Extraordinary capture of a Randall's snapper Randallichthys filamentosus in the temperate south-eastern Indian Ocean and its molecular phylogenetic relationship within the Etelinae.

The capture of a rarely encountered Randall's snapper Randallichthys filamentosus (female, 587 mm fork length) from the upper continental slope (c. 350 m) off the south coast of Western Australia (c. 34·5° S; 122·5° E) in January 2014 represents its first record from the temperate Indian Ocean and a southern range extension. This record suggests that spawning of this predominantly tropical species may probably be occurring in the eastern Indian Ocean, considering the extensive, and unlikely, distance the progeny would have otherwise travelled from its typical distribution in the western and central Pacific Ocean.

Microsatellite evidence for monogamy and sex-biased recombination in the Western Australian seahorse Hippocampus angustus.

Four polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to assess biological parentage of 453 offspring from 15 pregnant males from a natural population of the Western Australian seahorse Hippocampus angustus. Microsatellite genotypes in the progeny arrays were consistent with a monogamous mating system in which both females and males had a single mate during a male brooding period. Multilocus genotypes implicated four females in the adult population sample as contributors of eggs to the broods of collected males, but there was no evidence for multiple mating by females. Based on genotypic data from the progeny arrays, two loci were linked tightly and the recombination rate appeared to be approximately 10-fold higher in females than in males. The utility of linked loci for parentage analyses is discussed.

Assessment of the exposure to biologically effective UV radiation using a dosimetric technique to evaluate the solar spectrum.

A cost-effective method employing polysulphone, nalidixic acid, 8-methoxypsoralen and phenothiazine as UV dosimeters is presented for evaluating the UV spectrum. The exposure measured by each dosimeter is a function of the source spectrum and the spectral response of the material. Each material has a different spectral response and records a different dose for the same exposure. A least squares method is employed to extract the source spectrum from the four dose measurements. A number of spectra have been evaluated, and the differences between these spectra and the associated irradiances, compared to the spectra and irradiances measured with a calibrated spectroradiometer is less than 20%. The technique allows simultaneous multisite measurement at positions that may be inaccessible to sensitive and expensive equipment. The technique was employed to evaluate the spectrum on the chest and shoulder of four subjects. The erythemal exposures were derived from the evaluated spectra with the chest exposures 0.7 to 0.8 those of the shoulder exposures.

Ovenstone Factor in the management of Rh sensitization.

Several methods have been developed for analyzing amniotic fluid to aid in the management of rhesus isoimmunization. Because all methods attempt to predict the severity of fetal hemolysis based on the original findings of Bevis and on the amount of unconjugated bilirubin in amniotic fluid as measured by its optical density at 450 millimicron, they share two possible sources of error: calculation of exact gestational age and accurately reading bloody or contaminated amniotic fluid. The Ovenstone Factor measures the derivative of the bilirubin curve against wavelength and thereby avoids some of the contaminating pigments at 450 millimicron. This paper compares the predictive accuracy of two methods, Liley versus Ovenstone Factor, in 78 samples of fluid from 46 patients. Predictions were correct in 80% of infants using Ovenstone Factor and 67% using the Liley curve, and incorrect in only 7% and 13%, respectively. The Ovenstone Factor, with its simplicity and high predictive accuracy, is an excellent additional tool in the management of Rh-sensitized pregnancies.