BACKGROUND Daylight hours in high-latitude regions tend to be longer than those in Japan in summer, and shorter than those in Japan in winter. For example, daylight hours in London in winter are one-third those of Tokyo. Therefore, this study investigated and compared seasonal changes in mood and behaviours of Japanese individuals living in and outside Japan. METHODS Surveys were conducted wi...

Palaeomagnetism of climatically sensitive sedimentary rock types, such as glacial deposits and evaporites, can test the uniformitarianism of ancient geomagnetic fields and palaeoclimate zones. Proterozoic glacial deposits laid down in near-equatorial palaeomagnetic latitudes can be explained by ‘snowball Earth’ episodes, high orbital obliquity or markedly non-uniformitarian geomagnetic fields. ...

This paper discusses the role of companies in high-latitude regions, which are conceptualized as socially and economically mediated ecosystems, and identifies a number of important social actors within the business environment. We present three examples of corporate activity at high latitudes and discuss a variety of common threads. Notably, we argue that business theory and practice needs to m...

The origins of fractures in Martian boulders are unknown. Here, using Mars Exploration Rover 3D data products, we obtain orientation measurements for 1,857 cracks visible in 1,573 rocks along the Spirit traverse and find that Mars rock cracks are oriented in statistically preferred directions similar to those compiled herein for Earth rock cracks found in mid-latitude deserts. We suggest that M...

Ambient light levels influence visual system size in birds and primates. Here, we argue that the same is true for humans. Light levels, in terms of both the amount of light hitting the Earth's surface and day length, decrease with increasing latitude. We demonstrate a significant positive relationship between absolute latitude and human orbital volume, an index of eyeball size. Owing to tight s...

OBJECTIVE This study sought to examine the influence of protective work factors on long-term sickness absence among employees reporting different levels of depressive symptoms in a representative sample of the Danish workforce. METHODS Questionnaire data were collected from a random sample of members of the Danish workforce aged between 18 and 64 years using information from two surveys with ...

The aim of this study was to compare the sensitometric properties of Insight and Ektaspeed Plus radiographic films manually and automatically processed using fresh and depleted chemical solutions. Ten sets of each type of film were obtained (1 set = 5 films), 5 sets being manually processed and 5 sets being automatically processed. A total of 100 films (50 Ektaspeed Plus and 50 Insight film) we...

*Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan Herbarium, 3600 Varsity Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108-2287, U.S.A.; yDepartment of Botany, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California 94118, U.S.A.; zFlorida Museum of Natural History, Dickinson Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, U.S.A.; and §Arnold Arboretum, Harvar...

Determining longitude is incredibly difficult--for humans. Are animals fooling us into thinking that they have bicoordinate maps? New experiments show that at least some creatures effortlessly solve the seemingly insoluble problem of longitude.