Resilience to periodic disturbances and the long-term genetic stability in Acropora coral.

Climate change is restructuring natural ecosystems. The direct impacts of these events on biodiversity and community structure are widely documented, but the impacts on the genetic variation of populations remains largely unknown. We monitored populations of Acropora coral on a remote coral reef system in northwest Australia for two decades and through multiple cycles of impact and recovery. We combined these demographic data with a temporal genetic dataset of a common broadcast spawning corymbose Acropora to explore the spatial and temporal patterns of connectivity underlying recovery. Our data show that broad-scale dispersal and post-recruitment survival drive recovery from recurrent disturbances, including mass bleaching and mortality. Consequently, genetic diversity and associated patterns of connectivity are maintained through time in the broader metapopulation. The results highlight an inherent resilience in these globally threatened species of coral and showcase their ability to cope with multiple disturbances, given enough time to recover is permitted.

An increase in the number of deaths in the United States in the first week of the month--an association with substance abuse and other causes of death.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: There are regular changes in mortality rates, such as increased rates of death from influenza in the winter and from motor vehicle accidents on long holiday weekends. Previous research has shown that among persons with schizophrenia, the rates of cocaine use and hospital admissions increase at the beginning of the month, after the receipt of disability payments. Using computerized data from all death certificates in the United States between 1973 and 1988, we compared the number of deaths in the first week of the month with the number of deaths in the last week of the preceding month. RESULTS: The average number of deaths was about 5500 per day, or about 165,000 in a 30-day month. There were 100.9 deaths (95 percent confidence interval, 100.8 to 101.0) in the first week of the month for every 100 deaths in the last week of the preceding month. This was equivalent to about 4320 more deaths in the first week of each month than in the last week of the preceding month in an average year. Between 1983 and 1988, for deaths involving substance abuse and an external cause (such as suicides, accidents, and homicides), there were 114.2 deaths (95 percent confidence interval, 110.5 to 117.9) in the first week of the month for every 100 in the last week of the preceding month. There were significant increases in the number of deaths in the first week of the month for many causes of death, including substance abuse, natural causes, homicides, suicides, and motor vehicle accidents. CONCLUSIONS: In the United States, the number of deaths is higher in the first week of the month than in the last week of the preceding month. The increase at the beginning of the month is associated with substance abuse and other causes of death.

Stress-coping strategies identified from school age children's perspective.

School age children, 8 to 12 years old (N = 103), reported on the strategies they use to help them deal with stressors. Individual questionnaires contained 518 coping strategies that were sorted into 13 categories inductively derived from the content of the behaviors. Girls named significantly more social support and emotional behaviors than boys, while boys named significantly more physical exercise activities than girls. Examination of the data by age revealed significant differences in the frequency with which all categories of strategies were used except for aggressive motor and spiritual activities. The data also revealed particular strategies that were used in different stages of the coping process, and strategies that the children perceived to be helpful versus not helpful to them.

The stress-coping process in school-age children: gaps in the knowledge needed for health promotion.

Most health promotion research on the stress-coping process among children has applied theory developed by adults for adults, with little examination of its applicability. Most instruments used with children have been developed from an adult perspective of what is stressful to children and how children should cope, with little validation of the accuracy of such instruments by the children themselves. Recommendations for further development of theory about and knowledge of the stress-coping process and relevant health promotion interventions from the children's perspective are offered.

The differential release of basal ATPase, Ca2+-dependent ATPase, 5'-nucleotidase and cholesterol during homogenization of skeletal muscle.

The influence of homogenization times on the presence of constituents in the microsomal fraction of skeletal muscle was investigated. Membranes having Ca2+-activated ATPase activity have a fragmentation pattern distinct from that of membranes displaying Ca2+-independent or basal ATPase activity. These latter membranes were found in highest specific concentration in the microsomal fraction prepared from homogenates subjected to short periods of homogenization. 5'-Nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5) activity paralleled that of basal ATPase on short periods of homogenization, as also did the specific concentration of cholesterol. Longer periods of homogenization led to a decrease in the specific activity of basal atpase, which reached its lowest value at 120s of homogenization, whereas the specific activity of 5'-nucleotidase and the specific concentration of cholesterol decreased initially in a similar manner to basal ATPase, but both increased substantially after the longest period of homogenization.