Identifying patterns in foraging-area origins in breeding aggregations of migratory species: Loggerhead turtles in the Northwest Atlantic.

Population assessments conducted at reproductive sites of migratory species necessitate understanding the foraging-area origins of breeding individuals. Without this information, efforts to contextualize changes in breeding populations and develop effective management strategies are compromised. We used stable isotope analysis of tissue samples collected from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting at seven sites in the Northern Recovery Unit (NRU) of the eastern United States (North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) to assign females to three separate foraging areas in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean (NWA).

Large, mobile, transmitral metastastic osteosarcoma presenting as cardiac arrest.

Unlabelled: The present case is an unusual one of a 21-year-old female with a primary osteosarcoma and left lung metastasis presenting following a witnessed pulseless electrical activity cardiac arrest. The electrocardiogram was unremarkable. A computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) demonstrated a tumour within the left inferior pulmonary veins.

Evaluating the landscape of fear between apex predatory sharks and mobile sea turtles across a large dynamic seascape.

The "landscape of fear" model has been proposed as a unifying concept in ecology, describing, in part, how animals behave and move about in their environment. The basic model predicts that as an animal's landscape changes from low to high risk of predation, prey species will alter their behavior to risk avoidance. However, studies investigating and evaluating the landscape of fear model across large spatial scales (tens to hundreds of thousands of square kilometers) in dynamic, open, aquatic systems involving apex predators and highly mobile prey are lacking.

Intertemporal discounting as a risk factor for high BMI: evidence from Australia, 2008.

This paper explores the relationship between intertemporal discounting and body weight, using stated preference measures of intertemporal discounting, and the body mass index (BMI) to represent relative body weight. The empirical analysis uses Australian data obtained in 2008 through the South Australian Health Omnibus Survey. A quantile regression analysis is used to allow the marginal effects of the explanatory variables on BMI to vary across the conditional BMI distribution.

Low concordance with HIV testing guidelines in a retrospective review of intensive care practice.

Unlabelled: Records were reviewed (n=1052) for patients admitted to a large general intensive care unit (GICU) and examined for HIV testing criteria published in UK national testing guidelines (UKNG). All actual tests sent from GICU were also examined for comparison. Strict application of the UKNG revealed 30% of patients met criteria for HIV testing on admission to GICU.

Loggerhead turtle eggshells as a source of maternal nuclear genomic DNA for population genetic studies.

Tagging studies on nesting beaches are commonly used to estimate nesting frequency, remigration interval and nesting population size for marine turtle rookeries. Estimates of these demographic parameters from tagging projects may be biased because of the small scale of tagging efforts relative to female nest site fidelity and the logistical difficulty of intercepting all nesting females. Therefore, alternative and supplemental means of individual identification of nesting females are required.

Comparison of mercury burdens in chronically debilitated and healthy loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta).

An increase in the incidence of debilitated loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) strandings in the southeastern United States has been observed in recent years. These turtles are characterized by emaciation and heavy burdens of external and internal parasites, and bacterial infections, but the underlying cause of their condition is unknown. To investigate further the causes of these strandings, a health assessment was performed on stranded, debilitated loggerhead turtles, and contaminant concentrations in various tissues were compared to those from healthy turtles.

Risks associated with low functional health literacy in an Australian population.

Objective: To measure the level of functional health literacy (FHL) in an Australian population, and to explore the level of risk associated with level of FHL.

Design, Setting And Participants: Cross-sectional, random population survey administered to 2824 South Australians aged>or=15 years, September-October 2008.

Main Outcome Measures: Newest Vital Sign as a measure of FHL, self-reported general health status, and use of health services.

Comparison of blood values in foraging, nesting, and stranded loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) along the coast of Georgia, USA.

The health status of 83 loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta; 39 foraging, 31 nesting, and 13 stranded turtles) was analyzed using physical examinations, hematology, plasma biochemistry, plasma protein electrophoresis, and toxicologic parameters. Significant differences were noted in a number of health parameters between turtles exhibiting each of these behaviors. On physical examinations, stranded turtles had the highest prevalence of heavy carapace epibiont loads, miscellaneous abnormalities, emaciation, and weakness.

Obesity and time-inconsistent preferences.

As obesity becomes a major health and economic issue of the current age, interventions and policies are being targeted to influence individuals' diet and exercise behaviors. Examining the deviations of reality from a baseline model of rational choice provides insights into the economic rationales for interventions to modify individuals' choices. In addition to the more classical economic rationales for intervention, insights from behavioral economics and psychology have recently led to a focus on the role of time-inconsistent preferences, in particular present-biased preferences, in the choices that lead to obesity.

Natal homing in juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta).

Juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from West Atlantic nesting beaches occupy oceanic (pelagic) habitats in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, whereas larger juvenile turtles occupy shallow (neritic) habitats along the continental coastline of North America. Hence the switch from oceanic to neritic stage can involve a trans-oceanic migration. Several researchers have suggested that at the end of the oceanic phase, juveniles are homing to feeding habitats in the vicinity of their natal rookery.