The Surface Brightness Fluctuation method has been shown to be a powerful distance indicator for dwarf elliptical galaxies to very low surface brightness levels. It is applicable to stellar systems that are out of reach for classical indicators requiring resolved stellar populations such as the tip magnitude of the red giant branch. I briefly discuss a few results from recent SBF studies of dEs...

Seasonal differences in suicide birth rates among Alaska Natives and for populations at different latitudes (residents of the Yukon, Saskatchewan, Montana, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania) were investigated. Seasonal birth rates for the general population were similarly examined. Suicide birth rates showed small seasonal variations for Alaska Natives with summer births showing more suicides. However,...

Infectious diseases can cause population declines and even extinctions. The amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has caused population declines and extinctions in amphibians on most continents. In the tropics, research on the dynamics of this disease has focused on amphibian populations in mountainous areas. In most of these areas, high and low elevation sites are conn...

—Effects of 74 episodes of extreme weather on stoppage of population growth and resulting amplitudes of annual population fluctuation of 39 fluctuations of Microtus ochrogaster and 20 fluctuations of M. pennsylvanicus were studied over a 25 y period in eastcentral Illinois. Episodes of extreme weather may have stopped population growth of only six M. ochrogaster fluctuations and of two M. penns...

BACKGROUND Birth weight is known to fluctuate with season of birth, however, there is little information about seasonal variation in neonatal anthropometric measures. AIMS The aim of this study was to examine seasonal fluctuations in birth weight and selected anthropometric measures. STUDY DESIGN AND SUBJECTS The birth weight of singletons born after at least 37 weeks gestation was extracte...

OBJECTIVES To examine whether a seasonal fluctuation exists with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity and to analyse seasonal effects of varying components that express disease activity in RA patients. METHODS A group of 1665 RA patients (mean age 57.2 yrs, mean disease duration 9.9 yrs) whose data were available for 10 consecutive phases from a large observational cohort study conducted at our...