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Abstract
The tomb of the Burgundian duke Philip the Bold in Dijon, designed by the Haarlem-born sculptor Claus Sluter, holds a key position in the development of Western funerary art, especially on account of the lively and moving depiction of the cortège of weepers around the tomb. In this monument it is they who provide an example to their beholders – namely, how to mourn the deceased ruler. Not only do these expressive statuettes encourage the viewer to pray for Philip’s soul, but they also evoke the actual funeral liturgy of the duke. While the clerical mourners move in a single direction and form a procession, the lay figures seem to move more freely, directing themselves towards the tomb’s onlookers and stimulating them to pray for Philip’s afterlife. This conflation of transitional and everlasting rituals expresses a duality in late Gothic attitudes towards death.
Key to the effective enactment of policy and high quality learning and teaching in schools is a contemporary understanding of teachers’ beliefs, and an awareness of the professional issues which are particularly important to them. Despite a surge in academic and policy interest in physical education in Scotland, only two studies have examined teachers’ views on a range of professional issues in the last 25 years. To address this limitation, researchers at the University of Edinburgh designed the ‘Professional Issues in Physical Education Survey’ (PIPES) which aims to inform and support professional learning and research in physical education in future years. The article reports on the systematic development and piloting of PIPES, and how this reflected in the high degree of consensus the teachers reported for the professional issues identified. Findings indicated that concerns over pupil engagement, subject aims, curriculum time, resources and workload took precedence over more generic curriculum ambitions such as interdisciplinary learning and transitions. In addition, it is anticipated that the methodological groundwork undertaken in PIPES will be helpful in supporting other Anglophone countries to develop similar survey instruments particular to their own contexts.
Abstract
The integration of infective juveniles of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema feltiae, with chemical insecticides to control second instar stages of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, was investigated. The effects of direct exposure for 24 h to field rate dilutions of four insecticides (imidacloprid, buprofezin, teflubenzuron and nicotine) on nematode infectivity to Galleria mellonella larvae were tested in a sand tube bioassay. Teflubenzuron had the least adverse effect on the nematodes whilst imidacloprid, buprofezin and nicotine significantly reduced nematode infectivity. The impact of dry insecticide residue present on tomato and verbena foliage on nematode infectivity against B. tabaci larvae was investigated for buprofezin, teflubenzuron and nicotine (imidacloprid is a systemic pesticide and no residues would occur on foliage). No significant reduction on the level of control of B. tabaci was recorded when compared with the infectivity of nematodes applied to residue-free foliage of either tomato or verbena plants. Nematodes in combination with imidacloprid gave significantly higher B. tabaci larvae mortality compared to either treatment individually on both host plants. The integration of S. feltiae and these chemical agents into an integrated pest management programme for the control of B. tabaci is discussed.
Abstract
Social eavesdropping can guide mate choice and the assessment of competitor quality. In the endangered Leon Springs pupfish (Cyprinodon bovinus), males establish breeding territories that they defend from conspecifics and heterospecific egg predators. Females enter the breeding area to assess males and spawn in their territories. It was hypothesized that male and female C. bovinus eavesdrop on social interactions within male territories to evaluate each territorial male’s ability to exclude intruders and attract potential mates. Using a repeated design, a bottle containing either a female C. bovinus, a non-territorial male C. bovinus, a swarm of G. nobilis, or water was placed at the centre of a male’s territory. Territorial males received more spawns and females spawned more frequently per visit when a female stimulus was present. These results suggest that females eavesdrop to inform their mating decisions, but this may be limited to the assessment of extra-pair females within territories.
Abstract
Territoriality arises when the benefits of resources exceed the costs of defending them. The dear enemy phenomenon, where familiar territorial neighbours refrain from intruding on one another and mutually reduce their defensive efforts, allows for reduction of these costs but requires discrimination between conspecifics. We hypothesized that territorial vocalizations in red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) are used for this discrimination. We performed a speaker replacement experiment where red squirrels (