Benthic algae and seagrasses of the Walpole and Nornalup Inlets Marine Park, Western Australia

A survey of the marine plants of the Walpole and Nornalup Inlets Marine Park has recorded 49 species of marine benthic algae and seagrasses, including 15 green algae, 11 brown algae, 18 red algae, 4 seagrasses, and one cyanobacterium, representing a substantial increase on the 14 previously recorded species. Most species are relatively common elements of the south-western Australian marine flora, but several are of taxonomic or biogeographic and ecological interest. Included in this group are: a new species of the green algal genus Codium, the first records of previously unknown reproductive phases in the red algae Mazoyerella australis and Spermothamnion cymosum, and a new distribution record for Ossiella pacifica, a species hitherto known only from warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean and not recorded for mainland Australia. The species diversity in the inlets decreases markedly with increasing distance from the ocean, reflecting a reducing marine and increasing estuarine influence

Higher order parametric X-ray spectra in mosaic graphite and single silicon crystals

We have observed up to eight orders (n) in the spectra of parametric x-radiation, in the range 5-40 keV, produced by the interaction of a 90 Mev electron beam with mosaic graphite and 90 and 35 Mev beams with single silicon crystals. The measured yields and intensity ratios, I(2)/I(n= I), in graphite are not in agreement with the theory of PXR for mosaic crystals. In comparison, the yield and ratios of intensities in silicon are close to the predictions of PXR theory for perfect crystals. The bandwidths of spectral lines measured in both silicon and graphite are in good agreement with theoretical predictions, and are determined by the angular field of view of the detector.U.S. Department of EnergyDNANaval Postgraduate SchoolContract No. DE-FG03-91ER8109

Dimethyl fumarate in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) inhibits inflammasome-mediated inflammation and has been proposed as a treatment for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. This randomised, controlled, open-label platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), is assessing multiple treatments in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 (NCT04381936, ISRCTN50189673). In this assessment of DMF performed at 27 UK hospitals, adults were randomly allocated (1:1) to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus DMF. The primary outcome was clinical status on day 5 measured on a seven-point ordinal scale. Secondary outcomes were time to sustained improvement in clinical status, time to discharge, day 5 peripheral blood oxygenation, day 5 C-reactive protein, and improvement in day 10 clinical status. Between 2 March 2021 and 18 November 2021, 713 patients were enroled in the DMF evaluation, of whom 356 were randomly allocated to receive usual care plus DMF, and 357 to usual care alone. 95% of patients received corticosteroids as part of routine care. There was no evidence of a beneficial effect of DMF on clinical status at day 5 (common odds ratio of unfavourable outcome 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47; p = 0.40). There was no significant effect of DMF on any secondary outcome

Marvellous mangroves

Despite more than half the worlds mangrove species being found in Australia, only one species is found at Shark Bay; the white mangrove. These mangroves are poorly understood and recently marine scientists from the Department of Environment and Conservation and the Western Australian Herbarium began a study of these plants. This article provides details of the distribution patterns of the mangroves and the fauna that is found in them

Mangrove-associated macroalgae and cyanobacteria in Shark Bay, Western Australia

A taxonomic survey of the macroalgae and cyanobacteria associated with pneumatophores of the mangrove Avicennia marina in Shark Bay, Western Australia, recorded 51 species, comprising 7 Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), 14 Chlorophyta (green algae), 3 Phaeophyceae (brown algae) and 27 Rhodophyta (red algae). Of these, 31 represent new records for Shark Bay, and the red algae Gelidium minisculum, Bostrychiocolax australis (a parasite on Bostrychia radicans), and Dasya kristeniae are newly recorded for Western Australia