Faces of the Teouma Lapita People: Art, Accuracy and Facial Approximation

In 2008 we completed facial approximations of four individuals from the early Lapita Culture, a seafaring people who were the first to settle the islands of the Western Pacific circa 3000 years ago. Typically an approximation is performed as a 3D sculpture or using computer graphics. We chose to sketch what we have been able to determine from the remains because the artistic conventions of drawing work with visual perception in ways that are more complementary to the knowledge, theories and methods that make up the facial approximation of human remains

Hindbrain Neurons as an Essential Hub in the Neuroanatomically Distributed Control of Energy Balance

This Review highlights the processing and integration performed by hindbrain nuclei, focusing on the inputs received by nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) neurons. These inputs include vagally mediated gastrointestinal satiation signals, blood-borne energy-related hormonal and nutrient signals, and descending neural signals from the forebrain. We propose that NTS (and hindbrain neurons, more broadly) integrate these multiple energy status signals and issue-output commands controlling the behavioral, autonomic, and endocrine responses that collectively govern energy balance. These hindbrain-mediated controls are neuroanatomically distributed; they involve endemic hindbrain neurons and circuits, hindbrain projections to peripheral circuits, and projections to and from midbrain and forebrain nuclei

Yellotas: A Unique Yellow Serradella Cultivar With Potential for Permanent Pasture Environments

Yellow serradella (Ornithopus compressus L.) has been identified as a priority self-regenerating annual legume species for permanent pasture environments in south-eastern Australia. However, most yellow serradella genotypes exhibit high levels of hard seed and slow rates of hard seed breakdown, which reduces regeneration density in the years following the year of sowing . One cultivar, Yellotas, exhibits a much faster rate of hard seed breakdown and has been identified as one of only a handful of cultivars of that species with promising persistence in permanent pasture environments. In addition, this cultivar is substantially easier to de-hull than other cultivars of that species, potentially reducing seed costs. In a field evaluation under severe drought conditions, this cultivar was shown to exhibit a high level of tolerance to close grazing. Yet, doubt still exists as to whether cv. Yellotas produces sufficient residual hard seed to withstand periodic drought suggesting further improvement may be required. This paper details the origins of cultivar and observations of its performance under a range of conditions in south-eastern Australia

Cafeteria diet-induced obesity causes oxidative damage in white adipose

Obesity continues to be one of the most prominent public health dilemmas in the world. The complex interaction among the varied causes of obesity makes it a particularly challenging problem to address. While typical high-fat purified diets successfully induce weight gain in rodents, we have described a more robust model of diet-induced obesity based on feeding rats a diet consisting of highly palatable, energy-dense human junk foods – the “cafeteria” diet (CAF, 45-53% kcal from fat). We previously reported that CAF-fed rats became hyperphagic, gained more weight, and developed more severe hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose intolerance compared to the lard-based 45% kcal from fat high fat diet–fed group. In addition, the CAF diet-fed group displayed a higher degree of inflammation in adipose and liver, mitochondrial dysfunction, and an increased concentration of lipid-derived, pro-inflammatory mediators. Building upon our previous findings, we aimed to determine mechanisms that underlie physiologic findings in the CAF diet. We investigated the effect of CAF diet-induced obesity on adipose tissue specifically using expression arrays and immunohistochemistry. Genomic evidence indicated the CAF diet induced alterations in the white adipose gene transcriptome, with notable suppression of glutathione-related genes and pathways involved in mitigating oxidative stress. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated a doubling in adipose lipid peroxidation marker 4-HNE levels compared to rats that remained lean on control standard chow diet. Our data indicates that the CAF diet drives an increase in oxidative damage in white adipose tissue that may affect tissue homeostasis. Oxidative stress drives activation of inflammatory kinases that can perturb insulin signaling leading to glucose intolerance and diabetes

Sea level and turbidity controls on mangrove soil surface elevation change

Increases in sea level are a threat to seaward fringing mangrove forests if levels of inundation exceed the physiological tolerance of the trees; however, tidal wetlands can keep pace with sea level rise if soil surface elevations can increase at the same pace as sea level rise. Sediment accretion on the soil surface and belowground production of roots are proposed to increase with increasing sea level, enabling intertidal habitats to maintain their position relative to mean sea level, but there are few tests of these predictions in mangrove forests. Here we used variation in sea level and the availability of sediments caused by seasonal and inter-annual variation in the intensity of La Nina-El Nino to assess the effects of increasing sea level on surface elevation gains and contributing processes (accretion on the surface, subsidence and root growth) in mangrove forests. We found that soil surface elevation increased with mean sea level (which varied over 250 mm during the study) and with turbidity at sites where fine sediment in the water column is abundant. In contrast, where sediments were sandy, rates of surface elevation gain were high, but not significantly related to variation in turbidity, and were likely to be influenced by other factors that deliver sand to the mangrove forest. Root growth was not linked to soil surface elevation gains, although it was associated with reduced shallow subsidence, and therefore may contribute to the capacity of mangroves to keep pace with sea level rise. Our results indicate both surface (sedimentation) and subsurface (root growth) processes can influence mangrove capacity to keep pace with sea level rise within the same geographic location, and that current models of tidal marsh responses to sea level rise capture the major feature of the response of mangroves where fine, but not coarse, sediments are abundant

BlackOPs: Increasing confidence in variant detection through mappability filtering

Identifying variants using high-throughput sequen-cing data is currently a challenge because true biological variants can be indistinguishable from technical artifacts. One source of technical arti-fact results from incorrectly aligning experimen-tally observed sequences to their true genomic origin (‘mismapping’) and inferring differences in mismapped sequences to be true variants. We de-veloped BlackOPs, an open-source tool that simu-lates experimental RNA-seq and DNA whole exome sequences derived from the reference genome, aligns these sequences by custom parameters, detects variants and outputs a blacklist of positions and alleles caused by mismapping. Blacklist

Crops, Rumps and Woolly Jumpers: An Innovative Extension Approach Enabling the Complexities of Mixed Farming to Be Shared and Understood

The sheep-wheat belt of southern Australia accounts for about 19% and 57% of total Australian beef and sheep production, respectively. Most farm businesses in this zone are family owned and contain a mix of livestock and cropping enterprises. While the focus of most research, development and extension for mixed farming systems focuses on single components of the system (lamb, wool, beef, pastures, crops), the systems are complex and dynamic and cannot be understood by analysing the components in isolation. The enterprise synergies are dependent on economic, environmental and social factors. The farmers themselves are best equipped to explain the system function and the interplay between the components. The traditional conference format with technical experts presenting their findings was deemed to be inadequate to relay the complexity of mixed farming systems, stifling two-way information flow and the opportunity for experts to acquire tacit knowledge held by farmers. This paper out-lines an innovative extension approach based on story telling, video footage and discussion, providing technical experts with an opportunity to appreciate the complexity and farmer decision processes. This approach fostered audience participation and interaction, leading to a better understanding of the complexities of mixed farming and how conflicts between diversification and specialisation may be resolved by the management team. Facilitated discussion also highlighted potential areas of research, development and extension