Twenty-four primiparous pregnant pigs were randomly assigned to three handling treatments: Minimal, Positive and Negative. The pigs were moved individually to indoor concrete-floored partial stalls with neck-tethers, 2 days before handling commenced. Positive (stroking and patting on approach to an experimenter) and Negative (brief electric shock of < Is when failing to withdraw from the outstretched hand of an experimenter) handling was imposed for 3min day-1 and the amount of physical contact between handler and pig was recorded. The Minimal treatment group was subjected to routine husbandry practices only. After 3 weeks of the handling treatments and tether-housing, all pigs were catheterized under full surgical anaesthesia. The pigs were allowed 4 days of recovery before collecting the following data: daytime plasma Cortisol concentration profiles, behavioural responses to a human in an arena test, Cortisol responses to human proximity, Cortisol responses to an A CTH-challenge and immunological responses to an injected mitogen.

In the Positive treatment, the amount of physical contact between pig and handler increased during the course of the experiment, while the amount of physical contact did not change in the Negative treatment. There were no effects of treatment on behavioural responses in the arena test. The average daytime concentration of free plasma Cortisol was lower in the Positive treatment than in the Negative or Minimal treatments. The Positive treatment also showed lower total and free plasma Cortisol concentrations pre- and posthuman proximity when compared with the Negative treatment. No differences were found between treatments in total and free plasma Cortisol concentrations following an ACTH challenge. The immunological response was greater in the Positive treatment compared with the Negative treatment and tended to be greater when compared with the Minimal treatment.

It was concluded that the nature of the human-animal relationship affected the physiological stress responses of pregnant pigs to tether-housing. Indications are that a positive human-animal relationship would obviate some of the negative effects of being kept in tether-stalls by lowering the basal cortisol concentration and by increasing immunological responsiveness.

Four placoderm fishes are described from the Lepel Beds of the Vitebsk Regional Stage of the Lower Devonian (upper Emsian) of Belarus. Two forms are new (Stipatosteus svidunovitchi new genus, new species and Actinolepis zaikai new species) and the other two taxa are left in open nomenclature (Coccosteidae gen. indet. sp. indet.; Placodermi indet. 1). Specimens of all four forms consist of disarticulated, mostly well-preserved plates (some are worn at the edges) originating from the cores of six boreholes. Additionally, the paper presents data on organic remains with the placoderms. A detailed lithological description of the enclosing rocks and a taphonomic description of the ichthyofauna are also provided. The 2010 Stratigraphic Chart of the Devonian deposits of Belarus was used as the stratigraphic basis. The presence of the genus Actinolepis Agassiz, 1844 in these deposits as well as in the Emsian of the Baltic region and Spitsbergen suggests a regional paleogeographic connection at this time.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/368b44df-e9e9-417c-a0e0-f7e138b7f4ec

From a physiological-behavioral perspective, it has been shown that fish with a higher density of black eumelanin spots are more dominant, less sensitive to stress, have higher feed intake, better feed efficiency and therefore are larger in size. Thus, we hypothesized that genetic (co)variation between skin pigmentation patterns and growth exists and it is advantageous in rainbow trout. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic relationships between skin pigmentation patterns and BW in a breeding population of rainbow trout. We performed a genetic analysis of pigmentation traits including dorsal color (DC), lateral band (LB) intensity, amount of spotting above (SA) and below (SB) the lateral line, and BW at harvest (HW). Variance components were estimated using a multi-trait linear animal model fitted by restricted maximum likelihood. Estimated heritabilities were 0.08±0.02, 0.17±0.03, 0.44±0.04, 0.17±0.04 and 0.23±0.04 for DC, LB, SA, SB and HW, respectively. Genetic correlations between HW and skin color traits were 0.42±0.13, 0.32±0.14 and 0.25±0.11 for LB, SA and SB, respectively. These results indicate positive, but low to moderate genetic relationships between the amount of spotting and BW in rainbow trout. Thus, higher levels of spotting are genetically associated with better growth performance in this population.

Lectotypes are designated for eight names in Eriocaulon in tropical Asia, namely E. alatum, E. hamiltonianum, E. hookerianum, E. infirmum, E. lanigerum, E. nautiliforme, E. nigrum and E. ubonense. Additional information on the lectotype of Eriocaulon quinquangulare is given.

This review represents the Southern Ocean community’s satellite data needs for the coming decade. Developed through widespread engagement and incorporating perspectives from a range of stakeholders (both research and operational), it is designed as an important community-driven strategy paper that provides the rationale and information required for future planning and investment. The Southern Ocean is vast but globally connected, and the communities that require satellite-derived data in the region are diverse. This review includes many observable variables, including sea ice properties, sea surface temperature, sea surface height, atmospheric parameters, marine biology (both micro and macro) and related activities, terrestrial cryospheric connections, sea surface salinity, and a discussion of coincident and in situ data collection. Recommendations include commitment to data continuity, increases in particular capabilities (sensor types, spatial, temporal), improvements in dissemination of data/products/uncertainties, and innovation in calibration/validation capabilities. Full recommendations are detailed by variable as well as summarized. This review provides a starting point for scientists to understand more about Southern Ocean processes and their global roles, for funders to understand the desires of the community, for commercial operators to safely conduct their activities in the Southern Ocean, and for space agencies to gain greater impact from Southern Ocean-related acquisitions and missions.

Results of protein residue and lithic microwear analyses are reported for Paleoindian and Early Archaic stone tools from a Carolina bay sand rim on the Aiken Plateau of South Carolina, USA. Protein residue analysis is performed using crossover Immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP), and indicates positive results for Bovidae, Cervidae, Galliformes, and Meleagris gallopavo. These results are complemented by a larger immunological study of 135 diagnostic hafted bifaces from South Carolina and Georgia. Among other species identified, bovid residue was found on multiple Paleoindian hafted bifaces, an Early Archaic hafted biface, and a Middle Archaic hafted biface. Results suggest continuity of species selection and availability across the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary and provide no support for the exploitation of extinct fauna. The data do provide compelling evidence for a demographic shift and/or regional extirpation of Bovidae possibly as late as the early mid-Holocene in the Southeast. In addition, microwear analysis of artifacts from Flamingo Bay indicate intensive hide scraping, antler boring, bone graving/planing/pointing, wood whittling, and hafting traces. Microwear data suggest intentional snap-fracture or bipolarization of exhausted or broken Clovis points for reuse as hide scrapers, and use of large bifacial knives and unifacial scrapers in intensive defleshing activities consistent with large animal butchery.

Foodborne illness is a major cause of morbidity and loss of productivity in developed nations. Although low socioeconomic status (SES) is generally associated with negative health outcomes, its impact on foodborne illness is poorly understood. We conducted a systematic review to examine the association between SES and laboratory-confirmed illness caused by eight important foodborne pathogens. We completed this systematic review using PubMed for all papers published between 1 January 1980 and 1 January 2013 that measured the association between foodborne illness and SES in highly developed countries and identified 16 studies covering four pathogens. The effect of SES varied across pathogens: the majority of identified studies for Campylobacter, salmonellosis, and E. coli infection showed an association between high SES and illness. The single study of listeriosis showed illness was associated with low SES. A reporting bias by SES could not be excluded. SES should be considered when targeting consumer-level public health interventions for foodborne pathogens.

An endemic species of Renealmia (Zingiberaceae) was treated under the illegitimate name R. sylvestris in Flora Neotropica (Maas, 1977). The new combination Renealmia striata (Stokes) Govaerts ex Maas is published for this species.

Influenza A (H1N1) viruses when initially isolated in mammalian cell cultures (MDCK cells) had different agglutination reactions with chicken and guinea-pig erythrocytes compared to the same viruses after passage. On first isolation the virus HA resembled the ‘O’ phase viruses described originally by Burnet and Bull and agglutinated mammalian but not avian erythrocytes. After passage, the virus HA resembled a classical ‘D’ phase virus and agglutinated both avian and mammalian erythrocytes. Monoclonal and polyclonal antisera detected antigenic differences between the HAs of the viruses in the ‘O’ and ‘D’ phases. The ‘O’ phase virus HA reacted preferentially with antibodies in post infection human antisera. Viruses in the ‘O’ phase replicated poorly in the allantoic cavity of embryonated hens' eggs whilst ‘D’ phase virus replicated in both MDCK cells and in embryonated hens' eggs. At least three distinguishable subpopulations of influenza A (H1N1) viruses may co-exist in clinical throat swab material, including viruses possessing HAs in the ‘O’ and ‘D’ phases and other ‘D’ phase viruses cultivable in embryonated hens' eggs but antigenically distinguishable from the corresponding ‘D’ phase virus in MDCK cells.

In 1985 an outbreak of ornithosis affected 13 of 80 (16%) workers in a duck-processing plant. New employees were three times more likely to become cases than established employees. The highest attack rate was in those on the production line. Following the outbreak, an occupational health scheme was set up to monitor the health of new recruits to the company. Serological evidence of recent infection was demonstrated in 18 of 37 (49%) new employees tested in the first 3 months of employment. Five (14%) also had clinical evidence of ornithosis. Veterinary investigation of the ducks demonstrated a high proportion with asymptomatic chlamydial infection. It is suggested that ornithosis may be more common in duck processors than ins processors than is currently supposed. Strategies to reduce occupational risks are discussed.

The spread of coagulase-positive staphylococci has been studied in a modern hospital in which most of the patients were nursed in 4-bed rooms separated from a common corridor only by low dividing walls. Acquisition of new nasal strains from patients in other bedrooms was nearly as easy as from patients in the neighbouring beds. There was no indication that subdivision of this type hindered the spread of nasal strains as compared with open wards of the ‘Nightingale’ pattern.

We compare - both analytically and numerically – two related spectral (≡ two-point) closures for the problem of the decay of temperature fluctuations convected by isotropic turbulence. The methods are the test-field model (TFM) (Kraichnan 1971; Newman & Herring 1979) and the eddy-damped quasinormal Markovian (ENQNM) approximation (Orszag 1974; Lesieur & Schertzer 1978). We show that EDQNM may be regarded as a rational approximation to, and simplification of, the TFM, except at small wavenumbers, where an additional eddy-dissipative term is needed to produce satisfactory results for the former. We consider three available methods for determining the relaxation timescales: (i) comparison with experiments, (ii) comparison with the direct-interaction approximation (DIA) in thermal equilibrium, and (iii) comparison with DIA at very small wavenumber, where it is believed to represent the dynamics properly. Comparison with both large Reynolds number and wind-tunnel Reynolds numbers is presented. For the latter, we discuss the relationship of the present theoretical results to the experiments of Warhaft & Lumley (1978) and Sreenivasan et al. (1980), and to the theoretical analysis of Corrsin (1964), Kerr & Nelkin (1980) and Antonopolos-Domis (1981).

Trapped modes in the linearized water-wave problem are free oscillations of the fluid which have finite energy. They are known to exist at isolated frequencies in the presence of certain special structures. The existence of a trapped mode implies the non-uniqueness, or non-existence, of the solution to physically relevant radiation and diffraction problems for such a structure.

Previous work on the three-dimensional problem has established the existence of vertically axisymmetric structures that support trapped modes with either a single interior free surface, or two concentric interior free surfaces. In the present work the existence of several new types of trapping structures is established. These include non-axisymmetric structures with a single interior free surface and various structures with multiple interior free surfaces. The method used is an indirect one in which flow fields without wave radiation are specified, and corresponding structures are found by constructing suitable stream surfaces. Computations of the added-mass coefficients for these structures provide independent support for the existence of a trapping mode and illustrate their hydrodynamic characteristics at other wavenumbers.