From the safety inside vehicles, Knowsley Safari offers visitors a close-up encounter with captive olive baboons. As exiting vehicles may be contaminated with baboon stool, a comprehensive coprological inspection was conducted to address public health concerns. Baboon stools were obtained from vehicles, and sleeping areas, inclusive of video analysis of baboon–vehicle interactions. A purposely selected 4-day sampling period enabled comparative inspections of 2662 vehicles, with a total of 669 baboon stools examined (371 from vehicles and 298 from sleeping areas). As informed by our pilot study, front-line diagnostic methods were: QUIK-CHEK rapid diagnostic test (RDT) (Giardia and Cryptosporidium), Kato–Katz coproscopy (Trichuris) and charcoal culture (Strongyloides). Some 13.9% of vehicles were contaminated with baboon stool. Prevalence of giardiasis was 37.4% while cryptosporidiosis was <0.01%, however, an absence of faecal cysts by quality control coproscopy, alongside lower than the expected levels of Giardia-specific DNA, judged RDT results as misleading, grossly overestimating prevalence. Prevalence of trichuriasis was 48.0% and strongyloidiasis was 13.7%, a first report of Strongyloides fuelleborni in UK. We advise regular blanket administration(s) of anthelminthics to the colony, exploring pour-on formulations, thereafter, smaller-scale indicator surveys would be adequate.

While quantum accelerometers sense with extremely low drift and low bias, their practical sensing capabilities face at least two limitations compared with classical accelerometers: a lower sample rate due to cold atom interrogation time; and a reduced dynamic range due to signal phase wrapping. In this paper, we propose a maximum likelihood probabilistic data fusion method, under which the actual phase of the quantum accelerometer can be unwrapped by fusing it with the output of a classical accelerometer on the platform. Consequently, the recovered measurement from the quantum accelerometer is used to estimate bias and drift of the classical accelerometer which is then removed from the system output. We demonstrate the enhanced error performance achieved by the proposed fusion method using a simulated 1D accelerometer precision test scenario. We conclude with a discussion on fusion error and potential solutions.

Despite the lack of notated evidence, something can be recovered of the lost song of medieval epic, a foundational musical tradition in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Like the chant of the Christian Church, epic has come down to us in a distinctively Carolingian framing. Given the close relationship between liturgical recitation and epic song throughout late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, as well as Charlemagne's own active role in the codification of both Frankish epic and Roman chant, it is possible, as I suggest in conclusion, that these two repertoires resembled each other in significant ways.

Imidazoles present a tunable, versatile and economical platform for the development of novel liquid solvents and polymer membranes for CO2 capture. An overview of our studies in this area is presented, with emphasis on characterization of structure-property relationships in imidazole-based materials through both experimental and computational studies. To this end, a growing library of systematically varied imidazole compounds has been synthesized using only commercial available starting materials and straightforward reactions. Using this library of compounds, we have sought to understand and develop predictive models for thermophysical properties relating to process design, including: density, viscosity, vapor pressure, pKa and CO2 absorption capacity. Furthermore, we have discovered that imidazoles are stable in the presence of SO2 and can form reversible 1:1 adducts, which can be beneficial as SO2 is typically present at ppm levels alongside CO2 in flue gas from coal-fired power plants.

Experiments were conducted on Fraser fir, Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir, seedlings or cut terminals. Results indicate that Oligonychus ununguis (Jacobi) responds most favorably to temperatures approximating 26 °C and to relative humidity levels approaching 50 to 60%. Developmental time, time to 50% mortality, net reproductive rate, mean generation time, intrinsic rate of natural increase, finite rate of increase, and days for populations to double were computed for each temperature and relative humidity regime. Simulated rainfall severely limits population density on Fraser fir seedlings.

The effectiveness of the phytoseiid predator Neoseiulus fallacis in controlling population growth of the spruce spider mite, Oligonychus ununguis was examined in the laboratory. Development and fecundity of N. fallacis under various relative humidity levels were also studied. Under controlled conditions, N. fallacis significantly limited population growth of O. ununguis on Fraser fir seedlings. Survival, development, and fecundity of N. fallacis were similar for all relative humidity ranges tested, except at the lowest range (60–65%), in which none of the individuals survived to maturity.

Within-tree larval and progeny adult populations of Dendroctonus frontalis Zimm. attacking loblolly pine, Pinus taeda L., were investigated in order to define the distribution of larvae within sample units (100 cm2 disks of bark) and to describe the functional relationship of both larvae and progeny adults to the infested portion of the tree bole.

Larvae and progeny adults were sampled over the infested bole of the 50 trees. Two separate measures of progeny adults were obtained. The first measure was taken just prior to emergence from the tree and the second measure was obtained by rearing the insect until emergence from the sample disks was completed.

Larvae were found to be uniformly distributed within the total disk. The functional relationship of the larvae and the two measures of progeny adults to the normalized height on the infested bole was described by the two parameter nonlinear model y = Ax(1−x)eBx.

Highest larval density along the infested portion of the tree bole occurred just below the center and tapered abruptly towards the base and gradually towards the top of the tree. The density of progeny adults on the other hand was greatest just above the center portion of the infested bole and tapered abruptly towards the top and gradually towards the base of the tree. Both measures of progeny adults produced curves of virtually the same shape. However, the density of progeny adults was substantially less in the samples which were reared indicating that mortality agents continued to act on the population until emergence from the tree.

The within-sample distributions of gallery length (GL) and egg (E) density as well as their functional relationships to the infested bole were studied in an epidemic population of the southern pine beetle in southeast Texas.

A least-squares linear regression analysis through the origin showed an average of 1.59 eggs per centimeter of gallery. GL accounted for 81% of the variation in E and thus is useful for estimating egg numbers. The density of attacking adults is unsatisfactory for predicting E.

GL and E are uniformly distributed within but not among the 100-cm2 sample disks at a given height. The functional relationship of both variables to the infested bole is adequately described by the model y = (A+Bx)exp(Cln(x−x2)), where y = GL or E per 100 cm2, x = the normalized height on the infested bole, and A, B, and C are parameters to be estimated for each set of data.

Johannes de Grocheio is best known today primarily for the fact that he wrote about secular monophony, a subject practically ignored by previous music writers. In Grocheio’s only surviving treatise, which modern scholarship has christened De musica (it is actually untitled in the manuscripts), he provides an unparalleled witness to Parisian musical life around 1300 through a wide-ranging classification of musical performances. The treatise’s tantalisingly realistic observations have been by far the most discussed aspect of De musica in over a century of modern scholarship ranging from an early landmark critical edition to recent postmodern readings. However, for those intent on discovering thirteenth-century performance practice, Grocheio has been as much a musicological frustration as a delight. The most egregious problem is that he appears not to describe some of his musical examples accurately. What has been lost in a great deal of this discussion is the extent to which Grocheio’s unique perspective shapes his discussion of music.

Background: Studies indicate that diet may be related to the occurrence of brain lesions. The cross-sectional association between food intake and brain lesion volumes in late-life depression was examined in a cohort of elderly individuals with current or prior depression.

Methods: Food intake was assessed in 54 elderly vascular depression subjects (vascular depression defined by presence of hyperintensities on brain MRI) using a Block 1998 food frequency questionnaire. Food and kilocalorie intake were determined. Brain lesion volumes were calculated from MRI. Subjects were aged 60 or over and were participants in a longitudinal study of major depression. All subjects received psychiatric assessment and treatment, and medical comorbidity assessments.

Results: High-fat dairy and whole grains were significantly positively correlated with brain lesion volume, while other food groups were not significantly associated with lesion volume. In multivariable analyses, controlling for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes and total kilocalories, the positive association with lesion volume remained significant for both high-fat dairy and whole grains.

Conclusions: High fat dairy and whole grain consumption may be associated with brain lesions in elderly subjects with depression.