Alien Registration- Dalrymple, Nellie J. (Baldwin, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/32889/thumbnail.jp

Postmortem Evaluation of Left Flank Laparoscopic Access in an Adult Female Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

There are still few reports of laparoscopy in megavertebrates. The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is the tallest land mammal, and the largest ruminant species. An 18-year-old multiparous female hybrid giraffe, weighing 650 kg, was euthanized for chronic health problems, and left flank laparoscopy was performed less than 30 minutes after death. Safe primary access was achieved under visualisation using an optical bladed trocar (Visiport Plus, Tyco healthcare UK Ltd) without prior abdominal insufflation. A left paralumbar fossa approach allowed access to the spleen, rumen, left kidney, and intestines, but did not allow access to the reproductive tract which in nongravid females is intrapelvic in nature

Socio-cultural influences upon knowledge of sexually transmitted infections: a qualitative study with heterosexual middle-aged adults in Scotland

There has been a recent global increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV among adults aged over 45. Limited evidence exists regarding middle-aged adults’ knowledge of STIs other than HIV. This qualitative study sought to understand middle-aged adults’ knowledge of STIs within a socio-cultural context. Individual interviews, based on a life-course approach, were conducted with 31 recently sexually active heterosexual men and women. Participants were aged between 45 and 65 and of mixed relationship status (14 were single, 17 in a relationship). Thematic analysis identified four key findings, including: “engagement with STI-related knowledge”; “general knowledge of STIs”; “learning about STIs from children”; and “limited application of knowledge”. The findings allow insight into a neglected area, and indicate that socio-cultural factors influence middle-aged adults’ STI-related knowledge acquisition throughout the life course. These are important implications for the prevention of STIs, particularly in addressing the on-going stigmatisation of STIs in older age groups

A rapid review of sexual wellbeing definitions and measures: should we now include sexual wellbeing freedom?

An increasing number of studies refer to sexual wellbeing and/or seek to measure it, and the term appears across various policy documents, including sexual health frameworks in the UK. We conducted a rapid review to determine how sexual wellbeing has been defined, qualitatively explored and quantitatively measured. Eligible studies selected for inclusion from OVID Medline, PsychInfo, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL were: in English language, published after 2007, were peer-reviewed full articles, focused on sexual wellbeing (or proxies for, e.g. satisfaction, function), and quantitatively or qualitatively assessed sexual wellbeing. We included studies with participants aged 16–65. Given study heterogeneity, our synthesis and findings are reported using a narrative approach. We identified 162 papers, of which 10 offered a definition of sexual wellbeing. Drawing upon a socio-ecological model, we categorised the 59 dimensions we identified from studies under three main domains: cognitive-affect (31 dimensions); inter-personal (22 dimensions); and socio-cultural (6 dimensions). Only 11 papers were categorised under the socio-cultural domain, commonly focusing on gender inequalities or stigma. We discuss the importance of conceptualising sexual wellbeing as individually experienced but socially and structurally influenced, including assessing sexual wellbeing freedom: a person’s freedom to achieve sexual wellbeing, or their real opportunities and liberties

Radiation-induced nucleic acid synthesis in L cells under energy deprivation

Radiation induced nucleic acid synthesis in energy deprived L cell

Physically, physiologically and conceptually hidden: improving the description and communication of seed persistence

Seed persistence is a trait that is difficult to observe or measure and consequently, has remained conceptually obscure for 40 years since Grubb’s influential description of the regeneration niche. Seed persistence is the ability of seeds to persist in a viable state post-dispersal and is relevant to current research in plant community dynamics and conservation. However, categorisations of seed persistence as transient, short-term or long-term persistent do not acknowledge the variation in persistence times as a result of deterministic processes and are difficult to apply in a predictive capacity. Consequently, a more robust understanding of seed persistence is needed in niche descriptions that are temporally explicit and in predicting the distributional changes of species in the current and future climate. We surmise an alternative to the categorizations of seed persistence on the basis of seed bank type and argue that it is best expressed as a continuous variable. We review the methods available for estimating seed persistence in situ and provide a number of testable hypotheses to contribute to the development of this important research topic. We maintain that seed persistence has not been incorporated adequately into niche theory and highlight that it can make several contributions including properly defining metapopulation niche, population growth definition. This holistic approach by integrating seed persistence into niche theory would allow us to better predict the survival of plants in a changing environment

Behavior of beef heifers on Ozark ranges

Cover title.Includes bibliographical references (page [14])

Identifying factors associated with the success and failure of terrestrial insect translocations

Translocation is increasingly used as a management strategy to mitigate the effects of human activity on biodiversity. Based on the current literature, we summarised trends in terrestrial insect translocations and identified factors associated with success and failure. As the authors’ definitions of success and failure varied according to the individual sets of goals and objectives in each project, we adopted a standardised species-specific definition of success. We applied generalised linear models and information-theoretic model selection to identify the most important factors associated with translocation success. We found literature documenting the translocation of 74 terrestrial insect species to 134 release sites. Of the translocations motivated by conservation, 52% were considered successful, 31% were considered to have failed and 17% were undetermined. Our results indicate that the number of individuals released at a translocation site was the most important factor associated with translocation success, despite this being a relatively infrequent perceived cause of failure as reported by authors. Factors relating to weather and climate and habitat quality were the most commonly perceived causes of translocation failure by authors. Consideration of these factors by managers during the planning process may increase the chance of success in future translocation attempts of terrestrial insects