Control of arbovirus infections by a coordinated response: West Nile Virus in England and Wales

Although there is no recognized transmission of human arboviral infections in the UK, concerns about the possible spread of West Nile virus (WNV) have precipitated coordinated activities around both surveillance and response. The Department of Health has chaired a UK WNV task force since the end of 2000. This is a multidisciplinary group of senior representatives from Agencies and Government Departments involved in human and animal health, entomology and academic departments. Activities include surveillance for WNV infections in humans, and in dead birds, mosquitoes and horses. All have been negative for WNV. A WNV contingency plan was produced in 2004, and this could be used as a generic plan for an effective and coordinated response in the event of the emergence of a new vector-borne zoonotic infection.     

West Wind Drift revisited: testing for directional dispersal in the Southern Hemisphere using event-based tree fitting

Aim Recent studies suggest that if constrained by prevailing wind or ocean currents dispersal may produce predictable, repeated distribution patterns. Dispersal mediated by the West Wind Drift (WWD) and Antarctic Circumpolar Current (AAC) has often been invoked to explain the floristic similarities of Australia, South America and New Zealand. If these systems have been important dispersal vectors then eastward dispersal – from Australia to New Zealand and the western Pacific to South America – is expected to predominate. We investigate whether phylogenies for Southern Hemisphere plant groups provide evidence of historical dispersal asymmetry and more specifically whether inferred asymmetries are consistent with the direction of the WWD/AAC. Location Southern Hemisphere. Methods We assembled a data set of 23 published phylogenies for plant groups that occur in New Zealand, Australia and/or South America. We used parsimony‐based tree fitting to infer the number and direction of dispersals within each group. Observed dispersal asymmetries were tested for significance against a distribution of expected values. Results Our analyses suggest that dispersal has played a major role in establishing present distributions and that there are significant patterns of asymmetry in Southern Hemisphere dispersal. Consistent with the eastward direction of the WWD/ACC, dispersal from Australia to New Zealand was inferred significantly more often than in the reverse direction. No significant patterns of dispersal asymmetry were found between the western Pacific landmasses and South America. However, eastward dispersal was more frequently inferred between Australia and South America, while for New Zealand–South American events westward dispersal was more common. Main conclusions Our results suggest that eastward circumpolar currents have constrained the dispersal of plants between Australia and New Zealand. However, the WWD/ACC appear to have had less of an influence on dispersal between the western Pacific landmasses and South America. This observation may suggest that differences in dispersal mechanism are important – direct wind or water dispersal vs. stepping‐stone dispersal along the Antarctic coast. While our analyses provide useful preliminary insights into dispersal asymmetry in the Southern Hemisphere we will need larger data sets and additional methodological advances in order to test fully these dispersal patterns and infer processes from phylogenetic data.     

引水和疏浚工程对杭州西湖轮虫群落结构的影响

1990年、1995年和2003年观察了引水和疏浚工程支配下浅水、富营养化杭州西湖（Ⅰ-Ⅲ站）浮游轮虫的群落变化,研究内容包括种类组成和优势种演变、密度和生物量、以及生物多样性指数。西湖轮虫的第一优势种由引水前的螺形龟甲轮虫（Keratella cochelearis）,引水后演变为1990年的裂痕龟纹轮虫（Anuraeopsis fissa）和1995年的暗小异尾轮虫（Trichocerca pusilla）,疏浚工程后针簇多肢轮虫（Polyarthra trigla）上升为西湖轮虫第一优势种。不同采样站中,引水促使了Ⅰ站（进水口）轮虫优势种的演变和轮虫丰度的显著下降,并使轮虫生物量与水体叶绿素a含量之间的相关性最强（相关系数达0.7080,p〈0.01）;疏浚促使了Ⅲ站（出水口）轮虫优势种的演变和抑制了轮虫丰度的快速增加,并使轮虫生物量与水体高锰酸盐指数之间的相关性最强（相关系数0.5440,p〈0.25）。Ⅰ-Ⅲ站轮虫生物量与水体综合营养状态指数之间均有显著的正相关性。随着引入西湖水量的显著减少、疏浚工程的实施和西湖自身富营养化的推进,Ⅰ站和Ⅱ站轮虫的丰度急剧增加,生物多样性持续下降,Ⅲ站轮虫丰度增加较缓。这预示着Ⅰ站和Ⅱ站水体的富营养化进程快于Ⅲ站。     

中国甘肃南部沟颈螺属一新种(柄眼目,艾纳螺总科)

描述了栖息于甘肃南部的陆生贝类艾纳螺科1新种,诺氏沟颈螺Holcauchen nordsiecki sp.nov..与各已知种相比,诺氏沟颈螺的体螺层和次体螺层最膨大;腔壁齿极弱;腭壁板齿阙如;腭壁凹陷极微弱;具上大下小2枚轴唇齿;在生殖系统中,鞭状器小;成荚器无盲囊;具纳精囊管分支盲管.诺氏沟颈螺,新种Holcauchen nordsiecki sp.nov.(图1～6)新种的鉴别特征:体螺层与次体螺层最膨大;腔壁齿极弱;无腭壁板齿;腭壁凹陷极微弱;轴唇齿2枚,上大下小.鞭状器小;成荚器无盲囊;纳精囊管具分支盲管.贝壳:螺层数6.25 ～ 6.88;壳高6.9 ～7.0 mm;壳径2.4～2.7 mm.正模,HBUMM06664-specimen 1,具软体部的成体;甘肃文县(33°05′N,104°21′E;海拔1 269m),2011-08-09;吴岷、徐沁、Prem B.Buhda采.副模,HBUMM06664-specimen 2～3,2头具软体部的成体;HBUMM06664-specimen 4,1枚成熟空壳;采集数据同正模.词源:新种种名源自德国贝类学家Hartmut Nordsieck的姓氏;名词.     

Extinction thresholds and negative responses of Afrotropical ant-following birds to forest cover loss in oil palm and agroforestry landscapes

Afrotropical ant-following birds are vulnerable to forest loss and disturbance, but critical habitat thresholds regarding their abundance and species richness in human-dominated landscapes, including industrial oil palm plantations, have never been assessed. We measured forest cover through Landsat imagery and recorded species richness and relative abundance of 20 ant-following birds in 48 plots of 1-km², covering three landscapes of Southwest Cameroon: Korup National Park, smallholder agroforestry areas (with farms embedded in forest), and an industrial oil palm plantation. We evaluated differences in encounter frequency and species richness among landscapes, and the presence of critical thresholds through enhanced adaptive regression through hinges. All species were detected in Korup National Park and the agroforestry landscape, which had similar forest cover (>85%). Only nine species were found in the oil palm plantation (forest cover = 10.3 ± 3.3%). At the 1-km² scale, the number of species and bird encounters were comparable in agroforests and the protected area: mean species richness ranged from 12.2 ± 0.6 in the park and 12.2 ± 0.6 in the agroforestry matrix to 1.0 ± 0.4 in the industrial oil palm plantation; whereas encounters decreased from 34.4 ± 3.2 to 26.1 ± 2.9 and 1.3 ± 0.4, respectively. Bird encounters decreased linearly with decreasing forest cover, down to an extinction threshold identified at 24% forest cover. Species richness declined linearly by ca. one species per 7.4% forest cover lost. We identified an extinction threshold at 52% forest cover for the most sensitive species (Criniger chloronotus, Dicrurus atripennis, and Neocossyphus poensis). Our results show that substantial proportions of forests are required to sustain complete ant-following bird assemblages in Afrotropical landscapes and confirm the high sensitivity of this bird guild to deforestation after industrial oil palm development. Securing both forest biodiversity and food production in an Afrotropical production landscape may be best attained through a combination of protected areas and wildlife-friendly agroforestry.     

Establishment of a General Medicine Residency Training Program in Rural West Africa

Ghana, a developing country in West Africa, has major medical burdens in taking care of a large population with limited resources. Its three medical schools produce more than 200 graduates per year, but most emigrate to developed lands after training. Ghana is working to educate and retain locally trained physicians, but it is difficult to get them to work in rural settings where the need is greatest. This article details the establishment of a General Medicine residency at a 150-bed hospital in rural Ghana. Early training comprises 6 months each in Medicine, Surgery, OB/GYN, and Pediatrics; the hospital in Techiman also has a Surgery residency. House officers choose the program for more hands-on experience than they can get in larger centers. They perform many tasks, including surgery, sooner and more independently than do residents in developed countries. The training program includes a morning report, clinical teaching rounds, and rotations on in-patient wards and in the Emergency Department and clinics. Teaching focuses on history, physical examination, good communication, and proper follow-up, with rigorous training in the OR and some clinical research projects pertinent to Ghana. Trainees work hard and learn from one another, from a dedicated faculty, and by evaluating and treating very sick patients. Ghana’s rural residencies offer rigorous and attractive training, but it is too soon to tell whether this will help stem the “brain drain” of young physicians out of West Africa.     

The binding of divalent metal ions to polyelectrolytes in mixed counterion systems. I. The dye spectrophotometric method

The dye spectrophotometric method for the measurement of the activity of divalent metal ions in polyelectrolyte solutions containing added electrolytes is discussed.The method is applied to mixtures containing the dextransulfate polyanion, NaCl, and MgCl2 or Ca2. A two wavelength ratio method as applied to polyelectrolyte solutions is compared to the standard method which makes use of the previous determination of the dye-metal ion formation constant. The ratio method is found to be a convenient and reliable method which is not influenced by decomposition of the dye or by statistical errors in the extrapolation procedure. The activity coefficients as determined by the two wavelength dye spectrophotometric method are compared to results of Donnan exclusion measurements, and of EMF measurements using a calcium ion selective electrode. The results of the spectrophotometric method are equal to those of the two other methods within the limits of error in the latter. The spectrophotometric measurements can extend to much lower ion activaties than the other two methods, and can be done in the presence of a large excess of added electrolyte, yielding results of considerably improved precision when compared to Donnan and EMF methods.     

西北干旱荒漠区种子植物科的区系分析

西北干旱荒漠区分布有种子植物82科、484属、1704种,优势现象明显,优势科11个,它们是菊科、豆科、禾本科、藜科,十字花科、蓼科,莎草科、毛莨科、蔷薇科、唇形科和百合科;表征科8个,它们是香蒲科,麻黄科,柽柳科、蒺藜科,胡颓子科、藜科、眼子菜科和蓼科。地理成分多样,其中以世界广布成分为主,共37科,占总科数的45.12%,其次为温带成分（包括热带至温带,亚热带至温带,温带,温带至寒带）,共有31科,占总科数的37.80%,热带成分,热带致亚热带成分较少,共14科,占总科数的17.07%。这些反映出植物的分布与本地区气候相适应的特点。     

Taxonomic assessment of opal phytoliths from grasses of deltaic West Bengal,India

In the present study, taxonomic potential of opal phytoliths was examined in grasses from lower Gangetic delta, West Bengal, India. The study revealed that finer classification of phytoliths can increase the efficacy of opal silica as taxonomic proxy by minimizing the influences of multiplicity and redundancy. We isolated 187 phytolith sub‐morphotypes, categorized under 10 major groups, from 110 grass species belonging to 45 genera, 21 sub‐tribes, 13 tribes and 7 subfamilies. Cluster and correspondence analyses showed that all the significantly represented subfamilies can be clearly distinguished on the basis of either principal morphotypes or sub‐morphotypes. However, genus/species level discrimination may only be possible by deploying phytolith based identification key developed by utilizing detailed grass phytolith micro‐morphometry and frequency attributes. We conclude that grass phytolith characteristics provide useful and significant information for distinguishing grass taxa of deltaic West Bengal.