Tolstoy, stories, and facilitating insight in end of life care: Exploring ethics through vicarious experience (with Glackin M and Henry R)

Facilitating moral insight in end of life care can be challenging, and the purpose of this paper is to illustrate how this can be nurtured by means of creative literature. Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilych is presented as an example of such literature. Aristotle's Nichomean Ethics provides the philosophical underpinning for the method used. Sources also include the nursing literature, and students' evaluations of the impact of Tolstoy's novella on their ability to perceive the ethical issues arising in end of life care. Comments from evaluations were analysed and significant themes emerged. Students' comments clearly support the suggestion that use of this novella has facilitated insight into ethical issues at the end of life. Evaluations also indicate that vicarious experience gained through reading this novella has helped to nurture sensitivity and professional insight into the importance of compassion and offering ‘comfort’ to the dying person.

Climate change-linked range expansion of Nathusius' pipistrelle bat, Pipistrellus nathusii (Keyserling & Blasius, 1839)

Aim To examine the effect of climate change on the occurrence and distribution of Pipistrellus nathusii (Nathusius' pipistrelle) in the United Kingdom (UK).Location We modelled habitat and climatic associations of P. nathusii in the UK and applied this model to the species' historical range in continental Europe.Methods A binomial logistic regression model was constructed relating the occurrence of P. nathusii to climate and habitat characteristics using historical species occurrence records (1940-2006) and CORINE land cover data. This model was applied to historical and projected climate data to examine changes in suitable range (1940-2080) of this species. We tested the predictive ability of the model with known records in the UK after 2006 and applied the model to the species' known range in Europe.Results The distribution of P. nathusii was related positively to the area of water bodies, woodland and small areas of urbanization, and negatively related to the area of peat/heathland. Species records were associated with higher minimum temperatures, low seasonal variation in temperature and intermediate rainfall. We found that suitable areas have existed in the UK since the 1940s and that these have expanded. The model had high predictive power when applied to new records after 2006, with a correct classification rate of 70%, estimated by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Based on climate projections, our model suggests a potential twofold increase in the area suitable for P. nathusii in the UK by 2050. The single most influential climate variable contributing to range increase was the projected increase in minimum temperature. When applied to Europe, the model predictions had best predictive capability of known records in western areas of the species' range, where P. nathusii is present during the winter.Main conclusions We show that a mobile, migratory species has adapted its range in response to recent climate change on a continental scale. We believe this may be the first study to demonstrate a case of range change linked to contemporary climate change in a mammal species in Europe.

Exchange protein directly activated by cAMP 1 (Epac1) is expressed in human neutrophils and mediates cAMP-dependent activation of the monomeric GTPase Rap1

Epac1 and Epac2 bind cAMP and mediate cAMP-dependent activation of Rap1. cAMP is produced in neutrophils in response to many chemoattractants. This second messenger plays a key role in the regulation of the functions of neutrophils. However, it is still not known whether Epacs are expressed in human neutrophils. We found that stimulation of PLB-985 cells differentiated into neutrophil-like cells, human neutrophils with 8CPT-2Me-cAMP (a selective activator of Epacs), or FK (a diterpene that augments the intracellular level of cAMP) led to GTP-loading of Rap1. Epac1 mRNA was expressed in UND and DF PLB-985 cells, but Epac1 protein was only detected in DF PLB-985 cells. In human neutrophils, the Epac1 transcript was present, and Epac1 protein could be detected by Western blot analysis if the cells had been treated with the serine protease inhibitor PMSF. FK induced adhesion of PLB-985 cells and human neutrophils on fibrinogen, a ligand for beta 2 integrins. Interestingly, in DF PLB-985 cells, but not in human neutrophils, 8CPT-2Me-cAMP induced beta 2 integrin-dependent adhesion. The failure of 8CPT-2Me-cAMP to induce beta 2 integrin-dependent human neutrophil adhesion could be explained by the fact that this compound did not induce a switch of the beta 2 integrins from a low-affinity to a high-affinity ligand-binding conformation. We concluded that Epac1 is expressed in human neutrophils and is involved in cAMP-dependent regulation of Rap1. However, the loading of GTP on Rap1 per se is not sufficient to promote activation of beta 2 integrins. J. Leukoc. Biol. 90: 741-749; 2011.

Nathusius' pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus nathusii, Keyserling & Blasius 1839) breeding in Ireland

We describe the most westerly known maternity colony of Nathusius' pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus nathusii). The bats were identified by using morphometric measurements and analysis of time-expanded echolocation and social calls. The roost, containing approximately 150 individuals, was located in a mid 19th century farm stable block and store house situated in parkland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The roost was visited on 30 April, I May and 22 June 1997. Over this period, 11 bats were caught: one adult male, five pregnant females, four lactating females and a juvenile male. Direct observation of behaviour patterns suggests that mating groups of P. nathusii may occur in Ireland as late as May. The migratory nature of this species is discussed.