Density, Biomass and Species Composition of Fish in a Subtropical Rhizophora stylosa Mangrove Forest

Juvenile and adult fish were sampled from within a subtropical Rhizophora stylosa mangrove forest in Tin Can Bay, Australia, every second lunar month from November 1991 to November 1993. On all sampling occasions replicate samples were taken on two consecutive nights. In all, 3320 fish were collected, representing 42 species and weighing 141498 g. Significantly fewer fish were caught on the second night than on the first night. Economically important fish of the Families Atherinidae, Mugilidae, Gerreidae, Sparidae and Sillaginidae represented >76% by number and >74% of the total weight caught. The mean density of fish in the forest was 0.04 ± 0.01 W2, with a biomass of 1.3 ± 0.2 g m2. This is lower than that found in similar studies on other mangrove communities. The fish community was dominated by detritivores and intermediate carnivores, many of which are of economic value. Although the fish use of this subtropical R. stylosa forest was low, this habitat is important as a feeding and nursery area for fish species that contribute to the fisheries value of the region

Serum ferritin in term and preterm infants

Serum ferritin levels were examined in maternal serum, In cord sera and at one, four, eight and twelve weeks in 19 term and 28 preterm infants. There was no correlation between maternal and cord ferritin levels. Mean serum ferritin concentration was lower in preterm infants, and both term and preterm Infants exhibited' an initial rise in serum ferritin concentration followed by a steady fall. Serum ferritin concentration showed a good correlation with calculated iron stores at twelve weeks of age suggesting that serum ferritin estimation is the method of choice for monitoring body iron stores in infants. No correlation was found between serum ferritin concentration and calculated iron intake at any age in either term or preterm infants. It is suggested that iron supplementation additional to that present in modified cow's milk is not necessary for the first twelve weeks of life in either term or preterm infants

Temporal coding in neuronal populations in the presence of axonal and dendritic conduction time delays

Abstract. Time delays are a ubiquitous feature of neuronal systems. Synaptic integration between spiking neurones is subject to time delays at the axonal and dendritic level. Recent evidence suggests that temporal coding on a millisecond time scale may be an important functional mechanism for synaptic integration. This study uses biophysical neurone models to examine the influence of dendritic and axonal conduction time delays on the sensitivity of a neurone to temporal coding in populations of synaptic inputs. The results suggest that these delays do not affect the sensitivity of a neurone to the presence of temporal correlation amongst input spike trains, and point to a mechanism other than electrotonic conduction of EPSPs to describe neural integration under conditions of large scale synaptic input. The results also suggest that it is the common modulation rather than the synchronous aspect of temporal coding in the input spike trains which neurones are sensitive to. 1