Identifiable neurons inhibited by Earth-strength magnetic stimuli in the mollusc Tritonia diomedea

Diverse animals use the Earth's magnetic field as an orientation cue, but little is known about the sensory, processing and motor elements of the neural circuitry underlying magnetic orientation behavior. The marine mollus

Identification of magnetically responsive neurons in the marine mollusc Tritonia diomedea

Behavioral experiments have demonstrated that the marine mollus

Participatory modelling for stakeholder involvement in the development of flood risk management intervention options

Advancing stakeholder participation beyond consultation offers a range of benefits for local flood risk management, particularly as responsibilities are increasingly devolved to local levels. This paper details the design and implementation of a participatory approach to identify intervention options for managing local flood risk. Within this approach, Bayesian networks were used to generate a conceptual model of the local flood risk system, with a particular focus on how different interventions might achieve each of nine participant objectives. The model was co-constructed by flood risk experts and local stakeholders. The study employs a novel evaluative framework, examining both the process and its outcomes (short-term substantive and longer-term social benefits). It concludes that participatory modelling techniques can facilitate the identification of intervention options by a wide range of stakeholders, and prioritise a subset for further investigation. They can help support a broader move towards active stakeholder participation in local flood risk management

Do chitons have a compass? Evidence for magnetic sensitivity in Polyplacophora

Sumner-Rooney, Lauren H., Murray, James A., Cain, Shaun D., Sigwart, Julia D. (2014): Do chitons have a compass? Evidence for magnetic sensitivity in Polyplacophora. Journal of Natural History 48 (45-48): 3033-3045, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2014.959574, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2014.95957

Causal Association Between Subtypes of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness and Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases

Background Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), experienced in 10% to 20% of the population, has been associated with cardiovascular disease and death. However, the condition is heterogeneous and is prevalent in individuals having short and long sleep duration. We sought to clarify the relationship between sleep duration subtypes of EDS with cardiovascular outcomes, accounting for these subtypes. Methods and Results We defined 3 sleep duration subtypes of excessive daytime sleepiness: normal (6–9 hours), short (9 hours), and compared these with a nonsleepy, normal‐sleep‐duration reference group. We analyzed their associations with incident myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke using medical records of 355 901 UK Biobank participants and performed 2‐sample Mendelian randomization for each outcome. Compared with healthy sleep, long‐sleep EDS was associated with an 83% increased rate of MI (hazard ratio, 1.83 [95% CI, 1.21–2.77]) during 8.2‐year median follow‐up, adjusting for multiple health and sociodemographic factors. Mendelian randomization analysis provided supporting evidence of a causal role for a genetic long‐sleep EDS subtype in MI (inverse‐variance weighted β=1.995, P=0.001). In contrast, we did not find evidence that other subtypes of EDS were associated with incident MI or any associations with stroke (P>0.05). Conclusions Our study suggests the previous evidence linking EDS with increased cardiovascular disease risk may be primarily driven by the effect of its long‐sleep subtype on higher risk of MI. Underlying mechanisms remain to be investigated but may involve sleep irregularity and circadian disruption, suggesting a need for novel interventions in this population