Individual heterogeneity influences the effects of translocation on urban dispersal of an invasive reptile

Background Invasive reptiles pose a serious threat to global biodiversity, but early detection of individuals in an incipient population is often hindered by their cryptic nature, sporadic movements, and variation among individuals. Little is known about the mechanisms that affect the movement of these species, which limits our understanding of their dispersal. Our aim was to determine whether translocation or small-scale landscape features affect movement patterns of brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis), a destructive invasive predator on the island of Guam. Methods We conducted a field experiment to compare the movements of resident (control) snakes to those of snakes translocated from forests and urban areas into new urban habitats. We developed a Bayesian hierarchical model to analyze snake movement mechanisms and account for attributes unique to invasive reptiles by incorporating multiple behavioral states and individual heterogeneity in movement parameters. Results We did not observe strong differences in mechanistic movement parameters (turning angle or step length) among experimental treatment groups. We found some evidence that translocated snakes from both forests and urban areas made longer movements than resident snakes, but variation among individuals within treatment groups weakened this effect. Snakes translocated from forests moved more frequently from pavement than those translocated from urban areas. Snakes translocated from urban areas moved less frequently from buildings than resident snakes. Resident snakes had high individual heterogeneity in movement probability. Conclusions Our approach to modeling movement improved our understanding of invasive reptile dispersal by allowing us to examine the mechanisms that influence their movement. We also demonstrated the importance of accounting for individual heterogeneity in population-level analyses, especially when management goals involve eradication of an invasive species.

Delayed timing of breeding attempts, but not time lost to nest construction, reduces the annual reproductive output of the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

For many birds, nest construction is a costly aspect of parental care, trading finite energetic resources between parental care and self-maintenance. For multi-brooded organisms with short breeding seasons, such as migratory passerines, repeated nest construction could be especially costly if the activity delays the onset of breeding attempts. Earlier studies on passerines that reuse nests between breeding seasons suggested that time lost to initial nest construction reduces seasonal reproductive output. However, costs associated with building new nests between breeding attempts, within the same breeding season, have largely been ignored. Here, we experimentally removed first nests, after fledging or failing, of Eastern Phoebes ( Sayornis phoebe), to evaluate how the annual onset of breeding and nest construction between breeding attempts affected parental investment into second attempts. We found that first egg laying date negatively predicted the probability of second breeding attempts, but experimental treatment (first nest removal vs. control) did not. Neither first egg laying date nor treatment statistically influenced any of the reproductive traits in second breeding attempts (clutch size, nestling body condition, and nestling growth rate). We conclude that in this species, second breeding attempts are limited by the initial onset of seasonal reproduction, and not by time lost to nest construction between breeding attempts.

Taxes in the Time of Revolution: An Experimental Test of the Rentier State during Algeria's Hirak

In this paper we examine the rentier thesis that a state's control over oil resources should help it resist calls for democratization. During Algeria's mass mobilization for regime change known as the Hirak in 2019, we implemented an interactive experimental treatment providing specific information about the Algerian government's high subsidies of gasoline and low value-added taxes with regional comparisons. Based on a sample of 5,968 Algerians, we find that when Algerians learn about their country's relatively high level of fuel subsidies and low level of taxes, their assessments of the government's performance improves; however, we do not see similar patterns for respondents' expressed intention to join the protests due to treatment heterogeneity defined by respondent wealth. Wealthier respondents report lower protest intentions upon learning about the scope of the rentier state, whereas poorer respondents report much higher protest intentions upon receiving the treatment. As a result, we find that the rentier state may be capable of improving perceptions of regime performance, yet still permit mass mobilization if there are class differences in the perceived benefits derived from redistribution.

Influencing Activity of Bats by Dimly Lighting Wind Turbine Surfaces with Ultraviolet Light

Wind energy producers need deployable devices for wind turbines that prevent bat fatalities. Based on the speculation that bats approach turbines after visually mistaking them for trees, we tested a potential light-based deterrence method. It is likely that the affected bats see ultraviolet (UV) light at low intensities. Here, we present the results of a multi-month experiment to cast dim, flickering UV light across wind turbine surfaces at night. Our objectives were to refine and test a practical system for dimly UV-illuminating turbines while testing whether the experimental UV treatment influenced the activity of bats, birds, and insects. We mounted upward-facing UV light arrays on turbines and used thermal-imaging cameras to quantify the presence and activity of night-flying animals. The results demonstrated that the turbines can be lit to the highest reaches of the blades with “invisible” UV light, and the animal responses to such experimental treatment can be concurrently monitored. The UV treatment did not significantly change nighttime bat, insect, or bird activity at the wind turbine. Our findings show how observing flying animals with thermal cameras at night can help test emerging technologies intended to variably affect their behaviors around wind turbines.

Effective Evidence-Informed Policy: A Partnership among Government, Implementers, and Researchers

Evidence matters for the effectiveness of public policies,but important informational frictions—that is, resistanceto obtaining or using information on the subject at hand—sometimes prevent it from shaping policy decisions.Hjort et al. (2021) showed that reducing those frictionscan change not only political leaders’ beliefs but alsothe policies they implement. One-way information, fromresearch to policy, may sometimes be insufficient, though.Policymakers may be agnostic about the effectiveness ofan intervention, or they may not know which of its featuresrequire adjustment. A process of policy experimentationmay be needed (Duflo 2017), in which policies arerigorously evaluated at a small scale, the findings of those evaluations inform the policy design, and a new evaluation determines the effectiveness of a fine-tuned version of the intervention, with the assessment continuing until the program is ready to be scaled up. This process requires very close collaboration among government, implementers, and researchers. The means by which evidence is produced is also important. A frequent criticism of researcher-designed interventions is that results may not be relevant. One reason is that pilot programme’s participants or circumstances may be atypical, with the result that the experimental treatment, even if implemented with fidelity, may not achieve similar outcomes in other settings (Al Ubaydli et al. 2017; Vivalt 2017). A second reason is that governments may lack the capability to implement with fidelity interventions tested in randomized control trials. A partnership between policymakers and researchers can help attenuate these concerns. A recent experience in Colombia provides a good example of such a partnership at work. “Let’s All Learn to Read” is an ambitious programme to improve literacy skills among elementary schoolchildren (Grades K–5). Spearheaded by the Luker Foundation, a local nongovernmental organisation, in collaboration with the Secretary of Education of Manizales (Colombia), the programme began with a systematic data collection effort in the municipality’s public primary schools to understand why students were failing to acquire the most basic academic skills. This led to several interventions over many years during which multidisciplinary teams of researchers working in close collaboration with local stakeholders and policymakers designed and evaluated different features of the programme.

FOLFOXIRI/Bevacizumab Plus Nivolumab as First-Line Treatment in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer RAS/BRAF Mutated: Safety Run-In of Phase II NIVACOR Trial

The NIVACOR trial is a phase II study assessing the efficacy and safety of nivolumab in combination with FOLFOXIRI/bevacizumab in first-line setting in patients affected by metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) RAS/BRAF mutated. We report safety run-in results in the first 10 patients enrolled. Patients received triplet chemotherapy with FOLFOXIRI scheme plus bevacizumab, in association with nivolumab every 2 weeks for 8 cycles (induction phase) followed by bevacizumab plus nivolumab every 2 weeks (maintenance phase), until progression of disease or unacceptable toxicities. The first ten patients were evaluated: 7 experienced at least one adverse event (AE) related to FOLFOXIRI/bevacizumab and 2 related to nivolumab. The most frequent grade 1–2 AEs related to FOLFOXIRI/bevacizumab were diarrhea and fatigue (71%), nausea and vomiting (57%); 3 (43%) had grade 3–4 neutropenia, and 2 (20%) patients developed grade 1–2 AEs nivolumab related: skin rash and salivary gland infection. Two patients delayed the dose because of serious AEs, proteinuria and salivary gland infection; one patient discontinued experimental treatment due to the ileo-urethral fistula and concurrent Clostridium infection diarrhea. No treatment- related death occurred. The safety run-in analysis of NIVACOR trial reassured using co-administration of FOLFOXIRI/bevacizumab and nivolumab was well tolerated with an acceptable toxicity profile.Clinical Trial Registrationhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/, (NCT04072198).

Low Transcriptomic Plasticity of Antarctic Giant Isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus Juveniles Exposed to Acute Thermal Stress

The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is among the areas of the planet showing some of the most significant increases in air and water temperature. It is projected that increasing temperature will modulate coastal ecosystems at species ecological performance and molecular composition. The main way that the organisms can cope with large thermal variation is by having a reversible phenotypic plasticity, which provides the organisms with a compensatory physiological response when facing challenging conditions. The giant Antarctic isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus is one of most common species in Antarctic waters. This species has a larval development inside of the maternal marsupium, where juveniles have a short period to acclimate to environmental conditions after birth. In this sense, we hypothesize that juveniles exposed to unusual temperature increases even for short periods, would not respond adequately showing a narrow phenotypic plasticity. We experimentally assessed if early juveniles of G. antarcticus have the molecular plasticity when exposed to increased temperature at 5°C during 1, 6, 12 and 24 h. Sequenced libraries were compared between control (0°C) and each experimental treatment to detect differentially expressed transcripts. The main molecular pathways affected by thermal stress were antioxidant, proteases, endopeptidases and ubiquination transcripts which were up-regulated and mitochondrial respiratory chain, cuticle, cytoskeleton and a molt transcript which were down-regulated. Regarding the HSP transcript, only 3 were up-regulated at least in two points of the stress kinetic, without classical Hsp70 and Hsp90 transcripts. This study shows that juveniles of G. antarcticus do not show molecular phenotypic plasticity to cope with acute short-term heat stress, even for one or few hours of exposure with an absence of an eco-physiological capacity to respond. This may have consequences at the ecological population level, showing a reduced individual ability to survive decreasing population recruitment.

Unexpected Selective Absorption of Lithium in Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide Membranes

Lithium plays an increasingly important role in scientific and industrial processes, and it is extremely important to extract lithium from a high Mg2+/Li+ mass ratio brine or to recover lithium from the leachate of spent lithium-ion batteries. Conventional wisdom shows that Li+ with low valence states has a much weaker adsorption (and absorption energy) with graphene than multivalent ions such as Mg2+. Here, we show the selective adsorption of Li+ in thermally reduced graphene oxide (rGO) membranes over other metal ions such as Mg2+, Co2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, or Fe2+. Interestingly, the adsorption strength of Li+ reaches up to 5 times the adsorption strength of Mg2+, and the mass ratio of a mixed Mg2+/Li+ solution at a very high value of 500 : 1 can be effectively reduced to 0.7 : 1 within only six experimental treatment cycles, demonstrating the excellent applicability of the rGO membranes in the Mg2+/Li+ separation. A theoretical analysis indicates that this unexpected selectivity is attributed to the competition between cation–π interaction and steric exclusion when hydrated cations enter the confined space of the rGO membranes.