Leading Disability Research and Workforce Development: A Western Sydney Collaboration

In this White Paper we draw attention to the potential of excellence in research and workforce development as a means, in part, to foster greater inclusion and participation for people with disability. We present a critique of the current limitations in research and workforce development and highlight the urgency to address such shortcomings to realise inclusion within our communities. We demonstrate that Western Sydney University is well positioned as a leading institution to address many of these concerns. This White paper showcases the innovative work of our team, and calls for seven key actions, to advance inclusion and participation for people and communities in Greater Western Sydney, Australia, and beyond

Adult fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas, partial life‐cycle reproductive and gonadal histopathology study with bisphenol A

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an intermediate used to produce epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics. Although BPA degrades rapidly in the environment with aquatic half‐lives from 0.5 to 6 d, it can be found in aquatic systems because of widespread use. To evaluate potential effects from chronic exposure, fathead minnows were exposed for 164 d to nominal concentrations of 1, 16, 64, 160, and 640 µg/L BPA. Population‐level endpoints of survival, growth, and reproduction were assessed with supplemental endpoints (e.g., vitellogenin, gonad histology), including gonad cell type assessment and quantification. No statistically significant changes in growth, gonad weight, gonadosomatic index, or reproduction variables (e.g., number of eggs and spawns, hatchability) were observed; however, there was a significant impact on male survival at 640 µg/L. Vitellogenin increased in both sexes at 64 µg/L or higher. Gonad cell type frequencies were significantly different from controls at 160 µg/L or higher in males with a slight decrease in spermatocytes compared with less mature cell types, and at 640 µg/L in females with a slight decrease in early vitellogenic cells compared with less mature cells. The decrease in spermatocytes did not correspond to a decrease in the most mature sex cell type (spermatozoa) and did not impair male fertility, as hatchability was not impacted. Overall, marginal shifts in gametogenic cell maturation were not associated with any statistically significant effects on population‐relevant reproductive endpoints (growth, fecundity, and hatchability) at any concentration tested.publishe

2004 SAC report on water for environmental flows final report

The question is not whether environmental flows are important and should be protected, but rather, how, when, and where, and in what quantities should flows be reserved for environmental purposes in the state�s rivers and streams and its bays and estuaries. The State of Texas has investigated environmental flow issues for several decades. Scientific methods, protocols, and understanding regarding environmental flows have significantly progressed through the course of the previous 40 years and continue to evolve and improve. Due to the complexities of environmental flow issues and continuing advances in scientific understanding, additional work is needed. While the State of Texas has pioneered tools to address freshwater inflow needs for bays and estuaries, there are limitations to these tools in light of both scientific and public policy evolution. To fully address bay and estuary environmental flow issues, the foundation of work accomplished by the state should be improved. While the Texas Instream Flow Studies program appears to encompass a comprehensive and scientific approach for establishing environmental flow needs for rivers and streams across the state, more extensive review and examination of the details of the program, which may not be fully developed until the program is underway, are needed to ensure an effective tool for evaluating riverine environmental flow conditions

Pooled Association Tests for Rare Variants in Exon-Resequencing Studies

Deep sequencing will soon generate comprehensive sequence information in large disease samples. Although the power to detect association with an individual rare variant is limited, pooling variants by gene or pathway into a composite test provides an alternative strategy for identifying susceptibility genes. We describe a statistical method for detecting association of multiple rare variants in protein-coding genes with a quantitative or dichotomous trait. The approach is based on the regression of phenotypic values on individuals' genotype scores subject to a variable allele-frequency threshold, incorporating computational predictions of the functional effects of missense variants. Statistical significance is assessed by permutation testing with variable thresholds. We used a rigorous population-genetics simulation framework to evaluate the power of the method, and we applied the method to empirical sequencing data from three disease studies

Pax7 (A), MyoD (B), myogenin (C) mRNA expression in skeletal muscle 24 hours following resistance exercise.

<p>Data are expressed as fold change from rest. Data are normalized to GAPDH and reported as mean ± SEM. *Significantly different from rest, P<0.05. †Significantly different from 30WM.</p