Estimating mortality of small passerine birds colliding with wind turbines.

As demand for renewable energy is rising, wind power development is rapidly growing worldwide. In its wake, conflicts arise over land use changes converting pristine nature into industrial power plants and its associated adverse biodiversity effects, crowned by one of the most obvious and deadly consequences: bird collisions. Most post-construction studies report low levels of avian mortality, but the majority of these studies are conducted primarily on larger birds. However, the diversity and abundance of small passerine birds are rarely reflected in the carcass surveys, although they in numeric proportion to their abundances should be the most numerous. The assumption that surveys find all carcasses seems thus rarely fulfilled and passerine mortality is likely to be grossly underestimated. We therefore designed an experiment with dummy birds to estimate mortality of small-bodied passerines and other small-bodied birds during post-construction surveys, tested in a medium-sized wind farm in western Norway. The wind farm was surveyed weekly during the migration periods by carcass survey teams using trained dogs to find killed birds. The dogs in the carcass surveys were more successful in locating the large than the small dummy birds (60-200 g), where they found 74% of the large dummy birds. Detecting the smaller category (5-24 g) was more demanding and the dogs only found 17% of the small dummy birds. Correcting the post-construction carcass survey outcome with the results from the experiment leads to an almost fourfold increase in estimated mortality rates, largely due to the low detection rate of the smallest category. The detection rates will naturally vary between wind farms, depending on the specific habitat characteristics, the efficiency of the carcass surveys and the search intervals. Thus, implementing a simple experiment with dummy birds to future post-construction surveys will produce more accurate estimates of the wind turbine mortality rates, and thus improve our understanding of the biodiversity effects of conforming to a more sustainable future.

Territory location and quality, together with climate, affect the timing of breeding in the white-throated dipper.

Recent climate change has led to advanced spring phenology in many temperate regions. The phenological response to variation in the local environment, such as the habitat characteristics of the territories birds occupy, is less clear. The aim of this study is to understand how ecological conditions affect breeding time, and its consequences for reproduction, in a white-throated dipper Cinclus cinclus population in a river system in Norway during 34 years (1978-2011). Hatching date advanced almost nine days, indicating a response to higher temperatures and the advanced phenology in the area. Earlier breeding was found in warm springs and at lower altitudes. High population density facilitated earlier breeding close to the coast. Furthermore, when population density was low, breeding was early at territories that were rarely occupied, while in years with high density, breeding was early at territories that were frequently occupied. Also, when population density was low, earlier breeding occurred at territories that on average produced more offspring than other territories, while there was no difference in breeding time in high population years. Selection for early breeding was dependent on spring temperatures and high spring temperatures contributed to higher breeding success during the study period. We found that breeding phenology may have strong effects on fitness in the white-throated dipper, and thus that breeding time is an important ecological factor in a species that feeds mainly on aquatic rather than terrestrial prey.

Doubly Reactive INS-IGF2 Autoantibodies in Children with Newly Diagnosed Autoimmune (type 1) Diabetes.

The splice variant INS-IGF2 entails the preproinsulin signal peptide, the insulin B-chain, eight amino acids of the C-peptide and 138 unique amino acids from an ORF in the IGF2 gene. The aim of this study was to determine whether levels of specific INS-IGF2 autoantibodies (INS-IGF2A) were related to age at diagnosis, islet autoantibodies, HLA-DQ or both, in patients and controls with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. Patients (n = 676), 0-18 years of age, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1996-2005 and controls (n = 363) were analysed for specific INS-IGF2A after displacement with both cold insulin and INS-IGF2 to correct for non-specific binding and identify double reactive sera. GADA, IA-2A, IAA, ICA, ZnT8RA, ZnT8WA, ZnT8QA and HLA-DQ genotypes were also determined. The median level of specific INS-IGF2A was higher in patients than in controls (P < 0.001). Irrespective of age at diagnosis, 19% (126/676) of the patients had INS-IGF2A when the cut-off was the 95th percentile of the controls (P < 0.001). The risk of INS-IGF2A was increased among HLA-DQ2/8 (OR = 1.509; 95th CI 1.011, 2.252; P = 0.045) but not in 2/2, 2/X, 8/8, 8/X or X/X (X is neither 2 nor 8) patients. The association with HLA-DQ2/8 suggests that this autoantigen may be presented on HLA-DQ trans-heterodimers, rather than cis-heterodimers. Autoantibodies reactive with both insulin and INS-IGF2A at diagnosis support the notion that INS-IGF2 autoimmunity contributes to type 1 diabetes.

Serological evaluation of possible exposure to Ljungan virus and related parechovirus in autoimmune (type 1) diabetes in children.

Exposure to Ljungan virus (LV) is implicated in the risk of autoimmune (type 1) diabetes but possible contribution by other parechoviruses is not ruled out. The aim was to compare children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2005-2011 (n = 69) with healthy controls (n = 294), all from the Jämtland County in Sweden, using an exploratory suspension multiplex immunoassay for IgM and IgG against 26 peptides of LV, human parechoviruses (HPeV), Aichi virus and poliovirus in relation to a radiobinding assay (RBA) for antibodies against LV and InfluenzaA/H1N1pdm09. Islet autoantibodies and HLA-DQ genotypes were also determined. 1) All five LV-peptide antibodies correlated to each other (P < 0.001) in the suspension multiplex IgM- and IgG-antibody assay; 2) The LV-VP1_31-60-IgG correlated with insulin autoantibodies alone (P = 0.007) and in combination with HLA-DQ8 overall (P = 0.022) as well as with HLA-DQ 8/8 and 8/X subjects (P = 0.013); 3) RBA detected LV antibodies correlated with young age at diagnosis (P < 0.001) and with insulin autoantibodies (P < 0.001) especially in young HLA-DQ8 subjects (P = 0.004); 4) LV-peptide-VP1_31-60-IgG correlated to RBA LV antibodies (P = 0.009); 5) HPeV3-peptide-IgM and -IgG showed inter-peptide correlations (P < 0.001) but only HPeV3-VP1_1-30-IgG (P < 0.001) and VP1_95-124-IgG (P = 0.009) were related to RBA LV antibodies without relation to insulin autoantibody positivity (P = 0.072 and P = 0.486, respectively). Both exploratory suspension multiplex IgG to LV-peptide VP1_31-60 and RBA detected LV antibodies correlated with insulin autoantibodies and HLA-DQ8 suggesting possible role in type 1 diabetes. It remains to be determined if cross-reactivity or concomitant exposure to LV and HPeV3 contributes to the seroprevalence.

Antibodies to influenza virus A/H1N1 hemagglutinin in Type 1 diabetes children diagnosed before, during and after the SWEDISH A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination campaign 2009-2010.

We determined A/H1N1-hemagglutinin (HA) antibodies in relation to HLA-DQ genotypes and islet autoantibodies at clinical diagnosis in 1141 incident 0.7-to 18-year-old type 1 diabetes patients diagnosed April 2009-December 2010. Antibodies to (35) S-methionine-labelled A/H1N1 hemagglutinin were determined in a radiobinding assay in patients diagnosed before (n = 325), during (n = 355) and after (n = 461) the October 2009-March 2010 Swedish A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination campaign, along with HLA-DQ genotypes and autoantibodies against GAD, insulin, IA-2 and ZnT8 transporter. Before vaccination, 0.6% patients had A/H1N1-HA antibodies compared with 40% during and 27% after vaccination (P < 0.0001). In children <3 years of age, A/H1N1-HA antibodies were found only during vaccination. The frequency of A/H1N1-HA antibodies during vaccination decreased after vaccination among the 3 < 6 (P = 0.006) and 13 < 18 (P = 0.001), but not among the 6 < 13-year-olds. HLA-DQ2/8 positive children <3 years decreased from 54% (15/28) before and 68% (19/28) during, to 30% (9/30) after vaccination (P = 0.014). Regardless of age, DQ2/2; 2/X (n = 177) patients had lower frequency (P = 0.020) and levels (P = 0.042) of A/H1N1-HA antibodies compared with non-DQ2/2; 2/X (n = 964) patients. GADA frequency was 50% before, 60% during and 51% after vaccination (P = 0.009). ZnT8QA frequency increased from 30% before to 34% during and 41% after vaccination (P = 0.002). Our findings suggest that young (<3 years) along with DQ2/2; 2/X patients were low responders to Pandemrix(®) . As the proportion of DQ2/8 patients <3 years of age decreased after vaccination and the frequencies of GADA and ZnT8QA were enhanced, it cannot be excluded that the vaccine affected clinical onset of type 1 diabetes.

Scoring alternatives for FIM in neurological disorders applying Rasch analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) is an internationally widely used outcome measure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the structural properties of FIM using the Rasch model, with regard to scoring within rehabilitation centres in Scandinavia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FIM data from 1660 patients with stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury were analysed. The best models with respect to person separation were determined, together with person reliability, item separation, disordered categories, distance of more than 1.4 logits between categories and item fit to the model. RESULTS: Analysis showed disordering using seven categories in all three diagnoses. After collapsing of categories a four-category scale was the best solution. CONCLUSIONS: Decreasing the categories from seven to four may be one way of dealing with problems of disordered thresholds. Further studies are also needed in order to try the suggested scale in clinical settings and to compare it with the original FIM scale.

Use of anabolic-androgenic steroids among body builders--frequency and attitudes.

A total of 138 male body builders who regularly attended a gym participated anonymously in a study of the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids in relation to side-effects, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI; kg m-2), training frequency, social background, occupation, knowledge and attitudes to steroid use. Fifty-three of the 138 body builders had used anabolic-androgenic steroids for a median duration of 2 years. Steroid use was linked to a higher BMI and more frequent training. Seventy-five per cent (n = 18) of those attending body building for competition, and 24% (n = 11) of those attending to improve their sense of well-being, used anabolic-androgenic steroids. Of all body builders, 94% considered anabolic-androgenic steroids to be dangerous. Of the users, 81% experienced side-effects, but 74% still intended to continue steroid medication.

Blood flow, temperature, and heat loss of skin exposed to local radiative and convective cooling.

The relationship between skin blood flow (SBF) and temperature was evaluated and the heat loss calculated for locally applied thermal stimuli. In 10 subjects the palm was exposed to room climate, pure convective air currents, and pure radiation, which resulted in skin temperatures between 23 and 36 degrees C. Skin blood flow was estimated by laser Doppler flowmetry and local skin temperature was measured by a thermistor probe. Linear regression of SBF on skin temperature revealed significant correlations (r = 0.87, p less than 0.05) within subjects and large variations in estimated slopes (s/m = 34%) between subjects. Therefore, SBF was normalized to the room climate value in each separate experiment. When skin temperature and normalized SBF from all subjects were included in the regression analysis, a nearly linear relationship was confirmed (r = 0.88, p less than 0.0005). Radiative cooling (17 degrees C) doubled the heat loss, reduced skin temperature by 3.7 degrees C, and left SBF virtually unchanged compared with room climate values. When convective cooling (19 degrees C) was applied at 2 air current velocities (0.5 and 1.0 ms-1), palm blood flow diminished to 60 and 53%, respectively, of room climate values. Corresponding heat losses with convective cooling decreased to 68 and 70%, respectively, of room climate values. Linear regression of local heat loss on normalized SBF gave a significant correlation coefficient of 0.79 (p less than 0.001).

Effects of local convective cooling and rewarming on skin blood flow.

Local areas of the thighs, palms and fingertips of ten healthy subjects were exposed to cold (10 degrees C) and warm (40 degrees C) air flows of three different velocities, 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 m/s. The rewarming followed immediately after the cooling. Each climatic condition was applied for 45 min. Skin blood flow and skin temperature were continuously measured by laser Doppler flowmetry and thermometry, respectively. Significant (p less than 0.01 or less) reductions in both skin blood flow and skin temperature, compared to the levels recorded in the room climate, were observed at all the test sites and for all the cooling climates. During cooling no significant differences were obtained between skin blood flow levels reached for the different air velocities, except for the palm (p less than 0.01). Rewarming by the air velocities 0.25 and 0.50 m/s could not even bring the palm skin blood flow back to the precooling levels, while the fingertip (except for the low air velocity) and the thigh showed a hyperaemic reaction. The discrepancies in response pattern between the test sites are interpreted to be due to their different microvasculature and vasomotor innervation. The relationship between skin blood flow and skin temperature was found to be exponential. The correlation coefficients were 0.84, 0.72 and 0.85 for the thigh, palm and fingertip, respectively.

On periodic sweating from the human skin during rest and exercise.

The rhythmic variations in the water evaporation rate (gm-2h-1,) from the dorsal side of the forearm have been studied. The evaporation rate is estimated by calculating the difference between the vapour pressures at two distinct points on a line perpendicular to the evaporative surface. Using autocorrelation technique it is found that the evaporation rate is periodic with a period of around 0.7 s. This value is consistent, at rest as well as prior to profuse sweating in exercise, for all the subjects included in the investigation. During profuse sweating the period becomes slightly longer. It is suggested that the variations in the evaporation rate reflect the periodic activity in the sudomotor nerves.