A new, enigmatic species of black-eyed gecko (Reptilia: Diplodactylidae: Mokopirirakau/) from North Otago, New Zealand.

The New Zealand endemic gecko genus, Mokopirirakau, is notable for its ecology, with some species inhabiting extreme alpine environments, as well as for the large number of geographically circumscribed, species-level lineages awaiting formal description. In, 2018, a population superficially similar in colour and morphology to the black-eyed gecko (M. kahutarae) was discovered in alpine greywacke rock outcrops in the Oteake Conservation Park, North Otago, ~400 km south of the nearest M.

COVID-19 within a large UK prison with a high number of vulnerable adults, march to june 2020: An outbreak investigation and screening event.

Objective: To describe the public health response to COVID-19 within a large prison with a high number of clinically vulnerable residents.

Design: An outbreak investigation was undertaken among all residents and staff. A screening event involved nose and throat swab samples from residents and staff, examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

New Zealand forest-dwelling skinks of the Oligosoma oliveri (McCann) species-complex (Reptilia: Scincidae): reinstatement of O. pachysomaticum (Robb) and an assessment of historical distribution ranges.

The forest-dwelling skinks of the Oligosoma oliveri ('marbled skink') species-complex, from the North Island of New Zealand, have proven difficult taxonomically because all mainland populations are extinct, obscuring patterns of distribution and population interaction. Twenty-four small insular populations have survived off the north-east coast of the North Island, which are at present classified into three species. In this paper I re-assess the available phenotypic, ecological, biogeographic and phylogenetic evidence associated with these skinks.

Making the economic case for prevention--a view from Wales.

Background: It is widely acknowledged that adverse lifestyle behaviours in the population now will place an unsustainable burden on health service resources in the future. It has been estimated that the combined cost to the NHS in Wales of overweight and obesity, alcohol and tobacco is in excess of £540 million.In the current climate of financial austerity, there can be a tendency for the case for prevention efforts to be judged on the basis of their scope for cost savings.

Road traffic crashes and the protective effect of road curvature over small areas.

Road bends are known to cause traffic crashes, but the hypothesis in this study was that small geographical areas with many road bends have less, not more, road casualties than comparable areas with fewer bends. Data on road crashes involving fatal, serious and slight casualties in 571 wards in Eastern England were examined against four measures of average road curvature (mean angle per bend, cumulative angle per km, number of bends per km and ratio of road distance to straight distance) using regression analysis. Taking account of other risk factors, measures of average road curvature in wards were negatively associated with crash numbers, especially for fatal crashes.

Phylogeographic history of the New Zealand stick insect Niveaphasma annulata (Phasmatodea) estimated from mitochondrial and nuclear loci.

We have assessed the utility of a single-copy nuclear locus and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in a phylogeographic study of the New Zealand stick insect Niveaphasma annulata (Hutton). We amplified sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and the single-copy nuclear gene elongation factor-1alpha (EF1alpha) from 97 individuals. Allelic phase at the EF1alpha locus was determined using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis.

Health and social care regulation in Wales: an integrated system of political, corporate and professional governance for improving public health.

Wales is developing a unique integrated system of governance to improve public health, which is diverging from some recent developments in the rest of the UK but shares many common features. There is a focus on strengthening collaborative working and co-ordination between bodies inspecting, regulating and auditing health and social care. Systems are being developed that are proportionate to the level of risk, eliminate unnecessary burdens of external review and support the improvement of services for patients, service users and carers.

Investigating hybridization in the parthenogenetic New Zealand stick insect Acanthoxyla (Phasmatodea) using single-copy nuclear loci.

The New Zealand stick insect genus Acanthoxyla Uvarov is extremely unusual among higher taxa of animals in that all known species are obligate parthenogens. We have used a combination of the mitochondrial DNA genes cytochrome oxidase subunits I and II, 28S nuclear ribosomal RNA, and the two single-copy nuclear genes elongation factor 1alpha and phosphoglucose isomerase to test hypotheses on the role of hybridization in the evolution of this genus. Alleles at the single-copy nuclear loci in three sampled species of Acanthoxyla were resolved by cloning the PCR products.

The three domains of public health: an internationally relevant basis for public health education?

By focusing on the Masters of Public Health course, this study took a pragmatic approach to exploring the interface between public health education and public health practice. The commonly utilized 'three domains of practice' framework could provide a robust and explicit link between educational provision and practice for public health. This model provides the workforce, the university, the students and the potential funders of the course with an easily comprehensible framework for understanding how the modules of an MSc can support the development of competency within the context of practice.

Geographical distribution of road traffic deaths in England and Wales: place of accident compared with place of residence.

Background: There are two sources of information on road traffic mortality in England and Wales: ONS records giving the place of residence and police records giving the place of the accident. Use of the police records has been limited by the lack of an obvious denominator to control for population at risk. This study compares the two measures and explores the implications of using the same population denominator for both.