Water quality in the Illawarra-South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia

Water quality is a serious environmental concern in the South Coast region of New South Wales as many aspects of human ecology and the economy are dependant on good water quality. Apart from drinking water for residents and visitors, tourism and agricultural productivity rely on good quality water. This paper presents an overview of general issues with regard to the development of water quality assessment procedures and programs, and discusses a number of issues considered important for the region. These include the impacts of increasing urbanisation, industrial activity (including mining), the potential wider use of groundwater and the improved management of water quality information. Issues that need further attention include the potential impacts of climate change on water resources and quality, the development of local water quality guidelines, and the provision of more information on organic contaminants

Water quality in the Wingecarribee Shire, NSW

This paper reports on a water quality monitoring program carried out for Wingecarribee Shire Council between March 2002 and July 2004 by University of Wollongong staff and students. Initially 40 sites were sampled on four occasions over three months in a pilot program leading to the selection of sites and parameters for a two year program of monthly monitoring. A range of chemical, physical and biological parameters was measured including nutrients and faecal coliform bacteria on samples collected over the 26 approximately monthly sampling trips. Chlorophyll a, phaeophyton and blue-green algae were also determined over a shorter period. The sampling period included the particularly hot and dry spell September 2002 - January 2003 and a return to less extreme conditions after February 2003. The range of nutrient and coliform data is reported with discussion of the effects of rainfall patterns on nutrients and on faecal coliform counts at the various sites. Small creek sites showed significant changes to nutrient regimes in the long dry spell, whereas the same effect was not apparent in larger river sites. Very wide ranges of faecal coliform counts were found, especially at small creek sites in farmland. Excepting extreme results, generally elevated coliform counts were found when rainfall occurred 0-3 days immediately prior to sampling. Generally lower counts were found in drier weather. The Shire has already implemented some measures to improve water quality in response to this program

Therapeutic Neonatal Hepatic Gene Therapy in Mucopolysaccharidosis VII Dogs

Dogs with mucopolysaccharidosis VII (MPS VII) were injected intravenously at 2–3 days of age with a retroviral vector (RV) expressing canine β-glucuronidase (cGUSB). Five animals received RV alone, and two dogs received hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) before RV in an attempt to increase transduction efficiency. Transduced hepatocytes expanded clonally during normal liver growth and secreted enzyme with mannose 6-phosphate. Serum GUSB activity was stable for up to 14 months at normal levels for the RV-treated dogs, and for 17 months at 67-fold normal for the HGF/RV-treated dog. GUSB activity in other organs was 1.5–60% of normal at 6 months for two RV-treated dogs, which was likely because of uptake of enzyme from blood by the mannose 6-phosphate receptor. The body weights of untreated MPS VII dogs are 50% of normal at 6 months. MPS VII dogs cannot walk or stand after 6 months, and progressively develop eye and heart disease. RV- and HGF/RV-treated MPS VII dogs achieved 87% and 84% of normal body weight, respectively. Treated animals could run at all times of evaluation for 6–17 months because of improvements in bone and joint abnormalities, and had little or no corneal clouding and no mitral valve thickening. Despite higher GUSB expression, the clinical improvements in the HGF/RV-treated dog were similar to those in the RV-treated animals. This is the first successful application of gene therapy in preventing the clinical manifestations of a lysosomal storage disease in a large animal

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Recommendations for effective documentation in regional anesthesia: an expert panel Delphi consensus project

Background and objectives: Documentation is important for quality improvement, education, and research. There is currently a lack of recommendations regarding key aspects of documentation in regional anesthesia. The aim of this study was to establish recommendations for documentation in regional anesthesia. Methods: Following the formation of the executive committee and a directed literature review, a long list of potential documentation components was created. A modified Delphi process was then employed to achieve consensus amongst a group of international experts in regional anesthesia. This consisted of 2 rounds of anonymous electronic voting and a final virtual round table discussion with live polling on items not yet excluded or accepted from previous rounds. Progression or exclusion of potential components through the rounds was based on the achievement of strong consensus. Strong consensus was defined as ≥75% agreement and weak consensus as 50%-74% agreement. Results: Seventy-seven collaborators participated in both rounds 1 and 2, while 50 collaborators took part in round 3. In total, experts voted on 83 items and achieved a strong consensus on 51 items, weak consensus on 3 and rejected 29. Conclusion: By means of a modified Delphi process, we have established expert consensus on documentation in regional anesthesia

Water quality assessment - issues from a laboratory management perspective

This paper considers issues relating to the measurement of water quality parameters in the laboratory, especially an external (usually commercial) laboratory. Many organisations now use testing laboratories for water quality measurements, a process that has advantages and some limitations. The interaction between the testing laboratory and the organization requiring the data is crucial, and this paper looks at some aspects where a full appreciation of the role of each partner is important. These include limits of detection and reporting, measurement uncertainty, sample storage and preservation times, and various quality control procedures

Trace Metals in sediments from Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia

Sediments in Lake Illawarra have been investigated by deep and shallow coring to provide a comprehensive appraisal of the sediment-bound natural (background) and more recent (i.e., industrial era) trace metal concentrations. The distribution of Cu, Pb and Zn in the upper 20 cm of sediment is directly related to the proportion of mud-dominated sediment forming the central floor of the lake. Trace metal enrichment factors for Cu, Pb and Zn were generally less than 2.5 with the exception of the southern portion of Griffins Bay where the factors were greater than 1.8, 3.5 and 5.8 for Cu, Pb and Zn respectively. According to ANZECC and ARMCANZ (2000) protocols, the sediments can be generally classified as low risk, although the sediments present in the southern part of Griffins Bay can exceed the high guideline value (ISQG-high) of 420 ppm for Zn and the low guideline values (ISQG-low) of 65 ppm and 50 ppm for Cu and Pb respectively. These sediments warrant further investigation in the form of `bioavailability\u27 and biotoxicity testing. Future work could be directed towards an assessment of the acid generation potential of these sediments due to the potential for pyrite oxidation facilitated by dredging and exposure to the atmosphere

Final Environmental Impact Statement: Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program Habitat Conservation Plan

Urbanization causes havoc to native ecosystems, resulting in population declines or extirpation of sensitive taxa. This can be devastating to narrow-range endemics whose distributions overlap or are enveloped by urban development. Jollyville Plateau Salamanders (Eurycea tonkawae) are aquatic neotenes restricted to karst-associated waters in a small, highly urbanized area of central Texas. Eurycea tonkawae was recently listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act due to threats from urbanization, although the published literature on their population status is limited to a single, short-term study. Here, we attempt to remedy this dearth of knowledge by summarizing population survey data from sites that span the breadth of E. tonkawae’s range. We analyzed count data using Bayesian inference and generalized linear models, first to determine trends in abundance at eight sites from 1996–2011. Secondly, we examined differences in salamander density at these and an additional nine sites (n = 17) among urbanized and nonurbanized catchments from 2009–2012. Study sites occurred in catchments that ranged from undeveloped to completely built-out, from no-change in development to \u3e 20% increases in development. Accounting for climatic variation, we found that counts of E. tonkawae declined in areas that had the largest increases in residential development (a metric of urbanization) over a 15-y period. Additionally, densities of E. tonkawae were negatively correlated with residential development across their range. We discuss several possible mechanisms responsible for declines of E. tonkawae and highlight likely causes and potential areas of future research to aid in conservation efforts for this and other central Texas Eurycea salamanders

Final Environmental Impact Statement: Edwards Aquifer Recovery Implementation Program Habitat Conservation Plan

Urbanization causes havoc to native ecosystems, resulting in population declines or extirpation of sensitive taxa. This can be devastating to narrow-range endemics whose distributions overlap or are enveloped by urban development. Jollyville Plateau Salamanders (Eurycea tonkawae) are aquatic neotenes restricted to karst-associated waters in a small, highly urbanized area of central Texas. Eurycea tonkawae was recently listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act due to threats from urbanization, although the published literature on their population status is limited to a single, short-term study. Here, we attempt to remedy this dearth of knowledge by summarizing population survey data from sites that span the breadth of E. tonkawae’s range. We analyzed count data using Bayesian inference and generalized linear models, first to determine trends in abundance at eight sites from 1996–2011. Secondly, we examined differences in salamander density at these and an additional nine sites (n = 17) among urbanized and nonurbanized catchments from 2009–2012. Study sites occurred in catchments that ranged from undeveloped to completely built-out, from no-change in development to \u3e 20% increases in development. Accounting for climatic variation, we found that counts of E. tonkawae declined in areas that had the largest increases in residential development (a metric of urbanization) over a 15-y period. Additionally, densities of E. tonkawae were negatively correlated with residential development across their range. We discuss several possible mechanisms responsible for declines of E. tonkawae and highlight likely causes and potential areas of future research to aid in conservation efforts for this and other central Texas Eurycea salamanders

MSP119 miniproteins can serve as targets for invasion inhibitory antibodies in plasmodium falciparum provided they contain the correct domains for cell surface trafficking.

Antibodies from malaria-exposed individuals can agglutinate merozoites released from Plasmodium schizonts, thereby preventing them from invading new erythrocytes. Merozoite coat proteins attached to the plasma membrane are major targets for host antibodies and are therefore considered important malaria vaccine candidates. Prominent among these is the abundant glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1) and particularly its C-terminal fragment (MSP1(19)) comprised of two epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like modules. In this paper, we revisit the role of agglutination and immunity using transgenic fluorescent marker proteins. We describe expression of heterologous MSP1(19)\u27miniproteins\u27 on the surface of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites. To correctly express these proteins, we determined that GPI-anchoring and the presence of a signal sequence do not allow default export of proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum to merozoite surface and that extra sequence elements are required. The EGFs are insufficient for correct trafficking unless they are fused to additional residues that normally reside upstream of this fragment. Antibodies specifically targeting the surface-expressed miniprotein can inhibit erythrocyte invasion in vitro despite the presence of endogenous MSP1. Using a line expressing a green fluorescent protein-MSP1 fusion protein, we demonstrate that one mode of inhibition by antibodies targeting the MSP1(19) domain is the rapid agglutinating of merozoites prior to erythrocyte attachment.<br /