The life and death of barn beetles: faunas from manure and stored hay inside farm buildings in northern Iceland

1. Subfossil beetle remains from archaeological sites have proven invaluable for examining past living conditions, human activities, and their impacts on landscapes and ecosystems. 2. In Iceland, specific economic practices (e.g. land management and natural resource exploitation) and major historical events (i.e. colonisation, economic intensification and commercialisation, and urbanisation) have affected local environments and left recognisable traces in the beetle subfossil record. 3. Understanding the ecology of synanthropic beetles is crucial if they are to be employed in high‐resolution reconstructions of past lifeways and their ecological impacts, yet, because buildings' interiors are rarely the object of systematic entomological research, the ecological requirements of many such species are poorly understood. 4. A survey was conducted of live and dead beetle faunas from habitats that have so far been largely neglected by entomological research: stable manure and stored hay inside farm buildings, two key facets of a northern European pastoral economy. 5. The present results clarify the ecological requirements of some under‐studied synanthropic beetles and the processes by which their exoskeletons may become incorporated into the archaeological record while also producing new records of exotic species recently introduced to Iceland. 6. This paper provides crucial guidance for the interpretation of archaeological beetle assemblages and highlights the potential of further investigations of indoor insect faunas for clarifying the causes, processes, and ecological impacts of recent bio‐invasions.     

Large scale production of phage antibody libraries using a bioreactor

One of the limitations of the use of phage antibody libraries in high throughput selections is the production of sufficient phage antibody library at the appropriate quality. Here, we successfully adapt a bioreactor-based protocol for the production of phage peptide libraries to the production of phage antibody libraries. The titers obtained in the stirred-tank bioreactor are 4 to 5 times higher than in a standard shake flask procedure, and the quality of the phage antibody library produced is indistinguishable to that produced using standard procedures as assessed by Western blotting and functional selections. Availability of this protocol will facilitate the use of phage antibody libraries in high-throughput scale selections.     

The Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 is reliable in young high-level soccer players

The aim of the study was to investigate test reliability of the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YYIR1) in 36 high-level youth soccer players, aged between 13 and 18 years. Players were divided into three age groups (U15, U17 and U19) and completed three YYIR1 in three consecutive weeks. Pairwise comparisons were used to investigate test reliability (for distances and heart rate responses) using technical error (TE), coefficient of variation (CV), intra-class correlation (ICC) and limits of agreement (LOA) with Bland-Altman plots. The mean YYIR1 distances for the U15, U17 and U19 groups were 2024 ± 470 m, 2404 ± 347 m and 2547 ± 337 m, respectively. The results revealed that the TEs varied between 74 and 172 m, CVs between 3.0 and 7.5%, and ICCs between 0.87 and 0.95 across all age groups for the YYIR1 distance. For heart rate responses, the TEs varied between 1 and 6 bpm, CVs between 0.7 and 4.8%, and ICCs between 0.73 and 0.97. The small ratio LOA revealed that any two YYIR1 performances in one week will not differ by more than 9 to 28% due to measurement error. In summary, the YYIR1 performance and the physiological responses have proven to be highly reliable in a sample of Belgian high-level youth soccer players, aged between 13 and 18 years. The demonstrated high level of intermittent endurance capacity in all age groups may be used for comparison of other prospective young soccer players.     

Comparing ambient, air-convection, and fluid-convection heating techniques in treating hypothermic burn patients, a clinical RCT

Background

Hypothermia in burns is common and increases morbidity and mortality. Several methods are available to reach and maintain normal core body temperature, but have not yet been evaluated in critical care for burned patients. Our unit's ordinary technique for controlling body temperature (Bair Hugger^®+ radiator ceiling + bed warmer + Hotline^®) has many drawbacks e.g.; slow and the working environment is hampered. The aim of this study was to compare our ordinary heating technique with newly-developed methods: the Allon?2001 Thermowrap (a temperature regulating water-mattress), and Warmcloud (a temperature regulating air-mattress).

Methods

Ten consecutive burned patients (> 20% total burned surface area and a core temperature < 36.0°C) were included in this prospective, randomised, comparative study. Patients were randomly exposed to 3 heating methods. Each treatment/measuring-cycle lasted for 6 hours. Each heating method was assessed for 2 hours according to a randomised timetable. Core temperature was measured using an indwelling (bladder) thermistor. Paired t-tests were used to assess the significance of differences between the treatments within the patients. ANOVA was used to assess the differences in temperature from the first to the last measurement among all treatments. Three-way ANOVA with the Tukey HSD post hoc test and a repeated measures ANOVA was used in the same manner, but included information about patients and treatment/measuring-cycles to control for potential confounding. Data are presented as mean (SD) and (range). Probabilities of less than 0.05 were accepted as significant.

Results

The mean increase, 1.4 (SD 0.6°C; range 0.6-2.6°C) in core temperature/treatment/measuring-cycle highly significantly favoured the Allon?2001 Thermowrap in contrast to the conventional method 0.2 (0.6)°C (range -1.2 to 1.5°C) and the Warmcloud 0.3 (0.4)°C (range -0.4 to 0.9°C). The procedures for using the Allon?2001 Thermowrap were experienced to be more comfortable and straightforward than the conventional method or the Warmcloud.

Conclusions

The Allon?2001 Thermowrap was more effective than the Warmcloud or the conventional method in controlling patients' temperatures.