Bloom drivers of the potentially harmful dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum (Pavillard) Schiller in a south eastern temperate Australian estuary

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Harmful algal blooms are an increasing concern in the estuarine reaches of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, one of the largest coastal rivers systems in south eastern Australia. In the austral spring of 2016, an unprecedented bloom of the harmful mixotrophic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum occurred in Berowra Creek (maximum cell abundance 1.9E+06 cells L−1, 89% of the total phytoplankton community), a major tributary of this river system. In response to this bloom, our study utilises an estuary-wide, thirteen-year time series of phytoplankton abundance and environmental data to examine the spatial and temporal patterns of this harmful alga and its potential bloom drivers in this system. P. minimum cell densities and environmental parameters varied over large spatial scales, with sites located in the main channel of the estuary significantly differing from those in the more urbanized tributary of Berowra Creek. Generalised additive modelling outputs suggested that blooms of P. minimum are complex, but generally corresponded to a spatial gradient of eutrophication and salinity, whereby P. minimum growth and concomitant high chlorophyll-a concentrations were enhanced at sites that were generally less saline and more eutrophic than others. Furthermore, temporal patterns suggested that blooms occurred abruptly and lasted up to three weeks, most often during the austral autumn to spring. While significant correlations were observed between rainfall and nutrients at all other sites, suggesting a pathway for nutrient availability, the association between rainfall and nutrient delivery was generally not observed in Berowra Creek (a 15-m deep site) suggesting that a continual supply of nutrients, coupled with unique bathymetry and water residence time at this site, are the most likely contributing factors to phytoplankton growth. This study presents the most comprehensive examination of P. minimum in any southern hemisphere estuary to date and highlights the importance of continued monitoring of HABs and the important role that anthropogenic inputs have in driving blooms of P. minimum in this oyster-growing river/estuary system

The bashful and the boastful : prestigious leaders and social change in Mesolithic Societies

The creation and maintenance of influential leaders and authorities is one of the key themes of archaeological and historical enquiry. However the social dynamics of authorities and leaders in the Mesolithic remains a largely unexplored area of study. The role and influence of authorities can be remarkably different in different situations yet they exist in all societies and in almost all social contexts from playgrounds to parliaments. Here we explore the literature on the dynamics of authority creation, maintenance and contestation in egalitarian societies, and discuss the implications for our interpretation and understanding of the formation of authorities and leaders and changing social relationships within the Mesolithic

Grand Challenges: Improving HIV Treatment Outcomes by Integrating Interventions for Co-Morbid Mental Illness.

In the fourth article of a five-part series providing a global perspective on integrating mental health, Sylvia Kaaya and colleagues discuss the importance of integrating mental health interventions into HIV prevention and treatment platforms. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Magnesium intake and colorectal cancer risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study

Energy-adjusted magnesium intake was nonsignificantly inversely related to risk of colorectal cancer (n=2328) in the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer that started in 1986 (n=58 279 men and 62 573 women). Statistically significant inverse trends in risk were observed in overweight subjects for colon and proximal colon cancer across increasing quintiles of magnesium uptake (P-trend, 0.05 and 0.02, respectively). Although an overall protective effect was not afforded, our results suggest an effect of magnesium in overweight subjects, possibly through decreasing insulin resistance

Childlessness and Intergenerational Transfers in Later Life

First Online: 13 January 2017Childlessness in later life has been attracting increased attention from researchers and policy makers. Yet a number of misconceptions about childlessness among the elderly remain, such as the claim that elderly childless people are mainly on the receiving end of intergenerational exchanges, or that they are a homogeneous group. Contrary to these assumptions, we find that elderly childless people give as well as receive, and that parental status is a continuum, ranging from full childlessness across several intermediary conditions to full current natural parenthood. In a study of the elderly population across 11 European countries, we show that non-parents make significant contributions to their social networks of family and friends through financial and time transfers, and that the latter in particular differ little from those of natural parents. The same applies to their participation in charitable and voluntary work. Different parental statuses are significantly associated with the various dimensions of giving and receiving. Social parents (i.e., people who have no natural children, but who have adopted, foster, or stepchildren) are shown to be much more similar to natural parents than to non-parents. Family recomposition thus does not seem to inhibit intergenerational exchanges, as long as social parents have sufficient contact with their non-natural social children. On the other hand, parents who have lost contact with their children – natural or otherwise – are likely to require more formal care in later life

A phenomenographic approach to the effect of emotions on the information behaviour of doctoral students: A narrative inquiry

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. This article is to examine how emotions affect the doctoral student’s journey by analyzing diverse aspects of the information behaviour that emerged from their narratives through a phenomenographic perspective. Narratives are a rational way of communication that focuses on how people perceive different phenomena regarding themselves, their inner thoughts, their states of mind, and how it affects their lifeworld’s. This phenomenographic study employs interview data from 36 doctoral students. The data collected from the narratives were studied drawing from the variation theory and iterative data analysis resulted in categories of doctoral student experiences and their emotional journey. The holistic phase of the thematic analysis revealed a relatively balanced interplay of positive and negative emotions. The rich data obtained in the phenomenographic approach exposed significant links between participants’ heightened emotions in five common themes during looking for information, their interactions with key individuals (supervisors and peer) and situations in their doctoral lives. Whilst this paper focuses on the approach taken to explore the narratives, recommendations are made based on the findings and to further explore the information-seeking behaviour patterns of doctoral students

Measures of satisfaction with care during labour and birth: a comparative review

Background Satisfaction is the one of the most frequently reported outcome measures for quality of care. Assessment of satisfaction with maternity services is crucial, and psychometrically sound measures are needed if this is to inform health practices. This paper comparatively reviews current measures of satisfaction with care during labour and birth. Methods A review of the literature was conducted. Studies were located through computerised databases and hand searching references of identified articles and reviews. Inclusion criteria were that the questionnaire was a multi-item scale of satisfaction with care during labour and birth, and some form of psychometric information (either information about questionnaire construction, or reliability, or validity) had to be reported. Results Nine questionnaires of satisfaction with care during labour and birth were identified. Instruments varied in psychometric properties and dimensions. Most described questionnaire construction and tested some form of reliability and validity. Measures were generally not based on the main theoretical models of satisfaction and varied in scope and application to different types of samples (e.g. satisfaction following caesarean section). For an in-depth measure of satisfaction with intrapartum care, the Intrapartal-Specific Quality from the Patient’s Perspective questionnaire (QPP-I) is recommended. Brief measures with good reliability and validity are provided by the Six Simple Questions (SSQ) or Perceptions of Care Adjective Checklist (PCACL-R). Conclusions Despite the interest in measures of satisfaction there are only a small number of validated measures of satisfaction with care during labour and birth. It is important that brief, reliable and valid measures are available for use in general and specific populations in order to assist research and inform practice