A plasma display window?-The shifting baseline problem in a technologically mediated natural world

Humans will continue to adapt to an increasingly technological world. But are there costs to such adaptations in terms of human well being? Toward broaching this question, we investigated physiological effects of experiencing a HDTV quality real-time view of nature through a plasma display “window.” In an office setting, 90 participants (30 per group) were exposed either to (a) a glass window that afforded a view of a nature scene, (b) a plasma window that afforded a real-time HDTV view of essentially the same scene, or (c) a blank wall. Results showed that in terms of heart rate recovery from low-level stress the glass window was more restorative than a blank wall; in turn, a plasma window was no more restorative than a blank wall. Moreover, when participants spent more time looking at the glass window, their heart rate tended to decrease more rapidly; that was not the case with the plasma window. Discussion focuses on how the purported benefits of viewing nature may be attenuated by a digital medium.     

Semilobar holoprosencephaly prenatal diagnosis: an unexpected complex rearrangement in a de novo apparently balanced reciprocal translocation on karyotype

We report a semilobar holoprosencephaly (HPE) in a post-intracytoplasmic-sperm-injection pregnancy. It was suggested by ultrasonography (US), documented on karyotype, identified with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), established after birth and confirmed on post-mortem autopsy. An amniocentesis revealed a de novo apparently balanced reciprocal translocation 46,XY, t(7;8) (q31.3;q12). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) identified a deletion in the region of the Sonic Hedgehog gene (SHH) on der(8); nevertheless, the subtelomeric regions for chromosomes 7 and 8 were present. The parents decided to continue the pregnancy; a boy was born and survived for 3 days. The brain autopsy confirmed the semilobar HPE previously noted on US and MRI. Further, band-specific FISH revealed, in addition to SHH deletion, the presence of an inversion in the 7q translocated material on der(8). The parents' karyotypes were normal. An unexpected complex rearrangement was present in a de novo apparently balanced reciprocal translocation in a semilobar HPE. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Female siskins choose mates by the size of the yellow wing stripe

Commonly, female birds use the brightly coloured patches on males to choose the best-quality mates. Coloured wing patches, however, have received little attention or have been previously related to social behaviour (as a signal to recruit conspecific individuals at feeding patches) or foraging (to flush prey) contexts, rather than to sexual selection. Here we provide evidence that in siskins (Carduelis spinus), wing patches function in mate choice. Mate-choice experiments showed that females were attracted by the size of the yellow wing stripe of the male, but not by the size of its black bib, body size, general plumage brightness or age. Experiments on birds with manipulated yellow wing stripes showed that females were sensitive to the size of this colour patch, irrespective of other male qualities. The preference of female siskins for males with larger wing patches when searching for a mate may be explained by the relationship of this trait to foraging ability, which would ensure females good parental investment from the chosen male.Communicated by W.A. Searcy     

Relative bioavailability of soil-bound chlordecone in growing lambs

The pollution of soil with the pesticide chlordecone (CLD) is a problem for the use of agricultural surfaces even years after its use has been forbidden. Therefore, the exposure of free-ranged animals such as ruminants needs to be investigated in order to assess the risk of contamination of the food chain. Indeed, measured concentrations could be integrated in a lowered extent if the soil binding would reduce the bioavailability of the pesticide. This bioavailability of soil-bound CLD in a heavily polluted andosol has been investigated relatively of CLD given via spiked oil. Twenty-four weaned lambs were exposed to graded doses of 2, 4 or 6 μg CLD/kg body weight during 15 days via the contaminated soil in comparison to spiked oil. The concentration of this pesticide has been determined in two target tissues: blood serum and kidney fat. The relative bioavailability (RBA) corresponds to the slope ratio between the test matrix-contaminated soil- in comparison to the reference matrix oil. The RBA of the soil-bound CLD was not found to significantly differ from the reference matrix oil in lambs meaning that the pesticide ingested by grazing ruminants would not be sequestered by soil binding. Therefore, CLD from soil gets bioavailable within the intestinal level and exposure to contaminated soil has to be integrated in risk assessments.     

Coastal dune development and sand drifting management along an artificial shoreline: the case of Dunkirk harbour,northern France

Harbour development along the low-lying coastline of northern France necessitated the construction of a seaport protruding into the sea. The extension of the port of Dunkirk resulted in the creation of an artificial shoreline consisting of a sea dike fronted by a beach, connected to a jetty protecting the seaport access. This study illustrates how harbour infrastructure can give rise to new kinds of aeolian landforms: e.g. the spontaneous initiation of aeolian dunes on a seaport dike resulting in specific dune types. However, this coastal dune development induced unexpected sand invasion of harbour infrastructure. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of various types of windbreaks on a dike as a means of limiting sand drift and solving sand invasion problems. Seven experimental fences installed in the eastern part of the dike were monitored over an 11 month period. The experimental fences tested in this study demonstrated their effectiveness on an asphalt coated dike. Over the whole survey period, the most efficient fences were those installed close to a sand source, at the beach-dike limit. These experiments will aid the Port of Dunkirk in building a management plan for its shoreline, which is being designed in order to preserve the diversity of landscapes, and to control sand invasion which necessitates costly sand removal operations.     

Implementation of a medical command and control team in Switzerland

In case of a major incident or disaster, the advance medical rescue command needs to manage several essential tasks simultaneously. These include the rapid deployment of ambulance, police, fire and evacuation services, and their coordinated activity, as well as triage and emergency medical care on site. The structure of such a medical rescue command is crucial for the successful outcome of medical evacuation at major incidents. However, little data has been published on the nature and structure of the command itself. This study presents a flexible approach to command structure, with two command heads: one emergency physician and one experienced paramedic. This approach is especially suitable for Switzerland, whose federal system allows for different structures in each canton. This article examines the development of these structures and their efficiency, adaptability and limitations with respect to major incident response in the French‐speaking part of the country.     

Pareto-Improving Supply Subsidy in a Simple General Oligopoly Equilibrium Model with Pollution Permits

We introduce a competitive pollution permit market in a two-sector oligopoly equilibrium model. In this model, one commodity is inelastically supplied by one competitive trader and another one is produced by a finite set of oligopolists, using the first commodity as an input. The production of the second commodity is a polluting activity. We study both the competitive and oligopoly equilibria. We provide some conditions under which a supply subsidy given to the oligopolists that is financed by a tax on the competitive agent is Pareto-improving.