Survey of the Ectoparasites of the Invasive Small Indian Mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus [Carnivora: Herpestidae]) on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

In March 2012, live trapping surveys were conducted for invasive small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Forty mongoose were sampled (31%, 9&) for ectoparasites, and cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) were discovered on 17 individuals. There was no difference in the number of ectoparasites per mongoose across age classifications (r = 0.109, P = 0.579). However, males had more cat fleas than females, even when mass was taken into account (males are generally heavier). Future behavioral studies may explain these sex differences. Although management suggestions from this research are limited, these data contribute to an understanding of ectoparasite distributions on these invasive mongoose in the Caribbean

Clever girl: Benevolent sexism and cardiovascular threat

Benevolent sexism is a double-edged sword that uses praise to maintain gender inequality, which consequently makes women feel less efficacious, agentic and competent. This study investigated whether benevolently sexist feedback that was supportive could result in cardiovascular responses indicative of threat (lower cardiac output/higher total peripheral resistance). Women received either supportive non-sexist or supportive yet benevolent sexist feedback from a male evaluator following practice trials on a verbal reasoning test. As expected, women receiving benevolent sexist feedback exhibited cardiovascular threat during a subsequent test, relative to women receiving non-sexist feedback. There was no support for an alternative hypothesis that benevolent sexist feedback would lead to cardiovascular responses consistent with disengaging from the task altogether (i.e., lower heart rate and ventricular contractility). These findings illustrate that the consequences of benevolent sexism can occur spontaneously, while women are engaged with a task, and when the sexist feedback is intended as supportive

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron-B.1.1.529 leads to widespread escape from neutralizing antibody responses

On 24th November 2021, the sequence of a new SARS-CoV-2 viral isolate Omicron-B.1.1.529 was announced, containing far more mutations in Spike (S) than previously reported variants. Neutralization titers of Omicron by sera from vaccinees and convalescent subjects infected with early pandemic Alpha, Beta, Gamma, or Delta are substantially reduced, or the sera failed to neutralize. Titers against Omicron are boosted by third vaccine doses and are high in both vaccinated individuals and those infected by Delta. Mutations in Omicron knock out or substantially reduce neutralization by most of the large panel of potent monoclonal antibodies and antibodies under commercial development. Omicron S has structural changes from earlier viruses and uses mutations that confer tight binding to ACE2 to unleash evolution driven by immune escape. This leads to a large number of mutations in the ACE2 binding site and rebalances receptor affinity to that of earlier pandemic viruses

The proterozoic P-T-t evolution of the Kemp Land coast, east Antarctica; Constraints from Si-saturated and Si-undersaturated metapelites

Copyright © The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.Integrated metamorphic and geochronological data place new constraints on the metamorphic evolution of a Neoproterozoic orogen in east Antarctica. Granulite-facies rocks from a 150 km stretch of the Kemp Land coast reflect peak conditions involving T 870–990°C at P 7·4–10 kbar, with pressure increasing westward towards an Archaean craton. Electron microprobe-derived (Th + U)–Pb monazite ages from metapelitic assemblages indicate that the major mineral textures in these rocks developed during the c. 940 Ma Rayner Orogeny. Complex compositional zoning in monazite suggests high-T recrystallization over c. 25 Myr. Diversity in metapelitic reaction textures reflects silica and ferromagnesian content: Si-saturated Fe-rich metapelites contain garnet that is partially pseudomorphed by biotite and sillimanite, whereas Si-saturated Mg-rich metapelites and Si-undersaturated metapelitic pods have reaction microstructures involving cordierite enclosing orthopyroxene, garnet and/or sapphirine, cordierite + sapphirine symplectites around sillimanite and coarse-grained orthopyroxene + corundum separated by sapphirine coronae. Interpretations based on P–T pseudosections provide integrated bulk-rock constraints and indicate a clockwise P–T–t path characterized by a post-peak P–T trajectory with dP/dT 15–20 bar/ °C. This moderately sloped decompressive-cooling P–T path is in contrast to near-isothermal decompression P–T paths commonly cited for this region of the Rayner Complex, with implications for the post-collisional tectonic response of the mid- to lower crust within this orogenic belt.J. A. Halpin, R. W. White, G. L. Clarke and D. E. Kelse

Geographic influences on the uptake of infant immunisations: 1: concepts, models and aggregate analyses.

This is the first of two papers in which the effects on the uptake of immunisation of transport, time - space, and gender-role constraints, among a wider range of influences, are assessed statistically. A critique of a paper by Jarman et al leads to the formulation of an improved conceptual and statistical framework for analyses of uptake. Within this framework, the possibility of explaining immunisation uptake by using readily available data at the District Health Authority scale is reevaluated. Results suggest that analyses solely at this highly aggregate scale are plagued by the statistical problem of overdispersion, and cannot provide reliable explanations of uptake. Rather, it is argued, disaggregate or, preferably, multilevel analyses are required. Such analyses form the subject matter of the second paper