Regional co-ordinator for haemophilia in domiciliary practice.

The North-east Thames Region has appointed a nursing sister to co-ordinate the organisation of care for haemophiliacs in the region. As a result of the appointment, facilities for home treatment have expanded rapidly. Several associate centres providing care to haemophiliacs have been set up around the region in addition to the four main haemophilia centres, which are all in the south-west corner of the region. As well as providing support and supervision of patients on home treatment, the co-ordinator helps to place haemophiliac children in suitable schools, maintains the regional register of haemophiliacs, and has a more general role in ensuring that services are available where they are needed throughout the region.     

Food selection by beavers

Summary Multidimensional contingency tables provide a powerful new statistical tool for analyzing interactions among several variables in an ecological study. This technique is applied to a study of selectivity in tree-cutting by two colonies of beavers in central Massachusetts.At the Blue Heron Cove colony, selection depends jointly on genus and diamter. Beavers cut birch of all diameters available but avoid large diameter maples, pines, and oaks. These beavers are choosy generalists: they show clear preferences in cutting various genera of trees for food yet they cut substantial numbers of trees of non-preferred genera. At the Tamplin Road Pond colony, discrete sites of concentrated cutting activity differ in genera and diameters of trees selected. Trees of all diameters are cut at one site close to water, small diameter trees are selected at two other sites farther from water. Ironwood is preferred at one site but selected against at two other sites. This difference between sites in generic selectivity has two plausible explanations: (1) tree species differ in nutritional and other chemical value between sites, (2) beavers sample trees of the various species present at some sites in order to assess the value of such sites as foraging areas.