From the sublime to the Druidical: changing perceptions of prehistoric monuments in southern Anglesey in the post-medieval period

The prehistoric monuments of southern Anglesey have been interpreted in various ways over the past three centuries, as an examination of the work of antiquarians, artists, landscape designers and other contemporary commentators reveals. During the post-medieval period, the meanings of these monuments shifted, as perceptions of the pre-Roman era changed. As embodiments of the past, megalithic monuments were embraced by Welsh historians, antiquarians and artists in the movement to formulate a Welsh national identity. Moreover, their incorporation into landscape gardens was indicative of the extent to which they captured the contemporary imagination. Local communities, meanwhile, reacted in differing ways to the megaliths, influenced concurrently by superstition and agrarian pragmatism

The mysid-feeding guild of demersal fishes in the brackish zone of the Westerschelde estuary

The demersal fish fauna of the mesohaline zone of the Westerschelde estuary (south-west Netherlands) was sampled intensively in the period 1990-1992. Almost 500 beam trawl samples were taken in both subtidal (330 samples) and intertidal (144 samples) habitats. These yielded 44 fish species, mostly as juveniles. The area functioned as a nursery for several demersal fish species, and harboured large populations of hyperbenthic mysids. Three gobies, three flatfish, one clupeoid and one gadoid dominated the fish fauna, while three mysid species were important components of the holohyperbenthos. From c. 1500 stomach contents of 25 fish species, 44 prey species were identified, the most abundant of which were also common in the hyperbenthal. The demersal fish community consisted of a group that foraged subtidally on fast-moving epi- and hyperbenthic prey (for example gadoids, gobies and clupeoids) and a group that foraged on slow-moving or sessile endobenthic organisms, mainly in intertidal areas (for example most flatfish species). Mysidacea occurred in >50% stomachs analysed and were taken as prey by 19 of the 25 fish species. Mysids were most important in the diets of Pomatoschistus minutus, P. lozanoi, Trisopterus luscus and Merlangius merlangus, and were present in appreciable numbers in Pleuronectes flesus, Trigla lucerna, Clupea harengus and Pleuronectes platessa. These species fed mainly on the brackish water endemic Neomysis integer. Mesopodopsis slabberi (present in 35% of the gobiid stomachs) and Gastrosaccus spinifer (present in 25% of the gadoid stomachs) were of secondary importance. P. minutus and T. luscus showed a diet shift from calanoids (Eurytemora affinis and Temora longicornis) to mysids at Ls of 30 and 50 mm, respectively. Only 1% of the standing stocks of the N. integer and M. slabberi populations was removed by the local demersal fish community, so top-down control of mysid populations in estuaries seems unlikely

Factors influencing fish and macrocrustacean communities in the surf zone of sandy beaches in Belgium: temporal variation

Monthly samples were taken in the surf zone of sandy beaches along the Belgian coast from May 1996 until July 1997 at four selected stations. Temporal patterns of the macrocrustacean and fish species residing the surf zone were investigated, as well as the abiotic variables structuring the community. In total 34 species were recorded belonging to caridean shrimps (3), anomuran and brachyuran crabs (5), cephalopods (2) and fish (24). The brown shrimp Crangon crangon dominated almost all samples (>80%). Total densities often exceeded 400 ind per 100 m², and if C. crangon was excluded 10 ind per 100 m². Notwithstanding the harsh hydrodynamic conditions, the surf zone of Belgian sandy beaches is used intensively by a number of epibenthic macro-crustaceans and demersal fish species. Seven resident and ten migrant species were identified. As mainly juvenile fishes were present, the surf zone of the Belgian sandy beaches may act as a nursery for longer (e.g. plaice Pleuronectes platessa) or shorter (e.g. brill Scophthalmus rhombus) periods. However, its nursery function should be studied in more detail, since the highly dynamic circumstances and more specifically wave height and wind speed may be important structuring factors for the epibenthic communities. The surf zone of Belgian sandy beaches also seems to function as a transient area to other nurseries (e.g. bass Dicentrarchus labrax) or between a nursery and the true marine environment (e.g. dab Limanda limanda). Temporal variation in community structure was greatly masked by spatial differences between sites. Although variables such as salinity and hydrodynamic factors may have influenced the data, clear temperature-related, seasonal patterns occur. Most likely, extreme winter conditions and subsequent migration of organisms to deeper waters caused a decline in winter in both density and diversity

Zur Virusätiologie der idiopathischen Fazialisparese (Enzymimmunserologische Untersuchungen) = On the viral etiology of Bell's palsy (An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay study) [author's transl.]

In a prospective study paired sera of 14 patients suffering from Bell's palsy were examined for antibodies against Varicella-zoster Virus (VZV), Herpes-simplex Virus (HSV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). For determination of antibodies against VZV, HSV and CMV an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was carried out. Indirect immunofluorescence was carried out to determine antibodies against EBV. Serum samples were taken within 5 days of Bell's palsy having been diagnosed and were compared with further serum samples taken 4 weeks later. No evidence of significant differences between the antibody titers of the paired sera was found. The viral etiology of Bell's palsy due to an exogenous infection or by activation of a latent infection seems unlikely