The Royal Menagerie of England was established at the Tower of London in the 13th Century and served as a home of exotic animals until it was closed on behalf of the Duke of Wellington in 1835. Two ...well-preserved lion skulls recovered from the moat of the Tower of London were recently radiocarbon-dated to AD 1280-1385 and AD 1420-1480, making them the earliest confirmed lion remains in the British Isles since the extinction of the Pleistocene cave lion. Using ancient DNA techniques and cranio-morphometric analysis, we identify the source of these first English lions to lie in North Africa, where no natural lion population remains today.
In the quiet halls of the natural history museum, there are some creatures still alive with stories, whose personalities refuse to be relegated to the dusty corners of an exhibit. The fame of these ...beasts during their lifetimes has given them an iconic status in death. More than just museum specimens, these animals have attained a second life as historical and cultural records. This collection of essays-from a broad array of contributors, including anthropologists, curators, fine artists, geographers, historians, and journalists-comprises short "biographies" of a number of famous taxidermized animals. Each essay traces the life, death, and museum "afterlife" of a specific creature, illuminating the overlooked role of the dead beast in the modern human-animal encounter through practices as disparate as hunting and zookeeping. The contributors offer fresh examinations of the many levels at which humans engage with other animals, especially those that function as both natural and cultural phenomena, including Queen Charlotte's pet zebra, Maharajah the elephant, and Balto the sled dog, among others. Readers curious about the enduring fascination with animals who have attained these strange afterlives will be drawn to the individual narratives within each essay, while learning more about the scientific, cultural, and museological contexts of each subject. Ranging from autobiographical to analytical, the contributors' varying styles make this delightful book a true menagerie.
Contributors: Samuel J. M. M. Alberti, Royal College of Surgeons * Sophie Everest, University of Manchester * Kate Foster * Michelle Henning, University of the West of England, Bristol * Hayden Lorimer, University of Glasgow * Garry Marvin, Roehampton University, London * Henry Nicholls * Hannah Paddon * Merle Patchett * Christopher Plumb, University of Manchester * Rachel Poliquin * Jeanne Robinson, Glasgow Museums * Mike Rutherford, University of the West Indies * Richard C. Sabin, Natural History Museum * Richard Sutcliffe, Glasgow Museums * Geoffrey N. Swinney, University of Edinburgh
The purpose of this article is to bring together archaeological evidence relating to the consumption of porpoises from excavations at both Dover and Canterbury. A contrast can be drawn between ...porpoise remains recovered from Anglo-Norman fishermen in Dover and contemporary remains from two sites within the Cathedral Precincts at Canterbury. These differences are then considered in relation to issues of status.
The Thames Whale RICHARD C. SABIN
The Afterlives of Animals,
09/2011
Book Chapter
On the morning of 19 January 2006, the Natural History Museum’s Whale Strandings hotline received a telephone call from Thames Coastguard. The caller gave details of an earlier sighting of several ...whales at the mouth of the Thames estuary. Later the same day, staff at the Thames Barrier reported that one or two animals had been seen some fifteen miles upriver passing through the barrier. Over the course of the following two days, a sequence of events took place which captivated many of the occupants of one of the biggest cities in the world. As news spread across the globe,
In Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) networks, mobility of the UAV and the corresponding network dynamics cause frequent network adaptation. One key challenge caused by this in Flying Ad-hoc Network ...(FANET) is how to maintain the link stability such that both the packet loss rate and network latency can be reduced. Clustering of UAVs could effectively improve the performance of large-scale UAV swarm. However, the use of conventional clustering schemes in dynamic and high mobility FANET will lead to more link outages. Besides, frequent updates of cluster structure would cause the instability of network topology and the increase of control overhead and latency. To solve this problem, we propose a location-based <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">k </tex-math></inline-formula>-means UAV clustering algorithms by incorporating the mobility and relative location of the UAVs to enhance the performance and reliability of the UAV network with limited resource. The objective of the proposed Mobility and Location-aware Stable Clustering (MLSC) mechanism is to enhance the stability and accuracy of the network by reducing unnecessary overheads and network latency through incorporating several design factors with minimum resource constraints. Furthermore, we derive the relationship between the maximum coverage probability of Cluster Head (CH) and cluster size to find the optimal cluster size to minimize the network overhead. Our simulation results show that the proposed MLSC scheme significantly reduces the network overheads, and also improves packet delivery ratio and network latency as compared to the conventional clustering methods.
Background. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) has been linked to renal impairment, but the extent to which this impairment is reversible is unclear. We aimed to investigate the reversibility of ...renal decline during TDF therapy. Methods. Cox proportional hazards models assessed factors associated with discontinuing TDF in those with an exposure duration of >6 months. In those who discontinued TDF therapy, linear piecewise regression models estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) slopes before initiation of, during, and after discontinuation of TDF therapy. Factors associated with not achieving eGFR recovery 6 months after discontinuing TDF were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. Results. We observed declines in the eGFR during TDF exposure (mean slopes, -15.7 mL/minute/1.73 m²/year 95% confidence interval {CI}, -20.5 to -10.9 during the first 3 months and -3.1 mL/minute/1.73 m²/year 95% CI, -4.6 to -1.7 thereafter) and evidence of eGFR increases following discontinuation of TDF therapy (mean slopes, 12.5 mL/minute/1.73 m²/year 95% CI, 8.9-16.1 during the first 3 months and 0.8 mL/minute/1.73 m²/year 95% CI, .1-1.5 thereafter). Following TDF discontinuation, 38.6% of patients with a decline in the eGFR did not experience recovery. A higher eGFR at baseline, a lower eGFR after discontinuation of TDF therapy, and more-prolonged exposure to TDF were associated with an increased risk of incomplete recovery 6 months after discontinuation of TDF therapy. Conclusions. This study shows that a decline in the eGFR during TDF therapy was not fully reversible in one third of patients and suggests that prolonged TDF exposure at a low eGFR should be avoided.
Understanding Plasmodium falciparum population diversity and transmission dynamics provides information on the intensity of malaria transmission, which is needed for assessing malaria control ...interventions. This study aimed to determine P. falciparum allelic diversity and multiplicity of infection (MOI) among asymptomatic and symptomatic school-age children in Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
A total of 438 DNA samples (248 asymptomatic and 190 symptomatic) were characterized by nested PCR and genotyping the polymorphic regions of pfmsp1 block 2 and pfmsp2 block 3.
Nine allele types were observed in pfmsp1 block2. The K1-type allele was predominant with 78% (229/293) prevalence, followed by the MAD20-type allele (52%, 152/293) and RO33-type allele (44%, 129/293). Twelve alleles were detected in pfmsp2, and the 3D7-type allele was the most frequent with 84% (256/304) prevalence, followed by the FC27-type allele (66%, 201/304). Polyclonal infections were detected in 63% (95% CI 56, 69) of the samples, and the MOI (SD) was 1.99 (0.97) in P. falciparum single-species infections. MOIs significantly increased in P. falciparum isolates from symptomatic parasite carriers compared with asymptomatic carriers (2.24 versus 1.69, adjusted b: 0.36, (95% CI 0.01, 0.72), p = 0.046) and parasitaemia > 10,000 parasites/µL compared to parasitaemia < 5000 parasites/µL (2.68 versus 1.63, adjusted b: 0.89, (95% CI 0.46, 1.25), p < 0.001).
This survey showed low allelic diversity and MOI of P. falciparum, which reflects a moderate intensity of malaria transmission in the study areas. MOIs were more likely to be common in symptomatic infections and increased with the parasitaemia level. Further studies in different transmission zones are needed to understand the epidemiology and parasite complexity in the DRC.
The objective of this study is to estimate life expectancies of HIV-positive patients conditional on response to antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Patients aged more than 20 years who started ART during ...2000-2010 (excluding IDU) in HIV clinics contributing to the UK CHIC Study were followed for mortality until 2012. We determined the latest CD4 cell count and viral load before ART and in each of years 1-5 of ART. For each duration of ART, life tables based on estimated mortality rates by sex, age, latest CD4 cell count and viral suppression (HIV-1 RNA <400 copies/ml), were used to estimate expected age at death for ages 20-85 years.
Of 21 388 patients who started ART, 961 (4.5%) died during 110 697 person-years. At start of ART, expected age at death 95% confidence interval (CI) of 35-year-old men with CD4 cell count less than 200, 200-349, at least 350 cells/μl was 71 (68-73), 78 (74-82) and 77 (72-81) years, respectively, compared with 78 years for men in the general UK population. Thirty-five-year-old men who increased their CD4 cell count in the first year of ART from less than 200 to 200-349 or at least 350 cells/μl and achieved viral suppression gained 7 and 10 years, respectively. After 5 years on ART, expected age at death of 35-year-old men varied from 54 (48-61) (CD4 cell count <200 cells/μl and no viral suppression) to 80 (76-83) years (CD4 cell count ≥350 cells/μl and viral suppression).
Successfully treated HIV-positive individuals have a normal life expectancy. Patients who started ART with a low CD4 cell count significantly improve their life expectancy if they have a good CD4 cell count response and undetectable viral load.
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