Carbon Sequestration in a Large Hydroelectric Reservoir: An Integrative Seismic Approach

Artificial reservoirs likely accumulate more carbon than natural lakes due to their unusually high sedimentation rates. Nevertheless, the actual magnitude of carbon accumulating in reservoirs is poorly known due to a lack of whole-system studies of carbon burial. We determined the organic carbon (OC) burial rate and the total OC stock in the sediments of a tropical hydroelectric reservoir by combining a seismic survey with sediment core sampling. Our data suggest that no sediment accumulation occurs along the margins of the reservoir and that irregular bottom morphology leads to irregular sediment deposition. Such heterogeneous sedimentation resulted in high spatial variation in OC burial—from 0 to 209 g C m^?2 y^?1. Based on a regression between sediment accumulation and OC burial rates (R ² = 0.94), and on the mean reservoir sediment accumulation rate (0.51 cm y^?1, from the seismic survey), the whole-reservoir OC burial rate was estimated at 42.2 g C m^?2 y^?1. This rate was equivalent to 70% of the reported carbon emissions from the reservoir surface to the atmosphere and corresponded to a total sediment OC accumulation of 0.62 Tg C since the reservoir was created. The approach we propose here allows an inexpensive and integrative assessment of OC burial in reservoirs by taking into account the high degree of spatial variability and based on a single assessment. Because burial can be assessed shortly after the survey, the approach combining a seismic survey and coring could, if applied on a larger scale, contribute to a more complete estimate of carbon stocks in freshwater systems in a relatively short period of time.     

Testing Local Adaptation in a Natural Great Tit-Malaria System: An Experimental Approach

Finding out whether Plasmodium spp. are coevolving with their vertebrate hosts is of both theoretical and applied interest and can influence our understanding of the effects and dynamics of malaria infection. In this study, we tested for local adaptation as a signature of coevolution between malaria blood parasites, Plasmodium spp. and its host, the great tit, Parus major. We conducted a reciprocal transplant experiment of birds in the field, where we exposed birds from two populations to Plasmodium parasites. This experimental set-up also provided a unique opportunity to study the natural history of malaria infection in the wild and to assess the effects of primary malaria infection on juvenile birds. We present three main findings: i) there was no support for local adaptation; ii) there was a male-biased infection rate; iii) infection occurred towards the end of the summer and differed between sites. There were also site-specific effects of malaria infection on the hosts. Taken together, we present one of the few experimental studies of parasite-host local adaptation in a natural malaria system, and our results shed light on the effects of avian malaria infection in the wild.     

Social Case-work in General Practice: An Alternative Approach

During a two-year period a senior case-worker was seconded by a voluntary family case-work agency, the Liverpool Personal Service Society, to work with three general practitioners. The commonest reasons for referral of the 157 new patients to the social worker over this study period were extreme poverty; housing, matrimonial, and psychiatric problems; and problems of fatherless families. The successful and valuable co-operation between the general practitioners, case-worker, and various specialist professional and financial services of the Society have proved that a professional social worker has an important role in the general-practice team.     

Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach

Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. Joseph A. Maxwell. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996. 155 pp.     

Successful Community Midwives in Pakistan: An Asset-Based Approach

In response to the low levels of skilled birth attendance in rural Pakistan, the government introduced a new cadre of community midwives (CMWs) in 2006. Assessments to-date have found that these CMWs have yet to emerge as significant providers for a number of sociocultural, geographic and financial reasons. However, a small number of CMWs have managed to establish functional practices in the private sector in conservative, infrastructure-challenged rural contexts. With an objective to highlight “what are the successful CMWs doing right given their context?” this paper adopts an asset-based approach to explore the experiences of the Pakistani CMWs who have managed to overcome the barriers and practice. We drew upon ethnographic data that was collected as part of a larger mixed methods study conducted in 2011–2012 in districts Jhelum and Layyah, Pakistan. Thirty eight CMWs, 45 other health care providers, 20 policymakers, 78 women, 35 husbands and 23 older women were interviewed. CMW clinics and practices were observed. Our data showed that only eight 8 out of 38 CMWs sampled were active providers. Poverty as a push factor to work and intrinsic individual-level characteristics that enabled the CMWs to respond successfully to the demands of the midwifery profession in the private sector emerged as the two key themes. Household poverty pushed the CMWs to work in this perceived low-status occupation. Their families supported them since they became the breadwinners. The successful CMWs also had an intrinsic sense of what was required to establish a private practice; they exhibited professionalism, had strong business sense and provided respectful maternity care. The study provides insight into how the program might improve its functioning by adapting its recruitment criteria to ensure selection of right candidates.     

The Avian Shoulder: An Experimental Approach

SYNOPSIS. This essay is in two parts. The first describes functionalstudies of the shoulder in modern vertebrates that led to theformulation of the hypotheses that motor patterns of homologousmuscles have been maintained during the evolution of the tetrapodshoulder, and that a primitive organization of the neural controlcomponents has persisted in derived groups. The second part of this essay focuses upon a longstanding questionin vertebrate evolution: what neuromuscular and musculoskeletalchanges in the tetrapod shoulder accompanied the evolution offlight in birds? The lack of empirical data on shoulder functionin extant birds limited our insight into this question, andprompted our initiation of experimental studies. Preliminarykinematics of the furcula and humerus of European starlings(Sturnus vulgaris) flying in a wind tunnel, as revealed by highspeed cineradiography, are presented. The two halves of thefurcula, which contact the coracoids dorsally, are bent laterallyduring downstroke and medially during upstroke by as much as60% of the intrafurcular resting distance. High speed film andelectromyographic studies of freeflying pigeons (Columba livia)reveal that the supracoracoideus muscle is strongly activatedduring wing elevation and, as predicted from studies of Varanusand Didelphis, an additional activation burst occurs at mid-downstrokein 48% of the recordings.     

An Early Late Cretaceous Dinosaur Tracksite in Central Yukon Territory,Canada

Dinosaur tracks were first reported from the coal-bearing clastic sequences of the Ross River Block in 1999 by members of a University of Alaska Museum field party, and track sites were confirmed by a joint Alaska-Yukon team in 2000. This fault-bounded sedimentary block is 3 kilometers west of Ross River, in the Yukon Territory. The discovery was followed by two years of field mapping and collection. This research has resulted in the documentation of 251 individual tracks at two separate but stratigraphically related sites, as well as a short (four-footprint) trackway at one of the sites. Six ichnogenera were identified. Ornithomimipus, Amblydactylus, and Gypsichnites were recognized at one site. At a stratigraphically higher site, four ichnogenera were documented including Tetrapodosaurus, Irenesauripus, Amblydactylus, and Columbosauripus. This ichno-assemblage is compared with those of Aptian to Cenomanian age from Alberta, British Columbia, and Alaska.

The discovery of unequivocal dinosaur evidence in a small structural inlier in the Tintina Trench that was previously assumed to be Eocene in age resulted in a restudy of the palynology and biostratigraphy of this coal-bearing sequence and the recent assignment of a middle Albian to early Cenomanian age to the upper part of the dinosaur-bearing interval.     

Designing a Fusion Protein Vaccine Against HCV: An In Silico Approach

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major global issue that leads to serious liver disease such as chronic liver inflammation and hepatocellular carcinoma. At present, no approved vaccine is available for control or treatment of HCV infection. Therefore, the development of an efficient vaccine against HCV is an urgent need. Today, designing an effective vaccine against hepatitis C is one of the outmost propriety for researchers. Fusion protein vaccines containing the immunogen proteins and adjuvant molecules are able to stimulate both humoral and cellular responses that are crucial for eradicating HCV infection. Herein, in silico design of fusion forms of vaccine candidates against HCV, including flagellin (fliC) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and NS5B antigen (NT300) from HCV was performed. First, two forms of fusion protein (NT300-fliC and fliC-NT300) were designed and analyzed using different bioinformatics tools. For this aim, the Iterative threading assembly refinement (I-TASSER) server was used for modeling the fusion forms of protein; namely, NT300-fliC and fliC-NT300, then the high-rank 3D model of fusion protein was selected, subsequently various physico-chemical, and structural parameters were examined bioinformatically. After the selection of the best construct (fliC-NT300), the interaction of flagellin part of vaccine with toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5) was evaluated via docking studies. Our results represented that based on data obtained from various servers, and the docking analyses of two constructs, fliC-NT300 fusion form showed better results than NT300-fliC. For this reason, the fliC-NT300 form was selected for further evaluations. In sum, structural and immunological computational studies showed that the fliC-NT300 can be introduced as a prophylactic or therapeutic candidate vaccine against the HCV, after the efficacy of that was confirmed via in vitro and in vivo assays.

     

Territory inheritance in clownfish

Animal societies composed of breeders and non-breeders present a challenge to evolutionary theory because it is not immediately apparent how natural selection can preserve the genes that underlie non-breeding strategies. The clownfish Amphiprion percula forms groups composed of a breeding pair and 0-4 non-breeders. Non-breeders gain neither present direct, nor present indirect benefits from the association. To determine whether non-breeders obtain future direct benefits, I investigated the pattern of territory inheritance. I show that non-breeders stand to inherit the territory within which they reside. Moreover, they form a perfect queue for breeding positions; a queue from which nobody disperses and within which nobody contests. I suggest that queuing might be favoured by selection because it confers a higher probability of attaining breeding status than either dispersing or contesting. This study illustrates that, within animal societies, individuals may tolerate non-breeding positions solely because of their potential to realize benefits in the future.     

Circadian Locomotor Activity in Freshwater Decapods: An Ecological Approach

Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity shown by freshwater decapods display different patterns among crayfish, Procambarus, and crabs, when exposed to artificial light-dark cycles. Crayfish are mainly nocturnal while a crepuscular activity is observed in crabs of the genus Pseudothelphusa. In constant darkness, free running rhythms are displayed in unimodal or bimodal patterns by crayfish Procambarus; however, Pseudothelphusa continues to show bimodal rhythms. The many studies using locomotor activity indicate that the rhythm in freshwater crabs is circadian in nature, but that a multioscillatory system may be controlling the overt rhythm. In the present study, the implications of different locomotor activity patterns are analyzed in selected freshwater decapods with regard to the interactions between light and the organisms. Crabs and crayfish are commonly found in similar habitats, often sharing the same environment; however, different patterns of locomotor activity as well as different sensitivities of the bouts of activity with regard to entrainment by light, indicate that distinct temporal niches may exist that result in temporal exclusion or low competition.     

Echinococcosis: An Economic Evaluation of a Veterinary Public Health Intervention in Rural Canada

Echinococcosis is a rare but endemic condition in people in Canada, caused by a zoonotic cestode for which the source of human infection is ingestion of parasite eggs shed by canids. The objectives of this study were to identify risk factors associated with infection and to measure the cost-utility of introducing an echinococcosis prevention program in a rural area. We analyzed human case reports submitted to the Canadian Institutes for Health Information between 2002 and 2011. Over this 10 year period, there were 48 cases associated with E. granulosus/E. canadensis, 16 with E. multilocularis, and 251 cases of echinococcosis for which species was not identified (total 315 cases). Nationally, annual incidence of echinococcosis was 0.14 cases per 100 000 people, which is likely an underestimate due to under-diagnosis and under-reporting. Risk factors for echinococcosis included female gender, age (>65 years), and residing in one of the northern territories (Nunavut, Yukon, or Northwest Territories). The average cost of treating a case of cystic echinococcosis in Canada was $8,842 CAD. Cost-utility analysis revealed that dosing dogs with praziquantel (a cestocide) at six week intervals to control cystic echinococcosis is not currently cost-effective at a threshold of $20,000-100,000 per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) gained, even in a health region with the highest incidence rate in Canada ($666,978 -755,051 per QALY gained). However, threshold analysis demonstrated that the program may become cost-saving at an echinococcosis incidence of 13-85 cases per 100,000 people and therefore, even one additional CE case in a community of 9000 people could result in the monetary benefits of the program outweighing costs.