University College Cork

About: University College Cork is a education organization based out in Cork, Ireland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 12056 authors who have published 28452 publications receiving 958414 citations. The organization is also known as: Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh & National University of Ireland, Cork.

Hunt warm, rest cool: bioenergetic strategy underlying diel vertical migration of a benthic shark

Abstract: Summary 1. Diel vertical migration (DVM) is a widespread phenomenon among marine and freshwater organisms and many studies with various taxa have sought to understand its adaptive significance. Among crustacean zooplankton and juveniles of some fish species DVM is accepted widely as an antipredator behaviour, but little is known about its adaptive value for relatively large-bodied, adult predatory fish such as sharks. Moreover, the majority of studies have focused on pelagic forms, which raises the question of whether DVM occurs in bottom-living predators. 2. To investigate DVM in benthic predatory fish in the marine environment and to determine why it might occur we tracked movements of adult male dogfish ( Scyliorhinus canicula ) by short- and long-term acoustic and archival telemetry. Movement studies were complemented with measurements of prey abundance and availability and thermal habitat within home ranges. A thermal choice experiment and energy budget modelling was used to investigate trade-offs between foraging and thermal habitat selection. 3. Male dogfish undertook normal DVM (nocturnal ascent) within relatively small home ranges ( ∼ 100 × 100 m) comprising along-bottom movements up submarine slopes from deeper, colder waters occupied during the day into warmer, shallow prey-rich areas above the thermocline at night. Few daytime vertical movements occurred. Levels of activity were higher during the night above the thermocline compared to below it during the day indicating they foraged in warm water and rested in colder depths. 4. A thermal choice experiment using environmentally realistic temperatures supported the field observation that dogfish positively avoided warmer water even when it was associated with greater food availability. Males in laboratory aquaria moved into warm water from a cooler refuge only to obtain food, and after food consumption they preferred to rest and digest in cooler water. 5. Modelling of energy budgets under different realistic thermal-choice scenarios indicated dogfish adopting a ‘hunt warm − rest cool’ strategy could lower daily energy costs by just over 4%. Our results provide the first clear evidence that are consistent with the hypothesis that a benthic marine-fish predator utilizes DVM as an energy conservation strategy that increases bioenergetic efficiency.

Compliance with institutional imperatives on environmental sustainability: Building theory on the role of Green IS

Abstract: Addressing the complexity of the growing number of regulatory imperatives from global institutional environments has prompted firms in the IT sector to leverage the enabling effects of IT-based systems to help manage environmental compliance and related organisational risks. Thus, a new breed of IS-Green IS-emerged in recent years. This paper presents an integrative theoretical model that: (1) employs institutional theory to help explain how a range of exogenous regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive factors from the institutional environment and the organisational field influence IT manufacturers' decisions on the design and manufacture of environmentally sustainable products; and (2) uses organisational theory to describe the strategic endogenous arrangements that organisations institute using Green IS in order to support sense-making, decision making and knowledge creation around environmental sustainability. The paper employs the findings of a case study of Compliance and Risks' Ltd. Compliance-to-Product (C2P) application and its implementation in two US-based Fortune 500 IT manufacturers to help validate and refine the a priori theoretical model. The paper therefore makes a significant contribution to theory building on the phenomenon of Green IS, through its articulation of empirically-based theoretical propositions which employ conceptual mechanisms to explain how Green IS can support organisational sense-making, decision making and knowledge sharing and creation around the design and manufacture of Green IT.

Spectral density enhancement using coherent WDM

Abstract: It is shown by numerical simulations that a significant increase in the spectral density of a 40-Gb/s wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) system can be obtained by controlling the phase of adjacent WDM channels. These simulations are confirmed experimentally at 40 Gb/s using a coherent comb source. This technique allows the spectral density of a nonreturn-to-zero WDM system to be increased from 0.4 to 1 b/s/Hz in a single polarization. Optical filter optimization is required to minimize power crosstalk, and appropriate strategies are discussed in this letter.

Bacterial Neuroactive Compounds Produced by Psychobiotics

Abstract: We recently coined the phrase 'psychobiotics' to describe an emerging class of probiotics of relevance to psychiatry [Dinan et al., Biol Psychiatry 2013;74(10):720-726]. Such "mind-altering" probiotics may act via their ability to produce various biologically active compounds, such as peptides and mediators normally associated with mammalian neurotransmission. Several molecules with neuroactive functions such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), serotonin, catecholamines and acetylcholine have been reported to be microbially-derived, many of which have been isolated from bacteria within the human gut. Secreted neurotransmitters from bacteria in the intestinal lumen may induce epithelial cells to release molecules that in turn modulate neural signalling within the enteric nervous system and consequently signal brain function and behaviour of the host. Consequently, neurochemical containing/producing probiotic bacteria may be viewed as delivery vehicles for neuroactive compounds and as such, probiotic bacteria may possibly have the potential as a therapeutic strategy in the prevention and/or treatment of certain neurological and neurophysiological conditions.