Multi-state mark-recapture models have seen increased use in recent years for studies of reproductive costs. When individuals in both breeding and non-breeding states can be observed, multi-state models can be used to directly estimate reproductive costs by comparing state-specific estimates of survival and breeding probabilities. The method assumes that each state that an animal occupies is ob...

Biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is a new evolutionary algorithm that is inspired by biogeography. Previous work has shown that BBO is a competitive optimization algorithm, and it demonstrates good performance on various benchmark functions and real-world optimization problems. Motivated by biogeography theory and previous results, three variations of BBO migration are introduced in this p...

We study the evolution of resource utilization in a structured discrete time metapopulation model with an infinite number of patches, prone to local catastrophes that wipe out the entire local population but leave the patch itself habitable. We assume that there are two distinct resources in each patch and the strategy of an individual is the degree of specialization on the usage of these resou...

For neural crest cells to engage in migration, it is necessary that epithelial premigratory crest cells convert into mesenchyme. The mechanisms that trigger cell delamination from the dorsal neural tube remain poorly understood. We find that, in 15- to 40-somite-stage avian embryos, BMP4 mRNA is homogeneously distributed along the longitudinal extent of the dorsal neural tube, whereas its speci...

Mountainous areas in China account for two-thirds of the total land area. Due to rapid urbanization, rural population emigration in China's mountainous areas is very significant. This raises the question to which degree such population emigration influences the vegetation greenness in these areas. In this study, 9,753 sample areas (each sample measured about 64 square kilometers) were randomly ...

What are the fiscal consequences of high-skilled emigration for source countries? This paper develops methodologies for inferring these consequences and applies them to the recent sizable emigration of high-skilled workers from India to the U.S. This wave of emigration from India to the U.S. is shown to be unusually concentrated amongst the prime-age work force, the highly educated and high ear...

1. Mobility and emigration were investigated for the wolf spider Pardosa monticola in grey dune fragments from two high-density and one low-density population, where population density was related to patch quality. Pitfall trapping was applied in combination with absolute density estimates by means of quadrat sampling. Orientation behaviour was additionally observed in the highand low-density p...

In this study, we examined the relationship between the endothelial selectins (P-selectin and E-selectin) and whether they are critical for alpha4-integrin-dependent leukocyte recruitment in inflamed (late phase response), cremasteric postcapillary venules. Animals were systemically sensitized and 2 wk later challenged intrascrotally with chicken ovalbumin. Leukocyte rolling flux, adhesion, and...