Pheomelanin-based colouration is correlated with indices of flying strategies in the barn owl

Resource polymorphism refers to individuals from the same population foraging in alternative habitats or on alternative food. Food specialization can be associated with adaptations such as colour polymorphism, with pale and dark colours conferring differential camouflage in different habitats. Pale and dark-reddish pheomelanic Barn Owls (Tyto alba) forage on different prey species in closed and open habitats, respectively. We show here that darker-reddish owls have heavier stomach content when found dead, and their 5th secondary wing feather is more deeply anchored inside the integument. These correlations suggest that their feathers bend less when flying, and that darker-reddish Barn Owls are able sustain more intense flying than their paler conspecifics.

Activity assays and immunoassays for plasma Renin and prorenin: information provided and precautions necessary for accurate measurement.

BACKGROUND: Measurement of plasma renin is important for the clinical assessment of hypertensive patients. The most common methods for measuring plasma renin are the plasma renin activity (PRA) assay and the renin immunoassay. The clinical application of renin inhibitor therapy has thrown into focus the differences in information provided by activity assays and immunoassays for renin and prorenin measurement and has drawn attention to the need for precautions to ensure their accurate measurement. CONTENT: Renin activity assays and immunoassays provide related but different information. Whereas activity assays measure only active renin, immunoassays measure both active and inhibited renin. Particular care must be taken in the collection and processing of blood samples and in the performance of these assays to avoid errors in renin measurement. Both activity assays and immunoassays are susceptible to renin overestimation due to prorenin activation. In addition, activity assays performed with peptidase inhibitors may overestimate the degree of inhibition of PRA by renin inhibitor therapy. Moreover, immunoassays may overestimate the reactive increase in plasma renin concentration in response to renin inhibitor therapy, owing to the inhibitor promoting conversion of prorenin to an open conformation that is recognized by renin immunoassays. CONCLUSIONS: The successful application of renin assays to patient care requires that the clinician and the clinical chemist understand the information provided by these assays and of the precautions necessary to ensure their accuracy.

Open source business strategies in the domain of embedded systems

El tema de este estudio es el aumento de la comprensión teórica y empírica de la estrategia de negocio de código abierto en el dominio de sistemas embebidos por investigar modelos de negocios de código abierto, retos, recursos y capacidades operativas y dinámicas.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Summer 2006

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2003

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2003

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2004

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Summer 2004

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2005

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Summer 2005

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Open Door Newsletter of the Library, Winter 2006

The Open Door newsletter is produced by the Iowa Commission for the Blind. It is published twice a year with information about the library programs and what is going on.

Investigation of Luther City Council Violation of Open Meetings Law, 2006

Case File 0603454 The Ombudsman received a complaint on August 29, 2006 alleging violations of the Iowa Open Meetings Law by the Luther City Council (Council) in its meeting on August 2, 2006. Based upon my review of the complaint, I identified the following allegations for investigation: • The Council violated Iowa Code section 21.5 by failing to announce the reason session on the August 2, 2006 meeting agenda. • The Council violated Iowa Code section 21.5 by holding a closed session for an impermissible reason. • The Council violated Iowa Code section 21.5(2) by discussing unrelated issues in the closed session.

Instrument for assessing the quality of mobile emergency pre-hospital care: content validation

OBJECTIVES To validate an instrument to assess quality of mobile emergency pre-hospital care. METHOD A methodological study where 20 professionals gave their opinions on the items of the proposed instrument. The analysis was performed using Kappa test (K) and Content Validity Index (CVI), considering K> 0.80 and CVI ≥ 0.80. RESULTS Three items were excluded from the instrument: Professional Compensation; Job Satisfaction and Services Performed. Items that obtained adequate K and CVI indexes and remained in the instrument were: ambulance conservation status; physical structure; comfort in the ambulance; availability of material resources; user/staff safety; continuous learning; safety demonstrated by the team; access; welcoming; humanization; response time; costumer privacy; guidelines on care; relationship between professionals and costumers; opportunity for costumers to make complaints and multiprofessional conjunction/actuation. CONCLUSION The instrument to assess quality of care has been validated and may contribute to the evaluation of pre-hospital care in mobile emergency services.