Taxonomy of the fouling cheilostome bryozoans, Schizoporella unicornis, (Johnston) and Schizoporella errata (Waters)

Figure 1. (A–D) Images of Wood's Pliocene specimen from the Coralline Crag, Suffolk (NHM B1675) described in Busk (1859). (A) Group of autozooids at growing edge of colony within small bivalve shell. (B) Autozooids exhibiting deep V-shaped sinus. (C) Frontal shield with paired avicularia and deep V-shaped sinus. (D) Detail of primary orifice and sinus. (E, F) Lectotype of Schizoporella unicornis [NHM 1847.16.174 (a)] bleached portion. (E) Group of autozooids at the distal edge of colony with adventitious avicularia, paired, single or absent. (F) Ovicellate autozooids showing radially aligned scalloped grooves. Scale bars: 500 µm (A); 250 µm (B); 100 µm (C, E); 50 µm (D,F).Published as part of Tompsett, Scott, Porter, Joanne S. & Taylor, Paul D., 2009, Taxonomy of the fouling cheilostome bryozoans Schizoporella unicornis (Johnston) and Schizoporella errata (Waters), pp. 2227-2243 in Journal of Natural History 43 (35-36) on page 2231, DOI: 10.1080/00222930903090140, http://zenodo.org/record/521715

Testing for seasonal unit roots by frequency domain regression

This paper develops univariate seasonal unit root tests based on spectral regression estimators. An advantage of the frequency domain approach is that it enables serial correlation to be treated non-parametrically. We demonstrate that our proposed statistics have pivotal limiting distributions under both the null and near seasonally integrated alternatives when we allow for weak dependence in the driving shocks. This is in contrast to the popular seasonal unit root tests of, among others, Hylleberg et al. (1990) which treat serial correlation parametrically via lag augmentation of the test regression. Moreover, our analysis allows for (possibly infinite order) moving average behaviour in the shocks, while extant large sample results pertaining to the Hylleberg et al. (1990) type tests are based on the assumption of a finite autoregression. The size and power properties of our proposed frequency domain regression-based tests are explored and compared for the case of quarterly data with those of the tests of Hylleberg et al. (1990) in simulation experiments.Seasonal unit root tests; moving average; frequency domain regression; spectral density estimator; Brownian motion

Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety among North Korean refugees: a meta-analysis

Objective Post-traumatic stress disorder is common among North Korean refugees who have fled their country for economic, financial and humanitarian reasons. Co-morbid depression and anxiety are also common among North Korean refugees, due to the difficulties they have faced within their country and during their escape journey. Depression and anxiety complicate treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, and lead to poorer outcomes. Thus, the aim of the present study was to provide a meta-analysis of studies investigating post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety among North Korean refugees. Methods Selected articles were published in English, and included measures of post-traumatic stress, and/or depression and anxiety. 10 studies were included in the depression meta-analysis, and 6 in the anxiety meta-analysis. Results A random-effects model revealed strong, significant associations between post-traumatic stress and depression, r=0.63, 95% CI (0.51, 0.72), p<0.001, z=8.33, and anxiety, r=0.51, 95% CI (0.36, 0.63), p<0.001, z=6.07. The relationships between post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety were higher among adults and those with more than five years outside of North Korea. Conclusion Depression appears to be an important treatment focus for North Korean refugees with post-traumatic stress

Land use and legislation; the impact of nineteenth century United States land legislation on the indigenous landscape of southern Arizona between 1853 and 1912

Land policies of nineteenth century United States significantly impacted the indigenous landscape and ways of life in southern Arizona after its purchase from Mexico in 1853. This research is to understand how the land legislation policies were interpreted and implemented, why the culture of the United States supported these policies and what impact they had on the indigenous cultures of the region. Contemporary accounts, land legislation at both regional and national level, as well as recent commentaries have been consulted to understand the prevailing nineteenth century cultural norms which supported and accepted policies that denuded indigenous people of their traditional lands and ways of life. It will be determined that the land policies were deliberately prejudiced in their formation and were aggressive both in the use of and in their results on the indigenous landscape and people of southern Arizona. Both the Tohono O’odham and the Chiricahua Apache indigenous people have lost significant amounts of cultural heritage and ways of life because of their inability to challenge the laws and prevailing culture in the United States between 1853 and 1912, when Arizona became a state. This analysis of a little-known region in the United States could help to explain why the results of nineteenth century land policies are still resonating in both the indigenous experiences and on the land management of the region to this day

A polymorphism in a let-7 microRNA binding site of KRAS in women with endometriosis.

Endometriosis is found in 5-15% of women of reproductive age and is more frequent in relatives of women with the disease. Activation of KRAS results in de novo endometriosis in mice, however, activating KRAS mutations have not been identified in women. We screened 150 women with endometriosis for a polymorphism in a let-7 microRNA (miRNA) binding site in the 3'-UTR of KRAS and detected a KRAS variant allele in 31% of women with endometriosis as opposed to 5% of a large diverse control population. KRAS mRNA and protein expression were increased in cultured endometrial stromal cells of women with the KRAS variant. Increased KRAS protein was due to altered miRNA binding as demonstrated in reporter assays. Endometrial stromal cells from women with the KRAS variant showed increased proliferation and invasion. In a murine model, endometrial xenografts containing the KRAS variant demonstrated increased proliferation and decreased progesterone receptor levels. These findings suggest that an inherited polymorphism of a let-7 miRNA binding site in KRAS leads to abnormal endometrial growth and endometriosis. The LCS6 polymorphism is the first described genetic marker of endometriosis risk

The clinical pathway of patients with heart failure in primary care

Background: Heart failure is a common clinical syndrome associated with major adverse symptoms and poor outlook for patients, and high costs for healthcare systems globally. This thesis examines four aspects of the clinical pathway of patients with heart failure in primary care. Methods: Routinely collected GP records are used to estimate the number of newly diagnosed heart failure cases by year. A qualitative interview study explores the patient experience of the diagnostic pathway. Survival analysis is used to determine prognosis of patients following a first diagnostic label. Finally, a screening study examines who develops heart failure over time. Results: The incidence of heart failure has been static at 2.3 cases per 1,000 person-years since 2006. Patients initially normalise their symptoms so delay seeking help, GP access is challenging and communication in secondary care, particularly delivery of diagnosis, could be improved. Survival rates are 81.5%, 51.6% and 29.5% at 1, 5 and 10 years, respectively, and have not changed over time. Screening provides an alternative pathway to identify patients with heart failure. Conclusions: Strategies to reduce the number of new cases of heart failure, enhance patient experience, improve survival and explore new diagnostic pathways should be important priorities for the NHS