Freshwater Pearl Mussel (Margaritifera Margaritifera) Host Choice and Behavioural Responses to Changes in Flow Regime

The endangered freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera), one of the longest-lived invertebrates, are threatened globally. Scotland, UK, remains a stronghold, however even here the population is declining due to factors such as habitat degradation, pollution and pearl fishing. The study comprised two parts: field surveys of glochidia infection of host salmonid fish, and a novel laboratory flume based study of the mussel‟s behavioral responses to changes in flow regime. The intricate life cycle of M.margaritifera includes a parasitic stage as glochidia attached to gills of salmonids. The preferred host in Scotland is thought to be Salmo salar and Salmo trutta in the absence of S.salar. This has not, however, been empirically tested in the field. Eight rivers in NW Scotland were surveyed using standard electrofishing techniques and encysted glochidia counted. Results suggest S.trutta is the primary host fish for glochidia attachment in the rivers surveyed, which contradicts current accepted knowledge about host specificity of M.margaritifera. Mussel populations are often found in regulated rivers, however little data exists on response to changes in flow regime. The mussel's behavioral response to changes in flow were investigated in an experimental flume. Mussels buried significantly deeper in conditions of gradually increasing water velocity compared with rapid increases or where water velocity was constant. 68% of individual mussels washed out when the water velocity was rapidly increased. The findings are novel, provide initial recommendations for targeted management actions for the conservation of M.margaritifera both in Scotland and internationally, and highlight more research is required

Australia and Japan : a defence relationship?

This thesis is concerned with the conjunction of two themes. The first is the new tempo of Australia's security relationship with Japan. Since the late 1980s, governments in Canberra and Tokyo have increasingly called for greater partnership in pursuing shared security interests in the Asia-Pacific theatre. This development has been largely a result of the rise of Japan as a major international power, and a corresponding revival of doubts about the role of the US, hitherto the predominant power in the region. These questions about Australia's strategic environment have been thrown into sharp relief by the second theme of the thesis - the impact of the end of the Cold War on the international and regional order. The forces that precipitated the Cold War's demise, and its after effects, have raised fundamental questions about the international system, not least being for Australia, its future security environment and defence ties. This thesis, therefore, focuses on the intersection of emerging trends in one of Australia's major bilateral relationships and in the strategic order. The thesis is accordingly divided into two elements: an examination of the evolution of Australia-Japan ties and the recent development of defence links, and an analysis of the key systemic forces which will influence the future development of these links

Host choice and behavioural responses to flow change in the freshwater pearl mussel, Margaritifera Margaritifera, in Scotland

Margaritifera margaritifera are one of the longest-lived invertebrates in the world. They are threatened across their range but Scotland remains a stronghold for this species. Even so, in Scotland the population is showing evidence of decline. This study comprised of two parts: The intricate life cycle of M. margaritifera includes a parasitic stage as glochidia attached to the gills of salmonids. The preferred salmonid host in Scotland is thought to be Salmo salar and Salmo trutta in the absence of S. salar. This has not been empirically tested in the field. Eight rivers in the North West of Scotland were surveyed using standard electro fishing techniques. Glochidia encysted on the gills of fish were counted immediately prior to drop off. Results of the study suggest that S. trutta is used as the primary host fish for glochidia attachment in the rivers surveyed. The second part of the study looked at behavioural responses, horizontal and vertical movement, to changes in flow regime. Mussels were found to bury significantly deeper in conditions of gradually increasing water velocity compared with fast increases in water velocity or where water velocity was kept constant throughout the experiment. Sixty-eight per cent of individual mussels washed out when the water velocity was rapidly increased. No differences in horizontal distance travelled were observed. In conclusion the velocity conditions within which mussels beds are maintained are varied and complex, as is the relationship of M. margaritifera glochidia and host fish species. There remains a need for standard habitat description for each discreet population of M. margaritifera before management actions can be sufficiently targeted to prevent the continued decline of this species

Black Hole to White Hole Quantum Tunnelling

In this thesis, we explore the proposal that near the end of its lifetime, a Schwarzschild black hole will undergo a quantum transition into a 'white hole': an object which is precisely the time-reversal of the black hole. This transition takes the form of quantum tunnelling. In order to evaluate the tunnelling amplitude, we characterize the region where quantum gravity effects dominate as enclosed by intersecting hypersurfaces on which the trace of the extrinsic curvature is equal to zero. This allows us to recover the tunnelling amplitude as specified by the boost angle between the normals to these hypersurfaces. The long-term aim of this work is to find the complex solutions to the vacuum Einstein equations in the quantum gravity region, and thus provide a complete explanation for what happens to a black hole after it evaporates

More than teacher directed or child initiated: Preschool curriculum type, parent involvement, and children's outcomes in the child-parent centers.

This study investigated the contributions of curriculum approach and parent involvement to the short- and long-term effects of preschool participation in the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers. Data came from the complete cohort of 989 low-income children (93% African American) in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, who attended preschool in the 20 Child-Parent Centers in 1983-1985 and kindergarten in 1985-1986. We found that implementation of an instructional approach rated high by Head Teachers in teacher-directed and child-initiated activities was most consistently associated with children’s outcomes, including school readiness at kindergarten entry, reading achievement in third and eighth grades, and avoidance of grade retention. Parent involvement in school activities, as rated by teachers and by parents, was independently associated with child outcomes from school readiness at kindergarten entry to eighth grade reading achievement and grade retention above and beyond the influence of curriculum approach. Findings indicate that instructional approaches that blend a teacher-directed focus with child-initiated activities and parental school involvement are origins of the long-term effects of participation in the Child-Parent Centers

Changes in total and functional bacterial genera following biochar application to planted soil

Biochar has the recognized potential to sequester carbon, facilitate contaminant amelioration and enhance agricul-tural crop yield. Different types of biochar have different impacts on ecosystems, and those that are produced locally, relative to where they will be used, are considered more sustainable. It is important, therefore, to determine how the locally produced biochars affect total and functional microbial communities, especially in agronomic contexts. In this study we tested the hypotheses that biochar augmentation would: (1) increase plant yield; and (2) differentially affect total and functional microbial community composition and structure in bulk vs. rhizosphere (Trifolium pratense) soils. Triplicate randomised seedling cells of a 5% (w/w) mixture of sandy clay loam soil (26% clay, 21% silt and 53% sand), with/without locally-produced mixed broadleaf forestry biochar, and with/without 0.1 g clover seeds, were sampled destructively at 2-week intervals for 8 weeks post clover germination. Microbial DNA of bulk and T. pratense rhizos-phere soils were analysed with next-generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed a statistically significant increase in plant biomass in response to biochar addition correlating to increased abundances of Armati-monadetes and Bacteroidetes specifically in the rhizosphere. Although no significant change in overall alpha diversity was observed, significant changes in abundance at the genus level were recorded particularly in the presence of biochar for a number of recognised nitrogen-fixing and plant growth-promoting bacteria, including those capable of indole acetic acid (IAA) production, plant disease suppression and degradation of toxic compounds. We conclude that although overall soil diversity may not be affected by biochar addition, key genera associated with soil health and nitrogen fixation, such as Pseudoxanthomonas, Variovorax, Pseudonocardia, Devosia, Lysobacter and Hydrogeno-phaga, increased and facilitated plant growth

Systemic sclerosis is associated with specific alterations in gastrointestinal microbiota in two independent cohorts.

ObjectiveTo compare faecal microbial composition in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) from 2 independent cohorts with controls and to determine whether certain genera are associated with SSc-gastrointestinal tract (GIT) symptoms.DesignAdult patients with SSc from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Oslo University Hospital (OUH) and healthy controls participated in this study (1:1:1). All participants provided stool specimens for 16S rRNA sequencing. Linear discriminant analysis effect size demonstrated genera with differential expression in SSc. Differential expression analysis for sequence count data identified specific genera associated with GIT symptoms as assessed by the GIT 2.0 questionnaire.ResultsThe UCLA-SSc and OUH-SSc cohorts were similar in age (52.1 and 60.5 years, respectively), disease duration (median (IQR): 6.6 (2.5-16.4) and 7.0 (1.0-19.2) years, respectively), gender distribution (88% and 71%, respectively), and GIT symptoms (mean (SD) total GIT 2.0 scores of 0.7 (0.6) and 0.6 (0.5), respectively). Principal coordinate analysis illustrated significant microbial community differences between SSc and controls (UCLA: p=0.001; OUH: p=0.002). Patients with SSc had significantly lower levels of commensal genera deemed to protect against inflammation, such as Bacteroides (UCLA and OUH), Faecalibacterium (UCLA), Clostridium (OUH); and significantly higher levels of pathobiont genera, such as Fusobacterium (UCLA), compared with controls. Increased abundance of Clostridium was associated with less severe GIT symptoms in both cohorts.ConclusionsThe present analysis detected specific aberrations in the lower GIT microbiota of patients with SSc from 2 geographically and ethnically distinct cohorts. These findings suggest that GIT dysbiosis may be a pathological feature of the SSc disease state

Mesothelioma trends in the ACT and comparisons with the rest of Australia

OBJECTIVES Inhalation of asbestos fibres is the predominant cause of malignant mesothelioma. Domestic exposure to asbestos is a major community concern in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) because of loose-fill asbestos home insulation. Little is known about how trends in mesothelioma rates in the ACT compare with those elsewhere. The objective of this study was to describe trends in mesothelioma rates in the ACT and compare them with those for the rest of Australia. METHODS We used de-identified data from the ACT Cancer Registry (1982- 2014), and the Western Australia (WA) Cancer Registry and the Australian Cancer Database (1982-2011). We calculated crude mesothelioma rates, by 3-year periods, for the ACT and for the rest of Australia (excluding WA). We used Poisson regression to analyse mesothelioma trends from 1994 to 2011 (complete reporting period) using an indirect standardisation approach to adjust for age and sex. RESULTS There were 140 mesothelioma cases reported to the ACT Cancer Registry between 1982 and 2014 - 81% male and 19% female. Between 1994 and 2011, age- and sex-adjusted mesothelioma rates in the ACT increased over time, on average by 12% per 3-year period (relative risk [RR] 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99, 1.26). Compared with the rest of Australia (excluding WA), ACT rates were, on average, lower (RR 0.84; 95% CI 0.69, 1.02), but they increased at a higher rate (RR 1.12 per 3-year period; 95% CI 0.99, 1.27). These results are strongly influenced by the higher rate of mesothelioma observed in the ACT in 2009-2011, when ACT rates became similar to those for the rest of Australia (excluding WA). CONCLUSIONS Although mesothelioma rates may have increased more in the ACT than the rest of Australia (excluding WA) during the past two decades, there is considerable uncertainty in the trends. More information is needed regarding the health risks associated with living in a house with loose-fill asbestos insulation. This is the subject of further studies within the ACT Asbestos Health Study.Includes Appendix table: Number of mesothelioma cases and person-years (PY) by sex, age group and year, ACT, 1982 to 201