Conservation and management frameworks for sub-Antarctic international waters

The waters of rhe sub-Antarctic Southern Ocean are legally distinctive from those which fall within the Antarctic Treaty area extending to 60 degrees South, not only because the Treaty does not apply in those waters but also because sovereignty over sub-Antarctic islands is largely uncontested. As a result, many of the countries claiming sub-Antarctic possessions are able to assert the full range of maritime claims, resulting in sub-Antarctic waters being a mixture of state-controlled waters and those which fall under either international fisheries regimes such as the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) or are high seas. Conservation and management of sub-Antarctic waters other than with respect to fishing have not received the same priority as they have in waters around the continent. However, the same issues arise and are in fact magnified due to the greater accessibility of the northern reaches of the Southern Ocean and potential for greater environmental and resource impact. The extent of the international waters of the Sub-Antarctic Southern Ocean is clarified here, the applicable international management regimes are reviewed and the contemporary issues confronting the region are considered. Proposals are considered for enhanced internationalisation of the region

Perceptions around adult and child sex offenders and their rehabilitation as a function of education in forensic psychology independent of traditionalism and perpetrator sex

Literature pertaining to individuals with sexual convictions typically reports punitive views about their crimes, sentences, and effectiveness of rehabilitation. However, such perceptions may be a function of offense demographics, such as victim age and perpetrator sex, and perceiver characteristics, such as their traditionalism or forensic awareness/education. Participants (N=101; 60% forensic psychology student; 40% general public) read online vignettes related to sexual offences (manipulating perpetrator sex and victim age), and completed measures of perceptions of sex offenders, perceived rehabilitation efficacy and traditionalism. Members of the general population (without forensic education background) reported harsher views towards individuals with sexual convictions and their rehabilitation, relative to students of forensic psychology, independent of their greater traditionalism. There was no main effect of or interaction with perpetrator sex. Whilst participants endorsed more negative perceptions towards sex offenders of child than adult victims, this did not extent to differences in perceptions regarding their rehabilitation. Findings reported here indicate a need for greater understanding as to the factors that might moderate perceptions towards individuals with sexual convictions, and have implications for the promotion of sex offender rehabilitation programmes. Understanding the root of such public attitudes is a key step for creating and improving associated policies

Cerebellar tDCS Dissociates the Timing of Perceptual Decisions from Perceptual Change in Speech

Neuroimaging studies suggest that the cerebellum might play a role in both speech perception and speech perceptual learning. However, it remains unclear what this role is: does the cerebellum directly contribute to the perceptual decision? Or does it contribute to the timing of perceptual decisions? To test this, we applied transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the right cerebellum during a speech perception task. Participants experienced a series of speech perceptual tests designed to measure and then manipulate their perception of a phonetic contrast. One group received cerebellar tDCS during speech perceptual learning and a different group received "sham" tDCS during the same task. Both groups showed similar learning-related changes in speech perception that transferred to a different phonetic contrast. For both trained and untrained speech perceptual decisions, cerebellar tDCS significantly increased the time it took participants to indicate their decisions with a keyboard press. The results suggest that cerebellar tDCS disrupted the timing of perceptual decisions, while leaving the eventual decision unaltered. In support of this conclusion, we use the drift diffusion model to decompose the data into processes that determine the outcome of perceptual decision-making and those that do not. The modeling suggests that cerebellar tDCS disrupted processes unrelated to decision-making. Taken together, the empirical data and modeling demonstrate that right cerebellar tDCS dissociates the timing of perceptual decisions from perceptual change. The results provide initial evidence in healthy humans that the cerebellum critically contributes to speech timing in the perceptual domain

QTLs for shelf life in lettuce co-locate with those for leaf biophysical properties but not with those for leaf developmental traits

Developmental and biophysical leaf characteristics that influence post-harvest shelf life in lettuce, an important leafy crop, have been examined. The traits were studied using 60 informative F9 recombinant inbed lines (RILs) derived from a cross between cultivated lettuce (Lactuca sativa cv. Salinas) and wild lettuce (L. serriola acc. UC96US23). Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for shelf life co-located most closely with those for leaf biophysical properties such as plasticity, elasticity, and breakstrength, suggesting that these are appropriate targets for molecular breeding for improved shelf life. Significant correlations were found between shelf life and leaf size, leaf weight, leaf chlorophyll content, leaf stomatal index, and epidermal cell number per leaf, indicating that these pre-harvest leaf development traits confer post-harvest properties. By studying the population in two contrasting environments in northern and southern Europe, the genotype by environment interaction effects of the QTLs relevant to leaf development and shelf life were assessed. In total, 107 QTLs, distributed on all nine linkage groups, were detected from the 29 traits. Only five QTLs were common in both environments. Several areas where many QTLs co-located (hotspots) on the genome were identified, with relatively little overlap between developmental hotspots and those relating to shelf life. However, QTLs for leaf biophysical properties (breakstrength, plasticity, and elasticity) and cell area correlated well with shelf life, confirming that the ideal ideotype lettuce should have small cells with strong cell walls. The identification of QTLs for leaf development, strength, and longevity will lead to a better understanding of processability at a genetic and cellular level, and allow the improvement of salad leaf quality through marker-assisted breeding

Patients' age as a determinant of care received following acute stroke: A systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence-based care should improve acute stroke outcomes with the same magnitude of effect for stroke patients of all ages. However, there is evidence to suggest that, in some instances, older stroke patients may receive poorer quality care than younger patients.</p> <p>Our aim was to systematically review evidence of the quality of care provided to patients with acute stroke related to their age. Quality of care was determined by compliance with recommended care processes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We systematically searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, ISI Web of Knowledge, Ageline and the Cochrane Library databases to identify publications (1995-2009) that reported data on acute stroke care process indicators by patient age. Data extracted included patient demographics and process indicator compliance. Included publications were critically appraised by two independent reviewers using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool, and a comparison was made of the risk of bias according to studies' findings. The evidence base for reported process indicators was determined, and meta-analysis was undertaken for studies with sufficient similarity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nine from 163 potential studies met the inclusion criteria. Of the 56 process indicators reported, eleven indicators were evidence-based. Seven of these indicators (64%) showed significantly poorer care for older patients compared to younger ones, while younger patients received comparatively inferior care for only antihypertensive therapy at discharge. Our findings are limited by the variable methodological quality of included studies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients' age may be a factor in the care they receive after an acute stroke. However, the possible influence of patients' age on clinicians' decision-making must be considered in terms of the many complex issues that surround the provision of optimal care for older patients with acute stroke.</p

High-Throughput Sequencing of Three Lemnoideae (Duckweeds) Chloroplast Genomes from Total DNA

BACKGROUND: Chloroplast genomes provide a wealth of information for evolutionary and population genetic studies. Chloroplasts play a particularly important role in the adaption for aquatic plants because they float on water and their major surface is exposed continuously to sunlight. The subfamily of Lemnoideae represents such a collection of aquatic species that because of photosynthesis represents one of the fastest growing plant species on earth. METHODS: We sequenced the chloroplast genomes from three different genera of Lemnoideae, Spirodela polyrhiza, Wolffiella lingulata and Wolffia australiana by high-throughput DNA sequencing of genomic DNA using the SOLiD platform. Unfractionated total DNA contains high copies of plastid DNA so that sequences from the nucleus and mitochondria can easily be filtered computationally. Remaining sequence reads were assembled into contiguous sequences (contigs) using SOLiD software tools. Contigs were mapped to a reference genome of Lemna minor and gaps, selected by PCR, were sequenced on the ABI3730xl platform. CONCLUSIONS: This combinatorial approach yielded whole genomic contiguous sequences in a cost-effective manner. Over 1,000-time coverage of chloroplast from total DNA were reached by the SOLiD platform in a single spot on a quadrant slide without purification. Comparative analysis indicated that the chloroplast genome was conserved in gene number and organization with respect to the reference genome of L. minor. However, higher nucleotide substitution, abundant deletions and insertions occurred in non-coding regions of these genomes, indicating a greater genomic dynamics than expected from the comparison of other related species in the Pooideae. Noticeably, there was no transition bias over transversion in Lemnoideae. The data should have immediate applications in evolutionary biology and plant taxonomy with increased resolution and statistical power

Main nutrient patterns and colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

BACKGROUND: Much of the current literature on diet-colorectal cancer (CRC) associations focused on studies of single foods/nutrients, whereas less is known about nutrient patterns. We investigated the association between major nutrient patterns and CRC risk in participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. METHODS: Among 477 312 participants, intakes of 23 nutrients were estimated from validated dietary questionnaires. Using results from a previous principal component (PC) analysis, four major nutrient patterns were identified. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed for the association of each of the four patterns and CRC incidence using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for established CRC risk factors. RESULTS: During an average of 11 years of follow-up, 4517 incident cases of CRC were documented. A nutrient pattern characterised by high intakes of vitamins and minerals was inversely associated with CRC (HR per 1 s.d.=0.94, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) as was a pattern characterised by total protein, riboflavin, phosphorus and calcium (HR (1 s.d.)=0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99). The remaining two patterns were not significantly associated with CRC risk. CONCLUSIONS: Analysing nutrient patterns may improve our understanding of how groups of nutrients relate to CRC