Eye Care for Children in Special Schools: An Audit of Provision.

Introduction: Children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are 28 times more likely to have eye problems than their typically developing peers. An ideal approach to the eye care for children attending special schools in England has been developed. Work in this area continues to evolve; therefore, an audit about existing services across the United Kingdom (UK) was undertaken.

Noise distracts foraging bats.

Predators frequently must detect and localize their prey in challenging environments. Noisy environments have been prevalent across the evolutionary history of predator-prey relationships, but now with increasing anthropogenic activities noise is becoming a more prominent feature of many landscapes. Here, we use the gleaning pallid bat, , to investigate the mechanism by which noise disrupts hunting behaviour.

Science in the Public Eye: Leveraging Partnerships-An Introduction.

With stories of struggle and dramatic breakthroughs, science has incredible potential to interest the public. However, as the rhetoric of outrage surrounds controversies over science policy there is an urgent need for credible, trusted voices that frame science issues in a way that resonates with a diverse public. A network of informal educators, park rangers, museum docents and designers, and zoo and aquarium interpreters are prepared to do so during millions of visits a year; just where science stories are most meaningfully told-in the places where members of the public are open to learning.

Variation in physiological stress between bridge- and cave-roosting Brazilian free-tailed bats.

Since the late 1980s, Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) have increasingly used bridges as roosts in the southern United States. We examined differences in blood cortisol levels, body condition, and parasite load, as measures of physiological stress in bats roosting in bridges and bats roosting in caves. We collected data during three periods, coinciding with female phases of reproduction.

Response to vaccination with a commercial inactivated rabies vaccine in a captive colony of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis).

A captive colony of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) was vaccinated with a commercial monovalent inactivated rabies virus (RABV) vaccine (RABVAC 1). Baseline rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (VNA) and the response to vaccination were measured in 50 bats. Rabies VNA was detected in the plasma of 64% (27/42) of bats that had been vaccinated 1 yr prior, but only 19% (8/42) had levels considered adequate.

Ecology of rabies virus exposure in colonies of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) at natural and man-made roosts in Texas.

Previous studies have investigated rabies virus (RABV) epizootiology in Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in natural cave roosts. However, little is known about geographic variation in RABV exposure, or if the use of man-made roosts by this species affects enzootic RABV infection dynamics within colonies. We sampled rabies viral neutralizing antibodies in bats at three bridge and three cave roosts at multiple time points during the reproductive season to investigate temporal and roost variation in RABV exposure.

Roosting ecology and variation in adaptive and innate immune system function in the Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis).

Bats have recently been implicated as reservoirs of important emerging diseases. However, few studies have examined immune responses in bats, and even fewer have evaluated these responses in an ecological context. We examined aspects of both innate and adaptive immune response in adult female Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) at four maternity roosts (two natural caves and two human-made bridges) in south-central Texas.