Research on proactive and reactive aggression has identified covariates unique to each function of aggression, but hypothesized correlates have often not been tested with consideration of developmental changes in or the overlap between the types of aggression. The present study examines the unique developmental trajectories of proactive and reactive aggression over adolescence and young adulthood and tests these trajectories’ associations with key covariates: callous–unemotional (CU) traits, impulsivity, and internalizing emotions. In a sample of 1,211 justice-involved males (ages 15–22), quadratic growth models (i.e., intercepts, linear slopes, and quadratic slopes) of each type of aggression were regressed onto quadratic growth models of the covariates while controlling for the other type of aggression. After accounting for the level of reactive aggression, the level of proactive aggression was predicted by the level of CU traits. However, change in proactive aggression over time was not related to the change in any covariates. After accounting for proactive aggression, reactive aggression was predicted by impulsivity, both at the initial level and in change over time. Results support that proactive and reactive aggression are unique constructs with separate developmental trajectories and distinct covariates.

In Britain large numbers of animals are taken into captivity for treatment or care and then subsequently returned to the wild, but there are few data on the effectiveness of these rehabilitation programmes. In this study, over a period of four years 251 fox cubs that had been captive-reared were tagged and released; 90 were recovered. Survival rates were low, and road traffic accidents were found to be a major cause of mortality immediately following release. Recovery distances were lower than expected. The stress associated with captive-rearing meant that released foxes weighed less than wild-reared foxes, and they suffered further weight loss in the period immediately following release, even though an analysis of the stomach contents of animals recovered dead showed that released foxes rapidly learnt to hunt successfully.

It was concluded that captive-rearing is a problematic process for foxes, and contrary to predictions they face severe problems in adapting following release. Suggestions are made for the improvement of fox captive-rearing and release programmes, and the need for similar studies on other species is highlighted.

The release of animals from captivity frequently leads to a period of erratic movement behaviour which is thought to expose the animal to a high risk of mortality. Twenty-six foxes which had been reared at a wildlife hospital or captive-bred, were radio-collared when nearly full-grown and released without site acclimation. Immediately after release there was an erratic phase of behaviour, during which the foxes travelled widely and movement parameters were markedly elevated. For those foxes which survived, a second phase was entered after an average of 17.2 days, during which one small area only was used, and movement parameters were much reduced. In a second study, nine foxes were released following site acclimation in a pre-release pen; this process postponed but did not eliminate the phase of high movement activity.

This pattern of movement was compared with the dispersal behaviour of wild-reared foxes. It was concluded that released foxes, despite being proficient in other aspects of behaviour, were moving and behaving in a markedly abnormal manner and this resulted in a high death rate. The results are used to discuss methods of improving rehabilitation techniques.

In this paper, we propose an efficient diagnostic technique for determining spatially resolved measurements of the ion density ratio in a magnetized two-ion species plasma. Shear Alfvén waves were injected into a mixed helium–neon plasma using a magnetic loop antenna, for frequencies spanning the ion cyclotron regime. Two distinct propagation bands are observed, bounded by $\omega < \varOmega _\textrm {Ne}$ and $\omega _{ii} < \omega < \varOmega _\textrm {He}$, where $\omega _{ii}$ is the ion–ion hybrid cutoff frequency and $\varOmega _\textrm {He}$ and $\varOmega _\textrm {Ne}$ are the helium and neon cyclotron frequencies, respectively. A theoretical analysis of the cutoff frequency was performed and shows it to be largely unaffected by kinetic electron effects and collisionality, although it can deviate significantly from $\omega _{{ii}}$ in the presence of warm ions due to ion finite Larmor radius effects. A new diagnostic technique and accompanying algorithm was developed in which the measured parallel wavenumber $k_\parallel$ is numerically fit to the predicted inertial Alfvén wave dispersion in order to resolve the local ion density ratio. A major advantage of this algorithm is that it only requires a measurement of $k_\parallel$ and the background magnetic field in order to be employed. This diagnostic was tested on the Large Plasma Device at UCLA and was successful in yielding radially localized measurements of the ion density ratio.

Correct diagnosis of cause of death is necessary to suggest the most effective management interventions to reduce perinatal lamb mortality. Haemorrhage on the surface of the brain has been used as a field diagnostic tool to allocate lambs to a cause of death category, but the usefulness of this method was unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether gross pathology was related to neuronal death and whether haemorrhage of the central nervous system (CNS) was distinct between differing causes of death, enabling indicators to be used in field diagnoses. Lambs dying from natural causes (n = 64) and from euthanasia (n = 7) underwent postmortem examination, then the brain and spinal cord were extracted and examined histologically. Histological changes consistent with neuronal death were not detected in any lamb. Haemorrhage of the meninges and/or parenchyma of the CNS occurred in all lambs. The age of the haemorrhage indicated that it occurred near the time of death in most lambs. Dilation of blood vessels varied in severity but appeared to be unrelated to causal diagnosis, severity of subcutaneous oedema, breathing or milk status. Moderate or severe dilation of blood vessels and haemorrhage of the CNS did not occur in all lambs with alternative clear indicators of dystocia and occurred in all death classifications, so it could not be used as diagnostic indicators for classification of cause of death. Dilation and haemorrhage were unrelated to neuronal damage and may have been artefactual. In conclusion, haemorrhage of the CNS was not indicative of neuronal damage and could not be used to distinguish between lambs with clear indicators of differing causes of death, so it is not recommended as a field diagnostic tool.

The apple leaf midge, Dasineura mali (Kieffer) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), an invasive alien pest established for many years in Nova Scotia, Canada, has invaded Ontario and British Columbia, Canada apple (Malus domestica Borkhausen; Rosaceae) orchards, damaging growing tips of trees. Molecular analysis indicated that Nova Scotia populations are genetically different from Ontario and British Columbia populations. Pheromone trap captures, oviposition on growing apple terminals, and the incidence of third instars indicate three D. mali generations in each province. Platygaster demades Walker (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), released in Nova Scotia in 1993, parasitised 34% of the third midge generation in that province and was reared from D. mali for the first time in 2016 in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Lyrcus nigroaeneus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) parasitised up to 21% of D. mali in southwestern Ontario. Synopeas myles (Walker) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) was recorded from D. mali for the first time, one specimen in each of Nova Scotia and Ontario, and was the most important parasitoid in British Columbia. Synopeas myles parasitism in Okanagan and Similkameen, British Columbia orchards increased from 0% to a mean of 30% of D. mali larvae from 2014 to 2016. Other minor parasitoids included Platygaster tuberosula Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Platygasteridae) in all three provinces and Aphanogmus vicinus Förster (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronidae) in British Columbia.

Negative interactions between people and large carnivores are common and will probably increase as the human population and livestock production continue to expand. Livestock predation by wild carnivores can significantly affect the livelihoods of farmers, resulting in retaliatory killings and subsequent conflicts between local communities and conservationists. A better understanding of livestock predation patterns could help guide measures to improve both human relationships and coexistence with carnivores. Environmental variables can influence the intensity of livestock predation, are relatively easy to monitor, and could potentially provide a useful predictive framework for targeting mitigation. We chose lion predation of livestock as a model to test whether variations in environmental conditions trigger changes in predation. Analysing 6 years of incident reports for Pandamatenga village in Botswana, an area of high human–lion conflict, we used generalized linear models to show that significantly more attacks coincided with lower moonlight levels and temperatures, and attack severity increased significantly with extreme minimum temperatures. Furthermore, we found a delayed effect of rainfall: lower rainfall was followed by a significantly increased severity of attacks in the following month. Our results suggest that preventative measures, such as introducing deterrents or changing livestock management, could be implemented adaptively based on environmental conditions. This could be a starting point for investigating similar effects in other large carnivores, to reduce livestock attacks and work towards wider human–wildlife coexistence.

We examined whether morphological awareness made a significant contribution to word-level reading across Grades 1 to 4. We test these relations specifically in a task measuring awareness of past-tense forms. A total of 375 children from Grades 1 to 4 completed tasks assessing past-tense morphological awareness along with real word and pseudoword reading. Children also completed control measures assessing phonological awareness, phonological short-term memory, sentence-level language skills, and nonverbal cognitive ability. After these controls, past-tense morphological awareness was a significant predictor of real word reading in Grades 1 and 2, but not in Grades 3 and 4. Further, following on all controls, past-tense morphological awareness was a consistent predictor of pseudoword reading across Grades 1 to 4. Morphological awareness, at least as measured with past-tense verbs, appears to have a role in word reading across the early to middle elementary school grades; for young readers, there are relations to reading of both known and novel words, and for older readers, relations are significant specifically in reading novel words. These findings are discussed within the context of theories of word reading development.