An illustrated key to the species of the genus Narella (Cnidaria, Octocorallia, Primnoidae)

A history of the description of the 50 valid species of Narella is given, beginning with the first species described in 1860. To help differentiate the various species, a tabular and a polychotomous key are provided. The species in the keys are arranged using nine characters or character sets that are believed to be of value at the species level. New characters or new significance given to previously described characters used in our keys include: 1) the nature of the dorsolateral edge of the basal scale, being ridged or not, 2) the thickness of the body wall scales, and 3) the arrangement of the coenenchymal scales (imbricate or mosaic), their thickness (thin or massive), and their outer surface ornamentation (ridged or not). All characters used in the keys are illustrated

Assessment of coping in adults with type 1 diabetes

The development of Type 1 diabetes has a profound impact on many aspects of everyday life, health and well-being. In this thesis the literature relevant to different aspects coping with Type 1 diabetes is reviewed. The research described in the thesis includes (i) a prospective assessment of how psychosocial factors affect diabetes-related outcomes in adults following the onset of Type 1 diabetes, (ii) qualitative analysis of interviews that were conducted to explore the patient's perspective of what it means to cope with diabetes, and (iii) the development, pilot testing, and subsequent partial validation of a diabetes-specific questionnaire. The Edinburgh Prospective Diabetes Study examines the relationships between psychosocial variables recorded at diagnosis and diabetes related outcomes recorded at four months (n = 69), 12 months (n = 65), 24 months (n = 56) and 36 months (n = 40) after diagnosis. The results showed that individuals who had a lower socio-economic status had consistently poorer glycaemic control at 24 months (p < 0.001) and at 36 months (p < 0.01) after diagnosis. Diabetes knowledge at four months after diagnosis was a significant predictor of glycaemic control at 12 months (r= 0.35, p < 0.01) and at 36 months after diagnosis (r = 0.35, p < 0.05). In adults, self-reported outcomes were significantly predicted by longstanding psychological (e.g. personality traits) and social factors (e.g. quality of life). There was some evidence to suggest that coping strategies have an intermediate position between psychosocial factors and diabetes-related outcomes. The results and their implications for future research are discussed in terms of existing theories of coping. To date there are few psychometrically sound instruments capable of assessing how well a person is coping with their diabetes. With this in mind, the present research was undertaken to develop a new diabetes self-report measure termed the Diabetes Impact, Adjustment and Lifestyle Scales (DIALS). The development, pilot testing and partial validation of the DIALS are described. Semi-structured interviews (n = 1 0) were conducted to explore the patients' descriptions of their adjustment to diabetes and the impact that diabetes has on aspects of their daily life. A grounded theory approach (Strauss, 1987) was adopted to analyse the data. Several domains were established, from which items were generated. Two studies, a small pilot study (n =57), and a large cross-sectional validation study (n = 246) were carried out to establish the underlying structure, internal consistency, partial validity, and stability of the DIALS. Principal components analysis of the DIALS identified five dimensions: Impact, Adherence, Information-seeking, Fear of complications and Diabetes-related distress. Overall, the results suggest that the DIALS is a valid, reliable and stable indicator of coping in adults with Type 1 diabetes. A hierarchal model of causal relationships between psychological constructs (i.e. personality traits and illness-related coping constructs) and the DIALS was formulated and tested formally using Structural Equation Modelling. There was considerable overlap in the constructs, with evidence for two latent variables relating to 'emotionoriented' and 'task-oriented coping'. In summary, coping variables may be important mediators in the link between antecedent variables such as longstanding character traits (e.g. personality) and self-reported outcomes of diabetes

Basal rot of narcissus : understanding pathogenicity in fusarium oxysporum f. sp. narcissi

Fusarium oxysporum is a globally distributed soilborne fungal pathogen causing root rots, bulb rots, crown rots and vascular wilts on a range of horticultural plants. Pathogenic F. oxysporum isolates are highly host specific and are classified as formae speciales. Narcissus is an important ornamental crop and both the quality and yield of flowers and bulbs can be severely affected by a basal rot caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. narcissi (FON); 154 Fusarium isolates were obtained from different locations and Narcissus cultivars in the United Kingdom, representing a valuable resource. A subset of 30 F. oxysporum isolates were all found to be pathogenic and were therefore identified as FON. Molecular characterisation of isolates through sequencing of three housekeeping genes, suggested a monophyletic origin with little divergence. PCR detection of 14 Secreted in Xylem (SIX) genes, previously shown to be associated with pathogenicity in other F. oxysporum f. spp., revealed different complements of SIX7, SIX9, SIX10, SIX12 and SIX13 within FON isolates which may suggest a race structure. SIX gene sequences were unique to FON and SIX10 was present in all isolates, allowing for molecular identification of FON for the first time. The genome of a highly pathogenic isolate was sequenced and lineage specific (LS) regions identified which harboured putative effectors including the SIX genes. Real-time RT-PCR, showed that SIX genes and selected putative effectors were expressed in planta with many significantly upregulated during infection. This is the first study to characterise molecular variation in FON and provide an analysis of the FON genome. Identification of expressed genes potentially associated with virulence provides the basis for future functional studies and new targets for molecular diagnostics

Policing Economic Growth: Mining, Protest, and State Discourse in Peru and Argentina

Since the 1980s, liberalized and newly stable markets have helped usher in an unprecedented mining boom across the Latin American region. However, despite the fact that this boom contributes to notable economic growth, protests in opposition to the expansion and practices of mining companies have also grown, often with violent results. How protests are policed matters, but more important for democracy is how state actors respond when violence is employed. We examine two instances of police repression of mining protests: one in Cajamarca, Peru, and the other in Catamarca, Argentina. We argue that, despite significant differences in context, there are important similarities in state discourse between countries. In particular, a vocabulary of protester wrongdoing and calls for a remedy of “dialogue” are employed in both cases as a way to facilitate the continuation and expansion of both mining and the repression of protests. Desde la década del 1980, los mercados liberalizados y estables han ayudado a presentar un 'boom' sin precedentes a través de América Latina. Sin embargo, a pesar de haber contribuido a un crecimiento económico muy importante, las protestas contra la expansión y las prácticas de algunas empresas mineras también han crecido, a veces con los resultados violentos. La gestión de las protestas por parte de la policía es importante, pero más importante para la democracia son las reacciones del Estado cuando ocurre un incidente violento. Nosotros examinamos dos incidentes de la represión policial de una protesta minera: uno en Cajamarca, Perú, y otro en Catamarca, Argentina. Planteamos que, a pesar de las diferencias significativas en el contexto local, hay algunas similitudes importantes con el discurso del estado en los dos países. Particularmente, un vocabulario de culpa por parte de los manifestantes y algunas recomendaciones para un remedio de diálogo son usados en los dos casos en una manera que facilita la continuación y la expansión del sector minero y también la represión de las protestas

Meningococcal disease in children in Merseyside, England:a 31 year descriptive study

Meningococcal disease (MCD) is the leading infectious cause of death in early childhood in the United Kingdom, making it a public health priority. MCD most commonly presents as meningococcal meningitis (MM), septicaemia (MS), or as a combination of the two syndromes (MM/MS). We describe the changing epidemiology and clinical presentation of MCD, and explore associations with socioeconomic status and other risk factors. A hospital-based study of children admitted to a tertiary children's centre, Alder Hey Children's Foundation Trust, with MCD, was undertaken between 1977 to 2007 (n = 1157). Demographics, clinical presentations, microbiological confirmation and measures of deprivation were described. The majority of cases occurred in the 1-4 year age group and there was a dramatic fall in serogroup C cases observed with the introduction of the meningococcal C conjugate (MCC) vaccine. The proportion of MS cases increased over the study period, from 11% in the first quarter to 35% in the final quarter. Presentation with MS (compared to MM) and serogroup C disease (compared to serogroup B) were demonstrated to be independent risk factors for mortality, with odds ratios of 3.5 (95% CI 1.18 to 10.08) and 2.18 (95% CI 1.26 to 3.80) respectively. Cases admitted to Alder Hey were from a relatively more deprived population (mean Townsend score 1.25, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.41) than the Merseyside reference population. Our findings represent one of the largest single-centre studies of MCD. The presentation of MS is confirmed to be a risk factor of mortality from MCD. Our study supports the association between social deprivation and MCD

Draft genome sequence of an onion basal rot isolate of Fusarium proliferatum

Fusarium proliferatum is a component of the onion basal rot disease complex. We present an annotated F. proliferatum draft genome sequence, totaling 45.8 Mb in size, assembled into 597 contigs, with a predicted 15,418 genes. The genome contains 58 secondary metabolite clusters and homologs of the Fusarium oxysporum effector SIX2

Childhood IQ and marriage by mid-life: the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan Studies

The study examined the influence of IQ at age 11 years on marital status by mid-adulthood. The combined databases of the Scottish Mental Survey 1932 and the Midspan studies provided data from 883 subjects. With regard to IQ at age 11, there was an interaction between sex and marital status by mid-adulthood (p &#61; 0.0001). Women who had ever-married achieved mean lower childhood IQ scores than women who had never-married (p &#60; 0.001). Conversely, there was a trend for men who had ever-married to achieve higher childhood IQ scores than men who had never-married (p &#61; 0.07). In men, the odds ratio of ever marrying was 1.35 (95&#37; CI 0.98–1.86&#59; p &#61; 0.07) for each standard deviation increase in childhood IQ. Among women, the odds ratio of ever marrying by mid-life was 0.42 (95&#37; CI 0.27–0.64; p &#61; 0.0001) for each standard deviation increase in childhood IQ. Mid-life social class had a similar association with marriage, with women in more professional jobs and men in more manual jobs being less likely to have ever-married by mid-life. Adjustment for the effects of mid-life social class and height on the association between childhood IQ and later marriage, and vice versa, attenuated the effects somewhat, but suggested that IQ, height and social class acted partly independently

Altered emotion regulation capacity in social phobia as a function of comorbidity

Social phobia (SP) has been associated with amygdala hyperreactivity to fear-relevant stimuli. However, little is known about the neural basis of SP individuals capacity to downregulate their responses to such stimuli and how such regulation varies as a function of comorbid depression and anxiety. We completed an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study wherein SP participants without comorbidity (n ¼ 30), with comorbid depression (n ¼ 18) and with comorbid anxiety (n ¼ 19) and healthy controls (n ¼ 15) were scanned while completing an affect labeling emotion regulation task. Individuals with SP as a whole exhibited a reversal of the pattern observed in healthy controls in that they showed upregulation of amygdala activity during affect labeling. However, subsequent analyses revealed a more complex picture based on comorbidity type. Although none of the SP subgroups showed the normative pattern of amygdala downregulation, it was those with comorbid depression specifically who showed significant upregulation. Effects could not be attributed to differences in task performance, amygdala reactivity or right ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (RVLPFC) engagement, but may stem from dysfunctional communication between amygdala and RVLPFC. Furthermore, the particularly altered emotion regulation seen in those with comorbid depression could not be fully explained by symptom severity or state anxiety. Results reveal altered emotion regulation in SP, especially when comorbid with depression