Simple SummaryUsing an adaptation of the domain-based welfare assessment model, a panel of horse welfare professionals (with professional expertise in psychology, equitation science, veterinary science, education, welfare, equestrian coaching, advocacy, and community engagement) assessed the perceived harms, if any, resulting from 116 interventions that are commonly applied to horses. Scores for Domain 5 (the integrated mental impact) gathered after extensive discussion during a four-day workshop aligned well with overall impact scores assigned by the same panellists individually before the workshop, although some rankings changed after workshop participation. Domain 4 (Behaviour) had the strongest association with Domain 5, whilst Domain 1 (Nutrition) had the weakest association with Domain 5, implying that the panellists considered commonly applied nutritional interventions to have less of a bearing on subjective mental state than commonly applied behavioural restrictions. The workshop defined each intervention, and stated assumptions around each, resulting in a set of exemplar procedures that could be used in future equine welfare assessments.AbstractThe aim of this study was to conduct a series of paper-based exercises in order to assess the negative (adverse) welfare impacts, if any, of common interventions on domestic horses across a broad range of different contexts of equine care and training. An international panel (with professional expertise in psychology, equitation science, veterinary science, education, welfare, equestrian coaching, advocacy, and community engagement; n = 16) met over a four-day period to define and assess these interventions, using an adaptation of the domain-based assessment model. The interventions were considered within 14 contexts: C1 Weaning; C2 Diet; C3 Housing; C4 Foundation training; C5 Ill-health and veterinary interventions (chiefly medical); C6 Ill-health and veterinary interventions (chiefly surgical); C7 Elective procedures; C8 Care procedures; C9 Restraint for management procedures; C10 Road transport; C11 Activity—competition; C12 Activity—work; C13 Activity—breeding females; and C14 Activity—breeding males. Scores on a 1–10 scale for Domain 5 (the mental domain) gathered during the workshop were compared with overall impact scores on a 1–10 scale assigned by the same panellists individually before the workshop. The most severe (median and interquartile range, IQR) impacts within each context were identified during the workshop as: C1 abrupt, individual weaning (10 IQR 1); C2 feeding 100% low-energy concentrate (8 IQR 2.5); C3 indoor tie stalls with no social contact (9 IQR 1.5); C4 both (i) dropping horse with ropes (9 IQR 0.5) and forced flexion (9 IQR 0.5); C5 long-term curative medical treatments (8 IQR 3); C6 major deep intracavity surgery (8.5 IQR 1); C7 castration without veterinary supervision (10 IQR 1); C8 both (i) tongue ties (8 IQR 2.5) and (ii) restrictive nosebands (8 IQR 2.5); C9 ear twitch (8 IQR 1); C10 both (i) individual transport (7.00 IQR 1.5) an...

The treatment of acne vulgaris poses a challenge to the dermatologist, and the disease causes emotional anxiety for the patient. The treatment of acne vulgaris may be well-suited to home-use applications, where sufferers may be too embarrassed to seek medical treatment. This randomized controlled study is designed to quantify the effectiveness of using a blue light device in a therapy combined with proprietary creams, in the investigation of a self-treatment regimen. A total of 41 adults with mild-to-moderate facial inflammatory acne were recruited. The subjects were randomly assigned to combination blue light therapy (n = 26) or control (n = 15). Photography was used for qualitative assessment of lesion counts, at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12. All subjects in the treatment cohort achieved a reduction in their inflammatory lesion counts after 12 weeks. The mean inflammatory lesion counts reduced by 50.02% in the treatment cohort, and increased by 2.45% in the control cohort. The reduction in inflammatory lesions was typically observable at week-3, and maximal between weeks 8 and 12. The treatment is free of pain and side-effects. The blue light device offers a valuable alternative to antibiotics and potentially irritating topical treatments. Blue light phototherapy, using a narrow-band LED light source, appears to be a safe and effective additional therapy for mild to moderate acne.

Climate change is one of the biggest environmental problems that the UK faces. Increased understanding of the impacts is vital to enable adaption to, and mitigation of, the consequences. This analysis and modelling of the relationship between climate and shrinkswell behaviour has been carried out to increase understanding of the potential consequences of changes in precipitation and temperature on ground movement in the south-east of England during the coming century.Analysis of historical climate data, and comparison with subsidence claims data, demonstrated the relatively close relationship of subsidence with two years' previous precipitation. Boundaries are identified, with precipitation above 394mm for the previous two years, leading to a lower level subsidence claims, and below 350mm leading to a higher incidence. Combined with this inverse relationship, a direct relationship with temperature is identified, with a rise above 22.6 o C in the mean maximum temperature for an accounting quarter leading to a peak in claims.To model a projection for susceptibility of south-east England to future climate change, UKCIP02 forecast climate data were used, and combined with the British Geological Survey national shrink-swell GeoSure geohazard dataset. Preliminary results demonstrate the most noticeable increases in subsidence susceptibility are within the areas underlain by the London Clay formations, with other clay-rich formations also being identified, including glacial till.Despite this being a preliminary model, with large amounts of future work identified, these results are significant, providing an insight into areas of higher susceptibility and the potential for changes in ground movement for the coming century.

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Coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes are vital habitats for biota of ecological and economic importance. These habitats are susceptible to water quality impairments driven by runoff from the landscape due to their location along the shoreline. Monitoring of the overall status of biotic and abiotic conditions of coastal wetlands within the Great Lakes has been ongoing for over a decade. Here, we utilize measurements of aquatic physicochemical and land cover variables from 877 vegetation zones in 511 coastal wetland sites spanning the US and Canadian shorelines of the entire Great Lakes basin. Our objective is to develop water quality indices based on physicochemical measures (Chem-Rank), land use/land cover (LULC-Rank), and their combined effects (Sum-Rank and Simplified Sum-Rank), for both vegetation zones and wetland sites. We found that water quality differed among wetland vegetation types and among Great Lakes regions, corroborating previous findings that human land use alters coastal wetland water quality. Future monitoring can use these straightforward, easy-to-calculate indices to assess the abiotic condition of aquatic habitats. Our data support the need for management efforts focused on reducing nutrient and pollution loads that stem from human activities, particularly in the developed southern portions of the Great Lakes basin.