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Over the past decade, drones have become increasingly popular in environmental biology and have been used to study wildlife on all continents. Drones have become of global importance for surveying breeding seabirds by providing opportunities to transform monitoring techniques and allow new research on some of the most threatened birds. However, such fast-changing and increasingly available technology presents challenges to regulators responding to requests to carry out surveys and to researchers ensuring their work follows best practices and meets legal and ethical standards. Following a workshop convened at the 14th International Seabird Group Conference and a subsequent literature search, we collate information from over 100 studies and present a framework to ensure drone-seabird surveys are safe, effective, and within the law. The framework comprises eight steps: (1) Objectives and Feasibility; (2) Technology and Training; (3) Site Assessment and Permission; (4) Disturbance Mitigation; (5) Pre-deployment Checks; (6) Flying; (7) Data Handling and Analysis; and (8) Reporting. The audience is wide-ranging with sections having relevance for different users, including prospective and experienced drone-seabird pilots, landowners, and licensors. Regulations vary between countries and are frequently changing, but common principles exist. Taking-off, landing, and conducting in-flight changes in altitude and speed at ≥ 50 m from the study area, and flying at ≥ 50 m above ground-nesting seabirds/horizontal distance from vertical colonies, should have limited disturbance impact on many seabird species; however, surveys should stop if disturbance occurs. Compared to automated methods, manual or semi-automated image analyses are, at present, more suitable for infrequent drone surveys and surveys of relatively small colonies. When deciding if drone-seabird surveys are an appropriate monitoring method long-term, the cost, risks, and results obtained should be compared to traditional field monitoring where possible. Accurate and timely reporting of surveys is essential to developing adaptive guidelines for this increasingly common technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difficult romantic relationships are common in college, with painful breakups often leading students to seek help from the college counseling center. However, these already painful situations are further complicated when one member of the couple refuses to allow the relationship to end. An area of particular confusion on the part of the college counselor is when to seek the Dean's campus equivalent of a restraining order. In the following we suggest the Dean's intervention can be both sensitive to the unique psychological struggles of a person in such a relationship and important to further the student's personal development. Several of Shakespeare's sonnets and the work of Jacques Lacan are used to further develop an appreciation of the obsessive dynamic. (Contains 1 note.)

In this article, the authors respond to Dr. Amada's comment on their paper. They feel that several of his points, though related to their topic, go beyond the scope of their paper, for example, reflecting on the potential for legal involvement when the intensity of the obsessive relationship warrants urgent intervention. In the latter case the authors agree that it is "abundantly clear" that practitioners do what is necessary to prevent harm. This point strikes them as quite obvious. However, one area of Amada's consideration compels their comment. Amada makes the point that the primary function of the dean's restraining order is to send a message to the rejected and less stable member of the couple that to continue his pursuit of his rejecting paramour would be to jeopardize his college career. Few would argue that the potentially punitive nature of a restraining order is an important reality of its strategic use. However, the authors hope they have shown that a fuller appreciation of the story is a bit more complicated than this. In essence the authors are saying that the "restraining order" might be thought of as more than only a legally or administratively appropriate intervention. It might also be viewed as a developmentally appropriate intervention. The restraining order might also in some sense be sustaining. The authors are not wondering "if" a restraining order can work (they have experienced that it can.) What they are more interested in is "how" it works, with a specific focus on the internal worlds and developmental needs of lovers in this kind of difficult situation.

Difficult romantic relationships are common in college, with painful breakups often leading students to seek help from the college counseling center. However, these already painful situations are further complicated when one member of the couple refuses to allow the relationship to end. An area of particular confusion on the part of the college counselor is when to seek the Dean's campus equivalent of a restraining order. In the following we suggest the Dean's intervention can be both sensitive to the unique psychological struggles of a person in such a relationship and important to further the student's personal development. Several of Shakespeare's sonnets and the work of Jacques Lacan are used to further develop an appreciation of the obsessive dynamic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The costs and benefits of dominance status have been investigated in the past and it has generally been reported that subdominant birds are at a nutritional disadvantage owing to their low dominance status. The nutritional condition of birds during winter can be important in determining their likelihood of survival. This is particularly so in small passerines that are sensitive to severe weather conditions. Ptilochronology is an accurate method used to produce a long-term estimate of body condition spanning the number of days that it takes to grow a new feather. Ptilochronology was used during this study to estimate the nutritional condition of Coal TitsParus aterduring one winter and how condition was affected by dominance status. Dominant Coal Tits produced poorer quality feathers, which they grew at a slower rate, than did subdominant conspecifics. This study highlights a nutritional cost to high dominance status that could have long-term consequences because the induced tail feathers will not be replaced for at least 5 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a response to the comments of the article discussing the intervention of obsessive relationship among students. Right of a student to seek for legal and institutional administrative intervention; Primary function of the dean's restraining order; Punitive nature of a restraining order.