Caring for a marginalised community: the costs of engaging with culture and complexity

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.The Care and Prevention Programme (CPP) began in 1998. It is based on the philosophy of primary health care, and has improved health among homosexually active men, including about a third of HIV-positive South Australians. The CPP was assessed using financial analysis and qualitative methods. Participants wanted to access care where they could feel comfortable and safe to talk about issues of sexuality and lifestyle. The CPP model is "economically" sustainable, but not "financially" sustainable within the Medicare Benefits Schedule. It is vulnerable to changes in political environment. The financing model for the CPP has been adapted by including state funding. General practitioners have adapted by lowering their personal incomes (but not quality of care). These adaptations have achieved fragile financial viability. Facilitators of sustainability for the CPP included: It is part of the community that it serves; The creation of deeply integrated networks of diversity-competent service providers; and "Virtuous non-adaptability" of service providers in refusing to compromise care standards despite financial pressure to do so. Threats to sustainability included: Difficulty maintaining a diversity-competent workforce skilled in HIV medicine; Marginal financial viability; and Political vulnerability.Gary D Rogers, Christopher A Barton, Brita A Pekarsky, Ann C Lawless, Joy M Oddy, Rebecca Hepworth and Justin J Beilb

Aquatic Mammals

Abstract The waters of the Inner Moray Firth were designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2005 for the conservation of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) in northeast Scotland. However, the long-term conservation of this population requires monitoring throughout its entire known range. Opportunistic photo-identification of bottlenose dolphins occurred during 65 cetacean surveys conducted between 1999 and 2008 in the coastal waters of Aberdeenshire. A total of 88 bottlenose dolphin photo-identification encounters resulted in one to 45 animals identified per survey. The minimum annual total population size based on marked animals alone was 62 individuals, and the discovery curve indicated that the population has not yet been adequately sampled. Of 40 highly distinctive adult animals, the annual sighting rate ranged from 0.167 (seen in one year only) to 1.000 (seen every year). The cumulative monthly sighting rate varied from 0.091 (photographed in one month only) to 0.636 (photographed during seven of the 11 combined survey months in the 2001 to 2008 study period). The overall seasonal occurrence of dolphins off Aberdeenshire peaked during May and June, when 65% of distinctively marked animals were recorded per month (combined data for 2001 to 2008). Eighty-four percent of distinctively marked dolphins were matched with those photographed in the Inner Moray Firth, while 93% were matched with those photographed in the southern Outer Moray Firth. Despite its opportunistic nature, the photo-identification study provided valuable information on a population of bottlenose dolphins in a poorly studied part of their range. The high percentage of matches with dolphins from the Moray Firth SAC indicates that over half of the known northeast Scotland population uses the Aberdeenshire region, and some individuals do so regularly. The frequent occurrence off Aberdeen of bottlenose dolphins from a protected SAC has repercussions for the conservation and management of the population and for the effectiveness of the SAC for their longterm protection

Randomizing world trade. II. A weighted network analysis

Based on the misleading expectation that weighted network properties always offer a more complete description than purely topological ones, current economic models of the International Trade Network (ITN) generally aim at explaining local weighted properties, not local binary ones. Here we complement our analysis of the binary projections of the ITN by considering its weighted representations. We show that, unlike the binary case, all possible weighted representations of the ITN (directed/undirected, aggregated/disaggregated) cannot be traced back to local country-specific properties, which are therefore of limited informativeness. Our two papers show that traditional macroeconomic approaches systematically fail to capture the key properties of the ITN. In the binary case, they do not focus on the degree sequence and hence cannot characterize or replicate higher-order properties. In the weighted case, they generally focus on the strength sequence, but the knowledge of the latter is not enough in order to understand or reproduce indirect effects.Comment: See also the companion paper (Part I): arXiv:1103.1243 [physics.soc-ph], published as Phys. Rev. E 84, 046117 (2011

Budding yeast ATM/ATR control meiotic double-strand break (DSB) levels by down-regulating Rec114, an essential component of the DSB-machinery

An essential feature of meiosis is Spo11 catalysis of programmed DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Evidence suggests that the number of DSBs generated per meiosis is genetically determined and that this ability to maintain a pre-determined DSB level, or "DSB homeostasis", might be a property of the meiotic program. Here, we present direct evidence that Rec114, an evolutionarily conserved essential component of the meiotic DSB-machinery, interacts with DSB hotspot DNA, and that Tel1 and Mec1, the budding yeast ATM and ATR, respectively, down-regulate Rec114 upon meiotic DSB formation through phosphorylation. Mimicking constitutive phosphorylation reduces the interaction between Rec114 and DSB hotspot DNA, resulting in a reduction and/or delay in DSB formation. Conversely, a non-phosphorylatable rec114 allele confers a genome-wide increase in both DSB levels and in the interaction between Rec114 and the DSB hotspot DNA. These observations strongly suggest that Tel1 and/or Mec1 phosphorylation of Rec114 following Spo11 catalysis down-regulates DSB formation by limiting the interaction between Rec114 and DSB hotspots. We also present evidence that Ndt80, a meiosis specific transcription factor, contributes to Rec114 degradation, consistent with its requirement for complete cessation of DSB formation. Loss of Rec114 foci from chromatin is associated with homolog synapsis but independent of Ndt80 or Tel1/Mec1 phosphorylation. Taken together, we present evidence for three independent ways of regulating Rec114 activity, which likely contribute to meiotic DSBs-homeostasis in maintaining genetically determined levels of breaks

Polyploidization for the Genetic Improvement of Cannabis sativa

Cannabis sativa L. is a diploid species, cultivated throughout the ages as a source of fiber, food, and secondary metabolites with therapeutic and recreational properties. Polyploidization is considered as a valuable tool in the genetic improvement of crop plants. Although this method has been used in hemp-type Cannabis, it has never been applied to drug-type strains. Here, we describe the development of tetraploid drug-type Cannabis lines and test whether this transformation alters yield or the profile of important secondary metabolites: Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), or terpenes. The mitotic spindle inhibitor oryzalin was used to induce polyploids in a THC/CBD balanced drug-type strain of Cannabis sativa. Cultured axillary bud explants were exposed to a range of oryzalin concentrations for 24 h. Flow cytometry was used to assess the ploidy of regenerated shoots. Treatment with 20–40 μM oryzalin produced the highest number of tetraploids. Tetraploid clones were assessed for changes in morphology and chemical profile compared to diploid control plants. Tetraploid fan leaves were larger, with stomata about 30% larger and about half as dense compared to diploids. Trichome density was increased by about 40% on tetraploid sugar leaves, coupled with significant changes in the terpene profile and a 9% increase in CBD that was significant in buds. No significant increase in yield of dried bud or THC content was observed. This research lays important groundwork for the breeding and development of new Cannabis strains with diverse chemical profiles, of benefit to medical and recreational users

A hybrid radiation detector for simultaneous spatial and temporal dosimetry

In this feasibility study an organic plastic scintillator is calibrated against ionisation chamber measurements and then embedded in a polymer gel dosimeter to obtain a quasi-4D experimental measurement of a radiation field. This hybrid dosimeter was irradiated with a linear accelerator, with temporal measurements of the dose rate being acquired by the scintillator and spatial measurements acquired with the gel dosimeter. The detectors employed in this work are radiologically equivalent; and we show that neither detector perturbs the intensity of the radiation field of the other. By employing these detectors in concert, spatial and temporal variations in the radiation intensity can now be detected and gel dosimeters can be calibrated for absolute dose from a single irradiation

Citizenship and Inclusion: Rethinking the Analytical Category of Noncitizenship

The paper problematises the category of noncitizenship. It traces its trajectory in accounts of inclusive citizenship and argues that it is difficult to theorise it as a distinct theoretical category outside of citizenship. To support this argument, the paper distinguishes between a pluralist, political and democratic variant of accounts of inclusive citizenship and it shows how they all end up reducing noncitizenship to a journey to citizenship. To overcome this limit, the paper develops the idea of subversive politicisation and suggests that injustices and inequalities can be challenged without falling back on the vocabulary of citizenship

Climate and southern Africa's water-energy-food nexus

In southern Africa, the connections between climate and the water-energy-food nexus are strong. Physical and socioeconomic exposure to climate is high in many areas and in crucial economic sectors. Spatial interdependence is also high, driven for example, by the regional extent of many climate anomalies and river basins and aquifers that span national boundaries. There is now strong evidence of the effects of individual climate anomalies, but associations between national rainfall and Gross Domestic Product and crop production remain relatively weak. The majority of climate models project decreases in annual precipitation for southern Africa, typically by as much as 20% by the 2080s. Impact models suggest these changes would propagate into reduced water availability and crop yields. Recognition of spatial and sectoral interdependencies should inform policies, institutions and investments for enhancing water, energy and food security. Three key political and economic instruments could be strengthened for this purpose; the Southern African Development Community, the Southern African Power Pool, and trade of agricultural products amounting to significant transfers of embedded water

To respond or not to respond - a personal perspective of intestinal tolerance

For many years, the intestine was one of the poor relations of the immunology world, being a realm inhabited mostly by specialists and those interested in unusual phenomena. However, this has changed dramatically in recent years with the realization of how important the microbiota is in shaping immune function throughout the body, and almost every major immunology institution now includes the intestine as an area of interest. One of the most important aspects of the intestinal immune system is how it discriminates carefully between harmless and harmful antigens, in particular, its ability to generate active tolerance to materials such as commensal bacteria and food proteins. This phenomenon has been recognized for more than 100 years, and it is essential for preventing inflammatory disease in the intestine, but its basis remains enigmatic. Here, I discuss the progress that has been made in understanding oral tolerance during my 40 years in the field and highlight the topics that will be the focus of future research