Examining the importance of Aberdeenshire (UK) coastal waters for North Sea bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates)

Using land- and vessel-based surveys, data on the relative abundance, distribution and habitat use of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Aberdeenshire waters were collected between 1999 and 2001. Bottlenose dolphins were present throughout the year, with peak abundance during the months of March to May. The occurrence of calves was seasonal, With the proportion of calves highest during the spring months. Foraging behaviour was recorded mainly in the vicinity of Aberdeen harbour. Dolphins photographed in Aberdeenshire waters were successfully matched and confirmed as Moray Firth animals. The results of the present study suggest that Moray Firth bottlenose dolphins utilize Aberdeenshire waters more frequently than previously reported. Aberdeen harbour is apparently an important feeding area, and Aberdeenshire waters are regularly used by another-calf pairs. This has important management implications since this area of coastline does not currently form part of the designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for this population

Sparing Genes for Further Evolution

The first step in biological evolution, according to the classical concept, was the ability of an organic entity, the gene, to duplicate itself by utilizing available inorganic molecules which themselves were incapable of reproduction. The next step was the acquisition by the gene of the property of catalyzing the production of a substance other than itself to be utilized as its host. In this way an aggregate of genes, each responsible for a specific reaction, could give rise to more complex structures. The manner of development of a simple organism would then depend upon the actions of the genes which it possessed. In this sense a gene which catalyzes a reaction which is necessary for an organism may be defined as an essential gene. It is this type, the essential gene, which has been considered to be of major significance in progressive evolution. In contrast to this widely accepted viewpoint, it is the intention of the present paper to show how the real materials for further evolution may be genes of another type, those which have lost their primary catalytic function while retaining their primary reproductive function and become neutral genes. These neutral genes have been spared from their essential roles by the taking over of their previous primary functions by the genes of other species. A neutral gene will be defined as a gene which may participate in the production of a substance, but the substance in turn is not essential to the organism. Such a gene is not necessarily inactive

The Temperature of the Mouse in Health and Disease

Accompanying certain types of inflammation the heat-regulating mechanism of the body is disrupted so that heat accumulates and the body temperature rises. The individual is said to have a fever. Since the early work of Ledingham (1908) in which he showed that the rate of phagocytosis increased with a rise in temperature, a moderate fever has come to be regarded as a defense mechanism of the body. It is, therefore, of some significance that the normal and deviations from normal temperature be known for laboratory animals which are to be used to measure the response of an individual host to an artificial infection. Since mouse typhoid, a highly fatal disease occurring among mice and caused by the micro-organism Salmonella typhimurium has been likened in some respects to the typhoid of humans caused by Eberthella typhosum, it is all the more important that the temperature aspect of mouse typhoid be investigated. The present paper presents some preliminary results from experiments in which rectal temperatures were obtained for normal and inoculated mice of resistant and susceptible inbred strains

The Economic Consequences of Widowhood

We analyzed the economic consequences of a husband’s death using events that occurred between the first two waves of the HRS and AHEAD studies. We compared poverty transitions against published results from Social Security’s Retirement History Survey of the 1970s. Widowhood remains an important risk factor for transition into poverty, although somewhat less so than twenty years ago. Women over age 65 (AHEAD) are less likely to experience severe economic changes than women under age 61 (HRS). Several factors account for the age differences: the declining importance of husband’s earnings with age, the rising importance of Social Security benefits, and the occasionally large out-of-pocket medical expenses associated with husband’s death before Medicare eligibility. The greater economic impact of widowhood at younger ages is consistent with our cross-section evidence that poverty rates rise with duration of widowhood but are only weakly associated with age.

Empirical relationships between health literacy and treatment decision making : A scoping review of the literature

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Acknowledgements This research was supported by a Joseph Armand Bombardier Doctoral Scholarship awarded to Leslie J. Malloy-Weir by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The authors would like to thank Maureen Rice for her help with the literature search strategy and Dr. Malcolm Weir for his help with the relevance screening.Peer reviewedPostprin

BulB - visualizing bulletin board activity

Visualisation is well known as an effective means of enriching user interaction with complex systems. Recent research with online communities has considered the application of visualisation tool support, with the intention of further improving communication between community members. This paper reviews existing work in this area with specific reference to the application of visualisation to improve user interaction within online forums such as bulletin boards. The paper then outlines work undertaken by the authors to develop a second-generation visualisation tool - 'BulB'

Fluxoid formation: size effects and non-equilibrium universality

Simple causal arguments put forward by Kibble and Zurek suggest that the scaling behaviour of condensed matter at continuous transitions is related to the familiar universality classes of the systems at quasi-equilibrium. Although proposed 25 years ago or more, it is only in the last few years that it has been possible to devise experiments from which scaling exponents can be determined and in which this scenario can be tested. In previous work, an unusually high Kibble-Zurek scaling exponent was reported for spontaneous fluxoid production in a single isolated superconducting Nb loop, albeit with low density. Using analytic approximations backed up by Langevin simulations, we argue that densities as small as these are too low to be attributable to scaling, and are conditioned by the small size of the loop. We also reflect on the physical differences between slow quenches and small rings, and derive some criteria for these differences, noting that recent work on slow quenches does not adequately explain the anomalous behaviour seen here.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, presentation given at CMMP 201

Achieving Symptom Control in Patients with Moderate Asthma

Disease severity in asthma can be classified as mild, moderate or severe based upon the frequency of symptoms or the severity of airflow obstruction. This review will focus on the treatment of youths greater than 12 years of age and adults with moderate persistent asthma. Moderate asthmatics may have daily symptoms that cause some limitation with normal daily activities and require use of a rescue inhaled short-acting beta2-agonist inhaler or experience nocturnal awakenings secondary to asthma that occur more than once per week. Furthermore, spirometry may reveal airflow obstruction with a reduction in FEV1 to between 60% and 80% of predicted. Although inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the primary controller medication used to modify symptoms in moderate asthmatics, additional controller medications, such as inhaled long-acting beta2-agonists (LABA), leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA) or theophylline, are often needed to obtain optimal disease control. While the addition of an inhaled LABA to an ICS is very effective at improving disease control in moderate asthma, concerns have arisen over the safety of LABAs, in particular the risk of asthma-related death. Therefore, consideration may be given to initially adding a LTRA, rather than a LABA, to ICS when asthma symptoms are not adequately controlled by ICS alone. Furthermore, individualization of medication regimens, treatment of co-morbid conditions, and patient education are crucial to optimizing compliance with therapy, improving disease control, and reducing the risk of exacerbations. Lastly, the development of new asthma treatments, perhaps based upon personalized medicine, may revolutionize the future treatment of moderate asthma