Mitigating the impact of Bats in historic churches: The response of Natterer's Bats Myotis nattereri to artificial roosts and deterrence

© 2016 Zeale et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Bats frequently roost in historic churches, and these colonies are of considerable conservation value. Inside churches, bat droppings and urine can cause damage to the historic fabric of the building and to items of cultural significance. In extreme cases, large quantities of droppings can restrict the use of a church for worship and/or other community functions. In the United Kingdom, bats and their roosts are protected by law, and striking a balance between conserving the natural and cultural heritage can be a significant challenge. We investigated mitigation strategies that could be employed in churches and other historic buildings to alleviate problems caused by bats without adversely affecting their welfare or conservation status. We used a combination of artificial roost provision and deterrence at churches in Norfolk, England, where significant maternity colonies of Natterer's bats Myotis nattereri damage church features. Radio-tracking data and population modelling showed that excluding M. nattereri from churches is likely to have a negative impact on their welfare and conservation status, but that judicious use of deterrents, especially high intensity ultrasound, can mitigate problems caused by bats. We show that deterrence can be used to move bats humanely from specific roosting sites within a church and limit the spread of droppings and urine so that problems to congregations and damage to cultural heritage can be much reduced. In addition, construction of bespoke roost spaces within churches can allow bats to continue to roost within the fabric of the building without flying in the church interior. We highlight that deterrence has the potential to cause serious harm toM. nattereri populations if not used judiciously, and so the effects of deterrents will need careful monitoring, and their use needs strict regulation

The politics of regulatory enforcement and compliance: Theorizing and operationalizing political influences

There is broad consensus in the literature on regulatory enforcement and compliance that politics matters. However, there is little scholarly convergence on what politics is or rigorous theorization and empirical testing of how politics matters. Many enforcement and compliance studies omit political variables altogether. Among those that address political influences on regulatory outcomes, politics has been defined in myriad ways and, too often, left undefined. Even when political constructs are explicitly operationalized, the mechanisms by which they influence regulatory outcomes are thinly hypothesized or simply ignored. If politics is truly as important to enforcement and compliance outcomes as everyone in the field seems to agree, regulatory scholarship must make a more sustained and systematic effort to understand their relationship, because overlooking this connection risks missing what is actually driving regulatory outcomes. This article examines how the construct of “politics” has been conceptualized in regulatory theory and analyzes how it has been operationalized in empirical studies of regulatory enforcement and compliance outcomes. It brings together scholarship across disciplines that rarely speak but have much to say to one another on this subject in order to constitute a field around the politics of regulation. The goal is to sharpen theoretical and empirical understandings of when and how regulation works by better accounting for the role politics plays in its enforcement

The epidemiology of injuries across the weight-training sports

Background: Weight-training sports, including weightlifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman, Highland Games, and CrossFit, are weight-training sports that have separate divisions for males and females of a variety of ages, competitive standards, and bodyweight classes. These sports may be considered dangerous because of the heavy loads commonly used in training and competition. Objectives: Our objective was to systematically review the injury epidemiology of these weight-training sports, and, where possible, gain some insight into whether this may be affected by age, sex, competitive standard, and bodyweight class. Methods: We performed an electronic search using PubMed, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and Embase for injury epidemiology studies involving competitive athletes in these weight-training sports. Eligible studies included peer-reviewed journal articles only, with no limit placed on date or language of publication. We assessed the risk of bias in all studies using an adaption of the musculoskeletal injury review method. Results: Only five of the 20 eligible studies had a risk of bias score ≥75 %, meaning the risk of bias in these five studies was considered low. While 14 of the studies had sample sizes >100 participants, only four studies utilized a prospective design. Bodybuilding had the lowest injury rates (0.12–0.7 injuries per lifter per year; 0.24–1 injury per 1000 h), with strongman (4.5–6.1 injuries per 1000 h) and Highland Games (7.5 injuries per 1000 h) reporting the highest rates. The shoulder, lower back, knee, elbow, and wrist/hand were generally the most commonly injured anatomical locations; strains, tendinitis, and sprains were the most common injury type. Very few significant differences in any of the injury outcomes were observed as a function of age, sex, competitive standard, or bodyweight class. Conclusion: While the majority of the research we reviewed utilized retrospective designs, the weight-training sports appear to have relatively low rates of injury compared with common team sports. Future weight-training sport injury epidemiology research needs to be improved, particularly in terms of the use of prospective designs, diagnosis of injury, and changes in risk exposure

Radio emission from Supernova Remnants

The explosion of a supernova releases almost instantaneously about 10^51 ergs of mechanic energy, changing irreversibly the physical and chemical properties of large regions in the galaxies. The stellar ejecta, the nebula resulting from the powerful shock waves, and sometimes a compact stellar remnant, constitute a supernova remnant (SNR). They can radiate their energy across the whole electromagnetic spectrum, but the great majority are radio sources. Almost 70 years after the first detection of radio emission coming from a SNR, great progress has been achieved in the comprehension of their physical characteristics and evolution. We review the present knowledge of different aspects of radio remnants, focusing on sources of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds, where the SNRs can be spatially resolved. We present a brief overview of theoretical background, analyze morphology and polarization properties, and review and critical discuss different methods applied to determine the radio spectrum and distances. The consequences of the interaction between the SNR shocks and the surrounding medium are examined, including the question of whether SNRs can trigger the formation of new stars. Cases of multispectral comparison are presented. A section is devoted to reviewing recent results of radio SNRs in the Magellanic Clouds, with particular emphasis on the radio properties of SN 1987A, an ideal laboratory to investigate dynamical evolution of an SNR in near real time. The review concludes with a summary of issues on radio SNRs that deserve further study, and analyzing the prospects for future research with the latest generation radio telescopes.Comment: Revised version. 48 pages, 15 figure

Relationships Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Physical Activity, and Psychosocial Variables in Overweight and Obese Breast Cancer Survivors

# The Author(s) 2010. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Background Breast cancer survivors not only experience distressing physical symptoms associated with treatments, but also are faced with psychosocial challenges. Despite growing scientific evidence that physical activity (PA) may mitigate psychosocial distress experienced by women treated for breast cancer, the literature is equivocal. Purpose This study investigated the relationships between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), PA, and psychosocial factors in breast cancer survivors. Method Data involving overweight or obese breast cancer survivors (N=260) were examined. CRF was determined by a submaximal graded exercise test. PA, depressive symptoms, total fatigue, and global self-esteem were assessed with selfreport measures. Pearson's correlations were conducted to determine associations among CRF, PA, depressive symptoms, total fatigue, and global self-esteem. Multiple regression models, with age and body mass index as covariates, were performed using continuous levels for CRF and PA. Results Bivariate correlations suggested that CRF and PA were unrelated to the psychosocial variables. One of the regression models identified a marginally significant (P=0.06) inverse association between depressive symptoms and PA. Conclusion CRF and PA were not associated with psychosocial factors in this sample of breast cancer survivors. However

Theory of disk accretion onto supermassive black holes

Accretion onto supermassive black holes produces both the dramatic phenomena associated with active galactic nuclei and the underwhelming displays seen in the Galactic Center and most other nearby galaxies. I review selected aspects of the current theoretical understanding of black hole accretion, emphasizing the role of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and gravitational instabilities in driving the actual accretion and the importance of the efficacy of cooling in determining the structure and observational appearance of the accretion flow. Ongoing investigations into the dynamics of the plunging region, the origin of variability in the accretion process, and the evolution of warped, twisted, or eccentric disks are summarized.Comment: Mostly introductory review, to appear in "Supermassive black holes in the distant Universe", ed. A.J. Barger, Kluwer Academic Publishers, in pres

The pharmacological regulation of cellular mitophagy

Small molecules are pharmacological tools of considerable value for dissecting complex biological processes and identifying potential therapeutic interventions. Recently, the cellular quality-control process of mitophagy has attracted considerable research interest; however, the limited availability of suitable chemical probes has restricted our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved. Current approaches to initiate mitophagy include acute dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) by mitochondrial uncouplers (for example, FCCP/CCCP) and the use of antimycin A and oligomycin to impair respiration. Both approaches impair mitochondrial homeostasis and therefore limit the scope for dissection of subtle, bioenergy-related regulatory phenomena. Recently, novel mitophagy activators acting independently of the respiration collapse have been reported, offering new opportunities to understand the process and potential for therapeutic exploitation. We have summarized the current status of mitophagy modulators and analyzed the available chemical tools, commenting on their advantages, limitations and current applications

Subclinical Thyroid Disorders and Cognitive Performance Among Adolescents in the United States

Background: Thyroid hormone plays a crucial role in the growth and function of the central nervous system. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships between the status of subclinical thyroid conditions and cognition among adolescents in the United States. Methods: Study sample included 1,327 adolescents 13 to 16 years old who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Serum thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured and subclinical hypothyroidism, subclinical hyperthyroidism, and euthyroid groups were defined. Cognitive performance was assessed using the subscales of the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (WRAT-R) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The age-corrected scaled scores for arithmetic, reading, block design, and digit span were derived from the cognitive assessments. Results: Subclinical hypothyroidism was found in 1.7% and subclinical hyperthyroidism was found in 2.3% of the adolescents. Cognitive assessment scores on average tended to be lower in adolescents with subclinical hyperthyroidism and higher in those with subclinical hypothyroidism than the score for the euthyroid group. Adolescents with subclinical hypothyroidism had significantly better scores in block design and reading than the euthyroid subjects even after adjustment for a number of variables including sex, age, and family income level. Conclusion: Subclinical hypothyroidism was associated with better performance in some areas of cognitive functions while subclinical hyperthyroidism could be a potential risk factor

Prioritizing single-nucleotide variations that potentially regulate alternative splicing

Recent evidence suggests that many complex diseases are caused by genetic variations that play regulatory roles in controlling gene expression. Most genetic studies focus on nonsynonymous variations that can alter the amino acid composition of a protein and are therefore believed to have the highest impact on phenotype. Synonymous variations, however, can also play important roles in disease pathogenesis by regulating pre-mRNA processing and translational control. In this study, we systematically survey the effects of single-nucleotide variations (SNVs) on binding affinity of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Among the 10,113 synonymous SNVs identified in 697 individuals in the 1,000 Genomes Project and distributed by Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 (GAW17), we identified 182 variations located in alternatively spliced exons that can significantly change the binding affinity of nine RBPs whose binding preferences on 7-mer RNA sequences were previously reported. We found that the minor allele frequencies of these variations are similar to those of nonsynonymous SNVs, suggesting that they are in fact functional. We propose a workflow to identify phenotype-associated regulatory SNVs that might affect alternative splicing from exome-sequencing-derived genetic variations. Based on the affecting SNVs on the quantitative traits simulated in GAW17, we further identified two and four functional SNVs that are predicted to be involved in alternative splicing regulation in traits Q1 and Q2, respectively