Two introduced carnivores, the European red fox Vulpes vulpes and domestic cat Felis catus, have had extensive impacts on Australian biodiversity. In this study, we collate information on consumption of Australian birds by the fox, paralleling a recent study reporting on birds consumed by cats. We found records of consumption by foxes on 128 native bird species (18% of the non-vagrant bird fauna and 25% of those species within the fox’s range), a smaller tally than for cats (343 species, including 297 within the fox’s Australian range, a subset of that of the cat). Most (81%) bird species eaten by foxes are also eaten by cats, suggesting that predation impacts are compounded. As with consumption by cats, birds that nest or forage on the ground are most likely to be consumed by foxes. However, there is also some partitioning, with records of consumption by foxes but not cats for 25 bird species, indicating that impacts of the two predators may also be complementary. Bird species ≥3.4 kg were more likely to be eaten by foxes, and those <3.4 kg by cats. Our compilation provides an inventory and describes characteristics of Australian bird species known to be consumed by foxes, but we acknowledge that records of predation do not imply population-level impacts. Nonetheless, there is sufficient information from other studies to demonstrate that fox predation has significant impacts on the population viability of some Australian birds, especially larger birds, and those that nest or forage on the ground.

Recent Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have identified four low-penetrance ovarian cancer susceptibility loci. We hypothesized that further moderate- or low-penetrance variants exist among the subset of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) not well tagged by the genotyping arrays used in the previous studies, which would account for some of the remaining risk. We therefore conducted a time- and cost-effective stage 1 GWAS on 342 invasive serous cases and 643 controls genotyped on pooled DNA using the high-density Illumina 1M-Duo array. We followed up 20 of the most significantly associated SNPs, which are not well tagged by the lower density arrays used by the published GWAS, and genotyping them on individual DNA. Most of the top 20 SNPs were clearly validated by individually genotyping the samples used in the pools. However, none of the 20 SNPs replicated when tested for association in a much larger stage 2 set of 4,651 cases and 6,966 controls from the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium. Given that most of the top 20 SNPs from pooling were validated in the same samples by individual genotyping, the lack of replication is likely to be due to the relatively small sample size in our stage 1 GWAS rather than due to problems with the pooling approach. We conclude that there are unlikely to be any moderate or large effects on ovarian cancer risk untagged by less dense arrays. However, our study lacked power to make clear statements on the existence of hitherto untagged small-effect variants.

Data from black fly traps in Deep River over the past 5 years indicate that larvicides applied to breeding sites in streams surrounding the town have substantially reduced the numbers of this pest. Very high numbers occurred in 1972, the result of invasion associated with high westerly and northerly winds at a critical period of time or with heavy protective snow cover during the preceding winter. The lowest population levels occurred in 1975, when treatment included a stream near the town which had not been treated previously. The results indicate that with proper stream management it is possible to substantially reduce the nuisance value of black flies in a small northern town.

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.

Occulting focal plane masks for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) could be designed with continuous gray scale profile of the occulting pattern such as $1-{\rm sinc}^2$ on a suitable material or with micron-scale binary transparent and opaque structures of metallic pattern on glass. We have designed, fabricated and tested both kinds of masks. The fundamental characteristics of such masks and initial test results from the High Contrast Imaging Test bed (HCIT) at JPL are presented.

Uranium/Thorium (U/Th) and 226Ra dating has been applied to spring deposits in order to determine the timing of the drying up of springs in the Wādī al-Ajāl, Fazzān, Libya. These dates are compared with results of archaeological surveys of irrigation structures and archaeobotanical studies of plant remains to further our understanding of the factors that controlled the introduction of irrigated agriculture, its nature and timing.

Though there are still important gaps in our understanding, the results suggest that by 3,100 ±125 BP surface water was either very scarce or nonexistent at the base of the escarpment, although the water table was probably very near the surface at the base of the Wādī in the vicinity of Jarma. Archaeobotanical evidence indicates that irrigated agriculture was introduced in the early part of the first millennium BC, soon after the desiccation of the springs and presumably in response to the fall in the water table and the increasingly scarce availability of surface water. No irrigation structures have been found that relate to this period, but the most likely scenario involves wells tapping the near surface water in the vicinity of Jarma. The earliest irrigation systems are foggaras which archaeological evidence suggests were probably introduced by the final few centuries BC, and definitely before the fourth century AD. The extensification of agriculture associated with extensive foggara development broadly corresponds with archaeobotanical evidence for an intensification and diversification of agriculture involving the introduction of a farming system utilising both winter and summer crops. There are likely to be strong connections between these two developments and that of the rise of the Garamantes.

Monensin sodium is widely used to manipulate ruminal fermentation (Bergen & Bates, 1984), with the aim of increasing energy supply to the animal. Monensin has been most widely used in diets of beef cattle and young growing dairy cattle, particularly in confinement management systems, where the ionophore can be mixed directly into the ration. Accurate daily dosing of grazing ruminants with small quantities of rumen modifiers, such as ionophores, proved particularly labour-intensive and expensive until the development of the controlled-release capsule (CRC; Laby et al. 1984). Subsequently a commercially available CRC containing monensin sodium was developed (Elanco Animal Health, Cambridge, NZ) facilitating its use in grazing animals. It has also been tested as a method of reducing the incidence of bloat in lactating dairy cows grazing pastures containing legumes.

Uridine triphosphate (UTP) evoked inhibition of adrenaline-evoked cAMP accumulation in cultured equine epithelial cells (EC50, 1á8 ± 0á2 µM) and this effect was mimicked by 5-Br-UTP (EC50, 6á6 ± 1á8 µM) and uridine diphosphate (UDP; EC50, 96 ± 26 µM). This inhibitory action of UTP was abolished by pre-treating cells with pertussis toxin (10 ng ml-1, 24 h). UTP (EC50, 2á3 ± 0á3 µM) and 5-Br-UTP (EC50, 29á4 ± 9á4 µM) also increased intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) whilst UDP did not; the two effects are thus differentially sensitive to these pyrimidine nucleotides. ATP evoked cAMP accumulation in control cells and this response was unaffected by pertussis toxin. There is, therefore, no indication that ATP activates the pertussis toxin-sensitive inhibitory pathway. The UTP-evoked inhibition of cAMP accumulation was abolished by isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX, 5 mM) and so the negative control over cAMP levels appears to be mediated by receptors that are selectively activated by pyrimidine nucleotides and permit control over phosphodiesterase activity.

The heroine of Richardson's first novel is neither a meretricious young hussy nor a paragon of virtue; she is a complex personality who moves from a naive adolescence to a composed maturity in the course of the narrative. The conflict between her devotion to moral principle and her growing affection for Mr. B., which develops in the first, or Bedfordshire, section of the novel, brings a near-psychic collapse in the second, or Lincolnshire, section. The imagery and symbolism show the nature of her torments, her growing awareness of a love that combines eros and agape, and her need for the reconciliation between conscience and libido which is completed after her return to the Bedfordshire estate in the third section. The formal symmetry of the novel evolves from the narrative process within which Pamela is tested and proved capable of an honest love and a tranquil marriage.