Phylogeography of a game species: the red-crested pochard (Netta rufina) and consequences for its management.

Western European populations of red-crested pochard (Netta rufina) are characterized by low size and high fragmentation, which accentuate their sensitivity to hunting. Uncertainties regarding the demographic trends of these populations highlight the need for pertinent hunting regulations. This requires identification of the limits of the populations under exploitation, i.e. delimiting a management unit. We used the left domain of the mitochondrial control region and seven nuclear loci (four microsatellites and three introns) to assess the level of genetic structure and demographic independence between the fragmented Western European and the large Central Asian populations. The second objective was to investigate the colonization history of the Western European populations. This study demonstrated that the Western European populations of red-crested pochard constitute a separate demographic conservation unit relative to the Asian population as a result of very low female dispersal (mitochondrial DNA: PhiST = 0.152). A morphometric analysis further suggested that Central Asian and Western European specimens of both sexes originate from different pools of individuals. Male dispersal seems higher than female dispersal, as suggested by the lack of clear genetic structure for the nuclear markers at this continental scale. Genetic data, in conjunction with historical demographic data, indicate that the current Western European populations probably originate from a recent colonization from Central Asia. As numbers of red-crested pochards in Western Europe cannot be efficiently supplemented by immigration from the larger Asian populations, a management plan regulating the harvest in Western Europe is required.

Ergonomics of electronic mail address systems: related literature review and survey of users.

The paper reviews the cognitive ergonomics literature related to electronic mail (e-mail) address design. Based on this information, a survey of 160 users of current e-mail address system was conducted. The aim was to obtain information on likes, dislikes and difficulties associated with e-mail address and to obtain users' suggestions and input for improving the current e-mail address system. The survey results indicated that users want an improved e-mail address system with regard to shorter length, useful information and appropriate presentation of information.

Ergonomics guidelines for designing electronic mail addresses.

The aim was to design a human-centred electronic mail (e-mail) address system based on networking technology and cognitive ergonomics. Based on the background literature and the results of users' survey, a conceptual model is developed for designing e-mail addresses. This model consists of e-mail address components of formats, domain length, meaningfulness, orientation and information type pertaining to recall, information association and categorization. Five hypotheses were proposed to test the conceptual model, and four experiments were conducted with 85 participants to test the hypotheses. The dependent variables were performance time, error rate and degree of satisfaction, and the independent variables were components of the e-mail addresses. The main results indicate that for a recall task, significantly lower total performance time (26.2%) and error rate (75%) were found for the hybrid formats (digits and letters) than for the letter format, and up to four characters was the best single domain length. For an information association task, embedding both geographical and organizational information significantly decreased the response time (10.9%) in comparison with only embedding organizational information. For a categorization task, embedding both geographical information and organizational information significantly decreased response time (40.7%) in comparison with only embedding organizational information. This research demonstrates the importance of human-centred design and provides guidelines in effectively designing e-mail addresses.

Bacteriological study of bronchoalveolar lavage in immunocompromised hosts.

Sixty bronchoalveolar lavage samples collected from lung cancer patients attending the Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases Unit of the Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal; were cultured for both the aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Fifty nine samples yielded bacteria in pure culture. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (34.8%) was the commonest aerobe, Peptostreptococcus was the commonest anaerobe (45.2%) isolated. Bacteroides fragilis was isolated in (23.8%) of cases. Gentamycin was found to be effective against aerobes, Metronidazole and Rifampicin against anaerobes.

Covalent immunochemical membrane labeling of viable cells with K698-T708, a simian virus 40 tumor antigen-derived peptide.

The process of covalent immunochemical linking of viable cell membranes with a Simian Virus 40 (SV40) tumor antigen-derived undecapeptide, K(698)PPTPPPEPET(708) (KT), is described. The principle applied was the reaction of the lysine residue, K 698, of the undecapeptide with the succinimidyl moiety of a heterobifunctional linker molecule, N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate (SPDP) or sulfosuccinimidyl(4-iodo-acetyl)aminobenzoate (sulfo-SIAB). Thereby, upon release of N-hydroxy-succinimide, the rest of the linker molecule reacts covalently with the epsilon-NH2 group of lysine. Upon release of pyridyl-2-thion or hydrogen iodide, respectively, the second reactive moiety of the linker is then ready to form a covalent bond with SH-groups of cell membrane compounds. As a result, KT is covalently linked onto the cell membrane by an -SS- or an -S-bond, respectively. Binding is prevented by treatment of the candidate cells with iodoacetamide, an SH-reactive compound. This artificial cell membrane epitope can be demonstrated by surface immunofluorescence and by binding to immunomagnetic beads loaded with PAb1605, a KT-specific monoclonal antibody. Quantitation by cytofluorimetry shows some 10(4) KT molecules bound per cell, a number that is in the range of the number of SV40 tumor antigen molecules of genuine SV40-transformed mammalian cells.

Bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax in silicosis.

Occurrence of pneumothorax in silicosis is rare. We report here one case of silicosis who presented with bilateral spontaneous pneumothoraces occurring simultaneously.

Prevalence of antibodies to aspergilli in bronchial asthmatics.

Sputum and bleed samples were analysed from 330 cases of bronchial asthmatics and 50 normal persons without features of bronchial asthma. The prevalence of aspergilli and antibodies to different Aspergillus species were detected using cultural methods and serological technique like agar gel double diffusion (DD), counter-immuno-electrophoresis (CIEP) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Out of total 6.06% yielded Aspergillus species in sputum specimens repeatedly. Precipitins against Aspergillus species were detected in 7.88% of cases by DD and CIEP. ELISA test showed 20% of cases to be having antibodies to A. fumigatus. Allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis can be detected in the early course of the disease in bronchial asthmatics using highly sensitive technique like ELISA.

Drill biopsy in the diagnosis of lung lesions.

A high speed pneumatic drill was used to perform 190 percutaneous transthoracic biopsies in 161 patients. The resultant cores of tissue provided a definite diagnosis in 146 patients, giving a success rate of 90.7%. Complications occurred in 58 patients, subcutaneous emphysema being the most common, though only seven patients required active treatment, giving a rate of 3.7% for important complications. One patient died within 24 hours of the biopsy procedure owing to asphyxia resulting from aspiration of the contents of an acutely dilated stomach. Our experience clearly establishes that the drill biopsy as used by us is simple and safe and can be carried out in an outpatient department, yielding better overall results than any other procedure for closed biopsy of the lung currently practised.

Relationship of intestinal obstruction to serial plasma carcinoembryonic antigen levels.

Since it has been suggested that colonic obstruction due to carcinoma may play a role in elevations of circulating carcinoembryonic antigen, serial plasma carcinoembryonic antigen levels were studies in 19 patients with intestinal obstruction due to tumor and nontumor causes. Regardless of cause, eight of ten patients with colonic obstruction did not show decreased carcinoembryonic antigen levels after decompression. Two patients with postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen reductions of greater than 40 per cent had ascite removed at operation. Removal of a large volume of carcinoembryonic antigen-rich ascites was thought to contribute to the fall in circulating carcinoembryonic antigen. Six patients with small intestinal obstruction and one patient with large and small intestinal obstruction did not show a reduction in postdecompression carcinoembryonic antigen levels. One patient with Crohn's disease who underwent ileal resection and one with intestinal obstruction due to carcinoma of the ovary who underwent resection at the time of decompression had a greater than 40 per cent reduction in postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen levels. Inflamed intestinal and carcinoma of the ovary are known sources of carcinoembryonic antigen and their removal could explain the decrease in carcinoembryonic antigen. Rehydration, as monitored by plasma osmolality and protein concentration, did not explain changes in plasma carcinoembryonic antigen. Thus, it appears that carcinoembryonic antigen production may play a more significant role in the regulation of circulating carcinoembryonic antigen than the physiopathologic processes associated with obstruction.