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So far from the coast: is protection needed for pelagic habitats and species?
The pelagic environment is the area of the ocean from the surface to just above the sea floor and includes all the physical and chemical conditions and biology in the water column. This environment forms the largest habitat on Earth, constituting 99% of the biosphere volume (Angel, 1993). Pelagic ecosystems account for nearly half of the photosynthesis on Earth through phytoplankton (Field et al., 1998) and supply >80% of the fish consumed by humans (Pauly et al., 2002). These ecosystems also play a major role in the pace and extent of climate change via the uptake of carbon dioxide and its removal to the deep ocean through the biological pump, and via the dynamics of the overturning circulation within the solubility pump (Hays et al., 2005).
While the open ocean can be divided into a number of vertical zones (Figure 14.1), here we collectively refer to these zones as the pelagic environment, and focus on the upper 200 m of the water column where the majority of the life in the pelagic zone resides and where most human activities occur. Note that the benthopelagic region includes the sea floor, and is not a focus of this chapter, as benthic protected areas typically encompass only the immediate overlying water, or are located in shallow coastal regions where ocean processes do not occur. In shallow or coastal regions, the whole water column may be considered benthopelagic.
We systematically reviewed the current understanding of human population immunity against SARS-CoV in different groups, settings and geography. Our meta-analysis, which included all identified studies except those on wild animal handlers, yielded an overall seroprevalence of 0·10% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0·02–0·18]. Health-care workers and others who had close contact with SARS patients had a slightly higher degree of seroconversion (0·23%, 95% CI 0·02–0·45) compared to healthy blood donors, others from the general community or non-SARS patients recruited from the health-care setting (0·16%, 95% CI 0–0·37). When analysed by the two broad classes of testing procedures, it is clear that serial confirmatory test protocols resulted in a much lower estimate (0·050%, 95% CI 0–0·15) than single test protocols (0·20%, 95% CI 0·06–0·34). Potential epidemiological and laboratory pitfalls are also discussed as they may give rise to false or inconsistent results in measuring the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV.
To compare the public's knowledge and perception of SARS and the extent to which various precautionary measures were adopted in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Design:
Cross-sectional telephone survey of 705 Hong Kong and 1,201 Singapore adults selected by random-digit dialing.
Results:
Hong Kong respondents had significantly higher anxiety than Singapore respondents (State Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI] score, 2.06 vs 1.77; P < .001). The former group also reported more frequent headaches, difficulty breathing, dizziness, rhinorrhea, and sore throat. More than 90% in both cities were willing to be quarantined if they had close contact with a SARS case, and 70% or more would be compliant for social contacts. Most respondents (86.7% in Hong Kong vs 71.4% in Singapore; P < .001) knew that SARS could be transmitted via respiratory droplets, although fewer (75.8% in Hong Kong vs 62.1% in Singapore; P < .001) knew that fomites were also a possible transmission source. Twenty-three percent of Hong Kong and 11.9% of Singapore respondents believed that they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to contract SARS during the current outbreak (P < .001). There were large differences between Hong Kong and Singapore in the adoption of personal precautionary measures. Respondents with higher levels of anxiety, better knowledge about SARS, and greater risk perceptions were more likely to take comprehensive precautionary measures against the infection, as were older, female, and more educated individuals.
Conclusion:
Comparative psychobehavioral surveillance and analysis could yield important insights into generic versus population-specific issues that could be used to inform, design, and evaluate public health infection control policy measures.
Little is understood about the evolution of structural and functional brain changes during the course of uncontrolled focal status epilepticus in humans.
Methods:
We serially evaluated and treated a nine-year-old girl with refractory focal status epilepticus. Long-term EEG monitoring, MRI, MRA, SPECT, intraoperative visualization of affected cortex, and neuropathological examination of a biopsy specimen were conducted over a three year time span. Imaging changes were correlated with simultaneous treatment and EEG findings.
Results:
The EEG monitoring showed almost continuous spike discharges emanating initially from the right frontocentral area. These EEG abnormalities were intermittently suppressed by treatment with anesthetics. Over time, additional brain areas developed epileptiform EEG abnormalities. Serial MRI studies demonstrated an evolution of changes from normal, through increased regional T2 signal to generalized atrophy. An MRAdemonstrated dilatation of the middle cerebral artery stem on the right compared to the left with a broad distribution of flow-related enhancement. An 18FDG-PET scan showed a dramatically abnormal metabolic profile in the same right frontocentral areas, which modulated in response to treatment during the course of the illness. A right frontotemporal craniotomy revealed a markedly hyperemic cortical focus including vascular shunting. A sample of resected cortex showed severe gliosis and neuronal death.
Conclusions:
The co-registration of structural and functional imaging and its correlation with operative and pathological findings in this case illustrates the relentless progression of regional and generalized abnormalities in intractable focal status epilepticus that were only transiently modified by exhaustive therapeutic interventions. Increased flow through large vessels appeared to be shunted and did not translate into increased microvascular perfusion.
An understanding of the dry matter intake (DMI) capacity of suckler cows is crucial to the provision of adequate nutrition during lactation. However, quantitative data on the likely feed intake patterns of modern continental x dairy suckler cow genotypes is scarce. The objective of the current experiment was to determine voluntary DMI in Simmental x Holstein/Friesian (SIM) and Belgian Blue x Holstein/Friesian (BB) autumn calving suckler cows offered a grass silage based diet ad libitum.
The raffinose family of oligosaccharides (RFO) is present in relatively high levels in grain legume seeds. They are considered to be antinutritional compounds because they are, at least in part, believed to be responsible for causing flatulence in humans, which is the single most important factor in deterring people from including more legume seeds in their diet. The RFO also have important functions within the plant. They serve as transport metabolites in many legumes and have been proposed to play a positive role in cold acclimatisation and in conferring desiccation tolerance during seed maturation. These responses to environmental stresses are believed to result from the RFO acting as protecting agents for membrane bound-proteins. We have screened 70 pea lines from the test array of the John Innes Pisum germplasm collection, and lines were selected which had unusual RFO composition. The soluble sugars within these lines were quantified using High Performance Anion Exchange Chromatography with Pulsed Amperometric Detection (HPAEC-PAD), and variants were identified which were deficient in verbascose and one with a reduced level of raffinose. These selected lines are being used in a crossing programme designed to study the genetics of the RFO pathway and to produce new material to test the effect of specific RFO on the plant’s responses to the environment and on the diets of humans and animals.
Raman microscopy, using a novel line focus configuration, has been used here to study boron concentration distributions and depth profiles in silicon for two different sources of dopant. Changes in the Raman phonon peak frequency for boron doped silicon have been calibrated against concentration by comparison with SIMS data and a relationship between Raman shift and lattice strain has been obtained.
An experiment was conducted at Palmerston North, New Zealand, to determine the effect of condensed tannins (CT) on the true and apparent digestion of methionine and cysteine in the small intestine (SI) of sheep fed fresh Lotus comkulatus. The lotus contained c. 30 g total CT/kg dry matter (DM) and was fed hourly to sheep in metabolism crates. Four sheep were prepared with rumen and abomasal cannulae which enabled the indigestible liquid phase marker, chromium ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (Cr-EDTA), to be infused into the rumen to estimate digesta flow. True digestibility of plant methionine and cysteine in the SI and their site of absorption in the SI were determined from 35S-labelled L. corniculatus homogenate continuously infused into the abomasum. After 9 h infusion of the 35S-labelled lotus homogenate, the sheep were slaughtered and digesta samples were taken at intervals along the small and large intestines. The effect of CT was determined by comparing two control sheep (CT-acting) with two sheep given a continuous intraruminal infusion of polyethylene glycol (PEG, MW 3500) to bind and inactivate the CT.
The CT reduced the true digestibility of plant methionine (0·72 v. 0·88) and cysteine (0·65 v. 0·81) in the SI relative to sheep receiving PEG. Condensed tannins also appeared to alter the site of digestion of both [35S]methionine and [35S]cysteine in the SI, and increased the flux of both amino acids in the mid and latter thirds of the SI. CT did not affect the apparent digestibility of total methionine (0·82 v. 0·84) in the SI but reduced the apparent digestibility of total cysteine from 0·77 to 0·66. In control sheep CT increased the abomasal flux (as a proportion of eaten) of total digesta methionine (0·88 v. 0·76) and total digesta cysteine (0·74 v. 0·62). The apparent absorption of total methionine (plant + microbial + endogenous) was increased by the action of CT (0·72 v. 0·63 g/g eaten) but was similar for total cysteine (0·49 v. 0·48 g/g eaten) in both groups. It was concluded that CT reduced the true digestibility of plant methionine and cysteine in the SI. However, it was calculated that the action of CT actually increased the total amounts (g/g eaten) of plant methionine and cysteine absorbed from the SI, due to its effect in increasing abomasal flux.
Total protein content and amounts of albumin, legumin and vicilin have been determined for pea seeds from lines near-isogenic except for genes at the rugosus loci, r and rb (RR/RbRb; rr/RbRb; RR/rbrb; rr/rbrb). Seeds with the wildtype, round-seeded phenotype (RR/RbRb) had less protein on a total seed dry-weight basis than any of the wrinkled-seeded lines and this protein had a lower proportion of albumin. The lines which had recessive alleles at both r and rb loci had the highest proportion of protein and the highest proportion of albumin. The roundseeded peas possessed nearly two-fold more legumin than the double recessive line, with proportions for the two single recessive lines falling in between these extremes. Vicilin levels were similarfor all four near-isogenic lines. SDS-PAGE analysis of the isolated albumin, legumin and vicilin fractions revealed no significant differences between the four lines. Differential scanning calorimetry of protein extracts showed that all the wrinkled-seeded near-isolines possessed legumin fractions with diminished thermal stability relative to that from the roundseeded, wild-type line.
Chemically-induced mutants were also analysed for protein content and composition. These mutants have previously been shown to display great variation in starch and lipid levels. Total protein varied from 20.3% to 37.9%; however, relative proportions of albumin, legumin and vicilin were similar in all mutant lines. SDS-PAGE analysis identified two mutant pea lines which possessed a legumin A-chain of 65 000 Mr as well as the typical 45 000 Mr form. Differential scanning calorimetry of protein extracts indicated that the legumin in all mutants had lower enthalpies of denaturation than the legumin in the round-seeded parent.
The mutant pea lines possess exceptional variation with respect to starch, lipid and protein which raises opportunities for their use in the food and animal feedstuff industries.
A case of acute schizophrenic psychosis developing during the treatment of hyper-thyroidism with carbimazole is described. The patient was clinically and biochemically euthyroid at the time the psychosis developed. It is suggested that an acute alteration in thyroid status, without necessarily producing hyper- or hypothyroidism, may be sufficient to induce a psychotic reaction.
A formal description of Rosalina leei sp.nov. (Foraminifera) includes an account of the great morphological variation found among adult agamonts obtained over a period of 14 months from clone cultures. Variation in chamber number, direction of coiling, overall shape, the degree of inflation of the final chamber and suture characters are detailed.
In the last few years the exceptionally large monothalamous arenaceous rhizopod,Astrorhiza limicola Sandahl, 1858, has been collected in appreciable numbers from the Blythand Plymouth areas of British coastal waters. These collections of the living animals have enabled the authors, both independently and jointly, to make certain observations of the behaviour of the animal, and of the structure of the test, which have not been appreciated hitherto. With the exception of two early accountsof A.limicola, one by Bessels (1875) under the name Haeckelina gigantea and the other by Schultz (1915), very little appears to be known of the biology ofany member of the family Astrorhizidae.
‘Punch-card equipment is becoming more and more a convenient and useful tool of the actuary. For this reason, the study of, this equipment and its flexibility should and will occupy a larger place in the training of actuarial students in the future.’
R. J. WALKER, F.A.S.
The actuary employed in life office work is very closely concerned with the methods by which the valuation and other records of a life office are built up. It is surprising, therefore, that there are very few references in the pages of the Journal of the Institute to the use of punched-card equipment for life office work. The use of the equipment for calculations of interest to the actuary, such as the construction of tables, has also been largely ignored. Actuaries employed in work outside life oflices so often rely on punched-card equipment for their statistical data that the authors feel that no apology is needed to either class of actuary for presenting a paper on the subject. Punchedcard equipment has received much more attention in the Transactions of the Actuarial Society of America, most recent volumes containing a paper or note on its application.