Bryophytes and their distribution in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales

The bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts) that occur in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales (latitude 33˚–34˚ S, longitude 151˚–151˚40’ E) are listed and information is provided on their distribution in the region. Species lists are based on herbarium specimens and field collections. 348 bryophyte taxa have been recorded from 70 families, including 225 moss taxa (in 108 genera from 45 families), 120 liverwort taxa (in 51 genera from 24 families) and 3 hornwort taxa (in 3 genera from one family). The moss families with most taxa are the Pottiaceae (with 23 taxa in 13 genera), Bryaceae (with 15 taxa in 3 genera) and Fissidentaceae (with 13 taxa). The largest genera are Fissidens (13 taxa), Campylopus (9) and Macromitrium (8). The liverwort family with the most taxa is Lepidoziaceae, with 29 taxa in 10 genera. The largest liverwort genera are Frullania (11 taxa) and Riccardia (8). The species lists include collections from both bushland and urban areas. Natural features of the Blue Mountains, including topography, altitude, climate and vegetation appear to be important factors influencing the number of bryophyte species recorded from each location. The number of collections from particular locations has been considerably influenced by ease of access, particularly proximity to roads, public transport and railway stations. The species lists include many records from areas that were not accessible to the early collectors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries such as Wollemi National Park, Gardens of Stone National Park, Newnes Plateau and Kanangra-Boyd National Park

Identification of proteins that bind extracellular microRNAs secreted by the parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis

Small non-coding RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) are conserved across eukaryotes and play key roles in regulating gene expression. In many organisms, miRNAs are also secreted from cells, often encased within vesicles such as exosomes, and sometimes extravesicular. The mechanisms of miRNA secretion, how they are stabilised outside of cells and their functional importance are poorly understood. Recently, we characterised the parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis as a model to study miRNA secretion. T. spiralis muscle-stage larvae (MSL) secrete abundant miRNAs which are largely extravesicular. Here, we investigated how T. spiralis miRNAs might remain stable outside of cells. Using proteomics, we identified two RNA binding proteins secreted by T. spiralis larvae and characterised their RNA binding properties. One, a homologue of the known RNA binding protein KSRP, binds miRNA in a selective and sequence-specific fashion. Another protein, which is likely a novel RNA binding protein, binds to miRNA without exhibiting sequence specificity. Our results suggest a possible mechanism for miRNA secretion by T. spiralis and may have relevance for understanding the biology of extracellular miRNA more widely

The Observed Relationship Between Water Vapor and Ozone in the Tropical Tropopause Saturation Layer and the Influence of Meridional Transport

We examine balloonsonde observations of water vapor and ozone from three Ticosonde campaigns over San Jose, Costa Rica [10 N, 84 W] during northern summer and a fourth during northern winter. The data from the summer campaigns show that the uppermost portion of the tropical tropopause layer between 360 and 380 K, which we term the tropopause saturation layer or TSL, is characterized by water vapor mixing ratios from proximately 3 to 15 ppmv and ozone from approximately 50 ppbv to 250 ppbv. In contrast, the atmospheric water vapor tape recorder at 380 K and above displays a more restricted 4-7 ppmv range in water vapor mixing ratio. From this perspective, most of the parcels in the TSL fall into two classes - those that need only additional radiative heating to rise into the tape recorder and those requiring some combination of additional dehydration and mixing with drier air. A substantial fraction of the latter class have ozone mixing ratios greater than 150 ppbv, and with water vapor greater than 7 ppmv this air may well have been transported into the tropics from the middle latitudes in conjunction with high-amplitude equatorial waves. We examine this possibility with both trajectory analysis and transport diagnostics based on HIRDLS ozone data. We apply the same approach to study the winter season. Here a very different regime obtains as the ozone-water vapor scatter diagram of the sonde data shows the stratosphere and troposphere to be clearly demarcated with little evidence of mixing in of middle latitude air parcels

Quantitative relationships between benthic diatom assemblages and water chemistry in Macquarie Island lakes and their potential for reconstructing past environmental changes

This study is the first published survey of diatom-environment relationships Oil sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. Fifty-eight sites in 50 coastal and inland lakes were sampled for benthic diatoms and water chemistry. 208 diatom species from 34 genera were identified. Multivariate analyses indicated that the lakes were distributed along nutrient and conductivity gradients. Conductivity, pH, phosphate (SRP), silicate and temperature all explained independent portions of the variance in the diatom data. Transfer functions provide a quantitative basis for palaeolimnological studies of past climate change and human impacts, and can be used to establish baseline conditions for assessing the impacts of recent climate change and the introduction of non-native plants and animals. Statistically robust diatom transfer functions for conductivity, phosphate and silicate were developed, while pH and temperature transfer functions performed less well. The lower predictive abilities of the pH and temperature transfer functions probably reflect the broad pH tolerance range of diatoms on Macquarie Island and uneven distribution of lakes along the temperature gradient. This study contributes to understanding the current ecological distribution of Macquarie Island diatoms and provides transfer functions that will be applied in studies of diatoms in lake sediment cores to quantitatively reconstruct past environmental changes

The relationship between language production and verbal short-term memory: The role of stress grouping

This study investigates the influence of stress grouping on verbal short-term memory (STM). English speakers show a preference to combine syllables into trochaic groups, both lexically and in continuous speech. In two serial recall experiments, auditory lists of nonsense syllables were presented with either trochaic (STRONG-weak) or iambic (weak-STRONG) stress patterns, or in monotone. The acoustic correlates that carry stress were also manipulated in order to examine the relationship between input and output processes during recall. In Experiment 1, stressed and unstressed syllables differed in intensity and pitch but were matched for spoken duration. Significantly more syllables were recalled in the trochaic stress pattern condition than in the iambic and monotone conditions, which did not differ. In Experiment 2, spoken duration and pitch were manipulated but intensity was held constant. No effects of stress grouping were observed, suggesting that intensity is a critical acoustic factor for trochaic grouping. Acoustic analyses demonstrated that speech output was not identical to the auditory input, but that participants generated correct stress patterns by manipulating acoustic correlates in the same way in both experiments. These data challenge the idea of a language-independent STM store and support the notion of separable phonological input and output processes

Towards a Model Climatology of Relative Humidity in the Upper Troposphere for Estimation of Contrail and Contrail-Induced Cirrus

The formation of contrails and contrail cirrus is very sensitive to the relative humidity of the upper troposphere. To reduce uncertainty in an estimate of the radiative impact of aviation-induced cirrus, a model must therefore be able to reproduce the observed background moisture fields with reasonable and quantifiable fidelity. Here we present an upper tropospheric moisture climatology from a 26-year ensemble of simulations using the GEOS CCM. We compare this free-running model's moisture fields to those obtained from the MLS and AIRS satellite instruments, our most comprehensive observational databases for upper tropospheric water vapor. Published comparisons have shown a substantial wet bias in GEOS-5 assimilated fields with respect to MLS water vapor and ice water content. This tendency is clear as well in the GEOS CCM simulations. The GEOS-5 moist physics in the GEOS CCM uses a saturation adjustment that prevents supersaturation, which is unrealistic when compared to in situ moisture observations from MOZAIC aircraft and balloon sondes as we will show. Further, the large-scale satellite datasets also consistently underestimate super-saturation when compared to the in-situ observations. We place these results in the context of estimates of contrail and contrail cirrus frequency

Comparison of model estimates of the effects of aviation emissions on atmospheric ozone and methane

One of the significant uncertainties in understanding the effects of aviation on climate is the effects of aviation emissions on ozone and atmospheric chemistry. In this study the effects of aviation emissions on atmospheric ozone for 2006 and two projections for 2050 are compared among seven models. The models range in complexity from a two-dimensional coupled model to three-dimensional offline and fully coupled three-dimensional chemistry-climate models. This study is the first step in a critical assessment and comparison among these model results. Changes in tropospheric O3 burdens range from 2.3 Tg-O3/Tg-N to 3.0 Tg-O3/Tg-N, ozone radiative forcings range from 6 to 37 mW/m2, and methane radiative forcings range from -8.3 to -12.5 mW/m2 for the 2006 aviation emissions. As a group, the chemistry transport models tend to have similar responses while the fully coupled models tend to separate from this group and do not show similar responses to each other. ©2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

A Proline-Rich Structural Protein of the Surface Sheath of Larval Brugia Filarial Nematode Parasites

Both cDNA and genomic DNA sequences have been isolated which encode a proline-rich precursor protein of the sheath from microfilariae, the first stage larvae of the filarial nematode parasites Brugia pahangi andBrugia malayi. This 22-kDa protein is soluble only under reducing conditions and is extensively cross- linked by both disulfide and nonreducible bonds. Immunogold electron microscopy shows that the protein is localized exclusively in the sheath, a vestigial remnant of the eggshell, which is retained by and encloses the mature microfilaria. Analysis by Western blotting confirms that the protein is expressed only in microfilariae and adult female worms, although transcripts are detectable only in adult females. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a short N-terminal hydrophobic putative leader sequence, a central repetitive domain that contains 14 copies of a degenerate 5-amino acid repeat with the consensus sequence Met- Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly, and a C-terminal prolinerich do- main flanked by clusters of cysteine residues. These clusters can be aligned with cysteine residues implicated in cross-linking of a family of cuticular collagens originally identified in Caenorhabditiselegans but which extends to other nematodes

A Rash Decision. The Hazards of the Wrongful Use of Adrenaline

Anaphylaxis is life-threatening and should be addressed urgently. Its treatment is not without side effects and an accurate diagnosis must be made to prevent potential harm by the wrongful use of medication. A 46-year-old woman with hypertension treated with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) presented to the emergency department with non-pitting oedema of the face and limbs. A hasty diagnosis of anaphylaxis was made and intravenous adrenaline administered. The patient developed a myocardial infarction caused by coronary artery spasm that required invasive intervention. The initial clinical picture was resolved when the ACEI was discontinued unmasking a case of ACEI-induced angioedema. The correct differentiation of these two apparently similar clinical entities is of utmost importance in the management of emergency department patients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio