Setback distances as a conservation tool in wildlife-human interactions : testing their efficacy for birds affected by vehicles on open-coast sandy beaches

In some wilderness areas, wildlife encounter vehicles disrupt their behaviour and habitat use. Changing driver behaviour has been proposed where bans on vehicle use are politically unpalatable, but the efficacy of vehicle setbacks and reduced speeds remains largely untested. We characterised bird-vehicle encounters in terms of driver behaviour and the disturbance caused to birds, and tested whether spatial buffers or lower speeds reduced bird escape responses on open beaches. Focal observations showed that: i) most drivers did not create sizeable buffers between their vehicles and birds; ii) bird disturbance was frequent; and iii) predictors of probability of flushing (escape) were setback distance and vehicle type (buses flushed birds at higher rates than cars). Experiments demonstrated that substantial reductions in bird escape responses required buffers to be wide (> 25 m) and vehicle speeds to be slow (< 30 km h-1). Setback distances can reduce impacts on wildlife, provided that they are carefully designed and derived from empirical evidence. No speed or distance combination we tested, however, eliminated bird responses. Thus, while buffers reduce response rates, they are likely to be much less effective than vehicle-free zones (i.e. beach closures), and rely on changes to current driver behaviou

Setback distances as a conservation tool in wildlife-human interactions : testing their efficacy for birds affected by vehicles on open-coast sandy beaches

In some wilderness areas, wildlife encounter vehicles disrupt their behaviour and habitat use. Changing driver behaviour has been proposed where bans on vehicle use are politically unpalatable, but the efficacy of vehicle setbacks and reduced speeds remains largely untested. We characterised bird-vehicle encounters in terms of driver behaviour and the disturbance caused to birds, and tested whether spatial buffers or lower speeds reduced bird escape responses on open beaches. Focal observations showed that: i) most drivers did not create sizeable buffers between their vehicles and birds; ii) bird disturbance was frequent; and iii) predictors of probability of flushing (escape) were setback distance and vehicle type (buses flushed birds at higher rates than cars). Experiments demonstrated that substantial reductions in bird escape responses required buffers to be wide (> 25 m) and vehicle speeds to be slow (< 30 km h-1). Setback distances can reduce impacts on wildlife, provided that they are carefully designed and derived from empirical evidence. No speed or distance combination we tested, however, eliminated bird responses. Thus, while buffers reduce response rates, they are likely to be much less effective than vehicle-free zones (i.e. beach closures), and rely on changes to current driver behaviou

Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Risks of Abnormal Serum Alanine Aminotransferase in Hispanics: A Population-Based Study

Study the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) and risk factors for and association with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as markers of hepatic injury in a large Hispanic health disparity cohort with high rates of obesity.Analysis of data from a prospective cross-sectional population based study. From 2004-7, we randomly recruited 2000 community participants to the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort collecting extensive socioeconomic, clinical and laboratory data. We excluded 153 subjects due to critical missing data. Pearson chi-square tests and Student's t-tests were used for categorical and continuous variable analysis, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the risk factors for elevated ALT.The mean age of the cohort was 45 years and 67% were females. The majority of the cohort was either overweight (32.4%) or obese (50.7%). Almost half (43.7%) had MS and nearly one-third diabetes. Elevated ALT level was more prevalent in males than females. Obesity was a strong risk for abnormal ALT in both genders. Hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and young age were risks for elevated ALT in males only, whereas increased fasting plasma glucose was associated with elevated ALT in females only.We identified high prevalence of MS and markers of liver injury in this large Mexican American cohort with gender differences in prevalence and risk factors, with younger males at greatest risk

Analysis of Spatial Point Patterns in Nuclear Biology

There is considerable interest in cell biology in determining whether, and to what extent, the spatial arrangement of nuclear objects affects nuclear function. A common approach to address this issue involves analyzing a collection of images produced using some form of fluorescence microscopy. We assume that these images have been successfully pre-processed and a spatial point pattern representation of the objects of interest within the nuclear boundary is available. Typically in these scenarios, the number of objects per nucleus is low, which has consequences on the ability of standard analysis procedures to demonstrate the existence of spatial preference in the pattern. There are broadly two common approaches to look for structure in these spatial point patterns. First a spatial point pattern for each image is analyzed individually, or second a simple normalization is performed and the patterns are aggregated. In this paper we demonstrate using synthetic spatial point patterns drawn from predefined point processes how difficult it is to distinguish a pattern from complete spatial randomness using these techniques and hence how easy it is to miss interesting spatial preferences in the arrangement of nuclear objects. The impact of this problem is also illustrated on data related to the configuration of PML nuclear bodies in mammalian fibroblast cells

Elevated Cerebral Spinal Fluid Cytokine Levels in Boys with Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy Correlates with MRI Severity

Background: X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a metabolic, peroxisomal disease that results from a mutation in the ABCD1 gene. The most severe course of ALD progression is the cerebral inflammatory and demyelinating form of the disease, cALD. To date there is very little information on the cytokine mediators in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) of these boys. Methodology/Principal Findings: Measurement of 23 different cytokines was performed on CSF and serum of boys with cerebral ALD and patients without ALD. Significant elevations in CSF IL-8 (29.362.2 vs 12.861.1 pg/ml, p = 0.0001), IL-1ra (166630 vs 8.666.5 pg/ml, p = 0.005), MCP-1 (610647 vs 328634 pg/ml, p = 0.002), and MIP-1b (14.261.3 vs 2.061.4 pg/ml, p,0.0001) were found in boys with cALD versus the control group. The only serum cytokine showing an elevation in the ALD group was SDF-1 (21246155 vs 11756125 pg/ml, p = 0.0001). The CSF cytokines of IL-8 and MCP-1b correlated with the Loes MRI severity score (p = 0.04 and p = 0.008 respectively), as well as the serum SDF-1 level (p = 0.002). Finally, CSF total protein was also significantly elevated in boys with cALD and correlated with both IL-8, MCP-1b (p = 0.0001 for both), as well as Loes MRI severity score (p = 0.0007). Conclusions/Significance: IL-8, IL-1ra, MCP-1, MIP-1b and CSF total protein were significantly elevated in patients with cALD; IL-8, MCP-1b, and CSF total protein levels correlated with disease severity determined by MRI. This is the largest repor

IKAP/Elp1 Is Required In Vivo for Neurogenesis and Neuronal Survival, but Not for Neural Crest Migration

Familial Dysautonomia (FD; Hereditary Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy; HSAN III) manifests from a failure in development of the peripheral sensory and autonomic nervous systems. The disease results from a point mutation in the IKBKAP gene, which encodes the IKAP protein, whose function is still unresolved in the developing nervous system. Since the neurons most severely depleted in the disease derive from the neural crest, and in light of data identifying a role for IKAP in cell motility and migration, it has been suggested that FD results from a disruption in neural crest migration. To determine the function of IKAP during development of the nervous system, we (1) first determined the spatial-temporal pattern of IKAP expression in the developing peripheral nervous system, from the onset of neural crest migration through the period of programmed cell death in the dorsal root ganglia, and (2) using RNAi, reduced expression of IKBKAP mRNA in the neural crest lineage throughout the process of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) development in chick embryos in ovo. Here we demonstrate that IKAP is not expressed by neural crest cells and instead is expressed as neurons differentiate both in the CNS and PNS, thus the devastation of the PNS in FD could not be due to disruptions in neural crest motility or migration. In addition, we show that alterations in the levels of IKAP, through both gain and loss of function studies, perturbs neuronal polarity, neuronal differentiation and survival. Thus IKAP plays pleiotropic roles in both the peripheral and central nervous systems

A comparison of responses to raised extracellular potassium and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) in rat pressurised mesenteric arteries

The present study examined the hypothesis that potassium ions act as an endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) released in response to ACh in small mesenteric arteries displaying myogenic tone. Small mesenteric arteries isolated from rats were set up in a pressure myograph at either 60 or 90 mmHg. After developing myogenic tone, responses to raising extracellular potassium were compared to those obtained with ACh (in the presence of nitric oxide synthase and cyclo- oxygenase inhibitors). The effects of barium and ouabain, or capsaicin, on responses to raised extracellular potassium or ACh were also determined. The effects of raised extracellular potassium levels and ACh on membrane potential, were measured using sharp microelectrodes in pressurised arteries. Rat small mesenteric arteries developed myogenic tone when pressurised. On the background of vascular tone set by a physiological stimulus (i.e pressure), ACh fully dilated the small arteries in a concentration-dependent manner. This response was relatively insensitive to the combination of barium and ouabain, and insensitive to capsaicin. Raising extracellular potassium produced a more inconsistent and modest vasodilator response in pressurised small mesenteric arteries. Responses to raising extracellular potassium were sensitive to capsaicin, and the combination of barium and ouabain. ACh caused a substantial hyperpolarisation in pressurized arteries, while raising extracellular potassium did not. These data indicate that K+ is not the EDHF released in response to ACh in myogenically active rat mesenteric small arteries. Since the hyperpolarization produced by ACh was sensitive to carbenoxolone, gap junctions are the likely mediator of EDH responses under physiological conditions

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

A new primary dental care service compared with standard care for child and family to reduce the re-occurrence of childhood dental caries (Dental RECUR): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: In England and Scotland, dental extraction is the single highest cause of planned admission to the hospital for children under 11 years. Traditional dental services have had limited success in reducing this disease burden. Interventions based on motivational interviewing have been shown to impact positively dental health behaviours and could facilitate the prevention of re-occurrence of dental caries in this high-risk population. The objective of the study is to evaluate whether a new, dental nurse-led service, delivered using a brief negotiated interview based on motivational interviewing, is a more cost-effective service than treatment as usual, in reducing the re-occurrence of dental decay in young children with previous dental extractions. Methods/Design: This 2-year, two-arm, multicentre, randomised controlled trial will include 224 child participants, initially aged 5 to 7 years, who are scheduled to have one or more primary teeth extracted for dental caries under general anaesthesia (GA), relative analgesia (RA: inhalation sedation) or local anaesthesia (LA). The trial will be conducted in University Dental Hospitals, Secondary Care Centres or other providers of dental extraction services across the United Kingdom. The intervention will include a brief negotiated interview (based on the principles of motivational interviewing) delivered between enrolment and 6 weeks post-extraction, followed by directed prevention in primary dental care. Participants will be followed up for 2 years. The main outcome measure will be the dental caries experienced by 2 years post-enrolment at the level of dentine involvement on any tooth in either dentition, which had been caries-free at the baseline assessment. Discussion: The participants are a hard-to-reach group in which secondary prevention is a challenge. Lack of engagement with dental care makes the children and their families scheduled for extraction particularly difficult to recruit to an RCT. Variations in service delivery between sites have also added to the challenges in implementing the Dental RECUR protocol during the recruitment phase. Trial registration: ISRCTN24958829 (date of registration: 27 September 2013), Current protocol version: 5.0