Measuring Temporal Change in Scrub Vegetation Cover Using UAV-Derived Height Maps: A Case Study at Two UK Nature Reserves.

Measuring the outcome of practical interventions and actions helps to inform conservation management objectives and assess progress towards objectives and targets. Measuring success also informs future management by identifying actions that are effective and those that are not. Scrub vegetation is an important habitat type in terrestrial ecosystems, providing important shelter and food resources for biodiversity and livestock.

IT-assisted comprehensive geriatric assessment for residents in care homes: quasi-experimental longitudinal study.

Background: Frailty interventions such as Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) can provide significant benefits for older adults living with frailty. However, incorporating such proactive interventions into primary care remains a challenge. We developed an IT-assisted CGA (i-CGA) process, which includes advance care planning (ACP).

Mapping scrub vegetation cover from photogrammetric point clouds: A useful tool in reserve management.

Scrub vegetation is a valuable habitat and resource for wildlife, but if unmanaged can encroach and dominate adjacent habitats, reducing biodiversity value. A primary task in the management of terrestrial nature reserves in the UK is monitoring and controlling scrub. The methods used to monitor and assess scrub cover are often basic, relying on qualitative assessment.

The Effects of Supplementary Food on the Breeding Performance of Eurasian Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus; Implications for Climate Change Impacts.

Understanding the mechanisms by which climate variation can drive population changes requires information linking climate, local conditions, trophic resources, behaviour and demography. Climate change alters the seasonal pattern of emergence and abundance of invertebrate populations, which may have important consequences for the breeding performance and population change of insectivorous birds. In this study, we examine the role of food availability in driving behavioural changes in an insectivorous migratory songbird; the Eurasian reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus.

Habitat Use and Body Mass Regulation among Warblers in the Sahel Region during the Non-Breeding Season.

Migratory birds face significant challenges across their annual cycle, including occupying an appropriate non-breeding home range with sufficient foraging resources. This can affect demographic processes such as over-winter survival, migration mortality and subsequent breeding success. In the Sahel region of Africa, where millions of migratory songbirds attempt to survive the winter, some species of insectivorous warblers occupy both wetland and dry-scrubland habitats, whereas other species are wetland or dry-scrubland specialists.

Complications after trans-sphenoidal surgery: our experience and a review of the literature.

The incidence of surgical complications after trans-sphenoidal surgery for pituitary lesions is low. The influence of size of the lesion and its pathology on the incidence of different types of complications and the remission rate of functioning adenomas are addressed in this retrospective study. Between 1996 and 2001, 126 trans-sphenoidal operations were performed on 108 patients with pituitary pathologies.

Venous angioma of the facial nerve: a case report.

Background: Lower motor neurone type facial nerve palsy is a common condition that is very rarely caused by a neoplastic lesion.

Case Description: This case report describes a progressive facial palsy in a 62-year-old man because of a vascular tumor of the facial nerve. Histologic examination confirmed it to be a venous angioma.

Subdural haematoma after trans-sphenoidal surgery.

We report a patient with pituitary adenoma who developed a subdural haematoma following trans-sphenoidal surgery and conservative management of a postoperative CSF leak with a lumbar drain. The possible causes and methods of treatment are discussed and the neurosurgeon is alerted to the possibility of its development in similar situations.

Transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly in wales: results based on stringent criteria of remission.

We retrospectively analyzed 90 patients who underwent transsphenoidal surgery (performed by three surgeons) in our center as initial therapy for acromegaly. We used a combination of modern, evidence-based remission criteria including mean day curve GH less than 2.5 micro g/liter (5 mU/liter), a nadir GH less than 1.

Spontaneous thrombosis of a giant internal carotid aneurysm in a patient who presented with hypopituitarism.

This case report describes a 66-year-old woman who initially presented with features of hypopituitarism secondary to a giant intra-cavernous internal carotid aneurysm. She represented a year later with features suggestive of a subarachnoid haemorrhage, but repeat CT showed no change from the one performed previously. A repeat angiogram, however, showed complete spontaneous thrombosis of the aneurysm including the parent artery.

Long-term follow-up results of transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing's disease in a single centre using strict criteria for remission.

Objective: Transsphenoidal selective adenomectomy (TSA) is widely accepted as the treatment of choice for Cushing's disease but not all patients are cured by this procedure. The success of surgery depends on the skill and experience of the surgeon but the criteria used to define remission are highly variable. We have analysed the outcome following surgery in our centre using the stringent requirement of a postoperative serum cortisol of < 50 nmol/l as our definition of remission and assessed whether changes in surgical policy, including a greater emphasis on selective procedures and the move in recent years to a single surgeon undertaking all pituitary surgery, have improved complication and remission rates.

Aseptic meningitis after posterior fossa surgery treated by pseudomeningocele closure.

Aseptic meningitis is a recognised complication after posterior fossa surgery. It is often self limiting but occasionally runs a protracted course requiring repeated CSF examination to exclude infection, and treatment with systemic steroids. A patient is described with aseptic meningitis after posterior fossa surgery who underwent posterior fossa re-exploration nearly 3 years after the initial operation.

Cerebral tuberculoma.

Intracranial tuberculoma has become a rarity. It remains a curable lesion that responds well to medical therapy. Although diagnosis in developed countries is often made only postoperatively, early and effective treatment can be instituted if a high index of suspicion is maintained and diagnostic criteria are looked for.