Reductions in home-range size and social interactions among dehorned black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis).

Poaching for horns and tusks is driving declines of megaherbivores worldwide, including the critically endangered African black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis). By proactively dehorning entire rhinoceros populations, conservationists aim to deter poaching and prevent species loss. However, such conservation interventions may have hidden and underestimated effects on animals' behavior and ecology. Here, we combine >15 y of black rhino-monitoring data across 10 South African game reserves, comprising >24,000 sightings of 368 individuals, to determine the consequences of dehorning for black rhino space use and social interactions. While preventative dehorning at these reserves coincided with a nationwide decrease in black rhino mortality from poaching and did not infer increased natural mortality, dehorned black rhinos decreased their home range area by, on average, 11.7 km2 (45.5%) and were 37% less likely to engage in social encounters. We conclude that dehorning black rhinos as an antipoaching measure alters their behavioral ecology, although the potential population-level effects of these changes remain to be determined.

Limited waterpower contributed to rise of steam power in British "Cottonopolis".

The Industrial Revolution precipitated a pivotal shift from waterpower to coal-fueled steam power in British textile mills. Although it is now widely accepted that steam was chosen to power factories despite the availability of sufficient waterpower resources across most of Britain, the location and suitability of that waterpower during the early 19th century remain underexplored. Here, we employ quantitative fluvial geomorphology alongside historical climate data, factory records, and a catalog of over 26,000 mill sites to reveal that waterpower was abundant for most of early 19th century Britain, except in the central hub of British cotton production: Greater Manchester in the Mersey Basin. Our findings show that surging factory mechanization and overcrowding on key waterways in the Mersey Basin compounded waterpower scarcity arising from a drier 19th century climate. Widespread adoption of coal-fueled steam engines in certain key industrial centers of Britain was a strategy aimed at ameliorating some of the reduced reliability of waterpower. The fact that steam engines were frequently used in water-powered factories in many industrial regions until the third quarter of the 19th century to recirculate water to provide that power, or as a power supplement when waterpower availability was restricted, adds further weight to our argument. Rapid adoption of coal-powered steam engines reshaped the social and structural landscape of industrial work, firmly established Britain's prominence as an industrial powerhouse, and had lasting global industrial and environmental impacts.

Log Books and the Law of Storms: Maritime Meteorology and the British Admiralty in the Nineteenth Century.

This essay contributes to debates about the relationship between science and the military by examining the British Admiralty's participation in meteorological projects in the first half of the nineteenth century. It focuses on attempts to transform Royal Navy log books into standardized meteorological registers that would be of use to both science and the state. The essay begins with a discussion of Admiralty Hydrographer Francis Beaufort, who promoted the use of standardized systems for the observation of the weather at sea. It then examines the application of ships' logs to the science of storms. The essay focuses on the Army engineer William Reid, who studied hurricanes while stationed in Barbados and Bermuda. Reid was instrumental in persuading the Admiralty to implement a naval meteorological policy, something the Admiralty Hydrographer had struggled to achieve. The essay uses the reception and adoption of work on storms at sea to reflect on the means and ends of maritime meteorology in the mid-nineteenth century.

In vivo evaluation of a biodegradable donut-shaped minitablet for prolonged posterior segment drug delivery in the rabbit eye model.

This study focused on the in vivo evaluation of a biodegradable ganciclovir-loaded donut-shaped minitablet (DSMT) for controlled drug delivery in the New Zealand white albino rabbit eye model. Specialized tablet tooling was used to manufacture a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) DSMT device that was implanted into 18 rabbits through the pars plana/peripheral retina of the right eyes of each rabbit. The left eyes were used as controls. Possible adverse effects on ocular tissues were assessed by histomorphology, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements, and indirect ophthalmoscopy. The ex vivo microenvironmental vitreous pH was also monitored. Rabbits were euthanized at predetermined intervals and the residual devices, vitreous humor, and ocular tissue were retrieved and stored appropriately until further analysis. The DSMT was well tolerated up to 72 days and was still visible in the superotemporal quadrant of the eye. The mean IOP range (6-8 mmHg; N = 18) and changes in vitreous pH (7.25 ± 0.01; N = 3) correlated with baseline measurements. The DSMT displayed constant ganciclovir release at a rate of 2.02 µ g/h maintained within the 50% effective dose for human cytomegalovirus retinitis (N = 3). The design simplicity and application of the biodegradable DSMT device may provide a superior alternative for prolonged rate-controlled intraocular drug delivery.