391 research outputs found
Surrogacy in invasion research and management: inferring “impact” from “invasiveness”
Biological invasions are widely accepted drivers of biodiversity decline, yet the ecological impacts of invaders in many contexts remain largely unmeasured. Consequently, other measures of a species invasion (e.g. local abundance) are regularly used as surrogates (or ‘proxies’) to infer impact on recipient ecosystems. The use of surrogates for impact represents an implicit application of ecological surrogacy in invasion science, but without the evaluation and validation of surrogate-target relationships that characterizes surrogate use in other fields. While there are practical reasons for this, there also are risks associated with not testing the accuracy, stability and certainty of surrogate-impact relationships that need to be acknowledged. Recognizing the role of surrogacy in invasion science offers previously unappreciated solutions for increasing the quantitative rigor of invasive species impact assessments that inform management decisions.ARC Laureate Fellowshi
Australian wheat varieties released recently
Established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre Progra
The decay of quadrupole-octupole states in Ca and Ce
Background: Two-phonon excitations originating from the coupling of two
collective one-phonon states are of great interest in nuclear structure
physics. One possibility to generate low-lying excitations is the coupling
of quadrupole and octupole phonons.
Purpose: In this work, the -decay behavior of candidates for the
state in the doubly-magic nucleus Ca and in
the heavier and semi-magic nucleus Ce is investigated.
Methods: experiments have been carried out at the
High Intensity -ray Source (HIS) facility in combination with
the high-efficiency -ray spectroscopy setup consisting of
HPGe and LaBr detectors. The setup enables the acquisition of
- coincidence data and, hence, the detection of direct decay
paths.
Results: In addition to the known ground-state decays, for Ca the
decay into the state was observed, while for Ce the direct
decays into the and the state were detected. The experimentally
deduced transition strengths and excitation energies are compared to
theoretical calculations in the framework of EDF theory plus QPM approach and
systematically analyzed for isotones. In addition, negative parities for
two states in Ca were deduced simultaneously.
Conclusions: The experimental findings together with the theoretical
calculations support the two-phonon character of the excitation in the
light-to-medium-mass nucleus Ca as well as in the stable even-even
nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, as accepted in Phys. Rev.
Purinergic Signaling Induces Cyclooxygenase-1-Dependent Prostanoid Synthesis in Microglia: Roles in the Outcome of Excitotoxic Brain Injury
Cyclooxygenases (COX) are prostanoid synthesizing enzymes constitutively expressed in the brain that contribute to excitotoxic neuronal cell death. While the neurotoxic role of COX-2 is well established and has been linked to prostaglandin E2 synthesis, the role of COX-1 is not clearly understood. In a model of N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) induced excitotoxicity in the mouse cerebral cortex we found a distinctive temporal profile of COX-1 and COX-2 activation where COX-1, located in microglia, is responsible for the early phase of prostaglandin E2 synthesis (10 minutes after NMDA), while both COX-1 and COX-2 contribute to the second phase (3–24 hours after NMDA). Microglial COX-1 is strongly activated by ATP but not excitatory neurotransmitters or the Toll-like receptor 4 ligand bacterial lipopolysaccharide. ATP induced microglial COX-1 dependent prostaglandin E2 synthesis is dependent on P2X7 receptors, extracellular Ca2+ and cytoplasmic phospholipase A2. NMDA receptor activation induces ATP release from cultured neurons leading to microglial P2X7 receptor activation and COX-1 dependent prostaglandin E2 synthesis in mixed microglial-neuronal cultures. Pharmacological inhibition of COX-1 has no effect on the cortical lesion produced by NMDA, but counteracts the neuroprotection exerted by inhibition of COX-2 or observed in mice lacking the prostaglandin E2 receptor type 1. Similarly, the neuroprotection exerted by the prostaglandin E2 receptor type 2 agonist butaprost is not observed after COX-1 inhibition. P2X7 receptors contribute to NMDA induced prostaglandin E2 production in vivo and blockage of P2X7 receptors reverses the neuroprotection offered by COX-2 inhibition. These findings suggest that purinergic signaling in microglia triggered by neuronal ATP modulates excitotoxic cortical lesion by regulating COX-1 dependent prostanoid production and unveil a previously unrecognized protective role of microglial COX-1 in excitotoxic brain injury
Does Seed Sanitization Affect the Plant Rhizosphere Microbiome and Its Ability to Compete with the Human Associated Pathogen, E. coli on Salad Crops?
Cultivation of crops in controlled environmental agricultural systems may limit microbial colonization and reduce diversity of the microbial communities. Practices like seed and growth medium sanitization may further impact microbial communities in the mature plant and the plants capacity to limit the growth of pathogens through competition. As humans expand their travels to space, understanding plant growth, health, and development in closed environments will be critical to the success of producing a safe, supplemental food source for astronauts. To determine the persistence of a potential human pathogen in plant growth and development, sanitized and unsanitized seeds from, mizuna (Brassica rapa var japonica) and red romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa cultivar Outredgeous), were inoculated with Escherichia coli, ATCC 21445, germinated under simulated International Space Station (ISS) environmental conditions and harvested every 7 days until maturity. The persistence of E. coli in the rhizosphere was determined by plating on selective media, real time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and community sequencing of the rhizosphere communities. E. coli was detected in the crops roots and leaves for several weeks post germination. At day 28, plants from sanitized seeds had significantly higher counts of E. coli on the roots than those from unsanitized seeds. E. coli was also detected on a few uninoculated plants indicating airborne cross contamination among plants in the same growth chamber and suggesting an influence of the natural microbiome on human pathogen survival and persistence in leafy greens. Sequencing analysis revealed variations in composition and diversity between the communities. Understanding the microbial community of the rhizospheric microbiome is only the first step in determining the relationships between plants. Additional studies to include genotypic and phenotypic variations in the plants should be considered to determine if the natural microbes in the rhizosphere may contribute to the health and therefore, safety of the edible plants
Strengthening the evidence-policy interface for patient safety: enhancing global health through hospital partnerships
Strengthening the evidence-policy interface is a well-recognized health system challenge in both the developed and developing world. Brokerage inherent in hospital-to-hospital partnerships can boost relationships between “evidence” and “policy” communities and move developing countries towards evidence based patient safety policy. In particular, we use the experience of a global hospital partnership programme focused on patient safety in the African Region to explore how hospital partnerships can be instrumental in advancing responsive decision-making, and the translation of patient safety evidence into health policy and planning. A co-developed approach to evidence-policy strengthening with seven components is described, with reflections from early implementation. This rapidly expanding field of enquiry is ripe for shared learning across continents, in keeping with the principles and spirit of health systems development in a globalized world
Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of KRAS mutant cell lines
Oncogenic RAS mutations are associated with DNA methylation changes that alter gene expression to drive cancer. Recent studies suggest that DNA methylation changes may be stochastic in nature, while other groups propose distinct signaling pathways responsible for aberrant methylation. Better understanding of DNA methylation events associated with oncogenic KRAS expression could enhance therapeutic approaches. Here we analyzed the basal CpG methylation of 11 KRAS-mutant and dependent pancreatic cancer cell lines and observed strikingly similar methylation patterns. KRAS knockdown resulted in unique methylation changes with limited overlap between each cell line. In KRAS-mutant Pa16C pancreatic cancer cells, while KRAS knockdown resulted in over 8,000 differentially methylated (DM) CpGs, treatment with the ERK1/2-selective inhibitor SCH772984 showed less than 40 DM CpGs, suggesting that ERK is not a broadly active driver of KRAS-associated DNA methylation. KRAS G12V overexpression in an isogenic lung model reveals >50,600 DM CpGs compared to non-transformed controls. In lung and pancreatic cells, gene ontology analyses of DM promoters show an enrichment for genes involved in differentiation and development. Taken all together, KRAS-mediated DNA methylation are stochastic and independent of canonical downstream effector signaling. These epigenetically altered genes associated with KRAS expression could represent potential therapeutic targets in KRAS-driven cancer
First bromine doped cryogenic implosion at the National Ignition Facility
We report on the first experiment dedicated to the study of nuclear reactions
on dopants in a cryogenic capsule at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). This
was accomplished using bromine doping in the inner layers of the CH ablator of
a capsule identical to that used in the NIF shot N140520. The capsule was doped
with 310 bromine atoms. The doped capsule shot, N170730,
resulted in a DT yield that was 2.6 times lower than the undoped equivalent.
The Radiochemical Analysis of Gaseous Samples (RAGS) system was used to collect
and detect Kr atoms resulting from energetic deuteron and proton ion
reactions on Br. RAGS was also used to detect N produced
dominantly by knock-on deuteron reactions on the C in the ablator.
High-energy reaction-in-flight neutrons were detected via the
Bi(n,4n)Bi reaction, using bismuth activation foils located 50
cm outside of the target capsule. The robustness of the RAGS signals suggest
that the use of nuclear reactions on dopants as diagnostics is quite feasible
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