Seroprevalence of Malarial Antibodies in Galapagos Penguins (\u3ci\u3eSpheniscus mendiculus\u3ci\u3e)

Introduced diseases such as avian malaria can severely impact the health of small populations and have been the cause of species extinctions. Island species are thought to be more highly susceptible to introduced diseases. These populations have likely evolved in the absence of various pathogens making them immunologically naïve to diseases that occur regularly in mainland species. The Galapagos archipelago still preserves 95% of its species diversity known to have occurred there. The introduction of Haemosporidian parasites in the genus Plasmodium, which cause avian malaria, have had detrimental impacts on naïve populations in other island systems. Until recently, avian malarial parasites had not been detected in the Galapagos avifauna; however, the presence of Plasmodium parasites has been documented in the endangered Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus). Because avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) causes high mortality in other avian species after initial exposure, there is concern for the conservation of the endemic Galapagos penguin. Using a Plasmodium spp. circumsporozoite protein antigen, we have standardized an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to test the level of exposure to the parasite in this species, as indicated by seroprevalence. Low seroprevalence would be consistent with high mortality, whereas high seroprevalence may indicate low Plasmodium-induced mortality under normal conditions. Serum from Galapagos penguins collected between 2004 and 2009 on the Galapagos archipelago was tested for the presence of anti - Plasmodium spp. antibodies. Penguins were also tested for prevalence of avian malaria parasites, determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Total seroprevalence of malarial antibodies in this sample group was 97.2%, while total prevalence of Plasmodium parasites by PCR screening was 9.2%. This large discrepancy suggests high exposure to the parasite and low Plasmodium - induced mortality, at least under normal environmental conditions. The results of this study also suggest that parasite prevalence may be under-detected through PCR screening and multiple detection methods are necessary to better understand the extent of Plasmodium on the archipelago. It is extremely important to understand the distribution of this parasite on the islands and control any invasive threats before irreversible damage is done

Community Forests Canada: A New National Network

http://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2013-02

Prevalence of cervical disease at age 20 after immunisation with bivalent HPV vaccine at age 12-13 in Scotland: retrospective population study

The manuscript was reviewed by Jo’s Trust, which supports the conclusions. It made the following statement: We think (it has) massive implications for the screening programme, vaccine and also impact on diagnoses in the future. It gives weight for activity to increase vaccine uptake, has implications on screening intervals. The clinically relevant herd protection is very interesting too. It also feeds into our policy calls for a new IT infrastructure (for the screening programme in England) to record and enable invitations based on whether someone has at the vaccine if intervals can be extended. Funding: This study has been undertaken as part of the programme of surveillance of immunisation against human papillomavirus in Scotland, included within the routine work of Health Protection Scotland, a part of the Scottish National Health Service. No funding has been received from industry.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Invaluable but Invisible: an Initial Investigation of Chinese Graduate Skill Development and Subsequent Skill Use

Measures of impact of Higher Education have often neglected the Chinese student view, despite the importance of these students to the UK and Chinese economy. This research paper details the findings of a quantitative survey that was purposively distributed to Chinese graduates who enrolled at the University of Worcester on the Business Management degree between 2004-2011 (n=49). Analysis has been conducted on their skill development throughout their degree, their skill usage in different employment contexts, the value of their degree, and gender differences in skill development and usage. Discrepancies between skill development and usage, between males and females, and with previous research findings are discussed. Future research directions are also specified

Analysis of Syllable Strings and Pauses Found in Mother/Child Conversation in Relation to Child's Academic Performance

This study is. concerned with the analysis of syllables and pauses found in two-person conversations. The conversations analyzedare those between a mother and her child and between the same child and his or her teacher. The primary objective is to determine how the characteristics of syllable strings and pauses relate to the child's academic performance. Statistical tests are made upon the data gathered from tape recordings of these conversations to analyze this relationship.Sociolog

Morphological variation in subalpine fir and its relationship to balsam fir in western Canada and the United States

To help clarify the taxonomy of the two closely related North American firs subalpine fir {Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) and balsam fir {Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) in western Canada and the United States, 10 populations of subalpine fir from Yukon Territory, northern British Columbia, and Alaska were compared on the basis of morphological traits to fir populations from Washington to northern Ontario. Principal components and discriminant analyses were carried out separately on cone and needle data for various subsets of these populations. Multiple regression analysis and analyses of variance were used to investigate which evolutionary processes may have been important in the recent development of subalpine fir at its northern extreme. The regression analyses and analyses of variance suggest that variation is expressed primarily within populations, throughout a single large genepool at the northern extreme of subalpine fir's range, and that selection due to local environmental pressures has produced the existing morphological variation among populations. The multivariate analyses of cone and needle data produced different results for several of the population subsets, indicating that vegetative and sexual features of these firs respond to different selection pressures at the various sites. Although the results are not entirely consistent, the combined cone and needle data indicate that 1) north coastal British Columbia and interior Rocky Mountain populations of subalpine fir are generally distinct with the exception of a Vancouver Island population; 2) northern subalpine fir populations exhibit an affinity to interior populations and are very distinct from coastal populations. Additional geographic trends are 1) two Washington Cascades subalpine fir populations are distinct from all other populations in needle morphology, but one of these populations (Mount Baker) is similar to the interior populations in cone morphology: 2) all balsam fir populations are indistinguishable from interior subalpine fir populations on the basis of needle morphology, but well-differentiated from these and coastal populations in cone morphology. These results support 1) continued recognition of subalpine and balsam fir as separate species and 2) recognition of coastal and interior subalpine fir as separate taxa, perhaps at varietal rank. The present results refute the theory that subalpine fir survived the Wisconsin glaciation in one or more northern refugia. Rather, the close affinity between northern and interior subalpine fir populations suggests that they originated from a common Rocky Mountain refugium

Emergent scale-free networks

Many complex systems--from social and communication networks to biological networks and the Internet--are thought to exhibit scale-free structure. However, prevailing explanations rely on the constant addition of new nodes, an assumption that fails dramatically in some real-world settings. Here, we propose a model in which nodes are allowed to die, and their connections rearrange under a mixture of preferential and random attachment. With these simple dynamics, we show that networks self-organize towards scale-free structure, with a power-law exponent $\gamma = 1 + \frac{1}{p}$ that depends only on the proportion $p$ of preferential (rather than random) attachment. Applying our model to several real networks, we infer $p$ directly from data, and predict the relationship between network size and degree heterogeneity. Together, these results establish that realistic scale-free structure can emerge naturally in networks of constant size and density, with broad implications for the structure and function of complex systems.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure