Impact of ICRISAT Research on Australian Agriculture

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Reply to Comments on "Overlapped Phased Array Antenna for Avalanche Radar"

In this reply, we refer to comments made by a reader on our publication “Overlapped Phased Array Antenna for Avalanche Radar”. Authors would like to thank the reader for reading the paper. In this paper authors provided detailed answers to the comments made by the reade

Effect of asymmetry in the restoring force of the "click" mechanism in insect flight

The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of asymmetry in the force-deflection characteristics of an insect flight mechanism on its nonlinear dynamics. An improved simplified model for insect flight mechanism is suggested and numerical methods are used to study its dynamics. The range at which the mechanism may operate is identified. The asymmetry can lead to differences in the velocity in the upward and downward movements which can be beneficial for the insect flight

Youth Involvement in Community Development: Implications and Possibilities for Extension

There is a need for Extension program/policy developers to better understand the role of youth in the community development process. While often seen as suited only for 4-H programs, youth can significantly contribute to a variety of Extension activities. Through active engagement, youth can take on ownership and become lifelong contributors to local well-being. This mixed-methods research reflects data from a survey of 418 Florida youth and 12 in-depth key informant interviews. The findings provide insights into the factors most directly shaping youth attitudes and involvement in their communities. From these, implications for applied use in Extension programs are presented

A Screen to Identify SAGA-activated Genes that are required for Proper Photoreceptor Axon Targeting in Drosophila melanogaster

The inherited human genetic disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is characterized by progressive neurodegeneration and visual impairment that ultimately leads to blindness. SCA7 results from a mutation in the human ATXN7 gene that causes an expansion of polyglutamine tracts in this gene’s corresponding protein. Human ATXN7 protein serves as a component of the deubiquitylase (DUB) module of the large, multi-subunit complex Spt-Ada-Gcn acetyltransferase, or SAGA. SAGA is a transcriptional coactivator and histone modifier that functions to deubiquitylate histone H2B and allow for transcription of SAGA-mediated genes to occur. In Drosophila, mutations in SAGA DUB’s Nonstop and sgf11 components compromise its deubiquitylase activity and result in mistargeting of photoreceptor axons R1-R6 within the developing eye-brain. Here, this work describes a screen to identify SAGA misregulated genes that are required for proper photoreceptor axon targeting in the developing visual system. Candidate genes were previously identified as targets of SAGA DUB by RNA-seq, and a previously optimized X-Gal staining protocol is used to visualize photoreceptor axon targeting in the Drosophila eye-brain upon candidate gene knockdown by RNAi. The results show that the transcriptional targets of SAGA are required cell-autonomously in glial cells for proper photoreceptor axon targeting. These data also suggest that genes involved in cell motility and photoreceptor axon targeting are pertinent players in proper visual and neurological development. By knowing the identity of these genes, it is possible to more clearly understand the pathogenesis of diseases such as spinocerebellar ataxia type 7

Differentiation state-specific mitochondrial dynamic regulatory networks are revealed by global transcriptional analysis of the developing chicken lens.

The mature eye lens contains a surface layer of epithelial cells called the lens epithelium that requires a functional mitochondrial population to maintain the homeostasis and transparency of the entire lens. The lens epithelium overlies a core of terminally differentiated fiber cells that must degrade their mitochondria to achieve lens transparency. These distinct mitochondrial populations make the lens a useful model system to identify those genes that regulate the balance between mitochondrial homeostasis and elimination. Here we used an RNA sequencing and bioinformatics approach to identify the transcript levels of all genes expressed by distinct regions of the lens epithelium and maturing fiber cells of the embryonic Gallus gallus (chicken) lens. Our analysis detected more than 15,000 unique transcripts expressed by the embryonic chicken lens. Of these, more than 3000 transcripts exhibited significant differences in expression between lens epithelial cells and fiber cells. Multiple transcripts coding for separate mitochondrial homeostatic and degradation mechanisms were identified to exhibit preferred patterns of expression in lens epithelial cells that require mitochondria relative to lens fiber cells that require mitochondrial elimination. These included differences in the expression levels of metabolic (DUT, PDK1, SNPH), autophagy (ATG3, ATG4B, BECN1, FYCO1, WIPI1), and mitophagy (BNIP3L/NIX, BNIP3, PARK2, p62/SQSTM1) transcripts between lens epithelial cells and lens fiber cells. These data provide a comprehensive window into all genes transcribed by the lens and those mitochondrial regulatory and degradation pathways that function to maintain mitochondrial populations in the lens epithelium and to eliminate mitochondria in maturing lens fiber cells

Development and automation of a test of impulse control in zebrafish.

Deficits in impulse control (difficulties in inhibition of a pre-potent response) are fundamental to a number of psychiatric disorders, but the molecular and cellular basis is poorly understood. Zebrafish offer a very useful model for exploring these mechanisms, but there is currently a lack of validated procedures for measuring impulsivity in fish. In mammals, impulsivity can be measured by examining rates of anticipatory responding in the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), a continuous performance task where the subject is reinforced upon accurate detection of a briefly presented light in one of five distinct spatial locations. This paper describes the development of a fully-integrated automated system for testing impulsivity in adult zebrafish. We outline the development of our image analysis software and its integration with National Instruments drivers and actuators to produce the system. We also describe an initial validation of the system through a one-generation screen of chemically mutagenized zebrafish, where the testing parameters were optimized

Does a neutral thermal sensation determine thermal comfort?

The neutral thermal sensation (neither cold, nor hot) is widely used through the application of the ASHRAE seven-point thermal sensation scale to assess thermal comfort. This study investigated the application of the neutral thermal sensation and it questions the reliability of any study that solely relies on neutral thermal sensation. Although thermal-neutrality has already been questioned, still most thermal comfort studies only use this measure to assess thermal comfort of the occupants. In this study, the connection of the occupant’s thermal comfort with thermal-neutrality was investigated in two separate contexts of Norwegian and British offices. Overall, the thermal environment of four office buildings was evaluated and 313 responses (three times a day) to thermal sensation, thermal preference, comfort, and satisfaction were recorded. The results suggested that 36% of the occupants did not want to feel neutral and they considered thermal sensations other than neutral as their comfort condition. Also, in order to feel comfortable, respondents reported wanting to feel different thermal sensations at different times of the day suggesting that occupant desire for thermal comfort conditions may not be as steady as anticipated. This study recommends that other measures are required to assess human thermal comfort, such as thermal preference

Glypican-1, phosphacan/receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatase-ζ/β and its ligand, tenascin-C, are expressed by neural stem cells and neural cells derived from embryonic stem cells

The heparan sulfate proteoglycan glypican-1, the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan phosphacan/RPTP (receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatase)-ζ/β and the extracellular matrix protein tenascin-C were all found to be expressed by neural stem cells and by neural cells derived from them. Expression of proteoglycans and tenascin-C increased after retinoic acid induction of SSEA1-positive ES (embryonic stem) cells to nestin-positive neural stem cells, and after neural differentiation, proteoglycans and tenascin-C are expressed by both neurons and astrocytes, where they surround cell bodies and processes and in certain cases show distinctive expression patterns. With the exception of tenascin-C (whose expression may decrease somewhat), expression levels do not change noticeably during the following 2 weeks in culture. The significant expression, by neural stem cells and neurons and astrocytes derived from them, of two major heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans of nervous tissue and of tenascin-C, a high-affinity ligand of phosphacan/RPTP-ζ/β, indicates that an understanding of their specific functional roles in stem cell neurobiology will be important for the therapeutic application of this new technology in facilitating nervous tissue repair and regeneration