The National Plant Monitoring Scheme: a technical review

The National Plant Monitoring Scheme, coordinated by the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, JNCC and Plantlife, was launched in 2015 to provide an indication of the status and trends of plants and semi-natural habitats across the UK. The scheme is based on volunteer recording according to a set protocol at pre-determined monads selected through a weighted-random sampling scheme

Association Between Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) Items and the Incidence Rate of Lower Extremity Stress Fracture

Background: Lower extremity stress fracture injuries are a major cause of morbidity in physically active populations. The ability to screen for modifiable risk factors associated with injury is critical in developing injury-prevention programs.Purpose:To determine if baseline Landing Error Scoring System (LESS) scores are associated with the incidence rate of lower extremity stress fracture.Study Design:Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: A total of 1772 participants with no history of lower extremity stress fracture were included. At preinjury baseline, the authors conducted a lower extremity movement assessment during a jump-landing task using the LESS. Incident lower extremity stress fractures were identified during a 4-year follow-up period. Potential incident cases were reviewed by 2 sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons blinded to baseline LESS data. Univariate and multivariable Poisson regression models were used to estimate the association between baseline total LESS scores, individual LESS items, and the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of lower extremity stress fracture. Results: A total of 94 incident lower extremity stress fractures were documented, for a 5.3% (95% CI, 4.3%-6.5%) cumulative incidence. The overall LESS score was associated with the incidence rate of lower extremity stress fracture. For every additional movement error documented at baseline, there was a 15% increase in the incidence rate of lower extremity stress fracture (IRR, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.02-1.31]; P = .025). In univariate analyses, ankle flexion, stance width, asymmetrical landing, and trunk flexion at initial contact, in addition to overall impression, were associated with the incidence rate of stress fracture. After controlling for sex and year of entry into the study cohort, participants who consistently landed flat-footed or heel-to-toe were 2.33 times (95% CI, 1.36-3.97; P = .002) more likely to sustain a lower extremity stress fracture. Similarly, participants who consistently demonstrated asymmetric landing at initial contact were 2.53 times (95% CI, 1.34-4.74; P = .004) more likely to sustain a stress fracture. Conclusion: Components of the LESS may be associated with increased lower extremity stress fracture risk and may be helpful in efficiently assessing high-risk lower extremity biomechanics in large groups

Track D Social Science, Human Rights and Political Science

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138414/1/jia218442.pd

Oxygen Sensitivity Of Heated Cells Of Escherichia Coli O157:h7

Following defined heat treatments (55 °C for 100 min, 59 °C for 5 min, 61 °C for 1 min), a 6 decimal (6-D) reduction was obtained when cells of Escherichia coli O157:H7 were enumerated in aerobic growth medium. Part of this reduction (3-D) was due to thermal inactivation (as determined when cells were enumerated in anaerobic growth medium), and part (3-D) was due to the inability of sub-lethally heat-injured cells of E. coli O157:H7 to grow in the presence of oxygen: When held anaerobically, the injured cells regained their ability to grow in the presence of oxygen. Following heating at 59 °C for 5 min, repair took 4 h at 30 °C, 48 h at 20 °C, 95 h at 10 °C, but did not occur in 816 h at 5 °C. Recovery from sub-lethal heat injury was not influenced by heat shock. These findings are relevant to the safety of minimally-heated foods.852231237Ahmed, N.M., Conner, D.E., Evaluation of various media for recovery of thermally-injured Escherichia coli O157:H7 (1995) Journal of Food Protection, 58, pp. 357-360Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection - Georgia and Tennessee, June 1995 (1996) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 45, p. 249Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with drinking unpasteurised apple juice - British Columbia, California, Colorado, and Washington, October 1996 (1996) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 45, p. 975Outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection associated with eating alfalfa sprouts: Michigan and Virginia, June-July 1997 (1997) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 46, pp. 741-744Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with eating a nationally distributed commercial brand of frozen ground beef patties and burgers : Colorado, 1997 (1997) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 46, pp. 777-778Czechowicz, S.M., Santos, O., Zottola, E.A., Recovery of thermally-stressed Escherichia coli O157:H7 by media supplemented with pyruvate (1996) International Journal of Food Microbiology, 33, pp. 275-284George, S.M., Richardson, L.C.C., Pol, I.E., Peck, M.W., Effect of oxygen concentration and redox potential on recovery of sub-lethally heat-damaged cells of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis and Listeria monocytogenes (1998) Journal of Applied Microbiology, 84, pp. 903-909Hungate, R.E., A roll tube method for cultivation of strict anaerobes (1969) Methods in Microbiology 3B, pp. 117-132. , ed. Norris, J.R. and Ribbons, D.W. London : Academic PressHurley, M.A., Roscoe, M.E., Automated statistical analysis of microbial enumeration by dilution series (1983) Journal of Applied Bacteriology, 55, pp. 159-164Jackson, T.C., Hardin, M.D., Acuff, G.R., Heat resistance of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a nutrient medium and in ground beef patties as influenced by storage and holding temperatures (1996) Journal of Food Protection, 59, pp. 230-237Mackey, B.M., Gibson, G.R., Escherichia coli O157: From farm to fork and beyond (1997) SGM Quarterly, 24, pp. 55-57Meyer, D.H., Donnelly, C.W., Effect of incubation temperature on repair of heat-injured Listeria in milk (1992) Journal of Food Protection, 55, pp. 579-582Murano, E.A., Pierson, M.D., Effect of heat shock and growth atmosphere on the heat resistance of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (1992) Journal of Food Protection, 55, pp. 171-175Murano, E.A., Pierson, M.D., Effect of heat shock and incubation atmosphere on injury and recovery of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (1993) Journal of Food Protection, 56, pp. 568-572Smith, H.R., Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157: Cause for concern (1997) SGM Quarterly, 24, pp. 54-55Snyder, O.P., Redox potential in deli foods: Botulism risk? (1996) Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation, 16, pp. 546-548Tarr, P.I., Review of 1993 Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak: Western United States (1994) Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation, 14, pp. 372-373Thippareddi, H., Retzlaff, D., Phebus, R.K., Yung, D.Y.C., Acid and heat tolerance of acid habituated Escherichia coli O157:H7 (1996) Journal of Food Protection, 59 (SUPPL.), p. 42Tilden, J., Young, W., McNamara, A.-M., A new route of transmission for Escherichia coli: Infection from dry fermented salami (1996) American Journal of Public Health, 86, pp. 1142-1145Williams, N.C., Ingham, S.C., Changes in heat-resistance of E. coli O157:H7 following heat shock and acid shock (1996) Journal of Food Protection, 59 (SUPPL.), p. 4

Spatial and temporal variation in the heat tolerance limits of two abundant Southern Ocean invertebrates

While, in lower latitudes, population-level differences in heat tolerance are linked to temperature variability, in the Southern Ocean remarkably stable year-round temperatures prevail. Temporal variation in the physiology of Antarctic ectotherms is therefore thought to be driven by the intense seasonality in primary productivity. Here we tested for differences in the acute upper temperature limits (lethal and activity) of 2 Antarctic marine invertebrates (the omnivorous starfish Odontaster validus and the filter-feeding clam Laternula elliptica) across latitude, seasons and years. Acute thermal responses in the starfish (righting and feeding) and clam (burrowing) differed between populations collected at 77° S (McMurdo Sound) and 67° S (Marguerite Bay). Both species displayed significantly higher temperature performance at 67° S, where seawater can reach a maximum of +1.8°C in summer versus −0.5°C at 77° S, showing that even the narrow spatial and temporal variation in environmental temperature in Antarctica is biologically meaningful to these stenothermal invertebrates. Temporal comparisons of heat tolerance also demonstrated seasonal differences in acute upper limits for survival that were consistent with physiological acclimatisation: lethal limits were lower in winter than summer and higher in warm years than cool years. However, clams had greater inter-annual variation of temperature limits than was observed for starfish, suggesting that variation in food availability is also an important factor, particularly for primary consumers. Teasing out the interaction of multiple factors on thermal tolerance will be important for refining species-specific predictions of climate change impacts

The significance of fragipans to early-Holocene slope failure: application of physically based models

Interpreting slope failure in the early Holocene has traditionally focused on climatic change. Little research considers the role of soil-profile characteristics, in particular the effect of fragipan occurrence. Fragipan formation has been associated with periglacial processes in northwest Europe, but recent evidence suggests that fully developed fragipans did not exist until 2000-3000 years after the close of the Lateglacial. Fragipans have been widely reported as having reduced permeability and altered soil moisture retention curves. The implications of such hydrological properties for slope stability is considered in this paper, by comparing stability of a soil profile containing a fragipan with one that is freely draining using a physically based soil hydrology-slope stability model. The results suggest differences in angles of limiting stability of 15° between the two soil profiles, while differences resulting from likely climatic variation are only 3-4°. Modelling results of maximum stable slope angles for fragipans are consistent with those reported in the landscape, placing confidence in model outputs. This is used as a basis for suggesting that pedologic factors might be more significant than climatic factors when interpreting early Holocene slope instability. The potential utility of physically based modelling is explored more generally, and suggestions are made for future research to elucidate more fully the role of fragipans in slope stability