Invasion and spread of alien species can drive ecosystem changes, such as, the dynamics of infectious diseases. The non-native, marine gastropod Crepidula fornicata has become established across European coastlines over the last century, but there remains little insight into its disease carrying capacity and potential role as a source/sink of parasites. To address this knowledge gap, we surveyed limpets from two sites in South Wales, UK for signatures of disease/pathology using polymerase chain reaction-based methods (haemolymph) and histology (solid tissue). We encountered trematode-like parasites in ~1% individuals (5 out of 462). Three limpets displayed gross damage in the gonad, i.e. castration, and encysted metacercariae were found in the muscle of two other individuals. On the basis of 28S rDNA and internal transcribed spacer 2 genomic targets, we identified the gonad-infecting trematodes as members of the family Microphallidae – putative novel species related to the genus Longiductotrema. Earlier reports suggest that C. fornicata is not a host for trematode parasites in either its native or alien range but may act as a sink due to its filter feeding lifestyle. We provide clear evidence that C. fornicata is parasitized by at least one trematode species at two sites in Wales, UK, and likely act as a spillback or accidental host among native littorinids.

Diet is a modifiable risk factor for chronic disease and a potential modulator of telomere length (TL). The study aim was to investigate associations between diet quality and TL in Australian adults after a 12-week dietary intervention with an almond-enriched diet (AED). Participants (overweight/obese, 50–80 years) were randomised to an AED (n 62) or isoenergetic nut-free diet (NFD, n 62) for 12 weeks. Diet quality was assessed using a Dietary Guideline Index (DGI), applied to weighed food records, that consists of ten components reflecting adequacy, variety and quality of core food components and discretionary choices within the diet. TL was measured by quantitative PCR in samples of lymphocytes, neutrophils, and whole blood. There were no significant associations between DGI scores and TL at baseline. Diet quality improved with AED and decreased with NFD after 12 weeks (change from baseline AED + 9·8 %, NFD − 14·3 %; P < 0·001). TL increased in neutrophils (+9·6 bp, P = 0·009) and decreased in whole blood, to a trivial extent (–12·1 bp, P = 0·001), and was unchanged in lymphocytes. Changes did not differ between intervention groups. There were no significant relationships between changes in diet quality scores and changes in lymphocyte, neutrophil or whole blood TL. The inclusion of almonds in the diet improved diet quality scores but had no impact on TL mid-age to older Australian adults. Future studies should investigate the impact of more substantial dietary changes over longer periods of time.

This study provides a morphological and phylogenetic characterization of two novel species of the order Haplosporida (Haplosporidium carcini n. sp., and H. cranc n. sp.) infecting the common shore crab Carcinus maenas collected at one location in Swansea Bay, South Wales, UK. Both parasites were observed in the haemolymph, gills and hepatopancreas. The prevalence of clinical infections (i.e. parasites seen directly in fresh haemolymph preparations) was low, at ~1%, whereas subclinical levels, detected by polymerase chain reaction, were slightly higher at ~2%. Although no spores were found in any of the infected crabs examined histologically (n = 334), the morphology of monokaryotic and dikaryotic unicellular stages of the parasites enabled differentiation between the two new species. Phylogenetic analyses of the new species based on the small subunit (SSU) rDNA gene placed H. cranc in a clade of otherwise uncharacterized environmental sequences from marine samples, and H. carcini in a clade with other crustacean-associated lineages.

An account of the eastern part of the Galway Granite is presented together with the first detailed geological map. An aphyric medium-grained alkali granite occurs at the margin of the pluton followed by a coarse porphyritic granite, which becomes more basic towards the granite centre, consistent with findings in the western and northern parts of the batholith. Westwards the coarse porphyritic granite develops a foliation in which xenoliths, and occasionally potash feldspar phenocrysts, are aligned. Chemical fractionation trends illustrate the consanguinity of the granites and aplites. Field, petrographic, and chemical evidence suggest that most of the xenoliths are cognate.

The zonation of the granite is thought to have resulted from crystallization of a magma in which compositional gradients were set up during the early crystallization period. A temperature gradient, decreasing from the centre of the magma chamber outwards into the country rocks, resulted in the migration of water, accompanied by alkalis and other volatiles, towards the granite margin; also the early-crystallizing minerals displaced the residual magma outwards. Crystallization was followed by shearing in the deeper parts of the pluton to produce the granite foliation. A total of 166 rocks have been chemically analysed for 31 constituents.

X-ray spectromicroscopy is a powerful tool for addressing key questions in the environmental sciences due to its high spectral and spatial resolution. It has been used successfully for material research, biology and environmental studies, e.g. in the form of μ-X-ray fluorescence and spectromicroscopy with a spatial resolution of <100 nm. With the combination of high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy it is possible to determine elemental composition as well as chemical speciation, and also identify trace elements to nm-resolution. Samples from soils and groundwater aquifers have been imaged to visualize the appearance of structures on the nm- and μm-scale. The effectof changing chemical conditions in an aqueous environment on the appearance of these structures has been imaged and evaluated. Clay dispersions, microhabitats and morphological effects of biologically-induced redox changes of humic substances have been imaged tomographically, conveying a detailed threedimensional presentation of the specimen structure. Using the spectromicroscopy potential, the distribution of organic and inorganic components, as well as different inorganic components, has been studied. Spectra were analysed for major chemical constituents and were used, for example, to assess differentsulphur species in an entire soil profile.

The structural states of alkali feldspars from the eastern end of the Galway Granite show transitions from orthoclase to microcline as a result of late deformation. Analyses of twenty samples for SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, Fe2O3, CaO, Na2O, K2O, S, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Ba, and Pb agree with previously determined orders of entry of elements into the ‘alkali site’. A relationship between this order of entry and the melting points of feldspar end-members is discussed.

After ignoring its holdings in Africa for the first half of the nineteenth century, the European scramble for colonies in the 1880s forced the Portuguese state to adopt a new policy to cement its tenuous hold on its two largest African colonies: Angola and Mozambique. This challenge occurred just as the penal reform movement of the nineteenth century was arriving in Portugal, with a new penitentiary in Lisbon and new legal codes aimed at reforming convicts through their labour. This article examines the rationale and impact of the Depósito de Degredados (Depot for Transported Convicts) in Luanda, Angola, the larger of the two prisons established to supervise the work of convicts sent from Portugal and Portugal’s Atlantic colonies of Cape Verde, Portuguese Guinea, and São Tomé.

Rib bone biopsy samples are often used to estimate changes in skeletal mineral reserves in cattle but differences in sampling procedures and the bone measurements reported often make interpretation and comparisons among experiments difficult. ‘Full-core’ rib bone biopsy samples, which included the external cortical bone, internal cortical bone and trabecular bone (CBext, CBint and Trab, respectively), were obtained from cattle known to be in phosphorus (P) adequate (Padeq) or severely P-deficient (Pdefic) status. Experiments 1 and 2 examined growing steers and Experiment 3 mature breeder cows. The thickness of cortical bone, specific gravity (SG), and the amount and concentration of ash and P per unit fresh bone volume, differed among CBext, CBint and Trab bone. P concentration (mg/cc) was closely correlated with both SG and ash concentrations (pooled data, r=0.99). Thickness of external cortical bone (CBText) was correlated with full-core P concentration (FC-Pconc) (pooled data, r=0.87). However, an index, the amount of P in CBext per unit surface area of CBext (PSACB; mg P/mm2), was more closely correlated with the FC-Pconc (pooled data, FC-Pconc=37.0+146×PSACB; n=42, r=0.94, RSD=7.7). Results for measured or estimated FC-Pconc in 10 published studies with cattle in various physiological states and expected to be Padeq or in various degrees of Pdefic status were collated and the ranges of FC-Pconc indicative of P adequacy and P deficiency for various classes of cattle were evaluated. FC-Pconc was generally in the range 130 to 170 and 100 to 120 mg/cc fresh bone in Padeq mature cows and young growing cattle, respectively. In conclusion, the FC-Pconc could be estimated accurately from biopsy samples of CBext. This allows comparisons between studies where full-core or only CBext biopsy samples of rib bone have been obtained to estimate changes in the skeletal P status of cattle and facilitates evaluation of the P status of cattle.

Donald Trump dominated the 2016 Republican primary despite the fact that he was not, in any meaningful sense, a Republican. Bernie Sanders came just shy of winning the Democratic nomination despite the fact that he switched his party affiliation from Independent to Democrat only three months before the election. Why did two candidates with no formal ties to the political parties fare so well? One possibility is that primary voters are more ideologically extreme and that ideology drives support for these candidates. However, another possibility is that concerns about government process drives support for insurgent candidates. We test the proposition that distrust was the primary motivator of primary voting for these two insurgent candidates using two datasets: a poll of New Hampshire voters fielded a week before their primary and a national poll taken in June 2016. Results confirm the hypothesis that distrust drove intraparty vote choice in the 2016 presidential primaries.

Host–parasite dynamics can play a fundamental role in both the establishment success of invasive species and their impact on native wildlife. The net impact of parasites depends on their capacity to switch effectively between native and invasive hosts. Here we explore host-switching, spatial patterns and simple fitness measures in a slow-expanding invasion: the invasion of Asian house geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus) from urban areas into bushland in Northeast Australia. In bushland close to urban edges, H. frenatus co-occurs with, and at many sites now greatly out-numbers, native geckos. We measured prevalence and intensity of Geckobia mites (introduced with H. frenatus), and Waddycephalus (a native pentastome). We recorded a new invasive mite species, and several new host associations for native mites and geckos, but we found no evidence of mite transmission between native and invasive geckos. In contrast, native Waddycephalus nymphs were commonly present in H. frenatus, demonstrating this parasite's capacity to utilize H. frenatus as a novel host. Prevalence of mites on H. frenatus decreased with distance from the urban edge, suggesting parasite release towards the invasion front; however, we found no evidence that mites affect H. frenatus body condition or lifespan. Waddycephalus was present at low prevalence in bushland sites and, although its presence did not affect host body condition, our data suggest that it may reduce host survival. The high relative density of H. frenatus at our sites, and their capacity to harbour Waddycephalus, suggests that there may be impacts on native geckos and snakes through parasite spillback.

Research was conducted in winter of 2000 and spring of 2001 to determine the extent of simazine-resistant annual bluegrass in Mississippi. Samples of annual bluegrass seed or mature plants were collected from 71 locations across the state and grown in the greenhouse. Four weeks after treatment with 22.4 kg ai/ha simazine (10× rate), samples from 31 of 71 locations (30 golf courses and one nongolf course) evaluated in the greenhouse had simazine-resistant annual bluegrass plants. Thus, 43% of the golf courses tested in the greenhouse had triazine-resistant annual bluegrass present. When natural field populations were treated with an equivalent simazine rate, simazine-resistant annual bluegrass plants were observed in 90% of the sites found to be resistant in the greenhouse screen.

We present broadband photoelectric light curves for the RS CVn type star PZ Telescopium for 1980, 1982 and 1983. The photometric period is about 0.943 days. The V light curve shows radical changes in form and range over a few months, and may be continuously variable. B and V data were obtained in 1982 and 1983. In 1982 no (B-V) change with phase was detected. However, in the first part of the 1983 observing season, a (BV) change of around 0.02 magnitude was found. Also at this time, maximum light was some 0.05 magnitude above that measured previously. Our preliminary spectroscopic data obtained in 1983 indicate that PZ Tel is a double lined binary whose components are of approximately equal luminosities, but this is yet to be confirmed. We suggest that the photometric variations are due to the presence of large cooler starspots on the photosphere of one or both components, as seems to be the case for related systems. The rapid changes in the observed light curve imply equally rapid changes in the distribution of the starspots, and make this an interesting object for further study.

Photoelectric B and V light curves and high dispersion spectroscopic observations were obtained in 1985 February for the rapidly rotating spotted star HD 36705. The visual light range was about 0.09 magnitude, with a well correlated B-V change of approximately 0.04 magnitude, the star being redder when faintest. There is evidence for a broadband flare of ~0.05 magnitude in V and 0.07 magnitude in B. This occurred near maximum light.

Spectroscopic observations show a variation in the equivalent width of the Ca K emission by a factor of about two in antiphase with the photometric variations, maximum emission corresponding to minimum brightness. This is probably due to bright plages and enhanced chromospheric heating associated with the photospheric starspots.

High dispersion, high signal-to-noise spectroscopic observations confirm the presence of lithium λ 6708 as reported by Rucinski (1982, 1985).

Several interpretations of the nature of HD 36705 are discussed; however at present none is completely satisfactory and further observations are required. As the star is probably at less than 100 pc, a parallax determination may be possible, and could help answer many of the questions concerning HD 36705.

We present an overview of the survey for radio emission from active stars that has been in progress for the last six years using the observatories at Fleurs, Molonglo, Parkes and Tidbinbilla. The role of complementary optical observations at the Anglo-Australian Observatory, Mount Burnett, Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories and Mount Tamborine are also outlined. We describe the different types of star that have been included in our survey and discuss some of the problems in making the radio observations.

We present some preliminary results of an optical and radio study of the very active RS CVn binary HD 127535. Photometric measurements show the presence of a large amplitude wave which exhibits marked changes in shape and range on time scales as short as a few months. This photometric variation is almost certainly due to large cool starspots on the cooler, more luminous component. As part of a survey of southern active-chromosphere stars with the Parkes radio telescope, HD 127535 has been observed at 5, 8.4 and 22 GHz. No detection was made at 5 GHz, possibly because of confusion due to the angular proximity of the star to the galatic plane. However, it is one of the strongest sources detected in the 8.4 GHz survey, and is one of only two stars detected at 22 GHz. Photometry obtained two cycles before the 8.4 GHz observations suggest a possible correlation between the radio emission and the photometric wave, i.e. spot visibility, but more data are needed.