Hearing and Echolocation in the Australian Grey Swiftlet, Collocalia Spodiopygia

The frequency sensitivity of hearing in the grey swiftlet, Collocalia spodiopygia, was determined by neuronal recordings from the auditory midbrain (MLD). The most sensitive best frequency response thresholds occurred between 0.8 and 4.7 kHz, with the upper frequency limit near 6 kHz. Spectral analysis of echolocation click pairs revealed energy peaks between 3.0 and 8.0kHz for the foreclick, compared to 4.0-6.0 kHz for the principal click. The relationship between good hearing sensitivity and click energy peaks in the swiftlet extends about an octave higher than it does in the oilbird (Steatornis caripensis)

The late bronze age in Scotland

This work was of necessity been based to a great extent on the typology of bronze and gold objects; the continuing lack of knowledge of burials, settlements and common pottery in the first millenium B.C. remains an unsolved problem. However, the distinction of a type of pottery, termed Covesea Ware, has provided the first information that may enable us to discuss a truly Late Bronze Age culture, rather than mere industries, and the appearance of gold armlets in varying circumstances, fully documented in Appendix ii, provides a hint of a solution to the funerary problem. The list of settlement sites, Traprain and Jarlshof, remains small, although several hut- circles have yielded evidence of Late Bronze Age use, and this also opens up a new line of pursuit.The Late Bronze Age in Scotland has been studied on previous occasions, notably by Childe in 1935 and 1946, but he placed the emphasis on the more unusual aspects of the period, such as the settlement at Jarlshof. Collections of material were carried out by Callander in 1923 and by Henderson in 1938. In 1931 Miss Benton provided the first hint that the Scottish Late Bronze Age was not merely a crude reflection of English and Irish technology and typology, but unfortunately the effect of her thesis was the further confusion of the issue, because of the lack of discrimination in pottery definitions. Nevertheless, the suggestions advanced in 1931 have been substantiated, in a somewhat different form, in the present work.The method of study employed here included a careful re- examination of most of the bronze and gold objects, and this has not been without its rewards of new information. In practically all cases, and wherever possible, former published work and reports were followed up and checked, and the results, especially with regard to shields, sometimes necessitated an entirely new approach.The typological studies are based upon the English and Irish material, and published work and personal inspection of objects from these areas form the main field of comparative typology; however, as will be seen, the chronological systems employed in England and Ireland have not been used or adapted, because of the unique position of Scotland in the Late Bronze Age, the recipient of influences from all quarters.The writer has tried to steer clear of most temptations to interpret typology into sociology, with the exception of a short digression into the field of ethnology. The recent attempts to postulate social organizations from the composition of bronze hoards have not, in my opinion, been convincing, and these are not considered here

Six year clinical study of use of the Omniscience valve prosthesis in 219 patients

A 6 year experience of cardiac valve replacement with the Omniscience prosthesis is described. A total of 253 valves were inserted in 219 patients. The survivors were followed up for a total of 536 patient-years and for a mean of 2.8 years. The follow-up was 97.6% complete. Analyses were performed in accordance with recommended criteria regarding definitions of complications and grading thromboembolic events for severity and analysis of anticoagulant status. Results are described both in terms of actuarial and linearized rates.For the patients at risk, actuarial survival at the end of 5 years was 87.9 ± 3.1% overall, 90.4 ± 3.0% for single valve (aortic 88 ± 5%, mitral 93.3 ± 4%) replacement and 71 ± 11% for multiple valve replacement. The actuarial rates of freedom from complications were as follows: endocarditis 95.7 ± 1.8% (aortic 94 ± 3.5%, mitral 100%), periprosthetic leak 98 ± 1% (aortic 96.2 ± 2.6%, mitral 100%), thromboembolism 95.2 ± 2.3% (aortic 90.9 ± 4.6%, mitral 96.7 ± 3.3%), valve thrombosis 98.7 ± 0.9% (aortic 100%, mitral 100%), anticoagulant-induced bleeding 90.3 ± 2.6% and all valve-related complications 79.4 ± 3.6% (aortic 78.8 ± 3.6%, mitral 85.9 ± 4.5%). the functional improvement in patients was very satisfactory and the risk of reoperation was 1.1% per patient-year. Over a 6 year time frame, the Omniscience valve has given excellent clinical performance

Food and nutritional security requires adequate protein as well as energy, delivered from whole-year crop production

© 2016 Coles et al.Human food security requires the production of sufficient quantities of both high-quality protein and dietary energy. In a series of case-studies from New Zealand, we show that while production of food ingredients from crops on arable land can meet human dietary energy requirements effectively, requirements for high-quality protein are met more efficiently by animal production from such land. We present a model that can be used to assess dietary energy and quality-corrected protein production from various crop and crop/animal production systems, and demonstrate its utility. We extend our analysis with an accompanying economic analysis of commercially- available, pre-prepared or simply-cooked foods that can be produced from our case-study crop and animal products. We calculate the per-person, per-day cost of both quality-corrected protein and dietary energy as provided in the processed foods. We conclude that mixed dairy/cropping systems provide the greatest quantity of high- quality protein per unit price to the consumer, have the highest food energy production and can support the dietary requirements of the highest number of people, when assessed as all-year-round production systems. Global food and nutritional security will largely be an outcome of national or regional agroeconomies addressing their own food needs. We hope that our model will be used for similar analyses of food production systems in other countries, agroecological zones and economies

Solution phase, solid state, and theoretical investigations on the MacMillan imidazolidinone

A combination of soln. phase NMR, X-ray crystallog. studies, and DFT calcns. provide a consistent structural conformation for iminium ions derived from the MacMillan imidazolidinone

Opportunities for Women ∗

Economics, University of Essex, for private circulation to interested readers. They often represent preliminary reports on work in progress and should therefore be neither quoted nor referred to in published work without the written consent of the author. Equilibrium Search and the Impact of Equa

Supramitral obstruction of left ventricular inflow tract by supramitral ring

Supramitral ring (SMR) is a rare developmental abnormality of the supravalvular area of the mitral valve which produces a variable degree of obstruction to left ventricular filling. The morphological substrate of SMR consists of a fibro-membranous ring which is adherent to the atrial aspect of the mitral valve leaflets. SMR is morphologically and embryologically distinct from the more common entity of cor triatriatum, which consists of an obstructive fibro-muscular membrane located within the left atrium proximal to the left atrial appendage. Surgical resection of SMR is usually effective as evident by the generally benign postoperative hemodynamic outcome. Coexistent mitral valvular lesions are usual but not typically severe in degree

NKX2-5 regulates the expression of beta-catenin and GATA4 in ventricular myocytes.

BackgroundThe molecular pathway that controls cardiogenesis is temporally and spatially regulated by master transcriptional regulators such as NKX2-5, Isl1, MEF2C, GATA4, and beta-catenin. The interplay between these factors and their downstream targets are not completely understood. Here, we studied regulation of beta-catenin and GATA4 by NKX2-5 in human fetal cardiac myocytes.Methodology/principal findingsUsing antisense inhibition we disrupted the expression of NKX2-5 and studied changes in expression of cardiac-associated genes. Down-regulation of NKX2-5 resulted in increased beta-catenin while GATA4 was decreased. We demonstrated that this regulation was conferred by binding of NKX2-5 to specific elements (NKEs) in the promoter region of the beta-catenin and GATA4 genes. Using promoter-luciferase reporter assay combined with mutational analysis of the NKEs we demonstrated that the identified NKX2-5 binding sites were essential for the suppression of beta-catenin, and upregulation of GATA4 by NKX2-5.ConclusionsThis study suggests that NKX2-5 modulates the beta-catenin and GATA4 transcriptional activities in developing human cardiac myocytes