Understanding the variation present in animal signals can provide insight into drivers behind it, such as the social structure, ecology, distribution and genetic diversity present in populations. Geographic variation specifically has been observed in the vocalisations of several taxa and in some, particularly birds, has been used to evidence the presence of vocal 'dialects'. In marine mammals, dialects have been reported for northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), killer whales (Orcinus orca) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Though previous studies have been conducted to investigate geographic variation in delphinid vocalisations, little is known about such variation in UK waters. Additionally, the vast majority of delphinid communication research focusses on their whistles alone, yet the animals also produce a variety of click sounds. Several odontocete species do not produce whistles, suggesting that there are communicative aspects to these non-whistle vocalisations. Methodological issues in previous studies have also led to unclear results since variation between groups may not represent geographic variation when sample sizes are low, particularly for animals that show large inter-individual and group diversity within geographic regions. Finally, the drivers of variation in delphinid vocalisations remain largely unknown. In some species, such as the killer whales of the Pacific Northwest, dialects show a strong correlation with relatedness, with different familial units utilising distinct vocal repertoires from one another. However, it could also be the case that differences in behaviour elicit vocal differences as certain populations utilise behaviourally specific calls more often than others. Similarly, external environmental factors, such as ambient noise levels, may influence the structure and usage of different vocal signals. Preliminary study indicates that bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) on the east and west coasts of Scotland acoustically differ from one another substantially, providing some evidence for the presence of dialects given their geographical proximity and mixing potential (Hargrave, 2023 MSc. thesis). Other species such as Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) and white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) can also be found around the UK and their population structure has not been studied here before. The proposed study will perform acoustic analyses on the vocal repertoires (whistles, clicks and burst-pulsed sounds) of these wild delphinid species in the waters of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, evaluating potential similarities or discrepancies between the vocalisations of individuals, groups and geographic regions. Historic recordings obtained from focal-follow and line transect acoustic surveys conducted in the North Sea and the Northeast Atlantic will be analysed using the Raven Pro software package to isolate delphinid vocalisations. The acoustic parameters of these vocalisations will then be calculated using the ROCCA module for PAMguard (www.pamguard.org), producing a comprehensive suite of measures for both tonal and broadband signals (a total of 56 parameters). This analysis will be conducted at the level of individuals, groups and broader geographic regions; investigated via the use of random forest classification modelling. Other machine learning classification methods may also be utilised depending on the task in question. Additionally, the role of potential drivers of any variation, such as behavioural context or learning, environmental variables, and relatedness, will be investigated via behavioural observations (obtained via animal-mounted camera tags, drones and visual observation), photo identification, and available environmental (available from CEFAS, Scottish Coastal Observatory, British Oceanographic Data Centre) and genetic data (e.g. Louis et al. 2021, Sci. Advan. 7: eabg1245).

1. How can truth pluralism inform public audit? 2. What conception of the Scottish approach to policy-making - of community empowerment, respect for lived experience, accountability to 'national outcomes' - best serves democratic legitimacy? The two project strands intersect closely: legitimacy depends on responsiveness to citizens' good judgement about which policy to pursue, which itself depends on citizens' and auditors' understanding of the truth about matters to which the policy pertains. The role of audit in informing citizens and policy professionals and the role of citizens and professionals in informing audit, are both central to the legitimacy-conferring benefits of the 'Scottish approach' to policymaking, and both depend on prior questions about truth as outlined in the project's first strand.

TBC

Bacterial communities often organise in structures called biofilms. These communities are associated with a self-produced matrix containing extracellular DNA, RNA, proteins and complex sugars. Biofilms are resilient to environmental stressors including nutrient fluctuation, antibiotic treatment, and changes in temperature. Biofilm resilience is vital to the bacterial collective but presents a colossal economic and health challenge as bacteria in these populations are difficult to eradicate. Up to 4 out of 5 of all bacterial cells in the planet are associated in biofilms. A report by the NIH indicates that over 80% of microbial infections in the human body are caused by biofilms, many of which are resistant to standard antibiotics. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a model organism to understand biofilm development and its role in survival and recalcitrance to antibiotic treatment. It can also lead to serious infections specially in immunocompromised patients. No drug currently in the market specifically targets bacterial biofilms. All drugs currently in the market target actively dividing bacteria, and therefore are not as efficient eradicating slow growing bacteria, which is often the state encountered in biofilms. Extracellular enzymes that can degrade proteins and peptides are important components of biofilms. These enzymes are crucial for nutrient scavenging and to shape the structure of biofilms, in a process called remodelling, which is essential for biofilm survival and propagation. Extracellular enzymes are very attractive targets as antimicrobials do not need to enter cells and can be embedded in dressings and topic gels. The Czekster lab have demonstrated proof of principle that targeting an important extracellular component of the bacterial matrix leads to bacterial cell death in biofilms formed by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This work demonstrated the feasibility of exploiting the mechanism by which the activity of extracellular peptidases is regulated to design specific inhibitors, which lead to cell death in a biofilm. It also highlighted many unanswered questions in biofilm biology, regulation and survival. It set the stage to the project proposed here. This project will address outstanding questions in biofilm biology and enzymology, dissecting the mechanism and role that extracellular peptidases play in protein and peptide turnover in biofilm communities. We will determine whether a conserved element of these extracellular peptidases, the protein associated domain, can be exploited to target peptidases from other microbes. We will also determine the precise mechanism by which Pseudomonas aeruginosa are dying due to the peptidase inhibition. We will employ enzymology, inhibitor design and characterisation, microbiology, proteomics and metabolomics, in a tailored interdisciplinary programme to unveil novel strategies and compounds to specifically target bacterial biofilms.

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne disease that is endemic to the Rift Valley in Africa. It affects mammals such as cattle and goats, causing abortion storms and neonatal death, but it can also affect humans, and in some cases, cause haemorrhagic fever, leading to death. Additionally, due to climate change, the mosquitoes that carry this virus are spreading to the Middle East and Europe. There is currently no vaccine for human RVF. The main virulence factor of Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is thought to be its NSs protein, which forms filaments in the host cells' nuclei in vivo, which bind to TFIIH and supress the interferon (IFN) pathway. My project will use cryo-ET, a structural technique, to view the mechanism of how these filaments form and how the IFN pathway is suppressed in situ, with the hopes of this information making it possible to design a drug or vaccine that targets RVFV NSs.