Alarm Calls Research Articles

Behavioral responses to predator and heterospecific alarm calls are habitat-specific in Eurasian tree sparrows

Acoustic communication plays a vital role in predator-prey interactions. Although habitat structure has been shown to affect anti-predator tactics, little is known about how animals vary their behaviors in response to predator calls or heterospecific alarm calls in different environments. Here we used sound playbacks to test the responses of Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus) foraging in harvested/unharvested rice paddy and open residential area. In the first experiment, we tested their behavioral responses to dove calls, male common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) calls, hawk-like calls mimicked by female common cuckoo, sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) calls, and human yell calls produced to scare birds (predator signal playbacks). In the second experiment, we tested their behavioral responses to the Japanese tit’s (Parus minor) territorial songs and alarm calls (heterospecific alarm signal playbacks). Results showed that the tree sparrows had less fleeing in unharvested ripe rice paddy than in harvested rice paddy and open residential area. In predator signal playbacks, call type affected the escape behavior of sparrows in unharvested rice paddy and open residential area but not harvested rice paddy. In alarm signal playbacks, tit alarm calls evoked more fleeing than territorial songs in harvested rice paddy and open residential area but not unharvested rice paddy. These results suggest that anthropogenic habitat changes may influence avian anti-predator tactics.

Effects of interior doors on the audibility of fire alarms

One of the most important purposes of installing fire alarm systems is to provide an alarm signal in the protected building in the event of a fire. Fire alarms are most often provided by networked audible warning devices. The signal must be easily and quickly detectable and identifiable so that the occupants inside can start to escape after the alarm has been sounded. This is apparently a simple expectation, but if you look at the efficiency of fire alarms as a whole, and the effects that determine whether an evacuation will occur in response to an alarm during an actual fire, the question is not so simple anymore. In this article, we will examine the circumstances that may affect the alarm signal. Among these aspects, we will focus on the soundproofing properties of building structures, including interior doors, and their effect on sound propagation. By carrying out on-site measurements, we verify the design principles used in engineering practice, looking for the factors that may influence efficiency of the fire alarms in today’s construction environment. We hypothesise that the increase in sound insulation of certain building materials and structures has an increasingly negative effect on the audibility of fire alarm signals.

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in School Children in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose: To identify the characteristics of age groups of children from 10 to 14 years old in terms of the ratio of body weight and length, in particular, the relative number of children with overweight and obesity, and to develop recommendations for reducing body weight for children 10-14 years old. Material and Methods: An observational cross-sectional survey of the health status (overweight and obesity) of school children was conducted on sample 500 school children from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republic Srpska entity), which included 246 boys and 254 girls, aged 10 to 14 years. Anthropometric data including Body height (BH), Body weight (BW) and age were collected from all elementary school children. Body mass index (BMI) is an anthropometric index of weight and height that is calculated by dividing a person's weight (kg) by the square of their height (m^2). BMI participants was estimated with the Percentile BMI calculator for children and teens aged 2-19 years. The studied children were defined as underweight, normal (healthy)-weight, overweight and obese according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) child growth characteristics for age, sex, and BMI. Basic central and dispersion parameters (Mean, Min., Max., Range, SD, CI 95%, CV%, Skew., Kurt.) were calculated for each variable. To confirm normality, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied (p>0.05). The homogeneity of variance was tested with Levene's test. The nutritional status of the subjects was assessed using percentile values on the basis of which the percentile categories are calculated. Statistical procedures and analyzes were performed using the statistical package STATISTICA 10.0 for Windows. Results: The dynamics of changes in the relative number of children with overweight and obesity from 10 to 14 years old was revealed. The lowest number of overweight and obese students was recorded at the age of 14 (1% <). The results of malnutrition in boys point to the conclusion that it is present in a smaller percentage, from 1.96% (age 14) to 6.12% (age 12). The largest number of girls at the age of 13 were overweight, 10 (19.23%) and obese (2%<), and then at the age of 10 and 11 (overweight 15.68% vs. 13.72%, and obesity 1.96% vs 3.92%). Malnutrition as a category is in a slightly higher percentage than for boys, ranging from 3.92% (11 and 12 years) to 7.84% (10 years). Conclusions: If a child is overweight at any age, this should be an alarming signal, as it can provoke weight gain in adulthood or with the slightest decrease in self-control. Therefore, the best strategy would be to create conditions for a child's development in which he will receive joy from other sources, and not just from food and activities that do not require physical activity. Finding even a relatively small number of overweight and obese children is not a benign problem. It requires its own solution, helping such children understand their problem and overcome it.

Emergency services response to eCall System alerts: Observations from 2016–2022 in the National Fire and Rescue System

Objective Analysis of interventions by fire protection units in road traffic incidents alerted by the eCall system between 2016 and 2022. Materials and Methods Data from the State Fire Service Decision Support System (SFS DSS), provided by the Operational Planning Office, were used. Events from January 1, 2016, 00:00 to December 31, 2022, 23:59 were analyzed. Quantitative data were described using mean (Mean) and standard deviation (SD). Correlations and differences at a significance level of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The analysis is anonymous for both victims and officers involved in the interventions. Results Between 2016 and 2022, firefighters were alerted by the e-call system 896 times. The shortest average intervention time was 47 ± 37 min and was recorded in 2021. In the comparative analysis of intervention time and factors conditioning the use of the eCall system, it was shown that this time was significantly statistically dependent on the number of cars involved in the incident (p < 0.001), the number of injured persons (p < 0.001), the type of intervention (p < 0.001),), and the occurrence of fuel leakage (p < 0.001). Conclusions ECall is a relevant system for reporting accidents and collisions on the road. While it proves reliable in road incidents, a significantly high number of false alarms initiated from eCall requires system refinement to avoid accidental alarms and user education about the possibility of unintentionally sending an alarm signal. The authors predict that as the number of vehicles with the eCall system introduced to the roads increases, so will the number of notifications from this system. Data from the analysis of false reports suggest that mechanics and electricians in facilities performing repairs and maintenance of vehicles with the eCall system may lack the necessary knowledge of the need to deactivate the system before starting work. The number of injured people had no impact on the intervention time, which may prove that the rescue services were properly prepared.

The sound of fear is heritable

Abstract The nonlinearity and fear hypothesis predicts that highly aroused vocal mammals and birds produce vocalizations (notably alarm calls and screams) which contain a variety of non-linear phenomena (NLP). Such vocalizations often sound ‘noisy’ because vocal production systems are over-blown when animals are highly aroused. While much is known about the conditions under which animals produce vocalizations containing NLP, and how species respond to them, there is little research about the heritability of such behavioral traits. Using the quantitative genetic animal model, we estimated the genetic basis of ‘noise’ in alarm calls produced by females and found significant heritability in call entropy—our measure of the noisiness. About 9% of variance in noisiness can be accounted for by genetic differences. Taken together, these findings suggest that the degree to which marmots produce noisy calls is modestly heritable and can be thus subject to further evolution via natural selection.

The use of alarm calling in a female Great Curassow (Crax rubra)

The use of alarm calling in a female Great Curassow (Crax rubra)

Aphid alarm pheromone mimicry in transgenic Chrysanthemum morifolium: insights into the potential of (E)-β-farnesene for aphid resistance.

(E)-β-Farnesene (EBF) serves as the primary component of the alarm pheromone used by most aphid pest species. Pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium) exhibits tissue-specific regulation of EBF accumulation and release, effectively mimicking the aphid alarm signal, deterring aphid attacks while attracting aphid predators. However, cultivated chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium), a popular and economically significant flower, is highly vulnerable to aphid infestations. In this study, we investigated the high expression of the pyrethrum EBF synthase (TcEbFS) gene promoter in the flower head and stem, particularly in the parenchyma cells. Subsequently, we introduced the TcEbFS gene, under the control of its native promoter, into cultivated chrysanthemum. This genetic modification led to increased EBF accumulation in the flower stem and young flower bud, which are the most susceptible tissues to aphid attacks. Analysis revealed that aphids feeding on transgenic chrysanthemum exhibited prolonged probing times and extended salivation durations during the phloem phase, indicating that EBF in the cortex cells hindered their host-location behavior. Interestingly, the heightened emission of EBF was only observed in transgenic chrysanthemum flowers after mechanical damage. Furthermore, we explored the potential of this transgenic chrysanthemum for aphid resistance by comparing the spatial distribution and storage of terpene volatiles in different organs and tissues of pyrethrum and chrysanthemum. This study provides valuable insights into future trials aiming for a more accurate replication of alarm pheromone release in plants. It highlights the complexities of utilizing EBF for aphid resistance in cultivated chrysanthemum and calls for further investigations to enhance our understanding of this defense mechanism.

Research on Intelligent Monitoring System of Intelligent Transmission Line Based on Computer Internet of Things Technology

The author proposes an intelligent early-warning system for preventing external damage of transmission lines. The system uses TI-TMS320DM6446 as the core, the peripheral circuit configuration and video monitoring; The moving objects captured by PTZ camera are detected and identified by using mixed Gaussian model, background difference and minimum tangent matrix, and alarm signals are provided. According to the particularity of the power supply of the equipment on the transmission line, the basic power management of the system is analyzed in detail. A reliable power management scheme is designed. The practical application proves that this method has good real-time performance and has obvious effect on preventing power cable damage by force.

Strangers like me: birds respond equally to a familiar and an unfamiliar sentinel species' alarm calls, but respond less to non‐core and non‐sentinel's alarm calls

Alarm signals have evolved to communicate imminent threats to conspecifics but animals may also perceive other species' alarm displays to obtain adaptive information. In birds, mixed‐species foraging flocks are often structured around a focal sentinel species, which produces reliable alarm calls that inform eavesdropping non‐sentinel heterospecifics about predation risk. Ongoing work has revealed that several species can recognize the alarm calls of certain sentinel species even without prior encounters, including when these are from distant biogeographic regions. Similar work has yet to examine whether naive subjects' responses to unfamiliar sentinel alarm calls differ from responses to non‐sentinel alarm calls. Here we played the alarm calls of three subtropical Asian bird species that participate in mixed species flocks, to temperate North American birds. Birds responded most to the alarm call of an allopatric core sentinel and a local sympatric sentinel control species, less so to an allopatric non‐core sentinel, and least so to an allopatric non‐sentinel and a negative control stimulus. These patterns provide evidence that broad phylogenetic and geographic recognition is a pertinent aspect of sentinel alarm calls in general.

What does the fox say? Arctic fox vocalization and associated den behaviours

Foxes (Vulpes spp.) are small, solitary canids with relatively low social complexity compared to more gregarious canids, such as wolves and dogs. They are, therefore, expected to have a relatively simple vocal repertoire, with limited low-intensity sounds for close communication and many high-intensity sounds for long-distance communication. Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus), like many other foxes, are largely solitary outside of the breeding season. However, they have the largest litter size in the order Carnivora and may experience enhanced social complexity during the breeding season. In this study, we document the vocal repertoire of the Arctic fox during the breeding season, and how it changes before and after the emergence of pups. We also describe the relationship between vocalizations and other denning behaviours. Camera-traps captured six distinct sounds produced by breeding pairs of Arctic foxes and their young at dens: territorial barks, warning barks, alarm calls, cooing, whines and growling. Our study shows that although high-intensity sounds, such as territorial barks, are an important form of long-distance communication among Arctic foxes, low-intensity sounds and sound mixing are used on their dens following pup emergence. Thus, Arctic fox vocalization may be more complex than previously documented.

Patterns of Internet Addiction in an Italian sample: 100% of the sample experience Nomophobia

Introduction Internet Addiction Disorder, a concept introduced for the first time by Ivan Goldberg in 1995, is one of the most recently identified forms of addiction, but already considered a real psychosocial phenomenon, capable of having a profound impact on different aspects of social and psychological life of individuals. One of its most recently identified manifestations is Nomophobia, a neologism formed from the combination of terms such as “no mobile”, “phone” and “phobia”, which can be understood as the fear of feeling disconnected. It is today considered a situational phobia, characteristic of contemporary times. The most common symptoms include excessive cell phone use and constant anxiety at the thought of losing the internet connection. Others are, for example, “Ringxiety”, ringing anxiety, or the “phantom vibration syndrome”.ObjectivesThis study aims to examine the spread of Nomophobia in the Italian population, evaluating psychopathological correlations that can explain its diffusion.Methods Between January and May 2023, an anonymous online questionnaire was randomly sent to the general population. Alongside with tests to evaluate psycho-social features, the instrument used to study Nomophobia was the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) (Yildrim et al. Comput Hum Behav. 2015; 49:130–7), in its Italian version (Adawi et al. JMIR MHealth UHealth. 2018;6:e24).ResultsThe sample consists of 308 people (189 F, 119 M), with an average age of 32 years (sd 14). In our sample, 100% of the subjects tested positive for Nomophobia. Values indicating a state of severe Nomophobia are found in 12.3% of the sample (F 15.9%, M 6.7%). The young population, between 18 and 25 years old, represents 54% of the affected population, but more than 60% of severe cases (95% confidence interval 50-65%). The severe cases correlate positively (p&lt;0,05) with findings of high impulsiveness. There are no other studies that investigate the psychopathological correlates of Nomophobia among Italians.ConclusionsDespite possible biases, the data obtained are an alarming sign of the spread of internet addiction that characterizes our times, of which the excessive use of cell phones in the form of Nomophobia is an expression. Despite their now undisputed usefulness, mobile devices are capable of causing the onset of serious health problems, starting from exposure to radiation capable of causing dermatitis, tumors, and infertility. Furthermore, they dramatically interfere with driving safety, becoming a major cause of road accidents. Considering these consequences, it appears to be extremely important to characterize the phenomenon, as well as its psychosocial determinants, in order to proceed with its better definition and prevention.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Schreckstoff: It takes two to panic

Schreckstoff (fear substance) is an alarm signal released by injured fish that induces a fear response. Its chemical nature has long been debated. A new study finds that zebrafish Schreckstoff is composed of at least three components, two of which elicit the fear response only in combination.

An Analysis of Cancer causing Substances and its Impact on Prevalence of Cancer Cases among General Population residing along Thamirabharani River Basin – Evidence based research

As water quality degradation worsens in many countries, economic growth is stunted, health conditions worsen, food production is reduced, and poverty is exacerbated. The aim is to study the quantified levels of carcinogens in the environment, according to IARC Classification such as Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel, Lead, Nitrite/Nitrate and Phosphates and its correlation with spurts of cancer cases across certain sites that lie along Thamirabharani river basin, Tamil Nadu, India. A Systematic literature review for cross-sectional studies that provided information about the groundwater quality was carried out using six databases, "Researchgate, PubMed, Elsevier science direct, Wiley Online Library, Medline and Springerlink" from 2005 to 2021. TNCRP 2021 was taken as a reference to analyze the percentage of all types of cancer cases reported in the districts that lie along the river basin. Quality assessment was done using Newcastle Ottawa Scale. The results show the presence of high concentration of carcinogens in the groundwater and sediments collected near the industries, agricultural land and municipal sewage yard. The significant association between exceeding of the permissible limit of various heavy metal elements and compounds and percentage of cancer cases at that particular site is established in this study. Oral findings commonly associated with chronic toxicity of carcinogenic heavy metals are listed which serves as an alarming signal to adapt to healthy lifestyle and dietary modifications as required.

Type I Interferon Signalling and Ischemic Stroke: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potentials.

Type I interferon (IFN-I) signalling is intricately involved in the pathogenesis of multiple infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and neurological diseases. Acute ischemic stroke provokes overactivation of IFN-I signalling within the injured brain, particularly in microglia. Following cerebral ischemia, damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) released from injured neural cells elicit marked proinflammatory episodes within minutes. Among these, self-nucleic acids, including nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), have been recognized as a critical alarm signal to fan the flames of neuroinflammation, predominantly via inducing IFN-I signalling activation in microglia. The concept of interferon-responsive microglia (IRM), marked by upregulation of a plethora of IFN-stimulated genes, has been emergingly elucidated in ischemic mouse brains, particularly in aged ones. Among the pattern recognition receptors responsible for IFN-I induction, cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) plays integral roles in potentiating microglia-driven neuroinflammation and secondary brain injury after cerebral ischemia. Here, we aim to provide an up-to-date review on the multifaceted roles of IFN-I signalling, the detailed molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to and resulting from aberrant IFN-I signalling activation after cerebral ischemia, and the therapeutic potentials. A thorough exploration of these above points will inform our quest for IFN-based therapies as effective immunomodulatory therapeutics to complement the limited repertoire of thrombolytic agents, thereby facilitating the translation from bench to bedside.

Parallel prediction of dengue cases with different risks in Mexico using an artificial neural network model considering meteorological data.

In 2022, Mexico registered an increase in dengue cases compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the amount of precipitation reported annually was slightly less than the previous year. Similarly, the minimum-mean-maximum temperatures recorded annually were below the previous year. In the literature, it is possible to find studies focused on the spread of dengue only for some specific regions of Mexico. However, given the increase in the number of cases during 2022 in regions not considered by previously published works, this study covers cases reported in all states of the country. On the other hand, determining a relationship between the dynamics of dengue cases and climatic factors through a computational model can provide relevant information on the transmission of the virus. A multiple-learning computational approach was developed to simulate the number of the different risks of dengue cases according to the classification reported per epidemiological week by considering climatic factors in Mexico. For the development of the model, the data were obtained from the reports published in the Epidemiological Panorama of Dengue in Mexico and in the National Meteorological Service. The classification of non-severe dengue, dengue with warning signs, and severe dengue were modeled in parallel through an artificial neural network model. Five variables were considered to train the model: the monthly average of the minimum, mean, and maximum temperatures, the precipitation, and the number of the epidemiological week. The selection of variables in this work is focused on the spread of the different risks of dengue once the mosquito begins transmitting the virus. Therefore, temperature and precipitation were chosen as climatic factors due to the close relationship between the density of adult mosquitoes and the incidence of the disease. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was applied to fit the coefficients during the learning process. In the results, the ANN model simulated the classification of the different risks of dengue with the following precisions (R2): 0.9684, 0.9721, and 0.8001 for non-severe dengue, with alarm signs and severe, respectively. Applying a correlation matrix and a sensitivity analysis of the ANN model coefficients, both the average minimum temperature and precipitation were relevant to predict the number of dengue cases. Finally, the information discovered in this work can support the decision-making of the Ministry of Health to avoid a syndemic between the increase in dengue cases and other seasonal diseases.

Modulation of early gene expression responses to water deprivation stress by the E3 ubiquitin ligase ATL80: implications for retrograde signaling interplay

BackgroundPrimary response genes play a pivotal role in translating short-lived stress signals into sustained adaptive responses. In this study, we investigated the involvement of ATL80, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, in the dynamics of gene expression following water deprivation stress. We observed that ATL80 is rapidly activated within minutes of water deprivation stress perception, reaching peak expression around 60 min before gradually declining. ATL80, despite its post-translational regulation role, emerged as a key player in modulating early gene expression responses to water deprivation stress.ResultsThe impact of ATL80 on gene expression was assessed using a time-course microarray analysis (0, 15, 30, 60, and 120 min), revealing a burst of differentially expressed genes, many of which were associated with various stress responses. In addition, the diversity of early modulation of gene expression in response to water deprivation stress was significantly abolished in the atl80 mutant compared to wild-type plants. A subset of 73 genes that exhibited a similar expression pattern to ATL80 was identified. Among them, several are linked to stress responses, including ERF/AP2 and WRKY transcription factors, calcium signaling genes, MAP kinases, and signaling peptides. Promoter analysis predicts enrichment of binding sites for CAMTA1 and CAMTA5, which are known regulators of rapid stress responses. Furthermore, we have identified a group of differentially expressed ERF/AP2 transcription factors, proteins associated with folding and refolding, as well as pinpointed core module genes which are known to play roles in retrograde signaling pathways that cross-referenced with the early ATL80 transcriptome.ConclusionsBased on these findings, we propose that ATL80 may target one or more components within the retrograde signaling pathways for degradation. In essence, ATL80 serves as a bridge connecting these signaling pathways and effectively functions as an alarm signal.

Integration of Blockchain &amp; Machine Learning Approach in Sustainable Material Selection

Sustainable materials with special focus on environment are the need of the hour. The alarming signs of global warming demands the emerge of sustainable industries with the goal of producing products using sustainable materials. The process of drawing optimal decisions on sustainable materials is highly intricated and henceforth this research work proposes a comprehensive and integrated approach of decision-making. Block chain together with Random Forest algorithm is leveraged in determining the sustainable material selection. The combined approach resolves the challenges of managing data integrity in obtaining precise results. On comparing the results using performance metrics, it is evident that the proposed approach facilitates optimum decision making of sustainable materials to a greater extent. This integrated approach shall be applied to several decision-making scenarios customizing the parameters to the need of the industrial problems.

Auditory risk recognition is socially transmitted across territory borders in wild birds

Prey species commonly assess predation risk based on acoustic signals, such as predator vocalizations or heterospecific alarm calls. The resulting risk-sensitive decision-making affects not only the behavior and life-history of individual prey, but also has far-reaching ecological consequences for population, community, and ecosystem dynamics. Although auditory risk recognition is ubiquitous in animals, it remains unclear how individuals gain the ability to recognize specific sounds as cues of a threat. Here, it has been shown that free-living birds (Wood Warblers Phylloscopus sibilatrix) can learn to recognize unfamiliar, complex sounds (samples of punk rock songs) as cues of a threat from conspecifics holding adjacent territories during the spring breeding season. In a playback experiment, Wood Warblers initially ignored the unfamiliar sounds, but after repeatedly hearing that these sounds trigger alarm calling reaction of neighbors, most individuals showed an anti-predator response to them. Moreover, once learned soon after nestlings hatching, the anti-predator response of parents toward previously unfamiliar sounds was then retained over the entire nestlings rearing period. These results demonstrate that social learning via the association of unfamiliar sounds with known alarm signals enables the spread of anti-predator behavior across territory borders and provides a mechanism explaining the widespread abilities of animals to assess predation risk based on acoustic cues.

Colonial breeding impacts potentially fitness-relevant cognitive processes in barn swallows

Many animals breed colonially, often in dense clusters, representing a complex social environment with cognitive demands that could ultimately impact individual fitness. However, the effects of social breeding on the evolution of cognitive processes remain largely unknown. We tested the hypothesis that facultative colonial breeding influences attention and decision-making. Barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) breed in solitary pairs or in a range of colony sizes, up to dozens of pairs. We tested for selective attention to social information with playbacks of conspecific alarm calls and for decision-making with simulated predator intrusions, across a range of colony sizes from 1 to 33 pairs. We also evaluated the adaptive value of both processes by measuring seasonal reproductive success. Swallows breeding in larger colonies were more selective in their attention to social information. Birds breeding in larger colonies were also less risk averse, deciding to return more quickly to their nests after a predator approach paradigm. Finally, birds that showed higher selective attention hatched more eggs and birds that returned to their nests more quickly after a predator intrusion had more nestlings. Although we cannot fully attribute these fitness outcomes to the cognitive measures considered in this study, our results suggest that social breeding plays a role in adaptively shaping both the acquisition of social information and decision-making.

Protocolo diagnóstico y terapéutico de la flatulencia y la distensión abdominal recurrente

The sensation of abdominal bloating may be accompanied by the objectifiable sign of abdominal distension, which entails an increase in abdominal circumference. It is the most common digestive symptom and the second most common functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID). Flatulence refers to the expulsion of excess and/or excessively foul-smelling gas through the rectum. There are no validated consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of abdominal distension. A good differential diagnosis is important. It should start with a comprehensive case history that provides guidance on its origin and allows for detecting alarm signs and ruling out underlying organic pathology. The study should be completed with additional tests guided by clinical suspicion and according to the severity of the case. In regard to treatment, targeted action can be taken when there is an organic cause. In its absence, it is necessary to focus on reducing factors that favor abdominal distension. There are hygienic and dietary recommendations, drug treatment, and visceromotor reflex reeducation.