A Functional Analysis of 2013 Australian Member of Parliament and Prime Minister Debates

Kevin Rudd (Labor) engaged in two election debates in 2013: first for his seat in Parliament (Griffith) and then for Prime Minister. In seeking re-election to his Griffith seat he was challenged by Bill Glasson (Liberal), Geoff Ebbs (Green), and Karen Hunter (Palmer United). He faced Tony Abbott (Liberal) in the PM Debate. This study content analyses these two debates: an August 6, 2013 Member of Parliament debate and an August 11, 2013 Prime Minister debate. Acclaims were more common in these two debates than attacks; defenses were the least common function. Statements about policy outnumbered those on policy. In each debate, when the candidates discussed record in office (past deeds), the incumbent acclaimed more and attacked less than the challenger. More acclaims and fewer attacks addressed general goals and ideals

Rethinking Relevance, Rebuilding Engagement

The Culture & Community research series launched with a first wave survey in May of 2020 designed to provide actionable information about changing community needs, contexts, and behaviors to arts and culture organizations during a time of rapid change and uncertainty. This report shares findings from a second wave of the Culture & Community research, collected in May 2021, over a year into the pandemic, and at a point when cases were falling before new variants emerged. This Wave 2 survey tracked changes in key questions from Wave 1 and explored new lines of inquiry. We developed a new series of questions to explore the dynamics of race and identity in cultural engagement, perceptions of systemic racism across the cultural sector, and the roles that Americans want arts and culture organizations to play in addressing social issues. Along with our partners at LaPlaca Cohen and Yancey Consulting, we named the second wave of this initiative Culture + Community in a Time of Transformation to reflect our hope that this difficult period -- one in which the country has faced not just a pandemic but also a long-overdue racial reckoning and intense political polarization -- would be an opportunity for genuine, system-level change

Are antipsychotic prescribing patterns different in older and younger adults? : a survey of 1357 psychiatric inpatients in Toronto

Objective: To compare antipsychotic prescribing patterns in younger (aged 59 years or younger) and older (aged 60 years or older) patients with psychotic or mood disorders. Method: Pharmacy records of all patients discharged from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health over a 21-month period were reviewed. A total of 1357 patients who were prescribed an antipsychotic at the time of their discharge were included in the analysis (956 with a primary psychotic disorder and 401 with a primary mood disorder). World Health Organization-defined daily doses were used as the standardized dosing unit. Results: Both in patients with a primary psychotic disorder and in patients with a primary mood disorder, the prescribing patterns were similar in older and younger patients, with no statistical difference in the proportions receiving first-generation antipsychotics, second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), multiple antipsychotics, or long-acting (depot) antipsychotics. Overall, the mean daily antipsychotic doses were lower only in the older group of patients with a primary mood disorder. However, the mean dose of SGAs was about 30% lower in older patients in both diagnostic groups. Regardless of age, patients with a mood disorder were prescribed lower doses of antipsychotics than those with a psychotic disorder. Conclusions: Our data suggest that older patients are prescribed lower antipsychotic dosages primarily when using SGAs. This finding emphasizes the need for dose-finding studies assessing both the efficacy and the safety of antipsychotics in older patients with a psychotic or mood disorder.peer-reviewe

Basolateral and central amygdala differentially recruit and maintain dorsolateral striatum-dependent cocaine-seeking habits.

In the development of addiction, drug seeking becomes habitual and controlled by drug-associated cues, and the neural locus of control over behaviour shifts from the ventral to the dorsolateral striatum. The neural mechanisms underlying this functional transition from recreational drug use to drug-seeking habits are unknown. Here we combined functional disconnections and electrophysiological recordings of the amygdalo-striatal networks in rats trained to seek cocaine to demonstrate that functional shifts within the striatum are driven by transitions from the basolateral (BLA) to the central (CeN) amygdala. Thus, while the recruitment of dorsolateral striatum dopamine-dependent control over cocaine seeking is triggered by the BLA, its long-term maintenance depends instead on the CeN. These data demonstrate that limbic cortical areas both tune the function of cognitive territories of the striatum and thereby underpin maladaptive cocaine-seeking habits.This work was supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM), the United Kingdom Medical Research Council (MRC) Grant 9536855 to BJE, the AXA research fund to ABR, an INSERM Avenir and an Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) grant ANR12 SAMA00201 to DB. Research was conducted within both the MRC/Wellcome Trust Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute of Cambridge and the Inserm team “Psychobiology of Compulsive Disorders”, University of Poitiers.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1008

Dispersal and genetic structures in a tropical small mammal, the Bornean tree shrew (Tupaia longipes), in a fragmented landscape along the Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia

Background Constraints in migratory capabilities, such as the disruption of gene flow and genetic connectivity caused by habitat fragmentation, are known to affect genetic diversity and the long-term persistence of populations. Although negative population trends due to ongoing forest loss are widespread, the consequence of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity, gene flow and genetic structure has rarely been investigated in Bornean small mammals. To fill this gap in knowledge, we used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers to assess genetic diversity, gene flow and the genetic structure in the Bornean tree shrew, Tupaia longipes, that inhabits forest fragments of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah. Furthermore, we used these markers to assess dispersal regimes in male and female T. longipes. Results In addition to the Kinabatangan River, a known barrier for dispersal in tree shrews, the heterogeneous landscape along the riverbanks affected the genetic structure in this species. Specifically, while in larger connected forest fragments along the northern riverbank genetic connectivity was relatively undisturbed, patterns of genetic differentiation and the distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes in a local scale indicated reduced migration on the strongly fragmented southern riverside. Especially, oil palm plantations seem to negatively affect dispersal in T. longipes. Clear sex-biased dispersal was not detected based on relatedness, assignment tests, and haplotype diversity. Conclusion This study revealed the importance of landscape connectivity to maintain migration and gene flow between fragmented populations, and to ensure the long-term persistence of species in anthropogenically disturbed landscapes

An in vivo RNA interference screen identifies gene networks controlling Drosophila melanogaster blood cell homeostasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In metazoans, the hematopoietic system plays a key role both in normal development and in defense of the organism. In Drosophila, the cellular immune response involves three types of blood cells: plasmatocytes, crystal cells and lamellocytes. This last cell type is barely present in healthy larvae, but its production is strongly induced upon wasp parasitization or in mutant contexts affecting larval blood cell homeostasis. Notably, several zygotic mutations leading to melanotic mass (or "tumor") formation in larvae have been associated to the deregulated differentiation of lamellocytes. To gain further insights into the gene regulatory network and the mechanisms controlling larval blood cell homeostasis, we conducted a tissue-specific loss of function screen using hemocyte-specific Gal4 drivers and <it>UAS-dsRNA </it>transgenic lines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By targeting around 10% of the Drosophila genes, this <it>in vivo </it>RNA interference screen allowed us to recover 59 melanotic tumor suppressor genes. In line with previous studies, we show that melanotic tumor formation is associated with the precocious differentiation of stem-cell like blood progenitors in the larval hematopoietic organ (the lymph gland) and the spurious differentiation of lamellocytes. We also find that melanotic tumor formation can be elicited by defects either in the fat body, the embryo-derived hemocytes or the lymph gland. In addition, we provide a definitive confirmation that lymph gland is not the only source of lamellocytes as embryo-derived plasmatocytes can differentiate into lamellocytes either upon wasp infection or upon loss of function of the Friend of GATA cofactor U-shaped.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study, we identify 55 genes whose function had not been linked to blood cell development or function before in Drosophila. Moreover our analyses reveal an unanticipated plasticity of embryo-derived plasmatocytes, thereby shedding new light on blood cell lineage relationship, and pinpoint the Friend of GATA transcription cofactor U-shaped as a key regulator of the plasmatocyte to lamellocyte transformation.</p

An economic model for offshore cultivation of macroalgae

Algae biomass is considered as a potential non-fossil source of raw materials to produce fuel, feed, chemicals and materials. For this purpose microalgae as well as macroalgae can be used, and in this report we focus on the latter. More than 99% of the world production of aquatic plants is produced in Asia (FAO 2012, Table 1). From the remaining 1% about 4% is cultivated in Europe. Important European countries with commercial seaweed cultivation are Denmark, Ireland and France. Depending on their pigmentation seaweed species are commonly grouped in brown, red and green seaweeds

Structurally optimised BODIPY derivatives for imaging of mitochondrial dysfunction in cancer and heart cells

The structural features required for mitochondrial uptake of BODIPY-based optical imaging agents have been explored. The first derivatives of this class of dyes shown to have mitochondrial membrane potential-dependent uptake in both cancer and heart cells have been developed

Zephyr: The Eleventh Issue

This is the eleventh issue of Zephyr, the University of New England\u27s journal of creative expression. Since 2000, Zephyr has published original drawings, paintings, photography, prose, and verse created by current and former members of the University community. Zephyr\u27s Editorial Board is made up exclusively of matriculating students.https://dune.une.edu/zephyr/1009/thumbnail.jp