Scalar considerations in carrying capacity assessment : an Australian example

Regional resource self-sufficiency has been proposed as a way to improve food security by lessening the demand on long-distance transport. An online tool, the Carrying Capacity Dashboard, was developed for Australian conditions in order to gauge self-sufficiency at three different scales: regional, state and national. It allows users to test a variety of societal behaviours such as diet, biofuel production, farming systems and ecological protection practices. Analysis developed from the Dashboard tests the effects of various resource consumption patterns on land carrying capacity. Findings reveal that Australia’s current carrying capacity is estimated to be over 40 million, but if calculated on a regional basis, this is reduced by almost half.

An investigation of functional diversity of endogenous cellulase and expression of other digestive enzyme genes in freshwater crayfish (Cherax) species

The project evaluated potential of soluble cellulose as a cheap feed ingredient for major farmed Australian freshwater crayfish species testing their growth performance, digestive enzyme activity and digestive enzyme gene expression patterns. Test animals showed an innate capacity to utilise a range of carbohydrate sources including complex structural polysaccharides. Results suggest that more plant-derived ingredient can be incorporated in formulated low-cost feeds for the culture industry.

Decision support system for age-related macular degeneration using discrete wavelet transform

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects the central vision and subsequently may lead to visual loss in people over 60 years of age. There is no permanent cure for AMD, but early detection and successive treatment may improve the visual acuity. AMD is mainly classified into dry and wet type; however, dry AMD is more common in aging population. AMD is characterized by drusen, yellow pigmentation, and neovascularization. These lesions are examined through visual inspection of retinal fundus images by ophthalmologists. It is laborious, time-consuming, and resource-intensive. Hence, in this study, we have proposed an automated AMD detection system using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and feature ranking strategies. The first four-order statistical moments (mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis), energy, entropy, and Gini index-based features are extracted from DWT coefficients. We have used five (t test, Kullback–Lieber Divergence (KLD), Chernoff Bound and Bhattacharyya Distance, receiver operating characteristics curve-based, and Wilcoxon) feature ranking strategies to identify optimal feature set. A set of supervised classifiers namely support vector machine (SVM), decision tree, k -nearest neighbor ( k -NN), Naive Bayes, and probabilistic neural network were used to evaluate the highest performance measure using minimum number of features in classifying normal and dry AMD classes. The proposed framework obtained an average accuracy of 93.70 %, sensitivity of 91.11 %, and specificity of 96.30 % using KLD ranking and SVM classifier. We have also formulated an AMD Risk Index using selected features to classify the normal and dry AMD classes using one number. The proposed system can be used to assist the clinicians and also for mass AMD screening programs.

Malaria rapid diagnostic test performance : results of WHO product testing of malaria RDTs : round 5 (2013)

WHO estimates that half the world’s population is at risk of malaria. In 2012, there were an estimated 207 million cases (with an uncertainty range of 135 million to 287 million) and an estimated 627 000 deaths (with an uncertainty range of 473 000 to 789 000). Approximately 90% of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and 77% occur in children under 5 years. Malaria remains endemic in 104 countries, and, while parasite-based diagnosis is increasing, most suspected cases of malaria are still not properly confirmed, resulting in over-use of antimalarial drugs and poor disease monitoring (1)...

Effects of artificial shade on attack by the mahogany shoot borer, Hypsipyla robusta (Moore)

Swietenia macrophylla King (Meliaceae: Swietenioideae) provides one of the premier timbers of the world. The mahogany shoot borer Hypsipyla robusta Moore (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is an economically important pest of S. macrophylla throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific. No viable method of controlling this pest is known. Previous observations have suggested that the presence of overhead shade may reduce attack by H. robusta, but this has not been investigated experimentally. This research was therefore designed to assess the influence of light availability on shoot-borer attack on S. macrophylla, by establishing seedlings under three different artificial shade regimes, then using these seedlings to test oviposition preference of adult moths, neonate larval survival and growth and development of shoot borer larvae. Oviposition preference of shoot borer moths was tested on leaves from seedlings grown under artificial shade for 63 weeks. A significant difference in choice was recorded between treatments, with 27.4 ± 1.5 eggs laid under high shade and 87.1 ± 1.8 under low shade. Neonate larval survival on early flushing leaflets of S. macrophylla did not differ significantly between shade treatments. Larval growth rate, estimated by measuring daily frass width, was significantly higher for those larvae fed on seedlings from the high and medium shade treatments (0.1 mm/day), than the low shade treatment (0.06 mm/day). In laboratory-reared larvae, the total mass of frass produced was significantly higher in the high shade treatment (0.4 g) than under the low shade treatment (0.2 g). Longer tunnel lengths were bored by larvae in plants grown under high shade (12.0 ± 2.4 cm) than under low shade (7.07 ± 1.9 cm). However, pupal mass under low shade was 48% higher than that under the high shade treatment, suggesting that plants grown under high shade were of lower nutritional quality for shoot borer larvae. These results indicate that shading of mahogany seedlings may reduce the incidence of shoot borer attack, by influencing both oviposition and larval development. The establishment of mahogany under suitable shade regimes may therefore provide a basis for controlling shoot borer attack using silvicultural approaches.

The Anadara trapezia transcriptome : a resource for molluscan physiological genomics

In this study we undertook deep sequencing of the blood cockle, Anadara trapezia, transcriptome to generate genomic resources for future functional genomics analyses. Over 27 million high quality paired end reads were assembled into 75 024 contigs. Of these contigs, 29 013 (38.7%) received significant BLASTx hits and gene ontology (GO) terms were assigned to 13 718 of these sequences. This resourcewill facilitate physiological genomic studies to test the gene expression response of A. trapezia to various environmental stresses.

Modelling attitudes to climate change : an order effect and a test between alternatives

Quantum-like models can be fruitfully used to model attitude change in a social context. Next steps require data, and higher dimensional models. Here, we discuss an exploratory study that demonstrates an order effect when three question sets about Climate Beliefs, Political Affiliation and Attitudes Towards Science are presented in different orders within a larger study of n=533 subjects. A quantum-like model seems possible, and we propose a new experiment which could be used to test between three possible models for this scenario.

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores : a review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Detailed knowledge of the past history of an active volcano is crucial for the prediction of the timing, frequency and style of future eruptions, and for the identification of potentially at-risk areas. Subaerial volcanic stratigraphies are often incomplete, due to a lack of exposure, or burial and erosion from subsequent eruptions. However, many volcanic eruptions produce widely-dispersed explosive products that are frequently deposited as tephra layers in the sea. Cores of marine sediment therefore have the potential to provide more complete volcanic stratigraphies, at least for explosive eruptions. Nevertheless, problems such as bioturbation and dispersal by currents affect the preservation and subsequent detection of marine tephra deposits. Consequently, cryptotephras, in which tephra grains are not sufficiently concentrated to form layers that are visible to the naked eye, may be the only record of many explosive eruptions. Additionally, thin, reworked deposits of volcanic clasts transported by floods and landslides, or during pyroclastic density currents may be incorrectly interpreted as tephra fallout layers, leading to the construction of inaccurate records of volcanism. This work uses samples from the volcanic island of Montserrat as a case study to test different techniques for generating volcanic eruption records from marine sediment cores, with a particular relevance to cores sampled in relatively proximal settings (i.e. tens of kilometres from the volcanic source) where volcaniclastic material may form a pervasive component of the sedimentary sequence. Visible volcaniclastic deposits identified by sedimentological logging were used to test the effectiveness of potential alternative volcaniclastic-deposit detection techniques, including point counting of grain types (component analysis), glass or mineral chemistry, colour spectrophotometry, grain size measurements, XRF core scanning, magnetic susceptibility and X-radiography. This study demonstrates that a set of time-efficient, non-destructive and high-spatial-resolution analyses (e.g. XRF core-scanning and magnetic susceptibility) can be used effectively to detect potential cryptotephra horizons in marine sediment cores. Once these horizons have been sampled, microscope image analysis of volcaniclastic grains can be used successfully to discriminate between tephra fallout deposits and other volcaniclastic deposits, by using specific criteria related to clast morphology and sorting. Standard practice should be employed when analysing marine sediment cores to accurately identify both visible tephra and cryptotephra deposits, and to distinguish fallout deposits from other volcaniclastic deposits.

Innate transcriptional networks activated in bladder in response to uropathogenic Escherichia coli drive diverse biological pathways and rapid synthesis of IL-10 for defense against bacterial urinary tract infection

Early transcriptional activation events that occur in bladder immediately following bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI) are not well defined. In this study, we describe the whole bladder transcriptome of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) cystitis in mice using genome-wide expression profiling to define the transcriptome of innate immune activation stemming from UPEC colonization of the bladder. Bladder RNA from female C57BL/6 mice, analyzed using 1.0 ST-Affymetrix microarrays, revealed extensive activation of diverse sets of innate immune response genes, including those that encode multiple IL-family members, receptors, metabolic regulators, MAPK activators, and lymphocyte signaling molecules. These were among 1564 genes differentially regulated at 2 h postinfection, highlighting a rapid and broad innate immune response to bladder colonization. Integrative systems-level analyses using InnateDB (http://www.innatedb.com) bioinformatics and ingenuity pathway analysis identified multiple distinct biological pathways in the bladder transcriptome with extensive involvement of lymphocyte signaling, cell cycle alterations, cytoskeletal, and metabolic changes. A key regulator of IL activity identified in the transcriptome was IL-10, which was analyzed functionally to reveal marked exacerbation of cystitis in IL-10–deficient mice. Studies of clinical UTI revealed significantly elevated urinary IL-10 in patients with UPEC cystitis, indicating a role for IL-10 in the innate response to human UTI. The whole bladder transcriptome presented in this work provides new insight into the diversity of innate factors that determine UTI on a genome-wide scale and will be valuable for further data mining. Identification of protective roles for other elements in the transcriptome will provide critical new insight into the complex cascade of events that underpin UTI.

Electrophysiological responses to violations of expectation from eye gaze and arrow cues

Isolating processes within the brain that are specific to human behavior is a key goal for social neuroscience. The current research was an attempt to test whether recent findings of enhanced negative ERPs in response to unexpected human gaze are unique to eye gaze stimuli by comparing the effects of gaze cues with the effects of an arrow cue. ERPs were recorded while participants (N¼30) observed a virtual actor or an arrow that gazed (or pointed) either toward (object congruent) or away from (object incongruent) a flashing checkerboard. An enhanced negative ERP (N300) in response to object incongruent compared to object congruent trials was recorded for both eye gaze and arrow stimuli. The findings are interpreted as reflecting a domain general mechanism for detecting unexpected events.

The cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme CYP2E1 in the biological processing of industrial chemicals : consequences for occupational and environmental medicine

The importance of the isoform CYP2E1 of the human cytochrome P-450 superfamily of enzymes for occupational and environmental medicine is derived from its unique substrate spectrum that includes a number of highly important high-production chemicals, such as aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, solvents and industrial monomers (i.a. alkanes, alkenes, aromatic and halogenated hydrocarbons). Many polymorphic genes, such as CYP2E1, show considerable differences in allelic distribution between different human populations. The polymorphic nature of the human CYP2E1 gene is significant for inter-individual differences in toxicity of its substrates. Since the substrate spectrum of CYP2E1 includes many compounds of basic relevance to industrial toxicology, a rationale for metabolic interactions of different CYP2E1 substrates is provided. In-depth research into the inter-individual phenotypic differences of human CYP2E1 enzyme activities was enabled by the recognition that the 6-hydroxylation of the drug chlorzoxazone is mediated by CYP2E1. Studies on CYP2E1 phenotyping have pointed to inter-individual variations in enzyme activities. There are consistent ethnic differences in CYP2E1 enzyme expression, mostly demonstrated between European and Japanese populations, which point to a major impact of genetic factors. The most frequently studied genetic polymorphisms are the restriction fragment length polymorphisms PstI/RsaI (mutant allele: CYP2E1*5B) located in the 5′-flanking region of the gene, as well as the DraI polymorphism (mutant allele: CYP2E1*6) located in intron 6. These polymorphisms are partly related, as they form the common allele designated CYP2E1*5A. Striking inter-ethnic differences between Europeans and Asians appear with respect to the frequencies of the CYP2E1*5A allele (only approximately 5% of Europeans are heterozygous, but 37% of Asians are, whilst 6% of Asians are homozygous). Available studies indicate a wide variation in human CYP2E1 expression, which are very likely based on complex gene-environment interactions. Major inter-ethnic differences are apparent on the genotyping and the phenotyping levels. Selected cases are presented where inter-ethnic variations of CYP2E1 may provide likely explanations for unexplained findings concerning industrial chemicals that are CYP2E1 substrates. Possible consequences of differential inter-individual and inter-ethnic susceptibilities are related to individual expressions of clinical symptoms of chemical toxicity, to results of biological monitoring of exposed workers, and to the interpretation of results of epidemiological or molecular-epidemiological studies.