Antarctic crustacean grazer assemblages exhibit resistance following exposure to decreased pH

Anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 concentrations are increasing rapidly, resulting in declining seawater pH (ocean acidification). The majority of ocean acidification research to date has focused on the effects of decreased pH in single-species experiments. To assess how decreased pH may influence natural macroalgal-grazer assemblages, we conducted a mesocosm experiment with the common, chemically defended Antarctic brown macroalga Desmarestia menziesii and natural densities of its associated grazer assemblage, predominantly amphipods. Grazer assemblages were collected from the immediate vicinity of Palmer Station (64°46'S, 64°03'W) in March 2013. Assemblages were exposed for 30 days to three levels of pH representing present-day mean summer ambient conditions (pH 8.0), predicted near-future conditions (2100, pH 7.7), and distant-future conditions (pH 7.3). A significant difference was observed in the composition of mesograzer assemblages in the lowest pH treatment (pH 7.3). The differences between assemblages exposed to pH 7.3 and those maintained in the other two treatments were driven primarily by decreases in the abundance of the amphipod Metaleptamphopus pectinatus with decreasing pH, reduced copepod abundance at pH 7.7, and elevated ostracod abundance at pH 7.7. Generally, the assemblages maintained at pH 7.7 were not significantly different from those at ambient pH, demonstrating resistance to short-term decreased pH. The relatively high prevalence of generalist amphipods may have contributed to a net stabilizing effect on the assemblages exposed to decreased pH. Overall, our results suggest that crustacean grazer assemblages associated with D. menziesii, the dominant brown macroalgal species of the western Antarctic Peninsula, may be resistant to short-term near-future decreases in seawater pH.

Data compilation on the biological response to ocean acidification: environmental and experimental context of data sets and related literature

The exponential growth of studies on the biological response to ocean acidification over the last few decades has generated a large amount of data. To facilitate data comparison, a data compilation hosted at the data publisher PANGAEA was initiated in 2008 and is updated on a regular basis (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.149999). By January 2015, a total of 581 data sets (over 4 000 000 data points) from 539 papers had been archived. Here we present the developments of this data compilation five years since its first description by Nisumaa et al. (2010). Most of study sites from which data archived are still in the Northern Hemisphere and the number of archived data from studies from the Southern Hemisphere and polar oceans are still relatively low. Data from 60 studies that investigated the response of a mix of organisms or natural communities were all added after 2010, indicating a welcomed shift from the study of individual organisms to communities and ecosystems. The initial imbalance of considerably more data archived on calcification and primary production than on other processes has improved. There is also a clear tendency towards more data archived from multifactorial studies after 2010. For easier and more effective access to ocean acidification data, the ocean acidification community is strongly encouraged to contribute to the data archiving effort, and help develop standard vocabularies describing the variables and define best practices for archiving ocean acidification data.

Estudo comparativo entre antipsicóticos atípicos no tratamento da esquizofrenia e sua influência na qualidade de vida dos pacientes

Schizophrenia is a severe and persistent mental illness; diagnosis occurs mainly during adolescence. The pharmacological treatment is done with typical and atypical antipsychotics. Atypical have the advantage of reduced extrapyramidal effects, which make them promising for the treatment of schizophrenia, furthermore, they have shown significant metabolic and hormonal changes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of atypical antipsychotics, olanzapine and risperidone on the quality of life and on their adverse effects in schizophrenic patients. For this we analyzed the quality of life of patients with implementation of EuroQol-5D-3L instrument and performing biochemical and hormonal tests, blood pressure measurement, and measurement of anthropometric indices, besides the application of Ugvalg scales for Kliniske Undersgelser (UKU) and Simpson-Angus, who evaluated the side effects caused by drugs. Data were analyzed using the Student t test and chi-square test, with 5% significance level. The results showed that the EuroQol the antipsychotic olanzapine causes significant losses associated with personal care (p <0.001). Comparing the two groups of antipsychotics, the average years of quality-adjusted life, known per QALY was favorable for the risperidone group (p <0.032). The results of olanzapine and risperidone groups were compared. In terms of socioeconomic, it was observed that men used, the prevalent form, olanzapine (p <0.008); this same group showed the following results significantly unfavorable, related to anthropometric variables: waist circumference (p <0.01), hip circumference (p <0.02), weight (p <0.02) and blood pressure (p <0.04). The biochemical and hormonal analyzes showed that olanzapine resulted in losses related to the following variables: triglycerides (p <0.04), HDL cholesterol in men (p < 0.02) and cortisol (p < 0.01). In risperidone users, the only negative value was prolactin (p < 0.04). Regarding the analysis of the Simpson-Angus scale, the group treated with olanzapine was handicapped because the average total scores for olanzapine was 0.38, while for risperidone was 0.11 (p < 0.02). In the UKU scale, the following results were obtained also unfavorable for the olanzapine group: fatigue (P <0.02), dystonia (p <0.01) and tremor (p <0.03). According to the UKU scale, the side effects present in the risperidone group included: gynecomastia (p <0.01), ejaculatory dysfunction (p <0.02) and erectile dysfunction (p <0.02). It was concluded that olanzapine users had the worst score of quality of life, higher metabolic risks associated with overweight and inadequate lipid profile and greater tendency to extrapyramidal manifestations. However, risperidone users were more likely to adverse reactions due to hormonal changes.

Mellow Parenting : systematic review and meta-analysis of an intervention to promote sensitive parenting

Acknowledgements For part of the preparation period for this article, AM was supported by an NHS Research Scotland Career Research Fellowship. AM, LT, and PW have been involved in previous research into Mellow Parenting as well as other parenting programmes and have collaborated with the Mellow Parenting charity. PW has had travel and subsistence expenses reimbursed for attendance at a Mellow Parenting conference; otherwise the authors have not received financial recompense for any of these activities. We thank the Mellow Parenting charity for their advice about conducting this review.

A systematic review of loss of independence in Parkinson's disease

Acknowledgments We thank Dr Daan Velseboer for providing additional unpublished data for this review. We thank Dr Lorna Aucott for her comments on a draft of this paper. We are grateful for funding for this study from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government (Clinical Academic Fellowship CAF/12/05) and from Parkinson’s UK (Grant Number G-1302).

Mellow Parenting : systematic review and meta-analysis of an intervention to promote sensitive parenting

Acknowledgements For part of the preparation period for this article, AM was supported by an NHS Research Scotland Career Research Fellowship. AM, LT, and PW have been involved in previous research into Mellow Parenting as well as other parenting programmes and have collaborated with the Mellow Parenting charity. PW has had travel and subsistence expenses reimbursed for attendance at a Mellow Parenting conference; otherwise the authors have not received financial recompense for any of these activities. We thank the Mellow Parenting charity for their advice about conducting this review.

A systematic review of loss of independence in Parkinson's disease

Acknowledgments We thank Dr Daan Velseboer for providing additional unpublished data for this review. We thank Dr Lorna Aucott for her comments on a draft of this paper. We are grateful for funding for this study from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government (Clinical Academic Fellowship CAF/12/05) and from Parkinson’s UK (Grant Number G-1302).

Simulation-based education : Understanding the sociocultural complexity of a surgical training “Boot Camp”

Acknowledgements We acknowledge, with thanks the contributions, of the following people who co-designed Boot Camp: Angus JM Watson (Highland Surgical Research Unit, NHSH & UoS), Morag E Hogg (NHSH Raigmore Hospital) and Ailsa Armstrong (NHSH). We also thank Angus JM Watson and Morag E Hogg for helping with the preparation of the funding application which supported this work. Funding Our thanks to the Clinical Skills Managed Educational Network (CSMEN) of Scotland for funding this research.

22 years of Predictive Testing for Huntington’s Disease : The Experience of the UK Huntington’s Prediction Consortium

Peer reviewed

Risk of fracture amongst patients with Parkinson's disease and other forms of parkinsonism

Acknowledgements We thank all the participants who took part, the research fellows (Kate Taylor, Robert Caslake, David McGhee, Angus Macleod) and nurses (Clare Harris, Joanna Gordon, Anne Hayman, Hazel Forbes) who helped assess the participants, and the study secretaries (Susan Kilpatrick, Pam Rebecca) and data management team (Katie Wilde, David Ritchie). The PINE study was funded by the BMA Doris Hillier award, Parkinson's UK, the RS McDonald Trust, NHS Grampian Endowments, SPRING and the BUPA Foundation. None of the funders had any influence in the study design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, the writing of the report or the decision to submit the article for publication.

Predictors of functional dependency in Parkinson’s disease

Financial disclosures/conflicts of interest: Dr Macleod was funded by a Clinical Academic Fellowship from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government and received grant funding from Parkinson’s UK, the Wellcome Trust, University of Aberdeen, and NHS Grampian endowments relating to this research. Dr Counsell received grant funding from Parkinson’s UK, National Institute for Health Research, the Scottish Chief Scientist Office, the BMA Doris Hillier award, RS Macdonald Trust, the BUPA Foundation, NHS Grampian endowments and SPRING relating to this research. We declare we have no conflicts of interest. Financial support: This study was funded by Parkinson’s UK, the Scottish Chief Scientist Office, NHS Grampian endowments, the BMA Doris Hillier award, RS Macdonald Trust, the BUPA Foundation, and SPRING.