Quantification of intraskeletal histovariability in Alligator mississippiensis and implications for vertebrate osteohistology

Bone microanalyses of extant vertebrates provide a necessary framework from which to form hypotheses regarding the growth and skeletochronology of extinct taxa. Here, we describe the bone microstructure and quantify the histovariability of appendicular elements and osteoderms from three juvenile American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) to assess growth mark and tissue organization within and amongst individuals, with the intention of validating paleohistological interpretations. Results confirm previous observations that lamellar and parallel fibered tissue organization are typical of crocodylians, and also that crocodylians are capable of forming woven tissue for brief periods. Tissue organization and growth mark count varies across individual skeletal elements and reveal that the femur, tibia, and humerus had the highest annual apposition rates in each individual. Cyclical growth mark count also varies intraskeletally, but data suggest these inconsistencies are due to differing medullary cavity expansion rates. There was no appreciable difference in either diaphyseal circumference or cyclical growth mark circumferences between left and right element pairs from an individual if diaphyses were sampled from roughly the same location. The considerable intraskeletal data obtained here provide validation for long-held paleohistology assumptions, but because medullary expansion, cyclical growth mark formation, and variable intraskeletal growth rates are skeletal features found in tetrapod taxa living or extinct, the validations presented herein should be considered during any tetrapod bone microanalysis

Heading for the unknown : Transition from child to adult care

Problemställning: Fler barn och ungdomar med kroniska sjukdomar övergår till vuxensjukvård då medicinsk och medicinteknisk utveckling blivit mer avancerad. Detta ställer krav på vuxensjukvården att kunna ta över ungdomar som kommer från barnsjukvården så att de upplever en god och tillfredställande vård. Det finns dock lite forskning kring hur övergången till vuxensjukvård upplevs av ungdomar med kroniska sjukdomar. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva hur ungdomar med kronisk sjukdom upplever övergången från barn- till vuxensjukvård. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en litteraturöversikt och baserades på 14 vetenskapliga artiklar. Dessa granskades, analyserades och kategoriserades för att finna likheter och skillnader i ungdomars upplevelse av övergången till vuxensjukvård. Resultat och Konklusion: I resultatet framkom fem kategorier som benämdes ”Känslan av att bli vuxen”, ”Oro och Rädsla”, ”Att känna sig förberedd och delaktig”, ”Kommunikation mellan vårdenheterna” och ”Skilda världar”. Att övergå till vuxensjukvård innebar en period av oro och rädsla. Ungdomar med kroniska sjukdomar upplevde att förberedelser och delaktighet inför övergången var otillräcklig och påbörjades alltför sent. De upplevde även en bristande kommunikation mellan patient och vårdpersonal samt mellan barn- och vuxensjukvård, vilket försvårade övergången. Implikation: Det är av stor betydelse att sjukvården utarbetar tydligare riktlinjer och utvecklar samarbetet mellan barn- och vuxensjukvård i syfte att underlätta övergången för ungdomarna. Det behövs vidare forskning kring hur detta samarbete skulle kunna se ut för att tillgodose ungdomarnas behov av förberedelser och delaktighet i sin egenvård och i övergångsprocessen.Problem: Increasing numbers of children and adolescents with chronic diseases transfer to adult health care due to the fact that the medical and technological developments have become more advanced. This requires that the adult care is capable to transfer young people from childcare so that they experience a good and satisfying care. However, there is little research about how the transition to adult care is experienced by young people with chronic diseases. Aim: The aim was to describe how young people with chronic disease experience the transition from child to adult care. Method: The study was conducted as a literature review and was based on 14 scientific articles. These were reviewed, analyzed and categorized to identify similarities and differences in young people's experience of transition to adult care. Results and Conclusion: The results revealed five categories: "Feelings of becoming an adult," "Worry and Fear", "To feel prepared and involved", "Communication between care units" and "Different worlds". Changing to adult care meant a period of anxiety and fear. Adolescents with chronic disease felt that the preparation and participation due to transition was inadequate and began too late. They also experienced a lack of communication between patients and health professionals, and between child and adult care, which made the transition difficult and complicated. Implication: It is important that health care is developing clearer guidelines and develop cooperation between adult and child care in order to facilitate the transition of young people. There is further need of research on how this could be formed in order to satisfy young people´s needs for preparation and participation in their self-care and in the transition process

Conservation of European hares Lepus europaeus in Britain: is increasing habitat heterogeneity in farmland the answer?

1. Agricultural intensification has had dramatic effects on farmland biodiversity and has caused declines in many taxa. Habitat changes are thought to be the main cause of the decline in numbers of European hares, Lepus europaeus, throughout Europe. In Britain there is greater potential to increase hare numbers in pastural landscapes than in arable landscape. Hares in pasture have lower population densities, poorer body condition and participate less in breeding than in arable habitats. We aimed to investigate habitat selection and home range size in a mainly pastural area in order to reveal why the habitat is suboptimal, and how it could be managed to benefit the species. 2. A seasonal radio-tracking study was used to determine the importance of heterogeneity at the between- and within-habitat scales. Habitat selection by active and resting hares was quantified. Selection was investigated by categorizing habitats by type, and by structure in terms of vegetation height. 3. Mean home range size was 34 ha. Winter and spring ranges were larger than summer and autumn ranges. Hares selected fallow land and pasture grazed by cattle in preference to arable crops throughout the year, except during the winter when crops were suitable as forage. Pasture grazed by sheep was avoided in all seasons but winter. Heterogeneity at the between-habitat scale was less important to hares than heterogeneity at the within-habitat scale in the pastural landscape studied. 4. Hares selected habitats with taller vegetation during the spring and summer. Many of the habitats selected were heterogeneous in structure mainly due to cattle grazing, and hares avoided short homogeneous vegetation in all seasons. Hares are more likely to be limited by habitat in terms of cover than food in these landscapes. 5. Synthesis and applications. Increasing habitat heterogeneity at the farm scale may benefit hares, especially in highly homogeneous, intensively managed landscapes. However, managers of pastural farmland should aim to increase habitat heterogeneity at the within-habitat (or within-field) scale in particular, to provide better cover throughout the year. Agri-environment schemes should target the regeneration of heterogeneity in pastural landscapes, by encouraging changes such as an increase in fallow land and a reduction in livestock density. Such shifts in management are likely to benefit both hares and farmland biodiversity in general

Long-term patterns in Iberian hare population dynamics in a protected area (Doñana National Park) in the southwestern Iberian Peninsula: Effects of weather conditions and plant cover

The Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis) is a widely distributed endemic species in the Iberian Peninsula. To improve our knowledge of its population dynamics, the relative abundance and population trends of the Iberian hare were studied in the autumns of 1995–2012 in a protected area (Doñana National Park) by spotlighting in 2 different habitats: marshland and ecotones. The average relative abundance was 0.38 hare/km (SD = 0.63) in the marshland and 3.6 hares/km (SD = 4.09) in ecotones. The Iberian hare population exhibited local interannual fluctuations and a negative population trend during the study period (1995–2012). The results suggest that its populations are in decline. The flooding of parts of the marshland in June, July and October favor hare abundance in the ecotone. Hare abundance in the marshland increases as the flooded surface area increases in October. These effects are more pronounced if the rains are early (October) and partially flood the marsh. By contrast, when marsh grasses and graminoids are very high and thick (as measured using the aerial herbaceous biomass [biomass marshland] as a proxy), the abundance of hares decreases dramatically as does the area of the marsh that is flooded (in November)Peer reviewe