Ergot: A New Disease Threat to Sorghum in the Americas and Australia

Sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, is the world’s fifth most important cereal crop, cultivated on about 45 million hectares for food, feed, beverage, and fodder. The most significant technological change since the 1960s has been the development and use of F1 hybrid seed (14), which has lead to a dramatic improvement in the crop’s productivity. Sorghum cultivation in intensive, commercialized systems where yields average 3 to 5 t ha-1 relies almost totally on hybrid seed. In contrast, yields vary widely and average less than 1 t ha-1 in low-input production systems

p53 autoantibodies in patients with malignant mesothelioma: stability through disease progression

Malignant mesothelioma (MM) generally occurs as a pleural tumour, related to the inhalation of asbestos fibres. It is highly aggressive and largely unresponsive to treatment. The incidence of MM is particularly high in Western Australia because of the extensive blue asbestos mining operations that occurred in the north of the state until 1966. MM is unusual in that mutations in the tumour suppressor gene p53 are rarely observed, whilst over-expression of p53 protein is common. As the level of antibodies directed against p53 is thought to be of prognostic value in some cancers and as MM is known to be immunogenic, we studied a cohort of Western Australian patients to determine the prevalence of anti-p53 antibodies and their value as diagnostic markers or prognostic indicators. 6/88 (7%) of patients had high titres (>2 SD above the mean of controls) of anti-p53 antibodies. There was no correlation between antibody titre and survival. Although 3/38 (8%) of sera obtained from patients exposed to asbestos but prior to a diagnosis of MM contained antibodies, the same proportion of sera obtained from patients exposed to asbestos but who remained disease free also contained antibodies (2/40; 8%). Sera collected sequentially demonstrated a profound temporal stability in the titre of anti-p53 antibodies in patients with MM throughout the course of their illness. These results show that anti-p53 antibodies are observed only at a low frequency in the sera of MM patients and where they do occur, their elicitation is an early event that may be unrelated to antigen load. The occurrence of anti-p53 antibodies does not serve as either a useful prognostic or diagnostic indicator in MM. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Ergot - a Global Threat to Sorghum

The current status of ergot (Claviceps sorghi and C. africana) of sorghum is reviewed. The biology, epidemiology, control, host plant resistance and integrated management strategies of the disease are discussed

Sex and the Cinema: What American Pie Teaches the Young

This paper focuses upon the wildly successful blockbuster American Pie teenpics, especially American Pie 3 – the Wedding. I argue that these films, which are sited so securely within the visual and pedagogical machinery of Hollywood culture, are specifically designed to appeal to teenage male audiences, and to provide lessons in sex and romance. Movies like this are especially important as they are experienced by far more teenagers than, for example, instructional films or other classroom materials; indeed, as Henry Giroux has observed, "teens and youth learn how to define themselves outside of the traditional sites of instruction, such as the home and the school… Learning in the postmodern age is located elsewhere – in popular spheres that shape their identities, through forms of knowledge and desires that appear absent from what is taught in schools" (Giroux, 1997, p.49). In this paper I discuss whether the American Pie series is actually a "new age" effort which, via insubordinate performances of gender, contests the hegemonic field of signification which regulates the production of sex, gender and desire, or whether it is more accurately described as a retrogressive hetero-conservative opus with a veneer of sexual radicalism. In short, I intend to probe whether this filmic vector for sex education is all about the shaping of responsible, caring, vulnerable men, or is it guiding them to become just like their heterosexual, middle-class fathers? And whether, despite its riotous and raunchy advertising, American Pie really dishes up something spicy or something terribly wholesome instead

Nitrogen cycling and budget in crop rotations as influenced by preceding crops and N fertilization

Non-Peer Reviewe

Towards a framework for critical citizenship education

Increasingly countries around the world are promoting forms of "critical" citizenship in the planned curricula of schools. However, the intended meaning behind this term varies markedly and can range from a set of creative and technical skills under the label "critical thinking" to a desire to encourage engagement, action and political emancipation, often labelled "critical pedagogy". This paper distinguishes these manifestations of the "critical" and, based on an analysis of the prevailing models of critical pedagogy and citizenship education, develops a conceptual framework for analysing and comparing the nature of critical citizenship

UKIRT under new management: status and plans

The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) observatory has been transferred to the ownership of the University of Hawaii (UH) and is now being managed by UH. We have established partnerships with several organizations to utilize the UKIRT for science projects and to support its operation. Our main partners are the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), the East Asian Observatory (EAO), and the UKIRT microlensing team (JPL/IPAC/OSU/Vanderbilt). The USNO is working on deep northern hemisphere surveys in the H and K bands and the UKIRT microlensing team is running a monitoring campaign of the Galactic bulge. EAO, UH, and USNO have individual P.I. research programs. Most of the observations are using the Wide Field Camera (WFCAM), but the older suite of cassegrain instruments are still fully operational. Data processing and archiving continue to be done CASU and WSA in the UK. We are working on a concept to upgrade the WFCAM with new larger infrared detector arrays for substantially improved survey efficiency

Advances in multispectral and hyperspectral imaging for archaeology and art conservation

Multispectral imaging has been applied to the field of art conservation and art history since the early 1990s. It is attractive as a noninvasive imaging technique because it is fast and hence capable of imaging large areas of an object giving both spatial and spectral information. This paper gives an overview of the different instrumental designs, image processing techniques and various applications of multispectral and hyperspectral imaging to art conservation, art history and archaeology. Recent advances in the development of remote and versatile multispectral and hyperspectral imaging as well as techniques in pigment identification will be presented. Future prospects including combination of spectral imaging with other noninvasive imaging and analytical techniques will be discussed

The role of GPS-enabled information in transforming operational decision making: an exploratory study

Although the impact of ICT-enabled information on firm performance has been well documented in the business value of IT literature, our understanding of how Global Positioning System (GPS) adoption can transform operational decision making and foster differential firm performance is limited. In response, we conduct an exploratory comparative case study of three transport firms that have implemented the same GPS during the same year in their operations. Our results highlight that increased use of GPS-enabled information can enhance information quality and make operational decision making more fact-based and collaborative. We also find that such transformations in operational decision making, driven by increased use of GPS-enabled information, can foster differential performance impacts. However, we warn scholars and practitioners that a firm’s information management capability (in terms of availability of quality information in decision making, software tools for connectivity and access to information, IT systems integration post-GPS adoption and adaptability of the infrastructure to emerging business needs) and organizational factors (such as top management support, project management of GPS implementation, financial support, end-user involvement, rewarding, training and employee resistance) can facilitate (or inhibit) effective use of GPS-enabled information in operational decision making, and thus moderate differential performance benefits of GPS adoption

A gene signature for post-infectious chronic fatigue syndrome

Background: At present, there are no clinically reliable disease markers for chronic fatigue syndrome. DNA chip microarray technology provides a method for examining the differential expression of mRNA from a large number of genes. Our hypothesis was that a gene expression signature, generated by microarray assays, could help identify genes which are dysregulated in patients with post-infectious CFS and so help identify biomarkers for the condition. Methods: Human genome-wide Affymetrix GeneChip arrays (39,000 transcripts derived from 33,000 gene sequences) were used to compare the levels of gene expression in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of male patients with post-infectious chronic fatigue (n = 8) and male healthy control subjects (n = 7). Results: Patients and healthy subjects differed significantly in the level of expression of 366 genes. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes indicated functional implications in immune modulation, oxidative stress and apoptosis. Prototype biomarkers were identified on the basis of differential levels of gene expression and possible biological significance Conclusion: Differential expression of key genes identified in this study offer an insight into the possible mechanism of chronic fatigue following infection. The representative biomarkers identified in this research appear promising as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment