Cigarette smuggling finds a home in the West

Four years ago the tobacco-smuggling situation was so bad that the federal government reduced its tobacco taxes. All provinces in the East save Newfoundland followed suit by lowering provincial taxes as well. The western provinces adamantly refused to do this. Today, cartons of cigarettes that sell for $26 in Ontario cost roughly $45 west of the Ontario border. The result, says David Square, is that tobacco smuggling is now a thriving industry in western Canada.     

Factors associated with home visiting in an inner London general practice.

We decided to examine the services provided by doctors in an inner London practice for domiciliary care. It was expected that the study would highlight the most relevant questions and variables related to access and uptake of this service; it would thus contribute to the design of an accurate procedure for auditing the pattern of delivery of home care to be conducted in the practice in the future. During the study period, 1976-81, there were 90 500 doctor-patient contacts. For patients up to the age of 10 years the proportion of home visits was 9.2%, falling to 2.2% in the age group 20 to 29; then there is a quasi plateau till the age of 60. After 60 the proportion of home visits doubles in each of the following 10 year age groups, reaching 54% in the over 80s. The proportion of home visits (standardised by age) rises from social class II (8.0%) to social class V (10.0%), but is higher in social class I (11.7%). The proportion of home visits according to distance from the practice rises from 8.2% near the health centre to 9.6% at a distance of 0.25 to 0.50 mile, and drops to 8.8% beyond 0.75 mile. The distance effect is not consistent when the social class dimension is added: social classes I and II have higher proportions of home visits in certain age and distance groups. Single people have the lowest proportion of home visits (6.8%); there are large differences between men and women among widowed (14.1% and 8.6% respectively) and divorced or separated (7.0% and 10.7% respectively) patients. There are important variations in the proportions of home visits made by the doctors in the practice, the trainees carrying out proportionally many more home visits. Data collected in the practice can be used to define specific issues for future audit exercises. Furthermore, sociodemographic characteristics of patients have been shown to be associated with use and access to medical services.     

How Nemo finds home: the neuroecology of dispersal and of population connectivity in larvae of marine fishes

Nearly all demersal teleost marine fishes have pelagic larval stages lasting from several days to several weeks, during which time they are subject to dispersal. Fish larvae have considerable swimming abilities, and swim in an oriented manner in the sea. Thus, they can influence their dispersal and thereby, the connectivity of their populations. However, the sensory cues marine fish larvae use for orientation in the pelagic environment remain unclear. We review current understanding of these cues and how sensory abilities of larvae develop and are used to achieve orientation with particular emphasis on coral-reef fishes. The use of sound is best understood; it travels well underwater with little attenuation, and is current-independent but location-dependent, so species that primarily utilize sound for orientation will have location-dependent orientation. Larvae of many species and families can hear over a range of ~100-1000 Hz, and can distinguish among sounds. They can localize sources of sounds, but the means by which they do so is unclear. Larvae can hear during much of their pelagic larval phase, and ontogenetically, hearing sensitivity, and frequency range improve dramatically. Species differ in sensitivity to sound and in the rate of improvement in hearing during ontogeny. Due to large differences among-species within families, no significant differences in hearing sensitivity among families have been identified. Thus, distances over which larvae can detect a given sound vary among species and greatly increase ontogenetically. Olfactory cues are current-dependent and location-dependent, so species that primarily utilize olfactory cues will have location-dependent orientation, but must be able to swim upstream to locate sources of odor. Larvae can detect odors (e.g., predators, conspecifics), during most of their pelagic phase, and at least on small scales, can localize sources of odors in shallow water, although whether they can do this in pelagic environments is unknown. Little is known of the ontogeny of olfactory ability or the range over which larvae can localize sources of odors. Imprinting on an odor has been shown in one species of reef-fish. Celestial cues are current- and location-independent, so species that primarily utilize them will have location-independent orientation that can apply over broad scales. Use of sun compass or polarized light for orientation by fish larvae is implied by some behaviors, but has not been proven. Use of neither magnetic fields nor direction of waves for orientation has been shown in marine fish larvae. We highlight research priorities in this area.     

Patterns of goal attainment among young mothers in a home visiting program

This paper examined heterogeneity in parents’ patterns of goal attainment following home visiting. Young mothers (n = 696) participating in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluation of a statewide home visiting program were classified, using latent class analysis (LCA), according to their pattern of goal attainment (i.e., educational attainment, employment, parenting, personal functioning) two years postpartum. We explored direct and indirect (via social connectedness) associations between program participation and goal attainment. LCA revealed four classes: (a) High Education & Employment/High Parenting & Personal Functioning (n = 286, 41%); (b) High Education & Employment/Low Parenting & Personal Functioning (n = 212, 30%); (c) Low Education & Employment/Low Parenting & Personal Functioning (n = 71, 10%); and (d) Low Education & Employment/High Parenting & Personal Functioning (n = 127, 18%). Home visiting was not directly associated with class membership, but indirectly through social connectedness. This paper contributes to understanding home visiting impacts.     

Biogeography of living and fossil Nitellopsis (Charophyta) in relationship to new finds from Morocco

Aim To document the distribution of two closely related macrophyte species, the fossil Nitellopsis (Tectochara) merianii (A. Braun ex Unger) Grambast & Soulié‐Märsche and Nitellopsis obtusa (Desvaux) J. Groves, the single living species of genus Nitellopsis and to draw the relationships between first finds of N. merianii in North Africa and previously known records. Location South part of the High Atlas Range, Aït Kandoula basin, Morocco. Methods New finds of fossil charophyte gyrogonites were determined and illustrated. Using a large bibliographic database of both fossil and extant charophytes, we depict the biogeographical distribution N. merianii and N. obtusa and summarize the ecological requirements of N. obtusa as a modern analogue. Results The Aït Kandoula deposits, dated by magnetostratigraphy and vertebrate fossils to Upper Miocene, provided the first fossil populations of N. merianii in Africa. The distribution patterns of the Tertiary N. merianii and the living N. obtusa superimpose on a large area that extends from Spain to East Asia and characterize them as typically Eurasian taxa indicative for permanent, relatively cold and deep freshwater lakes. During the Quaternary, similar palaeolakes in the Sahara were colonized by N. obtusa. Main conclusions The presence of the Eurasian species N. merianii in North Africa is the result of dispersal by migratory waterbirds and attests to N–S migration occurring during the Upper Miocene (10–5 Myr ago). Gyrogonites imported from Southern Europe could germinate and fulfil their life cycle so as to form a new seed bank of gyrogonites because they had been deposited in a suitable environment consisting of a freshwater mountain lake.     

A new program for biomonitoring status and trends in the environment

Environmental contaminants threaten the biological integrity of aquatic and semi-aquatic communities both inside and outside of U.S. National Wildlife Refuges (Refuges). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. National Biological Survey are developing a new biomonitoring program, the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) Program. The BEST Program is being designed to respond to the effects of contemporary environmental contaminant problems associated with fish and wildlife and their habitats. When fully operational, BEST will evaluate the effects of contaminants on fish and wildlife resources; identify and prioritize national, regional, and local contaminant issues for decision makers; monitor national trends of the presence and effects of contaminants; and provide baseline information to support various contaminant investigation activities. The BEST Program will use an integrated network to evaluate contaminant impacts at the tissue, organism, population, community, and ecosystem levels. The sampling approach will be designed around two major components, trust resources on FWS lands (primarily Refuges) and trust species and their habitats outside of FWS lands. The BEST Program is adopting bioassessment techniques from four broad categories including ecological surveys, biomarkers, bioassays and toxicity tests, and residue analysis. Pilot and demonstration projects will be conducted through fiscal year 1997.     

Modeling the distribution of new MRI cortical lesions in multiple sclerosis longitudinal studies

Objective

Recent studies have shown the relevance of the cerebral grey matter involvement in multiple sclerosis (MS). The number of new cortical lesions (CLs), detected by specific MRI sequences, has the potential to become a new research outcome in longitudinal MS studies. Aim of this study is to define the statistical model better describing the distribution of new CLs developed over 12 and 24 months in patients with relapsing-remitting (RR) MS.

Methods

Four different models were tested (the Poisson, the Negative Binomial, the zero-inflated Poisson and the zero-inflated Negative Binomial) on a group of 191 RRMS patients untreated or treated with 3 different disease modifying therapies. Sample size for clinical trials based on this new outcome measure were estimated by a bootstrap resampling technique.

Results

The zero-inflated Poisson model gave the best fit, according to the Akaike criterion to the observed distribution of new CLs developed over 12 and 24 months both in each treatment group and in the whole RRMS patients group adjusting for treatment effect.

Conclusions

The sample size calculations based on the zero-inflated Poisson model indicate that randomized clinical trials using this new MRI marker as an outcome are feasible.     

The impact of a new geriatric program in a hospital for the chronically ill.

Reports of the rapidly increasing proportion of persons aged 65 years and more in Canada and the resultant need for changes in the country''s health care system prompted experimental changes in the operation and training procedures at St. Mary''s of the Lake Hospital, Kingston, Ont. Aimed at better patient care and at better education of medical house staff in geriatrics and long-term care, the revised program is permeated with the philosophy of rehabilitation. It includes full-time staff, a geriatric outpatient clinic, a day hospital, a team approach to patient care (with regular team audits), problem-oriented medical records, a formal physical medicine section with a district inpatient unit, and an intensive inservice education program. After the first year of the program patient outcome had improved and more efficient use was being made of continuing care beds because of larger numbers of patinets being discharged home after shorter stays. This may be one avenue for deceleration of our country''s dismal rate of institutionalization.     

RAP: a new computer program for de novo identification of repeated sequences in whole genomes

MOTIVATION: DNA repeats are a common feature of most genomic sequences. Their de novo identification is still difficult despite being a crucial step in genomic analysis and oligonucleotides design. Several efficient algorithms based on word counting are available, but too short words decrease specificity while long words decrease sensitivity, particularly in degenerated repeats. RESULTS: The Repeat Analysis Program (RAP) is based on a new word-counting algorithm optimized for high resolution repeat identification using gapped words. Many different overlapping gapped words can be counted at the same genomic position, thus producing a better signal than the single ungapped word. This results in better specificity both in terms of low-frequency detection, being able to identify sequences repeated only once, and highly divergent detection, producing a generally high score in most intron sequences. AVAILABILITY: The program is freely available for non-profit organizations, upon request to the authors. CONTACT: giorgio.valle@unipd.it SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The program has been tested on the Caenorhabditis elegans genome using word lengths of 12, 14 and 16 bases. The full analysis has been implemented in the UCSC Genome Browser and is accessible at http://genome.cribi.unipd.it.     

Children Domestic Accidents Profile in Jazan Region,a call for new policies to improve safety of home environment

High-frequency home accidents draw more attention to the protection of our home environment. WHO has reported that home deaths were among the first 20 causes of death in the 0–14 age group worldwide in 2012. This innovative research was designed to examine children under 15 years of age at home, in 2018 in the Jazan area of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected retrospectively from 19 hospitals in the Jazan area of southern Saudi Arabia during the period from September to December 2019. Data showed that, for the first time, the incidence rate of child home incidents in the Jazan area was 7.4 per 100 children in 2018. Falling, burning, swallowing foreign bodies, and domestic violence were among the most common types of injuries recorded. Home safety continued to be one of the main public health issues in the area with 29,812 home injuries in 1 year, 36.8% bone fractures, 31.6% body distortions, 9.2% distortion fractures and 5.3% child impairment. This study is a crucial step towards addressing the severity of home accidents in Saudi Arabia; troubling figures need further analysis, regular registry, informed policies and well-planned action to avoid these types of accidents.     

Evaluation of the new software program DegifXL4 in the determination of the glycaemic indices of foodstuffs

Aims: There is no standardized protocol for measuring glycemic index (GI) that takes time-of-day effects into account. The software DegifXL2 and Medtronic-Minimed's CGMS and Solutions, makes the GI calculation at breakfast and dinner time possible. The aim of this study was to assess the enhanced data processing software (DegifXL4) enabling the GI calculation at breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner times. Methods: The glucose levels of 20 healthy volunteers were monitored after they consumed either 50 g of glucose or one of ten alternative foodstuffs either for breakfast and dinner or for lunch or snack. Within the 9-day test period, 10 such meals were monitored in 3 replicates for each volunteer. Specifically, CGMS was used to monitor plasma glucose levels at 5-minute intervals for a period of 120 min following the foodstuff ingestion. Results: Using the enhanced spreadsheed DegifXL 4, a total of 640 profiles were obtained and 491 (77 %) accomplished the criteria for further processing. The percentage of successful tests in each foodstuff varied from 57 to 87 %. Conclusions: The use of the new software DegifXL4 offers accurate GI estimates for foodstuffs eaten for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinners in three replicates. In combination with the CGMS Solutions Software is DegifXL4 an enhanced efficient and comfortable way to routinely measure GI values.     

A preliminary study of oligochaetes in Poyang Lake,the largest freshwater lake of China,and its vicinity,with description of a new species of Limnodrilus

The oligochaete fauna of the largest freshwater lake of China, Poyang Lake, has never been investigated before. On the basis of a preliminary survey in the lake and its vicinity in 1997–1999, 25 species belonging to 20 genera and 5 families are recorded. Among them, one genus, Cernosvitoviella (Enchytraeidae), and two species, Bratislavia unidentata (Naididae), Potamothrix bedoti (Tubificidae), are recorded from China for the first time. Another tubificid, Limnodrilus paramblysetus sp. nov., is new to science. It is similar to L. amblysetus Brinkhurst et al., 1990 in chaetal shape but differs in having short hooded penis sheaths.