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Existing studies demonstrate that threat perceptions matter for immigration attitudes. However, while these perceptions are potentially sensitive to information about immigrants' impacts, questions remain about whether inserting such information into public debates changes attitudes and policy preferences—especially on polarizing issues like immigration. Moreover, few studies have considered messages featuring the type of nonphotorealistic visual elements that increasingly appear in media. Using a survey experiment fielded in the United Kingdom, we examined whether evidence about European Union immigrants' modestly positive economic impacts on the United Kingdom—presented either as text, with visualizations, or as an animated film—changed immigration attitudes and policy preferences. Although visual elements did not have an effect over and above text, all the informational treatments moved attitudes and preferences in positive directions, even among Leave voters. Our study brings together research on immigration public opinion and visual media and has implications for policymaking and journalism practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do governments visually communicate policies, and what does this reveal about actors' political objectives? Governments strategically narrate their priorities, yet few studies examine this process through visual modes. We contribute to theoretical and empirical understanding in policy studies by focusing on the UK government's COVID-19 response through its daily press briefings during the first wave of 2020. Combining quantitative changepoint and content analysis with qualitative discourse analysis, we examine all 79 sets of slides when briefings occurred. We identify a reactive phase focused on communicating knowledge about the pandemic in a boundedly rational manner, and a proactive phase that created new policy-based narratives of the pandemic. Besides contributing to emerging pandemic-related policy scholarship, we argue that conceiving these visualizations as visual narrative assemblages is relevant more broadly because it shifts attention to the interaction and interdependence of multiple visualizations as they enable policymakers to perform their authority to govern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic and interventions addressing it raise important questions about human mobility that have geopolitical implications. This forum uses mobility and immobility during the pandemic as lenses onto the ways that routinised state power reacts to acute uncertainties, as well as how these reactions impact politics and societies. Specifically, we propose the concept of "shock mobility" as migratory routines radically reconfigured: emergency flights from epicentres, mass repatriations, lockdowns, quarantines. Patterns of shock mobility and immobility are not new categories of movement, but rather are significant alterations to the timing, duration, intensity, and relations among existing movements. Many of these alterations have been induced by governments' reactions to the pandemic in both migrant-sending and receiving contexts, which can be especially consequential for migrants in and from the Global South. Our interventions explore these processes by highlighting experiences of Afghans and Kurds along Iran's borders, Western Africans in Europe, Filipino workers, irregular Bangladeshis in Qatar, Central Americans travelling northwards via Mexico, and rural-urban migrants in India. In total, we argue that tracing shocks' dynamics in a comparative manner provides an analytical means for assessing the long-term implications of the pandemic, building theories about how and why any particular post-crisis world emerges as it does, and paving the way for future empirical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prey seldom rely on a single type of antipredator defence, often using multiple defences to avoid predation. In many cases, selection in different contexts may favour the evolution of multiple defences in a prey. However, a prey may use multiple defences to protect itself during a single predator encounter. Such "defence portfolios" that defend prey against a single instance of predation are distributed across and within successive stages of the predation sequence (encounter, detection, identification, approach (attack), subjugation and consumption). We contend that at present, our understanding of defence portfolio evolution is incomplete, and seen from the fragmentary perspective of specific sensory systems (e.g., visual) or specific types of defences (especially aposematism). In this review, we aim to build a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing the evolution of multiple prey defences, beginning with hypotheses for the evolution of multiple defences in general, and defence portfolios in particular. We then examine idealized models of resource trade‐offs and functional interactions between traits, along with evidence supporting them. We find that defence portfolios are constrained by resource allocation to other aspects of life history, as well as functional incompatibilities between different defences. We also find that selection is likely to favour combinations of defences that have synergistic effects on predator behaviour and prey survival. Next, we examine specific aspects of prey ecology, genetics and development, and predator cognition that modify the predictions of current hypotheses or introduce competing hypotheses. We outline schema for gathering data on the distribution of prey defences across species and geography, determining how multiple defences are produced, and testing the proximate mechanisms by which multiple prey defences impact predator behaviour. Adopting these approaches will strengthen our understanding of multiple defensive strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What visual features characterize online migration data visualizations, and what do they suggest for the politics of representing migration and informing public attitudes? Audiences increasingly encounter quantitative information through visualization, especially in digital environments. Yet visualizations have political dimensions that manifest themselves through "conventions," or shared symbols and practices conveying meaning. Using content analysis, I identify patterns of representation in a sample of 277 migration data visualizations scraped from Google Images. I find evidence of several conventions including appeals to objectivity and traceability as well as perspectives and units of analysis centered on states—particularly higher income migrant destinations. Then, by locating my analysis within the growing field of digital migration studies, I argue these conventions potentially shape public attitudes and understandings about migrants, and contribute to broader migration politics involving categorization and quantification that have relevance both on- and off-line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deimatic behaviours, also referred to as startle behaviours, are used against predators and rivals. Although many are spectacular, their proximate and ultimate causes remain unclear. In this review we aim to synthesise what is known about deimatic behaviour and identify knowledge gaps. We propose a working hypothesis for deimatic behaviour, and discuss the available evidence for the evolution, ontogeny, causation, and survival value of deimatic behaviour using Tinbergen's Four Questions as a framework. Our overarching aim is to direct future research by suggesting ways to address the most pressing questions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers studying international organizations have access to growing and varied archives due to digitization efforts. While developments in computational methods confer efficiency gains for examining these materials at scale, they raise concerns about their validity when applied to interpretive tasks in historical settings. In response, we present a general and flexible workflow that uses simple computational techniques from linguistics to enhance archival researchers' interpretive skills and sensitivity to historical contexts. These techniques also identify patterns that can serve as evidence of causal mechanisms when embedded within strong research designs and theoretical expectations. Then, we demonstrate our mixed-method approach by applying it to a dataset of International Labour Organization's (ILO) annual reports spanning ninety-three years. Examining the ILO's engagement with refugees as described in these documents, we identify key moments during which refugees have been particularly salient for this organization, and the emergence of new issues on its high-level policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities increasingly facilitate as well as study social change alongside decision‐makers and users. This is partly in response to demands for civic engagement and demonstrable public impact. While existing scholarship has critically examined these collaborations' impacts, less work addresses either how they develop or what benefits they confer to participants—especially those operating at local scales. By examining two university‐initiated networks comprising 28 cities in 12 European countries working on immigrant integration issues, we show how two‐way knowledge exchange among researchers and municipal policymakers can foster peer learning and co‐productive dynamics. We argue that these exchanges socialize cities into more cohesive groups with shared goals and agendas, particularly in low‐salience policy areas, as integration can be in some national contexts. Moreover, universities and university‐affiliated researchers play unique roles in facilitating this process. Our results have theoretical implications for multi‐level and networked governance and offer practical guidance for designing knowledge exchange initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine the multidimensional character of migration policy preferences, and whether humanitarian values matter for these preferences. • We conducted a pre-registered conjoint experiment in Colombia in 2021 (N = 2,508), a major host of forced migrants globally. • Colombians favor fewer restrictions on Venezuelans' right to work, healthcare access, family reunification, or location within Colombia. • There is support for placing some restrictions on the number of Venezuelans entering the country and the length of their residence in Colombia. • Respondents holding stronger humanitarian preferences favor fewer restrictions in domains addressing core needs of health, family, and work. What migration policies do people in receiving countries prefer, and to what extent do humanitarian concerns matter for these preferences? Despite sustained scholarly attention to migration attitudes in high-income countries, much less work examines public policy preferences—particularly in low- and middle-income countries that receive most forced migrants globally. While legislators can propose and implement migration policies involving multiple domains that differ in restrictiveness, their choices partly rely on public support that may vary depending on the policy area at stake. This makes understanding preferences for realistic migration policies in a multidimensional manner theoretically and empirically important. In response, we conducted a pre-registered conjoint experiment (N = 2,508) fielded in Colombia, the country that has received the largest share of Venezuelan emigrants who themselves currently comprise one of the world's largest migratory flows. Colombians prefer more open policy options that place either some or no restrictions on Venezuelan migrants' labor market access, ability to bring family members, access to public healthcare, or freedom to choose where they live within Colombia. However, there is support for restrictions on the overall number of Venezuelans allowed to settle in the country, as well as the length of time that Venezuelans are allowed to stay in Colombia. Moreover, respondents holding higher levels of humanitarianism prefer less restrictive policies towards Venezuelans relative to those holding stronger economic and material values—particularly in domains addressing core needs of health, family reunification, and employment. Our study contributes novel and timely evidence of multidimensional migration policy preferences from a highly-impacted case, while also showing how altruistic values relating to humanitarianism selectively matter for these preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caudal autotomy is a dramatic antipredator adaptation where prey shed their tail in order to escape capture by a predator. The mechanism underlying the effectiveness of caudal autotomy as a pre‐capture defense has not been thoroughly investigated. We tested two nonexclusive hypotheses, that caudal autotomy works by providing the predator with a "consolation prize" that makes it break off the hunt to consume the shed tail, and the deflection hypothesis, where the autotomy event directs predator attacks to the autotomized tail enabling prey escape. Our experiment utilized domestic dogs Canis familiaris as model predator engaged to chase a snake‐like stimulus with a detachable tail. The tail was manipulated to vary in length (long versus short) and conspicuousness (green versus blue), with the prediction that dog attacks on the tail should increase with length under the consolation‐prize hypothesis and conspicuous color under the deflection hypothesis. The tail was attacked on 35% of trials, supporting the potential for pre‐capture autotomy to offer antipredator benefits. Dogs were attracted to the tail when it was conspicuously colored, but not when it was longer. This supports the idea that deflection of predator attacks through visual effects is the prime antipredator mechanism underlying the effectiveness of caudal autotomy as opposed to provision of a consolation prize meal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dorsal surfaces of many taxonomic groups often feature repetitive pattern elements consisting of stripes, spots, or bands. Here, we investigate how distinct categories of camouflage pattern work by relating them to ecological and behavioral traits in 439 species of gecko. We use phylogenetic comparative methods to test outstanding hypotheses based on camouflage theory and research in other taxa. We found that bands are associated with nocturnal activity, suggesting bands provide effective camouflage for motionless geckos resting in refugia during the day. A predicted association between stripes and diurnal activity was not supported, suggesting that stripes do not work via dazzle camouflage mechanisms in geckos. This, along with a lack of support for our prediction that plain patterning should be associated with open habitats, suggests that similar camouflage patterns do not work in consistent ways across taxa. We also found that plain and striped lineages frequently switched between using open or closed habitats, whereas spotted lineages rarely transitioned. This suggests that pattern categories differ in how specialized or generalized their camouflage is. This result has ramifications for theory on how camouflage compromises to background heterogeneity and how camouflage pattern might influence evolutionary trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discriminating conspecifics from heterospecifics can help avoid costly interactions between closely related sympatric species. The guenons, a recent primate radiation, exhibit high degrees of sympatry and form multi-species groups. Guenons have species-specific colorful face patterns hypothesized to function in species discrimination. Here, we use a machine learning approach to identify face regions most essential for species classification across fifteen guenon species. We validate these computational results using experiments with live guenons, showing that facial traits critical for accurate classification influence selective attention toward con- and heterospecific faces. Our results suggest variability among guenon species in reliance on singletrait-based versus holistic facial characteristics for species discrimination, with behavioral responses and computational results indicating variation from single-trait to whole-face patterns. Our study supports a role for guenon face patterns in species discrimination, and shows how complex signals can be informative about differences between species across a speciose and highly sympatric radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For example, individuals use their body coloration to avoid detection and recognition, startle predators, signal unpalatability, and divert predator attacks ([4]). [3] review provides a novel and refreshing perspective on the conflicting selection pressures that shape animal coloration, and the multifunctional strategies that have evolved as a result. Thus, the categorization of defensive coloration strategies provides a unique opportunity to re-examine the link between coloration and behavioral defense in the context of function(s) and mechanism(s). [Extracted from the article]

• Drag reduction through solar warming is much less likely for swimmers than fliers. • Water more readily absorbs solar radiation. • Warm surfaces cool more quickly in water. • Swimming near the water's surface is energetically costly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When and how does press coverage maintain independence from governments’ preferred language? Leading scholarship argues that elites shape media content, especially in foreign affairs settings where journalists rely on official sources. But do media push back in domestic policy contexts? Focusing on immigration in Britain, we find press coverage exhibits signs of autonomy that rely on the state’s administrative branches. Our evidence comes from automated linguistic analysis of 190,000 items of migration coverage in nineteen national British newspapers from 2006 to 2015, and press releases published by the U.K. Home Office between 2010 and 2015. We show that the press increasingly portrayed immigration in terms of its scale. Then, by comparing the dynamics of a key government policy—lowering “net migration”—in press and Home Office rhetoric, we illustrate the limits of the government to insert its desired language into the press. Finally, we argue routine press interactions with the nonpolitical Office for National Statistics enabled coverage that diverged from politicians’ preferred lines. Our study contributes to press-state theory by providing evidence of media semiautonomy in a domestic policy arena, and highlighting the often-overlooked role of routine, bureaucratic procedure in supporting that autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do border security practitioners engage with data and technology, and what difficulties or limitations arise from these engagements? Responding to calls for critically examining how technological ‘solutions’ are enacted, we analyse the notion of e-Borders in the UK context as an assemblage comprising abstract conditions, concrete objects, and agents whose roles often manifest themselves through perceptions and practices. We draw upon interviews with former and currently serving senior staff from the UK Home Office, UK Border Force, intelligence services, and private sector suppliers. Practitioners’ reflections reveal how political, social, and human factors—including intuition and management cultures—both construct the e-Border assemblage and introduce discontinuities and frictions within it. Using a more tightly specified theory of assemblage, we highlight how human agents contribute to datafied phenomena like border control. In total, our study emphasises how assemblages are dynamic, never entirely coherent, and always being re-made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisms frequently gain advantages when they engage in signalling with individuals of other species. Here, we provide a functionally structured framework of the great variety of interspecific visual signals seen in nature, and then describe the different signalling mechanisms that have evolved in response to each of these functional requirements. We propose that interspecific visual signalling can be divided into six major functional categories: anti-predator, food acquisition, anti-parasite, host acquisition, reproductive and agonistic signalling, with each function enabled by several distinct mechanisms.We support our classification by reviewing the ecological and behavioural drivers of interspecific signalling in animals and plants, principally focusing on comparative studies that address large-scale patterns of diversity. Collating diverse examples of interspecific signalling into an organized set of functional and mechanistic categories places anachronistic behavioural and morphological labels in fresh context, clarifies terminology and redirects research effort towards understanding environmental influences driving interspecific signalling in nature. This article is part of the themed issue 'Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing theoretical models make different predictions on which life history strategies facilitate growth of small populations. While 'fast' strategies allow for rapid increase in population size and limit vulnerability to stochastic events, 'slow' strategies and bet-hedging may reduce variance in vital rates in response to stochasticity. We test these predictions using biological invasions since founder alien populations start small, compiling the largest dataset yet of global herpetological introductions and life history traits. Using state-of-the-art phylogenetic comparative methods, we show that successful invaders have fast traits, such as large and frequent clutches, at both establishment and spread stages. These results, together with recent findings in mammals and plants, support 'fast advantage' models and the importance of high potential population growth rate. Conversely, successful alien birds are bet-hedgers. We propose that transient population dynamics and differences in longevity and behavioural flexibility can help reconcile apparently contrasting results across terrestrial vertebrate classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public opposition to immigration in Britain reflects perceptions of immigrants that focus disproportionately on "illegal" immigration and asylum seekers, rather than more numerous workers, students, and family members. This study examines coverage of immigration in the British national press, to see whether press portrayals of migrants provide a basis for these images of immigration underlying public attitudes. We use corpus linguistic methods to analyze 43 million words of news from 2010 to 2012. Among other findings, we show that press portrayals match public perceptions of migrants, with "illegal immigrants" and "failed asylum seekers" as predominant depictions in broadsheet and tabloid newspapers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of intrasexual and intersexual selection on male trait evolution can be difficult to disentangle, especially based on observational data. Male-male competition can limit an observer's ability to identify the effect of female mate choice independently from sexual coercion. Here, we use an experimental approach to explore whether an ornament, the red facial skin exhibited by male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), might be involved in both female mate choice and male-male competition. We used a noninvasive experimental approach based on the looking time paradigm in a free-ranging setting, showing images of differently colored male faces to both adult females (N= 91) and males (N= 77), as well as to juveniles (N= 94) as a control. Results show that both adult females and males looked longer at dark red faces compared with pale pink ones. However, when considering the proportion of subjects that looked longer at dark red faces regardless of preference strength, only females showed a significant dark red bias. In contrast, juveniles did not show any preferences between stimuli, suggesting that the adult bias is not a consequence of the experimental design or related to a general sensory bias for red coloration among all age-sex classes. Collectively, these results support the role the ornament plays in female mate choice in this species and provide the first evidence that this ornament may play a role in male-male competition as well, despite a general lack of observational evidence for the latter effect to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors comment on an article in the periodical, which focuses on ethical aspects of physicians refusing to perform abortions and role of conscience in it. Topics discussed include the need to accommodation women's rights with the rights of physicians for conscientious objection to abortion; the refusal to abortion in life-threatening emergencies; and the risk for women at the Michigan Catholic hospitals.

Recent discussion in critical border studies has reaffirmed the validity and necessity of multiperspectival approaches which move beyond state-centric outlooks to include diverse viewpoints of people at or on borders. One understudied aspect of everyday border life involves how international development organisations fit within wider dynamics of cross-border activities. Drawing upon experiences of development projects at a key border crossing between Kenya and Uganda, I explore (1) how perceptions of risk and danger contribute to constructions of the border towns as places in need of development interventions, and (2) how this border also adds to practical and logistical concerns already held by development organisations as they deliver these interventions. I argue that the place-based mix of location, material forms, and perceptions or practices impacts how ‘inter-national development’ is rationalised in border regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note reflects on the gaps and limitations confronting the development of ethical principles regarding the accessibility of large-scale data for civil society organizations (CSOs). Drawing upon a systematic scoping study on the use of data in the United Kingdom (UK) civil society, it finds that there are twin needs to conceptualize accessibility as more than mere availability of data, as well as examine the use of data among CSOs more generally. In order to deal with the apparent “digital divide” in UK civil society – where, despite extensive government rhetoric about data openness, organizations face not only the barriers of limited time, funds, and expertise to harness data but also the lack of representation within existing data – we present a working model in which ethical concerns accompanying data utilization by civil society may be better accounted. This suggests there is a need for further research into the nexus of civil society and data upon which interdisciplinary discussion about the ethical dimensions of engagement with data, particularly informed by insight from the social sciences, can be predicated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Why are some snakes blotchy and others stripy? Evidence suggests it mainly depends on a snake’s behavior strategy. Analysis of the patterns of 171 species of North American and Australian snakes showed that blotched snakes are generally large ambush hunters, whereas plain and striped snakes are especially active or flee rapidly away from predator.Species in the suborder Serpentes present a powerful model for understanding processes involved in visual signal design. Although vision is generally poor in snakes, they are often both predators and prey of visually oriented species. We examined how ecological and behavioral factors have driven the evolution of snake patterning using a phylogenetic comparative approach. The appearances of 171 species of Australian and North American snakes were classified using a reaction-diffusion model of pattern development, the parameters of which allow parametric quantification of various aspects of coloration. The main findings include associations between plain color and an active hunting strategy, longitudinal stripes and rapid escape speed, blotched patterns with ambush hunting, slow movement and pungent cloacal defense, and spotted patterns with close proximity to cover. Expected associations between bright colors, aggressive behavior, and venom potency were not observed. The mechanisms through which plain and longitudinally striped patterns might support camouflage during movement are discussed. The flicker-fusion hypothesis for transverse striped patterns being perceived as uniform color during movement is evaluated as theoretically possible but unlikely. Snake pattern evolution is generally phylogenetically conservative, but by sampling densely in a wide variety of snake lineages, we have demonstrated that similar pattern phenotypes have evolved repeatedly in response to similar ecological demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of visual signal design is gaining momentum as techniques for studying signals become more sophisticated and more freely available. In this paper we discuss methods for analyzing the color and form of visual signals, for integrating signal components into visual scenes, and for producing visual signal stimuli for use in psychophysical experiments. Our recommended methods aim to be rigorous, detailed, quantitative, objective, and where possible based on the perceptual representation of the intended signal receiver(s). As methods for analyzing signal color and luminance have been outlined in previous publications we focus on analyzing form information by discussing how statistical shape analysis (SSA) methods can be used to analyze signal shape, and spatial filtering to analyze repetitive patterns. We also suggest the use of vector-based approaches for integrating multiple signal components. In our opinion elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) is the most promising technique for shape quantification but we await the results of empirical comparison of techniques and the development of new shape analysis methods based on the cognitive and perceptual representations of receivers. Our manuscript should serve as an introductory guide to those interested in measuring visual signals, and while our examples focus on primate signals, the methods are applicable to quantifying visual signals in most taxa. Am. J. Primatol. 75:664-682, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countershading, a vertical luminance gradient from a dark back to a light belly, is perhaps the most common coloration phenotype in the animal kingdom. Why? We investigated whether countershading functions as self-shadow concealment (SSC) in ruminants. We calculated "optimal" countershading for SSC by measuring illumination falling onto a model ruminant as a function of time of day and lighting environment. Calibrated images of 114 species of ruminant were compared to the countershading model, and phylogenetic analyses were used to find the best predictors of coats' countershading characteristics. In many species, countershading was close to the model's prediction of "optimal" countershading for SSC. Stronger countershading was associated with increased use of open lighting environments, living closer to the equator, and small body size. Abrupt transitions from dark to light tones were more common in open lighting environments but unassociated with group size or antipredator behavior. Though the SSC hypothesis prediction for stronger countershading in diurnal species was not supported and noncountershaded or reverse-countershaded species were unexpectedly common, this basic pattern of associations is explained only by the SSC hypothesis. Despite extreme variation in lighting conditions, many terrestrial animals still find protection from predation by compensating for their own shadows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A complete explanation of the diversity of animal colour patterns requires an understanding of both the developmental mechanisms generating them and their adaptive value. However, only two previous studies, which involved computer-generated evolving prey, have attempted to make this link. This study examines variation in the camouflage patterns displayed on the flanks of many felids. After controlling for the effects of shared ancestry using a fully resolved molecular phylogeny, this study shows how phenotypes from plausible felid coat pattern generation mechanisms relate to ecology. We found that likelihood of patterning and pattern attributes, such as complexity and irregularity, were related to felids' habitats, arboreality and nocturnality. Our analysis also indicates that disruptive selection is a likely explanation for the prevalence of melanistic forms in Felidae. Furthermore, we show that there is little phylogenetic signal in the visual appearance of felid patterning, indicating that camouflage adapts to ecology over relatively short time scales. Our method could be applied to any taxon with colour patterns that can reasonably be matched to reaction-diffusion and similar models, where the kinetics of the reaction between two or more initially randomly dispersed morphogens determines the outcome of pattern development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative biologists are often interested in inferring covariation between multiple biological traits sampled across numerous related taxa. To properly study these relationships, we must control for the shared evolutionary history of the taxa to avoid spurious inference. An additional challenge arises as obtaining a full suite of measurements becomes increasingly difficult with increasing taxa. This generally necessitates data imputation or integration, and existing control techniques typically scale poorly as the number of taxa increases. We propose an inference technique that integrates out missing measurements analytically and scales linearly with the number of taxa by using a post-order traversal algorithm under a multivariate Brownian diffusion (MBD) model to characterize trait evolution. We further exploit this technique to extend the MBD model to account for sampling error or nonheritable residual variance. We test these methods to examine mammalian life history traits, prokaryotic genomic and phenotypic traits, and HIV infection traits. We find computational efficiency increases that top two orders-of-magnitude over current best practices. While we focus on the utility of this algorithm in phylogenetic comparative methods, our approach generalizes to solve long-standing challenges in computing the likelihood for matrix-normal and multivariate normal distributions with missing data at scale. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we investigate the camouflage consequences of animal orientation behaviour. Shadows can be a conspicuous cue to the presence of prey. For bilaterally symmetrical animals, light field modelling indicates that camouflage will be improved when an animal orients its longitudinal axis directly towards or away from the sun, because the appearance of shadows is minimized. We test this prediction with a field predation experiment, in which wild birds hunt for artificial camouflaged prey oriented with the longitudinal axis either parallel or perpendicular to the sun. We find that prey oriented parallel to the sun are 3.93 times more likely to survive than prey oriented perpendicular to the sun. This result demonstrates the strong orientation dependence of camouflage. Given the dramatic difference in survival of prey with different orientations, we suggest that camouflage should be investigated as an important determinant of the positional behaviour of animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sticky traps are one of the most important tools for monitoring and mass trapping of insect pests. Their effectiveness depends on attracting and capturing target pests efficiently. Trap colour strongly affects capture rates, but currently a principled approach to identifying optimal trap colour for a given pest and growing context is lacking. Here we propose that modelling pest colour vision enables identification of trap colours that optimise pest capture rates. We test this novel approach to trap design in field trials on Western flower thrips (WFT) Frankiniella occidentalis, an economically damaging pest of agriculture and horticulture worldwide. Prior studies have reported that WFT prefer blue and yellow sticky traps, aligning with recent evidence that WFT have trichromatic colour vision with peak sensitivities in the UV, blue and green portion of the visual spectrum and a blue-green colour opponent mechanism. Therefore, we hypothesised that a shade of blue that maximally stimulates the blue photoreceptor whilst minimally stimulating the green photoreceptor would improve sticky trap capture rates, while a shade of blue that decreased the opponent response would reduce capture rates. In three field experiments, we found strong support for this hypothesis: the optimised blue colour captured 1.3–2.6 times more WFT than current commercial trap colours. Our results also demonstrated that visual modelling can identify optimally contrasting colours for two-colour traps that further improve capture rates. This study provides a novel and principled approach to the design of visual traps that could be extended to other pest management contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a legal case against Hartford Hospital's drug therapy management in Hartford, Connecticut. Claims of the plaintiff; Court decision over the case; Distinction between innovative therapy and human experimentation.

The article reports on the rapid growth of the animal coloration field with inquiries on how animals utilize pigments to create color and its information.

Careful investigation of the form of animal signals can offer novel insights into their function. Here, we deconstruct the face patterns of a tribe of primates, the guenons (Cercopithecini), and examine the information that is potentially available in the perceptual dimensions of their multicomponent displays. Using standardized colour-calibrated images of guenon faces, we measure variation in appearance both within and between species. Overall face pattern was quantified using the computer vision 'eigenface' technique, and eyebrow and nose-spot focal traits were described using computational image segmentation and shape analysis. Discriminant function analyses established whether these perceptual dimensions could be used to reliably classify species identity, individual identity, age and sex, and, if so, identify the dimensions that carry this information. Across the 12 species studied, we found that both overall face pattern and focal trait differences could be used to categorize species and individuals reliably, whereas correct classification of age category and sex was not possible. This pattern makes sense, as guenons often form mixed-species groups in which familiar conspecifics develop complex differentiated social relationships but where the presence of heterospecifics creates hybridization risk. Our approach should be broadly applicable to the investigation of visual signal function across the animal kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the role of traits in dispersal is necessary to improve our knowledge of historical biogeography, community assembly processes and predictions of species' future movements. Here we aimed to determine the relationship between three traits (coastal distribution, body size, position on the fast/slow life history continuum) and past dispersal probability on an evolutionary timescale in chameleons (Chamaeleonidae). Using species' distribution data we identified the nine most important biogeographic regions for all included chameleons (181/217 species). We compiled life history trait data and used phylogenetic factor analysis to infer independent body size and fast/slow life history trait axes. Finally, we tested whether traits and trait combinations related to biogeographic dispersal success in the past, using trait‐dependent biogeographic models. All three traits were associated with past biogeographical movements. Lineages having coastal distributions and those with large bodies had higher dispersal probabilities. Interestingly, chameleons with either a very fast or very slow life history were more successful dispersers than species with an intermediate strategy. Together, the three traits – coastal, large‐bodied and extreme life history – form a dispersal syndrome. Traits have played an important role in the biogeographic history of chameleons. While only fast traits have been linked to present‐day invasion success in reptiles, both extremes of the life history spectrum were likely advantageous for dispersal and establishment during past biogeographic movements. Fast‐living species may be less susceptible to stochastic extinction in the first phases of a colonization (due to rapid population growth), and slow‐living species may be less vulnerable to environmental stochasticity (due to low demographic variability). Our results call for broader analyses testing the general influence of life history strategy in biogeographic dispersal success, which would help explain species distribution patterns on Earth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primate trichromatic colour vision has been hypothesized to be well tuned for detecting variation in facial coloration, which could be due to selection on either signal wavelengths or the sensitivities of the photoreceptors themselves. We provide one of the first empirical tests of this idea by asking whether, when compared with other visual systems, the information obtained through primate trichromatic vision confers an improved ability to detect the changes in facial colour that female macaque monkeys exhibit when they are proceptive. We presented pairs of digital images of faces of the same monkey to human observers and asked them to select the proceptive face. We tested images that simulated what would be seen by common catarrhine trichromatic vision, two additional trichromatic conditions and three dichromatic conditions. Performance under conditions of common catarrhine trichromacy,and trichromacy with narrowly separated LM cone pigments (common in female platyrrhines), was better than for evenly spaced trichromacy or for any of the dichromatic conditions. These results suggest that primate trichromatic colour vision confers excellent ability to detect meaningful variation in primate face colour. This is consistent with the hypothesis that social information detection has acted on either primate signal spectral reflectance or photoreceptor spectral tuning, or both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why some organisms become invasive when introduced into novel regions while others fail to even establish is a fundamental question in ecology. Barriers to success are expected to filter species at each stage along the invasion pathway. No study to date, however, has investigated how species traits associate with success from introduction to spread at a large spatial scale in any group. Using the largest data set of mammalian introductions at the global scale and recently developed phylogenetic comparative methods, we show that human-mediated introductions considerably bias which species have the opportunity to become invasive, as highly productive mammals with longer reproductive lifespans are far more likely to be introduced. Subsequently, greater reproductive output and higher introduction effort are associated with success at both the establishment and spread stages. High productivity thus supports population growth and invasion success, with barriers at each invasion stage filtering species with progressively greater fecundity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual selection produces extravagant male traits, such as colorful ornaments, via female mate choice. More rarely, in mating systems in which males allocate mating effort between multiple females, female ornaments may evolve via male mate choice. Females of many anthropoid primates exhibit ornaments that indicate intraindividual cyclical fertility, but which have also been proposed to function as interindividual quality signals. Rhesus macaque females are one such species, exhibiting cyclical facial color variation that indicates ovulatory status, but in which the function of interindividual variation is unknown. We collected digital images of the faces of 32 rhesus macaque adult females. We assessed mating rates, and consortship by males, according to female face coloration. We also assessed whether female coloration was linked to physical (skinfold fat, body mass index) or physiological (fecal glucocorticoid metabolite [fGCM], urinary C-peptide concentrations) condition. We found that redder-faced females were mated more frequently, and consorted for longer periods by top-ranked males. Redder females had higher fGCM concentrations, perhaps related to their increased mating activity and consequent energy mobilization, and blood flow. Prior analyses have shown that female facial redness is a heritable trait, and that redder-faced females have higher annual fecundity, while other evidence suggests that color expression is likely to be a signal rather than a cue. Collectively, the available evidence suggests that female coloration has evolved at least in part via male mate choice. Its evolution as a sexually selected ornament attractive to males is probably attributable to the high female reproductive synchrony found in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proceedings of the 2nd Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank summarize the most contemporary clinical, electrophysiological, and computational work on DBS for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric disease and represent the insights of a unique multidisciplinary ensemble of expert neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, scientists, engineers and members of industry. Presentations and discussions covered a broad range of topics, including advocacy for DBS, improving clinical outcomes, innovations in computational models of DBS, understanding of the neurophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Tourette syndrome (TS) and evolving sensor and device technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Stem cells are noted for their ability to self-renew and differentiate into a variety of cell types. Some stem cells, described as totipotent cells, have tremendous capacity to self-renew and differentiate. Embryonic stem cells have pluripotent capacity, able to form tissues of all 3 germ layers but unable to form an entire live being. Research with embryonic stem cells has enabled investigators to make substantial gains in developmental biology, therapeutic tissue engineering, and reproductive cloning. However, with these remarkable opportunities many ethical challenges arise, which are largely based on concerns for safety, efficacy, resource allocation, and methods of harvesting stem cells. Discussing the moral and legal status of the human embryo is critical to the debate on stem cell ethics. Religious perspectives and political events leading to regulation of stem cell research are presented and discussed, with special attention directed toward the use of embryonic stem cells for therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Adult stem cells were previously thought to have a restricted capacity to differentiate; however, several reports have described their plasticity potential. Furthermore, there have been close ties between the behavior of stem cells and cancer cells. True eradication of cancer will require a deeper understanding of stem cell biology. This article was written to inform medical scientists and practicing clinicians across the spectrum of medical education about the research and regulatory issues affecting the future of stem cell therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]