Apparent Ophidiomycosis Alters Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) Behavior and Habitat Use.

Pathogens not only cause mortality but also impose nonlethal fitness consequences. Snakes experience trade-offs associated with behaviors that combat disease but divert time and energy away from other critical activities. The impacts of such behaviors on fitness remain poorly understood, raising concerns amid the emergence of novel herpetofaunal diseases.

Population Structure, Movement Patterns, and Frequency of Multiple Matings in Tenodera sinensis (Mantodea: Mantidae).

Models of the evolution of sexual cannibalism show that the frequency of male mating opportunities has significant impact on male choice and male risk aversion. In this study, we examined ecological components that should affect opportunities for multiple mating in wild populations of the Chinese mantid (Tenodera sinensis Saussure). While conducting mark-recapture studies of two field populations over the course of two seasons, along with Global Positioning System data on locations of individuals, we collected data on population densities, movement patterns, and individual ranges to estimate the overlap of adult males and female mantids.

Outcomes and prognostic variables of radiofrequency zygapophyseal joint neurotomy in Utah workers' compensation patients.

Purpose: The prevalence of radiofrequency zygapophyseal joint neurotomy (RFN) has increased substantially across the past decade. Limited research exists that has examined pre-procedure predictors of RFN outcomes, particularly within workers' compensation populations. The purpose of this study was to determine if pre-procedure biopsychosocial variables are predictive of outcomes in a cohort of compensated Utah patients who have undergone RFN.

Caribbean corals in crisis: record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005.

Background: The rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in the basin.

Methodology/principal Findings: Satellite-based tools provided warnings for coral reef managers and scientists, guiding both the timing and location of researchers' field observations as anomalously warm conditions developed and spread across the greater Caribbean region from June to October 2005.

Urologic injuries sustained after free falls from hunting tree stands.

Objectives: Hunting is a popular recreational pastime in the United States. Injuries sustained from falls out of tree stands remain a significant cause of morbidity among hunters, often resulting in significant urological injury. The purpose of this study is to identify the type and pattern of urologic injuries sustained after free falls from hunting tree stands.

New onset of hydroceles in boys over 1 year of age.

Aim: The presentation, and medical and surgical management of all new onset non-congenital hydroceles in boys older than 1 year of age were examined. Of particular interest was the outcome of those patients who presented with a non-communicating hydrocele that developed after the first year of life and was managed conservatively.

Methods: All patients older than 12 months of age who were evaluated as outpatients with the diagnosis of hydrocele from January 1994 to January 2001 were identified.