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The feeding ecology of leptostracans is not well-known. In the present study, species of Nebalia (Crustacea: Leptostraca) were captured every month for 1 year from Lobster Bay, Hong Kong, using baited traps. Captured individuals fell into a size range of 0.36–3.64 mm and 0.95–5.52 mm in carapace and total lengths, respectively. They were divided into different reproductive stages based on the morphology of the second pair of antennae and thoracopods. Sexual dimorphism becomes apparent between 0.7–1.5 mm (CL) and 1.4–3.2 mm (TL). Most individuals collected were sexually differentiated, but immature (79.7% of the captured individuals), followed by post-ovigerous (11.4%) and ovigerous (8.9%) females. Sexually undifferentiated juveniles were rare (3.9%). The sex ratio of the immature individuals approached 1:1 with a propensity towards male dominance. Not one mature male was captured. Although females with setose thoracopod endopods, indicating that they were ovigerous, were captured frequently, only two were carrying eggs. The two brooding females had clutch sizes of 11 and 17 eggs. Alternate peaks in relative abundance of ovigerous and post-ovigerous females were identified, the latter following the former. Reproductive activities occurred mainly in April–May and October–December, indicating that two cohorts are recruited. Catches using baited traps could be explained by the reproductive season of Nebalia sp. High catches were usually associated with the months of highest reproductive activity, low catches with peaks in post-ovigerous females. It is therefore concluded that not all individuals at various reproductive stages are attracted to carrion and hence adopt a scavenging feeding mode. Catches of Nebalia sp. in Hong Kong possibly reflect their annual cycle of reproductive activity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We studied the prevalence and related risk factors of impulse control disorders in Chinese Parkinson's disease patients., Method: We screened all non-demented Parkinson's disease patients attending our Parkinson's disease clinic from August 2009 to March 2010. The clinical characteristics of patients with impulse control disorders and those without were compared., Results: Of the 213 PD subjects screened, 15 (7.0%) with impulse control disorders were identified. Fourteen of these subjects were on both a dopamine agonist and Levodopa, and one was on Levodopa alone. Of the fourteen subjects on both a dopamine agonist and Levodopa, eleven were on bromocriptine and Levodopa; 10.5% of the subjects exposed to bromocriptine had impulse control disorder. Upon multivariate analysis, dose of dopamine agonist used, young age at onset of Parkinson's disease and a history of anxiety or depression were independent predictors for developing impulse control disorders., Conclusions: 7% of our Chinese PD subjects had impulse control disorders. When young Parkinson's disease patients with a history of anxiety or depression are treated with high dose of DA, they are at risk of developing impulse control disorders., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)