Ethical Considerations for Renewable Energy Systems on Māori Land

Sustainable engineering projects often involve renewable energy systems. Attempts to develop renewable energy systems on Māori land can cause ethical conflicts. This report examines Māori values and perspectives relevant to the development of renewable energy systems on Māori land. A code of ethics is developed taking these values into account to assist in the design process of such projects. This code of ethics is applied in a case study of installing a renewable energy system for a marae. This code of ethics promotes a greater awareness of the impacts the system will have on environment and community, and promotes a respect for the individual values of the impacted iwi

The Urban Political Ecology of Post-industrial Scottish Towns: Examining Greengairs and Ravenscraig

Urban ecological politics is shaped by both moments of concerted action and more silent perceptions and responses. Instead of only being evident in situations of organised protest, the politics of urban ecology is also manifested, in material and symbolic terms, in the daily life of the residents. The fragmentation of urban political ecology turns out to be an important element in the affirmation of post-political forms of urban governance. Those issues were the object of fieldwork research carried out in Greengairs and Ravenscraig, two towns in North Lanarkshire, near Glasgow, with the goal of unravelling the understanding and the coping mechanisms of environmentally deprived residents. The towns are permeated by a widespread, often dissimulated, political ecology that is nonetheless always present. Empirical results demonstrate that a more comprehensive handling of the political ecology of the urban is crucial in order to halt the sources of marginalisation and ecological degradation

Comparison between echocardiographic and non-ECG-gated CT measurements in dogs

The aim of this study was to compare echocardiographic measurements with non-ECG-gated contrast-enhanced cardiac CT measurements in dogs. Fifty-seven dogs were included in the study. The following echocardiographic parameters were measured: M-mode interventricular septum in diastole and systole, left ventricular internal diameter in diastole and systole, left ventricular free wall in diastole and systole, 2D left atrial maximal diameter, 2D left atrium to aorta ratio in diastole, 2D aortic annulus in systole and 2D pulmonary annulus in diastole and systole. CT measurements were obtained from multiplanar reconstruction images, replicating the imaging planes used for 2D measurements on echocardiography. It was not possible to discriminate between systole and diastole. The results showed moderate Lin's concordance correlation coefficients between the left ventricular internal diameter in systole (0.77), the aortic annuli (0.84) and the pulmonary annuli in diastole (0.78) and systole (0.80). Low coefficients were obtained between the other parameters. Bland-Altman plots for the parameters with highest concordance correlation coefficients were calculated. They suggested equivalence between the measurements of the aortic annuli. Equivalence was not seen between the remaining echocardiographic and CT measurements. Therefore, non-ECG-gated CT is not a reliable way of quantitatively assessing cardiac size

Intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of activity budgets in sympatric grey and harbour seals

D. J. F. Russell was funded by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of their Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme and by Scottish Government as part of their Marine Mammal Scientific Support Research Programme (MMSS/001/11). The telemetry tags and their deployment were funded by DECC, the Natural Environment Research Council, Scottish Government, Marine Scotland Science and The European Commission.Investigation of activity budgets in relation to seasonal, intrinsic (age, sex) and extrinsic (time of day, spatial) covariates enables an understanding of how such covariates shape behavioural strategies. However, conducting such investigations in the wild is challenging, because of the required large sample size of individuals across the annual cycle, and difficulties in categorising behavioural states and analysing the resulting individual-referenced and serially correlated data. In this study, from telemetry tags deployed on 63 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and 126 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) we used behavioural data, and movement data within a Bayesian state-space model (SSM), to define population-level activity budgets around Britain. Using generalised estimating equations (GEEs) we then examined how time spent in four states (resting on land (hauled out), resting at sea, foraging and travelling) was influenced by seasonal, intrinsic and extrinsic covariates. We present and discuss the following key findings. (1) We found no evidence that regional variation in foraging effort was linked to regional population trajectories in harbour seals. (2) Grey seals demonstrated sex-specific seasonal differences in their activity budgets, independent from those related to reproductive costs. (3) In these sympatric species there was evidence of temporal separation in time hauled out, but not in time foraging. (4) In both species, time spent resting at sea was separated into inshore (associated with tidal haul out availability) and offshore areas. Time spent resting at sea and on land was interchangeable to some extent, suggesting a degree of overlap in their functionality. This may result in a relaxation of the constraints associated with a central place foraging strategy. More generally, we demonstrate how a large dataset, incorporating differing tag parameters, can be analysed to define activity budgets and subsequently address important ecological questions.PostprintPeer reviewe

Agreement between transverse T2-weighted and three-dimensional constructive interference in steady state sequences in the evaluation of spinal cord disease in dogs

The constructive interference in steady state (CISS) sequence has been widely used in human neuroimaging. It has been shown to be advantageous in the evaluation of intra-axial and extra-axial cystic abnormalities, arteriovenous and dysraphic malformations and disturbances of cerebrospinal fluid circulation. To assess the utility of this technique in small animals, interpretations based on this sequence were compared with those based on T2-weighted (T2W) sequences in 145 dogs that underwent MRI of the spine for suspected spinal cord disease. Two sets of images (T2W and CISS) were reviewed separately by three observers in random order and intraobserver and interobserver agreements between both sequences were evaluated for several categorical variables. The overall agreement between T2W and CISS sequences was good. The highest agreement was observed for lesion diagnosis (0.739<k<0.928), treatment recommendation (0.715<k<0.833) and degree of spinal cord compression (0.772<k<0.952). The agreement for intramedullary intensity change (0.192<k<0.332) was lower compared with the other variables. Lesions that were predominantly characterised by focal hyperintense parenchymal changes on T2W were in some instances undetected on the CISS sequence while lesions consistent with spinal arachnoid diverticula on CISS sequences were occasionally missed on T2W. CISS enabled demonstration that lesions were directly affecting associated spinal nerves in some cases where T2W sequence was equivocal. Although CISS does not replace standard spin echo sequences, the results support inclusion of this sequence in small animal spinal MRI studies when subarachnoid diverticula or spinal nerve compression is suspected

Patterns of space use in sympatric marine colonial predators reveals scales of spatial partitioning

E.L.J. and D.J.F.R. were funded under Scottish Government grant MMSS001/01. D.J.F.R. was funded by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of their Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme. S.S. was part-funded by the EU MYFISH project.Species distribution maps can provide important information to focus conservation efforts and enable spatial management of human activities. Two sympatric marine predators, grey seals Halichoerus grypus and harbour seals Phoca vitulina have overlapping ranges on land and at sea but contrasting population dynamics around Britain: whilst grey seals have generally increased, harbour seals have shown significant regional declines. We analysed two decades of at-sea movement data and terrestrial count data from these species to produce high resolution, broad-scale maps of distribution and associated uncertainty to inform conservation and management. Our results showed that grey seals use offshore areas connected to their haul-out sites by prominent corridors and harbour seals primarily stay within 50km of the coastline. Both species show fine-scale offshore spatial segregation off the east coast of Britain and broad-scale partitioning off western Scotland. These results illustrate that for broad-scale marine spatial planning, the conservation needs of harbour seals (primarily inshore, the exception being selected offshore usage areas) are different from those of grey seals (up to 100km offshore and corridors connecting these areas to haul-out sites). More generally, our results illustrate the importance of detailed knowledge of marine predator distributions to inform marine spatial planning; for instance, spatial prioritisation is not necessarily the most effective spatial planning strategy even when conserving species with similar taxonomy.Peer reviewe

Clinical features and MRI characteristics of presumptive constrictive myelopathy in 27 pugs

Constrictive myelopathy has been described in pugs with paraparesis and is characterized by fibrous connective and granulation tissue within the dura mater causing spinal cord compression and focal gliosis. An association between constrictive myelopathy and caudal articular process (CAP) dysplasia is suspected; however, some studies have reported CAP dysplasia as an incidental finding. The imaging appearance of constrictive myelopathy is currently limited to a small number of cases. The aim of this multicenter, retrospective, descriptive study was to detail the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics and to correlate these with clinical signs of presumptive constrictive myelopathy in pugs. Medical databases from five veterinary referral hospitals were reviewed to identify pugs with pelvic limb ataxia and paresis, that had a complete record of signalment, neurological examination, and MRI of the thoracolumbar spinal cord. The exclusion criteria were pugs with other conditions, such as unequivocal subarachnoid diverticula, hemivertebrae causing vertebral canal stenosis, intervertebral disc extrusions/protrusions, and multifocal/diffuse lesions. Twenty‐seven pugs met the inclusion criteria. All cases were ambulatory with paraparesis and ataxia. Nearly 60% were incontinent. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a focal myelopathy in all cases showing one or more of the following lesions: CAP dysplasia (25/27), focal subarachnoid space irregular margination (26/27) with circumferential or dorsal contrast enhancement (10/12), and a symmetric V‐shaped ventral extradural lesion (23/27). This study describes specific MRI features of pugs with presumptive constrictive myelopathy, which authors hypothesize to be a consequence of chronic micro‐motion. Our results may help in diagnosing and subsequently treating this condition, which may warrant vertebral stabilization

The origins of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) recolonizing the River Mersey in northwest England.

notes: PMCID: PMC3492779types: Journal Article© 2012 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.By the 1950s, pollution had extirpated Atlantic salmon in the river Mersey in northwest England. During the 1970s, an extensive restoration program began and in 2001, an adult salmon was caught ascending the river. Subsequently, a fish trap was installed and additional adults are now routinely sampled. In this study, we have genotyped 138 adults and one juvenile salmon at 14 microsatellite loci from across this time period (2001-2011). We have used assignment analysis with a recently compiled pan-European microsatellite baseline to identify their most probable region of origin. Fish entering the Mersey appear to originate from multiple sources, with the greatest proportion (45-60%, dependent on methodology) assigning to rivers in the geographical region just north of the Mersey, which includes Northwest England and the Solway Firth. Substantial numbers also appear to originate from rivers in western Scotland, and from rivers in Wales and Southwest England; nonetheless, the number of fish originating from proximal rivers to the west of the Mersey was lower than expected. Our results suggest that the majority of salmon sampled in the Mersey are straying in a southerly direction, in accordance with the predominantly clockwise gyre present in the eastern Irish Sea. Our findings highlight the complementary roles of improving water quality and in-river navigability in restoring salmon to a river and underlines further the potential benefits of restoration over stocking as a long-term solution to declining fish stocks.The Environment Agency (England & Wales)The Game and Wildlife Conservation TrustThe Westcountry Rivers TrustThe University of Exete

Development of novel adenoviral vectors to overcome challenges observed with HAdV-5 based constructs

Recombinant vectors based on human adenovirus serotype 5 (HAdV-5) have been extensively studied in pre-clinical models and clinical trials over the last two decades. However, the thorough understanding of the HAdV-5 interaction with human subjects has uncovered major concerns about its product applicability. High vector-associated toxicity and widespread pre-existing immunity have been shown to significantly impede the effectiveness of HAdV-5 mediated gene transfer. It is therefore that the in depth knowledge attained working on HAdV-5 is currently being used to develop alternative vectors. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of data obtained in recent years disqualifying the HAdV-5 vector for systemic gene delivery as well as novel strategies being pursued to overcome the limitations observed with particular emphasis on the ongoing vectorization efforts to obtain vectors based on alternative serotypes

Pandemic Influenza (H1N1) 2009 Is Associated with Severe Disease in India

Background: Pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 has posed a serious public health challenge world-wide. In absence of reliable information on severity of the disease, the nations are unable to decide on the appropriate response against this disease. Methods: Based on the results of laboratory investigations, attendance in outpatient department, hospital admissions and mortality from the cases of influenza like illness from 1 August to 31 October 2009 in Pune urban agglomeration, risk of hospitalization and case fatality ratio were assessed to determine the severity of pandemic H1N1 and seasonal influenza-A infections. Results: Prevalence of pandemic H1N1 as well as seasonal-A cases were high in Pune urban agglomeration during the study period. The cases positive for pandemic H1N1 virus had significantly higher risk of hospitalization than those positive for seasonal influenza-A viruses (OR: 1.7). Of 93 influenza related deaths, 57 and 8 deaths from Pune (urban) and 27 and 1 death from Pune (rural) were from pandemic H1N1 positive and seasonal-A positive cases respectively. The case fatality ratio 0.86 % for pandemic H1N1 was significantly higher than that of seasonal-A (0.13%) and it was in category 3 of the pandemic severity index of CDC, USA. The data on the cumulative fatality of rural and urban Pune revealed that with time the epidemic is spreading to rural areas