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At seven, my brother decided to become a cave. The sapphires in his eyes told my parents and me that he was serious this time, serious in a way he [...]

This article from Computer Act!ve covers various consumer-related topics. The first question addresses whether a consumer is required to pay VAT for a replacement power supply under warranty. The answer explains that the retailer is responsible for replacing or repairing the faulty power supply, but the consumer may have to pay VAT to import the replacement. The second question discusses a potential scam involving a car history website, advising the consumer to contact their bank for a chargeback and report the scam to Action Fraud. The third question corrects a previous advice regarding compensation for router failure, stating that compensation is only applicable for service loss caused by the provider and not for faults within the consumer's home. The fourth question involves a dispute with O2 over direct debit payments and a potential breach of contract. The article concludes with a legal update on a new law that allows consumers to cancel subscriptions with one email and provides additional consumer protections. The article also includes a reader's positive experience with Hughes, a retailer that provided a goodwill payment for a forgotten discount voucher. [Extracted from the article]

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether glucose-independent differences in [HbA.sub.1c] exist between people of African, South Asian, and Chinese ethnicities. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--Data from 6,701 people aged 19-78 years, without known diabetes, [...]

Interest in research and restoration of coregonines has been increasing in the Great Lakes region as managers gain greater understanding of the important role these species play in the native food web. Although the larval life stage is a critical time period in coregonine life history and ultimately affects adult population size and stability, little is known about the factors that drive distribution of larval coregonines. Additionally, predation by alewife and rainbow smelt is suspected to have contributed to the initial collapse of coregonine populations, and may be inhibiting their recovery today. The purpose of our study was to assess the density and distribution of cisco and lake whitefish larvae in Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario, and to identify whether predation by alewife or rainbow smelt was affecting the larval population. Larval coregonines were collected with light traps and neuston nets in the spring of 2014, and predator presence was determined with nighttime acoustic and gillnet sampling. We found no evidence of predation by alewife and smelt in Chaumont Bay. Cisco larvae were found in high densities and were distributed widely throughout the bay, whereas lake whitefish larvae were scarce.

Since we started to deliver data as voice in the early 90s with the introduction of dial up connections the way that we use the internet in our homes has [...]

The genetic constitution of populations is affected by myriad factors, including both natural and anthropogenic habitat transformations. Previous work on the population structure of Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalishas suggested that supplemental stocking for fishery enhancement has transformed natural genetic diversity. We utilized microsatellite analysis of 11 loci to examine the genetic structure of over 950 Brook Trout sampled across 50 locations, including hatcheries; holding ponds; wild, unstocked waters; and repeatedly stocked waterbodies across Adirondack lakes and ponds in New York State, USA. From these data, we estimated the degree of introgressive hybridization, tested for associations with landscape and stocking variables, and tested predicted patterns of genetic diversity, effective population size, and genetic population structure. Widespread repeated stocking of a single hybrid strain has led to the dramatic genetic homogenization of Brook Trout across the sampled lakes and ponds. Model selection indicated that environmental factors were more important than stocking intensity for determining the extent of stocked‐fish introgression, and certain environmental circumstances may make some populations relatively resilient to repeated stocking activities. Known, protected heritage strains were confirmed as mostly unadmixed, but holding ponds with heritage brood populations used for supplemental stocking had become differentiated from the natal strains in two of the three cases tested. In addition to the importance of these results for understanding the effects of stocking activities on the genetic integrity of Brook Trout populations, our findings illustrate how current genetic techniques can aid in the development of management practices that are related to the conservation of species supporting economically important freshwater fisheries.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) has been associated with the use of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is).

The population of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in southern New York, USA has been growing and expanding in range since the 1990s. This has motivated a need to anticipate future patterns of range expansion. We conducted a non‐invasive, genetic, spatial capture‐recapture (SCR) study to estimate black bear density and identify spatial patterns of population density that are potentially associated with range expansion. We collected hair samples in a 2,519‐km2study area in southern New York with barbed‐wire hair snares and identified individuals and measured genetic diversity using 7 microsatellite loci and 1 sex‐linked marker. We estimated a mean density of black bears in the region of 13.7 bears/100 km2, and detected a slight latitudinal gradient in density consistent with the documented range expansion. However, elevation and the amounts of forest, crop, and developed landcover types did not influence density, suggesting that bears are using a diversity of resources in this heterogeneous landscape outside their previously described distribution. These results provide the first robust baseline estimates for population density and distribution associated with different landcover types in the expanded bear range. Further, genetic diversity was comparable to that of non‐expanding black bear populations in the eastern United States, and in combination with the latitudinal density gradient, suggest that the study area is not at the colonizing front of the range expansion. In addition, the diversity of landcover types used by bears in the study area implies a possible lack of constraints for further northern expansion of the black bear range. Our non‐invasive, genetic, spatial capture‐recapture approach has utility for studying populations of other species that may be expanding in range because SCR allows for the testing of explicit, spatial ecological hypotheses. © 2017 The Wildlife Society. We identified unexpected patterns in landcover related to the density of an expanding black bear population in southern New York. Results from our noninvasive, genetic, spatial capture‐recapture study suggest that, in the absence of active management, further population growth or range expansion may not be limited by the highly human‐influenced landscapes that continue north of the study area.

Morbidity and mortality from diabetes and its complications are increasing in populations globally. Different ethnic groups have varying degrees of risk. The concept of ethnicity encompasses numerous factors relevant to health including genetics, socioeconomics and health behaviours. Ethnicity-related discordance in the glycaemic markers used to diagnose diabetes and to identify those at risk of diabetes has been reported. Furthermore, many ethnicity- and country-specific diabetes risk prediction models have been developed. This review provides a thorough discussion of the impact of ethnicity on how diabetes is detected and the evidence for and against ethnicity-specific approaches to diagnosis.

Early-life risk factors, including maternal hyperglycaemia and birthweight, are thought to contribute to the high burden of cardiometabolic disease experienced by Indigenous populations. We examined rates of pre-existing diabetes in pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and extremes of birthweight over three decades in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia.