Treeless vegetation of the Australian Alps

Based on 1222 floristic quadrat samples, 56 plant communities were identified in treeless vegetation in the Australian Alps of south-eastern Australia. (c. 35º 30´–38ºS, 146°–149°E). The study encompassed vegetation from above the upper limit of trees on mountain tops (i.e. the truly alpine environment) and below the inverted treeline in subalpine valleys. Generally, grasslands develop on deep humus soils, heathlands occur on shallower or rocky soils, and wetland communities are found in places of permanent or intermittent wetness. Duration of snow cover, lithology, altitude and exposure are also important determinants of the spatial arrangement of communities. Broadly, communities within a geographic region are more closely related to each other than to communities of similar structure or dominants from other geographic areas. Many communities are either very localised or are widespread with a small area of occupancy. Fourteen communities are probably eligible for listing as threatened, either alone or as aggregates with associated communities. A total of 710 native taxa from 82 families has been recorded. There is a high level of endemism – 30% of taxa are ± restricted to treeless vegetation in the Australia Alps and a further 14% are ± restricted to treeless vegetation but occur in mountain areas outside the Australian mainland (e.g. Tasmania and New Zealand). Thirteen taxa are listed in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 as threatened and a further 18 taxa are identified that may be eligible for listing as threatened nationally. 131 non-native taxa have been recorded in natural vegetation. Treeless vegetation has been intensively utilised since European settlement, initially as summer pastures for cattle and sheep but more recently as water catchments for electricity production and as tourist attractions both in winter and summer. Many communities are slowly recovering from past pressures and from the fires of 2003, which burnt most of the area for the first time since 1939. The treeless vegetation of the Australian Alps faces an uncertain future because of increased pressure from tourism and the unknown impacts of global warming

Leionema lamprophyllum subsp. fractum (Rutaceae); a new and highly restricted taxon from the Hunter Valley of New South Wales

A new subspecies of Leionema lamprophyllum, formerly included in L. lamprophyllum subsp. obovatum F.M.Anderson, is here described as new. Currently known from fewer than 50 individuals, the new subsp. is highly restricted and warrants a conservation risk code of at least Endangered. An illustration of the new taxon, notes on its distribution and habitat, and a key to all four subspecies of L. lamprophyllum are also provided

The taxonomic status of Hypsela sessiliflora E.Wimm. (Campanulaceae)

The taxonomic status of Hypsela sessiliflora, a threatened NSW endemic, was examined using morphological and molecular data. Although the Type specimen appears to be missing and the protologue is of limited value, available evidence suggests that it is best included within a slightly broadened circumscription of the highly variable Isotoma fluviatilis subsp. fluviatilis

Lobelia claviflora (Campanulaceae:Lobelioideae), a new species from northern New South Wales, Australia

Lobelia claviflora Albr. & R.W.Jobson sp. nov. is described and illustrated, with notes on distribution, habitat, conservation status and features distinguishing it from closely related species of Lobelia and Isotoma

Data harmonisation for information fusion in digital healthcare: A state-of-the-art systematic review, meta-analysis and future research directions

Removing the bias and variance of multicentre data has always been a challenge in large scale digital healthcare studies, which requires the ability to integrate clinical features extracted from data acquired by different scanners and protocols to improve stability and robustness. Previous studies have described various computational approaches to fuse single modality multicentre datasets. However, these surveys rarely focused on evaluation metrics and lacked a checklist for computational data harmonisation studies. In this systematic review, we summarise the computational data harmonisation approaches for multi-modality data in the digital healthcare field, including harmonisation strategies and evaluation metrics based on different theories. In addition, a comprehensive checklist that summarises common practices for data harmonisation studies is proposed to guide researchers to report their research findings more effectively. Last but not least, flowcharts presenting possible ways for methodology and metric selection are proposed and the limitations of different methods have been surveyed for future research

The Output Gap, the Labor Wedge, and the Dynamic Behavior of Hours

We use a standard quantitative business cycle model with nominal price and wage rigidities to estimate two measures of economic ineffciency in recent U.S. data: the output gap - the gap between the actual and effcient levels of output - and the labor wedge - the wedge between households' marginal rate of substitution and firms' marginal product of labor. We establish three results. (i ) The output gap and the labor wedge are closely related, suggesting that most ineffciencies in output are due to the ineffcient allocation of labor. (ii ) The estimates are sensitive to the structural interpretation of shocks to the labor market, which is ambiguous in the model. (iii ) Movements in hours worked are essentially exogenous, directly driven by labor market shocks, whereas wage rigidities generate a markup of the real wage over the marginal rate of substitution that is acyclical. We conclude that the model fails in two important respects: it does not give clear guidance concerning the effciency of business cycle uctuations, and it provides an unsatisfactory explanation of labor market and business cycle dynamics

Corporate reputation past and future: a review and integration of existing literature and a framework for future research

The concept of corporate reputation is steadily growing in interest among management researchers and practitioners. In this article, we trace key milestones in the development of reputation literature over the past six decades to suggest important research gaps as well as to provide contextual background for a subsequent integration of approaches and future outlook. In particular we explore the need for better categorised outcomes; a wider range of causes; and a deeper understanding of contingencies and moderators to advance the field beyond its current state while also taking account of developments in the macro business environment. The article concludes by presenting a novel reputation framework that integrates insights from reputation theory and studies, outlines gaps in knowledge and offers directions for future research

Analysis of Xq27-28 linkage in the international consortium for prostate cancer genetics (ICPCG) families.

BACKGROUND: Genetic variants are likely to contribute to a portion of prostate cancer risk. Full elucidation of the genetic etiology of prostate cancer is difficult because of incomplete penetrance and genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity. Current evidence suggests that genetic linkage to prostate cancer has been found on several chromosomes including the X; however, identification of causative genes has been elusive. METHODS: Parametric and non-parametric linkage analyses were performed using 26 microsatellite markers in each of 11 groups of multiple-case prostate cancer families from the International Consortium for Prostate Cancer Genetics (ICPCG). Meta-analyses of the resultant family-specific linkage statistics across the entire 1,323 families and in several predefined subsets were then performed. RESULTS: Meta-analyses of linkage statistics resulted in a maximum parametric heterogeneity lod score (HLOD) of 1.28, and an allele-sharing lod score (LOD) of 2.0 in favor of linkage to Xq27-q28 at 138 cM. In subset analyses, families with average age at onset less than 65 years exhibited a maximum HLOD of 1.8 (at 138 cM) versus a maximum regional HLOD of only 0.32 in families with average age at onset of 65 years or older. Surprisingly, the subset of families with only 2-3 affected men and some evidence of male-to-male transmission of prostate cancer gave the strongest evidence of linkage to the region (HLOD = 3.24, 134 cM). For this subset, the HLOD was slightly increased (HLOD = 3.47 at 134 cM) when families used in the original published report of linkage to Xq27-28 were excluded. CONCLUSIONS: Although there was not strong support for linkage to the Xq27-28 region in the complete set of families, the subset of families with earlier age at onset exhibited more evidence of linkage than families with later onset of disease. A subset of families with 2-3 affected individuals and with some evidence of male to male disease transmission showed stronger linkage signals. Our results suggest that the genetic basis for prostate cancer in our families is much more complex than a single susceptibility locus on the X chromosome, and that future explorations of the Xq27-28 region should focus on the subset of families identified here with the strongest evidence of linkage to this region.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are