Ecosystem Services and Human Wellbeing-Based Approaches Can Help Transform Our Economies

Despite wider recognition of human interdependence with the rest of nature, our economies continue to fail to adequately value ecosystem services. This failure is largely attributed to the economic frameworks and related measures that focus on the production and consumption of marketed goods and services, but do not consider the other essential elements upon which our lives depend. This paper highlights how the Ecosystem Services approach can shift the focus to human wellbeing while remaining within biophysical planetary boundaries. An Ecosystem Services approach applies three fundamental principles of Ecological Economics: sustainable scale, efficient allocation, and fair distribution, which are vital for sustainable economies and societies. We provide case studies, from both a local and national scale, demonstrating how such an approach offers a holistic perspective of understanding what “development” actually means. Transforming our economies to appropriately consider planetary limits, overcome societal addictions, learn from Indigenous and local communities about ways of sustainable living, and realizing the importance of ecosystem services will contribute to developing economies that are resilient, and that enhance sustainable human wellbeing

GC-MS Profile of Methanolic Leaf Extract of Baliospermum montanum (Wild.) Muell. Arg.

Baliospermum montanum (Wild.) Muell. Arg.,is the member of euphorbiaceae. Ethanomedicine has evident the medicinal properties of different parts of this plant. Understanding the role of hytochemicals, current research is been focussed on separation of phytocons tituents by GC-MS technique using Perkin-Elmer Gas Chromatography– Mass Spectrometry. The mass spectra of the compounds found in the extract were matched with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library. The compounds identified by GC-MS in methanolic leaf extract may be medicinally valuable and possess various pharmaceutical applications. The identified phytocomponents needs further research on toxicological aspects to develop safe drug

Antimicrobial Activity of Isolated Flavonoid Fractions from Drypetes Roxburghii (Wall.) Huresawa and Its Phytochemical Finger printing.

The present study investigates the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major bioactive constituents of different parts like root, stem and leaf of medicinally important plant Dryptes roxburghii using seven different solvents. Qualitative study of alkaloids, carbohydrates, glycosides, steroids, flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, fatty acids, tannins, protein and amino acids, gum and mucilage, terpenoids, anthroquinones and phenols showed different types of results in different solvents. Quantitative estimation revealed that phytochemicals are in between the following range alkaloids in between the range (9.5 to 9.6%), flavonoids (18.63 to 21.23%), saponins (11.36 to 5.13%), phenolics (28.36 to 31.1%), tannins (13.16 to 15.38%) and terpenoids (18.8 to 21.56%)

Payments for Ecosystem Services opportunities for emerging Nature-based Solutions: Integrating Indigenous perspectives from Australia

With recent growing interest and potential investment in nature-based solutions (NbS), a local, regional and global level understanding of what kinds of mechanisms or arrangements work effectively to deliver the required biodiversity and climate change outcomes is essential. This paper presents the status and opportunities for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) arrangements in Australia, with a focus on Indigenous peoples in northern Australia. We reviewed 62 studies related to the distribution and extent of the predominant PES schemes globally and nationally in Australia, including different ecosystems (e.g. forest, water, savannas, etc.), spatial scale (e.g. local, regional or global), types of payment methods used for ecosystem services (ES) transactions, types of ES providers and beneficiaries, funders, users, and contract arrangements and related challenges. Globally, 54% of the studies were supported by government investment, 17% by private–public, and only 29% by private investment. 80% of studies focused on forests as the most common ecosystem for PES, with 61% of the PES arrangements implemented at a local scale, 16% at a catchment scale and the rest (23%) at a national scale. In 33% of the studies, a single ES is the focus for the system, i.e. water quality or carbon sequestration; in 37% of studies a bundled approach was followed where typically > 1–2 services are included as a bundle; and in another 7% stacked ES were included. Within Australia, six main schemes were considered to be PES, i.e. Conservation Agreements, Water trading (buyback) in the Murray Darling Basin, Reef Credits, Carbon Farming, the Queensland Land Restoration Fund, and the Indigenous Protected Areas and Caring for Country programmes on Indigenous lands. About 90% these programmes are funded by the Australian Government, focusing on carbon or biodiversity outcomes, with little consideration of Indigenous values. From an Indigenous perspective, a bottom-up PES approach incorporating the social and cultural aspirations of Indigenous people is preferred. Traditional management with low transaction costs, combining both socio-economic and environmental attributes as verifiable measures, can yield conservation as well as positive socio-economic outcomes for Indigenous communities in Australia and elsewhere. Empowering local communities, recognising and supporting their skills and knowledge, ensuring equitable and just distribution of funds, sustainable and reliable co-designed incentives are essential for the success of these fast-emerging opportunities

Mitochondrial absorption of short wavelength light drives primate blue retinal cones into glycolysis which may increase their pace of aging

Photoreceptors have high energy demands and densely packed mitochondria through which light passes before phototransduction. Old world primates including humans have three cone photoreceptor types mediating color vision with short (S blue), medium (M green), and long (L red) wavelength sensitivities. However, S-cones are enigmatic. They comprise <10% of the total cone population, their responses saturate early, and they are susceptible in aging and disease. Here, we show that primate S-cones actually have few mitochondria and are fueled by glycolysis, not by mitochondrial respiration. Glycolysis has a limited ability to sustain activity, potentially explaining early S-cone saturation. Mitochondria act as optical filters showing reduced light transmission at 400–450 nm where S-cones are most sensitive (420 nm). This absorbance is likely to arise in a mitochondrial porphyrin that absorbs strongly in the Soret band. Hence, reducing mitochondria will improve S-cone sensitivity but result in increased glycolysis as an alternative energy source, potentially increasing diabetic vulnerability due to restricted glucose access. Further, glycolysis carries a price resulting in premature functional decline as seen in aged S-cones. Soret band absorption may also impact on mitochondrial rich M and L cones by reducing sensitivity at the lower end of their spectral sensitivity range resulting in increased differentiation from S-cone responses. These data add to the list of unique characteristic of S-cones and may also explain aspects of their vulnerability

Vertex-Connectivity for Node Failure Identification in Boolean Network Tomography

In this paper we study the node failure identification problem in undirected graphs by means of Boolean Network Tomography. We argue that vertex connectivity plays a central role. We show tight bounds on the maximal identifiability in a particular class of graphs, the Line of Sight networks. We prove slightly weaker bounds on arbitrary networks. Finally we initiate the study of maximal identifiability in random networks. We focus on two models: the classical Erdős-Rényi model, and that of Random Regular graphs. The framework proposed in the paper allows a probabilistic analysis of the identifiability in random networks giving a tradeoff between the number of monitors to place and the maximal identifiability

The Toronto Extremity Salvage Score in unoperated controls: an age, gender, and country comparison

Extent: 5p.The Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS) is widely used for the functional assessment of patients following surgery for musculoskeletal tumours. The aim of this study was to determine if there are gender and/or age-specific changes, unrelated to surgery, that may influence this score and the appropriateness of the questions. The TESS for lower limb was carried out in two different countries to see if there was variation between them. There were no statistically significant differences between the scores obtained between the respondents from Australia or Britain either in total or between the corresponding age groups. There were statistically significant differences in the TESS obtained between age groups with a lower score at older age groups but there was no difference between the sexes. Patients in the age group 70+ were more likely to record activities as “not applicable” and also have a lower score. This study has shown that age is the major factor in determining the TESS in both an Australian and British populations of otherwise healthy people. As there were no differences between the two populations, it supports the TESS as an international scoring system. There may be also an argument for age-specific questions.Mark Clayer, Simon Doyle, Nicole Sangha, and Robert Grime

Classifications of ovarian cancer tissues by proteomic patterns

Ovarian cancer is a morphologically and biologically heterogeneous disease. The identification of type-specific protein markers for ovarian cancer would provide the basis for more tailored treatments, as well as clues for understanding the molecular mechanisms governing cancer progression. In the present study, we used a novel approach to classify 24 14ovarian cancer tissue samples based on the proteomic pattern of each sample. The method involved fractionation according to p I using chromatofocusing with analytical columns in the first dimension followed by separation of the proteins in each p I fraction using nonporous RP 14HPLC, which was coupled to an ESI-TOF mass analyzer for molecular weight 14(MW) analysis. A 2-D mass map of the protein content of each type of ovarian cancer tissue samples based upon p I versus intact protein MW was generated. Using this method, the clear cell and serous ovarian carcinoma samples were histologically distinguished by principal component analysis and clustering analysis based on their protein expression profiles and subtype-specific biomarker candidates of ovarian cancers were identified, which could be further investigated for future clinical study.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55853/1/5846_ftp.pd

An Integrated Assessment of the Horticulture Sector in Northern Australia to Inform Future Development

The horticulture sector in northern Australia, covering north of Western Australia (WA), Northern Territory (NT), and north Queensland (QLD), contributes $1.6 billion/year to the Australian economy by supplying diverse food commodities to meet domestic and international demand. To date, the Australian Government has funded several studies on developing the north’s agriculture sector, but these primarily focused on land and water resources and omitted an integrated, on-ground feasibility analysis for including farmers’/growers’ perspectives. This study is the first of its kind in the north for offering a detailed integrated assessment, highlighting farmers’ perspectives on the current state of the north’s horticulture sector, and related challenges and opportunities. For this, we applied a bottom-up approach to inform future agriculture development in the region, involving a detailed literature review and conducting several focus group workshops with growers and experts from government organisations, growers’ associations, and regional development agencies. We identified several key local issues pertaining to crop production, availability of, and secure access to, land and water resources, and workforce and marketing arrangements (i.e., transport or processing facilities, export opportunities, biosecurity protocols, and the role of the retailers/supermarkets) that affect the economic viability and future expansion of the sector across the region. For example, the availability of the workforce (skilled and general) has been a challenge across the north since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Similarly, long-distance travel for farm produce due to a lack of processing and export facilities in the north restricts future farm developments. Any major investment should be aligned with growers’ interests. This research highlights the importance of understanding and incorporating local growers’ and researchers’ perspectives, applying a bottom-up approach, when planning policies and programs for future development, especially for the horticulture sector in northern Australia and other similar regions across the globe where policy makers’ perspectives may differ from farmers