropogenic factors, such as urbanization and invasive species, on animals and the mechanisms that mediate these interactions. This study examines the influence of urbanization on the detrimental effect of invasive avian vampire flies (Philornis downsi) on endemic Darwin's finches in the Galápagos Islands. We experimentally manipulated nest fly abundance in urban and non‐urban locations and then characterized nestling health, fledging success, diet, and gene expression patterns related to host defense. Fledging success of non‐parasitized nestlings from urban (79%) and non‐urban (75%) nests did not differ significantly. However, parasitized, non‐urban nestlings lost more blood, and fewer nestlings survived (8%) compared to urban nestlings (50%). Stable isotopic values (δ15N) from urban nestling feces were higher than those from non‐urban nestlings, suggesting that urban nestlings are consuming more protein. δ15N values correlated negatively with parasite abundance, which suggests that diet might influence host defenses (e.g., tolerance and resistance). Parasitized, urban nestlings differentially expressed genes within pathways associated with red blood cell production (tolerance) and pro‐inflammatory response (innate immunological resistance), compared to parasitized, non‐urban nestlings. In contrast, parasitized non‐urban nestlings differentially expressed genes within pathways associated with immunoglobulin production (adaptive immunological resistance). Our results suggest that urban nestlings are investing more in pro‐inflammatory responses to resist parasites but also recovering more blood cells to tolerate blood loss. Although non‐urban nestlings are mounting an adaptive immune response, it is likely a last effort by the immune system rather than an effective defense against avian vampire flies since few nestlings survived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacity to create new behaviors is influenced by environmental factors such as foraging ecology, which can lead to phylogenetic variation in innovativeness. Alternatively, these differences may arise due to the selection of the underlying mechanisms, collaterally affecting innovativeness. To understand the evolutionary pathways that might enhance innovativeness, we examined the role of diet breadth and degree of extractive foraging, as well as a range of intervening cognitive and behavioral mechanisms (neophilia, neophobia, flexibility, motivation, and persistence). Darwin's finches are very suitable to this purpose: the clade is composed of closely related species that vary in their feeding habits and capacity to develop food innovations. Using a multi-access box, we conducted an interspecies comparison on innovative problem-solving between two diet specialists, extractive foragers (woodpecker and cactus finch), and two diet generalists, non-extractive foragers (small and medium ground finch). We predicted that if extractive foraging was associated with high innovativeness, variation would be best explained by species differences in persistence and motivation, whereas if diet generalism was the main driver, then variation would be due to differences in flexibility and responses to novelty. We found a faster capacity to innovate and a higher persistence for extractive foragers, suggesting that persistence might be adaptive to extractive foraging and only secondarily to innovation. Our findings also show that diet generalism and some variables linking it to innovation were unrelated to innovativeness and call for the development of joint experimental approaches that capture the diversity of factors giving rise to novel behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luminous fast blue optical transients (LFBOTs) – the prototypical example being AT 2018cow – are a rare class of events whose origins are poorly understood. They are characterized by rapid evolution, featureless blue spectra at early times, and luminous X-ray and radio emission. LFBOTs thus far have been found exclusively at small projected offsets from star-forming host galaxies. We present Hubble Space Telescope , Gemini, Chandra , and Very Large Array observations of a new LFBOT, AT 2023fhn. The Hubble Space Telescope data reveal a large offset (>3.5 half-light radii) from the two closest galaxies, both at redshift z ∼ 0.24. The location of AT 2023fhn is in stark contrast with previous events, and demonstrates that LFBOTs can occur in a range of galactic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Meiotic recombination, which involves the reshuffling of genes, plays an important role in generating biodiversity. However, studies on this process in bird chromosomes are scarce. Using antibodies targeting proteins involved in recombination, we examined the number of recombination events across the entire genome and their distribution along the largest chromosome in the germ cells of four closely related songbird species: Common linnet, Eurasian bullfinch, Eurasian siskin, and European goldfinch. We found significant variance in the frequency of recombination events among these species, as well as individual variability within each species. Across all four species, the distribution of recombination events on chromosome 1 was remarkably consistent, with more events occurring toward the chromosome ends and fewer near the centromere. The proximity of these events to the centromere depended on how many events took place on that chromosome, with more events being associated with closer locations. Interestingly, the size and type of the centromere did not influence this pattern. We propose that the scarcity of recombination events near the centromere may result from their sequential occurrence along the chromosome, starting from the chromosome ends, rather than from any specific influence from the centromere itself. Meiotic recombination is an important source of genetic diversity. Using immunolocalization of several meiotic proteins at the spreads of male pachytene cells, we estimated the number of recombination nodules per cell and their distribution along the macrochromosome 1 of the Common linnet, Eurasian bullfinch, Eurasian siskin, and European goldfinch. The macrochromosomes of the two former species have metapolycentromeres, composed of several centromeric domains. We detected significant interspecies differences in the mean numbers of recombination nodules per genome: 52.9 ± 2.8 in the linnet, 49.5 ± 3.5 in the bullfinch, 61.5 ± 6.3 in the siskin and 52.2 ± 2.7 in the goldfinch. Recombination patterns on macrochromosome 1 were similar across species, with more nodules localized near chromosome ends and fewer around centromeres. The distance from the proximal nodule to the centromere depended on the nodule count per chromosome arm, with more events leading to a closer location. However, species with different centromere types showed no difference in this regard. We propose that the deficiency of recombination sites near centromeres could be due to the sequential occurrence of crossovers starting from the chromosome ends and may not be attributed to any suppressive effect of the centromere itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the course of my teaching career, I have used the Anne Finch Digital Archive in two different classes in the English major at my university: the gateway and capstone courses. In the gateway course, it functions as one of several sites in a module on the Digital Humanities, and as a required text in the capstone course. The essay investigates the Digital Archive's strengths both as an example of a high-quality digital humanities project and as a rich site for the investigation and analysis of Finch's poetry. Assignment guidelines for the gateway module and the reading list for the capstone courses are included, as are illustrative screen shots from the site itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay outlines an approach to integrating Anne Finch's work into an advanced undergraduate and/or graduate course on eighteenth-century satire, focusing particularly on her satirical verse fables. This approach encourages students to question common critical assumptions about women and satire, most particularly that women avoided satire due to its association with aggression and politics--assumptions Finch's fables are well-suited to challenge. The essay focuses particularly on Finch's verse fables "Upon an Impropable Undertaking," "The Eagle, the Sow, and the Cat," and "The Owl Describing Her Young Ones." In these poems, written in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution, Finch employs violent imagery in order to emphasize the threat that political machinations characterized by self-interest, manipulation, and deceit posed to the future of the English nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues for the intentional inclusion of Anne Finch's diverse and compelling satires in the undergraduate British literature survey course and for the recognition of Finch as an accomplished theorist and practitioner of satire. The article includes practical strategies for pairing Finch's satires with other well-known and anthologized satires; examines her satires in the context of the Revolution of 1688; and provides an analysis of her innovative rhetorical strategies, including her efforts to dissociate herself from satire while simultaneously producing sharp and defiant satires. The article argues that cultivating a deeper understanding of Finch's contributions to eighteenth-century satire enriches a British literature survey course by highlighting women's contributions to the eighteenth-century practice of satire and by helping students recognize Finch's extraordinary depth and breadth as a poet and satirist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The works of Anne Finch, a writer doubly exiled as a female poet and Jacobite, stand out as eminently teachable examples of a compelling political outsider view that provokes us to consider how we can better attend to perspectives of principled opposition. Her poems in response to what has been called the "first modern revolution," together with her odes upon the deaths of King James II and Queen Mary Beatrice, showcase the subversive power of indirect articulation, expressing values through emotions and affects in veiled forms such as allegory and alternate history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host‐associated microbiota can be affected by factors related to environmental change, such as urbanization and invasive species. For example, urban areas often affect food availability for animals, which can change their gut microbiota. Invasive parasites can also influence microbiota through competition or indirectly through a change in the host immune response. These interacting factors can have complex effects on host fitness, but few studies have disentangled the relationship between urbanization and parasitism on an organism's gut microbiota. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigated the effects of urbanization and parasitism by the invasive avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi) on the gut microbiota of nestling small ground finches (Geospiza fuliginosa) on San Cristóbal Island, Galápagos. We conducted a factorial study in which we experimentally manipulated parasite presence in an urban and nonurban area. Faeces were then collected from nestlings to characterize the gut microbiota (i.e. bacterial diversity and community composition). Although we did not find an interactive effect of urbanization and parasitism on the microbiota, we did find main effects of each variable. We found that urban nestlings had lower bacterial diversity and different relative abundances of taxa compared to nonurban nestlings, which could be mediated by introduction of the microbiota of the food items or changes in host physiology. Additionally, parasitized nestlings had lower bacterial richness than nonparasitized nestlings, which could be mediated by a change in the immune system. Overall, this study advances our understanding of the complex effects of anthropogenic stressors on the gut microbiota of birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social and spatial organisation of avian societies is often complex and dynamic with individuals socialising with others in a local population. Although social interactions can readily be described in colonial breeders through the location of nests, social interactions regularly take place in other contexts that are often not considered. Social behaviour in the colonially breeding zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, has been the focus of much work in the laboratory, but very little is known about their social organisation in free‐living populations, especially outside the breeding context. Here we characterise semi‐permanent gathering locations, or 'social hotspots' in the zebra finch in the wild. We determined the use of such social hotspots and the resulting group dynamics by quantifying movements to and from these locations through direct observation and by quantifying the vocal activity at these locations using acoustic recorders. We show that, throughout the day, zebra finches regularly visit these hotspots, and the hotspots are occupied for a substantial proportion of the day. Individuals typically arrived and left in pairs, or small groups, indicating that these social hotspots do not function just for flock formation. Instead, the high levels of vocal activity at these hotspots indicate that they may potentially function as local hubs for socialisation and information exchange, whilst also perhaps providing safety‐in‐numbers benefits to individuals during periods of resting. These findings characterise an important component of the natural social life of one of the most widely studied birds in captivity. The characterisation of these social hotspots highlights the use of landmarks by birds to facilitate social contacts, cohesion, and behaviour, in a social bird. Similar hangouts and social hotspots may be a feature of social behaviour in other multi‐level aggregative species in which the fission and fusion of groups is an important component of daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wings, legs, and tail in Darwin's finches show many clear adaptations to different types of locomotion used during foraging. We use size scaling to analyse how various characters vary with body mass to clarify dimensional relationships. The selective advantage of a character is judged in terms of energy savings. The wing aspect ratio (4.6–4.9) is very low, so the energy costs for flight are high. Low body mass , low wing loading , and short arm wings in the warbler finch, small tree finch, and small ground finch promote agility and manoeuvrability among vegetation, along with short wings in the warbler finch. Evolution towards a shorter arm wing seems to be favoured in the smaller finch species. Long legs , long toes , and long curved claws are adaptations for climbing/clinging locomotion without tail support (woodpecker finch, small and large tree finches, cactus finch but having short legs). Selection for longer legs seems to act towards a lengthening of the tarsometatarsus. The climbing technique in the woodpecker finch is described. We discuss how the diversification in the beaks relates to the locomotion organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing concern that anthropogenic noise has various deleterious effects on wildlife in urban environments. In humans, it has been suggested that anthropogenic noise exposure during childhood can have long-term effects on cognitive processes in adulthood. Here we tested if urban noise impacts avian cognitive performance by testing adult zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) on several cognition tasks in the presence or absence of urban noise playback. We also tested if urban noise impacts growth and cognitive development by testing adult zebra finches on cognition tasks after exposing them to urban noise, pink noise, or no noise during their first 90 days of life. We found that urban noise exposure marginally reduced cognitive performance during tests of a novel motor skill but did not reduce performance during tests of color association learning or spatial memory tasks. We found that urban noise exposure during development marginally affected cognitive performance in adulthood on a color association task. While urban noise exposure during development did not affect adult body size, treated males and females developed less bright bill coloration and redder bills, respectively, than untreated birds. Our results suggest that urban noise exposure may affect morphological traits, such as bill color, that influence social interactions and mate choice. Future studies should examine how noise exposure affects other cognitive behaviors, such as social behavior, and how social behavior in turn might exacerbate or mitigate negative effects of noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avian females can alter nest‐site selection and breeding behaviour in response to changes in ambient temperature. However, whether females alter eggshell characteristics in response to high ambient temperature is underexplored. To fill this gap, wild‐derived and domesticated Zebra Finches were bred at temperatures of 18 °C and 30 °C or 35 °C. Here we show that eggs from finches bred at 18 °C and 30 °C had similar characteristics, but females exposed to 35 °C laid eggs that were significantly thinner compared with the 18 °C group. These data suggest that a temperature that is ecologically relevant to the species in the arid zone of Australia can influence eggshell thickness, which is one of the important factors for hatchability in birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous paper (Yunick 2018) described the decline in an Adirondack breeding population of Purple Finches (Haemorhous purpureus) over the period 1971-2015 attributable to climate change. An additional five years of capture data, 2016-2020, have been added showing continued decline most notably in annual numbers of immatures banded, down 93.3% from 1971-1975 to 2016-2020. Nearby National Weather data documented a mean annual temperature change of +1.49o F during the 1971-2015 period. Adding the 2016-2020 data to that of the 1971-2015 period causes that mean annual temperature change to rise to +2.61o F indicating an acceleration in warming. These 2016-2020 data extend the scope of this study out to an unprecedented total of 50 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive avian radiations associated with the diversification of bird beaks into a multitude of forms enabling different functions are exemplified by Darwin's finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. To elucidate the nature of these radiations, we quantified beak shape and skull shape using a variety of geometric measures that allowed us to collapse the variability of beak shape into a minimal set of geometric parameters. Furthermore, we find that just two measures of beak shape—the ratio of the width to length and the normalized sharpening rate (increase in the transverse beak curvature near the tip relative to that at the base of the beak)—are strongly correlated with diet. Finally, by considering how transverse sections to the beak centreline evolve with distance from the tip, we show that a simple geometry-driven growth law termed 'modified mean curvature flow' captures the beak shapes of Darwin's finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. A surprising consequence of the simple growth law is that beak shapes that are not allowed based on the developmental programme of the beak are also not observed in nature, suggesting a link between evolutionary morphology and development in terms of growth-driven developmental constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The granivorous finches of Australia's tropical savannas heavily rely on a sequence of perennial and annual grass seed production to feed throughout the year. An increase in late dry season wildfires has been suggested to detrimentally effect seed production sequence and has been attributed to poor physiological condition and a reduction in fitness of granivorous finches. Early dry season prescribed burning is an asset protection management strategy often implemented to reduce the incidence of late dry season wildfire, but has also been shown to improve the abundance and nutritional quality of grass seed Aims: To assess whether the Gouldian finch (Chloebia gouldiae) preferentially used areas that were subject to early dry season prescribed burning over areas that were not burnt. Methods: The creation of a landscape mosaic across the landscape with varying fire histories. Then the assessment of individual finch movement and site utilisation using VHF-radio telemetry transmitters, detected by an array of static receivers deployed across the landscape. Key results: Finches significantly preferred to forage in areas burnt in the early season every 2–3 years. Conclusions: The study demonstrates that early dry season prescribed burning creates preferred foraging habitat patches for Gouldian finches within savanna fire mosaics. Using Animal Biotelemetry we showed that Gouldian finches preferentially usedareas which had undergone 2–3 years of early dry season prescribed burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay introduces Part One of the two-part "Concise Collection on Teaching the Works of Anne Finch," guest edited by Jennifer Keith ( Aphra Behn Online, vol. 13, no. 2, 2023). The second part of this collection is scheduled for Spring 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a side-scan sonar target detection technique for CPU or low-performance GPU to meet the requirement of underwater target detection. To rectify the gray distribution of the original side scan sonar data, enhance picture segmentation, and supply the data distribution probability for the clustering algorithm, the methodology uses a classic image processing technique that is GPU-friendly. The modified adaptive Finch clustering technique is used to segment the image and remove image voids after assessing the processed image attributes. The posterior information is then used to apply a classification label to each pixel. The characteristics of the connected region are analyzed in the data playback of the Tuandao experiment in accordance with the imaging principle of side-scan sonar and the original shape and size characteristics of the target. The predicted target results are combined with the AUV navigation information to obtain the predicted target longitude and latitude information, which is then sent to the AUV master control system to guide the next plan. The Jiaozhou Bay sea test results demonstrate that the traditional target detection algorithm put forth in this paper can be integrated into a low-performance GPU to detect targets and locate them. The detection accuracy and speed exhibit strong performance, and real-time autonomous sonar detection is made possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]