Explore the vast range of titles available.

Non-native crayfish can dominate the invertebrate biomass of invaded freshwaters, with their high ecological impacts resulting in their populations being controlled by numerous methods, especially trapping. Although baited funnel traps (BTs) are commonly used, they tend to be selective in mainly catching large-bodied males. Here, the efficacy and selectivity of BTs were tested against an alternative trapping method based on artificial refuges (ARTs) that comprised of a metal base with several tubes (refuges) attached. The target species was signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus in an upland river in southwest England. Trapping was completed in April to October over two consecutive years. In total, 5897 crayfish were captured, with 87% captured in ARTs. Comparison of the catch per unit effort (CPUE) between the trapping methods in the same 24 hour periods revealed significantly higher CPUE in ARTs than of BTs. ARTs fished for 6 consecutive days had higher catches than both methods over 24 hours. Whilst catches in BTs were significantly dominated by males (1.49M:1F), the sex ratio of catches in ARTs was 0.99M:1F. The mean carapace length of crayfish was also significantly larger in BTs (43.2 ± 0.6 mm) than in ARTs (33.6 ± 0.2 mm). Thus, ARTs had higher CPUE over 24 hour and 6 day periods versus BTs and also captured a greater proportion of smaller and female individuals. These results indicate that when trapping methods are deployed for managing invasions, the use of ARTs removes substantial numbers of crayfish of both sexes and of varying body sizes. Les écrevisses non indigènes peuvent dominer la biomasse d'invertébrés des eaux douces envahies, et leur impacts écologiques élevés ont pour conséquence que leurs populations sont contrôlées par de nombreuses méthodes, en particulier le piégeage. Bien que les pièges à entonnoir appâtés (BT) soient couramment utilisés, ils ont tendance à être sélectifs surtout chez les mâles de grande taille. Ici, l'efficacité et la sélectivité des BT ont été testées par rapport à une méthode alternative de piégeage basée sur des refuges artificiels (ARTs) composés d'une base métallique avec plusieurs tubes (refuges) attachés. L'espèce cible était l'écrevisse signal Pacifastacus leniusculus dans une rivière des hautes terres du sud-ouest de l'Angleterre. Le piégeage s'est déroulé d'avril à octobre sur deux années consécutives. Au total, 5,897 écrevisses ont été capturées, dont 87% dans des ART. La comparaison des CPUE entre les méthodes de piégeage dans les mêmes périodes de 24 heures a révélé des CPUE significativement plus élevées dans les ART que dans les BT. Les ART posés pendant 6 jours consécutifs ont donné des prises plus élevées que les deux méthodes sur 24 heures. Alors que les prises dans les BT étaient significativement dominées par les mâles (1,49M: 1F), le sex-ratio des prises dans les ART était de 0,99M: 1F. La longueur moyenne de la carapace des écrevisses était également significativement plus grande chez les BT (43,2 ± 0,6 mm) que chez les ART (33,6 ± 0,2 mm). Ainsi, les ART avaient une CPUE plus élevée sur des périodes de 24 heures et de 6 jours par rapport aux BT et capturaient également une plus grande proportion d'individus plus petits et femelles. Ces résultats indiquent que lorsque des méthodes de piégeage sont utilisées pour gérer les invasions, l'utilisation des ART élimine un nombre important d'écrevisses des deux sexes et de tailles variables.

Estimates of current global rabies mortality range from 26,000 to 59,000 deaths per annum. Although pre-exposure prophylaxis using inactivated rabies virus vaccines (IRVs) is effective, it requires two to three doses and is regarded as being too expensive and impractical for inclusion in routine childhood immunization programmes. Here we report the development of a simian-adenovirus-vectored rabies vaccine intended to enable cost-effective population-wide pre-exposure prophylaxis against rabies. ChAdOx2 RabG uses the chimpanzee adenovirus serotype 68 (AdC68) backbone previously shown to achieve pre-exposure protection against rabies in non-human primates. ChAdOx2 differs from AdC68 in that it contains the human adenovirus serotype 5 (AdHu5) E4 orf6/7 region in place of the AdC68 equivalents, enhancing ease of manufacturing in cell lines which provide AdHu5 E1 proteins in trans. We show that immunogenicity of ChAdOx2 RabG in mice is comparable to that of AdC68 RabG and other adenovirus serotypes expressing rabies virus glycoprotein. High titers of rabies virus neutralizing antibody (VNA) are elicited after a single dose. The relationship between levels of VNA activity and rabies virus glycoprotein monomer-binding antibody differs after immunization with adenovirus-vectored vaccines and IRV vaccines, suggesting routes to further enhancement of the efficacy of the adenovirus-vectored candidates. We also demonstrate that ChAdOx2 RabG can be thermostabilised using a low-cost method suitable for clinical bio-manufacture and ambient-temperature distribution in tropical climates. Finally, we show that a dose-sparing effect can be achieved by formulating ChAdOx2 RabG with a simple chemical adjuvant. This approach could lower the cost of ChAdOx2 RabG and other adenovirus-vectored vaccines. ChAdOx2 RabG may prove to be a useful tool to reduce the human rabies death toll. We have secured funding for Good Manufacturing Practice- compliant bio-manufacture and Phase I clinical trial of this candidate.

Intravenous delivery of adenovirus vectors requires that the virus is not inactivated in the bloodstream. Serum neutralizing activity is well documented, but we show here that type 5 adenovirus also interacts with human blood cells. Over 90% of a typical virus dose binds to human (but not murine) erythrocytes ex vivo, and samples from a patient administered adenovirus in a clinical trial showed that over 98% of viral DNA in the blood was cell associated. In contrast, nearly all viral genomes in the murine bloodstream are free in the plasma. Adenovirus bound to human blood cells fails to infect A549 lung carcinoma cells, although dilution to below 1.7 x 10(7) blood cells/ml relieves this inhibition. Addition of blood cells can prevent infection by adenovirus that has been prebound to A549 cells. Adenovirus also associates with human neutrophils and monocytes ex vivo, particularly in the presence of autologous plasma, giving dose-dependent transgene expression in CD14-positive monocytes. Finally, although plasma with a high neutralizing titer (defined on A549 cells) inhibits monocyte infection, weakly neutralizing plasma can actually enhance monocyte transduction. This may increase antigen presentation following intravenous injection, while blood cell binding may both decrease access of the virus to extravascular targets and inhibit infection of cells to which the virus does gain access.

Adenovirus vectored vaccines are a highly effective strategy to induce cellular immune responses which are particularly effective against intracellular pathogens. Recombinant simian adenovirus vectors were developed to circumvent the limitations imposed by the use of human adenoviruses due to widespread seroprevalence of neutralising antibodies. We have constructed a replication deficient simian adenovirus-vectored vaccine (ChAdOx2) expressing 4 genes from the Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (AhpC, Gsd, p12 and mpa). Safety and T-cell immunogenicity results of the first clinical use of the ChAdOx2 vector are presented here. The trial was conducted using a ‘three-plus-three’ dose escalation study design. We demonstrate the vaccine is safe, well tolerated and immunogenic.

The rise of obesity in the UK has led to greater numbers of patients requiring bariatric surgery. This article provides an overview of the two main types of surgery available: laparoscopic adjustable gastric band and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. The nurse's role in pre-operative assessment and post-operative care are discussed. Strategies to maintain weight loss are suggested to ensure optimum outcomes of surgery and to improve patients' quality of life.

Many methods of controlling invasive crayfishes have limited success because they fail to target all life stages of the population, notably by capturing only large adults that can result in increased juvenile recruitment by removing intraspecific predation. An alternative approach uses the sterile male release technique that involves the mass release of sterile males into the environment, which then mate with fertile females, resulting in unfertilised eggs and, ultimately, reduced juvenile recruitment. This does, however, rely on the sterilised males exhibiting behaviours similar to non-sterilised (entire) males and remaining attractive to females during mate choice. Post-copulatory male guarding behaviour and female promiscuity might also be affected by male sterilisation. To test for the presence of normal reproductive behaviours in sterilised male American signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus, a two-stage experiment examined how sterilisation affects female mate choice and promiscuity, male hierarchical status (relative dominance) and post-copulation guarding. Sterilised males showed similar reproductive behaviours to entire males and remained as attractive to females, with no differences in relative dominance. Post-copulation, guarding behaviours were also unaffected. Females did not display promiscuous behaviour and this was unaffected by whether males were entire or sterilised. The results demonstrated that sterilised males were equally as capable as entire males of achieving dominance and winning mates. In combination, these findings suggest that male sterilisation could be an effective control technique to help reduce juvenile recruitment in wild P. leniusculus populations by reducing reproductive success.

Career Development supplement. A recipient of an RCN travel scholarship describes her visit to the Western Bariatric Institute in Reno, Nevada and how the experience has helped her to develop bariatric surgery nursing skills in the UK. [(BNI unique abstract)] 0 references

Yes - online 'paid for' advertising has its time and place,butwhen it comes to the truly great things that can be achieved digitally it is all about what you can do below the line. The digital media revolution plays out as 'PR 2.0' not'adveitising2.0'.JohnMcCain could have bought as much banner advertising on sites as his federal- capped budget would allow - but it would not have won hearts and minds.