Echolocation detections and digital video surveys provide reliable estimates of the relative density of harbour porpoises

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Erik Rexstad and Rob Williams for useful reviews of this manuscript. The collection of visual and acoustic data was funded by the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change, the Scottish Government, Collaborative Offshore Wind Research into the Environment (COWRIE) and Oil & Gas UK. Digital aerial surveys were funded by Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd and additional funding for analysis of the combined datasets was provided by Marine Scotland. Collaboration between the University of Aberdeen and Marine Scotland was supported by MarCRF. We thank colleagues at the University of Aberdeen, Moray First Marine, NERI, Hi-Def Aerial Surveying Ltd and Ravenair for essential support in the field, particularly Tim Barton, Bill Ruck, Rasmus Nielson and Dave Rutter. Thanks also to Andy Webb, David Borchers, Len Thomas, Kelly McLeod, David L. Miller, Dinara Sadykova and Thomas Cornulier for advice on survey design and statistical approache. Data Accessibility Data are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cf04gPeer reviewedPublisher PD

African American community of southeast Rocky Mount, North Carolina : an action-oriented community diagnosis final report

During the fall of 2007 and spring of 2008, a team of five graduate students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health conducted an Action-Oriented Community Diagnosis (AOCD) of the community in Southeast Rocky Mount. AOCD is a component of the curriculum for graduate students in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. Historically, the teaching team has been approached by community members seeking an assessment of their community. These community members then act as preceptors to student teams, introducing them to the community and aiding in our AOCD process. The process itself involves interacting with community members and service providers to systematically collect information about community strengths and challenges. The student team in Rocky Mount interviewed 19 service providers and 14 community members, conducted 2 focus groups and attended 12 community events. On April 12, the team hosted a community forum in Southeast Rocky Mount (SERM), at which findings were presented back to the community. Through break-out groups focused on discussing particular emerging themes, community members and service providers created action steps to address these themes. Hence, the AOCD process transformed from a diagnosis made by outsiders to a series of commitments by community participants to addressing their collective needs. At the beginning of the AOCD process, the student team conducted a secondary data review to learn more about Southeast Rocky Mount’s health, economics, crime and education status. The team then compared this data to that of the city of Rocky Mount, Edgecombe County and/or North Carolina depending upon the sources of data available. Rocky Mount is divided between two counties, Nash and Edgecombe, which at times affected the availability of data. The team also collected primary data through interviews and focus groups, which were guided by a predetermined set of questions. These discussions with community members and service providers provided much richer qualitative information. Team members transcribed and coded this data to determine which themes occurred most frequently. Identified strengths of the community included the people within the community and the history of a strong, thriving African American community in the area, among others. Meanwhile, challenges identified included: disparities between resources available in Nash County and Edgecombe County; lack of reliable public transportation; limited educational opportunities for youth and young adults; limited recreational and enrichment activities for youth; limited employment opportunities; dilapidated and sub-standard housing conditions; crime due to drugs and gang violence; and limited collaboration between community resources. Through consideration of these strengths and challenges, along with the coded interview data, the student team developed a list of emerging themes. These themes were presented to the eight community members and service providers that made up the forum planning committee. These members helped select the final themes to be used at the April forum. The initial list included: Youth, Education, Employment, Transportation, Crime, Housing/Cost of living, Parenting, and Communication between existing community resources. These eight preliminary themes were then narrowed down to the final five themes that we presented at the community form. The final themes selected for presentation to the community were: Youth, Employment, Connecting Community Resources, Crime, Housing. Approximately 65 individuals attended the community forum. Overall, participants were enthusiastic and optimistic when discussing the selected themes. At the end of the day, action steps were created for each theme and individuals personally committed to completing those steps. A future date was set for the community members and service providers to meet, without the student team, so that the AOCD process could continue within and among the community.Master of Public Healt

COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF THE TINTINNIDS (CILIOPHORA: SPIROTRICHEA) IN THE REGION OF ABROLHOS (BAHIA, BRAZIL)

A comunidade dos tintinídeos da região de Abrolhos (Bahia, Brasil) foi estudada durante o período de fevereiro de 2012. Nossas hipóteses são de que a estrutura da comunidade dos tintinídeos varia em uma escala temporal curta (fotoperíodo), além de variar espacialmente, tanto em curta escala (sobre o recife e distante dele) como em larga escala (distância da área recifal em relação à costa). Três áreas em Abrolhos foram estudadas. Em cada área foram delimitados dois pontos de amostragem, nos quais se coletou tintinídeos através de arrastos horizontais subsuperficiais de rede de plâncton (20 μm abertura de malha), a cada 6 horas, ao longo de 24 horas. 24 espécies foram encontradas, sendo todas de distribuição nerítica, cosmopolita e de águas quentes. A única hipótese não rejeitada está relacionada com a variabilidade da comunidade em uma escala espacial extensa. Existem diferenças significativas entre as três áreas estudadas (ANOVA p = 0,017). Análises de agrupamento realizadas com as espécies revelaram um gradiente continente-oceano. Existe uma comunidade típica do arco interno, formada basicamente por espécies neríticas, além de uma comunidade típica do arco externo, formada basicamente por espécies hialinas cosmopolitas e de águas quentes. O grande fator influenciando a comunidade dos tintinídeos em Abrolhos é a distância da costa.The tintinnid community in the region of Abrolhos (Bahia, Brazil) was studied during February 2012. We hypothesized that the tintinnid community structure varies significantly over a short temporal scale (photoperiod), as well as spatially over a short scale (on and away from the reefs), and a broad scale (distance of the reef area from the coast). Three areas in Abrolhos were studied. Two sampling points were delimited in each area, where the tintinnids were collected by horizontal subsurface plankton net (20 μm mesh-size) hauls. Sampling was undertaken every 6 hours, during 24 hours in each area. 24 species were found, all of which are of neritic, cosmopolitan, and of warm-water distribution. The only hypothesis that is not rejected is that related to variability on an extensive spatial scale. There are significant differences between the samples collected in the three areas studied (ANOVA p = 0.017). The clustering of the species highlights a continent-ocean gradient. There is one community typical of the internal arc, composed mainly of neritic agglutinated tintinnids, and another community typical of the external arc, composed mainly of hyaline warm-water and cosmopolitan tintinnids. The factor which exercises the greatest influence on the tintinnid community in the Abrolhos region is the distance from the coast

Detecting neutral hydrogen in emission at redshift z ~ 1

We use a large N-body simulation to examine the detectability of HI in emission at redshift z ~ 1, and the constraints imposed by current observations on the neutral hydrogen mass function of galaxies at this epoch. We consider three different models for populating dark matter halos with HI, designed to encompass uncertainties at this redshift. These models are consistent with recent observations of the detection of HI in emission at z ~ 0.8. Whilst detection of 21 cm emission from individual halos requires extremely long integrations with existing radio interferometers, such as the Giant Meter Radio Telescope (GMRT), we show that the stacked 21 cm signal from a large number of halos can be easily detected. However, the stacking procedure requires accurate redshifts of galaxies. We show that radio observations of the field of the DEEP2 spectroscopic galaxy redshift survey should allow detection of the HI mass function at the 5-12 sigma level in the mass range 10^(11.4) M_sun/h < M_halo < 10^(12.5)M_sun/h, with a moderate amount of observation time. Assuming a larger noise level that corresponds to an upper bound for the expected noise for the GMRT, the detection significance for the HI mass function is still at the 1.7-3 sigma level. We find that optically undetected satellite galaxies enhance the HI emission profile of the parent halo, leading to broader wings as well as a higher peak signal in the stacked profile of a large number of halos. We show that it is in principle possible to discern the contribution of undetected satellites to the total HI signal, even though cosmic variance limitation make this challenging for some of our models.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, Submitted To MNRA

Evaluation of indigenous marine periphytic Amphora, Navicula and Cymbella grown on substrate as feed supplement in Penaeus monodon postlarval hatchery system

Three isolated marine diatoms (Amphora, Navicula and Cymbella) grown on substrate were evaluated as feed supplement for Penaeus monodon postlarvae (PL) in hatchery system for a period of 19 days without changing water. Specific growth rate (day)1) (0.27 ± 0.0) and survival (%) (56.3 ± 1.8) of PLs were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in treatment tanks when compared with the control (0.20 ± 0.0; 36.0 ± 1.5, respectively). Shrimp PLs reared in substrate-based tanks had significantly higher (P < 0.05) levels of protein, lipid (521.0 ± 7.0; 304.0 ± 2 g kg)1 dry weight, respectively), ecosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)(189.0 ± 2.0; 176.0 ± 2 g kg)1 of total fatty acid, respectively) than the control (435.0 ± 22.0; 258.0 ± 22 g kg)1 dry weight; 172.0 ± 5.0; 152 ± 2 g kg)1 total fatty acid, respectively). The periphytic diatoms contained protein and lipid (430–490; 230–260 g kg)1 dry weight, respectively), EPA (30–150 g kg)1 of total fatty acids), DHA (20–30 g kg)1 of total fatty acids) and nine essential amino acids. The results showed that isolated marine periphytic diatoms grown on substrate could be used as feed supplement in enhancing the growth and survival of P. monodon postlarvae

Covalently binding atomically designed Au9 clusters to chemically modified graphene

Atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy was used to identify individual Au9 clusters on a sulfur functionalized graphene surface. The clusters were pre-formed in solution and covalently attached to the surface without any dispersion or aggregation. Comparison of the experimental images with simulations allowed the rotational motion of individual clusters to be discerned, without lateral displacement, demonstrating a robust covalent attachment of intact clusters to the graphene surface

A Transgenic Minipig Model of Huntington\u27s Disease

Background: Some promising treatments for Huntington\u27s disease (HD) may require pre-clinical testing in large animals. Minipig is a suitable species because of its large gyrencephalic brain and long lifespan. Objective: To generate HD transgenic (TgHD) minipigs encoding huntingtin (HTT)1–548 under the control of human HTT promoter. Methods: Transgenesis was achieved by lentiviral infection of porcine embryos. PCR assessment of gene transfer, observations of behavior, and postmortem biochemical and immunohistochemical studies were conducted. Results: One copy of the human HTT transgene encoding 124 glutamines integrated into chromosome 1 q24-q25 and successful germ line transmission occurred through successive generations (F0, F1, F2 and F3 generations). No developmental or gross motor deficits were noted up to 40 months of age. Mutant HTT mRNA and protein fragment were detected in brain and peripheral tissues. No aggregate formation in brain up to 16 months was seen by AGERA and filter retardation or by immunostaining. DARPP32 labeling in WT and TgHD minipig neostriatum was patchy. Analysis of 16 month old sibling pairs showed reduced intensity of DARPP32 immunoreactivity in neostriatal TgHD neurons compared to those of WT. Compared to WT, TgHD boars by one year had reduced fertility and fewer spermatozoa per ejaculate. In vitro analysis revealed a significant decline in the number of WT minipig oocytes penetrated by TgHD spermatozoa. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate successful establishment of a transgenic model of HD in minipig that should be valuable for testing long term safety of HD therapeutics. The emergence of HD-like phenotypes in the TgHD minipigs will require more study

Fermi Large Area Telescope Constraints on the Gamma-ray Opacity of the Universe

The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) includes photons with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, which are effective at attenuating gamma rays with energy above ~10 GeV during propagation from sources at cosmological distances. This results in a redshift- and energy-dependent attenuation of the gamma-ray flux of extragalactic sources such as blazars and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). The Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi detects a sample of gamma-ray blazars with redshift up to z~3, and GRBs with redshift up to z~4.3. Using photons above 10 GeV collected by Fermi over more than one year of observations for these sources, we investigate the effect of gamma-ray flux attenuation by the EBL. We place upper limits on the gamma-ray opacity of the Universe at various energies and redshifts, and compare this with predictions from well-known EBL models. We find that an EBL intensity in the optical-ultraviolet wavelengths as great as predicted by the "baseline" model of Stecker et al. (2006) can be ruled out with high confidence.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, accepted version (24 Aug.2010) for publication in ApJ; Contact authors: A. Bouvier, A. Chen, S. Raino, S. Razzaque, A. Reimer, L.C. Reye

RTX proteins: a highly diverse family secreted by a common mechanism

Repeats-in-toxin (RTX) exoproteins of Gram-negative bacteria form a steadily growing family of proteins with diverse biological functions. Their common feature is the unique mode of export across the bacterial envelope via the type I secretion system and the characteristic, typically nonapeptide, glycine- and aspartate-rich repeats binding Ca2+ ions. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge on the organization of rtx loci and on the biological and biochemical activities of therein encoded proteins. Applying several types of bioinformatic screens on the steadily growing set of sequenced bacterial genomes, over 1000 RTX family members were detected, with the biological functions of most of them remaining to be characterized. Activities of the so far characterized RTX family members are then discussed and classified according to functional categories, ranging from the historically first characterized pore-forming RTX leukotoxins, through the large multifunctional enzymatic toxins, bacteriocins, nodulation proteins, surface layer proteins, up to secreted hydrolytic enzymes exhibiting metalloprotease or lipase activities of industrial interest