Aboveground Net Primary Productivity in Grazed and Ungrazed pastures: Grazing Optimisation Hypothesis or Local Extinction of Vegetation Species

The controversy that has surrounded herbivory studies in the last few decades prompted our investigation to establish the extent to which herbivore optimisation hypothesis or compensatory growth evidence is real. We used the traditional movable cage method to collect primary productivity data on herbage, functional groups and key individual grass species in various controlled large herbivore treatments in an east African savanna. The herbivore treatments in triplicate blocks included cattle, wild herbivores with and without mega herbivores and combinations of cattle and wild herbivores also with and without mega herbivores. The findings revealed that at herbage level, most grazed treatments (four out of five) had higher productivity than the ungrazed control and three showed grazing optimisation curve at sixth polynomial degree between monthly productivity and grazing intensity (1-g/ng). At functional group level forbs productivity was higher in the ungrazed control than in any of the grazed treatments while at individual grass species level _Themeda triandra_ productivity was higher in all grazed treatments than in ungrazed control. We conclude against presence of herbivore optimisation hypothesis at herbage, functional group and species level because of lack of attributable grazing effect in grazed treatments that matches complex ecological effects in the ungrazed treatment

Early primary care physician contact and health service utilisation in a large sample of recently released ex-prisoners in Australia: prospective cohort study

Objective To describe the association between ex-prisoner primary care physician contact within 1 month of prison release and health service utilisation in the 6 months following release. Design A cohort from the Passports study with a mean follow-up of 219 (±44) days post release. Associations were assessed using a multivariate Andersen-Gill model, controlling for a range of other factors. Setting Face-to-face, baseline interviews were conducted in a sample of prisoners within 6 weeks of expected release from seven prisons in Queensland, Australia, from 2008 to 2010, with telephone follow-up interviews 1, 3 and 6 months post release. Participants From an original population-based sample of 1325 sentenced adult (≥18 years) prisoners, 478 participants were excluded due to not being released from prison during follow-up (n=7, 0.5%), loss to follow-up (n=257, 19.4%), or lacking exposure data (n=214, 16.2%). A total of 847 (63.9%) participants were included in the analyses. Exposure Primary care physician contact within 1 month of follow-up as a dichotomous measure. Main outcome measures Adjusted time-to-event hazard rates for hospital, mental health, alcohol and other drug and subsequent primary care physician service utilisations assessed as multiple failure time-interval data. Results Primary care physician contact prevalence within 1 month of follow-up was 46.5%. One-month primary care physician contact was positively associated with hospital (adjusted HR (AHR)=2.07; 95% CI 1.39 to 3.09), mental health (AHR=1.65; 95% CI 1.24 to 2.19), alcohol and other drug (AHR=1.48; 95% CI 1.15 to 1.90) and subsequent primary care physician service utilisation (AHR=1.47; 95% CI 1.26 to 1.72) over 6 months of follow-up. Conclusions Engagement with primary care physician services soon after prison release increases health service utilisation during the critical community transition period for ex-prisoners. Trial registration number Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12608000232336)

Формування законодавчої і нормативної бази архівної справи в республіці Казахстан

Аналізується законодавство Республіки Казахстан, спрямоване на забезпечення збереження документальної спадщини, регулювання діяльності архівної системи в умовах державного суверенітету. Визначаються особливості архівного законодавства кінця 1990-х рр., прослідковуються його зміни та напрями удосконалення в 2000-х рр., процеси формування нормативної бази архівної справи.Анализируется законодательство Республики Казахстан, направленное на обеспечение сохранности документального наследия, регулирование деятельности архивной системы в условиях государственного суверенитета. Определяются особенности архивного законодательства конца 1990-х гг., прослеживаются его изменения и направления усовершенствования в 2000- х гг., процессы формирования нормативной базы архивного дела.The legislation of Republic of Kazakhstan, directed on providing of safety of documentary legacy, adjusting of activity of the archival system in the conditions of the state sovereignty is analysed in the article. The features of the archival legislation the end of 1990-th are determined, its changes and directions of improvement in the 2000-th, the processes of forming of normative base of the archival affairs are traced

Phage-Encoded Cationic Antimicrobial Peptide Required for Lysis

Abstract: Most phages of Gram-negative bacteria hosts encode spanins for disruption of the outer membrane, which is the last step in host lysis. However, bioinformatic analysis indicates that ∼15% of these phages lack a spanin gene, suggesting they have an alternate way of disrupting the outer membrane (OM). Here, we show that the T7-like coliphage phiKT causes an explosive cell lysis associated with spanin activity despite not encoding spanins. A putative lysis cassette cloned from the phiKT late gene region includes the hypothetical novel gene 28 located between the holin and endolysin genes and supports inducible lysis in Escherichia coli K-12. Moreover, induction of an isogenic construct lacking gene 28 resulted in divalent cation-stabilized spherical cells rather than lysis, implicating gp28 in OM disruption. Additionally, gp28 was shown to complement the lysis defect of a spanin-null λ lysogen. Gene 28 encodes a 56-amino acid cationic protein with predicted amphipathic helical structure and is membrane-associated after lysis. Urea and KCl washes did not release gp28 from the particulate, suggesting a strong hydrophobic membrane interaction. Fluorescence microscopy supports membrane localization of the gp28 protein before lysis. The protein gp28 is similar in size, charge, predicted fold, and membrane association to the human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide LL-37. Synthesized gp28 behaved similarly to LL-37 in standard assays mixing peptide and cells to measure bactericidal and inhibitory effects. Taken together, these results indicate that phiKT gp28 is a phage-encoded cationic antimicrobial peptide that disrupts bacterial outer membranes during host lysis and, thus, establishes a new class of phage lysis proteins, the disruptins. Importance: We provide evidence that phiKT produces an antimicrobial peptide for outer membrane disruption during lysis. This protein, designated a disruptin, is a new paradigm for phage lysis and has no similarities to other known lysis genes. Although many mechanisms have been proposed for the function of antimicrobial peptides, there is no consensus on the molecular basis of membrane disruption. Additionally, there is no established genetic system to support such studies. Therefore, the phiKT disruptin may represent the first genetically tractable antimicrobial peptide, facilitating mechanistic analyses

Non-communicable disease mortality in young people with a history of contact with the youth justice system in Queensland, Australia: a retrospective, population-based cohort study

Background: Young people who have had contact with the criminal justice system are at increased risk of early death, especially from injuries. However, deaths due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in this population remain poorly described. We aimed to estimate mortality due to NCDs in people with a history of involvement with the youth justice system, compare NCD mortality rates in this population with those in the general population, and characterise demographic and justice-related factors associated with deaths caused by NCDs in people with a history of contact with the youth justice system. Methods: In this retrospective, population-based cohort study (the Youth Justice Mortality [YJ-Mort] study), we included all people aged 10–18 years (at baseline) charged with a criminal offence in Queensland, Australia, between June 30, 1993, and July 1, 2014. We probabilistically linked youth justice records with adult correctional records and national death records up to Jan 31, 2017. Indigenous status was ascertained from youth justice and adult correctional records, with individuals identified as Indigenous in either source classified as Indigenous in the final dataset. We estimated crude mortality rates and standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) for comparisons with data from the Australian general population. We identified risk factors for NCD deaths using competing-risks regression. Findings: Of 48 670 individuals aged 10–18 years (at baseline) charged with a criminal offence in Queensland, Australia, between June 30, 1993, and July 1, 2014, 11 897 (24·4%) individuals were female, 36 773 (75·6%) were male, and 13 250 (27·2%) were identified as identified as Indigenous. The median age at first contact with the youth justice system was 15 years (IQR 14–16), the median follow-up time was 13·4 years (8·4–18·4), and the median age at the end of the study was 28·6 years (23·6–33·6). Of 1431 deaths, 932 (65·1%) had a known and attributed cause, and 121 (13·0%) of these were caused by an NCD. The crude mortality rate from NCDs was 18·5 (95% CI 15·5–22·1) per 100 000 person-years among individuals with a history of involvement with the youth justice system, which was higher than among the age-matched and sex-matched Australian general population (SMR 1·67 [1·39–1·99]). Two or more admissions to adult custody (compared with none; adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio 2·09 [1·36–3·22]), and up to 52 weeks in adult custody (compared with none; 1·98 [1·18–3·32]) was associated with NCD death. Interpretation: Young people with a history of contact with the justice system are at increased risk of death from NCDs compared with age-matched and sex-matched peers in the general Australian population. Reducing youth incarceration and providing young people's rights to access clinical, preventive, and restorative services should be a priority

Unresolved issues with the assessment of multidecadal global land surface temperature trends

This paper documents various unresolved issues in using surface temperature trends as a metric for assessing global and regional climate change. A series of examples ranging from errors caused by temperature measurements at a monitoring station to the undocumented biases in the regionally and globally averaged time series are provided. The issues are poorly understood or documented and relate to micrometeorological impacts due to warm bias in nighttime minimum temperatures, poor siting of the instrumentation, effect of winds as well as surface atmospheric water vapor content on temperature trends, the quantification of uncertainties in the homogenization of surface temperature data, and the influence of land use/land cover (LULC) change on surface temperature trends. Because of the issues presented in this paper related to the analysis of multidecadal surface temperature we recommend that greater, more complete documentation and quantification of these issues be required for all observation stations that are intended to be used in such assessments. This is necessary for confidence in the actual observations of surface temperature variability and long-term trends

Topological Data Analysis for Discovery in Preclinical Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury

Data-driven discovery in complex neurological disorders has potential to extract meaningful syndromic knowledge from large, heterogeneous data sets to enhance potential for precision medicine. Here we describe the application of topological data analysis (TDA) for data-driven discovery in preclinical traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) data sets mined from the Visualized Syndromic Information and Outcomes for Neurotrauma-SCI (VISION-SCI) repository. Through direct visualization of inter-related histopathological, functional and health outcomes, TDA detected novel patterns across the syndromic network, uncovering interactions between SCI and co-occurring TBI, as well as detrimental drug effects in unpublished multicentre preclinical drug trial data in SCI. TDA also revealed that perioperative hypertension predicted long-term recovery better than any tested drug after thoracic SCI in rats. TDA-based data-driven discovery has great potential application for decision-support for basic research and clinical problems such as outcome assessment, neurocritical care, treatment planning and rapid, precision-diagnosis

Report of the Workshop Evaluating the Nature of Midwater Mining Plumes and Their Potential Effects on Midwater Ecosystems

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is developing regulations to control the future exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources including sulphide deposits near hydrothermal vents, polymetallic nodules on the abyssal seafloor, and cobalt crusts on seamounts. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea the ISA is required to adopt are taking measures to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects arising from mining-related activities. Contractors are required to generate environmental baselines and assess the potential environmental consequences of deep seafloor mining. Understandably, nearly all environmental research has focused on the seafloor where the most direct mining effects will occur. However, sediment plumes and other impacts (e.g., noise) from seafloor mining are likely to be extensive in the water column. Sediment plumes created on the seafloor will affect the benthic boundary layer which extends 10s to 100s of meters above the seafloor. Separation or dewatering of ore from sediment and seawater aboard ships will require discharge of a dewatering plume at some depth in the water column. It is important to consider the potential impacts of mining on the ocean’s midwaters (depths from ~200 m to the seafloor) because they provide vital ecosystem services and harbor substantial biodiversity. The better known epipelagic or sunlit surface ocean provisions the rest of the water column through primary production and export flux (This was not the focus at this workshop as the subject was considered too large and surface discharges are unlikely). It is also home to a diverse community of organisms including commercially important fishes such as tunas, billfish, and cephalopods that contribute to the economies of many countries. The mesopelagic or twilight zone (200-1000 m) is dimly lit and home to very diverse and abundant communities of organisms. Mesopelagic plankton and small nekton form the forage base for many deep-diving marine mammals and commercially harvested epipelagic species. Furthermore, detritus from the epipelagic zone falls through the mesopelagic where it is either recycled, providing the vital process of nutrient regeneration, or sinks to greater depths sequestering carbon from short-term atmospheric cycles. The waters below the mesopelagic down to the seafloor (both the bathypelagic and abyssopelagic) are very poorly characterized but are likely large reservoirs of novel biodiversity and link the surface and benthic ecosystems. Great strides have been made in understanding the biodiversity and ecosystem function of the ocean’s midwaters, but large regions, including those containing many exploration license areas and the greater depths where mining plumes will occur, remain very poorly studied. It is clear that pelagic communities are distinct from those on the seafloor and in the benthic boundary layer. They are often sampled with different instrumentation. The fauna have relatively large biogeographic ranges and they are more apt to mix freely across stakeholder boundaries, reference areas and other spatial management zones. Pelagic organisms live in a three-dimensional habitat and their food webs and populations are vertically connected by daily or lifetime migrations and the sinking flux of detritus from the epipelagic. The fauna do not normally encounter hard surfaces, making them fragile, and difficult to capture and maintain for sensitivity or toxicity studies. Despite some existing general knowledge, ecological baselines for midwater communities and ecosystems that likely will be impacted by mining have not been documented. There is an urgent need to conduct more research and evaluate the midwater biota (microbes to fishes) in regions where mining is likely to occur. Deep-sea mining activities may affect midwater organisms in a number of ways, but it is still unclear at what scale perturbations may occur. The sediment plumes both from collectors on the seafloor and from midwater discharge will have a host of negative consequences. They may cause respiratory distress from clogged gills or respiratory surfaces. Suspension feeders, such as copepods, polychaetes, salps, and appendicularians, that filter small particles from the water and form an important basal group of the food web, may suffer from dilution of their food by inorganic sediments and/or clogging of their fragile mucous filter nets. Small particles may settle on gelatinous plankton causing buoyancy issues. Metals, including toxic elements that will enter the food web, will be released from pore waters and crushed ore materials. Sediment plumes will also absorb light and change backscatter properties, reducing visual communication and bioluminescent signaling that are very important for prey capture and reproduction in midwater animals. Noise from mining activities may alter the behaviors of marine mammals and other animals. Small particles have high surface area to volume ratios, high pelagic persistence and dispersal and as a result greater potential to result in pelagic impacts. All of these potential effects will result in mortality, migration (both horizontal and vertical), decreased fitness, and shifts in community composition. Depending on the scale and duration of these effects, there could be reduction in provisioning to commercial fish species, delivery of toxic metals to pelagic food webs and hence human seafood supply, and alterations to carbon transport and nutrient regeneration services. After four days of presentations and discussions, the workshop participants came to several conclusions and synthesized recommendations. 1. Assuming no discharge in the epipelagic zone, it is essential to minimize mining effects in the mesopelagic zone because of links to our human seafood supply as well as other ecosystem services provided by the mesopelagic fauna. This minimization could be accomplished by delivering dewatering discharge well below the mesopelagic/bathypelagic transition (below ~1000 m depth). 2. Research should be promoted by the ISA and other bodies to study the bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zones (from ~1000 m depths to just above the seafloor). It is likely that both collector plumes and dewatering plumes will be created in the bathypelagic, yet this zone is extremely understudied and contains major unknowns for evaluating mining impacts. 3. Management objectives, regulations and management actions need to prevent the creation of a persistent regional scale “haze” (enhanced suspended particle concentrations) in pelagic midwaters. Such a haze would very likely cause chronic harm to deep midwater ecosystem biodiversity, structure and function. 4. Effort is needed to craft suitable standards, thresholds, and indicators of harmful environmental effects that are appropriate to pelagic ecosystems. In particular, suspension feeders are very important ecologically and are likely to be very sensitive to sediment plumes. They are a high priority for study. 5. Particularly noisy mining activities such as ore grinding at seamounts and hydrothermal vents is of concern to deep diving marine mammals and other species. One way to minimize sound impacts would be to minimize activities in the sound-fixing-and-ranging (SOFAR) channel (typically at depths of ~1000 m) which transmits sounds over very long distances. 6. A Lagrangian (drifting) perspective is needed in monitoring and management because the pelagic ecosystem is not a fixed habitat and mining effects are likely to cross spatial management boundaries. For example, potential broad-scale impacts to pelagic ecosystems should be considered in the deliberations over preservation reference zones, the choice of stations for environmental baseline and monitoring studies and other area-based management and conservation measures. 7. Much more modeling and empirical study of realistic mining sediment plumes is needed. Plume models will help evaluate the spatial and temporal extent of pelagic (as well as benthic) ecosystem effects and help to assess risks from different technologies and mining scenarios. Plume modeling should include realistic mining scenarios (including duration) and assess the spatial-temporal scales over which particle concentrations exceed baseline levels and interfere with light transmission to elucidate potential stresses on communities and ecosystem services. Models should include both near and far field-phases, incorporating realistic near field parameters of plume generation, flocculation, particle sinking, and other processes. It is important to note that some inputs to these models such as physical oceanographic parameters are lacking and should be acquired in the near-term. Plume models need to be complemented by studies to understand effects on biological components by certain particle sizes and concentrations