182 research outputs found
Civil society participation in the Scottish marine planning process and the role of Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations
Sustainable development principles are based on the fundamental recognition of humans as an integral part of the ecosystem. Participation of civil society should therefore be central to marine planning processes and enabling ecosystem-based management, and development of mechanisms for effective participation is critical. To date, little attention has been given to the role of Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) in public participation. In this paper, the results of two workshops, which involved various stakeholders and addressed public participation in marine planning, are reported and discussed in the context of the Scottish marine planning process. ENGOsβ role in communicating complex policies, representing membersβ interests and contributing towards participatory governance in marine planning is highlighted. Innovative outreach methods are still required by decision-makers to translate technical information, integrate local knowledge, improve public representation and conserve resources. This could include collaboration with ENGOs to help promote public participation in decision-making processes
Excitation of airborne acoustic surface modes driven by a turbulent flow
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AIAA via the DOI in this recordThis experiment demonstrated the generation of trapped acoustic surface waves
excited by a turbulent flow source through the coupling of pressure fluctuations at
the interface between an acoustic metamaterial and a flow environment. The
turbulent flow, which behaves as a stochastic pressure source, was produced using a
fully developed turbulent wall jet. The plate in the wall jet was perforated with a
single cavity. On the flow-side it was capped by a Kevlar weave to ensure the cavity
did not significantly disturb the flow, whilst on the adjacent side the cavity was open
to the quiescent (static) environment. The through-cavity opening, on the quiescent
side, was flush with an acoustic metasurface waveguide, which, through evanescent
diffractive coupling of the pressure field, produced an acoustic surface mode. This
acoustic mode was trapped at the plate surface, with its mode dispersion determined
by the surface geometry. The results of two different metasurface geometries are
discussed; (1) a slotted cavity array, and (2) a meander connected cavity array, each
demonstrating a different trapped surface wave dispersion behavior. Fourier
transform and correlation analyses of spatially-resolved temporal acoustic signals,
measured close to the metamaterial surface, were used to construct the frequency
and wave vector-dependent acoustic mode dispersion. Results demonstrated the flow
can indeed be used to excite these acoustic modes and that their mode dispersion can
be tailored towards realizing novel control of turbulent flow through acoustic-flow
interactionsDefence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL
Post-training ethanol disrupts trace conditioned fear in rats: Effects of timing of ethanol, dose and trace interval duration
Ethanol has complex effects on memory performance, although hippocampus-dependent memory may be especially vulnerable to disruption by acute ethanol intoxication occurring during or shortly after a training episode. In the present experiments, the effects of post-training ethanol on delay and trace fear conditioning were examined in adolescent rats. In Experiment 1, 30-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were given delay or trace conditioning trials in which a 10 s flashing light CS was paired with a 0.5 mA shock US. For trace groups, the trace interval was 10 s. On days 31-33, animals were administered ethanol once daily (0.0 or 2.5 g/kg via intragastric intubation), and on day 34 animals were tested for CS-elicited freezing. Results showed that post-training ethanol affected the expression of trace, but had no effect on delay conditioned fear. Experiment 2 revealed that this effect was dose-dependent; doses lower than 2.5 g/kg were without effect. Experiment 3 evaluated whether proximity of ethanol to the time of training or testing was critical. Results show that ethanol administration beginning 24 h after training was more detrimental to trace conditioned freezing than administration that was delayed by 48 h. Finally, in Experiment 4 animals were trained with one of three different trace intervals: 1, 3 or 10 s. Results indicate that post-training administration of 2.5 g/kg ethanol disrupted trace conditioned fear in subjects trained with a 10 s, but not with a I or 3 s, trace interval. Collectively the results suggest that ethanol administration impairs post-acquisition memory processing of hippocampus-dependent trace fear conditioning. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
The impact of maternal separation on adult mouse behaviour and on the total neuron number in the mouse hippocampus
The maternal separation paradigm has been applied to C57BL/6J mice as an animal developmental model for understanding structural deficits leading to abnormal behaviour. A maternal separation (MS) model was used on postnatal day (PND) 9, where the pups were removed from their mother for 24Β h (MS24). When the pups were 10Β weeks old, the level of anxiety and fear was measured with two behavioural tests; an open field test and an elevated plus maze test. The Barnes platform maze was used to test spatial learning, and memory by using acquisition trials followed by reverse trial sessions. The MS24 mice spent more time in the open arms of the elevated plus maze compared to controls, but no other treatment differences were found in the emotional behavioural tests. However, in the reverse trial for the Barnes maze test there was a significant difference in the frequency of visits to the old goal, the number of errors made by the MS24 mice compared to controls and in total distance moved. The mice were subsequently sacrificed and the total number of neurons estimated in the hippocampus using the optical fractionator. We found a significant loss of neurons in the dentate gyrus in MS mice compared to controls. Apparently a single maternal separation can impact the number of neurons in mouse hippocampus either by a decrease of neurogenesis or as an increase in neuron apoptosis. This study is the first to assess the result of maternal separation combining behaviour and stereology
Malaria Parasite Invasion of the Mosquito Salivary Gland Requires Interaction between the Plasmodium TRAP and the Anopheles Saglin Proteins
SM1 is a twelve-amino-acid peptide that binds tightly to the Anopheles salivary gland and inhibits its invasion by Plasmodium sporozoites. By use of UV-crosslinking experiments between the peptide and its salivary gland target protein, we have identified the Anopheles salivary protein, saglin, as the receptor for SM1. Furthermore, by use of an anti-SM1 antibody, we have determined that the peptide is a mimotope of the Plasmodium sporozoite Thrombospondin Related Anonymous Protein (TRAP). TRAP binds to saglin with high specificity. Point mutations in TRAP's binding domain A abrogate binding, and binding is competed for by the SM1 peptide. Importantly, in vivo down-regulation of saglin expression results in strong inhibition of salivary gland invasion. Together, the results suggest that saglin/TRAP interaction is crucial for salivary gland invasion by Plasmodium sporozoites
Analysis of Adhesion Molecules and Basement Membrane Contributions to Synaptic Adhesion at the Drosophila Embryonic NMJ
Synapse formation and maintenance crucially underlie brain function in health and disease. Both processes are believed to depend on cell adhesion molecules (CAMs). Many different classes of CAMs localise to synapses, including cadherins, protocadherins, neuroligins, neurexins, integrins, and immunoglobulin adhesion proteins, and further contributions come from the extracellular matrix and its receptors. Most of these factors have been scrutinised by loss-of-function analyses in animal models. However, which adhesion factors establish the essential physical links across synaptic clefts and allow the assembly of synaptic machineries at the contact site in vivo is still unclear. To investigate these key questions, we have used the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) of Drosophila embryos as a genetically amenable model synapse. Our ultrastructural analyses of NMJs lacking different classes of CAMs revealed that loss of all neurexins, all classical cadherins or all glutamate receptors, as well as combinations between these or with a Laminin deficiency, failed to reveal structural phenotypes. These results are compatible with a view that these CAMs might have no structural role at this model synapse. However, we consider it far more likely that they operate in a redundant or well buffered context. We propose a model based on a multi-adaptor principle to explain this phenomenon. Furthermore, we report a new CAM-independent adhesion mechanism that involves the basement membranes (BM) covering neuromuscular terminals. Thus, motorneuronal terminals show strong partial detachment of the junction when BM-to-cell surface attachment is impaired by removing Laminin A, or when BMs lose their structural integrity upon loss of type IV collagens. We conclude that BMs are essential to tie embryonic motorneuronal terminals to the muscle surface, lending CAM-independent structural support to their adhesion. Therefore, future developmental studies of these synaptic junctions in Drosophila need to consider the important contribution made by BM-dependent mechanisms, in addition to CAM-dependent adhesion
Ξ²1 Integrin Maintains Integrity of the Embryonic Neocortical Stem Cell Niche
IInteractions between laminins and integrin receptors hold neural stem cells in place at the ventricular surface of embryonic brain. Transient disruption leads to abnormal stem cell divisions and permanent cortical malformation
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