The Population Dynamics of the Brittlestar Ophioderma brevispinum in Near- and Farshore Seagrass Habitats of Port Saint Joseph Bay, Florida

The population dynamics of the brittlestar Ophioderma brevispinum were followed monthly from Jan. 1995 to March 1996 in a near- and farshore seagrass bed in Saint Joseph Bay, FL. Abiotic (sea water temperature and salinity) and biotic (seagrass cover and sublethal predation) factors that could influence populations were also measured. Densities of individuals at both sites peaked in winter and spring, then declined dramatically in early summer months, and increased once again in the early fall at the offshore site and in the late fall at the nearshore site. Mean monthly disc diameters of individuals did not reveal any evidence of juvenile recruitment, suggesting seasonal migrations of adults into and out of near- and farshore seagrass beds. Seagrass cover at both sites varied substantially with season, with the highest cover in the summer months when brittlestar densities were lowest. Sublethal predation, as measured indirectly by counting the numbers of arm tips regenerating in individuals, did not differ significantly between sites except for the month of Feb. 1995, when levels of arm tip regeneration were higher among individuals at the nearshore site. The high overall incidence of individuals with regenerating arms at both sites suggests that predators exert persistent sublethal predatory pressure and may contribute to mortality. Individuals may migrate into deeper water during summer months to avoid thermal stress, hypoxia, or high levels of ultraviolet radiation and to avoid predation when predator densities are likely to be highest

Intelligent Design and Public School Policy: A Deliberative Perspective

Intelligent design (ID) proponents assert that the cause of the origin of complex biological systems is best explained by the agency of an unembodied intelligent designer who abiotically infuses information into physical systems. As state and local boards of education review science standards for curricula in the biological sciences, they are confronted with the claim that intelligent design is a fully scientific theory that ought to be taught as an alternative to evolutionary theory to students in public school science classrooms. This dissertation encourages public school policymakers, especially school board members, to approach the claims of intelligent design proponents from a deliberative democratic political perspective. A deliberative perspective weighs the claims of citizens against the political principles of reciprocity, publicity, accountability, basic liberty and basic opportunity to assure that public policies are justifiable to all who are bound by them. I argue that once the scientific claims and religious content of intelligent design are assessed from a deliberative political perspective, it is clear that intelligent design is a religious theory that should not be included in public school science curricula as an alternative to evolutionary theory. Teaching intelligent design as a scientific alternative to evolutionary theory would violate the basic liberty of students by constraining their present and future religious or anti-religious beliefs. It would also violate the basic opportunity of students to receive an adequate education in science. I conclude that the virtue of mutual respect promoted by a deliberative perspective requires public school policymakers to develop public school policies that respect the deep moral and religious convictions of intelligent design proponents. Intelligent design can justifiably be taught in courses that teach about religion and in civics courses which examine the central role religious convictions have in the political decisions of many citizens. Teaching about intelligent design in these courses may help resolve and reduce future disagreements among citizens over the teaching of evolutionary theory in science classes

Are bacteria in the coastal zone a threat to human health?

Faecal pollution regularly contaminates surface waters, introducing microorganisms, including bacteria and bacteria resistant to antibiotics, to coastal waters. People can come into contact with these potentially harmful microbes when they enjoy recreational activities in the sea. Understanding the risk to bathers of acquiring infections from the sea is important for developing effective intervention strategies to protect human health. This thesis consists of four original studies which aim to answer the question ‘are bacteria in the coastal zone a threat to human health’? First, we describe a systematic review on the risk of acquiring infections from recreational use of coastal waters. Synthesising risk estimates of reporting various symptoms of ill health, we quantify this risk as well as appraise the evidence that these infections are acquired from bathing in coastal waters. The results of the second study - a large online survey - corroborate these findings and provide updated estimates of risk for UK bathers. Third, we assess the risk of ingesting antibiotic resistant bacteria among UK coastal water users. In the final study, we measured the prevalence of faecal carriage of antibiotic resistant bacteria among a highly exposed group – surfers, and in an unexposed group (non-surfers). We conclude that despite improvements made to the collection, treatment and discharge of sewage, and initiatives to communicate water quality to members of the public in recent years, people who bathe in coastal waters are still at an increased risk of adverse health outcomes, whether this is experiencing symptoms of ill health, or exposure to and colonisation by antibiotic resistant bacteria.European Regional Development Fun

The association between consumption of breakfast cereals and BMI in schoolchildren aged 12-17 years: The VYRONAS study

Abstract Objective To evaluate whether consumption of breakfast cereals is associated with BMI in a sample of Greek adolescents. Design A cross-sectional health and nutrition survey. Setting and subjects During 2004-5, 2008 schoolchildren aged 12-17 years were selected from twelve schools located in Vyronas region (Athens metropolitan area). Height and weight were measured and BMI was calculated. A semi-quantitative FFQ was applied and multiple logistic regression analysis was used. Results Overall, 4·7 % of boys and 1·7 % of girls were obese, whereas 19·4 % of boys and 13·2 % of girls were overweight. Only 20·7 % of boys and 15·5 % of girls reported that they consume cereals as a first choice for breakfast. Consumption of breakfast cereals was associated with lower BMI in boys (P = 0·08) and girls (P = 0·019), irrespective of age and physical activity status. More prominent results were observed for daily cereal consumption or for more than two daily servings of cereals consumed for breakfast. Consumption of pre-sweetened breakfast cereals was associated with lower BMI compared with non-pre-sweetened or no intake of cereals, in both genders (P < 0·001). Consumption of breakfast cereals was associated with 33 % (95 % CI 14 %, 48 %) lower likelihood of overweight/obesity, irrespective of age, sex and physical activity status. Conclusions Consumption of breakfast cereals was associated with lower BMI levels and a lower likelihood of overweight/obesity in both genders; thus a solid basis for public health professionals could be built when issuing advice on weight managemen

Rethinking work-life balance and well-being:the perspectives of fathers

When it comes to work-life balance and its impact on well-being, there have been increasing calls for research which looks at fathers. Until recently, the primary focus of most studies in this area was women and mothers, however changing attitudes towards fathers’ involvement in family life and the introduction of paternity leave have brought men into the picture. This chapter draws together existing research on fathers’ work-life balance and well-being in order to summarise what is currently known, and reveal where further investigation is needed. We begin by looking at men’s experiences of combining employment and family life, focusing in particular on fathers’ preferences and how these compare to their current levels of work-life balance. We observe that attitudes towards work-life balance are complex and there is evidence of ambivalence from fathers about choosing between work and family roles. We further note that a mismatch in desired and actual levels of work-life balance may be associated with emotional strain, stress and ill health. If this is the case, it is important to study fathers’ work-life balance issues in order to safeguard their well-being. Increased understanding of fathers’ needs is necessary to ensure they receive appropriate and adequate support. Furthermore, a better balance between employment and family for fathers is also likely to have a positive impact on the well-being of mothers and children, as well as improving gender equality in the labour market and at home. Finally, we look at research investigating possible reasons for fathers’ mismatches in desired and actual levels of work-life balance. Concepts of masculine identity and unsupportive organisational cultures are the constraints which are most apparent in the literature. Improving work-life balance can be threatening to traditional visions of fathers as providers. This is exacerbated by workplaces which fail to consider men as potential carers with family responsibilities and penalise those who strive for greater work-life balance

Content and performance of the MiniMUGA genotyping array, a new tool to improve rigor and reproducibility in mouse research [preprint]

The laboratory mouse is the most widely used animal model for biomedical research, due in part to its well annotated genome, wealth of genetic resources and the ability to precisely manipulate its genome. Despite the importance of genetics for mouse research, genetic quality control (QC) is not standardized, in part due to the lack of cost effective, informative and robust platforms. Genotyping arrays are standard tools for mouse research and remain an attractive alternative even in the era of high-throughput whole genome sequencing. Here we describe the content and performance of a new Mouse Universal Genotyping Array (MUGA). MiniMUGA, an array-based genetic QC platform with over 11,000 probes. In addition to robust discrimination between most classical and wild-derived laboratory strains, MiniMUGA was designed to contain features not available in other platforms: 1) chromosomal sex determination, 2) discrimination between substrains from multiple commercial vendors, 3) diagnostic SNPs for popular laboratory strains, 4) detection of constructs used in genetically engineered mice, and 5) an easy to interpret report summarizing these results. In-depth annotation of all probes should facilitate custom analyses by individual researchers. To determine the performance of MiniMUGA we genotyped 6,899 samples from a wide variety of genetic backgrounds. The performance of MiniMUGA compares favorably with three previous iterations of the MUGA family of arrays both in discrimination capabilities and robustness. We have generated publicly available consensus genotypes for 241 inbred strains including classical, wild-derived and recombinant inbred lines. Here we also report the detection of a substantial number of XO and XXY individuals across a variety of sample types, the extension of the utility of reduced complexity crosses to genetic backgrounds other than C57BL/6, and the robust detection of 17 genetic constructs. There is preliminary but striking evidence that the array can be used to identify both partial sex chromosome duplication and mosaicism, and that diagnostic SNPs can be used to determine how long inbred mice have been bred independently from the main stock for a significant action of the genotyped inbred samples. We conclude that MiniMUGA is a valuable platform for genetic QC and important new tool to the increase rigor and reproducibility of mouse research

Vulnerability to bullying in children with a history of specific speech and language difficulties

This is an electronic version of an article published in Lindsay, Geoff and Dockrell, Julie and Mackie, Clare (2008) Vulnerability to bullying in children with a history of specific speech and language difficulties. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 23 (1). pp. 1-16. European Journal of Special Needs Education is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/0885625070179120

Urbanisation and wing asymmetry in the western honey bee (Apis mellifera, Linnaeus 1758) at multiple scales

Changes in the mean and variance of phenotypic traits like wing and head morphology are frequently used as indicators of environmental stress experienced during development and may serve as a convenient index of urbanization exposure. To test this claim, we collected adult western honey bee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1758, Hymenoptera, Apidae) workers from colonies located across an urbanization gradient, and quantified associations between the symmetries of both wing size and wing shape, and several landscape traits associated with urbanization. Landscape traits were assessed at two spatial scales (three km and 500 m) and included vegetation and anthropogenic land cover, total road length, road proximity and, population and dwelling density. We then used geometric morphometric techniques to determine two wing asymmetry scores—centroid size, a measure of wing size asymmetry and Procrustes distance, a measure of wing shape asymmetry. We found colony dependent differences in both wing size and shape asymmetry. Additionally, we found a negative association between wing shape asymmetry and road proximity at the three km buffer, and associations between wing shape asymmetry and road proximity, anthropogenic land cover and vegetation cover at the 500 m buffer. Whilst we were unable to account for additional variables that may influence asymmetry including temperature, pesticide presence, and parasitism our results demonstrate the potential usefulness of wing shape asymmetry for assessing the impact of certain landscape traits associated with urbanization. Furthermore, they highlight important spatial scale considerations that warrant investigation in future phenotypic studies assessing urbanization impact