A view from above : changing seas, seabirds and food sources

In this review we summarize what is known about mechanisms by which climate change may be affecting the populations of seabirds around the UK. Breeding success and adult survival are the key factors affecting changes in seabird populations, and food intake is implicated as a major determinant of both. The diet of most UK seabird species is almost exclusively sandeels, small clupeoid fish or zooplankton and it is clear that the marine pelagic food web is the key ecological system determining food supply. Hence, we develop the review by first considering how climate changes may affect primary production, and then examine how this propagates through the food web to zooplankton and fish culminating in fluctuations in seabird numbers. A trend of increasing numbers of many seabird species since 1970, particularly puffins, guillemots and razorbills, appears to have been reversed since 2000. The proximate cause of the recent declines seems to be a succession of 5 years of low breeding success for a range of species due to a shortage of food, especially sandeels. However, the connection with climate change remains uncertain, though there are indications that declines in the productivity of sandeel populations may be linked in some complex way to warming sea temperatures. The main conclusion is that no part of the marine food web, including fisheries, can be considered in isolation when trying to understand and predict the consequences of climate change for seabirds. Impacts can be expected in all parts of the system, and all parts of the system are interconnected

Recognising and addressing elder abuse in care homes: views from residents and managers

YesIn 2004, the author carried out a small scale study to find out the views of those living and working in private care homes in England about a range of issues connected to inspection, regulation and ways to better protect older people. This study reports on views from nineteen managers and nineteen residents about their understanding of abuse, their perceptions of the different forms of abuse and the possible action to deal with offending care staff. Although there was some consensus about the seriousness of certain types of abuse and how managers would investigate the allegation, the findings indicate that mandatory training for registered care home owners and managers is necessary to clarify their responsibilities in relation to their actions and reporting of certain offences to relevant agencies

Clinical methods to quantify trunk mobility in an elite male surfing population

Background: Thoracic mobility in the sagittal and horizontal planes are key requirements in the sport of surfing; however to date the normal values of these movements have not yet been quantified in a surfing population. Objectives: To develop a reliable method to quantify thoracic mobility in the sagittal plane; to assess the reliability of an existing thoracic rotation method, and quantify thoracic mobility in an elite male surfing population. Design: Clinical Measurement, reliability and comparative study. Methods: A total of 30 subjects were used to determine the reliability component. 15 elite surfers were used as part of a comparative analysis with age and gender matched controls. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient values ranged between 0.95-0.99 (95% CI; 0.89-0.99) for both thoracic methods. The elite surfing group had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater rotation than the comparative group (mean rotation 63.57° versus 40.80°, respectively). Conclusion: This study has illustrated reliable methods to assess the thoracic spine in the sagittal plane and thoracic rotation. It has also quantified ROM in a surfing cohort; identifying thoracic rotation as a key movement. This information may provide clinicians, coaches and athletic trainers with imperative information regarding the importance of maintaining adequate thoracic rotation. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Parallel foliations

The basic theory of foliations is introduced in Chapter 1. Various classes of affine connexions associated with a foliation are discussed, in particular those which give rise to the notion of parallel foliation and those which give a realisation of the 1-Jet holonomy group of C. Ehresmann. In Chapter 2, locally affine foliations are defined as parallel foliations for which the induced structure on each leaf is flat. A local characterisation is given in terms of the existence of a special sub-atlas of co-ordinate charts. Some results are obtained about the global structure of such foliations when certain completeness assumptions are made. Chapter 3 gives a description, in terms of grid manifolds, of the work of S. Kashiwabara on the reducibility of an affinely connected manifold. The work of the first three chapters is then used in Chapter 4 to discuss the question of parallel foliations on pseudoriemannian manifolds. Some new examples are given. An elementary proof of the De Rham-Wu decomposition theorem and some theorems about null foliations determined by submersions are obtained. Chapter 5 is concerned with the properties of pseudoriemannian manifolds which admit systems of parallel vector fields. The problem is discussed in terms of parallel foliations and some recently developed techniques infoliation theory are used to obtain some strong global structure theorems

Rapid, learning-induced inhibitory synaptogenesis in murine barrel field

The structure of neurons changes during development and in response to injury or alteration in sensory experience. Changes occur in the number, shape, and dimensions of dendritic spines together with their synapses. However, precise data on these changes in response to learning are sparse. Here, we show using quantitative transmission electron microscopy that a simple form of learning involving mystacial vibrissae results in approximately 70% increase in the density of inhibitory synapses on spines of neurons located in layer IV barrels that represent the stimulated vibrissae. The spines contain one asymmetrical (excitatory) and one symmetrical (inhibitory) synapse (double-synapse spines), and their density increases threefold as a result of learning with no apparent change in the density of asymmetrical synapses. This effect seems to be specific for learning because pseudoconditioning (in which the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are delivered at random) does not lead to the enhancement of symmetrical synapses but instead results in an upregulation of asymmetrical synapses on spines. Symmetrical synapses of cells located in barrels receiving the conditioned stimulus also show a greater concentration of GABA in their presynaptic terminals. These results indicate that the immediate effect of classical conditioning in the "conditioned" barrels is rapid, pronounced, and inhibitory

Retrospective analysis of chronic injuries in recreational and competitive surfers:Injury location, type, and mechanism

Only two studies have reported on chronic musculoskeletal surfing injuries. They found over half of the injuries were non-musculoskeletal, but did not consider mechanisms of injury. This study identified the location, type, and mechanisms of chronic injury in Australian recreational and competitive surfers using a crosssectional retrospective observational design. A total of 1,348 participants (91.3% males, 43.1% competitive surfers) reported 1,068 chronic injuries, 883 of which were classified as major. Lower back (23.2%), shoulder (22.4%), and knee (12.1%) regions had the most chronic injuries. Competitive surfers had significantly (p \u3c .05) more lower back, ankle/foot, and head/face injuries than recreational surfers. Injuries were mostly musculoskeletal with only 7.8% being of non-musculoskeletal origin. Prolonged paddling was the highest frequency (21.1%) for mechanism of injury followed by turning maneuvers (14.8%). The study results contribute to the limited research on chronic surfing injuries

The role of religion and spirituality in social work practice: Views and experiences of social workers and students.

NoFindings from surveys of qualified social work practitioners and students indicate a need for social work education and practice to focus attention both on the importance of religious and spiritual beliefs in the lives of many service users and on the potential usefulness of religious and spiritual interventions. In this British study, undertaken in 2003 and 2004, students were less likely than their qualified colleagues to consider religious or spiritually sensitive interventions as appropriate. Attitudes varied little between those students who held religious beliefs and those who did not, but Muslim students and qualified social workers were more likely to view these types of interventions as appropriate. The authors conclude that there is a clear need for all social work practitioners and educators to give greater priority to exploring the potential significance of religious and spiritual beliefs in their training, in their professional practice and in the lives and perspectives of service users and colleagues. Social workers need to be able to respond appropriately to the needs of all service users, including those for whom religious and spiritual beliefs are crucial. `Culturally competent¿ practice depends, amongst other things, on an understanding and appreciation of the impact of faith and belief

The Power of Belief? Review of the Evidence on Religion or Belief and Equalities in Great Britain.

yesA new legal framework has been developed in Great Britain over the last ten years which protects individuals against unfair treatment on the grounds of their religion or belief. This framework regards all the major faith groups, secular belief systems (such as Humanism or Atheism), and non-belief on formally equal terms. There has also been a rapid growth of research interest in religion/belief in contemporary scholarship on equalities. This report provides a critical overview of this extensive research base relating mainly to England, Scotland and Wales up until 2008

Interventions for the treatment of oral and oropharyngeal cancers: surgical treatment.

BACKGROUND: Surgery is an important part of the management of oral cavity cancer with regard to both the removal of the primary tumour and removal of lymph nodes in the neck. Surgery is less frequently used in oropharyngeal cancer. Surgery alone may be treatment for early stage disease or surgery may be used in combination with radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy/biotherapy. There is variation in the recommended timing and extent of surgery in the overall treatment regimens of people with these cancers. OBJECTIVES: To determine which surgical treatment modalities for oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers result in increased overall survival, disease free survival, progression free survival and reduced recurrence. SEARCH STRATEGY: The following electronic databases were searched: the Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register (to 17 February 2011), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2011, Issue 1), MEDLINE via OVID (1950 to 17 February 2011) and EMBASE via OVID (1980 to 17 February 2011). There were no restrictions regarding language or date of publication. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials where more than 50% of participants had primary tumours of the oral cavity or oropharynx, and which compared two or more surgical treatment modalities or surgery versus other treatment modalities. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data extraction and assessment of risk of bias was undertaken independently by two or more review authors. Study authors were contacted for additional information as required. Adverse events data were collected from published trials. MAIN RESULTS: Seven trials (n = 669; 667 with cancers of the oral cavity) satisfied the inclusion criteria, but none were assessed as low risk of bias. Trials were grouped into three main comparisons. Four trials compared elective neck dissection (ND) with therapeutic neck dissection in patients with oral cavity cancer and clinically negative neck nodes, but differences in type of surgery and duration of follow-up made meta-analysis inappropriate. Three of these trials reported overall and disease free survival. One trial showed a benefit for elective supraomohyoid neck dissection compared to therapeutic ND in overall and disease free survival. Two trials found no difference between elective radical ND and therapeutic ND for the outcomes of overall survival and disease free survival. All four trials found reduced locoregional recurrence following elective ND.A further two trials compared elective radical ND with elective selective ND and found no difference in overall survival, disease free survival or recurrence. The final trial compared surgery plus radiotherapy to radiotherapy alone but data were unreliable because the trial stopped early and there were multiple protocol violations.None of the trials reported quality of life as an outcome. Two trials, evaluating different comparisons reported adverse effects of treatment. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Seven included trials evaluated neck dissection surgery in patients with oral cavity cancers. The review found weak evidence that elective neck dissection of clinically negative neck nodes at the time of removal of the primary tumour results in reduced locoregional recurrence, but there is insufficient evidence to conclude that elective neck dissection increases overall survival or disease free survival compared to therapeutic neck dissection. There is very weak evidence from one trial that elective supraomohyoid neck dissection may be associated with increased overall and disease free survival. There is no evidence that radical neck dissection increases overall survival compared to conservative neck dissection surgery. Reporting of adverse events in all trials was poor and it was not possible to compare the quality of life of patients undergoing different surgeries

Mutations in protocadherin 15 and cadherin 23 affect tip links and mechanotransduction in mammalian sensory hair cells

Immunocytochemical studies have shown that protocadherin-15 (PCDH15) and cadherin-23 (CDH23) are associated with tip links, structures thought to gate the mechanotransducer channels of hair cells in the sensory epithelia of the inner ear. The present report describes functional and structural analyses of hair cells from Pcdh15av3J (av3J), Pcdh15av6J (av6J) and Cdh23v2J (v2J) mice. The av3J and v2J mice carry point mutations that are predicted to introduce premature stop codons in the transcripts for Pcdh15 and Cdh23, respectively, and av6J mice have an in-frame deletion predicted to remove most of the 9th cadherin ectodomain from PCDH15. Severe disruption of hair-bundle morphology is observed throughout the early-postnatal cochlea in av3J/av3J and v2J/v2J mice. In contrast, only mild-to-moderate bundle disruption is evident in the av6J/av6J mice. Hair cells from av3J/av3J mice are unaffected by aminoglycosides and fail to load with [3H]-gentamicin or FM1-43, compounds that permeate the hair cell's mechanotransducer channels. In contrast, hair cells from av6J/av6J mice load with both FM1-43 and [3H]-gentamicin, and are aminoglycoside sensitive. Transducer currents can be recorded from hair cells of all three mutants but are reduced in amplitude in all mutants and have abnormal directional sensitivity in the av3J/av3J and v2J/v2J mutants. Scanning electron microscopy of early postnatal cochlear hair cells reveals tip-link like links in av6J/av6J mice, substantially reduced numbers of links in the av3J/av3J mice and virtually none in the v2J/v2J mice. Analysis of mature vestibular hair bundles reveals an absence of tip links in the av3J/av3J and v2J/v2J mice and a reduction in av6J/av6J mice. These results therefore provide genetic evidence consistent with PCDH15 and CDH23 being part of the tip-link complex and necessary for normal mechanotransduction