Range expansion and comparative habitat use of insular, congeneric lagomorphs: invasive European hares Lepus europaeus and endemic Irish hares Lepus timidus hibernicus

The European hare (Lepus europaeus) has declined throughout its native range but invaded numerous regions where it has negatively impacted native wildlife. In southern Sweden, it replaces the native mountain hare (L. timidus) through competition and hybridisation. We investigated temporal change in the invasive range of the European hare in Ireland, and compared its habitat use with the endemic Irish hare (L. timidus hibernicus). The range of the European hare was three times larger and its core range twice as large in 2012–2013 than in 2005. Its rate of radial range expansion was 0.73 km year−1 with its introduction estimated to have occurred ca. 1970. Both species utilised improved and rough grasslands and exhibited markedly similar regression coefficients with almost every land cover variable examined. Irish hares were associated with low fibre and high sugar content grass (good quality grazing) whilst the invader had a greater tolerance for low quality forage. European hares were associated with habitat patch edge density, suggesting it may be more suited to using hedgerows as diurnal resting sites than the Irish hare. Consequently, the invader had a wider niche breadth than the native but their niche overlap was virtually complete. Given the impact of the European hare on native species elsewhere, and its apparent pre-adaption for improved grasslands interspersed with arable land (a habitat that covers 70 % of Ireland), its establishment and range expansion poses a significant threat to the ecological security of the endemic Irish hare, particularly given their ecological similarities.

Characterizing wear processes on orthopaedic materials using scanning probe microscopy

The operational lifetime of hip replacement prostheses can be severely limited due to the occurrence of excessive wear at the load-bearing interfaces. The aim of this study was to investigate how the surface topography of articulating counterfaces evolves over the duration of a laboratory wear run. It was observed that modular stainless steel femoral heads wearing against ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) can themselves be subject to wearing. A comparison with retrieved in vivo-aged femoral heads shows many topographical similarities: in a qualitative sense, scratching and pitting are evident on laboratory and in vivo-worn femoral heads; quantitatively, roughness comparisons between the new and worn devices are seen to increase typically by a factor of 4 after laboratory wearing. The observations suggest that a particular wear mode, namely third-body wear, is responsible for the increased roughness. It is conjectured that third bodies might arise through surface fatigue wear on the metal counterface, Wear debris is also observed to have been generated from the polymer surface, creating rounded debris with sizes predominantly in the range 0.4-0.8 microns: dimensions that are comparable to values previously reported for in vivo generated debris.

Perspectives of an international education initiative in children's palliative care

Education is viewed as central to improving future palliative care for children and families across all countries. International education initiatives will ensure practitioners are aware of global health issues and can provide culturally sensitive care. Creative and innovative means of meeting such directives are required to achieve meaningful student learning. This paper focuses on one innovation, a children's palliative care workshop using case studies as a teaching method, with nursing students from the USA and nursing and midwifery students from the UK. Key learning points arising from student evaluation were recorded under three main themes, these were: differences across countries, similarities across countries, and making learning fun and memorable. Findings indicated that this joint learning activity was viewed positively by all students and has enabled them to learn with and from each other, potentially impacting on their future practice.

A Close Comparison

Despite clear differences, Uganda and the UK share striking similarities in the issues their maternity services face, say Michelle Henry and Shirley Stronge.

Midwifery Services in South Africa and the UK

This comparative study examines the UK and South Africa's maternity services. The study focuses on HIV in pregnancy, and attitudes to, and rates of, breastfeeding in the two countries. Similarities exist between the countries demographics, i.e. both have a diverse population. However, the study found that there is wide variation in both the attitudes to, and rates of, breastfeeding, and HIV in pregnancy between the countries. Yet despite being financially challenged, both countries offer support to HIV positive and breastfeeding women.

The Vertical Distribution and Evolution of Slam Pressure on an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter

The accurate definition of the extreme wave loads which act on offshore structures represents a significant challenge for design engineers and even with decades of empirical data to base designs upon there are still failures attributed to wave loading. The environmental conditions which cause these loads are infrequent and highly non-linear which means that they are not well understood or simple to describe. If the structure is large enough to affect the incident wave significantly further non-linear effects can influence the loading. Moreover if the structure is floating and excited by the wave field then its responses, which are also likely to be highly non-linear, must be included in the analysis. This makes the description of the loading on such a structure difficult to determine and the design codes will often suggest employing various tools including small scale experiments, numerical and analytical methods, as well as empirical data if available.
Wave Energy Converters (WECs) are a new class of offshore structure which pose new design challenges, lacking the design codes and empirical data found in other industries. These machines are located in highly exposed and energetic sites, designed to be excited by the waves and will be expected to withstand extreme conditions over their 25 year design life. One such WEC is being developed by Aquamarine Power Ltd and is called Oyster. Oyster is a buoyant flap which is hinged close to the seabed, in water depths of 10 to 15m, piercing the water surface. The flap is driven back and forth by the action of the waves and this mechanical energy is then converted to electricity.
It has been identified in previous experiments that Oyster is not only subject to wave impacts but it occasionally slams into the water surface with high angular velocity. This slamming effect has been identified as an extreme load case and work is ongoing to describe it in terms of the pressure exerted on the outer skin and the transfer of this short duration impulsive load through various parts of the structure.
This paper describes a series of 40th scale experiments undertaken to investigate the pressure on the face of the flap during the slamming event. A vertical array of pressure sensors are used to measure the pressure exerted on the flap. Characteristics of the slam pressure such as the rise time, magnitude, spatial distribution and temporal evolution are revealed. Similarities are drawn between this slamming phenomenon and the classical water entry problems, such as ship hull slamming. With this similitude identified, common analytical tools are used to predict the slam pressure which is compared to that measured in the experiment.

Comparative biochemical analysis of three members of the Schistosoma mansoni TAL family: Differences in ion and drug binding properties

The tegumental allergen-like (TAL) proteins from Schistosoma mansoni are part of a family of calcium binding proteins found only in parasitic flatworms. These proteins have attracted interest as potential drug or vaccine targets, yet comparatively little is known about their biochemistry. Here, we compared the biochemical properties of three members of this family: SmTAL1 (Sm22.6), SmTAL2 (Sm21.7) and SmTAL3 (Sm20.8). Molecular modelling suggested that, despite similarities in domain organisation, there are differences in the three proteins’ structures. SmTAL1 was predicted to have two functional calcium binding sites and SmTAL2 was predicted to have one. Despite the presence of two EF-hand-like structures in SmTAL3, neither was predicted to be functional. These predictions were confirmed by native gel electrophoresis, intrinsic fluorescence and differential scanning fluorimetry: both SmTAL1 and SmTAL2 are able to bind calcium ions reversibly, but SmTAL3 is not. SmTAL1 is also able to interact with manganese, strontium, iron(II) and nickel ions. SmTAL2 has a different ion binding profile interacting with cadmium, manganese, magnesium, strontium and barium ions in addition to calcium. All three proteins form dimers and, in contrast to some Fasciola hepatica proteins from the same family; dimerization is not affected by calcium ions. SmTAL1 interacts with the anti-schistosomal drug praziquantel and the calmodulin antagonists trifluoperazine, chlorpromazine and W7. SmTAL2 interacts only with W7. SmTAL3 interacts with the aforementioned calmodulin antagonists and thiamylal, but not praziquantel. Overall, these data suggest that the proteins have different biochemical properties and thus, most likely, different in vivo functions.

S21 Culture Independent Identification Of Bacterial Communities In The Respiratory Tract Of Patients With Copd, Healthy Non-smokers And Healthy Smokers

Introduction and aims: The role bacteria play in the development and progression of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is unclear. We used culture-independent methods to describe differences and/or similarities in microbial communities in the lower airways of patients with COPD, healthy non-smokers and smokers.

Methods: Bronchial wash samples were collected from patients with COPD (GOLD 1–3; n = 18), healthy non-smokers (HV; n = 11) and healthy smokers (HS; n = 8). Samples were processed using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The Shannon-Wiener Index (SW) of diversity, lung obstruction (FEV1/FVC ratio) and ordination by Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity indices were analysed to evaluate how samples were related. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to assess the effect specific taxa had within each cohort. Characteristics of each cohort are shown in Table 1.

Results: There was no difference in taxa richness between cohorts (range: 69–71; p = 0.954). Diversity (SW Index) was significantly lower in COPD samples compared to samples from HV and HS (p = 0.009 and p = 0.033, respectively). There was no significant difference between HV and HS (p = 0.186). The FEV1/FVC ratio was significantly lower for COPD compared to HV (p = 9*10–8) and HS (p = 2*10–6), respectively. NMDS analysis showed that communities belonging to either of the healthy groups were more similar to each other than they were to samples belonging to the COPD group. PCA analysis showed that members of Streptococcus sp. and Haemophilus sp. had the largest effect on the variance explained in COPD. In HS, Haemophilus sp., Fusobaterium sp., Actinomyces sp., Prevotella sp. and Veillonella sp. had the largest effect on the variance explained, while in HV Neisseria sp., Porphyromonas sp., Actinomyces sp., Atopobium sp., Prevotella and Veillonella sp. had the largest effect on the variance explained.

Conclusions: The study demonstrates that microbial communities in the lower airways of patients with COPD are significantly different from that seen in healthy comparison groups. Patients with COPD had lower microbial diversity than either of the healthy comparison groups, higher relative abundance of members of Streptococcus sp. and lower relative abundance of a number of key anaerobes.Characteristics

CULTURE AND CULTURE INDEPENDANT IDENTIFICATION OF BACTERIAL COMMUNITIES IN THE CYSTIC FIBROSIS RESPIRATORY TRACT

Introduction and Aims: The identification of complex chronic polymicrobial infections, such as those observed in the cystic fibrosis (CF) airways, are often a diagnostic challenge. Few studies have compared culture-dependent methods with molecular identification making it hard to describe bacterial communities in a comprehensive manner. The aim of the study is to compare four different methods with respect to their similarities and differences in detection of bacteria. Methods: We compared41 sputum samples fromroutine clinical-culture, extended-culture (aerobic and anaerobic), and molecular identification such as Roche 454-FLX Titanium and T-RFLP to assess concurrence between methodologies in detecting bacteria. The agreement between methodologies in detecting either absence or presence of bacterial taxa was assessed by Kappa (κ) statistics. Results: The majority of bacterial taxa identified by culture were also identified with molecular analysis. In total 2, 60, 25, and 179 different bacterial taxa were identified with clinical-culture, extended-culture, T-RFLP and 454-FLX respectively. Clinical-culture, extended-culture and T-RFLP were poor predictors of species richness when compared to 454-FLX (p < 0.0001). Agreement between methods for detecting Pseudomonas sp. and Burkholderia sp. was good with κ ≥ 0.7 [p < 0.0001] and κ ≥ 0.9 [p < 0.0001] respectively. Detection of anaerobic bacteria, such as Prevotella sp. and Veillonella sp., was moderate between extended-culture and 454-FLX with κ = 0.461 [p < 0.0001] and κ = 0.311 [p = 0.032] respectively, and good between T-RFLP and 454-FLX with κ = 0.577 [p < 0.0001] and κ = 0.808 [p < 0.0001] respectively. Agreement between methods for other main bacterial taxa, such as Staphylcoccus sp. and Streptococcus sp., was poor with only a moderate agreement for detection of Streptococcus sp. observed between T-RFLP and 454-FLX (κ = 0.221 [p = 0.024]). Conclusions: This study demonstrates the increased sensitivity culture-independent microbial identification such as the 454-FLX have over clinical-culture, extended-culture and T-RFLP methodologies. The extended-culture detected majority of the most prevalent bacterial taxa associated with chronic colonisation of the CF airways which were also detected by culture-independent methodologies. However, agreement between methods in detecting number of potentially relevant bacteria is largely lacking.

Dublin’s ephemeral and imaginary architectures

In 1989, the Irish architectural practice O’Donnell and Tuomey were commissioned to build a temporary pavilion to represent Ireland at the 11 Cities/11 Nations exhibition at Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. Citing Peter Smithson, John Tuomey suggested the pavilion, which drew inspirations from the forms and materials of the modern Irish barn, embodied an intention ‘not just to build but to communicate’. Its subsequent reassembly for the inauguration of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in the courtyard of the seventeenth-century Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin in 1991, drew comparisons between the urban sophistication of this colonial building, its svelte new refit, and the rural expression of O’Donnell + Tuomey’s barn. It was, one critic recently noted, as if ‘a wedding had been crashed by a country cousin who had forgotten to clean his boots’.
It has been argued that temporary or ephemeral pieces of architecture, unburdened by the traditional constraints of firmitas or utilitas, have the ability to offer a concise distillation of meaning and intention. Approaching the qualities of rhetoric, such architectures share similarities with the monument and yet differ in fundamental ways. Their rapid construction in lightweight materials can allow for an almost instantaneous negotiation of zeitgeist. And, unlike the monument, from the outset the space and form of these installations is designed to disappear.
This paper analyses the ephemeral architectures of Dublin in the modern period contextualising their qualities and intentions as they manifest themselves across colonial, post-colonial and contemporary epochs. It finds origins in the theatrical sets of the late eighteenth century and traces their movements into the semi-public sphere of the pleasure garden and finally into the theatre of the streets. It is here that temporary architecture in the city has been at its most potent, allowing the amplification or subversion of the meanings of much larger spaces. Historically, much of Dublin’s most conspicuous instances of ephemeral architecture have been realised as a means of articulating mass spectacle in political, religious or nationalistic events. And while much of this has sought to confirm dominant ideologies, it has also been possible to discern moments of opposition.
The contemporary period, however, has arguably witnessed a shift in ephemeral architectures from explicitly representing ‘positive ideologies’ towards something more oblique or nebulous. This turn towards abstraction in form and space has rendered an especially communicative form of architecture particularly elusive. By examining continuities within the apparent disjuncture between historical and contemporary examples, this paper begins to unpick the language of recent ephemeral architecture in Dublin and situate it within wider global trends where political and economic imperatives are often simultaneously obscured and expressed in public space by a vocabulary of universality. As Jurgen Habermas has suggested, the contemporary value given to the transitory and the ephemeral ‘discloses a longing for an undefiled, immaculate and stable present’.

Re-Visiting Sylvia Townsend Warner

Sylvia Townsend Warner was born in 1893 in Harrow and died in Dorset in 1978. Her writing career was both productive and diverse, spanning poems, short stories, novels, music reviews, a biography, translations of Proust, and a guide to Somerset. But this list, impressive as it is, does not do justice to the idiosyncrasy and heterogeneity of her work. While she is well known mostly for the seven novels she published, those works are all radically different in style and content. Indeed, Townsend Warner's singularity has, it could be argued, made it difficult to place her in the various fields and sub-fields of 20th-century literary studies. She shares as many similarities as differences with the high modernists who dominated the literary landscape of the interwar period. Likewise she fits, yet also resists, the more recent formulations of intermodernist and middlebrow scholarship that have attempted to interrogate and expand the horizons of mid-20th century literature.

How the mollusc got its scales: Convergent evolution of the molluscan scleritome

Radiation of dramatically disparate forms among the phylum Mollusca remains a key question in metazoan evolution, and requires careful evaluation of homology of hard parts throughout the deep fossil record. Enigmatic early Cambrian taxa such as Halkieria and Wiwaxia (in the clade Halwaxiida) have been proposed to represent stem-group aculiferan molluscs (Caudofoveata+Solenogastres+Polyplacophora), as complex scleritomes were considered to be unique to aculiferans among extant molluscs. The 'scaly-foot gastropod' (Neomphalina: Peltospiridae) from hydrothermal vents of the Indian Ocean, however, also carries dermal sclerites and thus challenges this inferred homology. Despite superficial similarities to various mollusc sclerites, the scaly-foot gastropod sclerites are secreted in layers covering outpockets of epithelium and are largely proteinaceous, while chiton (Polyplacophora: Chitonida) sclerites are secreted to fill an invaginated cuticular chamber and are largely calcareous. Marked differences in the underlying epithelium of the scaly-foot gastropod sclerites and operculum suggest that the sclerites do not originate from multiplication of the operculum. This convergence in different classes highlights the ability of molluscs to adapt mineralized dermal structures, as supported by the extensive early fossil record of molluscs with scleritomes. Sclerites of halwaxiids are morphologically variable, undermining the assumed affinity of specific taxa with chitons, or the larger putative clade Aculifera. Comparisons with independently derived similar structures in living molluscs are essential for determining homology among fossils and their position with respect to the enigmatic evolution of molluscan shell forms in deep time.

Bone tool analysis

This article examines the osseous technologies that can be created from animal skeletons. 'Tool' status is accorded to a skeletal element or fragment that has been modified subsequent to its isolation from the carcass. Such anthropic adaptation may be deliberate (e.g., through manufacture) and/or appear as a result of utilization, and is granted in instances where these details cannot otherwise be ascribed to alternative nonanthropic causes. Implements can display a combination of traces from both human and natural sources and as such the study of them involves both zooarchaeological (i.e., via animal ecology, hunting, and butchery) and technological analysis.... As an exemplar of this, the following discussion will present some of the similarities and differences that exist between osseous and lithic raw materials and tool-blank production, and will situate both in an operational sequence of animal procurement and processing. It will then give an account of principal manufacturing techniques, methods for establishing tool function, and the phenomenon of 'pseudo tools'. © 2008 Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Inc.

A small predatory core genome in the divergent marine Bacteriovorax marinus SJ and the terrestrial Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus

Bacteriovorax marinus SJ is a predatory delta-proteobacterium isolated from a marine environment. The genome sequence of this strain provides an interesting contrast to that of the terrestrial predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100. Based on their predatory lifestyle, Bacteriovorax were originally designated as members of the genus Bdellovibrio but subsequently were re-assigned to a new genus and family based on genetic and phenotypic differences. B. marinus attaches to gram-negative bacteria, penetrates through the cell wall to form a bdelloplast, in which it replicates, as shown using microscopy. Bacteriovorax is distinct, as it shares only 30% of its gene products with its closest sequenced relatives. Remarkably, 34% of predicted genes over 500 nt in length were completely unique with no significant matches in the databases. As expected, Bacteriovorax shares several characteristic loci with the other delta-proteobacteria. A geneset shared between Bacteriovorax and Bdellovibrio that is not conserved among other delta-proteobacteria such as Myxobacteria (which destroy prey bacteria externally via lysis), or the non-predatory Desulfo-bacteria and Geobacter species was identified. These 291 gene orthologues common to both Bacteriovorax and Bdellovibrio may be the key indicators of host-interaction predatory-specific processes required for prey entry. The locus from Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is implicated in the switch from predatory to prey/host-independent growth. Although the locus is conserved in B. marinus, the sequence has only limited similarity. The results of this study advance understanding of both the similarities and differences between Bdellovibrio and Bacteriovorax and confirm the distant relationship between the two and their separation into different families.

Three motAB stator gene products in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus contribute to motility of a single flagellum during predatory and prey-independent growth

The predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus uses flagellar motility to locate regions rich in Gram-negative prey bacteria, colliding and attaching to prey and then ceasing flagellar motility. Prey are then invaded to form a "bdelloplast" in a type IV pilus-dependent process, and prey contents are digested, allowing Bdellovibrio growth and septation. After septation, Bdellovibrio flagellar motility resumes inside the prey bdelloplast prior to its lysis and escape of Bdellovibrio progeny. Bdellovibrio can also grow slowly outside prey as long flagellate host-independent (HI) cells, cultured on peptone-rich media. The B. bacteriovorus HD100 genome encodes three pairs of MotAB flagellar motor proteins, each of which could potentially form an inner membrane ion channel, interact with the FliG flagellar rotor ring, and produce flagellar rotation. In 2004, Flannagan and coworkers (R. S. Flannagan, M. A. Valvano, and S. F. Koval, Microbiology 150:649-656, 2004) used antisense RNA and green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression to downregulate a single Bdellovibrio motA gene and reported slowed release from the bdelloplast and altered motility of the progeny. Here we inactivated each pair of motAB genes and found that each pair contributes to motility, both predatorily, inside the bdelloplast and during HI growth; however, each pair was dispensable, and deletion of no pair abolished motility totally. Driving-ion studies with phenamil, carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), and different pH and sodium conditions indicated that all Mot pairs are proton driven, although the sequence similarities of each Mot pair suggests that some may originate from halophilic species. Thus, Bdellovibrio is a "dedicated motorist," retaining and expressing three pairs of mot genes.