Positive relationships between association strength and phenotypic similarity characterize the assembly of mixed-species bird flocks worldwide.

Competition theory predicts that local communities should consist of species that are more dissimilar than expected by chance. We find a strikingly different pattern in a multicontinent data set (55 presence-absence matrices from 24 locations) on the composition of mixed-species bird flocks, which are important subunits of local bird communities the world over. By using null models and randomization tests followed by meta-analysis, we find the association strengths of species in flocks to be strongly related to similarity in body size and foraging behavior and higher for congeneric compared with noncongeneric species pairs.

Multidimensionality of behavioural phenotypes in Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua.

Much of the inter-individual variation observed in animal behaviour is now attributed to the existence of behavioural phenotypes or animal personalities. Such phenotypes may be fundamental to fisheries and aquaculture, yet there have been few detailed studies of this phenomenon in exploited marine animals. We investigated the behavioural and neuroendocrine responses of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.

Behavioural responses of hatchery-reared and wild cod Gadus morhua to mechano-acoustic predator signals.

The behavioural responses of wild (predator-experienced) and hatchery-reared (predator-naive) cod Gadus morhua to standardized mechano-acoustic (MA) stimuli were compared in the laboratory. Wild fish responded mainly with freezing and fast-start escapes away from the stimulus, whereas hatchery-reared fish often ignored or approached the stimulus. Wild fish also had stronger responses, turning faster during escapes and reducing activity immediately after the stimulus.

An improved method for quantifying hematozoa by digital microscopy.

Intensity of hematozoan infection is infrequently quantified because accurate calculations require visual counts of parasites relative to a large number of erythrocytes. Manual quantification of erythrocytes can be circumvented by using ImageJ software (developed by the National Institutes of Health) to count erythrocyte nuclei from digital images. Here we use the ratio of microscope erythrocyte counts to digital image erythrocyte counts (field:image ratio) to extrapolate erythrocyte counts from smaller digital images to the microscope's larger field of view.

[Relations between atypical hyperplasia, dysplasia and prostatic cancer and the significance of its appearance for the clinician].

In 89 preparations of patients with a carcinoma of the prostate and 100 preparations of patients with a hyperplasia of the prostate (adenoma of the neck of the bladder) the appearance of primarily atypical hyperplasias was investigated. In these cases in the carcinoma group in the uniform as well as in the pluriform carcinomas a coincidence of carcinoma and atypical hyperplasia of 55% was found. The coincidence is particularly high in adenocarcinomas and in carcinomas with dominating adenoid part, respectively, i.