The use of otolith morphology to indicate the stock structure of common coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus) on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

We investigated the use of otolith morphology to indicate the stock structure of an exploited serranid coral reef fish, Plectropomus leopardus, on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. Otoliths were measured by traditional one-and two-dimensional measures (otolith length, width, area, perimeter, circularity, and rectangularity), as well as by Fourier analysis to capture the finer details of otolith shape. Variables were compared among four regions of the GBR separated by hundreds of kilometers, as well as among three reefs within each region, hundreds of meters to tens of kilometers apart. The temporal stability in otolith structure was examined by comparing two cohorts of fully recruited four-year-old P. leopardus collected two years before and two years after a signif icant disturbance in the southern parts of the GBR caused by a large tropical cyclone in March 1997. Results indicated the presence of at least two stocks of P. leopardus, although the structure of each stock varied depending on the cohort considered. The results highlight the importance of incorporating data from several years in studies using otolith morphology to discriminate temporary and possibly misleading signals from those that indicate persistent spatial structure in stocks. We conclude that otolith morphology can be used as an initial step to direct further research on groups of P. leopardus that have lived at least a part of their life in different environments

Detection of Dissimulation in Children on the BASC-2 Self-Report of Personality

Children are capable of deliberately distorting or misrepresenting psychological symptoms on self-reports of behavior and personality, which is referred to as dissimulation. Malingering and defensiveness are two forms of dissimulation that involve exaggerating symptoms or denying symptoms, respectively. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the Behavior Assessment System for Children-2 Self-Report of Personality validity scales identified dissimulation response styles in children. This investigation employed a between-subjects experimental simulation design with three conditions. One hundred and eighteen children were randomly assigned to a control group or to one of two simulation groups: (a) a malingering group to simulate behavioral and emotional symptoms, or (b) a defensive group to simulate minimization or denial of behavioral and emotional symptoms. Specific research questions addressed whether the validity scales were useful in signaling caution for children who were instructed to malinger and for children who were instructed to respond defensively. Findings suggested that the F Index is most sensitive to detecting malingering. Results also indicated that the L Index may be a useful indicator of malingering, but this scale did not perform as well as expected in detecting children who were instructed to respond defensively

A bioassay for cyclophosphamide in blood, lung and tumour.

A bioassay has been developed to detect and quantify the concentration of cytotoxic metabolites of cyclophosphamide (CY) in blood, tumour, and lungs of mice. Extracts were made of blood or solid tissues taken from mice given CY and these were used to treat log phase Chinese Hamster V79 cells in culture for up to 24 h. The amount of cell killing was tested by colony formation 7 days later. The effects of incubation time, CY dose, and the time of tissue sampling after CY injection were investigated. The bioassay could detect cytotoxic metabolites in blood after doses as low as 10 mg kg-1 CY given i.p. The half life of these metabolites in blood after giving 400 mg kg-1 i.p. decreased over a 2 h period from 14 to 9 min. The method was then modified to define the pharmacokinetics of CY metabolites in two different types of tumour and in lung. The half life of the cytotoxic metabolites in the lung was longer than in blood, falling from 35 to 11 min over a 2 h period. In tumours, the half lives were longer again, i.e. approximately 61 min. The maximum metabolite levels achieved were similar in the two tumour types, although these differed markedly in their therapeutic response to CY. The bioassay for CY is a relatively simple and rapid procedure, and the extension of its application from body fluids to solid tissues makes it a useful tool in experimental pharmacokinetic studies

The Large Scale Roll-Out of Electric Vehicles: The Effect on the Electricity Sector and CO2 Emissions

The UK government has set the ambitious targets of 20 and 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and 2050 respectively. The transport sector accounts for 21% of total CO2 emissions in the UK and can, therefore, be important for achieving the emissions reduction targets. Within the transport sector, electric vehicles (EV) are considered as one of the important mitigation options. However the effect of EVs on emissions and the electricity sector is subject to debate. We use scenario analysis to investigate the emission reduction potential of EVs and their interaction with electricity sector. We show that managing the charging patterns could reduce adverse effects of EVs on the electricity sector while the number of EVs remains the factor affecting the mitigation potential. Our findings indicate that in the UK, by 2030, EVs could result in up to 32% emissions reduction compared to advanced internal combustion engines. We also found that the need for new electricity generation and distribution capacity to meet the conventional electricity demand and demand from EVs could be reduced by up to 12% from 70.6 to 61.8 GW if the EV’s electricity demand is managed

Operationalizing risk perception and preparedness behavior research for a multi-hazard context

Increasingly, citizens are being asked to take a more active role in disaster risk reduction (DRR), as decentralization of hazard governance has shifted greater responsibility for hazard preparedness actions onto individuals. Simultaneously, the taxonomy of hazards considered for DRR has expanded to include medical and social crises alongside natural hazards. Risk perception research emerged to support decision-makers with understanding how people characterize and evaluate different hazards to anticipate behavioral response and guide risk communication. Since its inception, the risk perception concept has been incorporated into many behavioral theories, which have been applied to examine preparedness for numerous hazard types. Behavioral theories have had moderate success in predicting or explaining preparedness behaviors; however, they are typically applied to a single hazard type and there is a gap in understanding which theories (if any) are suited for examining multiple hazard types simultaneously. This paper first reviews meta-analyses of behavioral theories to better understand performance. Universal lessons learnt are summarized for survey design. Second, theoretically based preparedness studies for floods, earthquakes, epidemics, and terrorism are reviewed to assess the conceptual requirements for a ‘multi-hazard’ preparedness approach. The development of an online preparedness self-assessment and learning platform is discussed

Cloning and biochemical characterisation of two novel PDE4A cAMP phosphodiesterases

A large multi-gene family encodes many different phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzymes with alternative mRNA splicing generating additional complexity. This thesis details the discovery and cloning of two new PDE4A cyclic AMP specific phosphodiesterases. These two enzymes have been named hRDl (HSPDE4A1) and PDE4A10. hRDl is a PDE4A short-form and PDE4A10 is a PDE4A long-form. Previous to this study only a single active PDE4A short-form from rat RDl (RNPDE4A1A) had been cloned and two active PDE4A long-forms, namely PDE4A5 (mammalian and rat) and PDE4A8 (rat). Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis carried out in a previous study had indicated that RDl homologues were conserved across species and sequencing of the HSPDE4A gene revealed the existence of the human homologue. The sequencing study located the 5' exon encoding the unique N-terminal region of the human homologue of the rodent isoform RDl and also the splice junction used to produce this sliort-form. The work carried out in this thesis details how this information was used to clone the human short-forms hRDl as both the sequence encoding the unique N-terminal and the position of the splice junction had both been revealed. The open reading frame encoding hRDl (HSPDE4A1A, GenBank U97583) was engineered for expression in the plasmid pcDNA3 (Invitrogen) and this was transiently expressed in COS-1 cells. The mature hRDl protein was detected as an 83kDa species, the majority of which was associated with the high-speed membrane fraction. The kinetic properties of this enzyme were also investigated and hRDl displayed a Km for cAMP of around 3 muM, an IC50 value for inhibition by the PDE4-selective inhibitor rolipram of around 0.3 muM and the thermostability of the enzyme was found to be considerably more thermostable than rat RDl. The membrane binding capability of the enzyme was also investigated. This was done by generating human RDl as a mature 80kDa species in an in vitro transcription-translation system which displayed the ability to bind to COS-1 cell membranes. The data from these experiments showed that the rat and human homologues displayed very similar properties, particularly their intracellular location. Km for cAMP and sensitivity to rolipram inhibition. They displayed marked differences in their thermostability which may be a result of conformational differences between the proteins in regions outside of their active sites. The human PDE4A long-form PDE4A10 was cloned initially by Graham Rena in this laboratory. The sequence for the unique N-terminus of this isoform was based on a rat cDNA containing sequence which indicated a novel N-terminus. Existence of the human homologue was confirmed by reverse transcriptase analysis which detected PDE4A10 in human cell lines. Further sequencing of human cosmid clones containing HSPDE4A sequence confirmed the sequence and also revealed the position of the PDE4A10 splice junction. This thesis details how PDE4A10 was engineered for expression studies. The construct which was originally engineered apparently contained three potential in-frame initiating methionines (ATG). This study defined the native ATG of PDE4A10 and a construct was engineered in the plasmid pSV-SPORT for expression in COS-1 cells. The mature PDE4A10 protein was detected as a species of around 125kDa on traditional 8% cross- linked SDS-polyacrylamide gels. This was very similar to the other PDE long-form PDE4A4B (PDE46) and the difference in molecular weight between these two proteins could only be resolved on a pre-cast Tris-Acetate 3-8% polyacrylamide gel system (Novex). Using this system the calculated molecular weight of PDE4A10 was now around 120kDa compared to 125kDa for PDE4A4B calculated using the same system. The majority of PDE4A10 expressed in COS-1 cells was detected in the cytosolic fraction and the majority of PDE4A10 activity was also found in the cytosolic fraction. Kinetic studies revealed that the enzyme displayed a Km for cAMP of around 4 muM and an IC50 value for inhibition by the PDE4-selective inhibitor rolipram of around 0.3-1 muM in the membrane fractions and around 0.02 muM in the cytosolic fraction

A Comparison of Treadmill and Overground Walking Effects on Step Cycle Asymmetry in Young and Older Individuals

Although lower limb strength becomes asymmetrical with age, past studies of aging effects on gait biomechanics have usually analyzed only one limb. This experiment measured how aging and treadmill surface influenced both dominant and nondominant step parameters in older (mean 74.0 y) and young participants (mean 21.9 y). Step-cycle parameters were obtained from 3-dimensional position/time data during preferred-speed walking for 40 trials along a 10 m walkway and for 10 minutes of treadmill walking. Walking speed (young 1.23 m/s, older 1.24 m/s) and step velocity for the two age groups were similar in overground walking but older adults showed significantly slower walking speed (young 1.26 m/s, older 1.05 m/s) and step velocity on the treadmill due to reduced step length and prolonged step time. Older adults had shorter step length than young adults and both groups reduced step length on the treadmill. Step velocity and length of older adults’ dominant limb was asymmetrically larger. Older adults increased the proportion of double support in step time when treadmill walking. This adaptation combined with reduced step velocity and length may preserve balance. The results suggest that bilateral analyses should be employed to accurately describe asymmetric features of gait especially for older adults