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Objective: To report speech outcomes following Orticochea pharyngoplasty in 43 patients with cleft palate and noncleft velopharyngeal dysfunction. Design: A retrospective surgical audit of patients undergoing Orticochea pharyngoplasty between 2004 and 2012, with speech as a primary outcome measure. Setting: Patients known to a regional UK cleft center. Methods: Forty-three patients underwent Orticochea pharyngoplasty by a single surgeon in a UK regional cleft center. Twenty-one patients had undergone a prior procedure for velopharyngeal dysfunction. Pre- and postoperative speech samples were assessed blindly using the Cleft Audit Protocol for Speech-Augmented by a specialist cleft speech and language therapist, external to the team. Speech samples were rated on the following parameters: hypernasality, hyponasality, audible nasal emission, nasal, turbulence, and passive cleft speech characteristics. Statistical differences in pre- and postoperative speech scores were tested using the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test. Inter- and intrareliability scores were calculated using weighted Cohen κ. Results: Whole group: A statistically significant difference in pre- and postoperative scores for hypernasality (P <.001), hyponasality (P <.05), nasal emission (P <.01), and passive cleft speech characteristics (P <.01) were reported. Patients with cleft diagnoses: A statistically significant difference in scores for hypernasality (P <.001), nasal emission (P <.01), and passive cleft speech characteristics (P <.01) were reported for this group of patients. Patients with noncleft diagnoses: The only parameter to demonstrate a statistically significant difference was hypernasality (P <.01) in this group. Conclusions: Orticochea pharyngoplasty is a successful surgical procedure in treating velopharyngeal dysfunction in both the cleft and noncleft populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid development of a successful foraging strategy is critical for juvenile survival, especially for naïve animals that receive no parental guidance. However, this process is poorly understood for many species. Although observation of early‐life movements is increasingly possible with miniaturisation of animal‐borne telemetry devices, analytical limitations remain. Here, we tracked 29 recently‐weaned grey seal Halichoerus grypus pups from colonies in two geographically distinct regions of the United Kingdom. We analysed at‐sea movements of pups throughout their initial months of nutritional independence to investigate the ontogeny of behaviour‐specific (foraging and travelling) movement patterns. Using generalized hidden Markov models (HMMs), we extended the conventional HMM framework to account for temporal changes in putative foraging and travelling movement characteristics, and investigate the effects of intrinsic (sex) and extrinsic (environment) factors on this process. Putative foraging behaviour became more tortuous with time, and travelling became faster and more directed, suggesting a reduction in search scale and an increase in travel efficiency as pups shifted from exploration to an adult‐like repeatable foraging strategy. Sex differences in movement characteristics were evident from colony departure, but sex‐specific activity budgets were only detected in one region. We show that sex‐specific behavioural strategies emerge before sexual size dimorphism in grey seals, and suggest that this phenomenon may occur in other long‐lived species. Our results also indicate that environmental variation may affect the emergence of sex‐specific foraging behaviour, highlighting the need to consider interacting intrinsic and extrinsic factors in shaping movement strategies of long‐lived vertebrates. Moreover, comparing the behavioural state estimations to those of a conventional HMM (no variation in state‐specific movement parameters) revealed differences in the amount and location of foraging activity, with implications for spatial conservation management. Overlooking intrinsic and extrinsic variation in movement processes could distort our understanding of foraging ecology, population dynamics and conservation requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To report the vitamin D status in adults from seven European countries and to identify behavioural correlates.Methods: In total, 1075 eligible adult men and women from Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, UK, Poland and Germany, were included in the study.Results: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, defined as 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 (25-OHD3) concentration of <30 and 30-49.9 nmol/L, respectively, were observed in 3.3 and 30.6% of the participants. The highest prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was found in the UK and the lowest in the Netherlands (8.2 vs. 1.1%, P < 0.05). In addition, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency was higher in females compared with males (36.6 vs. 22.6%, P < 0.001), in winter compared with summer months (39.3 vs. 25.0%, P < 0.05) and in younger compared with older participants (36.0 vs. 24.4%, P < 0.05). Positive dose-response associations were also observed between 25-OHD3 concentrations and dietary vitamin D intake from foods and supplements, as well as with physical activity (PA) levels. Vitamin D intakes of ≥5 μg/day from foods and ≥5 μg/day from supplements, as well as engagement in ≥30 min/day of moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA were associated with higher odds (P < 0.05) for maintaining sufficient (≥50 nmol/L) 25-OHD3 concentrations.Conclusions: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency varied considerably among European adults. Dietary intakes of ≥10 μg/day of vitamin D from foods and/or supplements and at least 30 min/day of moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA were the minimum thresholds associated with vitamin D sufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of significant changes in the environment facing international business in the last two decades, this paper reports on the results of a survey of international accounting courses in UK universities and polytechnics/colleges. The survey was concerned with the extent of international accounting teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, the specific topics covered, and the proportion of time allocated to each topic. The results of this survey are compared with similar surveys in the USA and an earlier survey of UK universities. Finally, the authors offer their conclusions on the state of international accounting courses and suggestions for the future development of international accounting as an academic discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the cost constraints on voluntary information disclosure in a comparative study of the perceptions of financial executives In U.K. and US. multinationals. The study examines the perceived net costs or benefits of disclosing information voluntarily, the types of costs Involved and the significance of cost constraints in respect of specific items of disclosure. The results suggest that while then is substantial agreement on the major cost constraints involved and the Individual items giving rise to major net costs, there are significantly different perceptions by U.K. and US. financial executives in terms of the overall emphasis of responses to the Issue of cost constraints on voluntary Information disclosures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young animals must learn to forage effectively to survive the transition from parental provisioning to independent feeding. Rapid development of successful foraging strategies is particularly important for capital breeders that do not receive parental guidance after weaning. The intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of variation in ontogeny of foraging are poorly understood for many species. Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are typical capital breeders; pups are abandoned on the natal site after a brief suckling phase, and must develop foraging skills without external input. We collected location and dive data from recently-weaned grey seal pups from two regions of the United Kingdom (the North Sea and the Celtic and Irish Seas) using animal-borne telemetry devices during their first months of independence at sea. Dive duration, depth, bottom time, and benthic diving increased over the first 40 days. The shape and magnitude of changes differed between regions. Females consistently had longer bottom times, and in the Celtic and Irish Seas they used shallower water than males. Regional sex differences suggest that extrinsic factors, such as water depth, contribute to behavioural sexual segregation. We recommend that conservation strategies consider movements of young naïve animals in addition to those of adults to account for developmental behavioural changes.