We investigated patterns of mammal assemblage structure on the Atherton Tableland in the Wet Tropics biogeographic region of northeastern Australia. We used live trapping and quantitative estimates of stratified vegetation density to examine the relationships between the structure of the mammal assemblage and habitat structure over three nested spatial scales across a natural vegetation gradient from rain forest to dry, open forest. The narrow transition zone enabled us to examine the relationships between mammal assemblage structure and habitat structure while minimizing the confounding effects of distance, climate, and biogeographic history. The structure of the mammal assemblages was closely related to vegetation structure across and within habitats, and over all spatial scales examined. Vegetation complexity and heterogeneity both influenced assemblage structure, but the relationships varied with spatial scale. Species richness was highest in the open forest and decreased across the gradient into the rain forest. Point diversity was only weakly explained by vegetation structure, whereas Ͼ80% of the variation in species richness at the local scale could be explained by vegetation structure. Local-scale species richness of ground-dwelling mammals was mostly a product of the spatial variability in assemblage structure (␤ diversity), which was associated with the spatial variability in vegetation structure. Local-scale habitat heterogeneity thus promoted local-scale species richness via the close ecological interaction between mammals and habitat structure. The multiscale approach used here, and the nesting of spatial variability in within-habitat vegetation structure, enabled us to demonstrate the scale-dependent effects of spatial habitat heterogeneity and complexity on the structure and diversity of the small-mammal assemblage.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Associations between timing of eating occasions and their nutrient composition and health have been described in interventional and cross-sectional studies. However, data from longitudinal data are limited. This study examined 17-year changes in energy and macronutrient intake across eating occasions in the 1946 British birth cohort.SUBJECTS/METHODS:Data were obtained from the 1946 British birth cohort. Cohort members completed 5d-estimated diaries at ages 36 (1982), 43 (1989) and 53 years (1999). Data from subjects who provided dietary data at all three time points were analysed (n=1253). Repeated-measures analysis of variance with post hoc Bonferroni's adjustment was used to examine changes in energy and macronutrient at breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, evening and extra meal slots between 1982 and 1999. Analyses were stratified by sex and social class.RESULTS:The proportion of energy and macronutrients consumed at lunch declined between 1982 and 1999, which was compensated by a greater intake in the mid-afternoon and evening. This trend was seen across sex and social class, although women and adults with a non-manual occupation reported greater energy, carbohydrate and non-starch polysaccharide intake at breakfast in 1982 and had a higher protein intake in the evening compared with men and adults with a manual occupation.CONCLUSIONS:The timing of energy and nutrient intake has shifted slightly over time, with a greater proportion of intake later in the day. The association between the observed sex and occupational social class differences in eating profiles and chronic disease warrants investigation.

Background: Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination are recommended in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A recent study from Tayside found a reduced risk of all-cause mortality with vaccination in patients with COPD. The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database was used to test this hypothesis in a different data source. Methods: The THIN database was searched for patients with COPD. Vaccination status against Pneumococcus and the annual influenza vaccination status were determined. Mortality rates were calculated in the periods December to March and April to November. Relative risks for the effect of vaccination on all-cause mortality were estimated by Poisson regression, adjusting for age, sex, year and serious co-morbidities. Results: 177 120 patients with COPD (mean age 65 years) were identified, with a mean follow-up of 6.8 years between 1988 and 2006. Vaccination rates against influenza rose from ,30% before 1995 to .70% in 2005 in patients aged 60 years or more. The cumulative vaccination rate against pneumonia rose from almost zero to 70% in patients aged 70 years or more over the same period. For all-cause mortality the adjusted relative risks associated with influenza vaccination were 0.59 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.61) during the influenza season and 0.97 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.00) outside the season in patients not vaccinated against pneumonia, and 0.30 (95% CI 0.28 to 0.32) and 0.98 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.11), respectively, in patients vaccinated against pneumonia. The relative risk associated with pneumococcal vaccination was .1 at all times of the year. Conclusions: Influenza but not pneumococcal vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality in COPD.Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide resulting in more than 2.7 million deaths in 2000.1 COPD exacerbations are a common cause of mortality and morbidity and prevention is an important strategy as effective treatment of exacerbations is still inadequate. Vaccinations against influenza and pneumococcus are recommended in NICE guidelines for COPD.

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