North American birds that feed on flying insects are experiencing steep population declines, particularly long-distance migratory populations in the northern breeding range. We determine, for the first time, the level of migratory connectivity across the range of a songbird using direct tracking of individuals, and test whether declining northern populations have higher exposure to agricultural landscapes at their nonbreeding grounds in South America. We used light-level geolocators to track purple martins, Progne subis, originating from North American breeding populations, coast-to-coast (n ¼ 95 individuals). We show that breeding populations of the eastern subspecies, P. s. subis, that are separated by ca. 2000 km, nevertheless have almost completely overlapping non-breeding ranges in Brazil. Most (76%) P. s. subis overwintered in northern Brazil near the Amazon River, not in the agricultural landscape of southern Brazil. Individual non-breeding sites had an average of 91 per cent forest and only 4 per cent agricultural ground cover within a 50 km radius, and birds originating from declining northern breeding populations were not more exposed to agricultural landscapes than stable southern breeding populations. Our results show that differences in wintering location and habitat do not explain recent trends in breeding population declines in this species, and instead northern populations may be constrained in their ability to respond to climate change.

The cognitive pattern of perfectionistic thinking is described and its development discussed. The stages and strategies of a group intervention for this pattern are described.

counseling center staff members have expressed a growing concern about the perceived increasing severity of college students' presenting problems. The main goal of this study was to explore the nature and severity of college students' presenting problems by establishing a baseline measure. The research summarized here was derived from 3 large-scale studies involving 1 nonclinical and 2 clinical samples surveyed by counseling centers that were members of the Consortium of Counseling Psychological Services in Higher Education. The results of this study provided some evidence for the claim that the severity and chronicity of college students' presenting problems has been increasing over time. The results of the study were discussed in light of the existing literature and conclusions were drawn. Suggestions for university counseling centers were provided.

The insulin promoter binds a number of tissue-specific and ubiquitous transcription factors. Of these, the homoeodomain protein PDX-1 (pancreatic duodenal homeobox factor-1), the basic leucine zipper protein MafA and the basic helix-loop-helix heterodimer E47/BETA2 (beta-cell E box transactivator 2; referred to here as beta2) bind to important regulatory sites. Previous studies have shown that PDX-1 can interact synergistically with E47 and beta2 to activate the rat insulin 1 promoter. The aim of the present study was to determine the relative contribution of PDX-1, MafA and E47/beta2 in regulating the human insulin promoter, and whether these factors could interact synergistically in the context of the human promoter. Mutagenesis of the PDX-1, MafA and E47/beta2 binding sites reduced promoter activity by 60, 74 and 94% respectively, in INS-1 beta-cells. In the islet glucagonoma cell line alphaTC1.6, overexpression of PDX-1 and MafA separately increased promoter activity approx. 2.5-3-fold, and in combination approx. 6-fold, indicating that their overall effect was additive. Overexpression of E47 and beta2 had no effect. In HeLa cells, PDX-1 stimulated the basal promoter by approx. 40-fold, whereas MafA, E47 and beta2 each increased activity by less than 2-fold. There was no indication of any synergistic effects on the human insulin promoter. On the other hand, the rat insulin 1 promoter and a mutated version of the human insulin promoter, in which the relevant regulatory elements were separated by the same distances as in the rat insulin 1 promoter, did exhibit synergy. PDX-1 was shown further to activate the endogenous insulin 1 gene in alphaTC1.6 cells, whereas MafA activated the insulin 2 gene. In combination, PDX-1 and MafA activated both insulin genes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed that PDX-1 increased the association of acetylated histones H3 and H4 with the insulin 1 gene and MafA increased the association of acetylated histone H3 with the insulin 2 gene.

No abstract