The global aquatic pet trade encompasses a wide diversity of freshwater and marine organisms. While relying on a continual supply of healthy, vibrant aquatic animals, few sustainability initiatives exist within this sector. Public aquariums overlap this industry by acquiring many of the same species through the same sources. End users are also similar, as many aquarium visitors are home aquaris...

Marine organisms have developed a wide variety of protective strategies to thrive in their native environments. These biological materials, although formed from simple biopolymer and biomineral constituents, take on many intricate and effective designs. The specific environmental conditions that shape all marine organisms have helped modify these materials into their current forms: complete hyd...

Escaped transgenic organisms (GMO's) may threaten the populations of their wild relatives if able to hybridize with each other. The introgression of a growth enhancement transgene into a wild Atlantic salmon population may be affected by the transgene's effects not only on fitness parameters, but also on mating behaviour. Large anadromous GMO males are most preferred in mating, but a transgene ...

Biofouling is detrimental to the hydrodynamic performance of ships. In spite of advances in hull coating technology, a ship must usually undergo underwater hull cleaning to remove biofouling during her in-service time. However, some cleaning practices may also lead to decreased lifetime of the fouling-control coating. Therefore, cleaning forces should be minimized, according to the adhesion str...

BACKGROUND The link between histologic acute chorioamnionitis and infection is well established in preterm deliveries, but less well-studied in term pregnancies, where infection is much less common. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We conducted a secondary analysis among 195 low-risk women with term pregnancies enrolled in a randomized trial. Histologic and microbiologic evaluation of placentas...

Lactic acid bacteria (LABs) are widely used in the manufacturing of fermented food and are among the best-studied microorganisms. Detailed knowledge of a number of physiological traits has opened new potential applications for these organisms in the food industry, while other traits might be beneficial for human health. Important new developments have been made in the research of LABs in the ar...

patients and methods: all samples sent to the lab were routinely processed according to standard microbiological procedures and the cultures yielding growth of cons were selected for the study. all samples containing cons collected over a 2 year-period, were included irrespective of patients' age and gender. the antibiogram of the organisms was recorded according to clsi guidelines and the rati...

vesicoureteral reflux (vur) is one of the most important causes of urinary tract infection and renal failure in children. it is a potentially self-limited disease. the aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical course and significant factors in children with primary vur. the medical charts of 125 infants and children (27.2 % males, 72.8% females) with all grades of primary vur were retrospe...

The Stirling Range Formation of southwestern Australia contains discoidal impressions and trace-like fossils in tidal sandstones. The various disks have previously been linked to the Ediacaran biota, younger than 600 million years old. From this unit, we report U-Th-Pb geochronology of detrital zircon and monazite, as well as low-grade metamorphic monazite, constraining the depositional age to ...