The New York Bight is undergoing rapid anthropogenic change amidst an apparent increase in baleen whale sightings. Though survey efforts have increased in recent years, the lack of published knowledge on baleen whale occurrence prior to these efforts impedes effective assessments of distributional or behavioural shifts due to increasing human activities. Here we synthesize opportunistic sightings of baleen whales from 1998–2017, which represent the majority of sightings data prior to recent survey efforts, and which are largely unpublished. Humpback and fin whales were the most commonly sighted species, followed by North Atlantic right whales and North Atlantic minke whales. Important behaviours such as feeding and nursing were observed, and most species (including North Atlantic right whales) were seen during all seasons. Baleen whales overlapped with multiple anthropogenic use areas, and all species, but of particular importance North Atlantic right whales, were sighted outside the spatial and temporal bounds of the Seasonal Management Areas for North Atlantic right whales. These opportunistic data are vital for providing a baseline and context of baleen whales in the New York Bight prior to broad-scale efforts and facilitate interpretation of current and future observations and trends, which can more accurately inform effective management and mitigation efforts.

Abnormal brain connectivity has recently been reported in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). However, structural differences in the corpus callosum (CC), the primary structure connecting the two hemispheres, have not been extensively studied. In this case-control study, we recruited 30 patients with OCD and 30 healthy control subjects carefully matched for age, sex and handedness. Combining surface-based mesh-modeling and voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we compared callosal thickness and white matter (WM) density in patients and controls. We investigated associations between callosal structure and cortical gray matter (GM) density, and we related CC measures to neuropsychological performance in OCD. OCD patients showed small anterior and posterior callosal regions compared to healthy control subjects. In the OCD group, anterior callosal thickness was positively correlated with GM density of the right mid-dorso-lateral prefrontal (BA 9/46) area, while posterior callosal thickness was positively correlated with GM density in the left supramarginal gyrus (BA 40). Moreover, posterior callosal WM density was positively correlated with verbal memory, visuo-spatial memory, verbal fluency, and visuo-spatial reasoning performances. Callosal attributes were related to GM density in cortical areas innervated by the CC, and were also related to performance in cognitive domains impaired in the disorder. The CC may therefore be integrally involved in OCD.

Prior to integrated circuit (IC) packaging, die performance must be verified using probe cards to screen for defective products. With the decrease in IC line width, the dimensions of the pads used for performance verification and the spacing between adjacent pads have also decreased. However, when the pad pitch is reduced to less than 30 μm, commonly used probe cards will face manufacturing problems in miniaturization. To resolve probe card manufacturing problems caused by the miniaturization of IC components, the use of an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) in probe cards was proposed in this study. Theoretical calculations and experimental testing of this probe structure were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of this concept.

In theoretical calculations, composite material and buckling theory were utilized to evaluate the buckling behavior of the ACF. In experimental testing, photolithography and electroplating techniques were used to control the line width and spacing intervals of the micron-scale metal wires in the ACF. After the ACF was fabricated, the mechanical properties of the ACF during wafer testing were assessed. Theoretical analyses and experimental testing verified that ACFs can potentially be applied to the performance verification of IC products. In the ACF structure, multiple probes came into contact with each pad. Therefore, ACFs can potentially be applied to the performance verification of IC components with pad diameters of less than 20 μm. The results of this study directly benefit the miniaturization of ICs.

Information on the risk factors for community-associated skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs) due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Asian populations is scarce. To this end we performed a case-control study of patients treated at two hospital-affiliated outpatient clinics in Taiwan to determine potential risk factors for MRSA SSTIs. S. aureus was isolated from 39 of 100 eligible patients, and 74% were MRSA. Apart from resistance to clindamycin and erythromycin, most MRSA isolates were susceptible to appropriate antimicrobials. The significant risk factors identified by multivariate analysis for MRSA SSTIs were male gender (P = 0·09), nasal carriage of MRSA (P = 0·02), exposure to an individual who had surgery within a year before infection (P = 0·02), and antibiotic treatment for SSTI in the year before infection (P = 0·04). The identification of such factors may assist provision of appropriate treatment to patients with suspected S. aureus SSTIs particularly in Taiwan.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

The prevalence and genotype distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in women with normal cervical cytology varies widely according to the population studied. Two non-overlapping population-based cohort studies of women aged ⩾30 years for the periods 2008–2009 (n=5026) and 2004–2005 (n=10 014) were analysed. The prevalence rate of HPV was 11·0% (95% CI 10·5–11·6). HPV infection was significantly associated with age, menopausal status, and inversely associated with hormone replacement therapy. There was an increasing trend of α3/α15, α5/α6, and multiple HPV infections with increasing age. The five most common types were HPV52, 18, 53, 58 and 70, while HPV16, 31, 33 ranked 21st, 25th, and 16th, respectively, in the merged cohort with normal cytology (n=14 724). HPV16, 31, and 33 were significantly associated with abnormal cytology, which could have resulted in their rarity in the total merged cohort (n=15 040).

1. Three fistulated and four unfistulated crossbred sheep were each fed once daily with diets of lucerne or wheat.

2. A pre-feeding sample of the rumen liquid was examined for its content of protozoa, of various chemical components and for its enzymic activity on glucose and on soluble starch. Several samples were taken from each sheep at intervals over periods of up to 8 weeks, during which time the sheep were maintained solely on the single diet.

3. Considerable variation occurred, both between sheep and between samples from the same sheep, in the concentrations of ciliate protozoa and of lactic acid, especially on the wheat diet.

4. Analyses for nitrogen, pH, dissolved C02, volatile fatty acids and for the molar proportions of acetic and propionic acid showed differences due to diet.

1. Three fistulated cross-bred sheep were fed diets which consisted solely of lucerne, cereals or potatoes. Potatoes were fed both in the raw and in the cooked form.

2. A pre-feeding sample of the rumen liquid was examined for its content of protozoa and various chemical components and for its enzymic activity on glucose and on soluble starch.

We report on deposition and properties of m-plane GaN/InGaN/AlInN structures on LiAlO2 substrates grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). At first, two different buffer structures, one of them including an m-plane AlInN interlayer, were investigated concerning their suitability for the subsequent coalesced single-phase m-plane GaN growth. A series of quantum well structures with different well thickness based on one of these buffers showed absence of polarization-induced electric fields verified by room temperature photoluminescence (RT PL) measurements at different excitation intensities. Furthermore, polarization-resolved PL measurements revealed a high degree of polarization (DoP) of the emitted light with an intensity ratio of 8:1 between light polarized perpendicular and parallel to the c-axis.

There are many investigations on surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters with interdigitated interdigital transducers (IIDT) in the last two decades; however, the same is not true for the case of IIDT SAW filters fabricated on layered piezoelectric substrates. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the characteristics of the IIDT structures on layered piezoelectric media and further, to improve the frequency response of layered IIDT SAW filters with the unique dispersive properties of a layered piezoelectric structure. A method based on the effective permittivity approach, the coupling of modes (COM) model, and the H-matrix is utilized to analyze the characteristics of IIDT on the ZnO/Diamond/Si layered structure. In this study, it is shown that by optimizing the ratio of input to output IDT pairs, the side-lobe level of frequency responses on the ZnO/Diamond/Si layered structure could be suppressed, similar to that on the half-space substrate. In addition, it is also proved that the notched pass-band could be flattened out by designing the center frequency on the local maximum of the electromechanical coupling coefficient dispersion curve.