The Canadian ‘Model Forest’ approach : a way forward for Tasmania?

Forest policy and forestry management in Tasmania have undergone a number of changes in the last thirty years, many explicitly aimed at improving industry sustainability, job security, and forest biodiversity conservation. Yet forestry remains a contentious issue in Tasmania, due to a number of interacting factors, most significant of which is the prevalence of a ‘command and control’ governance approach by policymakers and managers. New approaches such as multiple-stakeholder decision-making, adaptive management, and direct public participation in policymaking are needed. Such an approach has been attempted in Canada in the last decade, through the Canadian Model Forest Program, and may be suitable for Tasmania. This paper seeks to describe what the Canadian Model Forest approach is, how it may be implemented in Tasmania, and what role it may play in the shift to a new forestry paradigm. Until such a paradigm shift occurs contentions and confrontations are likely to continue

Bacterial contamination of operating theatres: a case study of a hospital in Northern Nigeria

Microbial contamination of the Operating Theatre (OT) has continued to increase the prevalence of nosocomial infections. This study assessed the level of microbial contamination and the antimicrobial pattern of the bacterial isolates. Swab plate method was used to collect samples from surfaces and other articles in the major OT. Collected samples were transported and microbiologically processed using standard procedures. Three hundred and fifty (350) swab specimens were collected from various inanimate objects and surfaces in the operating theatre. Of the three hundred and fifty specimens collected, two hundred and five (205=58.6 %) swab specimens had bacterial growth. The total of 393 bacterial pathogens were recovered from all specimens processed during the study. Among these, 245(62.3 %) were Gram-positive and 148(37.7 %) were Gram-negative bacteria. The bacteria isolates were, Staphylococcus aureus 50(57.5 %), Coagulase negative Staphylococci 19(21.8 %), Bacillus species 9(10.3 %), Enterobacter species 6(3.8 %), Micrococcus species 6(6.9 %), Streptococcus species 3(4.4 %). Proteus species 128(86.5 %), E. coli 13(8.8 %), and Salmonella species 7(4.7 %). Antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacterial pathogens showed overall sensitivity of 95 % to Rocephin. 3(100 %). Erythromycin and Gentamycin were resistant to the tested organisms. In general, the results indicate that Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative Staphylococci and Proteus species were the major species contaminating the surfaces in the operating rooms. This may be due to Staphylococci been of human origin. Microbiological surveillance of operating theatres can play an important role in reducing bacterial contamination consequently preoperative infectious episodes can be reduced considerably

Neural and computational mechanisms of effort under the pressure of a deadline

Deadlines fundamentally shape the motivation for effort. Research examining effort-based choices findshigh effort is an avoided cost. However, this work overlooks the fact that effort can be valuable when itmakes progress on long-term goals before deadlines. We test a new framework where motivationdepends on deadline pressure (work remaining / time remaining). Across three studies we usecomputational modelling on novel tasks examining effort-based decisions when effort makes progresson goals with deadlines. In support of hypotheses, deadline pressure significantly impacts decisionmaking, shifting people from avoiding effort, to seeking and valuing it. Using ultra-high-field fMRI, weshow that functionally connected putamen and midcingulate cortex (MCC) sub-regions process andupdate estimates of deadline pressure, with distinct anterior cingulate and putamen sub-regionsprocessing the costs or added value of effort. We show the neurocomputational mechanisms for howdeadline pressure shapes motivation, and that keep us ‘on track’ for our goals

Reducing dietary wild derived fishmeal inclusion levels in production diets for large yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi)

Further research to understand the effect of dietary wild derived fishmeal (WD-FM) substitution with commercially relevant alternative ingredients for large yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi; YTK) was investigated. This 36-week study was designed to replace dietary inclusions of WD-FM with alternative protein ingredients including poultry meal, soy protein concentrate and by-product fishmeal (PM, SPC and BP-FM) and measure the effect on the growth performance, feed utilisation, and health of large YTK (2.5 kg initial weight) at ambient water temperatures (average 16.6 °C). Six diets were formulated on a digestible basis to contain 39% digestible protein (∼45–46% crude protein), 23% digestible lipid (∼24–25% crude lipid), and a digestible energy level of 17 MJ kg−1 (∼19 MJ kg−1 gross energy level). Fish were fed to apparent satiation once daily at 10:00 h. Substitution of fish meal with alternative ingredients did not significantly impact fish growth, feed utilisation, gastrointestinal health, blood haematology or measured biochemistry indices. Results from the current study will allow reductions to the dietary WD-FM inclusion levels, with tangible sustainability benefits. The inclusion of the alternative protein sources resulted in improvements in the fish in-fish out ratios of up to 35.1%. This study suggests formulation criteria for large YTK should include a minimum of 10% WD-FM. Further to this, at least 30% of the diet should consist of a combination of poultry meal, soy protein concentrate and fishmeal (both wild and by-product). Our data further support the use of BP-FM up to ∼20% inclusion, while PM and SPC should be limited to ∼10% inclusion until further data is available on these raw materials in YTK feeds. These recommendations will facilitate formulation flexibility for large YTK feeds, enabling formulators to adapt to changes to extrinsic factors such as raw material availability, and sustainability while minimising cost and performance impacts

Differential vergence movements in reading Chinese and English: Greater fixation-initial binocular disparity is advantageous in reading the denser orthography

We explore two aspects of exovergence: we test whether smaller binocular fixation disparities accompany the shorter saccades and longer fixations observed in reading Chinese, and we test whether potentially advantageous psychophysical effects of exovergence transfer to text reading. We report differential exovergence in reading Chinese and English: Chinese readers begin fixations with more binocular disparity, but end fixations with a disparity closely similar to that of the English readers. We conclude that greater fixation-initial binocular disparity can be adaptive in the reading of visually and cognitively denser text.</jats:p

Stabilizer notation for Spekkens' toy theory

Spekkens has introduced a toy theory [Phys. Rev. A, 75, 032110 (2007)] in order to argue for an epistemic view of quantum states. I describe a notation for the theory (excluding certain joint measurements) which makes its similarities and differences with the quantum mechanics of stabilizer states clear. Given an application of the qubit stabilizer formalism, it is often entirely straightforward to construct an analogous application of the notation to the toy theory. This assists calculations within the toy theory, for example of the number of possible states and transformations, and enables superpositions to be defined for composite systems.Comment: 7+4 pages, 5 tables. v2: Clarifications added and typos fixed in response to referee comment

A single transcription factor is sufficient to induce and maintain secretory cell architecture

We hypothesized that basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) MIST1 (BHLHA15) is a “scaling factor” that universally establishes secretory morphology in cells that perform regulated secretion. Here, we show that targeted deletion of MIST1 caused dismantling of the secretory apparatus of diverse exocrine cells. Parietal cells (PCs), whose function is to pump acid into the stomach, normally lack MIST1 and do not perform regulated secretion. Forced expression of MIST1 in PCs caused them to expand their apical cytoplasm, rearrange mitochondrial/lysosome trafficking, and generate large secretory granules. Mist1 induced a cohort of genes regulated by MIST1 in multiple organs but did not affect PC function. MIST1 bound CATATG/CAGCTG E boxes in the first intron of genes that regulate autophagosome/lysosomal degradation, mitochondrial trafficking, and amino acid metabolism. Similar alterations in cell architecture and gene expression were also caused by ectopically inducing MIST1 in vivo in hepatocytes. Thus, MIST1 is a scaling factor necessary and sufficient by itself to induce and maintain secretory cell architecture. Our results indicate that, whereas mature cell types in each organ may have unique developmental origins, cells performing similar physiological functions throughout the body share similar transcription factor-mediated architectural “blueprints.

Discovery and Measurement of Sleptons, Binos, and Winos with a Z'

Extensions of the MSSM could significantly alter its phenomenology at the LHC. We study the case in which the MSSM is extended by an additional U(1) gauge symmetry, which is spontaneously broken at a few TeV. The production cross-section of sleptons is enhanced over that of the MSSM by the process $pp\to Z' \to \tilde{\ell} \tilde{\ell}^*$, so the discovery potential for sleptons is greatly increased. The flavor and charge information in the resulting decay, $\tilde{\ell} \to \ell + {LSP}$, provides a useful handle on the identity of the LSP. With the help of the additional kinematical constraint of an on-shell Z', we implement a novel method to measure all of the superpartner masses involved in this channel. For certain final states with two invisible particles, one can construct kinematic observables bounded above by parent particle masses. We demonstrate how output from one such observable, m_T2, can become input to a second, increasing the number of measurements one can make with a single decay chain. The method presented here represents a new class of observables which could have a much wider range of applicability.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures; v2 references added and minor change