Spawning season movements of Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica) in the Yarra River, Victoria

The Macquarie perch (Macquaria australasica) is a threatened fish species that inhabits rivers and impoundments in south-eastern Australia. Previous studies have shown that Macquarie perch in impoundments exhibit synchronised upstream spawning migrations to shallow, fast-flowing habitats in the lower reaches of inflowing streams. There has been little study of movement behaviours of entirely riverine populations of Macquarie perch despite this being the species’ natural habitat. Here, radio-telemetry is used to test the hypothesis that riverine populations exhibit synchronised migrations during the spawning season. Thirty Macquarie perch in the Yarra River, Victoria, a translocated population outside of the species’ natural range, were radio-tagged before the late spring–early summer spawning season and their movements followed over a 10-month period (May 2011 to February 2012). Tagged fish typically occupied restricted reaches of stream (<450 m). Sixteen of the fish undertook occasional upstream or downstream movements (~250–1000 m) away from their usual locations, particularly associated with large flow variations during the spawning season. There was no evidence of synchronised migratory behaviour or movement of multiple fish to specific locations or habitats during the spawning season. Whilst further research over more years is needed to comprehensively document the spawning-related behaviours of riverine Macquarie perch, our study demonstrates that management of riverine populations of this threatened species cannot necessarily be based on the model of spawning behaviour developed for lacustrine populations.

Aptamer-based therapeutics of the past, present and future: from the perspective of eye-related diseases

 Aptamers have emerged as a novel and powerful class of biomolecules with an immense untapped potential. The ability to synthesise highly specific aptamers against any molecular target make them a vital cog in the design of effective therapeutics for the future. However, only a minutia of the enormous potential of this dynamic class of molecule has been exploited. Several aptamers have been studied for the treatment of eye-related disorders, and one such strategy has been successful in therapy. This review gives an account of several eye diseases and their regulatory biomolecules where other nucleic acid therapeutics have been attempted with limited success and how aptamers, with their exceptional flexibility to chemical modifications, can overcome those inherent shortcomings.

Myopia : why study the mechanisms of myopia? Novel approaches to risk factors Signaling eye growth- how could basic biology be translated into clinical insights? Where are genetic and proteomic approaches leading? How does visual function contribute to an

On July 26–29, 2010 the 13th International Myopia Conference was held in Tübingen, Germany and included 17 separate symposia, each with 3–5 presentations. Here, in a single paper, the chairs of those Symposia describe the scientific advances noted at the conference and include the full abstracts of the individual myopia papers presented in each symposium along with the authors and their institutions. The 17 Symposia covered 7 topics: Why Study the Mechanisms of Myopia?; Novel Approaches to Risk Factors; Signaling Eye Growth- How Could Basic Biology Be Translated into Clinical Insights?; Where Are Genetic and Proteomic Approaches Leading?; How Does Visual Function Contribute to and Interact with Ametropia?; Does Eye Shape Matter?; Why Ametropia at All?

A possible anatomical and biomechanical explanation of the 10% rule used in the clinical assessment of prehensile hand movements and handed dominance

Abstract
A current doctrine in the dynamometric approach to determine lateralization of hand function states that in 10% of cases, the non-dominant hand will be stronger than the dominant hand. In this study, a novel MRI based modelling approach was applied to the first dorsal introsseus muscle (FDI), to determine whether the 10% rule may be applied to the FDI and may be partially explained by the arrangement of the anatomical components of the FDI.

Methods
Initially the force generated by the thumb segment during an isometric pushing task in the horizontal plane was measured from 25 strongly right-handed young males. Nine of these participants then had structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) of the thumb and index osseous compartment. A modelling technique was developed to extract the muscle data and quantify the muscle line of action onto to the first metacarpal bone segment in order to quantify the muscle force at the point of momentary rotation – equilibrium.

Results
Eight of 25 subjects exhibited stronger force from the left hand. Six out of nine subjects from the MRI possessed significantly greater angles of attachment of the index osseous compartment on the left (non-dominant) hand. These six subjects also generated greater maximal isometric forces from the FDI of the left side. There was a significantly greater muscle volume for the right FDI muscle as compared to the left as measured from the reconstructed MRI slice data.

Conclusions
The calculated force produced by the muscle is related to the angle of attachment of the muscle to bone in the index osseous compartment. The MRI findings indicate that the 10% rule may be anatomically and biomechanically explained.

The house that eye live in

Migrating by sea from Holland as an eight-year-old, Dirk de Bruyn went on to be a doyen of Australian experimental cinema. But as this intimate film reveals, his work is suffused with the trauma of migration, and the struggle to recognise himself as a ‘new Australian'. In conversation with documentarian Steven McIntyre, Dirk guides us through more than 40 years of his filmmaking: the early years exploring technique and technology, a subsequent phase of unflinching self-examination brought on by upheaval and overseas travel, and more recent projects where he attempts a fusion of personal, cultural, and historical identity. What emerges is an inspiring, rugged, and at times poignant portrait of an artist committed to self-expression and self-discovery through the medium of film. The House That Eye Live In features spectacular footage of Dirk's renowned expanded-cinema performances, and newly transferred excerpts from his extensive filmography, some of which are seen here for the first time.

In the eye of the beholder? The unadulterated beautiful and the threatening grotesque in a selection of young adult science fiction narratives

This paper looks closely at the aesthetics of the bodies and landscapes in Monica Hughes' Invitation to the Game and M.T. Anderson's Feed – the flesh, the wires, and the pixels – to consider the complicated relationship between the often “unadulterated” beautiful and the “threatening” grotesque in these (and other) science fiction narratives that involve the hybridisation of the artificial and the organic.