Colour preferences of UK garden birds at supplementary seed feeders

Supplementary feeding of garden birds generally has benefits for both bird populations and human wellbeing. Birds have excellent colour vision, and show preferences for food items of particular colours, but research into colour preferences associated with artificial feeders is limited to hummingbirds. Here, we investigated the colour preferences of common UK garden birds foraging at seed-dispensing artificial feeders containing identical food. We presented birds simultaneously with an array of eight differently coloured feeders, and recorded the number of visits made to each colour over 370 30-minute observation periods in the winter of 2014/15. In addition, we surveyed visitors to a garden centre and science festival to determine the colour preferences of likely purchasers of seed feeders. Our results suggest that silver and green feeders were visited by higher numbers of individuals of several common garden bird species, while red and yellow feeders received fewer visits. In contrast, people preferred red, yellow, blue and green feeders. We suggest that green feeders may be simultaneously marketable and attractive to foraging birds

Student employability enhancement through fieldwork: purposefully integrated or a beneficial side effect?

Fieldwork provides opportunities for students to develop employability-enhancing transferable skills as well as technical, discipline-specific skills and disciplinary knowledge. However, the extent to which staff purposely plan transferable skills outcomes of field courses, and, therefore, whether they are communicated to students is unknown. We investigated whether staff intentionally plan transferable skills development opportunities into fieldwork by interviewing academic staff responsible for planning and leading residential field courses at a UK university. We also conducted a thematic analysis of associated module specifications and teaching materials to understand whether transferable skills were signposted to colleagues and students. Our findings show that although most staff recognise that their field courses help students to develop transferable skills, staff awareness of skills and professional development outcomes is narrowly focused on technical skills and discipline-related careers. Furthermore, those transferable skills outcomes that staff are aware of are not fully translated into module specifications and infrequently signposted to students via teaching materials. These findings suggest that transferable skills form a hidden curriculum of fieldwork. To maximise the employability benefits of fieldwork, we recommend that all skills should be signposted to students both during field course teaching and also via the associated teaching materials

A momentum budget study of the semi‐annual oscillation in the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model

The representation of the semi‐annual oscillation (SAO) in climate models shows a common easterly bias of several tens of metres per second compared to observations. These biases could be due to deficiencies in eastward tropical wave forcing, the position or strength of the climatological summertime jet or the strength/timing of the Brewer–Dobson circulation. This motivates further analysis of the momentum budget of the upper stratosphere within models and a more detailed comparison with reanalyses to determine the origin of the bias. In this study, the transformed Eulerian mean momentum equation is used to evaluate the different forcing terms that contribute to the SAO in the MERRA2 reanalysis dataset. This is then compared with the equivalent analysis using data from a climate simulation of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). The comparison shows that WACCM underestimates eastward forcing by both resolved and parameterised waves at equatorial latitudes when compared with MERRA2 and also has a weaker tropical upwelling above 1 hPa

Within-river phosphorus retention: accounting for a missing piece in the watershed phosphorus puzzle

The prevailing "puzzle" in watershed phosphorus (P) management is how to account for the nonconservative behavior (retention and remobilization) of P along the land-freshwater continuum. This often hinders our attempts to directly link watershed P sources with their water quality impacts. Here, we examine aspects of within-river retention of wastewater effluent P and its remobilization under high flows. Most source apportionment methods attribute P loads mobilized under high flows (including retained and remobilized effluent P) as nonpoint agricultural sources. We present a new simple empirical method which uses chloride as a conservative tracer of wastewater effluent, to quantify within-river retention of effluent P, and its contribution to river P loads, when remobilized under high flows. We demonstrate that within-river P retention can effectively mask the presence of effluent P inputs in the water quality record. Moreover, we highlight that by not accounting for the contributions of retained and remobilized effluent P to river storm-flow P loads, existing source apportionment methods may significantly overestimate nonpoint agricultural sources and underestimate wastewater sources in mixed land-use watersheds. This has important implications for developing effective watershed remediation strategies, where remediation needs to be equitably and accurately apportioned among point and nonpoint P contributors

Understanding the mechanisms for tropical surface impacts of the quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO)

The impact of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on tropical convection and precipitation is investigated through nudging experiments using the UK Met Office Hadley Center Unified Model. The model control simulations show robust links between the internally generated QBO and tropical precipitation and circulation. The model zonal wind in the tropical stratosphere was nudged above 90 hPa in atmosphere-only and coupled ocean-atmosphere configurations. The convection and precipitation in the atmosphere-only simulations do not differ between the experiments with and without nudging, which may indicate that SST-convection coupling is needed for any QBO influence on the tropical lower troposphere and surface. In the coupled experiments, the precipitation and sea-surface temperature relationships with the QBO phase disappear when nudging is applied. Imposing a realistic QBO-driven static stability anomaly in the upper-troposphere lower-stratosphere is not sufficient to simulate tropical surface impacts. The nudging reduced the influence of the lower troposphere on the upper branch of the Walker circulation, irrespective of the QBO, indicating that the upper tropospheric zonal circulation has been decoupled from the surface by the nudging. These results suggest that grid-point nudging mutes relevant feedback processes occurring at the tropopause level, including high cloud radiative effects and wave mean flow interactions, which may play a key role in stratospheric-tropospheric coupling

Germline Missense Changes in the APC Gene and Their Relationship to Disease

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is characterized by the presence of hundreds to thousands of adenomas that carpet the entire colon and rectum. Nonsense and frameshift mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene account for the majority of mutations identified to date and predispose primarily to the typical disease phenotype. Some APC mutations are associated with a milder form of the disease known as attenuated FAP. Virtually all mutations that have been described in the APC gene result in the formation of a premature stop codon and very little is known about missense mutations apart from a common Ashkenazi Jewish mutation (1307 K) and a British E1317Q missense change. The incidence of missense mutations in the APC gene has been underreported since the APC gene lends itself to analysis using an artificial transcription and translation assay known as the Protein Truncation Test (PTT) or the In Vitro Synthetic Protein assay (IVSP)

A Comparison Between Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis and Denaturing High Performance Liquid Chromatography in Detecting Mutations in Genes Associated with Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC) and the Identification of 9 New Mutations Previously Unidentified by DGGE

Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography is a relatively new method by which heteroduplex structures formed during the PCR amplification of heterozygote samples can be rapidly identified. The use of this technology for mutation detection in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) has the potential to appreciably shorten the time it takes to analyze genes associated with this disorder. Prior to acceptance of this method for screening genes associated with HNPCC, assessment of the reliability of this method should be performed. In this report we have compared mutation and polymorphism detection by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) with denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) in a set of 130 families. All mutations/polymorphisms representing base substitutions, deletions, insertions and a 23 base pair inversion were detected by DHPLC whereas DGGE failed to identify four single base substitutions and a single base pair deletion. In addition, we show that DHPLC has been used for the identification of 5 different mutations in exon 7 of hMSH2 that could not be detected by DGGE

Prospective assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of multi-site photoplethysmography pulse measurements for diagnosis of peripheral artery disease in primary care

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with cerebral and coronary artery disease. Symptomatic PAD affects about 5% of people over 55 years; many more have asymptomatic PAD. Early detection enables modification of arterial disease risk factors. Diagnostically, assessment of symptoms or signs can be unreliable; ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) testing is time-consuming and few healthcare professionals are properly trained. This study assessed the diagnostic accuracy of multi-site photoplethysmography (MPPG), an alternative non-invasive test for PAD, in primary care. PAD patients identified from general practice registers were age- and sex-matched with controls. Participants were assessed using MPPG, ABPI and duplex ultrasound (DUS). Outcome measures were sensitivity and specificity of MPPG and ABPI (relative to DUS) and concordance. MPPG test results were available in 249 of 298 eligible participants from 16 practices between May 2015 and November 2016. DUS detected PAD in 101/249 (40.6%). MPPG sensitivity was 79.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 69.9-87.6%), with specificity 71.9% (95% CI 63.7-79.2%). ABPI sensitivity was 80.2% (95% CI 70.8-87.6%), with specificity 88.6% (95% CI 82-93.5%). With comparable sensitivity to ABPI, MPPG is quick, automated and simpler to do than ABPI; it offers the potential for rapid and accessible PAD assessments in primary care

Prognostic value of National Early Warning Scores (NEWS2) and component physiology in hospitalised patients with COVID-19:a multicentre study

BACKGROUND: National Early Warning Scores (NEWS2) are used to detect all-cause deterioration. While studies have looked at NEWS2, the use of virtual consultation and remote monitoring of patients with COVID-19 mean there is a need to know which physiological observations are important. AIM: To investigate the relationship between outcome and NEWS2, change in NEWS2 and component physiology in COVID-19 inpatients. METHODS: A multi-centre retrospective study of electronically recorded, routinely collected physiological measurements between March and June 2020. First and maximum NEWS2, component scores and outcomes were recorded. Areas under the curve (AUCs) for 2-day, 7-day and 30-day mortality were calculated. RESULTS: Of 1263 patients, 26% died, 7% were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) before discharge and 67% were discharged without ICU. Of 1071 patients with initial NEWS2, most values were low: 50% NEWS2=0–2, 27% NEWS2=3–4, 14% NEWS2=5–6 and 9% NEWS2=7+. Maximum scores were: 14% NEWS2=0–2, 22% NEWS2=3–4, 17% NEWS2=5–6 and 47% NEWS2=7+. Higher first and maximum scores were predictive of mortality, ICU admission and longer length of stay. AUCs based on 2-day, 7-day, 30-day and any hospital mortality were 0.77 (95% CI 0.70 to 0.84), 0.70 (0.65 to 0.74), 0.65 (0.61 to 0.68) and 0.65 (0.61 to 0.68), respectively. The AUCs for 2-day mortality were 0.71 (0.65 to 0.77) for supplemental oxygen, 0.65 (0.56 to 0.73) oxygen saturation and 0.64 (0.56 to 0.73) respiratory rate. CONCLUSION: While respiratory parameters were most predictive, no individual parameter was as good as a full NEWS2, which is an acceptable predictor of short-term mortality in patients with COVID-19. This supports recommendation to use NEWS2 alongside clinical judgement to assess patients with COVID-19