Rematerialising Heritage

The Rocks is one of Sydney's premier tourist locations; its identity largely founded on the perception of it as a historically significant site. This perception is steeped in complex notions of the `authentic tourist experience offered at The Rocks, which arguably originates from the retention of some of the early streets and architectures of the area. However, implicit in the act of retention is also the act of deletion. Throughout the area of The Rocks, gaps exist. These are the spaces where buildings, houses, outhouses, lanes and indeed whole streets have been eradicated to make way for urban progress or to redefine areas of the city according to political or economic aims. Heritage here is constructed, not only from that which is retained and preserved but also from that which is deleted and destroyed. This paper seeks to examine the fate of one particular street in the Rocks Princes Street that was eradicated in 1927 to make way for the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The physical demolition of the street and subsequent erasure of any material sign of it has effectively allowed the street to disappear. The predominant historical narrative that results reveals the extent to which current notions of the past are fundamentally understood through the existence of the material artefact. Yet this paper argues that definitions of the past can be drawn, not only from the material or architectural object that operates as historical proof but also from the social, performative and touristic acts that might be undertaken around the object, the architecture or even its representation

A phenotypically plastic magic trait promoting reproductive isolation in sticklebacks?

This study identifies one possible mechanism whereby gene flow is interrupted in populations undergoing evolutionary divergence in sympatry; this is an important issue in evolutionary biology that remains poorly understood. Variation in trophic morphology was induced in three-spined stickleback by exposing them from an early age either to large benthic or to small pelagic prey. At sexual maturity, females given a choice between two breeding males, showed positive assortative mate choice for males raised on the same diet as themselves. The data indicate that this was mediated through a preference for males with trophic morphology similar to that of fish with which the females were familiar (from their pre-testing holding tanks). In trials where the female did not choose the most familiar male, the evidence suggests that either she had difficulty discriminating between two similar males or was positively choosing males with more extreme morphologies (more benthic-like or pelagic-like). This study has shown for the first time that expression of a plastic trait induced at an early age, not only results in specialisation for local foraging regimes but can also play a significant role in mate choice. This is equivalent to an environmentally induced, plastic version of the “magic traits” that promote ecologically-driven divergence in sympatry, hence the proposed descriptor “plastic magic trait”

Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Outpatients with Type 2 Diabetes in the Mexican Population

Depression and anxiety are common in diabetic patients; however, in recent years the frequency of these symptoms has markedly increased worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the frequency and factors associated with depression and anxiety, since they can be responsible for premature morbidity, mortality, risk of developing comorbidities, complications, suffering of patients, as well as escalation of costs. We studied the frequency of depression and anxiety in Mexican outpatients with type 2 diabetes and identified the risk factors for depression and anxiety.We performed a study in 820 patients with type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of depression and anxiety was estimated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, respectively. We calculated the proportions for depression and anxiety and, after adjusting for confounding variables, we performed multivariate analysis using multiple logistic regressions to evaluate the combined effect of the various factors associated with anxiety and depression among persons with type 2 diabetes. The rates for depression and anxiety were 48.27% (95% CI: 44.48–52.06) and 55.10% (95% CI: 51.44–58.93), respectively. Occupation and complications in diabetes were the factors associated with anxiety, whereas glucose level and complications in diabetes were associated with depression. Complications in diabetes was a factor common to depression and anxiety (p<0.0001; OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.29–2.4).Our findings demonstrate that a large proportion of diabetic patients present depression and/or anxiety. We also identified a significant association between complications in diabetes with depression and anxiety. Interventions are necessary to hinder the appearance of complications in diabetes and in consequence prevent depression and anxiety

Diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes circulating in Ndola, Zambia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in Zambia. However, information about lineages of <it>M. tuberculosis </it>complex (MTBC) isolates useful for epidemiology investigations is unknown. In this study, we investigated the diversity of MTBC isolates from Ndola, a typical Zambian urbanized city with a documented high HIV prevalence.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was part of a prospective cohort study in subjects with sputum smear-positive pulmonary TB. Spoligotyping was used to genotype the MTBC isolates and establish the circulating lineages. The 15-locus Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units - Variable Number Tandem Repeats (MIRU-VNTR) typing was used to study recent transmission.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 98 different spoligotypes were identified among 273 MTBC isolates. The majority (64.8%) of the isolates belonged to 9 known families, while 96 (35.2%) of the isolates were orphans. While LAM (41.8%) was the largest spoligotype family observed, most of the isolates (87.7%) belonging to the SAF1 family, with a significant portion coming from the T (13.6%), and X (5.9%) families. A few isolates (3.6%) belonged to the CAS, EAI, H, S, X1-LAM9 or U families. MIRU-VNTR typing was highly discriminatory (h = 0.988) among the 156 isolates tested in our sample, and increased the discrimination among 82 SAF1 isolates from 6 to 46 distinct patterns. In addition, 3.2% (5/156) of cases with available MIRU-VNTR results harbored more than one MTBC strain.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings show a limited diversity of MTBC in Ndola with a high clustering rate (37.7%), which indicates that recent transmission plays an appreciable role in the dynamics of TB disease in this setting. This conclusion emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and timely treatment. The results also confirm that MIRU-VNTR typing is suitable for studying the molecular epidemiology of TB in Ndola.</p

Mating plugs in polyandrous giants: Which sex produces them, when, how and why?

10.1371/journal.pone.0040939PLoS ONE77

Comparative Proteomics of Inner Membrane Fraction from Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii with a Reference Strain

Acinetobacter baumannii has been identified by the Infectious Diseases Society of America as one of the six pathogens that cause majority of hospital infections. Increased resistance of A. baumannii even to the latest generation of β-lactams like carbapenem is an immediate threat to mankind. As inner-membrane fraction plays a significant role in survival of A. baumannii, we investigated the inner-membrane fraction proteome of carbapenem-resistant strain of A. baumannii using Differential In-Gel Electrophoresis (DIGE) followed by DeCyder, Progenesis and LC-MS/MS analysis. We identified 19 over-expressed and 4 down-regulated proteins (fold change>2, p<0.05) in resistant strain as compared to reference strain. Some of the upregulated proteins in resistant strain and their association with carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii are: i) β-lactamases, AmpC and OXA-51: cleave and inactivate carbapenem ii) metabolic enzymes, ATP synthase, malate dehydrogenase and 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase: help in increased energy production for the survival and iii) elongation factor Tu and ribosomal proteins: help in the overall protein production. Further, entry of carbapenem perhaps is limited by controlled production of OmpW and low levels of surface antigen help to evade host defence mechanism in developing resistance in A. baumannii. Present results support a model for the importance of proteins of inner-membrane fraction and their synergistic effect in the mediation of resistance of A. baumannii to carbapenem

Pre-Clinical Evaluation of a Replication-Competent Recombinant Adenovirus Serotype 4 Vaccine Expressing Influenza H5 Hemagglutinin

Influenza virus remains a significant health and social concern in part because of newly emerging strains, such as avian H5N1 virus. We have developed a prototype H5N1 vaccine using a recombinant, replication-competent Adenovirus serotype 4 (Ad4) vector, derived from the U.S. military Ad4 vaccine strain, to express the hemagglutinin (HA) gene from A/Vietnam/1194/2004 influenza virus (Ad4-H5-Vtn). Our hypothesis is that a mucosally-delivered replicating Ad4-H5-Vtn recombinant vector will be safe and induce protective immunity against H5N1 influenza virus infection and disease pathogenesis.The Ad4-H5-Vtn vaccine was designed with a partial deletion of the E3 region of Ad4 to accommodate the influenza HA gene. Replication and growth kinetics of the vaccine virus in multiple human cell lines indicated that the vaccine virus is attenuated relative to the wild type virus. Expression of the HA transgene in infected cells was documented by flow cytometry, western blot analysis and induction of HA-specific antibody and cellular immune responses in mice. Of particular note, mice immunized intranasally with the Ad4-H5-Vtn vaccine were protected against lethal H5N1 reassortant viral challenge even in the presence of pre-existing immunity to the Ad4 wild type virus.Several non-clinical attributes of this vaccine including safety, induction of HA-specific humoral and cellular immunity, and efficacy were demonstrated using an animal model to support Phase 1 clinical trial evaluation of this new vaccine

Women’s preferences for men’s facial masculinity are strongest under favorable ecological conditions

International audienceThe strength of sexual selection on secondary sexual traits varies depending on prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women's preferences for men's testosterone dependent masculine facial traits are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates are higher and economic development is higher. Here we use a sample of 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries and employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, ecological and economic variables predict women's facial masculinity preferences. We report women's preferences for more masculine looking men are stronger in countries with higher sociosexuality and where national health indices and human development indices are higher, while no associations were found between preferences and indices of intra-sexual competition. Our results show that women's preferences for masculine faces are stronger under conditions where offspring survival is higher and economic conditions are more favorable