METAMORPHOSE European Doctoral Programs on Metamaterials - State-of-the-art

A new European Doctoral Program on Metamaterials has been initiated by the European Union (EU) Network of Excellence METAMORPHOSE. So far, twenty European academic institutions have established a consortium that operates a geographically distributed doctoral school in the emerging and multidisciplinary field of metamaterials.

Survival of juvenile European eels (Anguilla anguilla) transferred among salinities, and developmental shifts in their salinity preference

After their oceanic migration, juvenile European eels Anguilla anguilla enter estuaries as glass eels, develop into pigmented elvers and migrate into fresh water. Fisheries often transfer such eels abruptly between salinities, principally glass eels and elvers from estuarine to fresh water. It is usually assumed that survival rates are high, but this required systematic investigation. Survival was found to be 100% over 21 days of glass eels and semipigmented elvers transferred abruptly from estuary conditions into fresh water, 50% sea water and full sea water. Fully pigmented elvers, however, showed significantly reduced survival when transferred into sea water. Salinity preference experiments with juvenile eels have historically been inconclusive. Here, in a choice chamber design, a clear developmental shift in salinity preference was found, with glass eels preferring 100% sea water, semipigmented elvers showing no clear preference and fully pigmented elvers preferring fresh water. We conclude that eel fisheries enhancement by abrupt transfer of juveniles among salinities is largely vindicated. In addition, developmental shifts in salinity preference have been clarified and this aids in the interpretation of eel migration patterns.

Anal redness in European eels as an indicator of infection by the swimbladder nematode, Anguillicola crassus

Anal redness in European eels Anguilla anguilla is related to the prevalence and mean abundance of the swimbladder nematode Anguillicola crassus and may provide a simple. non-invasive diagnostic tool for A. crassus infection. (C) 2003 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Genetic variation of the razor clam Ensis siliqua (Jeffreys, 1875) along the European coast based on random amplified polymorphic DNA markers

Ensis siliqua is regarded as an increasingly valuable fishery resource with potential for commercial aquaculture in many European countries. The genetic variation of this razor clam was analysed by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in six populations from Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Out of the 40 primers tested, five were chosen to assess genetic variation. A total of 61 RAPD loci were developed ranging in size from 400 to 2000 bp. The percentages of polymorphic loci, the allele effective number and the genetic diversity were comparable among populations, and demonstrated a high level of genetic variability. The values of Nei's genetic distance were small among the Spanish and Portuguese populations (0.051-0.065), and high between these and the Irish populations. Cluster and principal coordinate analyses supported these findings. A mantel test performed between geographic and genetic distance matrices showed a significant correlation (r=0.84, P

Water requirements as a bottleneck in the reintroduction of European roe deer to the southern edge of its range

Success rates of reintroduction programs are low, often owing to a lack of knowledge of site-specific ecological requirements. A reintroduction program of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus (L., 1758)) in a dry Mediterranean region in Israel provides an opportunity to study the bottleneck effect of water requirements on a mesic-adapted species. Four does were hand-reared and released in a 10 ha site consisting of an early succession scrubland and a mature oak forest. We measured daily energy expenditure (DEE) and water turnover (WTO) using the doubly labeled water technique during summer and winter. DEE was similar in the summer and winter, but there was a significant difference in WTO and in the source of gained water. In winter, WTO was 3.3 L/day, of which 67% was obtained from vegetation. In summer, WTO dropped to 2.1 L/day, of which only 20% was obtained from the diet and 76% was gained from drinking. When the water source was moved to a nonpreferred habitat, drinking frequency dropped significantly, but water consumption remained constant. In a dry Mediterranean environment, availability of free water is both a physiological contraint and a behavioral constraint for roe deer. This study demonstrates the importance of physiological and behavioral feasibility studies for reintroduction programs.

Environmental tolerances of free-living coralline algae (maerl): implications for European marine conservation

Maerl is a general term used for loose-lying subtidal beds of nodular coralline red algae. Maerl beds support high associated invertebrate and algal biodiversity, and are subject to European and UK conservation legislation. Previous investigations have shown European maerl to be ecologically fragile due to growth rates of approximately I mm per year. However, these very slow growth rates have hampered attempts to determine the key ecological requirements and sensitivity characteristics of living maerl. In this study, photosynthetic capacity determined by pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry was used as a diagnostic of stress caused by various environmental conditions. Maerl species were exposed to a range of temperatures, salinities and light levels and to burial, fragmentation, desiccation and heavy metal treatment. Maerl was not as susceptible as previously assumed to extremes of salinity, temperature and heavy metal pollution, but burial, especially in fine or anoxic sediments, was lethal or caused significant stress. These data indicate that the main anthropogenic hazard for live maerl and the rich communities that depend on them is smothering by fine sediment, such as that produced by trawling or maerl extraction, from sewage discharges or shellfish and fish farm waste, and sedimentation resulting from disruption to tidal flow. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Psychological problems in children with cerebral palsy: A cross-sectional European study

Objectives: To describe psychological symptoms in 8–12-year-old children with cerebral palsy; to investigate predictors of these symptoms and their impact on the child and family.

Design: A cross-sectional multi-centre survey.

Participants: Eight hundred and eighteen children with cerebral palsy, aged 8–12 years, identified from population-based registers of cerebral palsy in eight European regions and from multiple sources in one further region.

Main outcome measures: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)P4-16 and the Total Difficulties Score (TDS) dichotomised into normal/borderline (TDS = 16) versus abnormal (TDS > 16).

Statistical analysis: Multilevel, multivariable logistic regression to relate the presence of psychological symptoms to child and family characteristics.

Results: About a quarter of the children had TDS > 16 indicating significant psychological symptoms, most commonly in the domain Peer Problems. Better gross motor function, poorer intellect, more pain, having a disabled or ill sibling and living in a town were independently associated with TDS > 16. The risk of TDS > 16 was odds ratio (OR) = .2 (95% CI: .1 to .3) comparing children with the most and least severe functional limitations; OR = 3.2 (95%CI: 2.1 to 4.8) comparing children with IQ < 70 and others; OR = 2.7 (95% CI: 1.5 to 4.6) comparing children in severe pain and others; OR = 2.7 (95% CI:1.6 to 4.6) comparing children with another disabled sibling or OR = 1.8 (95%CI: 1.2 to 2.8) no siblings and others; OR = 1.8 (95% CI: 1.1 to 2.8) comparing children resident in a town and others. Among parents who reported their child to have psychological problems, 95% said they had lasted over a year, 37% said they distressed their child and 42% said they burdened the family at least ‘quite a lot’.

Conclusions: A significant proportion of children with cerebral palsy have psychological symptoms or social impairment sufficiently severe to warrant referral to specialist services. Care must be taken in the assessment and management of children with cerebral palsy to ensure psychological problems are not overlooked and potentially preventable risk factors like pain are treated effectively. The validity of the SDQ for children with severe disability warrants further assessment.

Frequency of participation of 8-12 year old children with cerebral palsy: a multi-centre cross sectional European study

Participation in home, school and community is important for all children; and little is known about the frequency of participation of disabled children. Frequency of participation is a valuable outcome measure for evaluating habilitation programmes for disabled children and for planning social and health services.

We investigated how frequency of participation varied between children with cerebral palsy and the general population; and examined variation across countries to understand better how the environmental factors such as legislation, public attitudes and regulation in different countries might influence participation.

We undertook a multi-centre, population-based study in children with and without cerebral palsy. Working from the Life-H instrument, we developed a questionnaire to capture frequency of participation in 8–12-year-old children. In nine regions of seven European countries, parents of 813 children with cerebral palsy and 2939 children from the general populations completed the questionnaire.

Frequency of participation for each question was dichotomised about the median; multivariable logistic regressions were carried out.

In the general population, frequency of participation varied between countries. Children with cerebral palsy participated less frequently in many but not all areas of everyday life, compared with children from the general population. There was regional variation in the domains with reduced participation and in the magnitude of the differences. We discuss how this regional variation might be explained by the different environments in which children live. Attending a special school or class was not associated with further reduction in participation in most areas of everyday life.

Reliability and Validity of the Child Health QuestionnairePF-50 for European Children with Cerebral Palsy

Objective: To evaluate the psychometric performance of the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) in children with cerebral palsy (CP).
Method: 818 parents of children with CP, aged 8–12 from nine regions of Europe completed the CHQ (parent form 50 items). Functional abilities were classified using the five-level Gross Motor Function Classification Scheme (Levels I–III as ambulant; Level IV–V as nonambulant CP).
Results: Ceiling effects were observed for a number of subscales and summary scores across all Gross Motor Function Classification System levels, whilst floor effects occurred only in the physical functioning scale (Level V CP). Reliability was satisfactory overall. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed a seven-factor structure for the total sample of children with CP but with different factor structures for ambulant and nonambulant children.
Conclusion: The CHQ has limited applicability in children with CP, although with judicious use of certain domains for ambulant and nonambulant children can provide useful and comparable data about child health status for descriptive purposes.