Can we save large carnivores without losing large carnivore science?

Large carnivores are depicted to shape entire ecosystems through top-down processes. Studies describing these processes are often used to support interventionist wildlife management practices, including carnivore reintroduction or lethal control programs. Unfortunately, there is an increasing tendency to ignore, disregard or devalue fundamental principles of the scientific method when communicating the reliability of current evidence for the ecological roles that large carnivores may play, eroding public confidence in large carnivore science and scientists. Here, we discuss six interrelated issues that currently undermine the reliability of the available literature on the ecological roles of large carnivores: (1) the overall paucity of available data, (2) reliability of carnivore population sampling techniques, (3) general disregard for alternative hypotheses to top-down forcing, (4) lack of applied science studies, (5) frequent use of logical fallacies, and (6) generalisation of results from relatively pristine systems to those substantially altered by humans. We first describe how widespread these issues are, and given this, show, for example, that evidence for the roles of wolves (Canis lupus) and dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) in initiating trophic cascades is not as strong as is often claimed. Managers and policy makers should exercise caution when relying on this literature to inform wildlife management decisions. We emphasise the value of manipulative experiments, and discuss the role of scientific knowledge in the decision-making process. We hope that the issues we raise here prompt deeper consideration of actual evidence, leading towards an improvement in both the rigour and communication of large carnivore science

Mass spectrometry imaging of cassette-dosed drugs for higher throughput pharmacokinetic and biodistribution analysis

Cassette dosing of compounds for preclinical drug plasma pharmacokinetic analysis has been shown to be a powerful strategy within the pharmaceutical industry for increasing throughput while decreasing the number of animals used. Presented here for the first time is data on the application of a cassette dosing strategy for label-free tissue distribution studies. The aim of the study was to image the spatial distribution of eight nonproprietary drugs (haloperidol, bufuralol, midazolam, clozapine, terfenadine, erlotinib, olanzapine, and moxifloxacin) in multiple tissues after oral and intravenous cassette dosing (four compounds per dose route). An array of mass spectrometry imaging technologies, including matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MSI), liquid extraction surface analysis tandem mass spectrometry (LESA-MS/MS), and desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) was used. Tissue analysis following intravenous and oral administration of discretely and cassette-dosed compounds demonstrated similar relative abundances across a range of tissues indicating that a cassette dosing approach was applicable. MALDI MSI was unsuccessful in detecting all of the target compounds; therefore, DESI MSI, a complementary mass spectrometry imaging technique, was used to detect additional target compounds. In addition, by adapting technology used for tissue profiling (LESA-MS/MS) low spatial resolution mass spectrometry imaging (∼1 mm) was possible for all targets across all tissues. This study exemplifies the power of multiplatform MSI analysis within a pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) environment. Furthermore, we have illustrated that the cassette dosing approach can be readily applied to provide combined, label-free pharmacokinetic and drug distribution data at an early stage of the drug discovery/development process while minimizing animal usage

The shellfish enigma across the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in southern Scandinavia

The well-known and widespread replacement of oysters (abundant during the Mesolithic period) by cockles and mussels in many Danish Stone Age shell middens ca. 5900 cal yrs BP coincides with the transition to agriculture in southern Scandinavia. This human resource shift is commonly believed to reflect changing resource availability, driven by environmental and/or climatic change at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition rather than cultural choice. While several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the “Mesolithic-Neolithic oyster decline”, an explanation based on a sudden freshening of the inner Danish waters has received most attention. Here, for the first time, we test and refute this long-standing hypothesis that declining salinity explains the marked reduction in oysters identified within numerous shell middens across coastal Denmark at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition using quantitative and qualitative salinity inference from several, independent proxies (diatoms, molluscs and foraminifera) from multiple Danish fjord sites. Alternatively, we attribute the oyster decline to other environmental causes (particularly changing sedimentation), ultimately driven by external climatic forcing. Critical application of such high-quality environmental archives can reinvigorate archaeological debates and can aid in understanding and managing environmental change in increasingly impacted coastal regions

Increased political donations: recipe for corruption

The federal government\u27s proposal to increase the disclosure limit for donations to political parties from $1500 to$5000 is a further blow to transparency and accountability, argues Peter Andren, the independent member for the federal electorate of Calare

Level democratic playing field - you must be joking

Peter Andren, the independent federal member for Calare, attacks the excesses of parliamentary \u27entitlements\u27 employed in the pursuit of re-election. \u27We have a system,\u27 he writes, \u27that delivers all representatives incredible privileges and power through incumbency.\u2

New media laws and their impact on the bush

Peter Andren MP, the Independent member for Calare, considers the impact of the recent changes to media law on media diversity in rural areas. The laws, which will allow a single owner to control both television and newspapers in a particular market, will see, he says, an end to local content in rural areas

Elastohydrodynamic aspects on the tyre-pavement contact at aquaplaning

The objective of the work presented in this report has been to develop a numerical method for the investigation of water-lubricated soft elastohydrodynamic (EHD) conjunctions as it relates to the problem of car tyre aquaplaning. Whereas the problem of aquaplaning on very thick water films is very well-studied, the aspects of a tyre sliding on thin water layer is much less investigated. Considering fluid flow in very thin layers, one can find that the relative importance of viscosity of the fluid increases over the mass inertia effects. Therefore it is suggested in the present investigation to distinct between two different regimes of aquaplaning and refer them as dynamic aquaplaning and viscous aquaplaning. The subject of the present investigation is viscous aquaplaning on thin fluid layer. Considering flow in a thin fluid layer allows a number assumptions to be made, which brings this problem close to the problem of fluid lubrication of machine elements. This makes it possible to apply advanced numerical methods originally developed for the lubrication theory to the aquaplaning of a pneumatic car tyre on a thin layer of water. Numerical results were produced for 20, 40, 60, 120, and 200 km/h. No fluid films were detected separating the surfaces in this range of velocities