Mismatch between calf paternity and observed copulations between male and female reindeer: multiple mating in a polygynous ungulate?

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Short Communication: Analysis of Minor Populations of Human Immunodeficiency Virus by Primer Identification and Insertion-Deletion and Carry Forward Correction Pipelines

Accurate analysis of minor populations of drug-resistant HIV requires analysis of a sufficient number of viral templates. We assessed the effect of experimental conditions on the analysis of HIV pol 454 pyrosequences generated from plasma using (1) the ‘‘Insertion-deletion (indel) and Carry Forward Correction’’ (ICC) pipeline, which clusters sequence reads using a nonsubstitution approach and can correct for indels and carry forward errors, and (2) the ‘‘Primer Identification (ID)’’ method, which facilitates construction of a consensus sequence to correct for sequencing errors and allelic skewing. The Primer ID and ICC methods produced similar estimates of viral diversity, but differed in the number of sequence variants generated. Sequence preparation for ICC was comparably simple, but was limited by an inability to assess the number of templates analyzed and allelic skewing. The more costly Primer ID method corrected for allelic skewing and provided the number of viral templates analyzed, which revealed that amplifiable HIV templates varied across specimens and did not correlate with clinical viral load. This latter observation highlights the value of the Primer ID method, which by determining the number of templates amplified, enables more accurate assessment of minority species in the virus population, which may be relevant to prescribing effective antiretroviral therapy

The influence of defined ante-mortem stressors on the early post-mortem biochemical processes in the abdominal muscle of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The effects of four different ante-mortem stressors (exercise, emersion, starvation and a patent infection with the parasite Hematodinium sp.) on post-mortem processes have been investigated in the abdominal muscle of Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus by measuring changes in the pH, the levels of glycogen, l-lactate, arginine phosphate, ATP, ADP, AMP, IMP, HxR, Hx and the adenylate energy charge (AEC) over a time course of 24 h with samples being taken at 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h. The acute stresses of intense exercise and 2 h emersion resulted in a premature onset of anaerobic glycolysis, leading both to an enhanced glycogen depletion rate and an early accumulation of l-lactate. The chronic stressors, starvation and parasite infection, resulted in a complete ante-mortem depletion of muscle glycogen and consequently the failure of post-mortem glycolytic fermentation. Post-mortem pH and ATP inter-conversion were significantly altered in chronically stressed animals. Ante-mortem, a rapid, almost complete depletion of arginine phosphate was observed in all stress groups. The AEC was altered significantly by all stresses, indicating a strong energy demand. The findings suggest that ante-mortem stressors strongly influence the post-mortem biochemical processes. The laboratory-based results are compared to 'field' data and effects on post-harvest product quality are discussed

The Bargaining Power of Health Care Unions: Union Wage Premiums for Registered Nurses in Hospitals

For the first time in its history, the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses in 2008 includes a question involving union status. This study utilizes the data from this sample to estimate the union/non-union wage premium for registered nurses and among some of the occupational, workplace, and individual characteristics. The study finds that standard union wage premium estimates for registered nurses are relatively larger than what were revealed in other recent studies. Upon inspection of various characteristics of registered nurses, the study finds a positive wage gap for union nurses only as experience increases; and with respect to characteristics of the workplace, there is no statistical evidence in the sample that suggests a wage gap for registered nurses in the public or private sector. Finally, a positive wage gap is found for union nurses working in hospitals. The lattermost finding is particularly interesting given the recent change in labor law that may have influenced the bargaining power of health care unions

The Bargaining Power of Health Care Unions: Union Wage Premiums for Registered Nurses in Hospitals

For the first time in its history, the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses in 2008 includes a question involving union status. This study utilizes the data from this sample to estimate the union/non-union wage premium for registered nurses and among some of the occupational, workplace, and individual characteristics. The study finds that standard union wage premium estimates for registered nurses are relatively larger than what were revealed in other recent studies. Upon inspection of various characteristics of registered nurses, the study finds a positive wage gap for union nurses only as experience increases; and with respect to characteristics of the workplace, there is no statistical evidence in the sample that suggests a wage gap for registered nurses in the public or private sector. Finally, a positive wage gap is found for union nurses working in hospitals. The lattermost finding is particularly interesting given the recent change in labor law that may have influenced the bargaining power of health care unions

Affordable building system from locally grown softwoods - Ty Unnos (house in a night)

The primary aim was to design, fabricate, prototype and mainstream a solution for the use of home-grown Sitka spruce in affordable housing