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To assess trends in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) hospital admissions, interventions, and aneurysm related mortality in England, and to examine the impact of endovascular repair on mortality for the years 1998 – 2020. Hospital admission and operative approach (endovascular aortic aneurysm repair, or open surgical repair [OSR]) using Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), and aneurysm related mortality data from the Office for National Statistics for England standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population, were analysed using linear regression and Joinpoint regression analyses. Aneurysm related mortality was compared between the pre-endovascular era (1998 – 2010) and the endovascular era (2011 – 2019). A declining trend in hospital admission incidence was observed, mainly due to a decline in ruptured admissions from 34.6 per 100 000 (95% confidence interval [CI] 33.5 – 35.6) to 13.5 per 100 000 (95% CI 12.9 – 14.2; β i = –1.04, r 2 =.97, p <.001). Operative interventions have been declining over the last 23 years mainly due to the statistically significant decline in open procedures (41.2 per 100 000 in 2000 [95% CI 40 – 42.3] to 9.6 per 100 000 [95% CI 9.1 – 10.1]; β i = –1.92, r 2 =.95; p <.001). There was an increasing trend toward endovascular procedures (5.8 per 100 000 [95% CI 5.3 – 6.2] in 2006 to 16.9 per 100 000 [95% CI 16.2 – 17.5] in 2020; β i =.82, r 2 =.30, p =.040). Reductions in aneurysm related mortality due to AAAs were observed for males and females, irrespective of age and rupture status. A significant decrease in hospital admissions for AAAs was observed over the last 23 years in England, paralleled by a shift toward endovascular repair and a decline in OSR. Declines in aneurysm related mortality were observed overall, and in the endovascular era irrespective of age, sex, and rupture status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Size-assortative mating (SAM) is common in animals, especially in insects, owing to the influence of body size on mate choice and fitness in both sexes. According to sexual selection theory, choosiness in mate selection may decrease when the costs of intrasexual competition and mate choice increase. Thus, scenarios with intense mating competition (i.e. with high population density and highly biased sex ratio) should weaken SAM. In this study, we tested this hypothesis in mating aggregations of the ant Tranopelta gilva. During mating swarm, population density and male-bias in sex ratios may increase with time, promoting changes in SAM. Considering this potential variation in SAM, we hypothesized that (a) T. gilva ants assortatively mate by size when male mating competition is weak; (b) larger males win most intrasexual disputes; and (c) there is no significant variation in body size among individuals arriving earlier and later during mating aggregations. We attracted winged ants to open plastic arenas, placed under artificial light at night in a protected area of the Brazilian Savanna. Two intensities of mating competition were comparatively evaluated in the arenas: 'weakly competitive' (low ant density and a slightly male-biased sex ratio) and 'intense competitive' conditions (high ant density and strongly male-biased sex ratio). Assortative mating in T. gilva occurred only when mating competition was weak. Male size was not important in male–male competition and large males did not arrive first at mating aggregations. Because male–male competition did not explain variations in SAM, we suggest that female choice at low densities and male harassment at high densities would explain these variations. In conclusion, mating competition may affect temporal variation in SAM of T. gilva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]