Only studies in the UK on individuals dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in hospital have been published, to date. Cremation law requires collection of clinical information that can improve understanding of deaths in both hospital and community settings. Age, sex, date and place of death, occupation, comorbidities and where infection acquired was recorded for all deaths from COVID-19, between 6 April and 30 May, for whom an application was made for cremation at a South Wales' crematorium. Of 752 cremations, 215 (28.6%) were COVID-19 (115 (53.5%) male and 100 (46.5%) female). Median age was 82 years (youngest patient 47 and the oldest 103 years). Over half the deaths (121/215: 56.3%) were over 80 years. Males' odds of dying in hospital, rather than the community were 1.96 times that of females (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.03–3.74, P = 0.054) despite being of similar age and having a similar number of comorbidities. Only 21 (9.8%) of 215 patients had no comorbidities recorded. Patients dying in care homes were significantly older than those dying in hospital (median 88 years (interquartile (IQ) range 82–93 years) vs. 80 years (IQ range 71–87 years): P < 0.0001). Patients dying in hospital had significantly more comorbidities than those dying in care homes (median 2: IQ range 1–3 vs. 1: IQ range 1–2: P < 0.001). Sixty three (29.3%) of infections were hospital acquired and a further 55 (25.6%) acquired in care homes. In a series, of hospital and community deaths, persons over 80 with an average two comorbidities predominated. Men were more likely to die in hospital. Half the infections were acquired in hospitals or care homes with implications for management of the pandemic.

The Bristol Radiocarbon Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (BRAMS) Facility was established at the University of Bristol after the commissioning of our dedicated sample preparation laboratories and the installation and acceptance of the BrisMICADAS AMS in 2016. Routine measurements commenced in mid-2016, once validation was completed for each sample type. Herein, we give an overview of the standard pretreatment methods currently employed in the Facility and the results of radiocarbon (14C) determinations on a wide range of standards, blank materials, and intercomparison samples which have been measured during our extensive pretreatment method validation program and during our routine 14C analyses.

Astrobiology seeks to understand the limits of life and to determine the physiology of organisms in order to better assess the habitability of other worlds. To successfully achieve these goals we require microorganisms from environments on Earth that approximate to extraterrestrial environments in terms of physical and/or chemical conditions. The most challenging of these environments with respect to sample collection, isolation and cultivation of microorganisms are anoxic environments. In this paper, an approach to this challenge was implemented within the European Union's MASE (Mars Analogues for Space Exploration) project. In this review paper, we aim to provide a set of methods for future field work and sampling campaigns. A number of anoxic environment based on characteristics that make them analogous to past and present locations on Mars were selected. They included anoxic sulphur-rich springs (Germany), the salt-rich Boulby Mine (UK), a lake in a basaltic context (Iceland), acidic sediments in the Rio Tinto (Spain), glacier samples (Austria) and permafrost samples (Russia and Canada). Samples were collected under strict anoxic conditions to be used for cultivation and genomic community analysis. Using the samples, a culturing approach was implemented to enrich anaerobic organisms using a defined medium that would allow for organisms to be grown under identical conditions in future physiological comparisons. Anaerobic microorganisms were isolated and deposited with the DSMZ (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH) culture collection to make them available to other scientists. In MASE, the selected organisms are studied with respect to survival and growth under Mars relevant stresses. They are artificially fossilized and the resulting biosignatures studied and used to investigate the efficacy of life detection instrumentation for planetary missions. Some of the organisms belong to genera with medical and environmental importance such as Yersinia spp., illustrating how astrobiology field research can be used to increase the availability of microbial isolates for applied terrestrial purposes.

The classical model of the interstellar medium consists of cool clouds (typical temperature 80 K, number density 20-40 cm-3) moving through a warmer interstellar medium (104 K, 0.15-0.3 cm-3) at a rms velocity of ~ 10 km s-1. More recent models have included the coronal gas (106 K) as part of this medium. We consider the collisions of these clouds in order to determine whether these collisions initiate star formation and/or change the state of the interstellar medium.

Salmonella carriage in 5888 gulls sampled by cloacal lavage was found to be 7·8%. Marked geographical and seasonal differences in carriage rates were found. These differences appeared to be associated with human population density and seasonal differences in the reported incidence of human salmoncllosis. The maximum duration of salmonella excretion in 17 laboratory-maintained gulls was 4 days and the number of salmonellae excreted was never more than 170 per gram of faeces. On the basis of this study it is suggested that gulls are not important factors in the actiology of human salmonellosis.

During much of the present century, the population of herring gulls in Britain has increased rapidly (Cramp, Bourne & Saunders, 1973; Chabrzyk & Coulson, 1976; Monaghan & Coulson, 1977). Accompanying this changes was an increased utilization by these birds of human waste as a food supply, particularly sewage and refuse emanating from our towns and cities (Monaghan, 1983; Horton et al. 1983). This, coupled with their habits of roosting on agricultural land and water storage reservoirs and of breeding on inhabited buildings, has given rise to concern over the role of these birds in the spread of disease to man and domestic animals (e.g. Fenlon, 1981; Reilly et al. 1981; Butterfield et al. 1983; Monaghan et al. 1985; Girdwood et al. 1986).

Many of the results of Timothy Williamson's Knowledge and Its Limits depend upon his argument that many, if not all, of our mental states fail to be luminous in the sense that if we are in them, then we are in a position to know that we are in them. The purpose of this article is to show that his argument is unsound. I conclude by distinguishing between partial and total luminosity, and by arguing that even if mental states are not totally luminous, they are at least partially so.

Inter-male aggressive encounters were examined at three grey seal breeding colonies that differed in topography, adult dispersion patterns and operational sex ratios; North Rona and the Monach Isles (Scotland), and Sable Island (Nova Scotia). At North Rona, known males were observed over three successive breeding seasons, with a total of 275 males being individually identified. A single season's observations at both the Monach Isles and Sable Island provided data on 53 and 80 individual males respectively. Cardinal dominance ranks were computed for 68, 92 and 112 males on North Rona in each season respectively, 37 males on the Monach Isles and 68 males on Sable Island. All sites showed close approximation to dominance hierarchies when considering only interactions resulting in a clear outcome (wins), with less than 10% of interactions resulting in reversals. Measures of variance in male mating success showed no significant differences between colonies. These results show the existence of male dominance hierarchies in colonies from both east and west Atlantic populations and at breeding sites with widely differing habitat structure, seal dispersion patterns and levels of inter-male competition, suggesting limited plasticity in the form of grey seal mating systems and limited variation in the degree of polygyny attained at these sites.

Monthly rates of admission of manic patients to the Department of Psychiatry in Galway Regional Hospital were examined for a five-year period. Monthly variation in admission rates was compared with monthly levels of sunshine, temperature and daylength. Results indicated a significant seasonal variation in the prevalence of mania: admission rates were higher in the sunnier months and in months with a greater average daylength. It is suggested that the presentation of mania in this fashion is due to an abnormal response to light in these patients.

The breeding population of Audouin's gull, a Red Data Book species, is endemic to the Mediterranean. Its population was estimated at 4000 pairs in 1985, but its restricted distribution and vulnerability to disturbance and competition necessitate active conservation measures. The gull's most important breeding colony is on Rey Island in the Chafarinas group, and in 1983 a three-year study was started to discover the factors limiting the size of the colony and to formulate a management plan.

Marked interspecific differences in recent population trends have been recorded for seabirds breeding in the Firth of Clyde. Auk populations have remained comparatively stable, while considerable reductions have taken place in tern and kittiwake numbers. Shags, cormorants, gannets and great black-backed gulls have all increased, as have fulmars and herring gulls. The striking increases in the latter two species are considered in detail. To some extent, these population changes can be related to differences in the feeding ecology of the various seabirds; in particular the variation in the number of breeding terns is related to variation in food availability.